Book 2: Chapter 7: Innate Realm Fight
“Number 1! Number 1! Number 1!”
Countless cultivators who won spirit stones immediately cheered, making the spectator stands very lively.
Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+
Suddenly, red energy ropes appeared from the ritual arrays on the surrounding walls.
Bang! Bang!
The energy ropes instantly shot over to Gu Hai from a distance and bound his limbs once again.
Although Gu Hai recovered his cultivation, he could not struggle free.
The blue light at the exit vanished, and the black-clad men operated the ritual arrays to pull Gu Hai back quickly with the red energy ropes and tie him to a stone platform covered with ritual arrays and talisman scripts.
Bang!
Gray energy suddenly shot out of the stone platform and into Gu Hai’s dantian.
Buzz!
Gu Hai felt intense pain from his dantian, then no longer sensed his Veritable Energy.
This sealed Gu Hai’s dantian and Veritable Energy once again.
Gu Hai’s expression turned unsightly.
The red energy ropes now released him and retracted. However, Gu Hai’s hands and legs were already shackled.
“Bring him back, then bring evil man Number 2!” the leading black-clad man ordered.
“Yes!”
The black-clad men returned Gu Hai to the cell.
However, Gu Hai could see the scene outside from the cell’s window.
The wild boar spirit from earlier had been cleaned up and brought away.
Evil man Number 2 appeared in the beast arena. However, evil man Number 2 did something unexpected. He seemed to have seen someone he knew and started shouting at the spectator stands the instant his cultivation recovered.
“Tian You, it’s me, Zhen Yuan!” evil man Number 2 suddenly shouted.
“Humph!” one of the black-clad men snorted coldly.
Whoos.h.!.+
Suddenly, a beam of blue light shot out of the ritual arrays, streaking towards that evil man’s mask.
Boom!
Evil man Number 2 exploded.
“Alright. Everyone, this evil man Number 2 refuses to repent. Aside from being indifferent to killing, he continues to spin lies. To think that he even tried to lie in the beast arena, trying to hoodwink everyone. Clearly, he is not fit to compete today. Let’s look forward to evil man Number 3’s performance, then!” The host’s voice rang out again.
“Zhen Yuan? That’s impossible. That is Zhen Yuan?” someone in the crowd exclaimed.
However, a group of black-clad men quickly brought that gambler away.
Gu Hai stood by the window in his cell, looking at the beast arena coldly. “The Great Feng Mafia Family? Ha! They are very well-organized!”
The first day pa.s.sed, then the second. During these two days, the sixteen evil men fought in the arena, fighting beasts. Evil men died in some rounds, and animal spirits died in some rounds. Now, only eight evil men remained. However, one of them made Gu Hai’s pupils constrict.
It was Scar, the Scar who pitted himself against Gu Hai in Evil Men Valley. Scar was actually a Golden Core Realm cultivator. When his cultivation recovered, he unleashed his aura, suppressing a leopard spirit to the point where it did not dare to fight back. It just let Scar step forward and kill it. Scar was Number 8. He showed a wild and berserk air, inducing the gamblers in the spectator stands to shout even louder and more excitedly.
The crowd in the spectator stands grew larger. Gu Hai noticed that the First Song Sect Master remained seated in the VIP spectator stands, occasionally making bets. Clearly, the First Song Sect Master liked gambling.
On the third day, Gu Hai was brought back to the beast arena’s entrance as evil man Number 1 again.
“Alright, friends, you all have seen enough of the fighting from the past two days. You have seen how strong the eight surviving evil men are. Now, it is time for the fight between evil men. Prepare your spirit stones; we are about to begin. The first match is Evil man Number 1, who killed the wild boar spirit, versus evil man Number 16, who killed the bull spirit! Place your bets!” the host shouted once again.
Countless gamblers placed their bets once again. This time, more people wagered compared to the previous two days. Spirit stones were incredibly precious to every cultivator. When they were not clear on the situation, most would not gamble casually. Now that they had seen the evil men fight, they had an idea on who to bet on. They had to bet on the winning fighter.
