Tranted by: Hypersheep325


    Edited by: Michyrr


    Time went by quickly, and Tang Jie had soon spent half a month in the City of Freedom.


    In this half a month, he had done nothing except focus on understanding the City of Freedom. Li Bofeng gave him some ckstone coins, and once he had gotten a grasp on the market, Tang Jie had sold some of the materials he had brought with him. These materials from the Rosecloud Domain were not easy to find in the Blood River Domain, and Tang Jie didn''t know what he might need in the future, so he was only willing to sell whatever he had extra of.


    As these materials were hard toe by, he was able to fetch a good price for them in the City of Freedom. But as Tang Jie also needed materials, he spent most of the money on them. Of the 42 missing materials, he managed to find 31. The remaining 11 were somewhat more difficult to find, so he could only wait.


    After buying the materials, he had little money left, barely enough to eat and drink in the money sink that was the City of Freedom. As for finding a good ce to cultivate, that simply wasn''t possible.


    "The City of Freedom… Is this how it forces people to the arena?" Standing next to a window, Tang Jie yed around with a ckstone coin, his eyes fixed on a giant domed structure in the distance.


    This was the Celestial me Arena. It was in the center of the city and was a city within a city.


    Every day, countless people rushed into the arena to fight for their lives, and countless people also came to spectate their battles.


    Cultivators who should have beenprehending the Dao were now fighting for resources in this ce, the Immortal demeanor torn to shreds like a suit of clothes. In this unpredictable world where one didn''t know whether they would live to see the next morning, cultivators were diators who had to kill their way to the future.


    Tang Jie naturally hadn''t reached this stage yet, but there was no harm in preparing for a rainy day, as this time woulde eventually. Most importantly, if he wanted to get the rest of his materials, he needed sufficient resources.


    "Big Brother, are you going to participate?" Yiyi asked with wide eyes.


    "Of course," Tang Jie replied.


    It wasn''t like he had been wasting this half a month. He had primarily been measuring the strength and cruelty of the Celestial me Arena, and frequent visits to the arena had been one of the reasons his money had run out so quickly.


    After being a spectator for half a month, Tang Jie was finally bored of the performance and had decided to personally take the stage.


    He was going to get everything he needed here!


    "Tomorrow, we''re going to the arena!" Tang Jie clenched the ckstone coin in his hand, gradually deforming it through his sheer power.


    ――――――――――――


    The next morning, Tang Jie went to the arena to enter his name.


    ording to the rules of the arena, a cultivator''s first bout was in a melee. Only the survivors of the melee were allowed to officially enter the arena.


    Every cultivator participating in the arena would get a jade tablet that recorded their battle record, and the arena arranged matches ording to this tablet.


    The Celestial me Arena was veryrge, and while it was called an arena, it was more like a city. The Arena actually contained 32 arenas, and even the smallest could hold one hundred thousand spectators.


    Tang Jie was heading toward this smallest arena.


    Even though it was the smallest, there was still a sea of spectators. Hemos, demons, and humans were all seated together, here to cheer for their respective races.


    The rtionship between the three factions made them treat the arena like another kind of battle that would continue their history of grudges and conflict.


    Thus, when Tang Jie arrived, he was immediately greeted by the roaring of the crowd.


    Even though he had also been to this arena before and watched the matches, this was his first time in the ring.


    Different perspectives made forpletely different experiences.


    "This really does get the blood pumping," Tang Jie muttered.


    He had always been a cool-headed person, but in the middle of this crowd, he couldn''t help but get a little passionate.


    "Let the blood pump. In any case, it''ll be going cold very soon," a voice said from nearby.


    Tang Jie raised his head and saw a male demon, his entire body wreathed in ck energy, speaking in a deep voice. His body was bulging with muscle, and his red eyes radiated an intense desire to kill. There was a horn growing from the top of his head, indicating that this was a fiend who had be a demon.


    A Transformation fiend turned demon!


    "The same to you, One Horn," a somewhat pale Hemos youth suddenly remarked from a corner. He had a curved knife in his hand, which he was using to trim his nails.


