Shocking Everyone

For a moment, amid the carnage in the Hell Slaughter Arena, Ling Chen gleefully rummaged through the corpses.

Tang San, watching from the sidelines, furrowed his brows, finding it hard to believe what he was seeing.

"Is he... scared out of his mind? Or is he searching them for weapons? Does he think those weapons are just bits of scrap metal?"

That was the only explanation Tang San could come up with. To be grinning as he searched corpses in the Hell Slaughter Arena, where death could come at any moment, was downright bizarre.

Just as Tang San was thinking this, Hu Liena came over to stand beside him.

"Going to place a bet, Tang Yin? You don't see a sure win like this every day."

Tang San ignored Hu Liena and kept his eyes fixed on Ling Chen, trying to see through him.

The slaughter soon drew to a close. After a female Soul Master was beheaded, only Ling Chen and another man, a burly fellow wielding a broadsword, remained in the arena.

The burly man advanced on Ling Chen one step at a time. Ling Chen feigned panic and kept backing away. Before long, he had reached the edge of the Hell Slaughter Arena.

The burly man grinned smugly. He could already picture himself cleaving Ling Chen in two with a single blow and claiming a perfect victory.

He raised his blade and brought it down. Clang! The scene he had imagined never came to pass. Instead, his weapon-type Martial Soul—the broadsword—snapped in two.

The burly man gaped in shock. What had just happened had truly stunned him. A long sword had appeared in Ling Chen's hand at some point, and it was obvious that it had severed his broadsword.

"How is that possible?!"

Ling Chen offered no explanation. A flash of cold light passed, and the burly man felt the world spinning around him. Then he saw blood spurting from his own neck.

His head hit the ground, and his headless body toppled over.

Silence. Utter silence.

Everyone in the arena stared wide-eyed at the only victor standing there—a six-year-old boy!

Tang San was gaping, too. He even activated his Purple Demon Eye at the Mustard Seed Realm and scrutinized Ling Chen from head to toe.

Hu Liena was rooted to the spot. The Yellow Spring Dew slipped from her hand, breaking the long silence.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Hu Liena and Tang San exclaimed almost in unison. An adult's attack was no easy thing for a child to withstand—not even someone of the same age could necessarily have blocked it. The corpses on the ground were proof enough.

And yet Ling Chen had blocked it. Not only that, he had even severed the burly man's Martial Soul!

King of Slaughter Tang Chen had also been drawn to Ling Chen. He watched the boy with interest.

"Interesting. In all the years Slaughter City has existed, no one under sixteen has ever entered the Hell Slaughter Arena, much less survived."

Tang San studied Ling Chen carefully but couldn't make heads or tails of him. Then he caught sight of the blade of the Green Steel Sword in Ling Chen's hand, and sucked in a sharp breath.

As a successor of the Tang Sect, he knew all too well what mattered most when crafting Hidden Weapons.

Power, concealment, and lethality.

To make a Hidden Weapon more powerful, one either needed to master the most exquisite techniques or increase its sharpness.

Of all the Hidden Weapons he had crafted in his previous life, not one could match the Green Steel Sword in Ling Chen's hand for sharpness.

Tang San had seen the fight clearly. Ling Chen hadn't swung his sword to attack; he had used it to block!

That burly man's strike should have cleaved Ling Chen in two along with his sword. Instead, his own blade had been cut apart by the Green Steel Sword.

It was clear from this that the sword in Ling Chen's hand was no ordinary Martial Soul.

Hu Liena, however, wore a bitter expression. Yellow Spring Dew! It was the hard currency of Slaughter City, and her favorite drink, too. How could she not be upset after losing five cups in one go?

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I'm going to go up there and kill that little bastard!"

A violent aura instantly swirled around her. The side effects of the Yellow Spring Dew had finally surfaced.

Restlessness, irritability, and a thirst for slaughter!

Tang San hurriedly grabbed her, stopping her from actually going through with the slaughter of a child.

Such things might be commonplace in Slaughter City, but if she sank so far as to lose every shred of humanity, Tang San might be forced to kill her himself.

Ling Chen, meanwhile, paid no heed to what the others thought. Trembling, he dragged the burly man's corpse and the female Soul Master's corpse to the center of the arena, using the opportunity to take their Martial Soul Origins and Soul Rings.

Even though Ling Chen had grown used to all kinds of corpses, such a bloody scene still made him tremble instinctively.

Ling Chen was still shaken. If he hadn't had enough Martial Soul Origin to briefly manifest his Martial Soul, would he have met his end here today?

"I can't waste Martial Soul Origin recklessly. I have to save it until I can get out of this godforsaken place and awaken my Martial Soul!"

Fortunately, the Green Steel Sword's second enhancement had made it incredibly powerful. Its already formidable ability to cut through iron like mud had improved considerably. When it took the burly man's head, it had done so even more easily than when it had taken Scarface's.

More importantly, he could now sever his opponents' weapons simply by blocking their attacks. That was a tremendous leap in his combat ability!

The only drawback was that Ling Chen had few combat techniques and even fewer killing techniques. If he wanted to survive here—and perhaps even escape—he needed to learn a lot more.

Ten people to a match, and a hundred victories to win: for Ling Chen as he was now, that was still far too difficult.

Just as Ling Chen was about to leave the Hell Slaughter Arena, nine more people stepped inside.

They were clearly the same group that had chased him earlier. They obviously didn't want to let this chance to gang up on him pass them by.

They naturally didn't think Ling Chen was that difficult to deal with. He was just a little kid. Even if you gave him a knife, killing an adult head-on wouldn't be easy.

Ling Chen furrowed his brows. Nine people picking on a little kid was bad enough, but these were nine grown men ganging up on him. They clearly didn't take him seriously at all.

But Ling Chen had nowhere to run. If he wanted to leave someday, he would have to face this kind of situation sooner or later.

Judging by their expressions, the nine had clearly planned this in advance. They smirked at Ling Chen, then charged at him together.

"Not good!"

Ling Chen realized something was wrong and immediately ran.

They planned to kill him first, then fight among themselves. They had clearly agreed on this beforehand, which explained why they had dared to enter the arena.

Such despicable tactics were nothing new in Slaughter City.

With nine people hunting him down and the arena limiting his movements, Ling Chen was soon surrounded.

Hu Liena returned to the betting counter. She took every last cup of Yellow Spring Dew from her Soul Tool and placed them on the counter.

"Fifteen cups! I bet that kid will die!"

Hu Liena's face was twisted with rage. If the nine men failed to deal with Ling Chen, she would go in and do it herself!

Even Tang San couldn't tell whether Ling Chen would survive. His Martial Soul's trait was sharpness, but if he was facing nine opponents at once, it would all come down to his combat skills.

There was no denying that Ling Chen had survived the last fight largely by taking advantage of the situation.