The two halves of the Iron-Skin Bull lay on the sun-baked stone, steam rising from the cauterized wounds. The smell of burnt meat and fresh copper drifted over the first few rows of the audience.
For ten heartbeats, there was no sound. Then, chaos.
"He... he killed the Bull!" "One strike? That was one strike!" "Demon! He's a demon!"
In the VIP box, Wang Teng crushed the porcelain grape bowl in his hand. Shards dug into his palm, drawing blood, but he didn't feel it. His face, usually a mask of arrogant boredom, was twisted into a rictus of pure, unadulterated rage. The Bull was his enforcer, his shield, his investment. And Li Ye had swatted him like a fly.
"Kill him," Wang Teng hissed. He stood up, projecting his voice with Qi so it boomed across the arena.
"THE TIGER FACTION HEARS MY ORDER!"
The disciples in the stands froze.
"Whoever brings me Li Ye's head gets 1,000 Spirit Stones! A High-Grade Earth Artifact! And a position as an Inner Sect Attendant!"
The reward was astronomical. It was enough to buy a small city in the mortal world. Enough to change a cultivator's destiny.
Greed overpowered fear.
Around the arena, disciples wearing the tiger-embroidered cuffs stood up. There were dozens of them. They weren't fighting for honor anymore; they were fighting for the bounty.
"Get him!" "Attack together!"
Twenty disciples jumped from the stands. They landed on the central stage, surrounding Li Ye. Swords, axes, spears, and chains. They were a mix of Layer 5 and Layer 6 cultivators. Individually weak, but as a pack, lethal.
The Elder referee, a wizened old man named Elder Ge, frowned. "This is against the rules! One on one!"
Wang Teng threw a bag of heavy gold coins at the Elder's feet. "The rules are for the weak, Elder. This is an execution."
Elder Ge looked at the gold, then at Li Ye. He stepped back, vanishing into the shadows. "The match... continues."
Li Ye stood in the center of the encirclement. He didn't look at the twenty men drooling with greed. He looked at his sword.
The Blood-Drinker was vibrating. It had tasted the Bull's potent blood, and it was screaming for more. The black metal was beginning to glow with a faint, crimson vein pattern.
[SYSTEM ALERT] [THREAT LEVEL: HIGH (SWARM)] [WEAPON STATUS: AWAKENED (STAGE 1)] [BLOODTHIRST: ACTIVATED. EVERY KILL WILL RESTORE STAMINA AND QI.]
"Good," Li Ye whispered. "I was worried I'd run out of gas."
"DIE!"
A disciple with a twin-headed axe lunged first, aiming for Li Ye's back.
Li Ye didn't turn. He spun.
[EXECUTIONER'S SLASH: HORIZONTAL]
The black sword whistled.
The axe shaft shattered. The blade continued, slicing through the disciple's neck. The head flew into the crowd.
The fountain of blood that erupted didn't hit the ground. It arced unnaturaly towards the sword, absorbed instantly.
"One," Li Ye counted.
The pack hesitated, terrified by the instant death.
"Don't stop! Determine his rhythm! Swarm him!" Liu Mang (who was hiding at the back of the group, bandaged arm and all) screamed.
They charged. Six at once.
Li Ye moved. [Phantom Step] turned him into a ghost. He weaved between the spears.
He wasn't fighting; he was harvesting.
slash — An arm holding a spear fell to the ground. stab — The black blade pierced a chest, exiting the back. crush — A pommel strike to a face, caving in the skull.
It was a ballet of gore. Li Ye was efficient, brutal, and utterly silent. He didn't scream or grunt. The only sounds were the wet thwack of meat being severed and the screams of the dying.
With every kill, Li Ye felt a surge of warm, intoxicating energy rush from the sword handle into his meridians. He wasn't getting tired. He was getting faster.
His eyes began to glow a deep, demonic red.
In the stands, Lin Xiaoyue watched, her hands covering her mouth. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. This man... this butcher... was the same boy she had grown up with? The same man who had touched her so intimately in the cave?
"He's... he's enjoying it," she whispered, a chill running down her spine.
Farther up, Su Hong was fanning herself rapidly. Her face was flushed. The display of dominance was triggering her Fire Qi. "A King," she murmured. "A true King of Hell."
On the stage, the numbers were thinning.
Twenty had become twelve. Twelve had become six.
The stage was slick with blood, but Li Ye's white robes were pristine. The sword drank everything before it could stain him.
The remaining six disciples were backing away. They were trembling. Their greed had evaporated, replaced by the primal need to survive.
"Monster..." one whimpered, dropping his sword. "I quit! I surrender!"
He turned to run.
Li Ye appeared in front of him.
"You entered the stage," Li Ye said softly. "The exit is death."
He swung. The deserter was bisected from shoulder to hip.
Li Ye turned to the last five. They huddled together, weapons shaking.
"Please! Senior Brother Li! We were forced!" "Wang Teng made us!"
