Amidst the rolling lava, a cross as black as obsidian and emitting an eerie aura broke through the lava and leapt out, then Saraf, who was frozen in mid-air, was instantly pulled onto the cross by an inexplicable suction and couldn't move.

"Now, taste the attack you just unleashed on me, and see how it feels hitting your own body." Seeing Saraf bound completely, Nero raised his hand and snapped his fingers at him.

Next, without any extra movement, the Saraf bound on the cross let out a painful scream, followed by a series of crackling punches and bone-cracking sounds. Pei Yan and the others looked up; it seemed like invisible hands were repeatedly punching Saraf's body, leaving dented fist marks on his surface, smashing his dragon scales and causing blood to flow.

After a round of punches, Saraf, who was lively before, was now severely injured and covered with wounds. Nero watched his handiwork with satisfaction and mocked: "How does it feel to be hit by the feedback from your own attack?"

"Cough, cough, ugh~ ah~ ah!" Saraf choked and spit out some blood due to severe injury and mockery, then roared angrily, his body swelled attempting to break free from the shackles of the cross behind him.

"It's useless, it's too late! Conviction!" Seeing this scene, Nero shook his head impatiently, and after another snap of fingers, Saraf suffered another savage beating. However, this time he did not stop struggling, enduring the pain of his muscles tearing, still trying his best to break free and regain his freedom.

Unfortunately, Nero didn't give him another chance to turn the tide. Amidst everyone's attention, he waved his big hand, and four black iron nails, matching the material of the cross, and a blood-red spear enveloped with murderous aura, condensed in the void.

"Bloodline Reversal." Nero shouted as he took the initiative, and after four streaks of black light in the air, four iron nails shot into Saraf's hands and feet, pinning him back to the cross he was halfway escaping from, issuing a chilling wail. Even Pei Yan, who is cold-hearted towards battles, felt a twinge of compassion.

But this was still not the end. As the four iron nails pierced Saraf's body, Nero moved, his spear aimed fiercely at Saraf's chest. As the spear left his hand, Nero followed and rushed out ahead.

The blood line left by the spear in mid-air pierced directly into Saraf's body; at the moment the spearhead penetrated Saraf through, even as his limbs were nailed, he stopped struggling. With the spear passing through, carrying out a blood shower, and piercing the cross behind him, it fell steadily into Nero's hands.

"Blood Absorption." Nero grasped the blood-stained spear, which instantly turned into a stream of blood, flowing into his body from his palm. Simultaneously, Saraf, whose body was pierced, seemed to have the source of all his life extracted by the spear, falling into the lava along with the shattered cross behind him. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"It's over." Pei Yan shook his head in disappointment, lamenting. He had no great affection for the arrogant Saraf but compared to Nero; Pei Yan would naturally prefer Saraf to win.

"Is he not dead?" Wang Wenze looked at Saraf, whose dragon scales were shattered and floating above the lava, smoking with amazement.

Soon changes in the arena answered Wang Wenze's question. In an instant, all the lava covered the platform dissipated like receding tides into cracks in the void on either side. As it retreated, the platform reappeared in front of everyone, burned beyond recognition, almost instantly completed a restart, restoring to its pristine state before the match.

With a wave of heat sweeping across everyone's cheeks, only then did Pei Yan notice the Protective Array had been lifted from the platform, and someone had already rushed ahead of him, grabbing Saraf from the ground and holding him in his arms.

Suddenly appearing in the arena, an elder with dark red short hair, taller and thinner than ordinary people, and with a sad face, tightly cradled Saraf, gently opened Saraf's cracked, bloodless lips with his hand, then took out a dagger mercilessly slicing a long scar on his own chest, the blood from the wound slowly flowing into Saraf's mouth, bringing back some color to his paper-white skin until a fit of coughing is heard, the elder's anxious and worried expression finally eases a bit.

"Is he alive now?" Jiang Feiyang also breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, bent down to pick up the snack bag dropped at his feet, casually pulled out a piece of jerky and chewed, couldn't help but comment: "Wasn't this platform supposed to be so high-end, that after the fight ends, you can revert to your condition before the arena as long as there's still breath left. Now it doesn't seem to be the case! Saraf may have survived, but he seems as good as dead to me."

"You're right, Saraf is ruined." Pei Yan shook his head to explain: "However, the problem isn't the platform. It can even be said that the fact Saraf is still alive is due in large part to the maintenance of the platform's array. Normal matches inflict damage to the body and soul, which the platform can repair! But Saraf's situation is different - his core bloodline belonging to the Dragon Race was stripped away, which is like a unique, shattered vase being restored by an exceptionally skilled craftsman; but if you directly steal the vase, there's no way to recreate it. Ah!"

Pei Yan sighed with regret: "Saraf is truly unlucky, having been defeated twice by Nero, twice having his core bloodline extracted by him. Last time it was interrupted by me midway, able to use Dragon Race resources to make up for it, while this time even the foundation is destroyed. Unless someone uses heaven-defying means to adjust his constitution, someone like him who highly relies on his bloodline, even possessing the Power of the Six Paths Origin, his strength will be greatly diminished, forever falling out of the ranks of top-tier masters."

Just as Pei Yan was voicing his lament, the elder on the platform who had rescued Saraf from the brink of death finally felt half relieved. Now he didn't care about anger, taking his beloved son off the stage in his arms as he needed to find the Ancestral God and see if the child still has any chance for recovery.

"Is this favoritism? A fight to the death! I haven't killed him yet and the battle automatically terminated, did he admit surrender voluntarily? Or did I say I want to let him go?" Watching coldly from the sidelines all along, Nero couldn't help but sarcastically remark as he saw the elder wanting to take Saraf off the stage.