The Arrowback Boar before them was nearly five meters long, its massive body like a small mountain, covered in dense, razor-sharp spines.
As Sword Douluo advanced, the boar shrieked in terror, launching its spikes like a hailstorm in a desperate attempt to stop him.
But the gap between it and a Titled Douluo was simply too vast.
Sword Douluo didn't even need to use soul skills. One swing of the Seven Kill Sword was like a cleave from the heavens, cutting through the forest, felling trees in a wide arc.
In just a few breaths, the Arrowback Boar lay dying on the ground, its blood soaking the earth.
Chen Feng stepped forward and ended his life with a single clean strike.
Such was the merciless reality between soul beasts and soul masters—kill or be killed.
A deep black soul ring began to condense above the body.
This Arrowback Boar had reached a staggering 33,000 years of cultivation!
To put it in perspective, most Soul Saints' seventh spirit rings were only 20,000 to 30,000 years, and that's with optimal soul ring compatibility.
But Chen Feng's body had already reached a monstrous level through spirit ring breakthroughs, physical refinement, and the infusion of immortal herbs.
Only someone with his foundation could absorb such a soul ring.
Anyone else attempting it would've died from soul overload.
Two hours passed.
Chen Feng slowly rose to his feet—the fifth soul ring fully absorbed.
His spirit power surged and stabilized, finally stopping at Rank 52.
And he was still only fourteen, barely a month past his birthday.
Sword Douluo brought him to a small tavern on the outskirts of a mountain town.
According to the sect's intelligence, the entrance to Slaughter City required a blood ritual to open.
Even before stepping inside, one had to treat life as worthless.
That was the rule here.
Only by accepting such a rule could one survive and grow stronger.
If your heart was soft, this was not the place for you.
As the name implies, Slaughter City.
It existed for killing, and nothing else.
Inside the tavern, the air was thick and foul.
As Chen Feng and Sword Douluo entered, every eye turned to look at them.
Chen Feng scanned the surroundings.
The entire tavern was cast in dark hues—black wood, black cloth, dim lights that barely illuminated the faces of its patrons.
And those faces—cold, indifferent, and emotionless, like walking corpses.
"A rich boy like you should turn around now. I'd bet money you wouldn't last a day in here."
In the corner, a man dragged a blade across his stubble, his eyes wild like a beast's.
Beside him sat a glass of crimson liquid.
Chen Feng recognized it at once—a Bloody Mary, made from actual human blood.
"Fresh meat… interesting," another disheveled man with yellow teeth chuckled, looking like a vagrant.
The whole place was wrong—sinister, violent, feral.
A waiter dressed in black with an emotionless face approached them.
"What'll you have?"
"One Bloody Mary," Chen Feng replied coldly.
"We don't serve that to newcomers," the waiter responded flatly.
Shkk—!
A clean slice.
The waiter's head dropped to the floor.
Blood sprayed violently in all directions.
Chen Feng calmly reached out, grabbed a glass, tilted the corpse slightly, and let the blood pour in.
One cup. Two. Three...
In moments, five glasses were filled with steaming fresh blood.
"Five Bloody Marys—on me," he said, scanning the room with icy eyes.
Thud.
The waiter's body hit the ground with a sickening crash.
Everyone in Slaughter City was on a path toward death.
There was no mercy here. No hesitation.
The only rule was to kill.
If you could slaughter your way through the city, you earned the right to inherit the Killing God Domain.
Someone let out a long whistle.
"Nice reflexes, kid," a voice rang out. "But if you think killing a few people is enough to enter Slaughter City, you've got another thing coming."
No one in the tavern looked surprised—not the patrons, not the remaining staff.
They'd seen worse.
Chen Feng glanced sideways.
"One isn't enough? I'll kill ten. Ten isn't enough? Then I'll kill a hundred.
I'll keep killing until Slaughter City opens itself to me."
He released his martial spirit.
Yellow, purple, purple, black, black.
Five terrifying spirit rings floated into view.
Then, the fifth ring—a deep black glow—began to pulse.
His latest ability from the Arrowback Boar was a wide-area attack soul skill:
"Myriad Sword Convergence!"
Countless glowing azure swords—born from the Seven Kill Sword—appeared around him in midair.
Next second—
All blades flew.
They shredded everything.
Shk! Shk! Shk!
The tavern fell into eerie silence.
The ground was slick with blood.
Every step left a crimson footprint.
Sword Douluo, watching, nodded.
"You've adapted quickly."
"To grow stronger, one must embrace slaughter.
That's the law here, isn't it?"
Chen Feng knew—you kill, or you're killed.
There was no room for weakness.
Sword Douluo gave him one last look.
"I'll return in one year to retrieve you.
By then, your team should be ready for the finals."
"They will be," Chen Feng replied.
Blood pooled across the tavern floor, flowing like a stream.
At the center, it vanished into a dark point.
Chen Feng walked over and stabbed his sword into it.
Boom!
A deep rumble echoed through the room as the ground tore open—a gaping black void.
The air twisted into a vortex and sucked downward.
When Chen Feng turned around, Sword Douluo was gone.
He took a deep breath and leapt into the darkness.
He fell for several meters before landing solidly.
A cold wind blew, carrying a metallic tang of blood.
He now stood inside a pitch-black tunnel.
But with his Sword Dao Heavenly Eye, light was unnecessary—he could still see everything.
He moved forward.
After nearly a kilometer, a chilling voice echoed from all directions:
"Welcome to Slaughter City.
This is the capital of hell.
Here, you can have whatever you desire—
In exchange for your life."
Chen Feng muttered,
"Tch. Cheap theatrics."
He pressed on.
At the end of the tunnel, a faint light appeared.
Then, two enormous gates opened.
A unit of soldiers in black armor stood waiting—each masked, silent, and still.
There were 108 of them.
The one at the front rode atop a jet-black warhorse, also clad in heavy armor.
"Defeat me," the man growled. "And you may enter Slaughter City.
If you fail, you die."
Chen Feng said nothing.
He stepped forward.
The Seven Kill Sword appeared in his hand.
No spirit rings emerged.
As expected, all soul abilities were nullified here.
Only the sword remained.