Chapter 20 The Clash of Wills

On the arena, Li Lu and the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng were already engaged in combat.

Li Lu's towering figure seemed to teleport, appearing right in front of Ha Fucheng. His massive palm slammed down, the hairy hand nearly the size of Ha Fucheng's entire body. It was as if he were swatting a mosquito, slamming Ha Fucheng onto the arena floor!

*Bang!!!*

The impact of the palm caused the entire arena to tremble, a sensation clearly felt by the hundreds of millions of spectators.

"Such power," Xu Jingming mused, his eyes fixed on Ha Fucheng's body beneath the hairy hand.

"Smashed into paste?" countless spectators watched with bated breath.

Li Lu's expression shifted slightly as he lifted his palm, his other hand already descending.

*Bang, bang, bang!!!*

Both hands pounded down in succession, intent on crushing Ha Fucheng to death.

Ha Fucheng lay prone on the arena floor, not bothering to dodge. Instead, he propped himself up with both hands, slowly rising. The process was gradual, allowing Li Lu to strike him hundreds of times.

"Is that all the strength you've got?" Ha Fucheng chuckled softly, still on the ground, seemingly unscathed by the barrage. "Are you just tickling me?"

"The ant tribe's bodies are indeed tough," Li Lu said, slowly spreading his palms. A terrifying aura began to brew.

Ha Fucheng sensed the looming threat and swiftly retreated thousands of meters, maintaining a safe distance as he regarded Li Lu with gravity.

"Ant tribe, since your body is so resilient, try taking one of my saber techniques," Li Lu stated calmly. With a single stride, his figure blurred. Ha Fucheng instantly dodged, but Li Lu's superior speed allowed him to close in, and a flash of light sliced across Ha Fucheng's body. A chunk of carapace-covered flesh flew off, spraying purple blood.

"Using palms as blades?" Ha Fucheng frowned slightly, completely ignoring the wound on his abdomen.

"Die," Li Lu said expressionlessly, continuing his assault. Each palm strike carved into Ha Fucheng's body, seeking to obliterate him.

However, Ha Fucheng's body was rapidly regenerating. The several deep wounds on his chest healed completely in the blink of an eye. The large chunk of flesh that had been severed grew back in a single second.

"Hmm?" Li Lu's face changed. "His recovery speed is this fast?"

Though the strong in this world all possessed high regenerative abilities, the fact that nearly one-twentieth of his body could be severed and regrow in a single second was astounding.

Xu Jingming was equally astonished. "The ant tribe's Ha Fucheng's regeneration speed is dozens of times faster than mine!"

The larger the physique, the slower the regeneration.

Even at the same Level 70, a dragon clan member over a hundred meters long would take several days to regrow a severed tail.

A human might regrow an arm in a minute or two.

An ant tribe member could regrow a leg in seconds.

"Li Lu of the Xiao tribe, do you have any new tricks?" Ha Fucheng asked, assessing the power of his opponent’s palm blades. He changed his fighting strategy, using his thick chest and back to withstand the attacks. Even if he suffered a wound, it would heal in a blink.

Li Lu continued his assault in silence.

Using his palms to execute saber techniques was his specialty. But Ha Fucheng's body was too tough, his regeneration too fast.

"If you have no new tricks, then you've lost," Ha Fucheng grinned, actively meeting the attacks. He used his body to withstand the palm blades while simultaneously launching his own attacks.

His small palms were like incredibly sharp knives, leaving bloody gashes across Li Lu's body.

"A powerful expert's body can be used as a weapon, but the ant tribe's body is a divine weapon," Xu Jingming observed clearly. When the ant tribe's fingertips brushed against Li Lu's body, it left a wound.

Li Lu was forced to defend, splitting his focus between defense and searching for a way to win.

The two engaged in a frenzied battle.

But clearly, even if Ha Fucheng suffered some wounds, they healed in the blink of an eye.

Li Lu's wounds, however, were much slower to heal. In the close-quarters combat, one of Li Lu's eyes was slashed blind.

It would take about a minute for the eye to regenerate.

In that time, the ant tribe member could gain a lot of advantages. Ha Fucheng took the opportunity to blind the other eye.

After six minutes of fighting, with a small hole blasted in his head, Li Lu finally shouted, "I concede."

The match was finally over.

The arena was silent at first, followed by an explosion of cheers.

Many ant tribe, bee tribe, and other ultra-small races jumped and cheered in the stands.

"Champion!"

"Ha Fucheng, champion!"

The ultra-small race spectators were incredibly excited. They vaguely saw hope for the ant tribe to win the championship. Since the start of the 'Ten Thousand Races Arena,' this was the first time the ant tribe had made it to the main event, and this time, they even had a chance to compete for the championship. How could they not be excited?

"Lost," Li Lu murmured, his spirit deflated after conceding. "Losing this match, my chances of winning this tournament are almost non-existent."

Based on past experience, the champion was usually undefeated.

Ha Fucheng grew more confident. "Just as I expected, when our strength is close, the ant tribe will win in a head-on battle."

In the contestant's viewing box.

