"On the main arena, Zhang Lie VS Phoenix. The fight begins in ten seconds!"

The rambunctious crowd suddenly turned silent in a moment of exquisite, unparalleled coordination. Everyone watched the countdown to the match with bated breath. 

As the diaphanous membrane between the two competitors vanished, two beams of genetic energy clashed against each other. Without exchanging any customary greetings at all, the match instantly began. Both parties activated their best soulshards at once.

Phoenix held a radiant greatsword, wreathed in wind-attuned genetic energy, in one hand. He was covered in chitinous armor. His pupils contracted, as though he had entered some altered state of mind.

"[Deity of Wing and Sun: Sword of Light]!" Looking like a god from the heavens, Phoenix waved his sword. Spears of light, manifesting from thin air, shot toward Zhang Lie, drowning all before them in radiance. "Die, Earthling trash!"

Even Phoenix hadn't anticipated how strong his attack would be, but he wasn't able to enjoy his newfound strength for long. The ocean began to stir; the waves crested. 

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Hundred Dragons Soaring]!" Majestic black dragons rushed out of the ocean, rending and shattering the blades of light with their claws and teeth, blanketing the arena in the dark of night. In that one technique, Zhang Lie had combined the essence of [One Punch] and [Fists of the Silent Sea].

It had been a recent development, and if not for his surroundings granting him vital power, he would hardly have been able to summon an attack of this magnitude on his own.

Phoenix was trapped within a sphere of howling black dragons.

"[Deity of Wing and Sun: Wheel of Light]!" Rays of light erupted from the black sphere in which Phoenix was enclosed, but, moments later, as the black dragons converged on his location once more, the momentary brightness vanished.

Only then did Phoenix realize just how much stronger Zhang Lie was. Before the fight, he had expected that he would be able to kill his opponent easily given the seven peak gene fragments and countless rare treasures he possessed, but his strength was hardly on the same dimension as his opponent's.

He recalled how Yao Yue had told Hong Yu that she was incomparable to him. Indeed, after exchanging blows with him, he felt much the same way. It took him several activations of [Wheel of Light] to destroy one of the black dragons; to destroy all the ones surrounding him would be impossible. At that moment, Phoenix felt as though he were a small rat, one that could be caught and eaten at any time.

No matter what, however, he couldn't just surrender in front of all these spectators—no, he had to at least defend himself against this one blow! Otherwise, how would he have the face to call himself the prince of the winged? The white-winged would lose all their reputation because of him!

With a split-second decision, Phoenix retrieved about ten different spiritual pills and restricted potions from his soulspace, cramming everything into his mouth all at once.

His genetic energy blazed, but it was still dwarfed by the hundreds of dragons surrounding him. In the time it had taken him to consume all those potions, even more dragons had taken to the air, blocking off Phoenix's movements.

"[Deity of Wing and Sun: Featherfall Cut]!" Making a final stand, Phoenix launched an X-shaped attack with his wings, a dazzling attack amidst the darkness-covered arena, though one that only managed to dispel two more dragons before it was quickly smothered.

The next moment, before Phoenix could react, dozens of dragons closed in on him, clearly signaling his defeat. Nevertheless, Phoenix calmed down. As he expected, after he lost all ability to defend against these dragons, they darted past his body without actually injuring him. They were being watched by millions of spectators, and Phoenix was certain that Zhang Lie wouldn't be so crazy as to dare to kill him on the galactic stage.

In truth, the reason that Zhang Lie hadn't allowed the dragons to attack was because he wanted to end his opponent personally.

The next moment, a ripple emerged in front of Phoenix. Before he could speak, Zhang Lie had risen up from the depths of the ocean and clutched Phoenix's throat so tightly that he couldn't make out any words.

"I heard you don't like having your opponents surrender? Me neither."

Phoenix's eyes widened in fear as a miniature black dragon appeared on Zhang Lie's palm. As Phoenix writhed, shook his head, and pleaded, Zhang Lie forced the dragon down Phoenix's throat.