Bang!
The black-clad men tossed Gu Hai and a red-clad evil man into the beast arena. Then, electricity struck them and broke their seals, causing intense pain to the two in their dantian.
“Huff!” The red-clad evil man raised his head and looked at Gu Hai, apparently trying to endure the pain to attack Gu Hai.
However, Gu Hai raised his head as well.
This stopped the red-clad evil man from making a sneak attack.
“Number 1! Kill him! Kill him!”
“Number 16, I bet on you to win! Kill him!”
“Number 1!”
“Number 16!”
Many of the gamblers on the spectator stands who placed bets started shouting.
Up at the VIP spectator stand, the First Song Sect Master coldly watched the beast arena.
“Place a bet of ten medial grade spirit stones on Number 16 to win!” the First Song Sect Master instructed coldly.
“Yes!” the dealer from the Great Feng Mafia Family answered.
Over the past two days, the First Song Sect Master made several wagers. He had lost on Number 1 and won on Number 16. Naturally, he placed his bet on Number 16, as he was biased against Number 1.
Gu Hai recovered his cultivation and slowly stood up. Then, he looked coldly at the red-clad evil man across him.
Like Gu Hai, the red-clad evil man stared at his opponent, Gu Hai.
The two evil men faced each other, searching for an opening.
“Hehehehe! Brat, you are new, right?” The red-clad evil man suddenly let out scary, cold laughter.
“So what if I’m new, you are not—”
Gu Hai only spoke halfway when that red-clad evil man suddenly shot forward like a fired cannonball at him. A fight to the death never cared about rules. Either one died, or one’s opponent died. The red-clad evil man had spoken only to distract his opponent.
However, given Gu Hai’s intelligence, how could he get distracted? While Gu Hai spoke, he also stored up power.
The instant the red-clad evil man charged over, Gu Hai s.h.i.+fted his left foot forward and right foot backward. Then, he stomped on the ground.
Boom!
A strong impulse appeared as well. Gu Hai likewise shot forward like a fired arrow.
In a short moment, the two clad themselves in Veritable Energy. The first intense clash began.
One would never hold back in a fight to the death. It seemed like two afterimages clashed in an instant.
Boom!
A loud sound rang out, and a cloud of dust rose from the ground. The surrounding spectators suddenly stopped shouting, goggling at the beast arena.
Bang!
The impact sent the red-clad evil man staggering two steps back.
Clearly, Gu Hai showed great strength in the first clash.
Before the spectators who bet on Gu Hai could cheer, the red-clad evil man reacted, instantly shooting over to Gu Hai.
“To think that you are so strong? That should not be the case!” the red-clad evil man roared while glaring.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The red-clad evil man punched extremely quickly; the spectators could not see his fist at all, only its afterimages. The punches tore through the air, looking like meteors raining down on Gu Hai.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Gu Hai fought speed with speed, punching even faster than the red-clad evil man. The fight between the two shocked countless cultivators into goggling.
“This is an Innate Realm fight? Why are they so fast?”
“You must be joking! I’m an Eighth Layer Innate Realm cultivator. Even so, my punches are not that fast!”
“They are indeed evil men, all ruthless characters!”
The two evil men fought extremely quickly, fighting with their lives on the line. They created too many fist afterimages, looking like they had grown another ten arms that clashed with each other.
Gu Hai punched increasingly faster, showing a ferocious expression to the red-clad evil man.
“I am unrivaled in the Innate Realm! Hah!” the red-clad evil man roared.
“Save your strength and just die!” Gu Hai retorted coldly.
Rumble…!
The two fought extremely quickly. They separated, then resumed fighting each other in the blink of an eye. Voluminous clouds of dust soared up from the ground everywhere in the beast arena, sand and stones flying about.
“Number 1!”
“Number 1!”
