4: Peak of Tongyuan

The referee on the scene walked over with an excited face and raised his hand to declare victory.

At that moment, the people from the Crucible saw that no divinity fragment had dropped,

and simply assumed the divinity fragment had dissipated on its own.

"Night Crow!"

"Night Crow!"

...At this time, many people in the audience were waving their arms and enthusiastically shouting Zhou Xing's title.

After a brief rest, Zhou Xing's next opponent also slowly took the stage.

A burly man over two meters tall walked over like a moving city wall, giving off a strong sense of pressure.

This man's code name was Iron Tower, and he had fused with a divinity fragment of the "god of steel."

As the host announced the start of the match,

Iron Tower grinned and slammed his fist into the ground,

his powerful strength causing the entire arena to tremble.

The moment Zhou Xing's footing faltered, the opponent charged over like a truck at full speed.

As he charged, power surged through him, and it looked as if his body was being clad in battle armor.

This was his ability—Metallization.

In his haste, Zhou Xing condensed a layer of ice shield in front of him, but the opponent's strength was too immense, easily shattering the ice.

Utilizing his body's agility, Zhou Xing dodged like a flash of lightning.

Taking advantage of the gaps between the opponent's continuous attacks, Zhou Xing also discovered that every time "Iron Tower" metallized,

his chest would return to a normal skin tone for one second.

Zhou Xing's ultimate goal was Luo Jin, so he didn't want to waste time.

To the shock of many, he actually took the initiative to rush toward the opponent.

Seeing Zhou Xing rush over, Iron Tower threw a punch with a cruel smile, but Zhou Xing's feet moved as if he were teleporting,

agilely maneuvering directly behind Iron Tower.

Immediately after, Frost Power was applied directly to the opponent's body.

Iron Tower was about to turn back to counterattack, only to find that his feet had been frozen in place.

The ice was even continuously spreading upward.

"Damn it! Break for me!"

Iron Tower tried to break free by force, but at that moment, flames surged on Zhou Xing's hands, and he pressed them directly against Iron Tower's exposed chest.

The alternating power of ice and fire caused Iron Tower's metallized skin to emit sounds of being overstrained.

"Ah!"

Iron Tower let out a howl of pain as his metallic skin began to crack under the two forces.

Zhou Xing seized the opportunity to slam a knee strike into his chin.

"Crack!"

Iron Tower's massive body crashed to the ground and did not get up.

A divinity fragment emitting a black light emerged.

Zhou Xing won once again.

Soon,

a "Crucible" staff member on the scene arrived with professional equipment to collect the divinity fragment into a special glass bottle for safekeeping.

This was the long-standing rule of the "Crucible": the opponent's divinity fragment belongs to the winner.

However, the "Crucible" would charge a "tiny bit" of a storage fee when they delivered it later.

Without much of a break,

Zhou Xing went on to fight three consecutive matches.

He defeated three powerful contestants—'Phantom Butterfly', 'Thunder', and 'Shadow'—successfully achieving a five-win streak.

Phantom Butterfly and Thunder were manageable, but the only one Zhou Xing found truly troublesome was Shadow.

Compared to Wind Chime, Shadow was like an elf in the darkness; not just his speed, but his attack moves were even harder for Zhou Xing to defend against.

Especially the opponent's "Atomization" ability, which was like a ghost, leaving Zhou Xing struggling to keep up.

Finally, at the cost of being heavily injured, he unleashed Ice Fire Dual Stream: Annihilation to break the opponent's Atomization.

Seizing the chance and utilizing his powerful combat skills, Zhou Xing successfully dealt with the opponent.

The host's voice, trembling slightly with excitement, echoed throughout the venue:

"Let us congratulate another winner of the five-win streak honor, Night Crow!"

"Night Crow!"

"Night Crow!"

"Night Crow!"

At this moment, in the vast venue, many people were loudly shouting Zhou Xing's title.

For them, the five consecutive matches just now were incredibly satisfying to watch.

Among them, some clever people who had secretly bet on "Night Crow" to win had made quite a lot of money,

and they all became loyal fans of Zhou Xing in the arena.

At that moment, Zhou Xing felt a sharp gaze. He turned to look, only to find it blocked by the private boxes.

To ensure the privacy of certain clients, the arena had specifically set up private box areas. One could clearly see the stage from the inside,

but it was impossible to see any movement inside from the outside.

"Here, this is the reward you earned, along with the four divinity fragments you obtained."

After Zhou Xing left the stage and went to the waiting room, the "Crucible" also arranged for a receptionist to deliver the rewards he had won all at once.

Of course, of the five million in cash, there was only four million.

One million was directly deducted for the storage of the divinity fragments and service fees, which made Zhou Xing's heart ache.

That was equivalent to one divinity inhibitor.

But those were the rules of the "Crucible"; in the entire black market or even Dragon City, few dared to break the rules.

It was said that even a colossus like the "Divine Gene" company had to show some respect to the boss behind the "Crucible."

"Mr. Night Crow, news just came from above. Will you continue to accept challenges?"

At this time, the receptionist looked at Zhou Xing respectfully. "You have completed a five-win streak and possess the qualification to challenge any one of the top 3.

If you win, you can receive a ten-million reward in one go."

"I can, but I need to rest and recover. Provide me with the information on the three people, and I will tell you my decision in three hours."

Zhou Xing pretended to ponder for a moment, then nodded to the receptionist.

"Very well, then I won't disturb your rest.

Also, here is the information on the three people; it's all in here. You can check it yourself."

With a brighten gaze, the receptionist handed a tablet to Zhou Xing, then bowed and left the waiting room.

At this time, Zhou Xing intended to let the system completely absorb and fuse the four divinity fragments.

This would ensure that his strength improved further.

[Ding! Obtained 'god of steel' fragment (15%)]

[Extracted Abilities: 1. Partial Metallization

2. Damage effect of Ice-Fire Alternation against Awakened Ones of the same attribute increased by 20%]

————————————————

[Ding! Obtained 'god of hallucination' fragment (15%)]

[Extracted Abilities: 1. Mental Resistance Lv.1 (Reduces mental-type damage by 15%) 2. Hallucination]

————————————————

[Ding! Obtained 'god of phantom' fragment (15%)]

[Extracted Abilities: 1. Wind Resistance Lv.1 (Reduces wind-type damage by 15%) 2. Shadow Clone]

————————————————

[Ding! Obtained 'god of thunder' fragment (18%)]

[Extracted Abilities: 1. Thunder Resistance Lv.1 (Reduces Thunder-type damage by 15%) 2. Thunder Strike]

————————————————

[Ding! host's strength has increased to the peak of the late tong yuan stage]

With the plundering and fusion of the four divinity fragments,

Zhou Xing's strength successfully rose to the peak of Tong Yuan.

Slowly opening his eyes, Zhou Xing also felt that his aura was more solid than before,

and the strength he could exert had increased by more than several times.

He picked up the tablet nearby and scanned through the information of the three people.

Each person even had quite a few battle videos, including ability analyses.

Without hesitation, Zhou Xing directly chose to challenge Luo Jin...