    The demon nced at the Hemos youth and snorted, "White Eyes, let''s meet in the arena and see who kills whom."


    These two seemed to have known each other for some time. They red at each other before falling silent.


    There were one hundred people in the waiting area.


    Everyone quietly waited for the ughter tomence.


    Finally.


    The gates creaked open.


    A ray of light shot in, together with a cacophony of roaring and cheering.


    Thepetitors filed into the arena. There was still blood and flesh in the arena, signaling that bloody battles had recently taken ce here.


    The arena was surrounded by a crystalline wall of light.


    This was arge-scale protective formation that separated thepetitors from the audience, ensuring that the battle didn''t harm the spectators. The formation was so strong that even a Violet Pce expert might not be able to break it.


    Once the one hundred fighters had entered, a high-pitched voice rang out.


    "Next, the time hase once more for everyone''s favorite hundred-man melee. In this melee, several excellent fighters are participating, and everyone will soon see a feast of murder of a very high level…"


    The spectators booed and jeered. It was clear that they were bored by the host''s introductions.


    "…So, the rules are that there are no limits to the methods used in the hundred-man melee, and everything you can use is considered a part of your power and is allowed. Only the ten who survive to the end gain the right to advance."


    The low-ss arenas were different from the high-ss arenas. There were no prize fighters here, and the strength was on the low side, but the deaths and injury here exceeded those of the high-ss arenas. This ce still relied on blood, ughter, and death to draw spectators, not profound strength and exquisite technique.


    This was why the low-ss arenas had a higher death rate than high-ss arenas.


    Manpower was easier to obtain and worth less.


    Of one hundred participants, only ten could advance, meaning a 10% chance of survival.


    And the most ridiculous part was that the reward was only ten ckstone coins. This number callously mocked the worthlessness of life.


    Even so, cultivators still threw themselves into this arena like moths to the me.


    For as one was promoted to higher-ss arenas, the rewards one could obtain rapidly soared in value, with the prizes reaching a terrifying value the further one went. It was so lucrative that people were willing to go for it even if the chances were minuscule.


    The fighters had already taken up their positions on their tforms, which were separated from each other by several hundred feet, but for cultivators, this distance was still too small. The battleground enclosed by the defensive formation was like a giant cage, locking up one hundred wild beasts that were ring at each other with eyes full of bloodlust.


    As the host said, "Begin!", the screen of lights around the tforms disappeared, and as thest restriction vanished, all the fighters jumped down from their tforms.


    They bellowed as they charged at their nearest opponents, lights of various hues shining in their hands.


    The ughter had begun!


    Tang Jie''s position was in the middle, which wasn''t too great. He not only had to watch out for enemies to his rear, but also his left, right, and front.


    The moment the battle began, Tang Jie rapidly retreated.


    Several spell arts mmed into the empty ground in front of him—at least three fighters had chosen him.


    Do I look that weak?


    Tang Jie was rather speechless.


    As he flew back, he produced a shining sword.


    The Rainfrost Sword!


    He had obtained many precious swords from Nadir Hill''s Peerless Sword Pavilion, and while most of them had been merged into the Sovereign de, he had left behind ten ultimate-grade art relic swords and three divine treasure swords.


    The one he was using was one of these ultimate-grade art relics. He didn''t use the Sovereign de, for with so many spectators around, he just couldn''t bring himself to use his strongest card.


    Because of the Divine Court Thousandshift, Tang Jie was actually very proficient with the sword and showed no signs of awkwardness.


    He casually waved the sword, sending a wave of energy at arge demonic man who was lunging at him.


    The demon didn''t even try to dodge, charging straight at Tang Jie. The sword energy struck the man, but it only left a faint white imprint.


    Such a tough body.


    Even though he had long known that demons had always excelled at body refining, Tang Jie still couldn''t help but sigh in praise when he saw that an attack carrying 20% of his power had been so easily blocked.


    The man savagelyughed, a dark cloud covering hisrge hand as he shouted, "Die, brat!"


