Western District, Southbound Street, Heavenly Net Arena.
Turn into the second dark alley at the end of the street, pass through the barrier gate guarded by only two people, and the shade of willows and brightness of flowers opened into another world.
—An underground gladiatorial arena that could seat ten thousand spectators, packed to the brim.
This was a carnival world belonging to Spirit Cultivators!
Brawny, broad-waisted brutes in the stands roared themselves hoarse for the battles in the arena, cheering for the contestants they supported and bet on.
Here, they had none of the bleakness of their everyday lives, nor did they remember the life-and-death perils faced by the Royal City's lower-class Spirit Cultivators as they ventured into Spirit Mountains and forbidden lands.
Some held wine, some held tickets. They needed care about nothing at all—only cheer for blood, rally for battle, and roar for everything they had wagered.
If they were disappointed in a contestant or felt enraged, they could strip off the garb of spectators at once, enter the arena directly, become beasts who sought nothing but slaughter, and vent the violent desires in their hearts to their fullest.
Life and death had become rather unimportant here.
Because in the arena, ten thousand people fought for a single slot.
Even second place might become a corpse that rapidly turned cold.
"Roar!!!"
"Kill him! Beat him to death! I bet ten thousand Spirit Crystals on you—how the hell could you let him go?"
"Don't kick him off the stage! Kill that bastard! He stabbed you in the back just now, did you forget?!"
**"Idiot!! Two people butchered you, and you still had the nerve to enter the arena? You died way too damn fast! Why didn't I run into you earlier? Wouldn't two elbows from me have made