My Ability Pool is Superior

Lu Bai could tell at a glance that of the two fighting in the arena, one had not yet set foot on the cultivation path, and the other had barely reached Qi Cultivation Second Layer.

In theory, cultivators who draw spiritual energy into their bodies and achieve Qi Cultivation Layer One have already created a gap in life levels compared to mortals.

But in terms of combat power, early Qi Refining Stage cultivators lack sufficient magic power in their bodies to support the use of any combat spiritual techniques or divine abilities, and purely in terms of physical body, they are not much stronger than ordinary people.

Under this premise, even in a battle between a cultivator and a mortal, the outcome is hard to predict.

It was clear that the two combatants were mostly competing in fighting skills, with each move targeting vital points, making the process extremely perilous.

It was just a bit boring in Lu Bai’s view.

Without any accidents, this fierce fight soon reached its end.

Anyone who has fought knows that this state of going all out with adrenaline surging simply cannot last; holding out for a minute is considered long.

In the end, the Death Fighter at Qi Cultivation Second Layer, relying on spiritual energy to nourish his physical body, outlasted his opponent until the latter was the first to run out of strength.

He smashed a heavy fist into the opponent’s chest. Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent’s body convulsed from the strike and was temporarily unable to counterattack, he quickly stepped forward, sidestepped, grabbed the opponent’s arm, and threw him over the shoulder to the ground like swinging a straw man.

Lu Bai knew the victor was decided, so he promptly activated his magic power mark— it was convenient anyway.

This let the unlucky one die without pain and ensured he could pocket the points.

[Ding!]

[Points +2, Current Points: 88, Current Rank 1/129]

After confirming his opponent’s death, the Qi Cultivation Second Layer Death Fighter realized he had not gained any points and subconsciously glanced at Lu Bai.

He probably guessed what happened but didn’t dare ask, nor express any dissatisfaction; he just nodded to Li Mu, who was maintaining order, and retreated into the crowd.

Li Mu naturally saw no issue, picked up the loudspeaker, and shouted: “Second group combatants, please step forward.”

Soon, two more Death Fighters stepped out and fought desperately.

Lu Bai only needed to activate the magic power marks he had placed on these Death Fighters when the victor was decided.

With his current cultivation realm, doing so was effortless.

……

“Second twenty-third group combatants, please step forward.”

……

“Second twenty-fourth group combatants, please step forward.”

……

Li Mu’s voice rang out in the arena from time to time, and the entire process proceeded in an orderly manner.

However, as more and more Death Fighters perished in the duel arena, the overall atmosphere grew increasingly grim, with even the air faintly carrying a bloody smell.

When the Death Fighters reached the thirtieth group, a small interlude occurred, forcing the assembly-line paired fierce fights to pause.

Because the number of remaining Death Fighters had already decreased to one hundred.

At that moment, the minds of all the still-living Death Fighters simultaneously sounded with the Deathmatch System’s mechanical prompt.

[Ding!]

[Current Death Fighter elimination rate has reached half.]

[Attention! Second Round Ability Pool has opened; selection is now available.]

Lu Bai shifted to a more comfortable position, then checked his ability pool for this round.

[Green Clown (Color): Select an attack type ability; the first use of the selected attack ability within one hour permanently increases its attached lethality. If not used within one hour, its attack power is permanently decreased.]

[Iron Fist Breaks Wind (Color): Using this ability infuses explosive power into the fist; upon hitting the target, the explosive force madly surges into the target’s body, causing countless segmented damages.]

[Needle Girl Soul (Color): Every attack launched by the user’s main body has a 20% chance to trigger the Needle Girl effect, dealing true damage equal to 10% of the target’s maximum life.]

Lu Bai skimmed through his ability pool for this round and chose [Iron Fist Breaks Wind] without much hesitation.

Anyway, for him now, only black level abilities could provide significant improvement; more color abilities were just adding flowers to brocade.

Abilities like [Green Clown] that were troublesome to use were, in his view, a negative boost.

As for the other two, it was obvious that [Iron Fist Breaks Wind] and [Needle Girl Soul] could be combined to achieve a one-punch superman effect.

The reason Lu Bai chose the former over the latter was purely because he already had [Needle Girl Soul] in his “discard pile.”

If he hadn’t happened to see it this time, he might have almost forgotten he could still use that ability.

But honestly, Lu Bai felt that even if he chose wrong, it didn’t matter.

It was just a mere color level ability; there were plenty more in the “discard pile.”

However, this second round ability pool, which was insignificant to Lu Bai, was seen by other Death Fighters as the only heaven-defying opportunity to reverse their fate in the current situation.

Even if the other Death Fighters’ ability pools this round were only gold level, using them well might allow them to win in the paired fierce fights and survive this round of deathmatch duel.

It was clear that the Death Fighters in the arena had all stopped fighting and were standing in place, checking their own ability pools for this round.

This scene looked to onlookers like some eerie collective daze.

The Death Fighters selected their abilities one after another, mostly maintaining a calm facade to avoid revealing their hand.

But upon closer inspection, some Death Fighters, though calm in expression, unwittingly exuded an air of dejection.

No helping it; the ability pool was inherently more about luck than choice.

As long as luck was good, any refreshed ability could be picked without issue.

But whether the ability selected this round was good or bad, everyone knew their own weight; no Death Fighter dared step forward after selecting to say they wanted to deal with Lu Bai.

“Has everyone finished selecting?”

Lu Bai reminded them good-naturedly: “If done, let’s continue.”

Li Mu chimed in appropriately: “Right, don’t waste everyone’s time.”

As he spoke, he picked up the loudspeaker to his mouth and continued shouting: “Next… which group is it? Anyway, next group combatants, hurry up and come forward.”

Soon, two more Death Fighters entered the arena, both looking relaxed, as if gaining new abilities had boosted their confidence.

After all, strictly speaking, gold level abilities weren’t bad; at least they could close the gap of the Qi Refining Stage.

Because he possessed [Load Game], Lu Bai actually knew more clearly than the combatants themselves the strength difference in their abilities, making the duel result thoroughly predictable in his eyes.