The arena fell silent again—a calm before the storm.
With a slow, grating creak, another stone door opened, its harsh creaking echoed through the air, tightening the tension in the stands until every spectator held their breath.
A moment later, a violent wave of demonic energy swept across the arena.
"Silverthunder Ant Beast!" gasps and shouts erupted from the crowd.
Native to Anlu Star, this astral beast was a natural-born warrior. It stood three meters tall, its six limbs forming an imposing, spiderlike stance, but its two massive front claws made it genuinely terrifying.
Each one gleamed with a razor-edge sharp enough to slice even a Transcendent Realm cultivator in half if they were careless.
The guards went to great lengths to capture it and paid a steep price when the beast's claws tore one of them apart.
The moment it stepped into the open, its demonic energy shot skyward. The blood-soaked scent of the arena further provoked it, and it roared in fury, gouging deep furrows in the ground with its claws.
Then, without hesitation, it charged straight toward Liu Wuxie.
"Milord, we didn't feed the Silverthunder Ant Beast last night as you instructed. It must be starving mad now; that brat is dead," Liu An whispered.
He deliberately starved the beast to make it even more vicious for today's fight. A hungry astral beast was dangerous beyond measure.
Liu Wuxie's gaze hardened as he gripped the iron blade, his only available weapon. He could summon the Heretic Blade, but doing so would reveal the secret of the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. If Yu Wentai learned of it, Liu Wuxie would be the first to die.
The ground shuddered beneath the beast's charge, dust rising in waves as if an earthquake had struck.
From its presence alone, Liu Wuxie recognized it as a second-grade astral beast, equal to a Transcendent Realm expert. Strongman had only reached the Heaven Profound Realm; formidable or not, he was nothing compared to this beast.
In a direct clash, Liu Wuxie had no chance. His only hope was to break through mid-battle, slay the beast, and devour its blood essence to advance his cultivation further.
Without hesitation, he poured everything stored in the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron into the desolate world—Heaven Profound Realm laws, astral stone energy, all of it.
His aura shifted instantly, spiritual energy surging toward him from all directions.
"That kid is going to attempt a breakthrough!" the slaves exclaimed in surprise, rising to their feet.
"Without astral stones? He's doomed," others sneered. They knew a heavenly tribulation was inevitable, and without astral stones to sustain the process, no one could succeed.
Only He Yingwu knew the truth, and Liu Wuxie had not only astral stones but also enough of them to push him to the third-level Heaven Profound Realm.
A vortex churned above him as black thunderclouds gathered. Strangely, the Silverthunder Ant Beast froze in place, unwilling to approach. The destructive might of a heavenly tribulation could kill even it.
Spiritual energy from the surroundings poured into Liu Wuxie's body in torrents. Outwardly, he appeared to rely solely on ambient energy, but in reality, astral stone power flooded into the desolate world.
With astral stones in hand, he wouldn't need the hassle of putting up an act.
As the liquid began to increase in the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, Liu Wuxie didn't hesitate to pour it into the desolate world.
The gateway to the Heaven Profound Realm opened wide, and a deafening crack split the air as the first bolt of lightning slammed into him.
He welcomed it, using the heavenly lightning to temper his Divine Thunder Physique while concealing the true source of his breakthrough.
Lightning wrapped around him, blocking any divine sense from probing his body and discovering he was refining astral stones.
One by one, astral stones shattered and transformed into pure laws and liquid spiritual energy. Though the desolate world had shrunk a hundredfold since entering the astral domain, its density had multiplied just as much.
Boundless force filled his limbs as the Heavenly Dao Book unfurled within him, guiding his meridians to endure the tribulation.
Lightning bolts crashed down relentlessly, but Liu Wuxie remained unshaken. His physique rivaled the peak of the Heaven Profound Realm, and this level of lightning could not harm him.
"What a terrifying physique," the surrounding guards remarked, shocked by his resilience.
