Wendy’s strike, though right before Moggansa’s face, was instantly halted by an invisible barrier. The raging flames, with nowhere to vent, coiled back only to erupt in a violent explosion! Wendy herself was spattered with showering dirt, looking quite disheveled.

Conversely, the dark-skinned man remained seated serenely, protected by his layer of defense; not even a speck of cigar ash had dropped. He exhaled a smoke ring towards Wendy and chuckled, “Care for one? This is authentic Havana, rolled on a fine lady’s thigh.”

Wendy’s teeth ground audibly, utterly frustrated by the old fox Moggansa, unable to vent her anger. She could only let out a wild roar, drawing her blade and pointing it at the defending Contractor across the way: “Next!”

But her arrogance immediately deflated. The next contestant to enter the ring was the Lightbringer's MT, Akaphir! No introduction was necessary; merely seeing the massive, silver door-panel-like weapon slammed hard onto the ground was enough to know exactly what kind of work Mr. Akaphir specialized in.

Wendy’s complexion turned somewhat ashen. To be frank, for a close-combat fighter like her, who possessed incredibly high attack power but alarmingly thin defense and health, nothing was more detestable than a prolonged battle against a Contractor with high defense, immense vitality, and average attack power!

The ensuing fight was decidedly dull. Akaphir naturally relied almost entirely on a defensive counter-attack strategy, while Wendy acted like a wolf licking its wounds from a distance, only pouncing after honing her claws. If she failed to gain any significant advantage, she would retreat to attack again. "…………" Consequently, when the ten-minute limit elapsed, Akaphir defeated Wendy with a clearly superior percentage of remaining health, securing the victory.

As for Wendy, she was defeated so thoroughly that she couldn't even utter a polite farewell. Her expression was agonizingly grim as she turned and fled.

Next up was a Stalker specializing in ranged attacks and debuffs. He managed to win only by the percentage of remaining health, unable to push Akaphir into a near-death state for victory, which spoke volumes about the defensive capabilities of his Blade Tower Shield. Akaphir merely ducked behind that giant, silver shield resembling a door panel, truly looking like he was hiding inside a turtle shell.

Even though he was in a purely passive defensive posture, occasionally drawing a handgun for a retaliatory strike, over ninety percent of the Stalker’s attacks were blocked by the incredibly sturdy silver giant shield, often resulting in reflected damage back to the attacker.

And everyone could tell that this Stalker was exceedingly powerful. He might not have the rich combat experience of Moggansa, but his individual strength and imposing presence surpassed him.

Even so, facing this "turtle shell" tactic left him feeling strangely hampered.

More bizarrely, Akaphir seemed to possess a passive life-regeneration ability. Even after being struck for the full ten minutes, his health bar hovered stubbornly around 50%.

From a technical MT perspective, Reef’s professional judgment was unquestionable. After watching for a moment, he immediately stated, “This guy must have learned some new ability. Once he gets critically hit by an enemy, he recovers a certain amount of health. This specific setup is extremely potent in one-on-one duels, but if two people were to attack him from front and back simultaneously… his lack of agility would become a significant liability. Then he’d just be beaten to a pulp!”

Although Akaphir lost, there was no doubt that most agile melee specialists had considerable experience and knowledge in dealing with gunners, especially since this particular battle carried no risk of death. Immediately, several agile melee Contractor specialists challenged him in quick succession. Due to the inherent type advantage,

This Stalker was literally worn down and pushed to defeat by a wave of challengers!

The subsequent combat grew increasingly intense. When the opposing Stalkers were down to eight members, Zi gracefully floated onto the stage at this very moment. After defeating two Stalkers consecutively, her true power began to manifest: the hexagonal crystals swirling around her were simultaneously offensive and defensive, formed from condensed MP and capable of transforming into spiritual energy when needed!

Watching Zi effortlessly defeat two opponents, still looking like she hadn't broken a sweat, the remaining Stalkers exchanged uneasy glances. Usually, Contractors exhibited clear weaknesses: for instance, MTs lacked offense and were slow; agile melee specialists were fast in movement and attack speed but lacked health and raw damage; agile ranged specialists had high damage and sustain but lacked health; summoners relied on powerful beasts but were frail themselves; magic users were even more fragile, boasting terrifying burst damage but lacking endurance.

