Life and Death Arena, Purple Talent!

The enormous flagstone-paved plaza was ringed by blood-red iron pillars in eight directions. The pillars were covered in cracks and wound about with countless rusted iron chains.

These chains, as though stained with blood, ultimately converged at the center of the plaza, interlocking to secure the bronze arena at its heart—the Life and Death Arena!

Under the morning light, the air was permeated by a faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood. It was as though countless people had died in this plaza, leaving the bloody stench impossible to disperse.

Even the cracks in the ground were streaked with blood scabs.

Every month, many disciples dueled atop the Life and Death Arena.

This was the Golden Light Sect's legal and sanctioned method for disciples to settle their grudges.

The winner could not only eliminate their enemy, but also inherit all the other party's assets, including wives and daughters, spirit stones, cultivation arts, and more.

If disciples fought in private and someone of lower cultivation died, the sect would turn a blind eye.

But if a cultivator of a higher realm died, whether the killer would be punished was another matter. The dead person's assets would belong to the sect, not the individual.

Moreover, inner sect disciples acted as bookmakers for wagers. Since both sides in a deathmatch were usually confident in their own strength, they could earn an extra sum of spirit stones as well.

Under normal circumstances, if disciples of comparable strength truly reached the point of fighting to the death, they would all take to the Life and Death Arena.

"Talent Power Vigorous Yang (Gray) detected. It will disappear in 1531 seconds."

"Talent Power Sword Heart (Blue) detected. It will disappear in 908 seconds."

"Talent Power Golden Spirit Body (White) detected. It will disappear in 3365 seconds."

As Su Hao approached the Life and Death Arena, he was instantly stunned by the three clusters of Talent Fire scattered across its surface.

A huge haul right from the start!

He could not spare attention for anything else. He immediately stepped onto the arena stairs, took two or three strides up, and absorbed the three clusters of Talent Fire!

Vigorous Yang: The bearer possesses twice the Yang energy of an ordinary person, granting minor bonuses to stamina and physical strength.

Sword Heart: Focused on the sword path, granting exceptionally high comprehension and cultivation efficiency in swordsmanship.

Golden Spirit Body: Affinity with gold Spiritual Energy, granting minor comprehension in metal-element cultivation arts and spells.

Name: Su Hao

Realm: Qi Refining Level 4

Talents: Fire Elemental Sword Physique (Blue), Medicine Spirit (Blue), Sword Heart (Blue), Golden Spirit Body (White), Martial Artist (White), Vigorous Yang (Gray), Vigorous Yang (Gray), Medicine Person (Gray, inactive), Medicine Slave (White, inactive)

The Golden Spirit Body was of little use to Su Hao.

But the instant the Sword Heart talent entered his body—

His understanding of the Crimson Flame Sword Art deepened considerably.

When he wielded his sword arts, their power would increase by at least thirty to forty percent!

With the two sword-path talents, Fire Elemental Sword Physique and Sword Heart, Su Hao was more than enough to become a true sword-path genius.

"Vigorous Yang (Gray) ×2 detected. Synthesis available. After synthesis, Vigorous Yang will evolve into Initial Yang Qi (White)."

"Initial Yang Qi (White): Possesses three to four times the Yang energy of an ordinary person, with even more abundant stamina and vigor. A master in bed!"

"...A master in bed?"

Su Hao's mouth twitched as he looked at the effects of Initial Yang Qi, the new talent he would obtain.

With his life hanging by a thread, how could he possibly have any interest in that sort of thing?

Besides, no matter how capable he became, could he be more capable than the disciples of Joy Peak? Every one of those disciples was skilled at harvesting Yang to nourish Yin.

The more Yang energy one possessed, the more attractive one was to them.

Liu Mei had previously harvested a Medicine Slave from Heavenly Medicine Mountain to death for his Yang energy. Su Hao had even helped dispose of the corpse.

Su Hao knew very well that even now, Liu Mei was somewhat covetous of his body.

Further synthesis brought more harm than benefit. He would leave it alone for now.

Just as Su Hao was about to descend the stairs—

"Get down!"

A sharp rebuke came from the air.

Before Su Hao could make out the newcomer—

A vortex of Spiritual Energy slammed straight into the ground beneath his feet.

The blast of air exploded outward, sending Su Hao flying four or five meters. He happened to tumble down the stairs.

