"Now, you all have two choices."
Tang Lan smiled innocently—
"Option one: Enter the arena, nine at a time, and fight me."
"Option two: Die right now."
With a mere thought,
the man who had mocked him earlier—the one who demanded he crawl between his legs—suddenly collapsed to his knees, his face twisting in agony as he began tearing at his own flesh.
Beneath his skin, something squirmed grotesquely, as if alive.
For several excruciating minutes, he clawed at himself, his screams turning hoarse.
Then—
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
Masses of lifeforce-infused Blue Silver Emperor vines suddenly burst from his body,
ripping him apart from the inside out.
Under the City of Slaughter's rules,
the Blue Silver Emperor vines withered instantly, leaving behind nothing but a dry husk.
There wasn't even a single drop of blood left.
The scene sent chills through everyone's bones.
Every pair of eyes now stared at Tang Lan in sheer terror.
How could a kid be this ruthless?!
"You have thirty seconds to decide."
Tang Lan's smile didn't falter—
"Those willing to fight, step to the left and form your teams."
"Those unwilling… just stay where you are and wait for death."
The moment he finished speaking—
Every single person bolted to the left.
—Who the hell wanted to die that horribly?!
Tang Lan nodded in satisfaction,
folded his arms, and waited patiently for them to sort themselves out.
This was exactly why—
he hadn't bothered faking weakness or dragging out kills earlier.
Anyone who survived in the City of Slaughter was a seasoned survivor—not someone who could be fooled for long.
Here, life-and-death coercion was the only thing that worked.
Since he couldn't tempt them with rewards,
he'd force them with fear.
And thus—
Choosing to fight meant a chance to live.
Otherwise—
Even the most reckless fugitives didn't actually want to die.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have fled here—they would've ended themselves a long time ago.
Tang San's Shameless Request
"Brother."
Tang San sidled up, his eyes glimmering with greed—
"Can I have that Ten-Thousand-Year Nine-Petal Purple Ganoderma… and maybe some of those soul bones too?"
"The City of Slaughter is way too dangerous—I need to get stronger fast!"
"You wouldn't just let your little brother die, right?"
He looked so pitiful.
Tang Hao's eyebrows twitched—How the hell did I end up with such a kid?
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger let out a few amused snorts—Who it was laughing at, nobody knew.
Tang Lan rolled his eyes at Tang San.
With a wave of his hand—
Ten soul bones and the remaining half of the Nine-Petal Purple Ganoderma appeared mid-air.
Tang San's eyes lit up, and he leaped forward—
"Plop—!"
He fell face-first into the ground.
He sat up, stunned, and waved his hand—
His fingers passed right through the soul bones, as if they were just illusions.
"What…?"
Tang San was dumbfounded.
What was happening?!
"A new ability of yours?" Tang Hao guessed.
"Not exactly. I've had this for a while—I just never used it much."
Tang Lan shrugged—
"It's the third awakening ability of my Soul Spirit Domain, called 'Mirror Flower, Water Moon.'"
"It creates near-perfect illusions of objects. Some can even have slight physical substance, but their quality is garbage."
"After training in mental power applications with Sister Xi, I developed it further. Now, even a ten-thousand-year beast wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a fake and a real one."
"If I wasn't afraid these fools wouldn't recognize the value, I would've just pretended to have hundred-thousand-year soul bones."
Oh.
So from the very beginning, Tang Lan had been scamming people empty-handed.
He had never intended to give away anything real.
Pure. Absolute. Fraud.
Tang San got up, looked at the fighters forming teams, and had a new idea.
"Brother, how about this—"
"Let me fight them instead, while you…"
"Smack—!"
Tang Hao slapped Tang San's head straight into the ground.
"Brat, quit scheming!"
Tang Hao lectured coldly—
"The Slaughter King doesn't want new Slaughter Gods to be born."
"If you rack up too many wins, you'll attract his attention."
"Once that happens, he'll start replacing your opponents with only the strongest fighters, making sure you never reach the championship."
"Try any dirty tricks here, and you won't even know how you died."
Tang San dug himself out of the ground, feeling a wave of relief.
Good thing his dad was an 'old acquaintance' here—otherwise, he'd have walked right into a trap.
Even though Tang Hao disliked Tang San,
as his biological son, he wouldn't just stand by and watch him die.
…What Tang San didn't know was—
Tang Hao was just looking for an excuse to beat him up.
Did he care whether Tang San lived or died?
Not really.
"Then, according to you, Dad, it must have been incredibly difficult when you earned the Slaughter God title, right?"
Tang San flattered him, hoping to get on his good side.
He expected Tang Hao to proudly confirm it.
Instead—
"Smack!"
Another slap came down, sending Tang San spinning like a top, pirouetting on the spot.
"Brat, train properly! Talking won't make enemies go easy on you!"
Tang Hao scolded.
Tang San was completely aggrieved—
I even get slapped for complimenting him?!
He shut up completely.
Tang Lan, meanwhile, was having a great time watching.
It seemed Tang Hao really enjoyed smacking Tang San.
Let the Games Begin
The time was up.
Tang Lan stepped forward, looking at the teams that had finished forming.
Two unlucky ones were left without a full team and were looking at him nervously.
Before they could even speak—
"Snap!"
With a casual finger snap,
both of them burst apart, dying in an instant.
The remaining 54 fighters turned pale with fear!
—Because they also had those horrifying things inside them!
"Good."
Tang Lan nodded in satisfaction.
"Now, I'll go inside first. You will fight me one group at a time."
"Don't worry."
"Inside the Hell Slaughter Arena, I won't activate the Soul Seeds."
"Your survival will depend entirely on your own strength."
"Kill me, and the soul bones and immortal herbs are yours."
Even though he said that—
No one believed him.
Their eyes shifted to Tang Hao, waiting for confirmation.
Tang Hao, however, had full confidence in his son.
—Even if he fought Tang Lan himself, he wasn't sure if he'd win.
So, he boldly declared—
"I, Tang Hao, promise this—whoever kills him, I will not seek revenge."
"If I break my word, may the Slaughter King hunt me down."
Hearing this, the six teams suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.
"Good!"
Tang Lan smiled, satisfied.
"Follow me."
Return to the Hell Slaughter Arena
Tang Lan led the six teamsback into the Hell Slaughter Arena.
The guards at the entrance once again acted blind, letting Tang Lan through without question.
However, the 54 fighters had to each pay a cup of Huangquan Dew to enter.
Fortunately, these were seasoned fugitives, and everyone had some stockpile saved.
Tang Hao didn't follow them inside.
Tang San hesitated, then also chose to stay outside.
—Sticking close to Tang Hao felt much safer.
Tang Hao ignored him.
He casually retrieved the spatial ring Tang Lan had given him, which contained the nine frozen Soul Douluo.
Piece by piece, he fed them to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was thrilled, gulping them down one after another.
"Slow down! It's not like anyone's going to take them from you."
Tang Hao scolded, amused.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger froze mid-chew—
Then suddenly—
"Cough! Cough! Cough—!"
It choked violently, hacking up a huge glob of phlegm.
Which promptly splattered all over Tang San's face and body.
"Yue——!"
Tang San threw up on the spot.
He frantically grabbed a water pouch, washing himself off multiple times, then turned to rage at the tiger—
Only to spot something shining in the mess.
A Soul Bone?!
With a quick flash step, he snatched it up.
Examining it closely—
It was a left arm soul bone, and its energy signature indicated it was at least ten-thousand-years-old!
It must have belonged to one of the nine Soul Douluo.
Without hesitation, he pressed it to his left arm, ready to absorb it—
(End of Chapter.)