The Spherical Cage.
Dongbo Xueying watched helplessly as the spherical cage above grew larger and larger in his vision until his body collided with it and effortlessly passed through.
“Hmm?” Dongbo Xueying observed carefully. The cage spanned roughly ten thousand miles, with a flat ground inside covered in countless streams of black light swirling in motion.
“This survival battle is truly public—everyone can see everything clearly.” Dongbo Xueying peered through the transparent outer walls of the cage and saw the countless spectators gathered below, as well as the other spherical cages floating at varying heights, each containing a prodigious deity-level expert.
“The rules of the survival battle need no explanation,” the Divine Court envoy on the high platform below declared loudly. “Those who can’t endure should surrender early—don’t throw your lives away! The last hundred standing will be the top hundred of the survival battle.”
“Begin!” the Divine Court envoy commanded coldly.
**Hummm—**
In the sky, the black streams of light within each of the over two hundred spherical cages began to coalesce into monstrous creatures. The countless spectators below watched intently, focusing especially on the top ten, particularly the most renowned—Dongbo, the Drunken Recluse, and Jiushe. After all, such deity-level experts were rarely seen in ordinary times.
…
Dongbo Xueying stood calmly on the flat ground inside his cage, his right hand extending to grasp a long spear.
At that moment, the black streams of light on the ground began to gather, forming monstrous beasts in different locations. Each was covered in black scales—some were land beasts, others winged creatures. Ten beasts appeared in various parts of the cage, and as soon as they materialized, their gazes locked onto Dongbo Xueying.
**”Hiss—”** **”Roar—”**
The beasts exchanged glances, communicating silently. Though they were constructs of the formation, they possessed considerable intelligence. After all, even puppets crafted by transcendent beings had minds of their own. These formation-born creatures, though created more swiftly, were forged specifically for the Divine Court’s Myriad Flower Banquet by a Fourth Heaven World God.
The ten beasts stood in place, none rushing to attack.
“If you won’t make a move, I can’t afford to delay.” Dongbo Xueying shook his head. With a thought, a duplicate of himself clad in star-blue robes appeared in the distance, wielding a fiery-red spear. With a casual flick, the spear tore through the air, causing the surroundings to darken and collapse as it struck a black-scaled beast with lightning speed. The beast was sent flying, blood trickling from its mouth and nostrils—yet the injury was trivial to it.
“What?” Dongbo Xueying was surprised. “Even with the power of the Myriad Tribulations Hunyuan Body and the crushing force of a black hole, I couldn’t kill it? And this is just the beginning of the survival battle.”
What was the survival battle?
In this trial, a new beast would spawn every breath. The creatures would continue to emerge endlessly.
If the rate of killing couldn’t keep up with the spawning, the number of beasts would only grow—and the newly spawned ones would grow stronger. The situation would deteriorate rapidly.
The best strategy was to kill as many as possible—with all one’s might!
“**Rend.**” Dongbo Xueying willed it.
His distant Void World duplicate struck again, this time unleashing the **Great Black Hole True Force**—the maximum power Dongbo Xueying could currently muster. Where the spear passed, everything collapsed into darkness. With a **boom**, it smashed into the black-scaled beast, shattering it into black energy that dissipated back into the ground.
“I thought its body was tougher than that.” Dongbo Xueying smirked. His true self remained motionless while his Void World duplicate darted across the battlefield, swiftly annihilating all ten beasts in one seamless motion.
After a brief pause, the black streams of light on the ground gathered once more, forming a new black-scaled beast—slightly stronger than the last, yet still felled by a single sweeping spear strike.
Then came the wait of one breath.
Thus, Dongbo Xueying remained at ease, leisurely waiting for each new beast before obliterating it with a single strike from his Void World duplicate.
…
“Dongbo, the Drunken Recluse, and Jiushe—those three are making it look effortless.”
The countless spectators below could clearly observe the battles within each spherical cage.
“Dongbo is using his **Void World True Body**. It possesses the same strength as his original form and can instantly reform even if destroyed—an incredibly formidable technique. His power is overwhelming… The beasts in this survival battle are far stronger than the Savage Witch Soldiers, yet Dongbo crushes them with a single spear strike. They don’t even stand a chance.”
“The Drunken Recluse is just as terrifying. He hasn’t moved an inch, merely swinging his sword—his blade-light spans ten thousand miles, slicing every black-scaled beast to pieces.”
“Jiushe doesn’t even use a weapon. A single palm strike is enough to shatter a beast.”
The spectators marveled in awe.
They knew it wasn’t that the beasts were weak—it was that Dongbo and the other two were simply too strong.
Among the other top 250 experts, those ranked lower were struggling desperately. The black-scaled beasts’ defenses were formidable—just killing one was a grueling task. Attacks at the threshold of World God power only wounded them slightly. These experts had to exhaust all their means to barely take down a single beast.
“I surrender.”
Only a short time after the survival battle began, one deity-level expert conceded.
He was instantly ejected into the air outside the cage.
Glancing around, he saw that every other participant was still fighting—he was the first to give up.
“Tch.” The burly man sighed. “The black-scaled beasts’ defenses are too strong. Killing them is too difficult, and their numbers keep increasing. Once they swarm, there’s no holding out.”
“I surrender.”
“I surrender.”
Soon, more followed.
They knew most were still fighting, but they were already at their limits. If they couldn’t make the top hundred, survival took priority.
Finally—
A voice echoed across the battlefield.
“Two hundred remain!” the Divine Court envoy announced.
Many of the deity-level experts still fighting inside the cages felt a pang of frustration. Two hundred left? Reaching the top hundred seemed nearly impossible.
“One hundred ninety.”
“One hundred eighty.”
The Divine Court envoy called out the numbers at intervals. Even if he hadn’t announced them, the countless spectators below could see the battles and track the remaining participants, relaying the information to their friends or allies still in the fight.
“One hundred seventy.”
“One hundred sixty.”
One by one, the deity-level experts surrendered—none had died yet. With the gap to the top hundred still wide, those who felt overwhelmed chose to retreat rather than perish.
As the numbers dwindled—
“One hundred ten!”
At the envoy’s voice, the remaining fighters tensed. They were close—just ten more eliminations, and the remaining hundred would advance to the Divine Court.
“The final stretch. Those who endure to the top hundred will proceed to the Divine Court—but remember, your lives matter too.” The Divine Court envoy watched coldly. This was when the death toll peaked. Those struggling were now fighting with desperate, reckless determination.
The difference between the top hundred and the hundred-and-first was absolute.
The top hundred would enter the Divine Court, securing a future worlds apart from the rest. They were gambling everything—even their lives.
“One hundred nine.”
The envoy witnessed a deity-level expert torn apart and annihilated by the black-scaled beasts—body and soul erased. He was unmoved. Such was the norm in these final, brutal moments. The death rate always soared.
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