Pain wracked Su Hao's entire body, accompanied by an intense numbness. It took him a long while to recover, and he struggled to his feet in a wretched state.

The figure in the air radiated a faint purple glow. He landed gracefully, then turned to face north.

The young man wore a light-purple Daoist robe patterned with clouds. His bearing was carefree, but his face was sinister and cold.

Name: Zheng Tu

Realm: Qi Refining Level 8

Talents: Talisman Control (Blue), Lightning Palm (Blue)

Talisman Control (Blue): Possesses great potential and talent in crafting and using talismans; talismans wielded are more powerful and activate faster.

Lightning Palm (Blue): Possesses high comprehension and cultivation efficiency in lightning-element techniques and spells; power.

Su Hao scrambled up in a bedraggled state and looked at the sneak attacker.

The young man looked to be in his twenties or thirties, at Qi Refining Level 7, with two blue-grade talents!

Humiliation was humiliation, but the other party had clearly intended to strike viciously. He might not even have had the chance to get back up!

He had no choice but to admit his bad luck and obediently move farther away.

"Seven days are up! He Tieniu, come up and meet your death!"

"Last time, you said you were at a critical point in your breakthrough. I gave you seven days. This time, let's see what excuse you can find!"

Zheng Tu radiated killing intent.

In the shadow beneath the wall, a burly man in black had appeared at some unknown point.

Name: He Tieniu

Realm: Qi Refining Level 9

Talent: Hidden Kill (Purple)

Hidden Kill: Possesses extremely high affinity with sinister forces; innately gifted and enhanced in concealment, assassination, and breath suppression, achieving triple the effect when using breath-concealing and concealment-type techniques and cultivation methods!

A purple talent!

Su Hao stared in shock at He Tieniu as he walked toward the Life and Death Arena. It was the first time he had seen a purple talent.

Starting from Qi Refining Level 1, cultivators gained an additional kind of perception, its strength varying from person to person. They could also strengthen it through certain methods, sensing the intensity of the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth and the strength of spiritual power to judge the other party's realm.

He Tieniu had no presence at all, not a trace of spiritual power rippling from his body. Like an immovable boulder, the hundred-and-eighty-pound burly man made absolutely no sound even as he walked!

Hidden Kill was obviously a top-tier assassin talent.

Su Hao was deeply envious. If I had this talent, I could fool a lot of people. Liu Mei wouldn't keep noticing the changes in my strength. If she hadn't thought I was Lin Zhi Shan's official disciple, she would have made a move against me long ago...

He Tieniu climbed the Life and Death Arena step by step and stood opposite Zheng Tu.

Many Outer Sect Disciples hurried over upon hearing the news.

Before long, more and more people gathered.

Even the tents not far away had people swiftly setting up betting pools.

"Both of them have the potential to reach Foundation Establishment, and they used to be friends, right? How did they end up fighting?"

"It seems to be related to that Qingyun Cave Heaven Secret Realm incident. Their group encountered a vicious beast in the Foundation Establishment Realm. He Tieniu abandoned Zheng Tu and ran off alone. Zheng Tu's younger brother and three fellow disciples all died, and Zheng Tu was the only one who returned."

"So that's how it is. He Tieniu's cultivation method is unusual—he excels most at assassination and fleeing."

"A Foundation Establishment vicious beast? If it were me, I'd run too. It would already be decent if I didn't kick Zheng Tu while he was down."

"..."

Su Hao stood at the back of the crowd and got the general picture.

The two were both prominent figures in the outer sect. Among the three thousand outer sect disciples, they ranked fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh respectively.

"He Tieniu, so what if you broke through to Qi Refining Level 8?

"I've been at Qi Refining Level 8 for a whole year. My foundation is solid—what do you have to fight me with? Trash like you only deserves to hide in a gutter. Who can you beat head-on?"

Zheng Tu's gaze was venomous.

Su Hao froze for a moment. Wasn't He Tieniu at Qi Refining Level 9?

"Qi Refining Level 8?!" He Tieniu suddenly bared his teeth in a savage grin. A powerful aura erupted from him as Yin Sha energy, thick as smoke, spread in every direction. "I'm at Qi Refining Level 9! I reached Qi Refining Level 8 two years ago. In these seven days, I broke through to Qi Refining Level 9."

"And you idiot were still kept in the dark!"

"..."