Sun Disc Ptform. Watching the chain after chain of explosions lighting up the field of fog below, the scarecrow-like elder clicked his ton

  Sun Disc Ptform.

  Watching the chain after chain of explosions lighting up the field of fog below, the scarecrow-like elder clicked his tongue and crooned.

  “Tsk tsk tsk. Old Fart, you like saying how clever your dollie is, but from how I see it, he’s just another moth who just likes rushing headfirst to his death.”

  Ma Pei’s beard trembled like a grumpy thundercloud, but the old man still found a retort.

  “Hmph. That cheap brat is just not experienced enough. But who can bme him? How long has he lived?”

  “Gawahahaha!” Tai Yinjun let out a crooked cackle as if he just discovered a new continent.

  “And here I was thinking you old fart’d at least taught the poor dollie what to watch out for! But you didn’t even warn him about this good ol’ remote detonation trick?”

  Ma Pei snorted.

  “Pei! What’s so good about it? This sort of common spiritual branding trick is something we all like using in the old days, but we all know how expensive it is! It’s literally burning money!”

  “Who expected this Wu cn d to be so wasteful to spend so much just to deal with a pipsqueak at the Qi-refining realm! A field of high-grade explosive talismans—that’s just overkill!”

  The scarecrow cracked an ugly smile.

  “Hey, hey, things can’t be said like that. That dollie’s physique is almost as tough as those muscle dollies. At least this much is needed to deal with these thick-skinned types.”

  Hearing this, the brawny Jia Gufan ughed.

  “Kahaha! Deal with us? Just relying on these toys and trinkets won’t even make us flinch, let alone get under our skin! Look! Didn’t it still fail this time?”

  Down Below.

  “Cough. Cough—gah!”

  Hacking out a plume of bck smoke, Bubai pushed himself up on his knees. “Ow... that hurts.”

  While the ringing in his ears faded, he numbly looked down at his charred skin that was barely covered by whatever scraps was left of his singed-bck gown.

  That chain of explosions didn’t kill him, but by Merlin’s beard, that sure did look like getting roasted in a burning furnace.

  Not that he knew how that was actually like. Just know it hurts like bloody heck.

  Not only did his bones ache from getting thrown around like a rag doll, but there were serious burns all over.

  Lucky for him, his physique’s natural regeneration was already kicking in, like it always did, but…

  It was rather slow due to the ck of sunlight.

  “Hoo…” Bubai drew in a breath and started cycling his Qi, soaking up their subtle healing properties to speed up the sluggish process.

  The energy spread like cool rain across blistered ground—soothing, but itchy.

  Enduring the itchy feeling spreading all over like ants crawling under his skin, Bubai scooted back closer to the wall and vigintly looked out at the dense fog.

  One wrong step and he lost his advantage, falling back to square one.

  Can’t say he was being careless though.

  If his pseudo-divine sense was at work, he won’t fall for this sort of trick.

  But here? He was basically running around blind like a headless fly.

  Cultivator battles were fast-paced. The higher the level, the more so.

  His enhanced eyes might be sharp, but there was no room for it to watch his every step if he wants to be fast enough to catch up to an inhuman foundation builder’s footsteps!

  Since there’s no way to know what’s ahead, stepping into traps was only normal.

  But even though Bubai expected some sort of trap hidden by the fog of war, he still dared chase.

  Why?

  Because everybody knows: like in a certain card game duel, traps are meant to be cleared, one way or another!

  Stepping on them was the stupidest way—no argument there, but it was a must sooner or ter.

  Sure, his strategy revolved around pying it safe, but should he give up every opportunity to become a winner in life just because he’s scared of the unknown?

  As a sage once said: better to limp forward than stand frozen, waiting for the enemy’s hand to guide your fate.

  Then there’s a fact: pying passive was a good thing, but the arena is only so big. He can’t run forever.

  Thinking his enemy won’t pnt traps in his path is a naive fool’s dream!

  Hence, instead of taking a passive beating the entire time and waiting for the hunter to set up for a fatal blow, it was better to look out for a good trade and take it whenever he gets the chance!

  Like now.

  He traded his cheap home-made poison card to flush out his opponent’s explosively expensive trap card. A decent trade.

  The best part?

  He lost some HP and gained a temporary “badly injured” status, but thanks to the dey from his own poison, the enemy missed his window to finish him off with a killer combo!

  Of course, if the scrub really dared come… hehe. Who said Batbai had pyed all his cards?

  But there was no need to show all his hidden aces at once.

  Trump cards are meant for turning tides and clinching decisive victories.

