The sound of thunder hammered on Bubai’s adrenaline and stretched time out...

  Move! Instincts kicked in, forcing Bubai to make the leap of faith at the very last second.

  His flexible body instinctively twisted mid-jump, just barely in time to watch the lightning spear slowly graze right past his chest.

  He can see the lightning forking out to lick his skin and feel the spreading heat that was even hotter than the tongues that shocked his little brother.

  This time, his little brother didn’t dare court death and instinctively shrunk up...

  So after a little shocker, that wrath of heavens incarnate indifferently streaked straight past without giving him a second glance...

  Unfortunately, the spear’s final destination was... nailing right down in the path not far ahead.

  When violent lightning and gentle water touched, time seemed to flow again... blooming into a field of thunder.

  His leap of faith saved him from getting nailed to the transmigrator’s eternal pillar of shame…

  But it did nothing to stop him from diving head first into the thunder zone that welcomed him with open arms.

  The world around turned into a tempest of light where lightning lashed out at him from every angle!

  Yet these were of light concern. The real danger?

  He could sense it radiating from the world waiting below.

  Obviously, there was no cushion like hay or leaves down there. Just pure adulterated danger.

  For once, Bubai hoped to never see a touch-down happen.

  Merlin’s beard, if only he could fly, fly away...

  Alas, he can only stay airborne for so long. The landing was... inevitable.

  Splash…

  That was the sound of gravity declaring its victory. That was also when the real shock came.

  The first to bear the brunt of the landing was his left arm.

  Crunch. One moment he felt it crushing broken ceramics, the next… all feeling was lost.

  From the point of contact, a numbness spread out and sapped the strength of his body like a wildfire...

  If this was a normal touchy-touchy electrocution, perhaps his arm would’ve collapsed on itself and left him glued to this watery field of doom.

  But the leap of faith came into play.

  The momentum of his dive carried him forward, letting the next tumble claim the booty to his legs, then it was the turn of his other arm, his back…

  The lost of control brought a sense of vulnerability that Bubai disliked to the core, yet he still did his best to brace himself during the roll, all to keep his head afloat no matter what.

  All that sacrifice hadn’t been for naught.

  The edge of the pond was near!

  The remaining momentum let Bubai roll all the way out to dry land, finally crashing to a stop against the arena’s wall!

  The wet dog fell flat on his back and went still...

  A breath later, he coughed and choked out wisps of black smoke like a scorched engine sputtering back to life.

  "Ow… haha… still alive.”

  Gasping heavily, Bubai felt the numbness gradually kicking in all over.

  This was a good thing. It meant his regeneration passive was hard at work.

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  The faint vitality blended into each and every circulating Qi strand expedited the process.

  It probably won’t take long before he can get back on his feet.

  But for now, it was like his game character got a stun debuff from an annoying little yordle in purple ninja outfit.

  LOL, a stun in real life wasn’t funny at all.

  Yet considering the situation, this was already considered an extremely favorable outcome.

  The danger this time was not light at all.

  A mid-grade lightning spell talisman can blow off a head like a watermelon.

  As for a high-grade spell like that lightning spear?

  If that struck directly, even if it didn’t open a large hole in him, it would’ve been a grave injury that will require emergency treatment from his essence dew!

  Using one of his most guarded lifelines in a low-level duel like this was definitely not worth it!

  Fortunately, his reflexes had long exceeded the realm of mortals and his mastery over his body let him execute the most outrageous maneuvers in a split second.

  This might have leaked out the tip of the tail he worked so hard to keep hidden, but it was a small trade-off to avoid a big loss.

  If Lady Luck is on his side, it could even be passed off as pure combat instinct and sheer luck.

  Alas… lucky or not, it was facts that he did not escape unscathed.

  Even the aftermath of that lightning spear was shocking to the extreme.

  The voltage of that high-grade lightning current was no joke. The water only made it worse.

  Bubai’s gaze flicked over to see the lightning zone dying out and the occasional lightning still snaking over the surface of the shallow pond.

  Water alone is not a superconductor, but whatever was mixed into the water of this world didn’t let the voltage dampen by much.