Li Ye walked toward them, dragging the heavy black sword. The stone scraped, a sound like fingernails on a chalkboard.
"You made a choice," Li Ye said. "You chose the tiger."
He raised his left hand.
[FROST PALM: GLACIAL BLAST]
He couldn't project it far, but at this range, it was enough. A wave of freezing white mist engulfed the five men.
"ARGH! IT'S COLD!"
Their movements slowed. Frost covered their eyebrows and armor. Their blood chilled, making them sluggish.
Li Ye walked into the mist.
Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.
Five swift strokes. Five bodies fell.
The mist cleared.
Li Ye stood alone on the stage. Around him lay twenty-one corpses (including the Bull). The floor was a mosaic of death.
He flicked the sword. There was no blood on it to clean. It pulsated with a dark, satisfied crimson light.
[SYSTEM NOTICE] [KILLS: 21] [ESSENCE ABSORBED: 3,500 UNITS] [CULTIVATION: BODY TEMPERING LAYER 7 (MID STAGE)] [WARNING: BLOOD LUST RISING. HOST MENTAL STATE UNSTABLE.]
Li Ye took a deep breath, forcing the red haze in his mind to recede. It was like wrestling a tiger, but his will was iron.
He looked up at the VIP box.
"Is that it?" Li Ye asked, his voice calm, echoing in the dead silence of the arena. "I'm just getting warmed up."
Wang Teng stood at the edge of the box. His face was purple. His hands gripped the railing so hard the stone crumbled to dust.
He had lost face. He had lost his men. He had lost his money. If he didn't act now, his reputation would be destroyed. The Elders would see him as weak. The Inner Sect would reject him.
"You want to die so badly?" Wang Teng said, his voice low and dangerous.
He stepped over the railing.
He didn't jump like the Bull. He floated.
[TECHNIQUE: SOARING FEATHER STEP]
He descended slowly, his golden robes fluttering, landing on the stage without a sound. He didn't touch the blood. A barrier of golden Qi surrounded him, repelling the filth.
[SCANNING TARGET: WANG TENG] [CULTIVATION: BODY TEMPERING LAYER 9 (PEAK) / HALF-STEP QI CONDENSATION] [EQUIPMENT: GOLDEN SILK ARMOR (HIGH GRADE), STORMBRINGER FAN (HIGH GRADE)] [THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
Wang Teng opened a folding fan. The fan was made of steel blades.
"You killed some trash," Wang Teng sneered, flicking the fan. "Do you think that makes you strong? I am half a step into the realm of the Immortals. You are just a strong bug."
"Bugs eat crops," Li Ye said, raising his sword. "And today, the harvest is you."
Wang Teng's eyes narrowed. "I will cut off your limbs, Li Ye. And then I will bring Lin Xiaoyue here. And I will make you watch while I—"
BOOM.
Li Ye didn't let him finish. The mention of Xiaoyue—his property, his patient—triggered something dark.
He launched himself forward. The stone beneath his feet exploded.
Wang Teng sneered. He waved his fan.
[WIND BLADE: TEARING GALE]
Three crescents of invisible wind energy shot toward Li Ye. They were sharp enough to cut through steel.
Li Ye didn't dodge. He trusted the Blood-Drinker.
He swung the sword upward.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The heavy black blade shattered the wind blades.
Wang Teng's eyes widened slightly. "Oh? That scrap metal has some weight."
Li Ye was inside his guard. He swung a horizontal chop at Wang Teng's neck.
Wang Teng didn't panic. A golden bell of light manifested around him.
[GOLDEN BELL SHIELD]
GONG!
The sword hit the shield. The sound was deafening. Li Ye was thrown back three steps by the recoil. The shield didn't crack.
"Useless," Wang Teng laughed. "My defense is impenetrable to a Body Tempering trash!"
He snapped the fan shut and jabbed it forward. A spike of condensed Qi shot at Li Ye's heart.
Li Ye side-stepped, but the Qi grazed his ribs, tearing his robe and drawing blood.
"You're fast," Wang Teng admitted. "But can you dodge this?"
He threw the fan into the air. It spun, creating a vortex.
[STORM PRISON]
Wind walls formed around the stage, trapping them both inside. The wind howled, cutting at Li Ye's skin.
"Now," Wang Teng drew a long, golden sword from his waist. "Now we play."
Li Ye wiped the blood from his ribs. He licked his finger.
"System," Li Ye thought. "Purchase [Explosive Blood Pill]."
[WARNING: HOST BODY IS ALREADY STRESSED. TAKING A BLOOD PILL MAY CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE.]
"DO IT."
A red pill materialized in his hand. He popped it into his mouth.
His heart rate doubled. His veins bulged, turning black. The Qi in his body boiled.
"Impenetrable defense?" Li Ye grinned, his teeth stained red. "I'll smash it until it breaks."
He raised the sword. The black blade roared, sensing the spike in its master's power.
Li Ye charged again. This time, he wasn't a ghost. He was a meteor.
The final battle of the Outer Sect was about to begin.