Chapter 382 The Death Arena

Zachary returned to the system looking a little the worse for wear, to put it mildly. He was dragging himself, and his clothes were spattered with dried blood. He'd spent a whole day and the following night in the Ghost-crying Forest, hunting martial beasts. Though he'd killed all the ones he could find within a mile's radius, he didn't feel that his Energy Perception Technique had improved very much. Only his general sense of energy showed a sign of improvement. Even with eyes closed, he could tell how an opponent was about to attack based on the flow of energy.

After reaching the Peach Blossom Forest, he cleaned himself up, took some energy-replenishing pills, and rested for six hours. When it was done, he felt at the top of his game again and was ready to accept his test.

"Mimi, I'm ready," he said calmly, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Mimi's response was immediate. "The test begins now. I am sending you to the Death Arena." With no other warning, a strong beam of dazzling white light slashed through the forest canopy and enveloped Zachary. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

After a short while, he found himself in a square, enclosed space. Around him, the walls and ceiling were covered in nasty-looking black thorns, each one big enough to impale a human.

"Welcome to the Death Arena," said a voice. "I'm in charge of this place. Please call me Shadow. I will serve you from now on." Zachary shuddered as a ghost-like figure appeared before him. The figure was shadowy and indistinct, and no details about him could be discerned, beyond the fact that he had the shape of a man.

Despite this, Zachary was curious about this new area. "I didn't know there was actually such an arena in the system," he commented, studying his threatening surroundings.

Shadow said slowly and matter-of-factly, "Once you reach the Imperial Level, the Death Arena will be opened to you. However, since you want to enter the Pilgrimage Space in advance, you are being given a chance to experience the Death Arena now. First of all, let me explain the rules of this place. Here, you can fight with any kind of weapon and any strategy, including the use of poisons or traps, without any restrictions. Also, there is no time limit. To win, you have to kill your opponent. But if you

for breath. Although this clone was only at the first grade of Imperial Level, the strength gap between them was huge.

As a matter of fact, though, this wasn't the first time that Zachary had fought against a powerhouse of the Imperial Level. When the Welkin Sect was exterminated, he had fought with the enemies at the Imperial Level, such as Warren. Back then, he had been much weaker than he was now.

Of course, he was also aware that Warren and the others he'd fought at that time had underestimated his strength, so they hadn't been trying their hardest. However, the clone in front of Zachary clearly wanted to kill him, and was holding nothing back.

Knowing that he was no match for the clone in a standard contest, Zachary didn't dare to make another move rashly. While stalling for time, he tried to sense the clone's energy circulation. His only chance of victory was to find out his opponent's weakness and exploit it to defeat him as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he was sure to die in the Death Arena.

However, the clone had guessed what Zachary was thinking and had no intention of giving him a chance. Using the Shadow Pace, the clone began to circle around him.

For his part, Zachary was not going to just wait for death. He also used the Shadow Pace, trying to catch up with the clone. Yet no matter how much he tried, he couldn't match his enemy's speed or sense his energy circulation.

Still keeping his guard up, the clone renewed his assault on Zachary, trying to put him back on the defense.