Aspiring to the Immortal Path

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 blackstone 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 to come 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 place 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 played around with a blackstone coin, his eyes fixed on a giant domed structure in the distance.

This was the Celestial Flame 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 been comprehending the Dao were now fighting for resources in this place, 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 gladiators 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 would come 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 Flame 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 blackstone coin in his hand, gradually deforming it through his sheer power.

――――――――――――

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

According 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 according to this tablet.

The Celestial Flame Arena was very large, 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 relationship 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 for completely 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 black 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 become 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 glanced 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 glared at each other before falling silent.

There were one hundred people in the waiting area.

Everyone quietly waited for the slaughter to commence.

Finally.

The gates creaked open.

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

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

The arena was surrounded by a crystalline wall of light.

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

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

"Next, the time has come 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-class arenas were different from the high-class 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-class arenas. This place still relied on blood, slaughter, and death to draw spectators, not profound strength and exquisite technique.

This was why the low-class arenas had a higher death rate than high-class 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 blackstone coins. This number callously mocked the worthlessness of life.

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

For as one was promoted to higher-class 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 platforms, 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 glaring at each other with eyes full of bloodlust.

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

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

The slaughter 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 slammed 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 Blade, 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 Blade, 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 a large 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 savagely laughed, a dark cloud covering his large hand as he shouted, "Die, brat!"

Tang Jie smirked as he lightly slapped 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 of completion. 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.

That large man was very experienced, and he knew he was in trouble the instant he heard that hum. With a roar, the black energy around him condensed into tough black 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 in layers of defense. He laughed and said, "You can\'t hurt me!"

Sword energy slammed 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 black armor. Black powder rose into the air, those protective scales being pulverized by the sword energy.

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

Blood gushed out.

With one attack, the demon man\'s several layers 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 the large 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 place.

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 place to advance his understanding of Slaughter and Destruction.

This place was currently a sea of raging blood.

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

As the hundred-man melee was a qualification match, the strength of the fighters was uneven. It was very common 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 did come 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 moment later, 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 collapse. Of course, this was impossible. Every arena was protected by a formation, so this quake seemed intentional so as to excite the crowd.

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

Not every competitor had studied the contents of the melee beforehand. Thus, quite a few of them didn\'t know that this was a common 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 the competitors 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.

According 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 flash, and a Hemos competitor 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 moment later, as the hooves came down, the blood barrier crumpled and shattered like it was an egg. As the barrier broke, the Hemos suddenly accelerated, turning into a cloud of blood, which finally allowed him to get away. His body reformed, and then he sighed in relief. But a moment later, 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 slaughter continued!

Regardless of how the Fire Bull ran amok, the competitors all understood that other competitors 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 flaunt its power in the arena.

Whoosh!

The Fire Bull spat out a fierce flame.

Amid the blazing flames, the competitors 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.

But compared 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\'?