Qi Xu, just like in "Frozen," wielded a chainsaw in his left hand and a long blade in his right. He had even used a Weapon Upgrade Card to enhance the long blade to Level 2.
The weight felt more balanced now, and the entire weapon was forged from a special metal.
Qi Xu found it just as effective. These weapons were like vehicles—regardless of type, as long as you kept upgrading them, they would grow increasingly powerful.
So as long as it felt right in his hands, it didn’t matter if it started off weak or not.
When the Green-Haired Monster appeared, the arena timer began!
The monster howled, pounding its chest before charging forward. Qi Xu didn’t retreat—instead, he advanced, swinging the chainsaw diagonally downward in a slashing motion.
Then, the moment the monster raised its arms to block, Qi Xu thrust his long blade forward with full force.
Successfully forcing the monster back, Qi Xu took a quick step forward, adjusted his stance, and delivered a spinning back kick that knocked the creature off balance, exposing its back.
He immediately brought the chainsaw down on its neck, securing the victory.
However, there was no way to collect the green fur—the monster vanished from the arena the moment it was defeated.
A thought suddenly struck Qi Xu: What about the monsters on the Survival Highway? Did they truly die?
Or did they also have a protection mechanism, like this arena? Once a fatal point was triggered, were they forcibly teleported away?
Qi Xu’s mind raced with unsettling possibilities, sending a chill down his spine...
Finally, he took a deep breath. Whatever the truth was, he had no way—and no ability—to investigate further. Shaking his head firmly, he pushed the thoughts aside for now.
Instead of jumping into the next fight, Qi Xu reviewed the battle replay, identifying several unnecessary and wasteful movements.
In the next round, he adopted a more streamlined approach and swiftly defeated an intermediate-level Green-Haired Monster.
Then, he switched to another creature—one he feared more: the Black Thread Snake.
Its slim, inconspicuous form made it easy to underestimate, often leading to unexpected defeats.
Qi Xu remained on high alert. When the snake appeared, neither moved immediately—both were sizing each other up.
After a tense moment, the snake suddenly recoiled before lunging forward. Qi Xu sidestepped, and in the same motion, revved the chainsaw, landing three quick strikes on the serpent’s body.
But he nearly paid the price—its venomous fangs had already sunk into the fabric of his sleeve.
Without hesitation, Qi Xu tore off the entire section of cloth and stored it in his backpack.
He repeated the process—watch the replay, analyze mistakes, and fight again. After over 20 rounds against the Black Thread Snake, Qi Xu finally perfected his strategy.
By the end, he was taking them down in just five seconds!
Satisfied, he moved on to the next challenge: a monster capable of wielding multiple elements—fire-breathing, water manipulation, metal barriers, even entangling vines to immobilize foes.
The most common variant was the Ghost-Faced Wolf.
These creatures had diverse attributes, though fire-aligned ones were the majority.
The moment Qi Xu summoned one, before its form had fully materialized, it hurled a fireball at him. Though he had braced himself, the attack was too fast—his dodge was clumsy at best.
Rolling to the side, he barely regained his footing before a second fireball came flying. Drawing from his past experience, Qi Xu focused on evasion while inching closer.
Finally, thanks to his rapid sprinting, the wolf misfired. Seizing the opening, Qi Xu charged forward, chainsaw raised, and delivered a brutal slash. Though it didn’t kill the beast outright, he severed one of its front legs.
Enraged, the wolf retaliated by launching two fireballs simultaneously, trying to corner Qi Xu.
But he stood his ground. While the chainsaw served as a frontal distraction, his right arm tensed—the moment the wolf lifted its remaining leg, Qi Xu blocked with the chainsaw and drove the long blade straight into its vulnerable belly.
Total time: 8 minutes and 21 seconds. Victory secured.
Reviewing the replay, Qi Xu winced at his initial clumsiness—though it was still an improvement over his past self. In his previous life, any encounter with elemental monsters left him battered.
Back then, his physical stats hadn’t been exceptional, but his endurance was his pride. Constant beatings without dying meant each recovery made him stronger.
It even earned him a nickname: Qi the Indestructible.
Qi Xu realized the old saying held true: "Where you invest, you reap rewards."
Watching battle replays was incredibly effective—it laid bare every flaw, every missed opportunity, every mistake.
He continued summoning Ghost-Faced Wolves relentlessly.
Three fire-aligned, one water-aligned, an advanced ice variant, and finally, back-to-back encounters with two metal-aligned wolves.
The metal-aligned ones were the toughest.
Their defenses were formidable, claws razor-sharp, and their agility unmatched.
If Qi Xu hadn’t been wearing his bulletproof undersuit, he might have already triggered the arena’s protection mechanism and been knocked out.
But even so, he was getting pummeled by the two Metal-type Ghostface Wolves... tossed around the combat platform like a punching bag.
In the end, Qi Xu only managed to win by using himself as bait and launching a sneak attack.
After every fight, Qi Xu would immediately review the combat footage. If he didn’t understand it the first time, he’d watch it again and again. And if he still didn’t get it, he’d jump back into the arena, take another beating, and then rewatch the recording.
His persistence even moved the Bunny Muscle Monster.
For some inexplicable reason, Qi Xu heard that its favorability toward him had increased by another 5 points.
No time to dwell on why—his three-hour arena access was almost up, so Qi Xu hurriedly queued for another fight.
Winning wasn’t the issue; the real challenge was doing it with minimal effort and maximum efficiency. That was the mark of a true powerhouse.
Players like Dongfang Yuan and Warwolf 009, who had solid foundations, held a natural advantage in combat. Even if Qi Xu could boost his stats quickly through external means,
he couldn’t match their years of experience and ingrained skills.
If he didn’t push himself, the gap would widen fast. In this survival game, higher-tier loot boxes meant stronger monsters.
If you didn’t dare to open high-level crates, you’d fall behind in resources—and once that happened, catching up would be nearly impossible.
Pumping himself up, Qi Xu bought another banana milkshake from the Bunny Muscle Monster to drop his fatigue below 20 points.
He quickly scarfed down some fried rice, did a set of stretches to aid digestion,
then renewed his arena access for another three hours. Like a true workaholic, he refused to waste a single second—determined to squeeze every drop of value from his station pass!
.........
