Under the gaze of the masses, Hell Gladiator Arena officially began.
Since the arrival of the different world on Earth for over a hundred years, this was the second King-level secret realm to appear.
It was destined that this battle would draw the attention of the entire world.
Because this wasn't just a simple arena match, it was a global crisis.
Countless professionals even put aside their monster hunting and leveling just to watch the livestream.
After all, if the participants couldn't clear Hell Gladiator Arena in the remaining nine days, it meant the world would face an apocalyptic disaster.
In such a situation, who could still focus on anything else?
People from all nations hoped that their Nation's professionals could not only win generous ranking rewards to strengthen their nation, but also clear Hell Gladiator Arena, achieving both resources and prestige.
By then, the national strength and status of their Nation would surely rise significantly.
Countless people stayed in the livestream rooms, cheering on their favorite professionals, or quietly watching over them.
Zhang Yue's livestream room exploded in popularity.
Current number of live viewers: 1.3 billion.
Undisputedly the most popular streamer in the world. Even Myth-grade professionals like the Ghost Swordsman Elfa and Frost Mage King Kwon Ji-Hyun didn't have such high viewership in their livestreams.
And among these viewers, some weren't even from the Dragon Nation, but foreign viewers.
A powerful person naturally draws the spotlight.
Many foreign viewers who hadn't yet witnessed Zhang Yue's real combat strength came in just for the spectacle, to join the buzz.
["They say Dragon Nation's necromancer has infinite potential, even being called the second-generation God Asura. I want to see, just how strong are you really."]
["This third-person perspective looks like just a regular person, nothing special so far."]
["Let's watch a little more. Better not disappoint me."]
———
[On the Battlefield]
100,000 contestants were divided into 100 arenas, about 1,000 per arena.
Zhang Yue's battlefield was Arena 52.
The huge arena stretched endlessly, despite having 1,000 participants, Zhang Yue couldn't see a single person within his field of vision.
Clearly, this competition arena was massive.
At this time, a temporary group chat for contestants, set up by Dragon Nation's top professionals, began sounding with messages from participants:
[[Little Raccoon]: "Anyone in Arena 33? Let's team up!"]
[[God Descends 1v4]: "I'm in Arena 91. Why is it that I can't see a single person nearby? All monsters! Is the arena this huge?"]
[[Loli Voice]: "What arena is Zero God in? Can I team up with you?"]
[[Autumn Falls Without a Trace]: "Don't just think about fighting. Avoid combat as much as possible. Anyone who passed the Lightning Bat trial to enter Hell Gladiator Arena is a top-tier elite, one in ten thousand. Even running into a random one gives you only a 50% win rate. If you die, the loss is huge! Just farm monsters for points and play it safe.]
[[Slaughter All Eastern Dogs]: "Damn it! There's a Eastern dog right beside me. I can't take it, I'm going to hack him up right now!"]
["..."]
This beginner arena held no real appeal for Zhang Yue.
With a mindset for quick resolution, Zhang Yue immediately summoned his pet squad.
He issued an indiscriminate kill command, scatter and freely hunt targets.
Soon, combat alerts followed one after another—
["Ding~ Your pet [Thirty-Six-Wing Armageddon Black Dragon] killed Hell Lion x25. Kill progress: 25/100!"]
["Ding~ Your pet [Cherry] killed Hell Wolf x19. Kill progress: 44/100!"]
["Ding~ Your pet [Apex Predator] killed Lord-rank Hell Lion King. Points +1. Current total points: 11!"]
["Ding~ …"]
Zhang Yue displayed the combat log openly on the livestream screen, transparent and public.
These eye-catching combat records shocked everyone.
["Holy crap! These pets are that strong? They're killing dozens at a time! As expected of my Zero God, so badass!"]
["Damn, he doesn't even need to move. Just sits back and collects the loot!"] [T/N: Passive aura-farm]
After swapping to the 28-star Flowgold set, the pets' strength surged.
Fighting these level 175 monsters, it was practically one-shot kills. One enemy or a group, it didn't matter. It was unbelievably easy.
However, Zhang Yue didn't just sit and enjoy.
While the pets went on a killing spree, he was also looking for targets.
Unfortunately, the pets were too efficient, didn't leave a single scrap behind.
Everywhere Zhang Yue went, the ground was full of monster corpses. Within a radius of several miles, not a single living thing could be seen.
While this was normal for Zhang Yue, to the livestream viewers, it struck their hearts deeply.
Where had they ever seen such large-scale slaughter?
["Holy crap! Zero God's pets are way too strong!"]
["But... pets are still pets. They don't have Zero God's pro-level mechanics. Even with high damage, they might get outplayed by enemy professionals. What if they run into a real strong enemy? A bit of skill from the opponent, and the pets might get taken out!"]
But soon, Zhang Yue's pets used their strength to crush all doubt from the audience.
["Ding~ Your pet [Ice-Sealed War God] killed Eagle Empire contestant [Norse Ern]. Points +1!"]
["Ding~ Your pet [Armageddon Skeleton King] killed Eastern contestant [Kudo Shizui]. Points +1!"]
["Ding~ Your pet [Cherry] killed Val Empire contestants [Moose] and [Noah]. Points +2!"]
["Ding~ …"]
As the combat log updated in real time, the livestream room fell silent, for a full three seconds.
Then, it erupted.
["Damn! Brutal! Just too brutal!"]
["I heard Hell Gladiator Arena's entry challenge requires killing 200+ monsters without taking damage in under 100 seconds. Only one in ten thousand can pass. Anyone with this kind of strength is already freakish, but Zero's pets… they're beyond freakish!"]
["One in ten thousand peak professionals being killed this easily? Feels fake…"]
The pets were just too powerful. Zhang Yue didn't even have a chance to act, he could only sit and harvest points.
So, he simply found an empty spot and sat down.
While his pets harvested away, Zhang Yue's points steadily climbed.
From 10… to 20, 40, 70…
Soon, it reached 100 points.
At that moment, a panel popped up on his Starshine Card—
["Ding~ You've accumulated enough points to raise your rank. Would you like to rank up now? (System recommends saving a small number of points for revival in case of death.)"]
Did Zhang Yue need to prepare for death? No need.
["Ding~ Points -100. Congratulations! Your rank has been upgraded from [1-Star Arena Novice] to [2-Star Duel Expert]. You now qualify to enter the [Second-Level Arena]!"]
[[System Announcement]: "Ding~ Congratulations to Dragon Nation contestant [Zero] for being the first to reach [2-Star Arena Expert]!"]
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