36 The Arena

In a nearby city called Clearwood, a loud cheer erupted in a large, crowded room. Officially, this place was a bar. They served drinks and hired entertainment from all around the Song Kingdom. In truth, the bar was just a front for a much larger industry: an underground gambling arena.

The arena was built below ground. The excavation was an impressive feat, and many powerful geomancers had been hired to ensure its stability. Geomancers combined their earth affinity with spirit power. Their understanding of the earth and its composition was much deeper than a normal earth-element cultivator, and they were highly sought after in any kingdom.

"Blood Queen, Blood Queen! Victory! I bet everything on the Blood Queen!"

Drunk patrons were throwing money around like it was out of style. The Blood Queen had been there for the past two months. That was a long time for a prize fighter, especially someone like her, who only accepted death matches.

In the caged arena, a lithe young lady dressed in tight-fitting red leather wielded two vicious sabers. The sabers were also red; despite having been forged from iron, these sabers had been soaked in the blood of countless men and beasts alike.

Her opponent this time was an extremely large man, who was confident in his strength. He wielded a huge sledgehammer. A single strike from that hammer would definitely kill the young lady on contact.

"Does anyone want to make any other bets? The betting will close in one minute, assuming one of the contestants isn't defeated first!" A glamorously dressed lady was the head bookie for the gambling arena.

"Fifty mid-grade spirit stones on the Blood Queen."

An expected customer in a dark cloak arrived, as expected. He was the main reason why she'd lowered the odds in the first place. She had proactively reduced the odds for the Blood Queen, ensuring that they still earned money from every fight. Call it women's intuition.

"Sir Gong, your business is truly eating us out of house and home. Won't you consider betting on the other side?" the head bookkeeper suggested.

"Stop looking so innocent. You lowered the odds so much only three days after she showed up! There's no way you're not swimming in spirit stones after these past two months," Sir Gong replied.

"But it's not the same," she replied softly. "I want to swim in your spirit stones. I want them all over me. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" As she leaned forward, her ample cleavage became partially uncovered in the process.

"Let me get that for you," Sir Gong said, leaning in and fixing her problem. The woman blushed. She wasn't there for touching, but he was a rich man. She had no choice but to smile at his cheeky grin.

"You know, Yi Bing, we did compromise this time. Her current opponent is at the sixth level of qi condensation, a whole level higher! I'm sure a lot more people will bet on him this time. And if they don't, you'll be swimming in my spirit stones. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

After their teasing exchange, Sir Gong went to take his seat near the front of the cage arena. A few high rollers were there as well. They had personal boxes, and topless women sat on their laps as they spectated, satisfying their every need.

He disliked places like the arena. Especially the smoky, unventilated air. He was used to it, of course. Back when he fought here, he was known as the Blood King. It was where he made a name for himself and where he'd built up enough funds to bankroll his mercenary group in Green Leaf City.

The reason he had returned was for his sister's sake. She had finally grown up and had a desire to get stronger. Her original half-hearted, squeamish attitude was why he'd previously been reluctant to include her in the mercenary business. The last two months had completely obliterated his previous assumptions. She would do just fine out in the real world now.

The two fighters in the cage were currently walking in circles, occasionally making probing moves. Of course, the Blood Queen did most of the probing. She was nimble and could quickly recover from any mistakes. The large hammer-wielding brute did not have that luxury. While he was a whole level stronger than her, he had personally witnessed her vicious techniques and strong killing intent.

After probing for a hundred breaths, the Blood Queen finally started her dance, quickly building momentum with her twin blood-red sabers. She spun in rapid circles like a dervish, striking with a steady rhythm that contained very few gaps. As her dance intensified, so did her strikes.

The brute's defenses were very hard, however. He was what they called a "buffer". In addition to some level of body refining, the brute utilized his qi to cover himself in an iron skin. He didn't use any qi at all for attacks. As a result, he was able to avoid taking damage from the attacks that snuck through.

Every once in a while, when he saw an opening, he would lash out with all his power, swinging out in large arcs at the agile demoness. Every time he lashed out, however, she would leap over each strike, taking advantage of his momentum to land some heavy blows. While she hadn't injured him yet, his qi was rapidly depleting. If things continued this way, his iron skin would be as effective as wet paper and he'd truly be in trouble.

There were only two ways out of this death match—winners got to live, and the losers would die. No mercy was allowed. The rewards for these fights were very steep, and the admission fees were correspondingly high. The arena guaranteed at least three of these battles. If no fighters were available, they kept a large stock of demonic beasts that could take the place of human contestants. Of course, the arena preferred people fighting—people didn't cost them anything.

The Blood Queen's attacking frequency had now reached its peak, putting the brute in a tricky position. It was now or never! He had kept a trump card this whole time, but he was experienced and had patiently waited for the time to strike.

Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank.

After six strikes, the brute stepped in quickly, using his hammer to deflect the blows. The blow occurred at a moment where there was a very slight pause in her movements. The pause only lasted for a fraction of a second, but for the experienced brute, it was enough.

***

The charge surprised the Blood Queen, who couldn't help but interrupt her rhythm and step back. She had lost the initiative, which was very dangerous due to the large gap in cultivation level. As she twisted to attack at the large man's waist and regain the initiative, she shivered slightly as a tremor traveled up her leg through her foot.

Shit, she thought, he's not a pure buffer! The brute had used a stomping battle technique, which utilized earth qi to create tremors and paralyze his opponents. Unfortunately, this was the Blood Queen's Achilles heel. If her dance was interrupted, she would be nothing but a sitting duck.