  Dear Merlin, it even showed some semblance of retaining the current!

  Was it the effect of Qi? Or was the reason something else?

  Whatever the reason, Bubai still knew it’ll be over soon.

  Once the electrifying current was gone, that shallow pool was an open path that led straight to him.

  His current condition offered the perfect opportunity for an enemy to finish him off!

  It’s just that…

  Moving his gaze across to the other side of the pool, Bubai saw his opponent kneeling on knee and gasping for air even harder than he was.

  The sight almost made him laugh out loud.

  That finisher clearly left this water boy’s stamina in a state that isn’t ready to win any prizes today.

  Wow, gotta say... this water boy’s capacity was downright disappointing.

  Granted, by most standards, this Wu Xiaowei’s performance was already considered nothing short of cream of the crop.

  Know that even the late-stage Manager Qin back at the spirit rice farm can’t cover such a large scale with spirit rain in a single go, but needed to split it over multiple days.

  Being able to achieve this level puts this Wu Xiaowei on par with the top-tier handymen farm managers in the Cloud Sword Sect!

  Just thinking about this made Bubai all the more annoyed.

  Feeling the tingly pain swarming all over his body like ants, Bubai recalled the bullying he had suffered through and gritted his teeth. “This is nothing.”

  Even though his muscles protested and those large patches of burns stung like whip lashes, he pushed himself up.

  At the sight of the badly scarred man stubbornly getting up and setting himself upright on one knee just to mirror him, Wu Xiaowei’s already unpleasant face scrunched up.

  “Haha... you kidding me? A normal peak late-stage cultivator would’ve been charred inside out already, but you… ha… you can still get up after that.”

  “Your physique... it’s as outrageous as they predicted. Ha… Heaven really has no eyes to be so biased!”

  What bias? This game is totally fair! Grandfather heavens must have great eyesight to bless him! Ahem.

  Anyways. All is fair in this dog eat dog world of cultivation.

  That’s probably why there are peeps in the background who still dare to play chess against heaven-defying cheaters like himself.

  That “they” confirmed this. Now, the question is: who’s they, and what are they up to?

  They is still rather ambiguous, but their goal?

  Predicted. That word made Bubai’s bitter half-smile twitch.

  What’s this? After a few pokes and prods, they’re trying to run a full stress test on his physique?

  Those behind the scene really knew how to play.

  Had it truly been his physique alone, he might’ve really croaked from that.

  Fortunately, after the foundation establishment baptism, his resistance went up, especially against lightning.

  It wasn’t without reason he could learn the Lightning Crusher technique so quickly!

  He didn’t mean to brag, but with all those layers of tempered flesh and flowing Qi guarding his major meridians, it wasn’t a problem to bear a few more sessions of electrotherapy.

  Believe it or not, even if his flesh is charred inside out, he’ll live as long as his main organs function!

  That means he’ll last a very long time, enough to outlive this water boy if he doesn’t surrender.

  Holding onto this confidence, Bubai fired back. “Haha... what’s coming next will be even more... outrageous. Ha... I suggest you surrender before it’s too late.”

  But will anyone surrender when facing an opponent on his last leg?

  “Surrender? Wuhaha... this is far from over! Ha… I’m sure everyone will be happy to see... just how long you can last.”

  Seeing the water boy chuck another reddish-brown seed into his mouth, Bubai knew the answer.

  Guess this guy was aiming for another protracted battle. Perhaps he still had something else to rely on?

  But Bubai is more than happy to play along.

  Grinning, he fished out a recovery pill of his own and popped it like candy. "Hah… All you’re doing is pointless. I assure you... I can go on all day."

  "Wuhaha! We’ll see about that!"

  The stage was set.

  Now, it’s just a matter of who can recover first and get the last laugh.

  Or at least... that’s what it looks like on the surface.

  Beneath it all, what lays ahead?

  Who can see the pit through the fog of war? More importantly, who is the pit actually for?

  Who knows, who knows…

  [author] Happy Halloween!!! To spook things up, here's a ! The first to claim gets to read ahead for one month completely free![/author]