1301 Big Gambling

From beginning to end, Nine Nether Swordmeister no longer asked Tang Xiu's true identity. It was like the common saying that said the friendship between men may appear indifferent but was pure like water. After all, it was their first meeting and it was natural not to disclose everything about each to the other.

Quickly after, an outstandingly graceful woman waltzed into the ring of the Convict Arena. Wearing a black combat attire, she looked around and announced in a deep voice, "The next gladiator deathmatch will definitely make your blood boil, and you should know the fighters' names and their records. Without further ado, let us meet Battle Peng and Vassef!"

As her voice faded away, everyone's eyes were focused on the entrance of the shelled arena. Thousands of gamblers in the whole auditorium got up the moment two figures appeared, shouting the name of the fighter they bet on.

"Early-stage Golden Immortal, Battle Peng."

"Mid-stage Golden Immortal, Vassef."

A smile on his face, Nine Nether Swordmeister turned to Tang Xiu and said, "An Early-stage against a Mid-stage Golden Immortal. Battle Peng has 48 wins out of 49 bouts. The only time he failed was due to his weakening state after a severe injury, giving up his chance to kill his dying opponent. Vassef, on the other hand, has 60 wins out of 62 fights where he brutally killed each of his opponents every time. He's one of the cruelest Golden Immortals in this Convict Arena, and also one who lived the longest here. What do you think about the fight between these two, Great Tang Lil Bro? Who'll end up the victor?"

Tang Xiu silently recalled the two men's records and their specific information. After a few minutes, he slowly said, "It will be Battle Peng."

Nine Nether Swordmeister shook his head and smilingly said, "I used to like going against the mainstream as well. The more people think one side is impossible to win, the more likely I place my bet on such a guy. Kinda makes me thrilled every time the fight goes in reverse, you know. Ah, how about betting on this fight, then? No need to play much, just bet a small number."

"How would you like the gamble to be carried out, Nine Nether Bro?" Tang Xiu smilingly asked.

A glimmer of light flashed in Nine Nether Swordmeister's eyes. "I'll teach you my Nine Nether 18 Swords if you win. But you only need to give me the 1 million Crystal Essences that Empyrean Pole Lady gave you. How about it?"

"Nah." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "Nine Nether Bro has fearsome cultivation and the Nine Nether 18 Swords you created can be counted as an extremely powerful divine ability in the Immortal World. Pity that I don't lack divine arts and the likes, so let's just bet with 1 million Crystal Essences. Besides, it's the fairest means for both of us."

"Fair enough."

Nine Nether Swordmeister shot a meaningful look at Tang Xiu, feeling that his judgment was correct. This guy in front of him was definitely a very powerful figure before, so he broke into hearty laughter and added, "1 million Crystal Essences, then! Let us have such pocket money."

Pocket money? Small change your ass.

Tang Xiu grumbled and cursed inwardly. To the present him, a million Crystal Essences that was equal to 100 million Immortal Crystals was a huge number. Just using it to purchase cultivation resources alone would probably provide enough resources for all the Great Tang Empire's members for centuries.

Inside the Convict Arena's match cell.

Neither joyful nor gloomy, Battle Peng calmly observed the aggressive-looking Vassef in the opposite direction. Every time he entered the arena to fight, his one and only goal was to survive, instead of killing his opponent. Life in the Convict Arena was dark and seemingly only consisted of endless fighting. He knew that only by securing a victory would he be able to keep surviving.

He still had that spark of hope burning in his heart. To gain the appreciation of some great personage who would buy him from this hellhole. Even if he were to follow this person to blaze through the killings in the future, it was still much better than staying in this hellhole for eternity. Far much better.

"The fight… begins!"

As the graceful, stylish woman called out, Vassef turned over and brandished his blade. The moment he stormed over Battle Peng 100 meters away, the blade beam had already crushed down.

Battle Peng quickly cast various seals. Overlapping layers of light shield appeared in front of him. Even though the blade constantly smashed the enchantment, the countless blade strikes were still warded off the moment they were half a meter away from Battle Peng. A silver spear suddenly appeared in Battle Peng's hands out of the blue. The spear shadow emitted a blazing flame that was covered by countless golden runes and blasted through the blade shadows in front.

BOOM…

They retreated at the same time, each forced backward several kilometers before barely being able to stabilize their bodies.

Bloodthirst gleamed in Vassef's eyes. Licking his dry lips, he grinned ferociously. "I've watched 24 of your fights and researched the secrets of your divine arts, Battle Peng. You may be able to trade blows with me if you were to advance to another level and become a mid-stage Golden Immortal. But your present strength will only serve as a stepping stone to let me live longer. Today, I, Vassef, will use your blood to add one more victory to my excellent record."

With that said, with the 100-meter long black lacquer chain in his body as the foundation, a dark mist expelled out and covered his whole body. Right at that moment, he rushed toward Battle Peng again, and his blade fiercely cleaved down while the chains whirled around the blade images. The black mist was as though a fluctuating slithering serpent that brought with it an aura of death.