  Here? This was just the first round.

  No gambler worth his salt reveals all his hidden aces in the opening act because there was still long ways to go.

  But long, of course, was retive.

  If his life was a story, it was probably just a matter of a single sentence.

  But in reality, it was simply a dragged-on silence.

  Only the fog accompanied him until most of his skin became patched up under the fky, charred crust.

  LOL, it was like Warmog’s armor working its magic after leaving “combat”. How wonderful.

  Not only that, thanks to this breather he just got, Bubai discovered something unusual.

  “...Huh? The mist is thinning?” Bubai frowned.

  Did water boy 2.0 give up his field advantage? Or can he no longer maintain it?

  Whatever the case…

  The moment visibility started returning, Bubai spotted the silhouette of his opponent standing there at the far edge of the arena.

  Unmoving. Watching. His cold verdict snaking over.

  “As expected… that still couldn’t kill you.”

  “Haha. Sorry to disappoint.” Bubai stopped pretending to be weak and got up, dusting off the soot on his storage pouch. “It’ll take more than a little firework to buy off my life.”

  “Little firework?” The other’s tone grew colder. “Any other Qi refiner would’ve gotten blown to the other shore by now.”

  “Even those paper-tiger foundation builders won’t get off lightly, but your physique... is downright abominable. No wonder my brother fell at your hands even with all the holy seeds I gave him.”

  Bubai cracked his neck and shrugged. “Not my fault he courted his own death. If he had a better brother to teach him not to, maybe he might still be alive.”

  The words nded like pebbles on a beast’s back—light, but irksome, enough to make the other snark back.

  “What a cheeky little rat. It seems you won’t learn to keep that filthy mouth shut until you see your coffin.”

  Bubai smirked, mock-thoughtful.

  “Hey, if you can find me one, I’ll be happy to take it. Free things are hard to come by these days...”

  “But seeing how your eyesight is worse than your personality, I doubt you’ll be finding a coffin that fits me anytime soon.”

  “Oh? Wuhahaha...” That drew an amused ugh from the other.

  “What confidence. Go on, keep fpping that tongue. I want to see how long you think your mouth can shield you from the inevitable.”

  “Even if you pull out another dead man just to stall me, it can’t change your ending.”

  “Oh.” Bubai nonchantly pulled out a knife and smiled back.

  “Hey, if he’s dead, he’s not gonna compin, just like your brother. There’s no need to get all worked up over a dead nobody who will just be a pebble in your long life, am I right?”

  “…A... nobody?”

  That seemed to have finally ticked someone off because the temperature in the air dropped like a stone in a well.

  “Wuha… wuhahaha…”

  The half-fog-obscured appearance of the man standing afar grew clearer and clearer, yet his hollow cackle only grew colder and colder.

  “That’s it. A vermin who crawled in through the backdoor like you would never understand what it’s like to walk through a sea of fire together, but since you’re so eager to court death...”

  A gourd got aimed over like the muzzle of a cannon and two hands channeled power into it.

  “—then let me teach you the difference between a nobody who walked through hell and a wild rat today!”

  At his words, the gourd began rattling ominously, and then came a rumbling sound...

  It was faint, sounded rather distant, and Bubai tried to make out what it was.

  Thunder? No… it sounded more like… waves?

  There was no need to specute further for in the next second—Shhhhhh—FWOOSH!

  Water gushed out from the gourd’s narrow spout!

  Not a stream. Not even a fountain. It roared out!

  Such a small tip, but somehow, the water coming out was even fiercer than a fireman’s high-pressure hose!

  In mere seconds, all the lingering mist got devoured by the globe of swirling water that treated its owner like the eye of a storm, getting rger and rger like a disaster in the making!

  “Oi oi oi—what kind of cracked water gourd is that?!”

  Bubai stared gobsmacked at the man rising like a spirit crowned by the tide.

  Dear Merlin! Dear bloody Merlin! Right after a little scratch, the boss entered stage two just like that?!

  And that’s not even the problem! Isn’t this power spike too much?! How to even fight this?!

  But the world wasn’t going to wait for the hero to come up with any bright ideas.

  The vilin soon arrived at his peak with gourd in hand like a war drum ready to beat down heaven’s gates.

  Staring through the water curtain, Wu Dawei’s pale face grew cruel and he smmed his palm forward!

  “Face the wrath of nature! Water Style: Sun Eclipsing Tideeee!”

  ROARRRR!

  The water globe shattered—no, detonated, transforming into a monstrous tsunami that drowned out half the skies of the arena!