Xu Jingming watched Li Lu leave the arena. "Li Lu's eyes were both blind, and he was fighting by sensing his surroundings. His skull was even pierced with a hole. If I were to go up against him, could I win?"

He was not confident!

In the other viewing boxes, the demon dragon descendant, Lie Yun, and the gray elf tribe's Fu Jie wore solemn expressions. "An indestructible body, incredibly fast regeneration, and terrifyingly sharp claws. How can he be defeated?"

The ant tribe's hands had a layer of black shell on the back, and their fingertips had sharp barbs. They were natural weapons.

…

Time passed second by second.

Each match in the ultimate round-robin tournament was fierce. Xu Jingming, the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng, the Xiao tribe's Li Lu, the demon dragon descendant Lie Yun, and the gray elf tribe's Fu Jie spared no effort, striving for victory in every match.

"The ant tribe's Ha Fucheng," Xu Jingming paid the most attention to Ha Fucheng's matches.

In the fourth round-robin match, the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng faced the gray elf tribe's Fu Jie.

Ha Fucheng won this match easily.

Fu Jie's offense was somewhat lacking and was unable to leave any wounds on Ha Fucheng's body. The match was without suspense as Ha Fucheng won easily.

In the seventh round-robin match, the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng faced the demon dragon descendant, 'Lie Yun.'

Lie Yun had just defeated Li Lu in the previous match! One could see Lie Yun's strength; he was over five meters tall and was the strongest and fastest in the round-robin tournament. His fighting style was also extremely fierce.

However…

His ferocity met its match in Ha Fucheng! Lie Yun's fierce attacks only inflicted minor injuries on Ha Fucheng.

In the end, Ha Fucheng punched through Lie Yun's chest, piercing his heart and forcing Lie Yun to concede.

"The seventh match of the ultimate round-robin tournament has concluded, and the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng has won," the tournament host, Pan Qiu, announced excitedly. "As of now, the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng has fought three battles and won all three!"

"The human race's Jingming has also fought two battles and won both."

"The demon dragon descendant, Lie Yun, has fought three battles, winning one and losing two."

"The Xiao tribe's Li Lu has fought three battles, winning one and losing two."

"The gray elf tribe's Fu Jie has also fought three battles and lost all three."

The tournament host, Pan Qiu, announced loudly, "In this tournament, Lie Yun, Li Lu, and Fu Jie have no hope of winning first place! The number of their victories cannot catch up to the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng."

"Therefore, the eighth match will also be the final match of this tournament, and it will be between the human race's Jingming and the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng!"

"Whoever wins between the two of them will directly win this tournament's championship."

The tournament host, Pan Qiu's voice, transmitted through the broadcast, spread throughout every corner of the Ten Thousand Races World.

…

The human race and the ant tribe's audience in the Ten Thousand Races World were both in an uproar, going wild.

Countless ant tribe members went crazy as they hugged each other, bumped their heads together, jumped around, and excitedly looked at their ant tribe's greatest expert—Ha Fucheng.

The joy on the human side was no less than that of the ant tribe.

"Sir Jingming is about to fight for the championship."

"In the ultimate round-robin tournament, Sir Jingming has won two battles in a row. Once he defeats the ant tribe member, he will directly win the tournament championship."

"Our human race is actually fighting for the championship of the Ten Thousand Races Arena?"

The audiences in the seven human empires couldn't believe what they were seeing; it felt like an unreal dream!

"We were content to just be on the main arena. But Sir Jingming walked to the end as a human martial artist. As long as he wins one more match… Sir Jingming will be number one in the Ten Thousand Races!"

"I can't believe it, I really can't believe it."

Countless human audiences were excited and watched the live broadcast with tension and anticipation, waiting for the final match to begin.

…

"Sir Jingming has finally made it to the end." In the audience stands, Yu Yangwei, Ying, and the fatty, Feng Ke, had complex feelings. They had no hope themselves, but they finally saw their friend reach the end.

"Seize this opportunity; winning will get us out of here."

"Jingming, we have no hope; you must seize this opportunity," Yu Yangwei and the others thought.

At that moment, the millions of spectating high-dimensional lifeforms had complex feelings, filled with envy and jealousy.

After all, one of Xu Jingming and Ha Fucheng would definitely leave, while the vast majority of high-dimensional lifeforms had lost hope.

…

The tournament host, Pan Qiu, was also paying attention to the state of the two contestants. After confirming that the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng had fully recovered, he said excitedly, "Next is the final match of this tournament! Please welcome the two contestants to the arena!"

Countless spectators cheered.

Amidst the anticipation of countless lives in the Ten Thousand Races World, two figures appeared in the arena.

Xu Jingming and Ha Fucheng faced each other from afar.

"Only the final battle remains before I can leave. I must win this battle," the ant tribe's Ha Fucheng said silently.

Xu Jingming observed his opponent. "I must seize the opportunity. The advantage of the ultra-small races will be even greater when the next tournament begins. The longer I delay, the more variables there will be! This tournament is when I have the greatest hope!"

Their eyes met, and their mental wills collided. Both sensed the other's unshakeable resolve.