Chapter 598

Chapter 598: Challenging Beyond One’s Level

Only three hours had passed since the betting opened.

Thomasen’s total bet on Yi Chen exceeded 20 billion low-grade immortal stones.

The odds for Balk’s victory had only increased to 1.6.

This odds level had driven countless spectators to madness, successfully drawing in many to bet on Balk’s win.

Thomasen wanted to place a large bet, so he just needed to ensure that the odds didn’t drop.

However, his strategy was to place more bets on Yi Chen to win, gradually raising the odds and encouraging more spectators to participate.

30 billion, 40 billion, 50 billion…

Thomasen felt confident this time and placed his bets without restraint.

The total amount of bets for this duel skyrocketed under his influence.

As the countdown to the duel reached one hour, with the betting channels closing, Thomasen’s total amount bet on Yi Chen’s victory had soared to 500 billion low-grade immortal stones.

The odds had once again climbed to 1 to 2 for both sides.

The total amount surpassed 1 trillion low-grade immortal stones, making it not only the highest betting amount of the day but also the highest in the past five days.

This time, the person in charge of the coliseum reacted quickly.

Upon learning that someone was continuously betting on Yi Chen, they immediately adjusted the coliseum arena, arranging for this duel to take place in the largest arena.

“Your Majesty, you can set out now!”

As in the previous duel, once the opponent was arranged, a Shadow King went to collect Balk’s aura.

Using Balk’s aura, he located Balk, who was training in the palace complex, and kept a watchful eye on him.

When there was one hour left until the match and the betting channel was about to close, the Shadow King promptly notified Yi Chen.

Yi Chen then ended his training.

The Shadow King immediately entered a hiding state and led Yi Chen away from the flying treasure, avoiding the powerful beings from the Tree-Dwelling Tribe guarding the palace complex.

They passed through the defensive barriers of Balk’s palace, and the Shadow King transmitted a video clip of Balk to Yi Chen using his Perception Ability.

Yi Chen activated the Luck Technique immediately.

A continuous stream of yellow luck surged into his Qi Sea.

In less than two minutes, Balk was left with only black luck.

The Shadow King then brought Yi Chen back to the flying treasure.

With only a few minutes left before the duel, Yi Chen finally departed from the flying treasure and flew towards the competition arena.

As he entered the coliseum through the tunnel, Balk was already standing on the stage, waiting for him.

The massive seating area was completely packed.

Looking around, he saw a dense crowd of huge Tree-Dwelling Tribe members, totaling nearly 100 million.

The dimensions of the arena had increased from the previous match’s length and width of ten kilometers to a staggering one hundred kilometers each.

“What a pity, that the Flame Tribe fighter only accepts challenge requests from the same-level Tree-Dwelling Tribe. Otherwise, he would perish at my hands.”

Balk calmly observed Yi Chen, trying to provoke him with words: “You are very arrogant, thinking that defeating a Flame Tribe fighter means you can be invincible at the same level, or even triumph over higher-level opponents.”

Yi Chen couldn’t be bothered to respond.

While he planned to delay time in each match to make it appear more evenly matched, relying on meaningless chatter wouldn’t serve any purpose.

“Arrogant fellow, I hope you can still maintain your arrogance later on!”

Not able to provoke Yi Chen, Balk became quite frustrated instead.

The duel had begun.

Without any hesitation, he immediately charged toward Yi Chen at full speed.

The massive branches, like pillars holding up the sky, crashed toward Yi Chen.

The terrifying pressure caused a violent wind to whip through the arena.

“Here it comes! I knew Balk was stronger. His speed is clearly faster than Clay’s.”

“Of course! Balk is participating in the Death Duel for the second time, and so is Clay. Just spending a few immortal stones can buy footage and materials from their last Death Duel, easily revealing that Balk’s speed and reactions are indeed a bit better than Clay’s.”

“However, since both are participating for the second time, it’s still uncertain if they have hidden strengths.”

“Is that even possible? Their speed and reactions have already surpassed those of ordinary Tree-Dwelling Tribe members at the same level. How could they be hiding anything?”

“That just shows how little you know. Many top geniuses capable of defeating opponents across levels often exceed ordinary tribe members by 50 to 60 percent in speed, reactions, and attacks.”

“Some of those top geniuses even surpass ordinary tribe members by one to several times in certain aspects.”

“Once again, the odds are 1 to 2. I wonder if we will see another upset!”

“You’re thinking too much. They pulled off an upset once, but how could it happen again?”

As Balk launched his attack first, the entire coliseum seemed to resonate, and the discussions and noise escalated dramatically.

In the arena, as Balk’s massive branch came crashing down, Yi Chen did not dodge or evade; the immortal sword appeared in his hand.

Streams of Sword Energy continuously sliced toward the branch.

Slashing sounds echoed…

Leaves flew as the Sword Energy intercepted, constantly severing large branches and green leaves.

However, compared to the massive branch, these branches and leaves were utterly insignificant.

The Sword Energy only managed to reduce the impact of the crashing branch slightly.

Just as the huge branch was about to strike, Yi Chen moved swiftly to dodge the attack.

“You… are dead for sure!”

Having missed his shot, Balk felt delighted and full of confidence.

He could clearly assess that Yi Chen’s speed, reactions, and attacks were similar to what had been displayed in the previous footage and materials, all weaker than his own.

Though the difference was not too great and he did not have a crushing advantage, he still possessed various attacking methods that the Tree-Dwelling Tribe specialized in.

On the other hand, Yi Chen did not excel in those attacking methods.

As Yi Chen evaded the initial strike, Balk’s body began to shake violently.

Countless branches rapidly extended, transforming into numerous agile tendrils, pursuing and entangling Yi Chen.

Around Yi Chen, multiple immortal swords emerged.

These immortal swords repeatedly intercepted the branches, cutting them down.

But more branches quickly followed.

The severed branches began to extend rapidly again.

Yi Chen could only concentrate on attacking, striving to break through the surrounding encirclement time and time again.

Yet he was powerless to counterattack Balk.

Most critically, as a member of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe, Balk had astonishing recovery abilities.

The severed branches quickly regrew, causing minimal consumption for Balk.

Over time, as long as Yi Chen showed even the slightest flaw and failed to break through the blockade of Balk’s branches, he would inevitably be overwhelmed by Balk’s relentless assaults.

To the audience, unless Yi Chen possessed some powerful trump card, the outcome seemed already decided.

And indeed, that was the case.

Given Yi Chen’s current revealed strength, it was nearly impossible for him to defeat or kill Balk.

However, no one knew that the strength Yi Chen had displayed was far from his true level.