Chapter 88: The Real Opponents, Monstrous Beings from All Heavens! (Three More Chapters)

The martial arts competition had many rules. The most notable highlight was the option to concede or abstain! Once you realized you couldn't beat your opponent, you could end the fight and leave the arena by shouting, "I concede." No wonder the teachers said that the third level of the Spirit Realm had a higher safety factor. Being able to concede or abstain certainly offered more safety. Of course, if you didn't have time to shout "I concede" and were instantly killed by your opponent, you could only blame your own lack of strength.

"Ben!" After reading the competition rules, Robert directly spoke to Ben. "Don't go on stage later. Just abstain!"

Ben's face was a little pale, likely from excessive blood loss. Upon hearing this, he nodded immediately and said, "Okay, Brother Robert." Previously, on the train, if Robert hadn't stood up to stop that unkillable monster, they truly wouldn't have been able to cope. At the beginning, it was Robert who gave the correct advice, not disturbing the monster, which allowed everyone to survive the first thirteen minutes… At this moment, Jiang Hebin and the others completely believed the rumors. Robert indeed had a different mind, able to discern opportunities and discover the characteristics of monsters.

"If you find your opponent is too strong, you must also concede and abstain in time!" Robert added, "Don't try to be brave; it's not worth losing your life here."

He didn't want them to abstain directly yet because the final reward settlement for this Spirit Realm was based on the team's ranking by points. The more opponents a team defeated, the more points they earned. There's strength in numbers! If everyone went on stage together and defeated a few more opponents, they could always score a few more points.

Everyone nodded, grateful for Robert's leadership. Unexpectedly, Robert turned to Leo next. "Leo, you too. Abstain when you should, don't take risks. Leave the rest to me."

Leo obediently nodded. Now everyone was a little confused. What was going on? Wasn't Leo the strongest fighter in their team? If even Leo abstained, how were they supposed to win?

[Please enter your seating area according to your number.] A prompt appeared in everyone's left eye. Their team had a number on the train before: Number 96! Following this number, they quickly found seating area 96.

The arena stands were divided into rows. Each row had ten seats, just enough for a team. Moreover, each row was staggered with a certain distance between them, ensuring privacy, and conversations wouldn't disturb people from other teams. After finding their seats, everyone sat down one by one, waiting for the martial arts competition to begin.

They were relaxed. According to the rules of the martial arts competition, attacks were prohibited between areas outside the arena. Whoever made the first move was unlucky. Even without the captain's permission, members of other teams couldn't enter someone else's seating area. So, sitting here, they didn't have to worry about being ambushed from behind…

As everyone settled in, many began showing surprised expressions. Sitting opposite them were countless monsters. These monsters were all bizarre and strange—some resembled octopuses, others earthworms, and some were reptilian minotaurs. The most exaggerated one was a monster so enormous that even while sitting, it resembled a small mountain. It was extremely conspicuous.

"What's going on here?"

"They… aren't they the opponents we're going to face next?"

"So, in this martial arts competition, our real opponents are monsters?"

"In our eyes, they are monsters, but in their eyes, aren't we also monsters?"

"That's right! Seeing them sitting in an orderly manner, not disturbing each other, they obviously have extremely high intelligence. Maybe we're dealing with an unknown biological civilization."

"Arena of All Heavens… I see. Those who come to this arena are transcendents from various heavens, right? We humans are just one of them."

Everyone discussed excitedly, and Robert agreed with their guess. This seemed pretty obvious.

Subsequently, Robert noticed a vertical screen next to their seats. It showed the points rankings of the human area and various teams. Currently, everyone's points were 0. Robert flexed his fist, feeling that a tough battle was about to begin!

…

The arena stands were divided into three major civilization areas. Human civilization was just one of them. In the middle part, there were many arenas—thousands of them! Setting up so many arenas was certainly to speed up the elimination process. After all, the number of civilization members present was at least several million. Using only one arena for martial arts would take forever.

Half an hour passed quickly. There was no opening ceremony or fancy rituals. Once the time was up, the martial arts competition started directly! Opponents appeared on thousands of arenas at the same time. They were teleported over by the Spirit Realm. There were humans and monsters! Everyone met and, without saying a word, began fighting directly!

Robert swept his gaze around. Under normal circumstances, a winner was decided within one or two moves. It was rare for fights to be evenly matched. The first round was the elimination round. The opponents were randomly matched by the Spirit Realm, and if you were lucky, you could face a weak one. If you were unlucky, you'd be matched with a strong one, and you could only lose.

Robert noticed that, within less than a minute, there were casualties in the arena! Some were instantly killed! Seeing this, Robert even wanted Leo to abstain, but before he could speak, a reminder popped up in his left eye.

[You are about to enter the martial arts competition. Please decide whether to go on stage before the countdown ends.]

[If you have not made a choice by the end of the countdown, it will be deemed as abstention!]

[1: Go on stage.]

[2: Abstain.]

The countdown time was only 15 seconds.

Robert was stunned. He didn't expect to be the first one in the team to go on stage. "It's my turn to go on stage."

As soon as he finished speaking, he chose "1". The moment he made his choice, a teleportation gate appeared in front of him, enveloping him. The next moment, Robert appeared in the arena in the middle area. His opponent also appeared at the same time. It was a spider-like monster. Seeing Robert, it roared and lunged at him.

Robert wasn't polite either. He slapped it from a distance.

Fist Wind Impact!

Although this skill had been successfully upgraded to "Fist Bone Impact" under the influence of Armament Haki, that didn't mean Robert could no longer use "Fist Wind Impact." As long as he wanted, with a casual strike, he could unleash "Fist Wind."

So, when Robert slapped this palm out, a violent hurricane instantly swept across the arena!

"Whoosh!"

The spider monster's huge body was swept away by the gust and fell outside the arena. Robert easily won!

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