At that point, the Sage Monarch appeared to be extremely calm and composed as it was fighting against Lan Muzi. On the other hand, Lan Muzi appeared to be cautious and hesitant in the battle.

  The Sage Monarch’s lizard head was a strange dark blue color at the moment with a faint glow on the surface. Every time one of the Nine Palace Boxes exploded, colorful scales would emerge on its face.

  Its combat technique was quite ghastly. In the Nine Palace Box, roughly about one hundred square meters in size, the Sage Monarch dodged and evaded continuously by constantly transforming itself.

  Every time Lan Muzi thrust his Sun Wood Saber, the Sage Monarch’s body would flicker as it dodged to the side. Lan Muzi could clearly feel that his soul power was depleting rapidly. He launched an endless tide of attacks, yet he was weakening. On the other hand, the Sage Monarch merely changed its form endlessly and remained quite calm.

  Lan Muzi was surprised to find that his soul power was depleting inside the Nine Palace Box, and there was nothing he could do to recuperate. At his rank, he could rely on the soul core inside his body and could even produce some energy to replenish a portion of his lost soul power. Then, he could utilize heaven and earth power to replenish himself.

  Nevertheless, there seemed to be some unique law that influenced the Nine Palace Box so that there was nothing he could do to recover.

  Thus, his soul power was weakened substantially after unleashing more than ten consecutive attacks. Lan Muzi had no choice but to stop.

  If he were to continue using up his energy, perhaps he would not last for a long time. His opponent would not even need to make a move. It was his first time fighting against an opponent that adopted such an unusual technique. Moreover, he realized that his battle armor domain could not be utilized inside the Nine Palace. He was being severely hindered.

  The Sage Monarch cracked into a smile upon noticing that Lan Muzi stopped. “You’re not going to attack anymore? Do you think that this is going to work?”


  As it spoke, it raised its right hand and conjured something out of thin air. At once, a staff appeared in its grasp. This had been the moment when the battle between the Holy Spirit Douluo Yali and the Ghost Emperor ended. Some colorful scales returned to the Sage Monarch’s face. The scales swiftly flew onto the staff in his hand and emitted a multicolored radiance.

  The Sage Monarch pointed in the direction of Lan Muzi. At once, Lan Muzi felt a strong force pushing against him, and he was sent flying backward. The force seemed to occupy the core area of the box, so there was nowhere he could hide. Moreover, the force was tremendous. In fact, it felt familiar to him. It was obviously similar to his soul power!

  Lan Muzi raised the Sun Wood Saber and unleashed the Triple-layered Sun Pass.

  The Sage Monarch teleported and appeared at a corner on the other side. The staff in his hand glowed brightly, and a glowing screen of light appeared. Lan Muzi felt his movements suddenly slow as if he was sinking into a mud pond.

  It was different from ordinary control-type soul skills. Lan Muzi felt as if his body was stuck to something. The force came from all directions and began pulling at his body parts simultaneously. He had no idea how to struggle free even if he wanted to.

  It felt like his hands and legs were tied. The Sun Wood Saber shined and sent out rays of green light in an attempt to weaken the opponent’s constraints. Even with that, the control soul skill pulled him so tightly that he could not budge at all.

  The Sage King on the other side remained still as he levitated.

  “It’s useless. Trying to escape is futile. My control results in absolute immobility. Unless you’re a God, you can’t possibly struggle free. Of course, I can also tell you that I can’t struggle free either when I’m controlling you, but you’re in my Nine Palace Box. Your power will be drained continuously and siphoned to me. I’m not in a rush at all. Struggle all you want. The energy you unleash will become a part of me too.”


  The Sage Monarch’s mocking voice reverberated in Lan Muzi’s ears.

  If Lan Muzi was an impatient man, perhaps his state of mind would have been in a bad place at that point. Lan Muzi was already a very steady-tempered person, but it was still agony for him to engage in such an unusually unpleasant battle with the Sage Monarch.

  He was trying his best to calm his mind. He had witnessed the Holy Spirit Douluo’s death and he was feeling determined in his heart. All he needed was a chance to fight back, but it was apparent that the opponent before him would not be giving him such a chance.

  Lan Muzi felt puzzled in his heart. Judging from the current situation, the possibility of mankind’s legion achieving victory in the second round of the competition was still high. Even if the Sage Monarch were to defeat him, the opposing team had not managed to gain the upper hand in the rest of the battles taking place inside the Nine Palace Boxes. After all, the Ghost Emperor was already dead. On the other hand, there were still numerous Limit Douluos on his team. Despite all that, he could tell that the Sage Monarch was not in no rush judging from its tone. It felt as if the Sage Monarch was fine with losing so many abyssal kings.

  He knew nothing of the opponent’s role in the abyssal plane, but judging by the current situation, the Sage Monarch was obviously the main player in this bet. Indeed, he speculated that the Sage Monarch was superior to the Underworld Emperor and the Ghost Emperor. This signified that Sage Monarch must have a prime place in the abyssal plane. This particular abyssal powerhouse was so calm during the battle. It was apparent that Sage Monarch was scheming something.

  “All of you are destined to fail. Even if you manage to kill me, you can’t change the situation,” Lan Muzi said coldly when he suddenly stopped struggling.

  The suction force continued pulling at his body, but he could still stabilize himself.

  The Sage Monarch seemed to be enjoying the conversation. It tilted its head and said to him, “Are you trying to probe me to see if I have any schemes because you see how unconcerned I am?”


  Lan Muzi was surprised. His gaze changed ever so slightly as he looked at the Sage Monarch.

  The Sage Monarch widened its mouth as if it was smiling, but any expression made by its hideous lizard face looked ferocious.

  “It’s useless. Firstly, your voice can’t be heard outside of here. The Nine Palace Box where we are now is the epicenter of the array. This is equal to being my domain. If I don’t allow your voice to be transmitted to the outside, it won’t be. Thus, your companions can’t possibly hear from you even if you were to learn anything. Hence, whatever you are trying to do, your efforts will be futile. Just wait for your death patiently and don’t waste your strength.”


  Lan Muzi said calmly, “So why haven’t you killed me yet? I can feel that you should be able to do that.”


  The Sage Monarch said, “You have very sharp senses. That’s right. It’s not a difficult matter to kill you, only that it is going to be tiring for me to do so right now. I can’t exhaust myself yet as I have more important matters to attend to. Thus, we are not in a rush. I will kill you when the rest of the battles have ended. Behave yourself and I might create a scene of you perishing together with me intentionally.”


  Lan Muzi’s eyes flickered. “Us perishing together? You’re saying you have a way to extricate yourself?”


  The Sage Monarch said, “Yes, of course. In fact, I might allow that human of yours to devour some abyssal energy and I can even simulate the collapse of my abyssal level. Don’t you worry. I won’t let them notice anything. All of you will surely win this round. I wasn’t planning on winning the bet anyway because this is not important.”


  Lan Muzi felt chills ran down his spine. “What is important then? Since there’s nothing I can do to transmit my voice, why don’t you tell me about it so I can die knowing the truth?”


  The Sage Monarch shrugged. “It’s fine for me to tell you actually. However, I bet you won’t understand even if I were to explain.”


  Lan Muzi said coldly, “How will you know if I’ll understand if you don’t tell me?”


  The Sage Monarch smiled. “This is all for show. All the bets are the same. Do you understand?”


  “A show?” Lan Muzi looked at it in astonishment. “Sacrificing the lives of so many of your abyssal powerhouses and allowing the collapse of the abyss are all just for show?”