However, Zi possessed no apparent weakness! She could cast a beneficial status called Force: Journey to enhance her movement speed. Her personal magic shield, Moggansa estimated, was at least LV4, further augmented by additional passive abilities! Thus, the fragility typical of magic users was gone. Moreover, the hexagonal crystals circling her could serve as spiritual energy reserves when necessary, solving any issue of sustained combat power…………

Undoubtedly, Zi was also a formal Stalker! Riding the momentum of defeating two Stalkers, her flowing robes captivated the entire audience, momentarily intimidating the remaining six opponents with her aura. The fact that no one stepped forward to challenge her for thirty seconds was highly unusual.

It should be noted that even without consuming medicine, Zi’s spiritual energy regeneration was astonishingly fast. And right now, she only had one hexagonal spiritual energy crystal circling her. The longer the delay, the more spiritual energy she recovered! Just as the second hexagonal crystal began to reform beside her, someone stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest, looking at Zi and saying calmly, “Are you recovered now?”

Hearing this, the crowd erupted! It wasn't that no one dared to challenge her; it was that this individual disdained taking advantage of Zi’s temporary state! He insisted on waiting until she was at her absolute peak before engaging.

What astounding confidence and arrogance this demonstrated!

Zi glanced at him and replied quite seriously, “Not yet.”

This man was remarkably straightforward: “Very well, I will wait for you to fully recover before challenging.”

While the two exchanged words, Fang Senyan overheard Reef snorting softly through his nostrils. He couldn't help but chuckle too, because the person stepping up to challenge the currently unparalleled “Zi” was none other than Reef’s acquaintance: Aldaris!

Fang Senyan remembered Reef mentioning that this guy was a sort of "Magic-Martial Arts Dual Cultivator," whose primary attributes were Strength, Intelligence, and Spirit. He maintained his survival by relying on magical shields and the life-steal ability he employed during combat. Any shortcoming in movement speed was compensated for by equipment and beneficial status effects. The main reason he lost to Reef was likely his inability to inflict significant damage, meaning his Vampiric Touch ability yielded less stolen life.

But... if that were all there was to it, for Aldaris to dare challenge a fully powered “Zi” directly, he must have some trump card of his own, otherwise, he wouldn't appear so self-assured. Soon enough, Zi had completely recovered. Her expression cold, she walked to the center of the battlefield: “Come forth.”

Aldaris had been lazily squatting nearby. His attire was usually very hip-hop oriented: a backwards baseball cap, oversized dark sunglasses, and a lip ring. Yet, as he approached Zi, despite no change in his clothing, his entire demeanor underwent a profound transformation. He exuded both mechanical precision and the ethereal grace of a cold wind, like a steel metropolis amidst howling blizzards—cold, magnificent, precise, and vast!

The duel between the two began instantly. Since they started fifty meters apart, Aldaris’s first priority was to close the distance to this woman, Zi. He moved in a serpentine, zigzag pattern to approach, while Zi retrieved a crystal orb. This orb was about the size of a small bowl but radiated a profound, deep blue. Its grade was impossible to discern; it was likely approaching the echelon of Soul Equipment.

Zi didn't spare Aldaris a glance, focusing instead on the crystal orb as if gazing upon a calm, windless sea.

Reflected in the orb was a miniature image of Aldaris. Curiously, even though Aldaris’s real body was currently charging forward, the miniature version in the orb leaped diagonally forward, then abruptly dropped like a stone, skimming along the ground. Unless foreseen beforehand, such a bizarre path of advance seemed unimaginable for a human sprint.

But after observing this scene, Zi’s left hand snapped up into a vertical palm. Those with sufficient spiritual power could feel an infinite suction emanating from her palm, violently compressing the surrounding air. Then, fragments began to rapidly coalesce in front of her palm, forming a seamless, perfectly broad, invisible barrier that shot forward explosively.

This move was none other than the Force Barrier: Ram, which had given Fang Senyan so much trouble!

Even stranger, Aldaris, who had been charging straight ahead, genuinely leaped, dropped, and then, …he met Zi’s Force Barrier: Ram head-on! It was almost as if he were delivering himself to her door!

Prediction!

The crystal orb held by Zi could actually forecast the opponent’s actions several seconds in advance.

This ability could only be described as mystical.