    Tang Jie smirked as he lightly pped the Rainfrost Sword. "Don''t go and disgrace your reputation as an ultimate-grade art relic."


    As he spoke, a bright hum came from the Rainfrost Sword, and then the phantom of a child emerged from the sword.


    A sword spirit!


    This would only appear when a sword soul reached a certain level ofpletion. No longer was it some indistinct will, instead possessing a more defined form.


    Tang Jie hadn''t just randomly chosen the thirteen swords he had kept. Each one was the best of the best, and a sword spirit was the basic attribute of this kind of item. It was precisely because they were too rare that Tang Jie had kept the swords, having been unwilling to break them down.


    As the sword spirit appeared, Tang Jie thrust the sword forward. As the Rainfrost Sword flew at the demon man, it transformed into countless sword phantoms. This was the special property of the Rainfrost Sword, the ability to turn one attack into hundreds. Even though every attack was weakened because of this, the sheer quantity could multiply the power of the attack by ten in the most favorable of situations. It had its own excellent uses whether it was in duels or in group battles.


    Thatrge man was very experienced, and he knew he was in trouble the instant he heard that hum. With a roar, the ck energy around him condensed into tough ck armor, and an aura of light enclosed him.


    He was a body refiner, possessing a steely demon body, and with the addition of demon armor and a spell barrier, he was wrapped tightly inyers of defense. Heughed and said, "You can''t hurt me!"


    Sword energy mmed into the man''s barrier, the hundreds of sword phantoms battering at the barrier like a deluge. In one strike, the barrier was shattered, and the remaining sword phantoms attacked the ck armor. ck powder rose into the air, those protective scales being pulverized by the sword energy.


    Therge man was blown back by the impact, but the remaining sword phantoms continued to rush at him, mming into his body and turning his tough demon body into a sieve.


    Blood gushed out.


    With one attack, the demon man''s severalyers of defense were all destroyed, and his body now sported several dozen holes.


    That sword spirit turned to Tang Jie and smiled before returning to the sword.


    After killing therge man, Tang Jie was in no rush to keep attacking. He moved about the crowd, only killing others if they attacked first.


    As far as he was concerned, he didn''t need to kill too many people in this qualification match, only survive until ten people were left.


    There was also another important reason: he was absorbing the battlefield''s blood energy.


    The blood energy was key to strengthening the Flesh Millstone.


    While the Flesh Millstone seemed very powerful, it actually still had a lot of room for improvement.


    Before, Tang Jie''s strongest attack was his saber intent, but now that the Flesh Millstone had appeared, the saber intent had fallen to second ce.


    It wasn''t that the saber intent was weaker than the Flesh Millstone. It was just that the saber intent also had tiers of strength, and Tang Jie was only at minor attainment at best.


    Improving the saber intent required enlightenment, whereas the Flesh Millstone only required blood energy.


    While the saber intent might have been stronger in terms of power, the Flesh Millstone was easier to improve.


    Thus, Tang Jie seized every possible opportunity to improve the Flesh Millstone.


    In addition, he was also using this ce to advance his understanding of ughter and Destruction.


    This ce was currently a sea of raging blood.


    Cultivators—human, Hemos, and demon—were killing each other all over the ce.


    As the hundred-man melee was a qualification match, the strength of the fighters was uneven. It was verymon for the weak to be killed at the start while the strong did as they pleased.


    Thus, the killing in the melee seemed very carefree, and it was easy to distinguish between the strong and weak.


    In this melee, the Hemos and demons still had the upper hand. These two factions had more participants, and they were generally stronger.


    For example, that demon man that Tang Jie had killed, while not as strong as Tang Jie, had clearly been no weakling. But there were many like him among the one hundred. Of these, the most conspicuous were that demon man called One Horn and that Hemos youth called White Eyes.


    Besides that, there was also a demon man built like a bull who appeared to have been a human before demonification, a Hemos woman, and a human man wielding a giant sword.