A feeling of pure dread invaded her subconscious as she eyed the large hammer, which swung downward toward her exposed shoulder. That single strike would surely kill her if it landed.

I can't let my brother down! I can't let him down like I did Cha Ming!

These thoughts instantly converted to courage. To survive, she would have to break her limits. With a roar, her dantian trembled, and she angrily slashed at an invisible membrane using her qi pool. She channeled her anger—at the situation that led to Cha Ming's death; at her brother for getting her into this cage match; and most importantly, at herself for failing them both.

Her righteous anger made her qi lake shudder, but to no avail.

Again! Another fierce impact on her dantian had her coughing out blood.

Again! Finally, the third attempt managed to crash the invisible membrane that had caused her to be caught in a bottleneck. Instantly, qi at the sixth level of qi condensation rushed toward her and cleared her mind.

She quickly exercised her movement technique, which had improved after her breakthrough. The tremors in her legs were quickly neutralized by the surging qi. Having shaken off the tremor, she quickly danced forward toward the brute, using one of her sabers to slightly shift the smashing hammer. The hammer barely avoided her, but she took advantage of her closed-in position to swing both sabers upward toward the brute's neck.

Blood Saber Art—Twin Decapitation!

The vicious blow, powered by her increased cultivation, smashed through the remainder of the brute's iron skin. His previous attacks had exhausted most of his remaining qi, leaving him open to an attack. The crowd cheered as the underdog of the fight, the reigning champion, Blood Queen, lifted both of her blood-red sabers above her head to announce her victory.

Blood dripped from the sabers onto her sexy, slender figure.

***

As the reigning champion, the Blood Queen had her own changing room. The changing room was filled with three baths. The first bath was to rinse her swords and leather outfit. She unceremoniously dumped them into the tub and jumped into the second one, the pre-bath wash. The water instantly turned crimson as the dried blood was rinsed off her perfect slender frame. She also gave her hair a quick wash, as it had been doused with a couple cups of hot blood as she decapitated her opponent.

After the initial rinse was completed, she dunked herself into a scented bath. It had been treated with various perfumes ideal for countering the bloody smell. Initially, the smell had disgusted her. The more she fought, however, the more she yearned for that smell. Was she perhaps changing too much?

As she relaxed in the bath, a familiar figure walked in.

"Elder Brother, you know it's inappropriate to enter a girl's room while she's taking a bath, right?"

The man shrugged as he heard the comment.

"It's not like I haven't seen it all. Plus, you're my younger sister. I used to give you baths when you were little, and I've already seen you naked countless times."

"That's different!" she said, blushing and sinking deeper into the bath, ensuring that the foaming soap properly covered anything inappropriate. He took the hint and sat down, facing away from the bathtub.

"Congratulations on your breakthrough. It's been a hard two months, but you've already broken through two whole levels. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed that you were a fourth-grade talent!" He was truly happy at her sister's progress. This was much faster than his initial training. Perhaps she was better to suited to the Blood World Scripture than he was?

"It's all thanks to the Blood World Scripture. What an amazing cultivation method! It channels killing intent into offensive power, killing intent into cultivation, and life-and-death struggles into breakthrough opportunities. There's also no chance of having an unstable foundation, since the user's qi is constantly stabilized through combat."

"Lan Er, I think it's more to do with your compatibility with the technique," Sir Gong said blandly. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were a sadist."

"Wuling, you know better than I do that that's not the case. I'm just much too disappointed in myself. Cha Ming died because of me, and I never want the same situation to repeat itself."

She wore a cold expression. The sweet Gong Lan no longer existed. Only by being cold to herself would she never let down anyone ever again. This saddened her brother greatly.

"Speaking of which, a messenger from the Jade Bamboo Conglomerate came by this afternoon. I didn't want to interrupt your focus before the match. Do you want me to read the message to you now, or do you want to wait until after your bath?"

Gong Lan perked up when she heard the words Jade Bamboo. What could Brother Jun possibly need?

"Open it now and read it to me!" Gong Lan instructed.

Gong Wuling chuckled as he ripped open the letter. After opening it, he read it out loud using a sensual voice.

"My Dearest Lan Er, I can't hold it in any longer. I've decided that it's now or never, and that I need to confess my love for you. I—"

"The hell? Read the real letter!" she shouted, lashing out furiously, throwing a bar of soap at her brother's head.

"If you keep throwing things, I'll have to turn around and teach you a lesson," he teased. "Ahem, where was I? Gong Lan, I'm happy to inform you that one month ago, Cha Ming returned from the spirit woods safe and sound. I'm sorry I didn't inform you earlier, however, it took a while for our intelligence agency to track you down. The underground gambling arena is not strictly legal, so information on it is quite hard to come by. I hope you're well, and that you'll come for a visit soon. Xin Er misses you dearly, and Cha Ming inquires about your whereabouts every few days. Sincerely, Your Dearest Brother Wang."

Wuling lifted his eyebrows as he recalled the tragic story of the young man falling off Greatwood Bridge after an explosion destroyed it. Their portion of the group had only survived since it was close to the edge. They had managed to keep hold of the bridge because the portion supporting them slammed against the cliff wall.

This guy Cha Ming has some dogshit good luck, he thought.

"Elder Brother, you're not joking, are you?"

He looked back at his teary-eyed sister and handed her the letter. The paper quickly started falling apart as she held it in her soapy wet hands.

"Let's go back to Green Leaf City, brother. We'll keep training after I go for a visit, okay?"

Wuling chuckled as he stood up and ruffled her wet hair. "Anything for you, little sister. You know that."