Even as cultivators at the Transcendent Realm, they had to be careful against a heavenly tribulation of this level. But Liu Wuxie seemed to be enjoying it, which baffled everyone.
Yu Wentai's eyes flicked to Liu An. Understanding at once, Liu An produced a whistle and blew hard.
The piercing screech jolted the Silverthunder Ant Beast to life. With a furious roar, it charged at Liu Wuxie, claws raised to strike.
However, Liu Wuxie didn't look up.
"Second-level Heaven Profound Realm—open!" he bellowed, his aura erupting again. He was even planning to reach the third-level Heaven Profound Realm.
This time, Liu Wuxie couldn't just avoid and had to retaliate, or the beast would send him flying and disrupt his breakthrough.
"Annihilation Fist!" Liu Wuxie summoned the surrounding lightning into a colossal fist that descended from the sky, merging with his strike. The impact smashed into the beast's claw, sending it skidding back across the ground.
The exchange left his arm tingling with numbness; his breakthrough unfinished, he could not yet draw on his full strength.
Thirty more astral stones detonated and expanded the desolate world by a third. Heaven Profound Realm laws surged through it and raised his combat power further.
He opened the gateway to the third-level Heaven Profound Realm, precisely as he had intended.
Yu Wentai's face darkened. Something was wrong; no one could make a breakthrough so quickly without astral stones, let alone multiple times in succession.
"This is strange. Does he not need any astral stones?" The slaves murmured among themselves, and even Yu Wentai, with his cultivation at the Origin Conversion Realm, reacted.
Liu An also frowned while Chen Gang stood in shock. The speed of Liu Wuxie's breakthrough was unbelievable.
By now, Liu Wuxie had consumed over sixty of the hundred-plus astral stones he possessed, pushing his cultivation to the peak of the second-level Heaven Profound Realm. With the last one, a torrent of power flooded the desolate world.
The skies blackened, and darkness drained the light from the world.
The Silverthunder Ant Beast froze mid-step and forgot its killing intent.
The Desolate Devouring Art swept outward like a ravenous beast, pulling in all spiritual energy within tens of thousands of meters. The excess washed over the stands and helped several slaves break through to higher realms on the spot.
It was precisely what Liu Wuxie had planned; stronger slaves meant greater chaos during the coming astral beast horde, giving them all a chance to escape Anlu Star.
"Stop him from continuing his breakthrough!" Yu Wentai roared.
Liu An blew the whistle again, the shrill note stabbing into the ears of all nearby. The Silverthunder Ant Beast roared, its eyes bloodshot, and charged once more.
By then, Liu Wuxie had fully opened the gateway to the third-level Heaven Profound Realm. His aura burst outward in a tidal wave, chilling the guards to their bones. Though only in the Heaven Profound Realm, the power he released rivaled that of the Transcendent Realm.
"What terrifying power!" The guards around the arena felt a chill down their spines.
With no time to consolidate, he seized his blade and charged. The suppression of the astral domain's laws had weakened, and his speed surged.
The man and beast closed the distance in a heartbeat. Liu Wuxie moved with the Divine Dragon Phantom—swift, fluid, impossible to predict.
Liu Wuxie executed the Divine Dragon Phantom. Though he couldn't fly, he moved with swift, fluid steps while the Silverthunder Ant Beast lost all reason and remained completely under Liu An's control.
Just then, a sharp crack echoed.
The sharp crack didn't come from the beast's claw; it came from the iron blade in Liu Wuxie's hands. The creature's hide was too hard, and the weapon was too poor; it was a mere ordinary iron, after all, and not even a spiritual artifact.
After losing the iron blade, Liu Wuxie stood defenseless and could not match the Silverthunder Ant Beast.
Unarmed, Liu Wuxie staggered back under the beast's relentless assault. The chain on his left foot slowed him further, and he narrowly escaped capture time after time.
His breakthrough made him faster, but against a foe of Transcendent Realm strength, the gap remained dangerously wide.