Chapter 2: Arrival at the Second!
On the streets of the city within the Red Rock Domain, one of the eighty-one territories of the Nine Nether Domain.
Linley and Bebe walked side by side, a rare smile gracing Linley’s face. Back in the Flame Bone City restaurant, Linley and Bebe had finally settled on the Red Rock Domain Lord as their target. They had also carefully studied the detailed information about this domain lord, as well as the floating images of him.
Having seen those floating images, Linley was amazed…
This Red Rock Domain Lord’s speed was truly monstrous. Among the people he had encountered, he had never seen anyone so fast. However, Linley was also fully confident. Someone who excelled in speed, when faced with the Blackstone Space, would be like a nimble rabbit turned into a sluggish turtle!
“Fighting is not allowed within the city. Only challengers on the Blood Battle Platform can fight.” Linley and Bebe soon arrived outside the Blood Battle Arena.
The Blood Battle Arena’s area was roughly the same as the combat arena Linley had encountered on Moluo Island. However, this arena was circular. Even standing outside, Linley could feel a powerful surge of energy emanating from within.
“Whoosh—” A wave of excited cheers erupted.
“The atmosphere is intense,” Linley said with a smile. “Bebe, let’s go take a look first.”
“Yeah.” Bebe’s eyes lit up. “Even out here, you can feel the vibe. It’s even more intense than the combat arena on Moluo Island.”
Entering the Blood Battle Arena to watch the fights required a fee, though it was lower than on Moluo Island. Each person had to pay ten Nether Stones. After paying the fee, Linley and Bebe followed the corridor and soon arrived inside the arena. As they approached, a wave of heat rushed out.
“Whoa, there must be nearly a million people here,” Linley said, scanning the stands.
The stands were packed with spectators. Because the seating area was enormous, from Linley’s position, the people on the opposite side looked like a dense swarm of ants. There were countless people. Among the audience were burly men, cold and lean youths, seemingly aged elders, and many women who were either indifferent or passionate.
Some were shouting excitedly, while others watched coldly and intently.
There were human-like figures, as well as many who retained the peculiar forms of their races. Three-eyed beings, four-eared beings, six-armed beings… and so on.
“The atmosphere is really intense! The battles on the Blood Battle Platform should be the most thrilling event in the entire Nine Nether Domain,” Linley thought. He understood that almost everyone who came to the Nine Nether Domain was battle-hungry, seeking the pinnacle. And the Blood Battle Platform was the only path to challenge the Nine Nether Domain Lords.
This gave the Blood Battle Platform battles a special status in the Nine Nether Domain, attracting a huge audience.
Linley then looked toward the central Blood Battle Platform.
Two figures were fighting above the platform. A fiery red figure suddenly leaped into the air, and a blurry blade form flashed briefly in midair before slamming into the black-robed man opposite him. The black-robed man was sent flying, blood splattering, and his head exploded into fragments.
Then, the black-robed man crashed heavily to the ground and lay still.
“Dead,” Linley said, frowning.
“Roar!” The fiery red figure landed, revealing himself to be a youth with disheveled fiery red hair. He waved his arms, letting out excited roars, and confidently shouted, “Next! Next!”
The entire Blood Battle Platform erupted in cheers. However, many in the audience also roared, “Kill him! That brother, go kill him!” Linley watched with a slight curl of his lips. The atmosphere in this arena was indeed explosive. Truly… the Blood Battle Platform battles might be one of the few forms of entertainment in the Nine Nether Domain.
“That guy’s not bad,” Linley said with a smile.
Bebe turned to glance at Linley and grinned. “Boss, are you planning to take him on first?”
“Bebe, wait here. I’ll go sign up,” Linley said, standing up.
“Okay.” Bebe nodded quickly, having full confidence in Linley.
“Oh?” The people sitting near Linley and Bebe in the stands heard their conversation and turned to look at Linley in surprise. They clearly realized Linley was going to fight on the Blood Battle Platform.
“Hey, you’ve got guts,” a woman with black hair and red pupils said, her eyes lighting up as she stared at Linley. “Make sure you last a few rounds, big sister’s got your back!” Among the people around Linley, many began shouting encouragement, mostly supportive.
Just because Linley had sat near them, they supported him.
Of course…
The Blood Battle Platform battles still came down to personal strength.
Signing up for a fight was free, but the administrator looked at Linley in surprise. “Mr. Lei, what did you say? Ten consecutive battles?”
“Yes,” Linley said with a calm nod.
“You can’t rush this. Ten consecutive battles aren’t something you can just declare. You have to win one first before deciding to continue to the next,” the administrator explained. That was the rule—if the challenger died in the first match, how could they continue the other nine?
Linley glanced at the administrator. “Then just watch.”
However, there were quite a few people signing up for fights.
Linley had to wait his turn. By the time it was his turn, seven or eight battles had already taken place. The fiery red-haired youth had long since left the platform. That youth had already won ten consecutive matches today. As he walked out of the competitor’s passage, he cast an arrogant glance at Linley and the others.
Linley just smiled faintly.
Suddenly—
A wave of cheers like a tsunami erupted from the Blood Battle Arena, followed by a thunderous voice: “Our strongman, Wute, has won three consecutive matches! Now, please welcome the challenger, Lei!”
Linley’s eyes lit up.
Lei was the name he had given when signing up.
“Mr. Lei, hurry up,” the administrator urged. Linley just smiled, then moved, directly entering the competitor’s passage and stepping onto the Blood Battle Platform, which still carried the scent of blood.
