78: Chapter 78 Battle to the Death

Su Bai looked at the shining [89th] in the ranking column, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Top one hundred.

Top one hundred in the entire country.

Half a month ago, he was still the "Waste World Awakened" mocked by everyone, unable to even make it onto the Qingshi City rankings.

Now, he stood on the highest stage in the country.

The communicator began to vibrate.

Su Bai looked down; as expected, it was Chu Kuangren.

[Chu Kuangren: Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!! Brother, you really broke into the top hundred!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: My old man just roared in the living room and scared our family's Tier 3 guard dog so much it pissed itself!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: The money has been transferred!!! Ten million!!! Go check it!!!]

Su Bai tapped open his account, and sure enough, another row of digits had appeared.

[Received: 10,000,000 federal credits]

Ten million.

Another ten thousand points of Power Of Faith.

The smile at the corner of Su Bai's mouth deepened.

Just as he was about to reply, another message from Chu Kuangren popped up.

[Chu Kuangren: Right, my old man also said that for the Top Scholar Competition in three days, if you can make it into the top ten, the Chu Family will give you thirty million!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: Fifty million for the top five!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: One hundred million for first place!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: Brother, the face of our Qinglin Province depends on you!!!]

Su Bai looked at the string of numbers and nodded slightly.

He raised his hand and sent a simple three-word reply:

[Su Bai: Understood.]

Chu Kuangren's messages were still flooding the screen, but Su Bai had already turned off the communicator.

He looked up, his gaze piercing through the void of the consciousness universe, landing on those flickering points of light.

Top ten.

One hundred million.

There were still three days.

Enough.

Right then, a piercing red light suddenly exploded in front of Su Bai.

The intensity of that red light instantly illuminated the entire void.

All the spectating points of light retreated simultaneously.

[Spectator A: Holy crap! A Life and Death Battle invitation!]

[Spectator B: Who sent it? Who's challenging Su Bai to a Life and Death Battle?]

[Spectator C: Let me see... It's Zhao Wuji! That Zhao Wuji ranked 37th!]

[Spectator D: Zhao Wuji? The owner of the Blazing Sun World? The one at the peak of Tier 5?]

[Spectator E: Why did he suddenly challenge Su Bai to a Life and Death Battle? Do they have a grudge?]

[Spectator F: No idea, but once a Life and Death Battle starts, it's a fight to the death...]

Su Bai stared at the red light in front of him.

In the center of the red light, a line of blood-red text slowly emerged:

[Player "Zhao Wuji" has initiated a Life and Death Battle against you]

[Life and Death Battle Description:]

[1. Once a Life and Death Battle begins, both worlds will interface directly until one world is completely devoured by the other, at which point the battle ends.]

[2. During the Life and Death Battle, no external force may interfere. National powerhouses will not intervene to resurrect any units; all deaths are permanent.]

[3. The outcome of a Life and Death Battle cannot be reversed. The winner devours everything of the loser, and the loser is completely annihilated.]

[4. Do you accept?]

[Countdown: 60 seconds]

Su Bai's brow furrowed slightly.

Zhao Wuji?

He didn't know this person at all.

He clicked on the other party's profile.

[Zhao Wuji]

[Rank: 37th]

[World Level: Tier 5 Peak]

[World Type: Blazing Sun Civilization]

[Battle Record: 147 Wins, 21 Losses]

[Remarks: Scion of the Blazing Sun Clan, one of the core candidates supported by the Zhou Family, a favorite to win this year's Top Scholar title.]

The Zhou Family.

Su Bai's eyes narrowed slightly.

Just as he was about to ask Chu Kuangren, his communicator vibrated frantically.

[Chu Kuangren: Su Bai!!! Don't accept!!! Whatever you do, don't accept!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: Zhao Wuji is one of the Zhou Family's people!!! The Zhou Family and the Chu Family are arch-enemies!!! They're definitely coming for me!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: You stood up for me, and now they've targeted you!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: Zhao Wuji is at the peak of Tier 5, and his Blazing Sun World specifically counters Yin Qi!!! He must be prepared!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: Don't accept!!! I'm begging you, don't accept!!!]

Su Bai looked at the messages popping up frantically, his expression calm.

