Chapter 160: Battle One Against Seven, Slaughter and Dominance
The token rolled a few more times before stopping at the feet of a burly man who had just entered the arena. The other participants immediately turned their gazes toward him and Han Li, curious about what would happen next.
Han Li glanced at the scar faced soul master with bulging muscles standing across from him and spoke politely, "Excuse me, could you kick the token over to me?"
The entire arena fell silent. Not only did the burly man freeze, but even the spectators who had been ready to enjoy the show were momentarily stunned.
Wait, wasn't this pretty boy full of arrogance just now when he entered the arena? And didn't he just step on Wang Meng like he was nothing? Why was he suddenly being so polite?
From the stands, a mocking voice rang out, "Kid, are you still nursing? Do you think the Hell Slaughter Arena is some kind of playground?"
The moment those words fell, the stands erupted into laughter. The Hell Slaughter Arena, which had been relatively quiet just moments ago, suddenly became as noisy as a marketplace.
Han Li's smile didn't falter. He simply lifted his gaze toward the stands, locking onto a short figure weaving through the seats.
Found you.
His smile grew even brighter, confusing those watching him.
A second later, the short man's head exploded like a watermelon hitting the ground. The crowd fell silent, watching as his body took a few more staggered steps forward before collapsing.
Realizing something had gone wrong, the spectators turned toward the scene of the incident, then quickly shifted their eyes back to Han Li.
As Han Li swept his gaze across the stands, the arena fell into complete silence. No one dared to laugh anymore.
Turning his attention back to the field, Han Li saw that the burly man across from him was frozen in place.
"You broke the rules," said the first contestant who had entered the arena, his eyes dark as he looked at Han Li. However, his gaze quickly shifted toward the veiled woman in the stands, as if waiting for her response.
But to his surprise, she kept her head down, completely ignoring him.
"Oh? What rule did I break?" Han Li asked, still smiling.
"The rules state that no killing is allowed in the stands…"
The contestant began, but midway through his sentence, he suddenly realized something.
Wait… Han Li had attacked from inside the arena. He hadn't violated any rules. And the way that man had died it was strange, to say the least.
While he suspected it was some sort of spiritual attack, he had no proof. And even if he did, it wasn't against the rules. It wasn't that Han Li had broken the rules; it was just that he lacked the ability and courage to do the same.
Clenching his teeth, he gave up trying to argue with Han Li and turned to the other participants.
"If you don't want to die without knowing why, we should attack him together. Damn it, we're already in the arena if we don't take him out first, we're all dead."
A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He had faced opponents stronger than him before, and in this place, only the last one standing mattered.
Hearing his words, the others didn't respond, but their attention shifted to Han Li.
They had no choice. If they wanted to survive, their best bet was to gang up on him first and deal with each other later.
Moving in unison, they adjusted their positions, encircling Han Li while still keeping a wary eye on one another.
Only the burly man remained motionless, his head hanging low as if paralyzed with fear.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
A deep bell tolled through the Hell Slaughter Arena, signaling the official start of the battle.
The moment the first chime rang, the combatants completed their martial spirit possessions and charged toward Han Li, maintaining a calculated distance.
Among the seven attacking Han Li, five wielded beast spirits, while the other two had weapon spirits.
The first contestant, the one who had confronted Han Li, possessed a rare elephant type martial spirit. However, unlike normal elephants, his trunk had mutated into a grotesque, blood red appendage lined with razor sharp spikes. It continuously opened and closed like a man eating flower, exuding a nauseating stench of blood.
The other participants had similarly twisted martial spirits, each carrying a foul, blood soaked aura. Even the two whose spirits appeared normal at first glance reeked of slaughter.
The first to reach Han Li was a rat type soul master who attacked from the rear.
His razor sharp, blood red incisors expanded under his soul power, growing significantly as he lunged at Han Li's head, aiming to pierce straight through his skull.
Unfortunately for him, he was too slow.
With a slight sway of his body, Han Li vanished from his original position.
The rat type soul master's attack struck only air. A moment later, a crimson flash swept past his neck. He staggered backward, clutching his throat, before collapsing lifelessly to the ground. Not a single drop of blood seeped from the wound.
"Hm… That won't do. Feels like a waste. I need to adjust my habits," Han Li muttered, glancing at his fallen opponent.
His usual attacks were too clean too efficient. But in this place, blood mattered. If he kept killing like this, he'd be handing the City of Slaughter free resources.
If he didn't adjust, the corpses wouldn't be his to claim only their souls. That was unacceptable.
By the time the other combatants reached Han Li's previous location, the rat type soul master was already dead.
"He's an agility type soul master! Compress his movement space so he has nowhere to escape!" someone shouted. Since Han Li had restrained the fluctuations and glow of his Ice Fire Dragon Blades, and due to his extreme speed, the others misjudged him, assuming the dual blades in his hands were retrieved from a storage soul tool.