The stands erupted in cheers. A young man in a sky-blue robe, as if strolling through his own courtyard, stepped onto the platform. He slowly floated up, facing his opponent—a man in black with crimson eyes, wielding a long whip.
The atmosphere in the Blood Battle Arena was explosive.
But Linley remained calm, as if unaffected.
“Boss, kill that guy!” A loud voice rang out across the arena.
Linley turned his head with a smile, spotting Bebe.
The moment Linley turned his head, the crimson-eyed black-clad man’s eyes flickered with disdain. “Distracted in a life-or-death battle!” At the same time, his figure blurred, turning into a black phantom that instantly appeared before Linley. Linley seemed not to have reacted yet. The black-clad man showed no mercy—
A dark gleam flashed from the man.
“Buzz—”
A yellow light abruptly descended. “Ah!” Caught off guard, the black-clad man lost control and plummeted, crashing heavily onto the Blood Battle Platform with a “Bang!” Fragments of stone flew everywhere, and dust scattered.
“Whoosh!” Linley descended like lightning.
Within the range of the Blackstone Space, the black-clad man hadn’t even steadied himself before Linley kicked him in the chest, sending him flying. “I surrender!” The man’s shrill voice echoed across the arena. He looked at Linley in terror, having experienced the Blackstone Space, he was thoroughly frightened.
“I have nearly the strength of a six-star demon, yet I couldn’t even control my speed,” the black-clad man thought fearfully. “So he wasn’t careless—he was prepared. That kick… if it had hit my head, I’d probably be dead. This guy is too strong, too strong!”
He didn’t know…
Linley had only used one-tenth of the Blackstone Space’s power. If he had unleashed its full might, not even a seven-star demon could withstand it, let alone this guy who wasn’t even a six-star demon.
“Thanks,” the black-clad man said gratefully, bowing before flying toward the competitor’s passage.
Linley remained floating above the Blood Battle Platform. He had no enmity with that man. Coming to this platform, Linley felt he was already bullying the younger generation. Killing them would be going too far. Killing was usually reserved for when opponents were evenly matched and couldn’t hold back.
“Lei! Lei!” The stands erupted in cheers, especially from those born and raised in the Nine Nether Domain—lower and middle gods—who cheered loudly. Linley’s earlier move had clearly been effortless, easily dominating his opponent. The gap in strength was obvious.
“Our strongman Lei told me earlier that he wanted to fight ten consecutive battles. I didn’t believe it at first, but now it seems it’s really happening. Next up, the second match: Lei Te appears!” The loud voice echoed again across the arena.
Hearing that Linley would fight ten battles, even those who had been silent in the stands began to cheer. This kind of strongman appearing was what got people excited.
Second match!
One move—under the Blackstone Space’s coverage, Linley kicked the opponent so hard he was embedded into the Blood Battle Platform. Linley wins!
Third match! Still one move. Linley wins!
Fourth match…
Even using just one-tenth of the Blackstone Space’s power was terrifying. And none of the challengers had reached the level of a seven-star demon; they were all easily defeated by Linley.
“Bang!”
The Blackstone Heavy Sword slammed into the silver-haired man’s chest. With a boom, cracks even appeared in the space around them. The silver-haired man was sent flying, a large hole torn in his chest. While still in midair, he shouted, “I surrender!” The gap was truly immense.
“You’re not bad.”
Linley smiled faintly at him. “You made me draw my sword.”
During the Blood Battle Platform matches, Linley had decided that even if he used a weapon, it would be the Blackstone Heavy Sword or the Purple Blood Soft Sword. As for the divine artifact, Shadow, he would save it for the battle with the Nine Nether Domain Lord.
“Ten consecutive wins!!!” The announcer’s voice grew excited. “Lei said he would fight ten battles, and he did! Lei’s strength is indeed formidable. I think he might even achieve a hundred consecutive wins!” A hundred consecutive wins was far more difficult. Many experts usually didn’t bother to fight.
They only stepped in when they encountered a strong opponent like this.
The entire stands erupted in excited roars and cheers.
“Lei! Lei!” …
The cheers surged like waves, but Linley just smiled.
“Tomorrow, continue,” Linley murmured to himself, then turned and flew back into the competitor’s passage.
The Blood Battle Platform battles were highly valued by the strong of the Red Rock Domain. Within the domain, a hundred-win strongman rarely appeared, sometimes only once every few years. Because whenever someone won dozens of consecutive matches, experts who itched for a fight would step in. And these experts didn’t come one at a time—they came in succession. This made it very rare for anyone to achieve a hundred consecutive wins.
As time passed.
The name Lei began to catch the attention of many true experts in the Red Rock Domain.
Day after day of consecutive wins.
On the fifth day, still winning.
On the sixth day, still winning!
Linley’s victories clearly didn’t cost him much effort. This made many realize that Lei’s strength was far greater than what he had shown. It also drew an unusually large crowd to the Blood Battle Arena over the following days. Many came specifically to watch Linley fight! Many hoped… that Linley would continue, provoking a true expert to appear and battle him.
Finally, an expert worthy of Linley’s attention appeared.
PS: Chapter 2 is here. Tomato once said the average daily update should be two chapters. This month, Tomato hasn’t kept up the pace. As of yesterday, Tomato has updated 51 chapters. March has 31 days, requiring 62 chapters. That means Tomato needs to update 11 chapters in the last three days to complete the task. Hmm, I’ll work hard! There will be more updates today!