    That human man with the giant sword was being attacked by two Hemos and a demon, but he didn''t seem disadvantaged in the slightest. Not only that, he even had time to help out other humans, saying as he fought, "Let''s group up and finish off these Hemos and demons first!"


    Under his banner, several human participants really dide together to fight alongside him. A battle where everyone had been mostly on their own was trending toward a group battle.


    But One Horn and White Eyes showed clear disdain at these actions, and even Tang Jie could only shake his head.


    He knew that there was no meaning behind this.


    Sure enough, a momentter, a mighty roar resounded through the arena.


    Everyone was shaken by this roar, but the crowd erupted in cheers.


    One of the gates leading into the arena opened, and a huge Fire Bull appeared behind it.


    As it appeared, the earth quaked as if the Fire Bull shifting around could make the arena copse. Of course, this was impossible. Every arena was protected by a formation, so this quake seemed intentional so as to excite the crowd.


    Thepetitors spotted the Fire Bull and began to cry out, "Primal beast! A primal beast!"


    Not everypetitor had studied the contents of the melee beforehand. Thus, quite a few of them didn''t know that this was amon sight in the hundred-man melee: releasing a primal beast.


    The release of the primal beast was for sowing chaos.


    The chaos made the killing more random and the circumstances more violent, cruel, and exciting.


    If the spectators wanted to see group fighting, they would naturally go to the arenas where there was group fighting, with no need for thepetitors themselves to organize it. Since this was a melee, it should be a melee to the end.


    Even those of the same race needed to fight against each other!


    "Mooo!" The Fire Bull bellowed and charged at the crowd.


    Its enormous body was like a small mountain, brutally crushing people in its way.


    This had to at least be a Level 8 primal beast.


    ording to the divisions of the Blood River Domain, a Level 8 primal beast was equivalent to a Heart Demon True Person.


    Countless spell arts flew through the air in an attempt to stop this berserk beast from getting closer, but they were only able to do limited damage to the Fire Bull. Meanwhile, the pain provoked the Fire Bull, making it even angrier and causing it to charge with even greater force.


    Boom!


    The Fire Bull rushed into the center of the arena in a sh, and a Hemospetitor who couldn''t evade in time was directly struck. The sharp horns rammed into him, shattering his barrier and throwing him into the air, and the hooves pummeled his body. The Hemos expert reacted quickly, spitting out some blood that formed a barrier around him right before the hooves stomped down. A momentter, as the hooves came down, the blood barrier crumpled and shattered like it was an egg. As the barrier broke, the Hemos suddenly elerated, turning into a cloud of blood, which finally allowed him to get away. His body reformed, and then he sighed in relief. But a momentter, a saber swept across his neck, and his head went flying into the air.


    A demon had cut off his head.


    The team formed by the human with the giant sword was also scattered.


    Nobody could effectively form teams while the Fire Bull was rampaging. Most importantly, the others wouldn''t give them this chance.


    The ughter continued!


    Regardless of how the Fire Bull ran amok, thepetitors all understood that otherpetitors were the target, not the Fire Bull.


    Rather than wasting time on the extremely tough Fire Bull primal beast, it was better to avoid the Fire Bull and attack the others.


    This was the key reason the Fire Bull was able to unt its power in the arena.


    Whoosh!


    The Fire Bull spat out a fierce me.


    Amid the zing mes, thepetitors continued to tear away at each other.


    Strength was the key to surviving in this chaotic battle.


    As the weaklings died off, finally, only ten of the one hundred were left. The host blew a whistle, signaling the end of this massacre.


    As expected, the demon spear-wielder One Horn, the knife-wielding Hemos White Eye, the bull-like demon man, the bewitching Hemos maiden, and the human male with the giant sword had all survived.


    Naturally, Tang Jie was also one of the ten.


    Butpared to the others, he was rather inconspicuous. Other than that first rather dazzling sword strike, he was mostly considered to be a slippery character.


    Tang Jie couldn''t help but grumble to himself, I didn''t even use the Chaoswind Step, so how can I be called ''slippery''?