A bright flash of light.

A thundering explosion.

And then, a single word.

These three sounds utterly stunned the audience, who were unable to understand what they had just witnessed.

“T-that…”

“The Blood Dragon Borte just…”

“My eyes are playing tricks on me, right?”

They were all similar in strength, so even the weakest of them could somewhat understand what had just happened. It was just too inconceivable for them to accept it.

In one instant, Borte, who was in the air pouncing towards the newbie, was smashed to the ground and decapitated. The newbie who they had thought was frozen in fear had arrived behind him before they could even process it.

Damien smiled as the familiar black smoke covered Borte’s body and consumed him. Unexpectedly, this guy was so weak!

It wasn’t like he had become so strong that he could pummel everyone in the arena like it was nothing. It was just, compared to the battles he had been fighting recently and those involved in them, Borte was truly subpar.

It had to be known that this Borte had spent many tens of years honing his combat experience. Even if his strength stayed weak, it shouldn’t have been so easy to kill him.

But Borte was too arrogant. He looked down on Damien for being a newbie and didn’t take the proper steps to gauge his strength before attacking, and even then he didn’t put his all into his attack.

Damien felt that this was the stupidest thing he could’ve possibly done. Although he too had held back his strength and fought recklessly many times, this wasn’t the same as back then.

This place was filled with true life or death struggles, unlike the Nexus Event on Apeiron when he had fought while concealing his strength just so he could have more fun.

In a situation like this, it was obvious that one should use their full strength no matter what. Even if the other party was an ant, it was better to be safe than sorry.

But Damien didn’t spend much time thinking about Borte. Now that he had been killed in such a manner, there was no way anyone would make the same mistake against him in the future. But this was just as well.

He wanted to earn his gains. Not only that, but he would also gain tons of combat experience this way. He would be able to refine his strategic battle thinking, which was unlike the combat sense he developed back in the day.

That was primal, this was refined. Both combined together into one being would become unstoppable.

As Damien thought about these things, he felt his Void Physique doing its job well, integrating the bloodline of Borte into his own.

Oddly enough, there were no compatibility issues like when he devoured the Sea Dragon. This made the process smooth and easy, slightly strengthening his bloodline.

But he was curious. Why was it that so many differing bloodlines could be fused and purified so easily, especially for those normal people who didn’t even have a physique like his? Not only that, but the fact that only the specific dragon bloodline of the other party would be devoured instead of their entire bloodline was also odd.

After all, if one simply devoured without thought, they would also devour the impurities in the other side’s bloodline. This way, the entire practice method of the White Dragon Grotto would become counterproductive.

When Damien walked out of the arena, he ignored the countless stares he received from the crowd and went straight to the reception area.

His win would be catalogued automatically, so he could already be considered a Snake level combatant. He also realized that the color of his medallion had slightly changed, becoming a jade green color instead.

But even if the processes were automated, he wanted an answer to his previous question, so he still made his way to the reception.

When Damien asked the people at the reception area, the response he got was actually relatively simple.

“Ah, that? To be honest, not many have questioned that mechanic at all. Actually, it’s all thanks to our Leader Bai that we can enjoy such an easy practice method. Otherwise, none of this would be possible.”

In short, they praised the White Dragon King and his omnipotent power. Damien wasn’t able to get a straight answer.

‘None of these guys actually know the answer, do they…”

He realized that like the clerk said, nobody questioned the actual reasoning, instead opting to just enjoy the benefits without care.

This was fine too, but he couldn’t shake his curiosity as easily as that. Sighing lightly, he pushed the question to the back of his mind.

‘If I get the chance, I’ll ask Senior Bai about it personally.’

According to the rules, one was allowed to fight 10 times per day before they were forced to stop, but not many actually capitalized on this. If they won, they’d have to properly digest their gains before fighting once more.

They also wouldn’t risk the danger of fighting when even slightly tired, since the consequence of failure was death.

But Damien didn’t have the same problems. His Void Physique integrated his gained bloodline almost immediately while simultaneously using the rest of his opponent’s body as nutrients to refill his stamina.

On his first day, he didn’t choose to fight again since he had just promoted to Snake Level, but that didn’t mean he’d follow the same formula every time. It was inevitable for him to fight more rapidly than the rest due to his many advantages.

In fact, he did exactly that. Although he didn’t fight 10 times a day, he would return to the arena daily and at least fight twice. While the fights were relatively hard, they honestly weren’t good enough to attract his attention.

This was the problem with the Snake Level. It was the bottom rung, filled with those who couldn’t actually benefit him much even if they were devoured.

When he realized this, Damien hastened his speed, wanting to reach the Wyvern class as soon as possible. Perhaps there he would finally find some worthy opponents.

His wins slowly racked up and the fear those Snake Level combatants had towards him béfame leagues higher than what they had towards Borte. In only a week, he had already climbed past the 50 win mark.

Sitting in his new residence which was at least more sanitary than the previous shack, Damien spoke to Ruyue.

“Looks like we’ll finally have the chance to move into some good housing soon.” He said.

“Ah, are you going to challenge the Wyvern Class?” She asked back. Over the past week, although she hadn’t left their residence much, she had been paying attention to his progress. Or rather, he would always come brag to her about it.

“Right. These guys don’t really contribute to my bloodline at all. It’s like adding a drop of water into a lake and expecting the water level to rise.”

“Hmm, although I don’t know the difference between the Snake and Wyvern levels, the fact that there is such clear segregation must mean that the strength difference is generally noticeable. You can’t treat the battle as lightly as you have been doing recently.”

“Relax,” Damien smiled, “I’ve been taking it seriously from the beginning. There’s no way I’ll die in some insignificant corner of the world like this.”

Finishing his small conversation with Ruyue, Damien once again made his way back to the arena. This time, to ascend to the next level.