"You called us caged beasts?!" Valenza's expression immediately contorted into one of fury.
Undoubtedly, that statement had severely stung the fragile egos of all the Floor Masters, including himself.
In their eyes, they were the kings standing at the apex of all martial artists in the world, possessing immense power that others could never achieve in a lifetime, and were thus entitled to the adoration, cheers, and respect of the audience.
Yet now, a young brat had shown naked, undisguised contempt for the Floor Master position.
If the Floor Masters didn't take action, the prestige they had painstakingly built up would instantly plummet.
"And are you not?"
Allen seemed not to notice the ferocious look on the other man's face and counter-questioned him nonchalantly.
"Good! Very good! Referee! Announce the start of the match quickly! Today I'm going to personally crush every bone in your body! I will make you repent for your arrogance through pain and screams!"
Valenza fiercely raised his fists and slammed them together, creating a loud, echoing sound.
"As requested jointly by both contestants, this match will adhere to a death-match format and will not cease until one party draws their final breath. Now, I declare the match start!"
As the final word left his mouth, the referee immediately jumped off the ring without hesitation, swiftly running to what he considered a safe distance before stopping.
From this alone, it was clear that the Floor Master's ability was likely a large-scale, indiscriminate AoE type.
Noticing this, Allen curled his lips and muttered to himself, "Interesting. Looks like this match won't be too boring."
"Boring? You will experience a hell intertwined with true pain and despair! Red Philosopher's Stone!"
After a roar, Valenza suddenly clapped his hands together, conjuring a crystal lattice that shimmered with red light out of thin air.
Without hesitation, he immediately shattered the gem with his right fist. The fist that had just destroyed the crystal instantly erupted in scorching red flames, continuously emitting terrifying high temperatures and heat waves around him.
"Die!"
BOOM!
A giant fire dragon immediately shot out from his fist, pursuing its target and adjusting direction as if it were alive.
Watching the relentlessly chasing fire dragon behind him, Allen quickly evaded, a look of great surprise on his face.
An ability to manipulate fire. Conjuration? Transmutation? Manipulation? Or Specialization?
Through observation, he immediately ruled out Enhancement and Emission.
The crystal that appeared out of thin air clearly belonged to a Conjuration ability, while turning Aura into fire seemed like a Transmutation ability. Finally, making the fire leave his body and continuously track the target looked somewhat like a Manipulation ability.
Of course, the possibility of a Specialization Nen ability could not be ruled out.
Thinking this, Allen immediately pulled several headless Thorium Arrowheads from his pouch and forcefully launched them at his distant opponent.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
In the blink of an eye, five cold flashes instantly traversed the distance and arrived close to Valenza.
"White Philosopher's Stone!"
Valenza clapped his hands again, summoning a white crystal. He shattered it directly with his left fist, and then, with a sweep of his hand, immediately conjured three massive water spheres.
The next second...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The five arrowheads slammed violently into the water spheres, instantly splashing large amounts of white spray. Under the sunlight, the resulting vapor created an unusually beautiful seven-colored rainbow.
Ultimately, however, the high-speed rotating arrowheads did not penetrate the water spheres; they were merely trapped inside, gradually losing momentum.
"Two abilities?!"
At this moment, Allen's eyes finally began to gleam, and the part of his heart that craved to hunt strong individuals finally stirred.
"Two? No! My ability is far more than that! Cyan Philosopher's Stone! Brown Philosopher's Stone!"
Valenza roared, summoning two more distinctly colored crystals, which he then kicked apart with his left and right feet, respectively.
After doing this, his left foot was now encased in a powerful current of Aura resembling wind, while his right foot took on the incredibly hard appearance of granite, instantly cracking the stone slab of the ring with a single stomp.
"Oh, I understand! Earth, Water, Fire, Wind. Your ability represents the four foundational elements that ancient alchemists believed made up the world. Therefore, your ability must be Specialization, or rather, the bloodline of an Alchemist flows through you," Allen immediately analyzed the core nature of his opponent's Nen ability.
If he couldn't figure it out by this point, his eyes and brain might as well be donated to someone who needed them more.
Valenza replied with pride, "Exactly! I am the last bloodline of the ancient Alchemist family! In Alchemy, there is a legendary treasure: the famous Philosopher's Stone. And my Nen ability is to conjure Philosopher's Stones of different attributes to manipulate the four elements. Now, are you ready to accept the crushing force of the entire world?"
"The entire world?" Allen scoffed. "You certainly have confidence in your ability. Do you know that your life has been held in the palm of my hand this entire time? I could end this boring match whenever I want."
The moment he finished speaking…
He instantly activated his Transmutation ability.
The three massive water spheres on the ring instantly erupted in thick white steam, completely vaporizing within one or two seconds, making the surrounding air hot and humid.
Valenza, especially, standing in the center of the mist, accidentally inhaled a large amount of scalding steam. He immediately felt his respiratory system severely scalded; his lungs felt like they were on fire, causing him unbearable pain. He dropped to his knees with a thud, unable to stop coughing violently.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..."
"You... what did you do?"
Allen stared at the horror-filled look in his opponent's eyes and casually explained, "What did I do? I simply turned the water you created into hot steam.
"In the process, the temperature of the water vapor reaches infinitely close to one hundred degrees Celsius, the boiling point of water.
"How does it feel?
"You can't breathe now, can you?
"After all, human alveoli are extremely fragile and are damaged severely by anything too cold or too hot.
"Furthermore, I can actually turn the water vapor that entered your lungs back into a solid state, into bone-chilling ice, like this..."
The moment the final word left his mouth, Valenza's face instantly twisted in shock. He began to cough violently and uncontrollably again, simultaneously spewing large amounts of dark-red clotted blood mixed with shards of ice from his mouth and nose.
Damn it! How could this happen?
Am I going to die before I even get a chance to use my ability?
The Floor Master of the 224th floor finally felt the intense dread of death, especially the fear of being suffocated alive.
But Allen ignored the shock on his opponent's face, standing just a step away and continuing, "Do you feel it? This is actually my own true ability.
"Those previous abilities were merely collected and plundered from others, then slightly improved.
"Most importantly, my ability is undefendable. Whether you know about it or not, the outcome won't change.
"Because most living creatures in this world require breathing to survive. The more strenuous the activity, the faster the breathing frequency.
"Now, before you die, let me tell you how you should use this ability to manipulate the four elements.
"As I said before, the comfortable environment of Heavens Arena has caused you Floor Masters to lose your desire for self-improvement, leading you to overlook many crucial details during ability development. And those details often determine the final result of a battle..."
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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]