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Chapter 371: Shadow

Three months passed in a flash. A battle to the death, hyped by the media as the fight of the century, was finally set to take place in the Ta Ke Desert in the northwestern part of the Hua-Ya Federation.

To prevent any underhanded tactics, Li Bida and the Hua-Ya authorities each signed a contract with potent curse effects, blocking every loophole he could conceive of.

However, there are always more solutions than difficulties. After all, it was merely a hastily drafted contract. With the support of over fifty professional lawyers and a back-end testing team, the Zhao family still managed to find a few subtle loopholes to exploit.

Perhaps it was certain individuals stirring trouble, but originally, according to Hua-Ya's arrangement, this battle, regardless of victory or defeat, was meant to conclude discreetly. Instead, now the entire nation, even the whole world, was fixated on its outcome.

The duel was arbitrarily imbued with a host of symbolic meanings: "the resistance of the common people," "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river," and "good and evil will eventually meet their retribution" — these labels were all affixed to it.

Situated on the northwestern border of the Hua-Ya Federation, the Ta Ke Desert covered over three hundred thousand square kilometers of land, with only a few oases existing. The remaining areas were almost entirely death zones.

This vast desert, stretching nearly a thousand kilometers east to west and four hundred kilometers north to south, formed a sufficiently massive battlefield, easily capable of accommodating a fight to the death between two supersonic experts. ranO-B@ЕS

In the heart of the desert, two figures hovered fifty meters above the ground, facing each other. Their terrifying auras almost solidified into substance. The constantly shifting sand on the surrounding surface seemed to freeze in that moment, forcibly locked in place.

Li Bida held the Imperial Seal as his weapon, a strange, twisted smile on his face as he looked forward, sending shivers down the spine of Zhao Feiyan, who faced him directly.

It was only then that he truly understood his father's painstaking efforts. Had he been hot-headed, rushing impulsively to challenge the opponent to a fair one-on-one fight without any preliminary maneuvers, his chances of winning wouldn't have been as high as he'd imagined.

The Imperial Seal in the hands of the man opposite him gave him an extraordinarily dangerous feeling.

However, Zhao Feiyan, armed with a long sword, also carried a trove of trump cards. If necessary, he could pay a certain price to bypass most of the contract's backlash and unleash his hidden moves.

"I've waited many years for this day. After I refine you, I will use your body to kill every single person in the Zhao family, one by one, and finally, dismember that bastard brother of yours."

Li Bida, his eyes bloodshot and in a semi-frenzied state, directly revealed his plan, displaying his absolute confidence. Of course, Zhao Feiyan only felt that his opponent was half-mad, not confident in the slightest.

"This isn't your territory, so don't boast too loudly, or the wind will rip your tongue out." Zhao Feiyan, knowing the full details, understood that he was the party in the wrong. Thus, he wisely avoided dwelling on past events, refraining from admitting fault, and instead offered only polite remarks to bolster his own spirits.

His relationship with his elder brother, Zhao Feiling, who had grown up with him, was uncommonly good. Therefore, even with the risk to his life, Zhao Feiyan had voluntarily stepped forward to take on the challenge of this formidable foe.

"Wind? There will be no wind, hahahaha!" In an instant, golden light burst forth from around Li Bida, with faint phantom images of true dragons circling him.

The raging winds of the desert were instantly suppressed by his roar. The air, before such a more ferocious power, behaved as docilely as a sleeping child.

"Who is more likely to survive?" Those scattered across the desert, observing the battle through their avatars, were all intensely curious about the final outcome of this revenge match.

Previously, life-and-death battles at or above the Fifth Tier level had rarely occurred. Only a blood feud capable of destroying a family would compel them to abandon everything and engage in such a relentless duel.

"Hard to say. Everyone hides their strength so well. Li Bida has that terrifying Imperial Seal, and Zhao Feiyan has our support. It's impossible to tell until the very last moment."

"Who would have thought that this first super battle, watched by the entire world, would be an internal conflict among us Hua-Ya people."

"What about the one before?"

...

The projections on the Hua-Ya Federation's side were whispering in discussion.

"As expected of those Hua-Ya folk, masters of infighting! All they know is scrambling for power and screwing over their own kind, just a bunch of dogs eating dogs!" On the other side of the battlefield, Edward Teach, also invited as a witness, shouted loudly to those around him, going all out to mock them.

He didn't care in the slightest about the Hua-Ya Federation's grim-faced individuals. Edward Teach, who had always discriminated against other races and was supremely arrogant, was well-known for his unrestrained tongue.

However, having made countless enemies due to his cruelty and arrogance, the fact that he continued to thrive amidst such hostility naturally implied he had sufficient backing.

Edward Teach, whose power rating had reached Six Tiers, was rumored to be a heaven-defying expert capable of absorbing the abilities of others by devouring them. After aligning with the powerful United States, no one knew how strong he truly was with such a formidable backer.

Although most abilities had corresponding Spirit Arts to substitute them, a so-called innate ability, under the same conditions, was at least five times stronger than a simulated Spirit Art or spell. Possessing almost all innate abilities with five-fold amplification, that was Edward Teach's most terrifying aspect.

Some had noticed that every single individual who had ever dared to scheme against him had, without exception, vanished without a trace.

After the United States launched that insane "Color Revolution," expelling all non-white residents from the country, racial tensions within the nation had remained high.

People often clamored to wipe the Latin Alliance off the map and then "purify" the entire American continent into an American America.

In such an intentionally fostered atmosphere, most Americans grew increasingly conceited, often looking at people of other complexions with the eyes of inferiors.

Their agreement to witness Li Bida's duel was, in fact, mostly driven by a desire to see the Hua-Ya Federation, their greatest competitor, make a fool of itself.

An ordinary person who escaped from their country, endured hardships and accumulated strength abroad for years, and then returned with powerful abilities to exact revenge on the powerful—it was a truly spectacular drama.

In the United States, where individualism was prevalent, such a storyline had a vast market. As for the Hua-Ya Federation, the lower strata largely supported Li Bida, for he represented the weak defying heaven, a symbol in the hearts of many.

Especially after having just experienced an extremely painful upheaval, many people's emotions had yet to calm down.

However, just as everyone's attention was focused on the two duelists, a vast and unparalleled shadow silently appeared over the desert as well....