Hmph, relying on your higher cultivation and daring to be arrogant, huh? You're courting your own death. Fighting and killing those at a higher level is just a common occurrence in the Immortal World. I'll help fulfill your wish to die, then.

A cold light gleamed in Battle Peng's eyes. He waved his hand and the spear in his hand turned into a blasting arrow that streaked up to the sky and shot down to the sprinting Vassef. On the contrary of the difficult to turn flying arrow, the spear shadow seemed to have linked with a silvery bond and kept changing its trajectory layer by layer.

"Lightning Weave Spear!"

The moment Battle Peng stepped on the spear shadow, a blazing flame burst out of his body, transforming his appearance into a blazing incarnation of the War God. He kept casting many arts and unleashed swift and fierce killing blows.

BOOM…

A formation array had been laid out around the arena cell, so the power impact from the clash between these two men had no effect on the outside no matter how powerful it was.

The crisscrossing blazing flame and the lingering black mist.

The two men kept unleashing various supernatural powers. The fast consumption began to show and Vassef gradually gained the upper hand. However, it was just a slight upper hand as wounds began covering his body the more time passed, suffering various crises.

"Taking advantage of your sickness demands your life on the line!"

As time passed, Vassef, who had been fighting for several hours, suddenly had the black combat blade on his body suddenly fly up. As the blade light slashed toward Battle Peng in nearly the blink of an eye, the black tabard suddenly swelled up quickly and Vassef instantly appeared in front of Battle Peng.

"KILL!"

Another blade swept across Battle Peng's neck in an instant.

"Space Condense!"

Battle Peng seemed to have expected such a move. His hands moved and he cast a seal. The moment that blade swept across his neck, his fingers turned claw-shaped. His seemingly casual movement made the space in front of his throat to become distorted. In the next moment, the twisted space was indefinitely magnified and the impact force instantly shook Vassef's body and made him suddenly retreat.

"Late."

Battle Peng hideously grinned. As a surging Immortal Force rushed into the spear shadow, it pierced through Vassef's chest. Vassef was dumbfounded with disbelief. Battle Peng gradually faded out behind Vassef with a short sword in his hand that impaled his back deeply.

The violent Immortal Force had destroyed Vassef's heart core and decimated all his internal organs. The next moment, the spear appeared out of thin air and directly blew Vassef away.

"Let's die together!"

Vassef's body suddenly rose and a phantom of golden light flashed out of his body. Although his body was flying backward, the golden phantom moved like a lightning bolt and instantly turned into a long blade and powerfully cleaved down to chop Battle Peng's head.

Puff…

Battle Peng held the short sword in front of his forehead to counter the strike. As the long blade hit and broke the short sword, instead of striking Battle Peng's head, it cut off his palm holding the short sword.

BOOM….

The long blade violently exploded and the explosion sent Battle Peng's body upside down for tens of kilometers before he hit the ground heavily.

Whoosh…

A figure flickered lightning-fast and appeared in front of Battle Peng instantly. A pink mist sprayed out from the hands of that person and gathered Battle Peng's chopped off wrist and his blood. A golden thread then wrapped the chopped off hand and quickly reconnected it for Battle Peng.

"This Immortal Accruing Bewitching Mist can make your wrist return to its original stage within 3 days. But remember not to fight with anyone during the time." The outstandingly graceful woman glanced at Vassef's mangled body, then she floated up and departed.

Battle Peng got up from the ground with difficulty, his eyes full of indifference to life. After crawling up, he gently moved his lower arm. He didn't even glance to the auditorium full of cheers and curses outside and just gradually disappeared outside the prison arena's entrance.

In the auditorium.

A smile crept up on the corner of Tang Xiu's mouth. He turned to Nine Nether Swordmeister and with a forced smile and said, "Well, seems like I won this bet, yes?"

The man nodded and his palm stroked his fat cheeks, asking curiously, "How were you able to judge that Battle Peng would come out the victor, though?"

"There were some clues in his information," Tang Xiu replied. "It's written on it that he's suspected to be proficient in some spatial techniques. However, he has never used any spatial manipulating abilities in his previous fights. Maybe you still don't understand, so I'll put it more straightforwardly. My guess is that he has the ability to manipulate space. Besides, I think every expert who can survive to be a Golden Immortal has at least one trump card."

Nine Nether Swordmeister creased his brows. "There's one thing I don't get. Why didn't he use his spatial manipulating ability when he was almost killed by his enemy before? That's why he lost that battle."

Tang Xiu narrowed his eyes and thoughtfully said, "If I'm not mistaken, he should be concealing his strength. It may even be possible that he's not an early-stage Golden Immortal."

"You said he's not an early-stage Golden Immortal?' Nine Nether Swordmeister was surprised. "How is that possible?"