The air trembled, heavy with smoke and the scent of scorched dust. Clouds above the Arena World were torn apart by waves of clashing energy, streaks of flame and frost spiraling through the air like twin dragons locked in chaos.
Qing Jianrui and Lan Xiuqing, their bodies merged into a single vessel housing two fierce souls, floated amid the destruction. Their combined aura burned through the clouds a nine-star Dou Wang's presence that made the entire world shudder.
Mike faced them alone.
His body was bruised and broken, blood dripping from countless wounds, but his eyes still burned fierce, alive, unwilling to kneel. Every breath he took left trails of steam in the cold wind that howled across the sky.
Shockwaves of their combat split the heavens open. Fragments of light and shadow crashed together, shaking the land. Beneath them, the earth cracked apart, leaving bottomless fissures glowing with molten fire. The Arena World itself seemed to scream under the pressure.
Mike was forced backward again and again, his body almost reaching its limit.
Still, he clenched his fists.
He refused to fall.
Gathering what little strength he had, Mike raised his trembling hand toward the sky. Come, he whispered.
The air shifted. The world stilled.
From his palms, two flames burst forth, one blue as the deep ocean, the other pale white like winter's breath. They twisted and coiled in the air, two serpents circling each other.
Then… something changed.
The two pythons merged.
Silence followed, the kind of silence that crushed hearts. Even the spectators, far away behind the giant mirror, held their breath.
Qing Jianrui and Lan Xiuqing's merged body froze midair. No… again?! they screamed together, their voice overlapping like shattered echoes.
Behind Mike, the sky split apart.
A vast portal opened, its core pulsing with divine fire. A colossal shadow emerged a flame beast of unimaginable size and might, its body formed of swirling inferno and frost.
Mike's voice cut through the silence like thunder.
Devouring Flame Python!
The creature roared, and its cry ripped through the atmosphere. The sky darkened. The ground below fractured. Even the floating mountains far in the distance began to crumble under the pressure of its arrival.
The python coiled protectively around Mike, its glowing eyes burning with sentient rage. Its scales shimmered with both ice and fire a fusion of destruction and life itself.
Spectators are watching through the mirrors could feel the terror of its presence.
Facing it, Qing Jianrui and Lan Xiuqing steadied themselves, their merged form flickering with unstable energy.
What… what is this thing? Qing Jianrui's voice shook as he stared into the python's eyes.
But Mike's gaze never wavered. This, he said softly, is the will that refuses to die.
The python's tail flicked once and the world exploded.
The shockwave tore through the skies, shattering clouds into fragments of glowing mist. The merged Qing Jianrui and Lan Xiuqing were hurled backward, their bodies slamming into invisible barriers of air. Their fusion wavered, cracks splitting across their skin as their two souls began separating under the pressure.
The python roared, a sound that split the heavens.
Firestorms raced through the horizon. Mountains sank into molten pits. The Arena World began collapsing in on itself, a dying realm trembling at the edge of destruction.
Qing Jianrui fell to one knee, panting, his eyes wide with disbelief. W-What… is this creature?
Before he could move, the python struck again,its massive tail whipped forward, sending the merged pair crashing into a wall of shattered stone. Their fusion broke apart completely, throwing them back into their original bodies.
Lan Xiuqing coughed violently, blood streaming down her chin. Her face was pale with fear.
"Jianrui… we can't win this."
Her voice cracked — not from pain, but from realization.
He turned to her slowly, his expression blank, his eyes glassy. Then, faintly, he smiled.
My love, there's no path backward. Only forward. Until death.
He clenched his fists. Fight with me.
And so they did.
Both surged forward again Qing Jianrui roaring, Lan Xiuqing spinning her water essence around her body but Mike was no longer the same man they had fought before.
His gaze was still, his breathing calm, as if he had transcended fear itself.
He whispered, End it.
The python dove. Its jaws opened wide, the entire sky swallowed in light.
The impact tore the world apart. A mountain sized explosion of ice and fire erupted, frost and flame blending into a storm that devoured everything. When the light faded, a crater miles wide smoldered where they once stood.
Qing Jianrui crawled out, broken but alive. Lan Xiuqing's voice was weak behind him.
I can't move…
Before she could finish, her words turned to a gasp. Her eyes widened horror freezing her features.
The python reappeared behind her, silent and swift.
One breath.
One bite.
And she was gone.
Her body vanished within its jaws, leaving only her torn hair fluttering through the wind like ashes.
LAN XIUQING!!!
Qing Jianrui's scream shattered the silence, his eyes bleeding red. The world seemed to burn with him as he turned toward Mike, madness twisting his face.
You… YOU WILL NOT LIVE!
He charged, his aura flaring like a dying star. Mike staggered, blood dripping down his arm, his spirit trembling. The python had vanished; the energy cost was unbearable.
Suddenly, the air split again, another portal tore open behind him. From it, Flame Man emerged once more, his presence radiating silent fury.
Qing Jianrui's attack was intercepted midair. Flame Man's punch sent him crashing into a pillar of stone, splitting it apart like glass.
You're nothing without your tricks! Qing Jianrui spat, coughing blood.
But Mike stood silent, controlling both the python's remnants and the Flame Man with sheer will. His skin cracked, leaking faint streams of light, the strain tearing him apart from within.
Qing Jianrui's body burned crimson. His aura began to twist violently.
If I die… YOU DIE WITH ME!
He slammed his palms together and began forming forbidden seals. Dark veins spread across his body, his eyes glowing with demonic symbols.
Jian Dao's voice echoed from afar.
Oh no… Infernal Sacrificial Bind!
The ground beneath them split open, crimson flames erupting upward.
Qing Jianrui laughed madly, his voice echoing through the dying realm. Let's burn together, Mike!
The explosion was instantaneous. A surge of demonic fire swallowed everything python, flame man, sky, and earth alike.
The Arena World shattered.
A blinding light consumed the land, and when it faded, there was nothing left but silence and ruin.
Dust settled.
The battlefield was gone.
Mike's body lay broken amid the wreckage, his skin scorched and bleeding, yet faintly glowing with life. His storage ring pulsed faintly the only reason he had survived, having drawn him inside for a single heartbeat before the blast consumed the realm.
Qing Jianrui was gone.
Body and soul erased from existence.
Hours later, search teams entered what remained of the Arena World.
Among the ruins, they found one survivor.
Mike.
Barely breathing, but alive.
He was taken to the Alchemy Hall of Zhen Wu Continent, a sacred place where flames burned in endless patterns, glowing like stars suspended in the air.
Alchemists worked tirelessly, pouring elixirs and divine fire into his wounds. Jian Dao himself knelt beside his disciple, silent, determined.
Days later, the news echoed across continents.
The Life and Death Competition… is over.
Jing Xu's voice message carried through every corner of the zhen wu continent.
The victor is Mike.
When the announcement ended, a strange stillness fell upon Zhen Wu.
Two masters were erased.
One realm destroyed.
And one boy, barely alive, stood victorious among the ashes.