Night fell, and the city's lights began to shine.
Tianwu City was even more boisterous at night than during the day. Lanterns blazed with colorful light, hanging high above the streets and illuminating them as bright as day.
Following the direction the waiter had given him, Yan Kui made his way to the south of the city.
This was a red-light district, alive with song and dance and scented with powder and perfume. Deep within it stood a three-story building of blue-gray stone, its enormous sign reading "Drunken Life Dream Death Tower."
The name was certainly imposing, steeped in the decadence and madness of a life of drunken indulgence, with a bottle never far from one's lips.
Yan Kui strode inside.
The first floor was a great hall, where countless scantily clad dancers swayed their hips onstage. Diners clinked cups and traded toasts, filling the hall with raucous cheer.
He bypassed the hall and followed the waiter's directions down a shadowy corridor. At its end stood a heavy stone door forged from wrought iron.
Two guards in black tunics, both radiating a fierce aura, stood on either side.
"What do you want?"
One of the guards eyed Yan Kui's massive frame, a trace of wariness flashing in his eyes.
"I'm here to sign up for the Asura Arena."
Yan Kui spoke in a deep voice.
The guard looked him up and down. When he saw Yan Kui's rugged face, which even bore a few pig-demon features, a disdainful sneer tugged at his lips.
"With a face like that, you think you can fight in the Asura Arena? Shoo! Go back to your pigsty!"
His voice dripped with mockery and contempt.
Yan Kui's expression darkened instantly.
Ever since he had cultivated the Savage Boar Ramming Technique, the pig-demon features on his body had been a constant thorn in his side. He could pass them off as a result of cultivation gone awry, but being mocked to his face set anger blazing in his heart.
"Move."
Yan Kui's voice was as low as a grinding millstone.
"Oh, look at you, acting all tough!"
Seeing this, the other guard disdainfully drew his saber and pointed its tip at Yan Kui's chest. "Don't you know what kind of place this is? The Asura Arena isn't somewhere a wild boar spirit like you can throw your weight around!"
"I'll give you one more chance."
A gleam of blood flashed in Yan Kui's eyes.
He didn't strike.
But the killing intent honed in a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, along with the savage aura of the Savage Boar Ramming Technique, erupted in an instant!
The guards' vision blurred. For a moment, they thought they saw a ferocious beast crawling up from the depths of hell. Its terrifying presence made their legs buckle, and their weapons clattered to the ground.
"Y-yes! Right away! Please, Warrior!"
They scrambled aside, nearly tripping over each other as they cleared the way.
Yan Kui snorted and strode through the stone door.
Beyond it lay a spiral staircase descending underground. Torches lined both sides, their light leading into the depths below.
He walked down for about a hundred steps before reaching a vast underground chamber.
This was the Asura Arena.
A huge circular fighting pit stood at its center, surrounded by tier upon tier of seats. The stands were already packed, every face alight with feverish excitement.
In the middle of the arena, two warriors fought for their lives. Blades flashed, flesh flew, and the crowd roared its approval.
On one side of the arena was a registration desk.
Yan Kui walked over to it.
The woman in charge wore a qipao and had a curvaceous figure. When she saw Yan Kui's appearance, surprise flickered in her eyes.
"Are you here to sign up?" Her voice carried a hint of seduction.
"Mm."
Yan Kui nodded.
"Name?"
"Yan Kui."
"Ring name?"
The woman looked at his tower-like frame and the black hair faintly visible on his face.
"You're certainly built like a tank."
She smiled radiantly, then picked up her pen and wrote a ring name in the register: "Black Iron Tower."
Yan Kui had no objections. The name was a bit crude, but it suited his appearance.
"You'll need to take a strength test first."
The woman pointed to a huge stone slab nearby. "All you need to do is leave a fist mark more than a hundred jin deep in the stone, and you'll pass."
Several warriors had already gathered around the slab.
Most were there to compete or watch. When they saw Yan Kui's appearance, they all sneered in disdain.
"That pig demon wants to fight in the underground ring? He's probably here to get himself killed."
"Exactly. Look at all that hair. He must be some bumpkin from a backwater mountain village."
"You can't win in the Asura Arena with brute strength alone. You need skill, too!"
Mocking voices filled the air.
Yan Kui ignored them.
He walked up to the stone slab and drew a deep breath.
The slab stood as tall as two men. It was black all over, its surface smooth as a mirror. Countless fist marks already covered it, but even the deepest had barely sunk in by a finger's width.
"Watch closely."
Yan Kui said this, then—
He didn't throw a punch.
Instead, he raised his foot and kicked with all his might!
Savage Boar Charge!
BOOM!!!
A deafening crash shook the arena.
The stone slab, which weighed a full thousand jin, flew off the ground from his kick and smashed into the wall behind it, shattering with a thunderous crash!
The entire arena fell silent.
The watching warriors stared in stunned disbelief, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.
He'd shattered the stone with his bare hands—no, his bare foot?
What was this, a hundred-jin fist mark? This was a force of a thousand jin!
"This... this strength..."
The woman at the registration desk was dumbstruck, too. The pen fell from her hand and snapped in two on the ground.
"Black Iron Tower..."
She murmured to herself, her eyes filled with shock and fervor.
It had been a long time since such a terrifying monster had appeared in the Asura Arena.
"Did I pass?"
Yan Kui lowered his foot and asked expressionlessly.
"Y-yes! You passed! Of course you passed!"
The woman hurriedly nodded, her voice trembling slightly. "Warrior Black Iron Tower! Your fight is scheduled for tomorrow night! Would you like a singles match or a doubles match?"
"Singles. Highest level."
Yan Kui said blandly.
He needed the strongest opponents, as quickly as possible, to obtain Origin Power.
"Certainly! I'll arrange it for you right away!" the woman said excitedly.
A new overlord was about to rise in the Asura Arena!
Yan Kui didn't linger at the registration desk.
He returned to the hall, found a seat again, and ordered ten jin of beef and a jug of Shao Daozi.
But—
This time, the hall was dead silent.
Everyone held their tongues, sneaking glances at him with fear and awe in their eyes.
No one dared mock his appearance anymore.
"Sure enough, hard fists open every door."
Yan Kui grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
He lifted the Shao Daozi and drained it in one gulp.
The fiery liquor slid down his throat, stirring waves of scorching heat inside him.
The blood in his body began to boil.
The Asura Arena...
He had arrived!
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