He raised his hand and replied with a single sentence:

[Su Bai: If I kill him, is there money in it?]

Chu Kuangren's messages stopped instantly.

Three seconds later.

[Chu Kuangren: ???]

[Chu Kuangren: Are you crazy???]

[Chu Kuangren: That's a Tier 5 Peak!!! A Blazing Sun World that specifically counters Yin Qi!!! The Zhou Family must have given him items to suppress you!!!]

[Chu Kuangren: You'll die!!!]

Su Bai looked at the line "You'll die," the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

He raised his hand and replied again:

[Su Bai: Will you pay, or not?]

Chu Kuangren's side was silent for a long time.

A full twenty seconds later, a message popped up.

[Chu Kuangren: ...Yes.]

[Chu Kuangren: If you really can kill him, the Chu Family will give you another twenty million.]

[Chu Kuangren: But seriously, don't accept...]

Su Bai didn't look at the following messages.

He looked up at the blood-red countdown.

10 seconds.

9 seconds.

8 seconds.

3 seconds.

2 seconds.

1 second.

The moment the countdown hit zero, Su Bai raised his hand and lightly tapped the red light.

[Accept Life and Death Battle]

[Life and Death Battle has begun]

[Both worlds are interfacing]

[Estimated interface time: 30 seconds]

[Please prepare]

The entire consciousness universe instantly boiled over.

[Spectator A: Holy crap!!! He accepted!!! He really accepted!!!]

[Spectator B: This is insane!!! Rank 37 versus Rank 89!!! A Life and Death Battle!!!]

[Spectator C: Zhao Wuji is an established powerhouse!!! The Blazing Sun World specifically counters Yin Qi!!! How did Su Bai dare to accept?!]

[Spectator D: It's over, it's over. Qinglin Province finally produced a top hundred, and today he's going to be gone...]

[Spectator E: Not necessarily! Su Bai used different heroes in all eight of his previous matches! He must still have trump cards!]

[Spectator F: What's the use of trump cards? The Blazing Sun World naturally counters Yin Qi. His ghosts won't be able to hold out at all under the sunlight!]

Su Bai ignored the discussions.

He just floated quietly in the void, waiting for the channel to open.

Thirty seconds passed in a flash.

The void cracked open.

A massive channel, a hundred zhang in diameter, expanded in front of Su Bai.

At the other end of the channel was a completely different world.

There was no Yin Qi, no darkness, and no ghosts.

There was only light.

Endless light.

A blazing sun hung high in the sky, radiating thousands of beams of light. The ground was golden, with flowing lava. The air was filled with a scorching aura; every breath felt like swallowing fire.

Countless flame creatures lived on that land.

Flame Giants, ten zhang tall, their bodies burning with golden flames.

Fire Phoenixes, with wingspans of a hundred zhang, circled in the sky, their feathers flowing like lava.

Blazing Sun Warriors, clad in golden armor and wielding flame swords, stood in neat formations.

There were also countless low-tier Flame Spirits, Flame Beasts, and Flame Birds, packed so densely they covered the sky.

By a rough estimate, there were at least three hundred thousand units.

And at the highest point of this world, a figure floated.

It was a young man wearing a golden robe, his hair a flame-like red and his eyes a molten gold.

Behind him floated a massive phantom of a blazing sun.

Tier 5 Peak.

Zhao Wuji.

He looked at Su Bai on this end of the channel, a cruel smile on his face.

"Su Bai?"

"I thought you'd cower."

"I didn't expect you to actually dare to accept."

He raised his hand, and the blazing sun phantom behind him shone with great brilliance.

"I heard you're the 'trump card' of Qinglin Province?"

"I heard you have over a dozen heroes?"

"I heard your ghosts are very strong?"

He laughed, a laughter filled with contempt.

"But do you know?"

"The blazing sun specifically counters Yin Qi."

"In my world, those ghosts of yours won't even be able to exert thirty percent of their strength."

"What do you have to fight me with?"

Su Bai looked at him without saying a word.

He simply raised his hand slightly.

Behind him, the grayish-white Yin Qi of the Netherworld World surged like a sea.

Ten gates opened simultaneously.