?The sun had set, but the arena was brighter than noon.

  ?Liu Feng hovered three feet off the ground, suspended by a updraft of superheated air. His golden robes billowed around him like liquid fire. In his hand, the sword Dawn Breaker hummed with a frequency that made teeth ache.

  ?Opposite him, Jiang Chen stood in the shadows of the arena wall. But the shadows were shrinking.

  ?"There is nowhere to hide, rat," Liu Feng announced, his voice amplified by his Qi. "My Solar Domain incinerates darkness. Your little stealth trick is useless here."

  ?He was right. The [Starless Breath] relied on blending into the background. But when the background was blinding light, a void stood out like a black ink stain on a white sheet.

  ?Jiang Chen stepped forward. The light hit his skin. It sizzled.

  ?"I wasn't hiding," Jiang Chen said, his voice calm despite the heat blistering his cheek. "I was waiting for the temperature to rise."

  ?"Arrogant," Liu Feng sighed. "You beat a poison master and a brute. Do not mistake their weakness for your strength."

  ?He pointed his sword.

  ?"Solar Art: First Prominence."

  ?A beam of concentrated plasma shot from the tip of the blade. It wasn't an arc or a wave; it was a laser.

  ?Jiang Chen dodged.

  ?SSZZT.

  ?The beam grazed his shoulder. The fabric of his robe vaporized instantly. The [Obsidian Furnace] skin underneath turned white-hot, but held.

  ?Jiang Chen rolled, coming up in a crouch.

  ?"Fast," Jiang Chen noted.

  ?"He is compressing the light," Apeiron analyzed, his voice tight. "That sword is a focal point. He isn't generating the heat; he is channeling the ambient solar energy stored in the array. He is fighting with the mountain's battery."

  ?"Solar Art: Ten Sun Barrage!"

  ?Liu Feng didn't let up. He slashed ten times in a second.

  ?Beams of light crisscrossed the arena. Jiang Chen danced through them, a desperate ballet of survival.

  ?He ducked under one beam—it sheared off the top of his hair bun.

  He leaped over another—it melted the stone floor where he had just stood.

  ?He was fast. The [Neuro-Overclock] from the poison pill hadn't fully faded. But he was losing ground. The arena was turning into an oven.

  ?[System Alert: Ambient Temperature 400°C.]

  [Furnace Body Heat Capacity: 85%.]

  [Warning: Overheat Imminent.]

  ?"Dance, rat!" Liu Feng laughed, floating higher. "Burn for me!"

  ?He raised his sword high. The air above the arena began to twist. A massive sphere of fire formed, growing until it was twenty feet wide. A miniature sun.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  ?The audience gasped. Even the Elders in the box stood up.

  ?"That's the Supernova Strike," Elder Mo muttered. "That's a Foundation Establishment lethal move. If he drops that, the boy dies."

  ?Liu Feng looked down at Jiang Chen with the benevolence of a cruel god.

  ?"I will not kill you," Liu Feng said. "But I will burn the cultivation out of you. Beg for mercy, and I might aim for your legs."

  ?Jiang Chen stopped moving. He stood in the center of the melting stone floor.

  ?He looked up at the giant ball of fire.

  ?He felt the heat. It was terrifying. It was enough to turn him to ash.

  ?But beneath the fear, the [Void Foundation] was drooling.

  ?"He is offering you a feast," Apeiron whispered. "Do not insult the host by refusing it."

  ?Jiang Chen smiled. His skin cracked from the dryness, bleeding magma-colored blood.

  ?"Mercy?" Jiang Chen shouted up at the floating golden figure.

  ?He spread his arms wide.

  ?"I'm starving!"

  ?Liu Feng's eyes narrowed. "Then choke on it."

  ?He swung the sword down.

  ?The miniature sun descended. It didn't fall fast; it drifted down with the inexorable weight of doom. The air pressure crushed the floor tiles into dust.

  ?Jiang Chen didn't run. He planted his feet.

  ?He engaged every system he had.

  ?[Skill: Obsidian Furnace Body (Max Density).]

