"Is that Starry Singer one of your colleagues?"

Bai Zhou remembered the blue-haired girl, she left quite an impression on him during the initial selection round.

"Where is she now?"

"Never mind, it's not important. I'll deal with you first, and you'll know the price of overestimating yourselves."

Bai Zhou roared to the sky, stomping hard on the ground, causing the entire Opera Hall to tremble violently. Three cracks spread rapidly from under his feet towards Xu Xiaoyou.

Xu Xiaoyou's figure flickered and disappeared into the smoke again, dashing forward, the ground cracking continuously along her path. As the three fissures converged beneath her feet, she leapt into the air, while a torrential rain of countless stone spikes shot up from the cracks.

Seismic Stomp, a signature skill of the Berserker, Xu Xiaoyou's long whip lashed out wildly like a silver snake, constantly shattering and slicing the stone spikes. With multiple auxiliary boosts, she could clearly see the flight trajectories of these spikes.

At this moment, Bai Zhou's figure burst out from the side, cutting through the smoke, his eyes blood-red:

"Let's see where you can hide now!"

Xu Xiaoyou tilted her head, the last stone spike whizzing past her golden hair. Thunder gathered along her glove to the tip of her whip, and with a flick of her wrist, it shot towards Bai Zhou.

The Hundred Bone Whip clashed head-on with the Blood Monarch, blinding electric light met crimson mist. They separated after a brief contact, splitting the ground and cutting through steel beams as red and blue blade light entwined and intertwined, as if dancing together.

The clash of weapons provided the accompaniment for this deadly dance, while the spattered hot blood dyed the smoke red, their competing heartbeats like the rapid beat of war drums.

Then they disappeared into the fog again, their figures crisscrossing, weapons colliding and quickly separating, the blue and red silhouettes producing brief flashes of blade light at each encounter, like seasoned hunters in a primal jungle, whoever spots the other first in the thick fog gains the upper hand in this battle.

During the rapid sprint, Xu Xiaoyou used a Vitality Potion, restoring the stamina consumed in the earlier fight.

She halted, two Dynamic Perception cards appearing in her hands, and as they transformed into light and brushed across her eyes, a striking golden glow flashed by.

This was the innate resonance of a Hunter, who naturally has sensory abilities far beyond ordinary people. After using this skill card, she calmed her mind, and her dynamic vision spread outward, reconstructing the world of light and shadow before her eyes. White lines interlaced, and an invisible giant web unfolded with her at the center.

Like a spider sensing an insect striking its web, she saw a blurred figure moving at high speed in the white fog.

Xu Xiaoyou raised her heavy sniper rifle and decisively fired in that direction, the flash of gunfire reflected on her mask.

The figure in the white fog fell to the ground with the shot, and Xu Xiaoyou's brow furrowed beneath her mask, sensing a strong sense of danger the next moment, as four figures rushed toward her simultaneously from the mist!

Is this some kind of cloning ability?

She did not panic, instead turning her gun towards one direction. Bai Zhou, with fighting intent high in his eyes, broke through the smoke wielding the Blood Monarch high.

No...

It was simply because the opponent's speed was too fast, creating multiple afterimages on the field simultaneously.

In Xu Xiaoyou's Spiritual Gaze, two of the three figures rushing at her were illusions, with only Bai Zhou in the center showing a glint of triumph, as if he already guessed she would shoot.

Little did he know, Xu Xiaoyou made no move to dodge the incoming strike, and the mischievous light on her smiling mask deepened.

The bullet enchanted with Headshot had increased power and came with a homing ability.

Bai Zhou hesitated momentarily upon seeing this, feeling a strong sense of crisis from behind him.

The bullet, tip scorching red, tore violently through space, with terrifying kinetic energy, reaching him in an instant!

That bullet should have missed!

Without thinking much, his body instinctively moved to the side, as the 12.7mm bullet blew off his entire upper shoulder, sending a red rain falling across the sky.

Breathing heavily, he saw Xu Xiaoyou in the mist, vanishing slowly like a ghost harvesting lives. Half-kneeling on the ground, his almost severed shoulder was rapidly healing. Such a caliber could have shattered his skull; had he not instinctively turned his head, his brain would now be splattered everywhere.

Having brushed past death's door, Bai Zhou's expression turned grim. This opponent was far from as simple as she appeared, and he could not afford to take things lightly anymore.

Bright blue lightning patterns covered his skin, and the stray arcs coated him, the rolling thunder resembling a barrier guarding his body.

With Thunder Armor, from the earlier clashes, Bai Zhou deduced that the enemy was most likely a Thunder Mage or Thunder Knight. The Thunder Armor could significantly enhance his physical qualities and make him immune to the opponent's thunder attacks.

But...

The embodiment of the Thunder Armor brought no comfort to his heart; he'd never faced such a strange opponent. Her aura was not immensely strong, considerably weaker than his own, yet her methods were constant, and her combat experience rich enough to push him into a dangerous spot, nearly costing his life.

Suddenly, he recalled a preposterous possibility, the codenames like Fate and Dark Gold Rose mentioned by the opponent, and related her apparent vulnerability to their encounter.

Could it be, was he really battling someone who was once a Light Prism Tier Cleaner? And for some reason, ended up with chronic ailments?

Bai Zhou shook his head, dismissing this somewhat laughable thought, hesitantly considering whether to manifest his Divine Gift, "Blood Armor of Tyranny".

He was confident, at the current level of combat, manifesting his Divine Gift would instantly and doubtlessly conclude this duel.

The greatest distinction between the Fourth and Third Tier lies in the Divine Gift, achieving deep self-exploration and releasing the deepest emotions within, manifesting an armament interwoven from one's own emotions and spiritual power.

The primary difference from Mimicry is that the Divine Gift inherently covers oneself as an armament, as it's the cocoon enclosing everyone's innermost self, protecting their once weak, confused, and troubled selves.

Likewise, the self is the origin of everyone's suffering; liberation of the self means confronting all sources of emotional pain.

Bai Zhou had only recently stepped into the Fourth Tier; once the Divine Gift is first manifested, it would corrupt the user's Sea of Consciousness like a chronic poison. Most Fourth Tier warriors in the association didn't fall in battles against paranormal events, but instead, succumbed to madness as their Sea of Consciousness became utterly polluted by the Divine Gift, leading them to be killed by former comrades.

With his current Thunder Armor, so long as he remains alert to the strange whip and the homing bullets, it should be fine; that opponent's thunder abilities can't harm him.

Bai Zhou stood up, greeted by Xu Xiaoyou charging out of the fog, with thorns underfoot, her body enveloped in a water barrier, and specks of stardust flowed through her whip, with a violent storm of Fire Element whirling rapidly around her.

Bai Zhou's lips curled into a forced, bitter smile.

Director, in a time like this, where on earth have you gone...

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