In the City of Slaughter, storage soul tools weren't common, but they weren't exactly rare either. Many soul masters whose martial souls weren't suited for direct combat relied on weapons instead.
To them, Han Li seemed to be one of those people. After all, his dual blades looked too ornate, and since they didn't emit any soul power fluctuations, they assumed he must have robbed them from somewhere before entering.
Han Li maintained his faint smile. Hearing the command, he didn't refute it; instead, he took the initiative to charge toward them.
"Blast Step."
His lips moved, but no sound escaped. At the same time, a cloud of dust exploded beneath his feet. The rat type soul master at his side also burst apart from the sheer force of the step. Han Li had already appeared before the one who had given the command.
The man instinctively swung his clawed hand at Han Li, but his strike met Han Li's reversed ice blade. His right forearm was severed instantly. His eyes widened slightly, his mouth opening, but before he could utter a sound
A blade flash.
His head flew into the air.
On the other side, just as Han Li charged forward, a soul master wielding a spear had a ruthless glint flash in his eyes. He thrust his spear at the man Han Li had just beheaded.
He couldn't keep up with Han Li's speed, but he was gambling gambling that Han Li would prioritize eliminating the one giving orders.
And as expected, Han Li appeared precisely where his spear was aimed.
A twisted grin spread across his face.
He had won the bet.
Now, they would die together. Better yet, he'd rid himself of a competitor.
His cruel smile widened, and he poured more strength into his attack. The spear hummed as it sliced through the air.
But the next moment, his smile froze.
Han Li had stopped the spear with his flaming blade, and most importantly the targeted man had been so pathetically weak that Han Li had eliminated him in an instant.
A deep unease crept over him as Han Li used the momentum from his previous attack to twist his body. With his right blade pressing against the spear, Han Li rushed forward at an alarming speed.
Sparks flew where the flaming blade met the spear. The realization struck him like a hammer he and the others had been dead wrong.
Han Li's dual blades weren't stolen weapons.
They were his martial soul.
Seeing Han Li rapidly closing in, he made a decisive choice he let go of his spear and leaped backward, mouth opening to shout.
Then, Han Li smirked at him.
A flick of the wrist.
The ice blade in Han Li's left hand left his grasp, spinning rapidly toward him.
It expanded in his vision, piercing through his throat before he could utter a sound.
Another body hit the ground.
Now, Han Li was fully surrounded.
His left hand twitched, and the thrown ice blade reappeared in his grasp, utterly clean without a single drop of blood.
"Looks like you're the ones trapped with me," Han Li quipped, his smile teasing. He showed no concern for the two attackers behind him.
"Fu You're acting all high and mig "
A vulgar voice had just begun to ring out when Han Li disappeared again.
The next instant, a flaming blade stabbed through the man's open mouth.
Han Li remained still, watching as the fire burned brighter and spread. The man's body convulsed, blackening before finally collapsing.
Han Li's expression turned cold.
"I don't like foul language. Even if you're about to die, swallow your words."
"He's the first," Han Li continued, his gaze sweeping across the stands. "But he definitely won't be the last. Trust me you don't want to know what I'll do next."
The audience members who met his gaze felt an icy chill. Some lowered their heads, others looked away, and a few forced smiles.
No one dared to rebuke him.
Meanwhile, the remaining three opponents had gathered together, their faces grim.
"Alright, it's your turn," Han Li said with a grin. His body flickered, vanishing once more.
Behind the burly man who had been standing still all this time, Han Li materialized.
The ice blade in his hand plunged into the man's back.
"Next time, suppress your soul power fluctuations better. This is the City of Slaughter how could I forget you?"
A trace of resentment and unwillingness flickered in the burly man's eyes before he collapsed heavily onto the ground.
His right hand, which had been hidden behind his back, finally slackened, revealing a needle like martial soul that dissipated as he died.
Thirty seconds later, the battle was over.
Han Li had barely exerted any effort dealing with the last three.
The two remaining beast soul masters fell victim to their own missteps, allowing Han Li to finish them off swiftly.
As for the first contestant to enter the arena, his martial soul allowed him to endure slightly longer but only slightly.
From the stands, the spectators' fear of Han Li deepened.
The overwhelming impression left on them was that this newcomer held grudges.
All it took was a few words at the start of the match for Han Li to mark someone for death.
And despite being capable of ending them instantly, he had deliberately stabbed one of his victims multiple times before delivering the final blow.
As for Wang Meng, the unfortunate man Han Li had thrown into the arena at the start no one knew exactly when he had died. His body, having been thawed out, was now just another offering to the blood stained ground.
Han Li simply stood there, quietly feeling the strange energy surge into him at the end of the battle.
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