“Number 1!”
“Number 16!”
“Number 16!”
“Number 16!”
The eyes of the countless gamblers on the grandstands had already turned red. Such wagers were the most exciting. Watching the evil men they bet on fighting to their heart’s content felt like they were fighting, as if they were one of the fighters in the ferocious battle below.
The two fought each other with everything they had, not holding anything back.
Slowly, the two’s speed and strength seemed to reach their limits. After the two maintained such speeds in a stalemate, the red-clad evil man’s forehead was drenched with sweat.
Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, two loud sounds rang out.
Gu Hai grabbed the red-clad evil man’s left fist with his right hand. And the red-clad evil man grabbed Gu Hai’s left fist with his right hand. The two’s berserk battle came to an abrupt halt. After a moment of stillness, they started competing in brute force.
The earlier berserk battle stopped. Now, they looked like two bulls pus.h.i.+ng against each other.
Neither gave way to the other. Everyone knew that such a tussle was the most dangerous. If one relaxed a little, the other party’s force would strike one’s body, causing severe injuries.
“How quick! You’re the first person I’ve found who can match me in speed. I should be the fastest among Innate Realm cultivators!” the red-clad evil man said with a glare.
Gu Hai glared back at the red-clad evil man coldly, not saying anything.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Cracking sounds came from the two’s fists and palms as they increased the force in their hands.
“How is this possible? Despite being so fast, you actually still possess such great strength?” the red-clad evil man said in shock.
Gu Hai showed a gloomy expression. He did not answer. Instead, he continued increasing his strength.
Countless gamblers on the spectator stands tightly clenched their fists as they cheered on the evil man they bet on.
This was the most exciting form of gambling. Even the First Song Sect Master stood up and stared at the beast area, chanting softly, “Number 16!”
The red-clad evil man’s strength had evidently reached its limits, as he showed a tense expression.
“It looks like you are at the end of your rope!” Gu Hai said coldly.
The red-clad evil man glared. Then he suddenly pouted his lips forward.
Gu Hai stared blankly for a moment.
Whoos.h.!.+
Suddenly, the red-clad man shot out a clump of white light, like a sharp needle, from his mouth.
“Oh no!” Gu Hai’s expression changed. Then, he hastily tilted his head to dodge. Simultaneously, he suddenly increased the force in his palm.
Boom!
Gu Hai’s right palm knocked away the red-clad evil man’s left fist. At the same time, he formed a knifehand and stabbed the red-clad evil man’s heart.
Bang!
It sounded like all the bones in the red-clad evil man’s body shattered. Then, blood spewed out from his chest.
The two instantly separated.
A b.l.o.o.d.y wound opened on Gu Hai’s face.
However, the red-clad evil man held his chest and collapsed to the ground. Gu Hai had crushed and exploded his heart; he was already at his limits.
“Your strength increased threefold. You…you did not use your full strength?” The red-clad evil man stared at Gu Hai in disbelief.
However, Gu Hai just wiped away the blood on his face. Then, he walked over to a nearby spot and picked up the hidden weapon the red-clad evil man spat out.
“Bone?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.
Over the past few days, the red-clad evil man had secretly made and sharpened a bone knife from the food provided in the cell. Then, he hid the bone knife in his mouth to use as a last gasp.
That had been very dangerous; it had nearly landed a fatal blow at such a close distance.
“Number 16 died. Number 1 wins!”
“Number 1!”
“Number 1!”
“Number 1!”
The gamblers’ cheers rang out loudly, reaching the skies.
“Humph! Number 1?” The First Song Sect Master let out a cold snort, appearing unhappy.
Gu Hai carefully put away the bone knife. Then, he turned his head to look at the red-clad evil man who had already stopped breathing.
“Had this bone knife been poisoned, I might have died. Thank you for reminding me not to be careless at any time. If I get careless, I might die. I will keep this bone knife properly as a reminder to myself,” Gu Hai said after taking a deep breath.