Hidden in the Dark

The entire Yuan Wu Alley covered an enormous area, far larger even than the Xuanguo Estate.

It was divided into numerous small districts, each one a fighting arena. There were thirteen arenas in total, and all of them were open at that moment.

Of the thirteen arenas, ten were for "Stopping Point" matches. They were overseen by high-ranking martial artists from Yuan Wu Alley, so deaths and injuries rarely occurred. They would step in to stop the fight once the winner had been decided.

The other three, however, were Life and Death Arenas.

People did not fight in the three Life and Death Arenas at every moment, but they drew the most spectators. At a glance, the crowds appeared as a vast, densely packed sea of black heads.

Most of the martial artists fighting in these thirteen arenas were Ninth Rank Martial Artists. Only occasionally would a Eighth Rank Martial Artist take the stage. After all, Eighth Rank Martial Artists already possessed a certain status. As long as they were willing to pledge themselves to one side, they would have no need to worry about money.

After entering Yuan Wu Alley, Chen Yao headed straight for the three Life and Death Arenas.

Soon.

She arrived outside one of the arenas.

The arena had two passageways. One led to the front, where gamblers and ordinary people who enjoyed watching martial artists fight would go. The other led to the back, where the martial artists who wished to take the stage would go.

Chen Yao walked toward the passage leading to the back with practiced ease. She went all the way behind the arena, where quite a few martial artists had gathered. The atmosphere was heavy and oppressive.

As soon as Chen Yao entered, she immediately attracted quite a few gazes.

Although she had applied a little makeup, her appearance and build still made her gender obvious at a glance.

"Why is there a woman here?"

Someone muttered.

"You don't recognize her? This is your first time here, right?"

A person beside him gave a short laugh and said, "Her realm is higher than yours. She's Eighth Rank. And don't look down on her just because she's a woman. She strikes viciously. More than one person has suffered badly for underestimating her."

The man sucked in a sharp breath, astonished. "This little miss... Bah, this woman is Eighth Rank? Is she really that fierce?"

His gaze toward Chen Yao immediately grew cautious.

Women rarely appeared in Yuan Wu Alley. Although quite a few women practiced martial arts, as long as they possessed even a little cultivation and beauty, they had far more paths open to them than men.

After all, female martial artists were much rarer, and many wealthy young ladies needed personal guards. Such close-protection guards could only be women. Thus, even Ninth Rank Martial Artists had many options and did not need to come to a place like Yuan Wu Alley, much less its Life and Death Arenas.

The others were more or less the same. When many of them saw Chen Yao enter, they merely frowned slightly before quickly looking away.

Chen Yao walked straight to the innermost part of the rear grounds. A massive wooden board stood there, with wooden plaques hanging from it. Each plaque was engraved with a "codename" and a "rank."

Most of them were Ninth Rank.

Only a scattered few wooden plaques were marked "Eighth Rank."

Chen Yao said nothing. She simply hung a wooden plaque marked "Eighth Rank · Nether Fox" on the board, then found an empty corner and sat down on a wooden post.

She was not short of money.

She had come here solely for the Martial Dao.

For a martial artist to reach Seventh Rank, having talent, resources, and a cultivation method was enough; it would not be very difficult. This was true for Chen Yao. Even without Chen Mu, she could still reach Seventh Rank.

But that was not her goal.

What she pursued was Sixth Rank, Fifth Rank... First Rank!

In martial arts, martial came first and Dao came after. A thousand cultivation methods and a hundred stances were all merely Dao. What truly mattered was martial!

To cross the threshold of Sixth Rank, one needed sufficiently powerful will, the determination to sacrifice oneself for the Martial Dao, and an unyielding faith. Without them, it was extremely difficult to take that step!

Not to mention the realms beyond it.

Since ancient times, whether they were the current agents of the Eight Sects of the World or the outstanding heroes who had emerged from the Great Yuan Martial Temple, all had begun forging their Martial Dao Will step by step from Ninth Rank onward!

Chen Yao was the same!

She was walking this path as well, tempering herself here from the moment she reached Ninth Rank!

Within the Xuanguo Estate, only one person knew about this: Old Meng of the Martial Arts Academy. But Old Meng had not stopped her, because this was martial arts. One was destined to climb upward step by step, treading on blood and bone.

If she could not even pass the trial of the arena, how could she speak of climbing the Martial Dao? Chen Wu had also fought his way from Yuan Wu Alley all the way to Seventh Rank before leaving.

"Second Brother has become a Sixth Rank spellcaster. I can't fall behind for too long either."

Chen Yao crossed her legs and murmured softly to herself.

Sixth Rank spellcaster, Fifth Rank Martial Artist.

For her before, Fifth Rank had still been far away. But now, with Chen Mu helping her improve her stance, she was already very close to Seventh Rank.

When Chen Mu said she could reach Seventh Rank in three months, that was under the condition that she cultivated behind closed doors.

Fighting others, standing between life and death, could not only temper one's will, but also greatly stimulate a martial artist's vital energy and unleash their potential. If she won one more battle, she could enter Seventh Rank in less than a month!

Chen Yao waited quietly.

One fight after another passed.

At last.

An overseer from Yuan Wu Alley entered and announced in a deep voice, "The next match: Nether Fox versus Lu Sheng."

Chen Yao slowly rose to her feet.

Nether Fox was her codename. Naturally, she used a codename to conceal her identity. Lu Sheng, meanwhile, sounded like a real name, but it might also have been fake. None of that mattered.

She had come only to temper herself.

Eleventh Arena.

The outer perimeter was lined with tiers of steps, all packed shoulder to shoulder with people. There were so many that some could not even find a place to sit. To the east was a raised platform, upon which stood a series of exquisite little chambers.

The people seated inside were all high-ranking officials and influential nobles with status and standing.

Soon.

Chen Yao appeared in the arena. Her expression was calm, and she carried that sword in her hand. Not a trace of vital energy leaked from her body. Standing there, she seemed nothing more than a frail young woman.

Opposite Chen Yao stood a man about her height, but with muscles bulging all over his body as though he had grown sideways. Rich vital energy surged within him. Ordinary people merely standing a little closer already felt the pressure in the air and found it difficult to breathe.

"A woman?"

Lu Sheng glanced at Chen Yao.

Chen Yao raised her sword, flashed a grin that revealed a glimpse of pearly white teeth, and said, "Go easy on me, okay?"

On the northern viewing stand.

An overseer from Yuan Wu Alley slowly walked over and stood shoulder to shoulder with another overseer.

"Nether Fox is almost Seventh Rank."

"Mm. If she wins one more match."

"This should be her last time here... If I remember correctly, she's probably from the Xuanguo Estate. It's better for her to leave early and save us the trouble."

The overseer shook his head.

Others did not know Chen Yao's identity, but Yuan Wu Alley naturally knew it perfectly well. Yuan Wu Alley had an enormous background; even princes sometimes concealed their identities and came here to temper their Martial Dao. A concubine-born daughter of the Xuanguo Estate naturally counted for little. As for trouble, it amounted to only a tiny bit of trouble.

Just as the two Yuan Wu Alley overseers were whispering to each other,

in an inconspicuous corner of the viewing stand, a person dressed in coarse, heavily patched cloth withdrew his gaze from the two Yuan Wu Alley overseers and looked toward Chen Yao in the arena. He murmured,

"Eighth Rank, a virgin..."

"Rarely is there such a suitable one, yet she's from the Xuanguo Estate... Hm, no matter. The end times are approaching, and the Xuanguo Estate is steeped in sin. It is only right to offer her as a sacrifice, appease Heaven's wrath, and gain rebirth in supreme bliss."