Chapter 1079
Chapter 1079 - 165: Apocalypse
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7 min read
Blood splattered, the soaring red droplets signified the passing of life.
The formidable sixth-order peak Archer/Beast Tamer and Fighter, known as "Twenty Rabbits," the professional killer, no matter how many lives he had taken in the past, still had just one life of his own.
"...I am not satisfied..."
He died with his eyes wide open, trying to see his distant opponent clearly, but even a peak Law Professional couldn’t survive after losing most of his internal organs... at least, those not of the Life system couldn’t.
A person dies when killed... Uh, except for some.
"Tsk, the Life system..."
These were the words uttered by Gan Siyi from above.
On another screen, there was Lu Ping’an, down on one knee, desperately "breathing back blood."
He gasped for air, and the wounds on his body healed at a visibly rapid rate.
The next moment, the Emcee switched to a different tone.
"Let’s congratulate our player Lu Ping’an on his victory once more. Although this battle was the shortest, it was perhaps the most dangerous..."
Hearing the subtle commentary from above, Lu Ping’an could only helplessly shake his head.
Indeed, this battle was brief and ended too abruptly... but that’s how most battles to the death between professionals are, life and death, victory and defeat decided in an instant.
The Emcee’s disdain was not exceptional; it reflected the contempt that many non-Life professions have for those of the Life profession... Envy, jealousy, and hatred.
"...Tsk, I almost died."
"You wouldn’t die even if it happened four or five more times."
Big Cat mercilessly laid bare the reality; the gunner gambled his life against Lu Ping’an, but it’s likely that even if Lu Ping’an lost another two or three times, the one to die wouldn’t be him.
The Life system is just like that. Although high-level professionals generally disdain the "Undead," someone without a few life-saving tricks up their sleeve is the one truly out of line.
The Secret Realm might strip Lu Ping’an of most of his extraordinary Life-based Abnormal Abilities, but this innate ability rooted in the essence of his body was utterly irretrievable.
This is like the seemingly fair "non-combat System Suppression" of the Secret Realm; if you look closely, it is also unfair.
Take the common "Runner Department" and "Awakener series," for example. Although they are also suppressed, what’s more suppressed are their various external characteristics, and the degree of suppression is much lower than that of other paths.
This isn’t really preferential treatment, but necessary... Most Fighters tend to dabble in both these departments, and their high-level Fighting professions often involve lower-level characteristics of the Runners and Awakeners. If you completely suppress them, it would also affect the main path, and the fight to the death would become ugly to watch.
Not to mention people like Wang Hai of the "Transformation System," who also form a significant group among high-level Fighters. They chose this path to suppress the "Beasts" within themselves; if they were completely stripped to the degree of suppression the Awakeners received, big problems would arise on the spot, and some might meet their end then and there.
While deities and the Secret Realm, being significant sources of Contamination, suppress the external "minor sources of Contamination (professionals)" relatively easily, truly stripping them from within would require an exorbitant additional energy cost.
"...The Life system panel is always the most enviable one."
Beast Tamers continuously enhance their base abilities and characteristics by "sharing" life with their magic pets; for high-level Gardeners, their "physical bodies" are not that important, as these base characteristics are inseparable.
Battle-professionals also enhance themselves through Breathing Techniques, but such subtle and gradual changes... are unlikely to render you immortal.
"Securing the final hit is a good habit."
Having confirmed Loter’s death, Lu Ping’an completely ceased his battle state and closed the still active "Double Tiger Fury."
Decree-level professionals often cannot be considered human anymore—although it is unlikely for those not from the Life system to possess "undying bodies," they usually can keep going despite injuries that would severely hurt or even kill an ordinary person, as long as they take some magic potions or receive treatment in time, sometimes even making a full recovery.
However, this clearly does not include the corpse before them, which has lost all its inner organs and has a huge hole in its chest.
"....Huh? Divine Grace?"
At this moment, the sudden descent of Divine Grace made Lu Ping’an pause.
He had already braced himself for gaining nothing as his previous act of throwing Fei’er was clearly a malicious foul, but now a Deity had bestowed Divine Grace upon him.
"Huh? Our Deity has once again granted a favor, it seems It is very pleased with this deathmatch. By the way, the ’Damage Reflection Aura’ that turned defeat into victory just now, was the Divine Grace he received during this festival. My Lord admires every fighter, and each year a new legend emerges from the festival. Could this young man be the one this year..."
Alright, so it was just advertising.
Looking at the "Black-iron level Divine Grace" identified on the system panel, Lu Ping’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
If you didn’t want to give it, you could just not... uh, better to give it anyway.
Once the system panel performed the analysis, he was immediately overjoyed.
[Congratulations Host on obtaining the Upper Black Iron Divine Grace ’Domineering Three Faces’ Lucky Time (upgradable)’. Since the Host already possesses a similar Divine Grace, the Fusion evolution is now in progress.....]
The Domineering Three Faces is quite fair; the accidental banishment of Fei’er also meant that a piece of the Blessing of Good Luck was taken away, under normal circumstances it couldn’t possibly be upgraded to a complete stage.
Now, It directly gave Lu Ping’an one.
[.....Scouting the Advancement paths, divided into ’Martial Destiny Time’ and ’Golden Luck.’ The former brings explosive moments of luck, while the latter may fully unlock the talent to control fate. Please make a choice soon.....]
Of the two paths, on closer inspection, one is a burst of lucky time, viewed as activating an ability to control the burst proactively, while the other is about upgrading it to a Passive trait, subtly providing continuous luck, and might even unlock a series of rare professions.
Lu Ping’an pondered for a moment and made a choice.
[Domineering Three Faces’ Martial Destiny Time (Silver Lower): Once every three days, upon activating this trait, you’ll enter an extremely lucky period lasting at least ten seconds to a maximum of half an hour.]
Enhancing luck passively seems like a no-brainer, but the further Lu Ping’an went along the path of a professional, the more self-aware he became.
A person’s talent and time are limited, and although he has an almost cheating advantage, there’s also something called compatibility.
To fully possess "Fate," one needs compatible talents, along with extensive study and time... Lu Ping’an doesn’t have that; he just needs to stand in the right place at the right time to avoid accidentally turning the tables against him.
After some thought, he felt that the content and system involved in this "Fate" were probably as broad as the entire "Life" system, and did not think he could handle it.
"A wise choice."
And Big Cat seemed to agree with Lu Ping’an’s decision.
Dragging his exhausted and injured body, Lu Ping’an had just stepped off the arena... As the only victor, that astonishing Martial Destiny once again enveloped him.
At this time, his focused Martial Destiny actually surpassed that of previous champions of the festival, the ultimate winners who should have been called miracle summoners.
He had actually received the greatest gift, bypassing half a year’s accumulation in one step with two unrevealed fourth-tier professions, which was his greatest gain.
And at this moment, as he once again drew in countless Martial and Fortune Luck, it seemed that the opportunity to ascend even further was unlocked.....
"Fifth-tier, huh....."
— End of Chapter 1079 —