  [Skill: The Starless Breath (Invert: Vacuum Mode).]

  [Skill: Glutton's Gravity (Overdrive).]

  ?A black vortex opened in front of Jiang Chen's chest. It wasn't a technique; it was a tear in reality.

  ?The sun hit him.

  ?BOOOOOOM.

  ?The arena vanished in a blinding flash of white. The sound was so loud it silenced the world. A shockwave of heat blasted the front row of the audience, singing eyebrows and setting flags on fire.

  ?"He's gone," Lu Pao whispered, covering his eyes. "He's vaporized."

  ?The light began to fade.

  ?Smoke billowed from the center of the crater.

  ?Liu Feng lowered himself, panting. That attack had cost him 60% of his Qi.

  ?"A pity," Liu Feng said, sheathing his sword. "He had promise."

  ?Crunch.

  ?A sound came from the smoke.

  ?Crunch. Gulp.

  ?Liu Feng froze.

  ?The smoke cleared.

  ?Jiang Chen was standing there.

  ?He was naked from the waist up, his robes burned away. His skin was glowing a terrifying, translucent orange, like iron pulled fresh from a forge. Black veins pulsed violently all over his body, pumping the excess heat into his core.

  ?He was holding the last wisp of the "Supernova" in his hand. It was a ball of fire the size of an apple.

  ?He brought it to his mouth.

  ?He ate it.

  ?Gulp.

  ?[Critical Energy Absorption.]

  [Furnace Body: 120% Charge.]

  [EV Gained: +2,000 (Solar Essence).]

  ?Jiang Chen exhaled. A jet of black smoke shot from his nostrils.

  ?He looked at Liu Feng. His eyes were no longer violet. They were black holes rimmed with gold.

  ?"Spicy," Jiang Chen rasped.

  ?Liu Feng stepped back in the air, his composure shattering. "What... what are you?"

  ?Jiang Chen stomped the ground.

  ?The stone exploded.

  ?He launched himself into the air. Not with Qi, but with the explosive release of the heat he had just absorbed. He was a rocket.

  ?He appeared in front of the floating Liu Feng instantly.

  ?"I am the Eclipse," Jiang Chen whispered.

  ?He grabbed Liu Feng's face.

  ?The Obsidian Furnace heat transferred.

  ?HISSSS.

  ?"AAAAHH!" Liu Feng screamed as his perfect skin blistered.

  ?Jiang Chen didn't let go. He drove them both downward.

  ?They fell like a meteor.

  ?CRASH.

  ?They hit the arena floor. The impact shook the entire mountain. A crater ten feet deep opened up in the granite.

  ?Jiang Chen stood in the center of the crater, holding Liu Feng by the throat.

  ?The "Little Sun" was broken. His golden robes were tattered. His sword lay shattered nearby. His face was a mask of burns and terror.

  ?Jiang Chen raised his other fist. The [Void Claw] materialized, black and hungry.

  ?"Do it!" the crowd screamed, bloodlust taking over. "Finish him!"

  ?Jiang Chen looked at the sobbing "god" beneath him.

  ?"Eat him," Apeiron demanded. "He is Foundation Establishment. His core is ripe."

  ?Jiang Chen hesitated.

  ?He looked up at the VIP box. The Elders were on their feet, weapons drawn, ready to intervene if he killed a prime disciple.

  ?"If I eat him," Jiang Chen thought, the red haze lifting slightly, "I become a monster to be hunted. If I spare him... I become a genius to be nurtured."

  ?Jiang Chen dissipated the Void Claw.

  ?He leaned down.

  ?"You're not a sun," Jiang Chen whispered to Liu Feng. "You're just a battery. And I'm full."

  ?He dropped Liu Feng.

  ?Jiang Chen stood up, turning his back on the fallen champion. He raised one fist to the silent, terrified crowd.

  ?"Winner," the referee croaked, terrified. "Jiang Chen!"

  ?The roar that followed wasn't cheering. It was the sound of thousands of people realizing that the hierarchy had just been eaten.