Qian Renhan's Bait

Qian Renhan swept his gaze around the area, looking at the dozens of Fallen Ones surrounding him. Anticipation filled their eyes; some wore lewd expressions, and some were even drooling. The corner of his lips curled slightly upward. What had he come to the City of Slaughter for? To fight and find a way to break through to the third level of Sword Dao. That was why he had headed for the Hell Slaughter Arena first thing, hoping for a fierce life-or-death battle. He had not expected dozens of people to come directly to him. It seemed this face that appealed to both men and women did have its advantages.

Blood-red light flickered in Qian Renhan's eyes as the Fallen Angel Martial Soul rose behind him. Three pairs of pitch-black wings appeared on his back, and an incomparably dark domain, one that even light could scarcely penetrate, erupted from the Martial Soul and enveloped the dozens of Fallen Ones around him.

Other than those within the domain, no one knew what had happened inside that black domain. Not a single sound emerged from the darkness, nor did anyone escape. All they saw was that when the domain dispersed, only one person remained standing in that area. Clad in black, untouched by filth, with six wings on his back and long white hair drifting in the wind, he held a longsword in his hand. He was impeccably neat from head to toe, yet corpses lay everywhere around him, forming a scene like hell itself. Blood from the bodies had pooled together, even forming a sizable puddle of blood.

Yet the strangest thing was that not one of the dozens of Fallen Ones who had died miserable deaths wore an expression of pain or agony. Instead, their faces were filled with madness and exhilaration, as though they had died from pleasure.

After dealing with the dozens of Fallen Ones, another faint layer of bloody killing intent seemed to veil Qian Renhan's already crimson eyes. But immediately afterward, that bloody killing intent left his mind and merged into the Fallen Angel Martial Soul. Qian Renhan's mind returned to its clearest state.

"Absorbing the killing intent from my body and keeping me clear-headed—is this one of the Fallen Angel Martial Soul's abilities?" Qian Renhan smiled faintly. The Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul could automatically filter out impurities harmful to the body, while his Fallen Angel Martial Soul could actually actively absorb the killing intent from his body. A God-level Martial Soul truly had its own grandeur.

Qian Renhan glanced at the pile of corpses around him, their faces all filled with madness, and shook his head speechlessly. He had never expected that after he released the Darkness Domain, the evil thoughts within these Fallen Ones would all be drawn out by the Fallen Angel Martial Soul. They had not attacked him at all. Instead, they had frantically vented at the air.

If Qian Renhan wished, he could probably use the Fallen Angel Martial Soul to command every Fallen One in the City of Slaughter, aside from the King of Slaughter, to serve as his slaves and servants.

After he dealt with this group, no one else dared obstruct Qian Renhan. He arrived at the center of the Inner City and saw a peculiar building. The building was circular; more precisely, it was an irregular cone. Its base was the widest, gradually narrowing as it rose. At the entrance, nearly every Fallen One entering held a cup of Yellow Spring Dew.

"This should be the Hell Slaughter Arena."

Qian Renhan walked toward the building. The Hell Slaughter Arena was a melee between ten people. Its danger could not compare to the battle he had just fought, but he had to go. Without winning a hundred matches in the Hell Slaughter Arena, he would be unable to leave through Hell Road. Besides, he needed to experience a true battle between life and death. The dozens of Fallen Ones he had killed earlier had only been defeated because of his Martial Soul. That did not count as a genuine life-or-death battle.

It was like the battle between Qian Renxue and Yu Tianyuan of the younger generation seven years ago. Qian Renxue had defeated Yu Tianyuan solely through the advantage of her Martial Soul, not because she herself was stronger than Yu Tianyuan. Relying only on a powerful Martial Soul without tempering one's own combat awareness and accumulating battle experience would ultimately prevent one from becoming a true peak powerhouse.

Before long, another corpse appeared beneath Qian Renhan's feet, while he held a cup of Yellow Spring Dew in his hand.

Qian Renhan looked toward a small corner and said indifferently, "You've followed me all this way and watched enough, haven't you? If you've seen enough, go register me."

From the dark little corner, the Black-veiled Girl slowly revealed herself.

"You knew I'd been following you the whole time?" The Black-veiled Girl looked surprised.

"I'm not so lacking in counter-surveillance ability that I wouldn't notice something like that."

Qian Renhan handed the Yellow Spring Dew in his hand to the Black-veiled Girl. She did not hesitate. Perhaps feeling guilty that she had been caught spying, she took the Identity Plate and Yellow Spring Dew and headed toward the registration area.

Ten passageways opened, and ten people entered the Hell Slaughter Arena. Light flashed from the Soul Tool in Qian Renhan's hand, and the longsword he used for daily training appeared in his grasp. He imposed a restriction on himself: during the slaughter in the Hell Slaughter Arena, he absolutely could not use any power from his Martial Soul.

Even in the City of Slaughter, Martial Soul Possession and the attributes possessed by a Martial Soul could greatly enhance a Soul Master's strength. But the greatest threat of the Hell Slaughter Arena did not come from the life-and-death battles within the arena. It came after the battle ended, when exhausted participants left the Hell Slaughter Arena and were besieged by Fallen Ones who had long been waiting outside.

If he were besieged by many people outside, Qian Renhan would have no choice but to use his Martial Soul if he could not hold them off. But there could be at most nine enemies besieging him here. If he used his Martial Soul whenever he could not defeat them, how could he speak of becoming stronger?

Twenty minutes later, nine corpses lay on the ground. Qian Renhan stood at the center of the Hell Slaughter Arena, his body covered in bloody wounds. His left arm hung limply at his side, blood dripping continuously from it.

"So this is the pain of torn flesh, the adrenaline and human potential that surge at the brink of life and death. Desperadoes truly are formidable. The City of Slaughter really is a good place to train one's ability to fight opponents above one's level."

Qian Renhan smiled faintly and took several Healing Herbs from his Soul Tool, swallowing them. Looking at the desperadoes beneath his feet, whom he had desperately killed with his sword, he felt a faint excitement rise in his heart for some reason. It was as though if he continued killing, he would be able to comprehend the Sword Dao bottleneck that had stopped his progress.

Immediately afterward, the Hell Slaughter Arena seemed to tremble slightly. The Soul Power from the nine fallen bodies in the arena all erupted, flowing through Qian Renhan's forehead into his body. A small portion was absorbed by him, while most of the Soul Power flowed downward into the bottom of the Hell Slaughter Arena.

"This Soul Power is far too little. I don't even know if it amounts to a tenth of the original."

Qian Renhan muttered a sentence and stopped caring about it. If beneath the Angel God Statue in Douluo Hall was the most suitable cultivation place for Soul Masters of the Angel Clan, then the City of Slaughter was the most suitable place for him, a Fallen Angel, to cultivate. The toxins, violent factors, and evil factors within the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth in the City of Slaughter could not affect him. His Fallen Angel Martial Soul might even be exceedingly happy to have those violent and evil factors enter its body.

One year later, in the grand square of the City of Slaughter, a treasure emitting blue light and as crystalline as bone suddenly appeared in the air above the square. The appearance of this piece of bone instantly drew everyone's attention.