The spectators were surprised, but their faces also lit up with excitement. Given Scarred King's death, they were now filled with anticipation for the Emperor-Slaying White Demon—that is, Ignaz. At the betting registration desk, almost everyone was placing their bets on the Emperor-Slaying White Demon. At least betting on him guaranteed a safe profit. Though the earnings weren't as much as before, they could still make a tidy sum.
As time passed, the fifth arena area once again rang with the match notification sound. The number of spectators had increased by two to three times compared to the previous death matches.
"Let's welcome the Emperor-Slaying White Demon, who defeated Scarred King, and Gong Changyan, who has won four consecutive matches! Everyone knows the Emperor-Slaying White Demon is just a newcomer, but he's already achieved an impressive record. Can he win like last time in this showdown? Can Gong Changyan defeat the Emperor-Slaying White Demon? We eagerly await their performance."
As both fighters entered the spirit fighting platform, the spectators went wild, frantically shouting the Emperor-Slaying White Demon's name. Seeing both opponents ready, the host shouted loudly:
"The thirty-fifth death match begins now!"
The second the host flew away from the spirit fighting platform, Gong Changyan had already summoned his longbow Martial Soul.
"First spirit skill, Ice Arrow!"
An ice arrow filled with bitter-cold energy shot toward Ignaz at extreme speed. Ignaz quickly activated his first spirit skill and gripped the Blood Thunder War Spear, timing the ice arrow's speed perfectly to knock it away.
"Second spirit skill, Slaughter Thunder Three-Stage Kill!"
Using the water-walking techniques he'd practiced for years, Ignaz charged forward at incredible speed, swinging his war spear. Three consecutive attacks exploded forth, and within 30 seconds, even Gong Changyan—a high-mobility ranged archer—had fallen under his Blood Thunder War Spear.
This duel was actually decided the moment Gong Changyan was matched against Ignaz. He already understood his fate, but still decided to give it his all, seeking to die with dignity.
Some stubborn spectators in the stands were furious about this. They still believed the Emperor-Slaying White Demon had only killed Scarred King through pure luck, never expecting him to actually have real skill.
...
Time slipped by quietly, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
By now, Ignaz had completely made his name throughout the entire underground spirit fighting arena in Vast Sea City, achieving a dominating 53-win streak. During his spirit fighting period, even some Spirit Elders would come to watch his matches.
During this time participating in spirit fights, Ignaz had earned around 200,000 to 300,000 gold spirit coins. Beyond that, his coordination between his war spear's first and second spirit skills had become much more refined. Some minor flaws in his spirit techniques had been corrected through long-term combat, and he'd obtained several decent spirit tools from defeated opponents, even including a storage spirit tool.
"Half a year has passed, and my spirit power has increased by two levels. No one dares to sign up for Spirit Grandmaster death matches at the spirit fighting arena anymore. It's time to leave."
Just as Ignaz was about to leave the underground spirit-fighting arena, a man in a black uniform approached him.
"Mr. Emperor-Slaying White Demon, we have a request. Please come with us."
His tone was filled with both fear and respect.
"Alright!"
As a regular at the underground spirit fighting arena, Ignaz had earned plenty of high-value gold spirit coins and additional rewards from the arena. Going to discuss business with them wouldn't be a problem.
Following the man's lead, Ignaz entered a luxuriously decorated office where a man with spirit power fluctuations stepped forward to shake his hand and said:
"Mr. Emperor-Slaying White Demon, I'm the manager of this spirit-fighting arena. Would you consider taking on a cross-tier challenge against a Spirit Elder? Don't worry—if you win, the betting amounts will be extremely high. Additionally, our grand spirit fighting arena will give you an extra 50,000 gold spirit coins as a reward and directly upgrade your Silver Spirit Fighting Badge to Gold Spirit Fighting."
"Sorry, my abilities are limited. I can't handle cross-tier challenges. Deathmatches are no joke—losing means certain death."
Among Spirit Grandmasters, barely anyone could force Ignaz to use his 15-hit combo. Cross-tier challenging a Spirit Elder would undoubtedly be the foolish act of exposing more of his strength.
Moreover, his goals for spirit fighting over the past half year had already been achieved, making it even less necessary to continue participating in spirit fights.
"Well..."
According to their grand spirit fighting arena's internal assessment, the Emperor-Slaying White Demon before them already possessed Spirit Elder or even low-level Spirit Ancestor combat power. If he could take on a cross-tier challenge, it would undoubtedly bring their underground spirit fighting arena a considerable income. But death matches indeed limited his cross-tier fighting methods—after all, which spirit master in the black market didn't value their life?
After pondering for a moment, the manager continued: "How about this—I'll arrange for you to face the Human-Faced Phantom, who ranks above Scarred King as the number one Spirit Grandmaster in the spirit fighting arena, with 30 consecutive wins. How does that sound?"
"Human-Faced Phantom?"
Ignaz knew more or less about this person's title and general information. This Spirit Grandmaster was particularly skilled at casting illusions. Based on his speculation, she had very likely reached peak 29th-level Spirit Grandmaster strength.
The breakthrough from Spirit Grandmaster to Spirit Elder was the first minor bottleneck in spirit master cultivation. Of course, spirit masters with high innate spirit power could quickly overcome this minor bottleneck without much delay.
Ignaz's face showed some worry as he said with concern: "Illusion-type Martial Souls make the duel quite difficult indeed! If she doesn't have Spirit Grandmaster strength, then this matter will have to be dropped."
"I understand. The betting odds and rewards won't disappoint you."
The manager wasn't concerned about Ignaz's worries. People who engaged in long-term spirit fighting like this just needed the right psychological price point.
"Fine, I agree to this. The match should be held within a month—I don't want to wait too long."
"Good, I'll personally invite her right away!"
Although they couldn't organize a cross-tier battle for the Emperor-Slaying White Demon, settling for second best and inviting the arena's top celebrity from nine months ago to compete was still possible.
According to the information he currently had, the Human-Faced Phantom was still trying to break through the 30th-level spirit power bottleneck.
...
Ten days later, after the manager's persistent coaxing and raising both the victory prize money and betting odds, the Human-Faced Phantom was finally persuaded to come.
But it's worth mentioning that she had successfully broken through to level 30, though she hadn't obtained her third spirit ring. This also met one of the conditions Ignaz had proposed.
At this time, half of the spirit-fighting matches in the arena had been completely stopped, and countless people gathered in the central spirit-fighting arena, eagerly anticipating these two individuals who had achieved numerous consecutive victories at the Spirit Grandmaster level.
"Who do you think will win this match?"
"I think it's the Human-Faced Phantom. After all, her Martial Soul is an extremely rare illusion-type spiritual Martial Soul. Even if the White Demon's attacks are strong, he'll hardly be her match."
"No, the White Demon is incredibly powerful in both speed and attack. As they say, 'One force breaks ten thousand techniques.' No matter how strong her illusions are, they're ultimately just phantoms. Plus, I've bet three thousand gold coins on the White Demon—if he loses, most of my savings will be gone."