Arrival at the Body Sect!

He raised his head, the scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan slowly spinning in his eyes as it swept over the frenzied faces in the stands. Then he turned, stepped down from the arena, passed through the crowd that automatically parted for him, and headed for the exit.

The one-eyed old man hurried after him, his face piled with smiles.

"Young brother! No, Lord Black Eye! Please wait, please wait!" He rubbed his hands together, his tone fawning.

"You caused quite a sensation today! Ten consecutive victories! In the Death Arena's fifty-year history, you're the third person to achieve ten straight wins! How about a long-term partnership? The split is negotiable—thirty-seventy, no, twenty-eighty! You take eighty, we take twenty!"

Dai Tu did not slow down. He only left behind one sentence.

"Not interested."

"Hey, wait! Wait!" The one-eyed old man panicked. "At least leave some contact information? Where are you staying? Are you coming back tomorrow?"

Dai Tu had already left the Death Arena, his figure vanishing into the night.

The one-eyed old man stood at the entrance, watching the direction in which Dai Tu had disappeared. The smile on his face gradually faded, turning into a gloomy look of contemplation.

"Investigate him," he said to the shadows behind him. "Find out where this 'Black Eye' came from. We can't let a genius like that slip away."

A low response came from the shadows before silence returned.

Dai Tu did not return to the inn.

He found a secluded alley, sat against the wall, closed his eyes, and began restoring his Soul Power.

The ten battles today had drained him badly. His Soul Power had nearly been exhausted.

Fortunately, the Tree of Life possessed an incredibly powerful recovery ability. With the Mark of Life assisting him, he would recover fully in at most two hours.

The night deepened, and the noise on the streets gradually subsided.

Dai Tu opened his eyes and was about to get up and leave when he suddenly froze.

Someone was standing at the entrance of the alley.

He was a middle-aged man of around forty, tall and powerfully built, dressed in ordinary coarse cloth that made him look like a farmer. Yet his arms were exceptionally long, hanging almost to his knees. The muscles on them bulged, their veins twisted like gnarled old tree roots.

The man stood at the alley entrance, blocking the moonlight and casting a long shadow. He stared at Dai Tu for a long while, then suddenly grinned.

"Kid, you looked pretty impressive in the Death Arena today."

Dai Tu slowly rose to his feet. He did not answer, merely watching him in silence.

The Mangekyō Sharingan had already surfaced quietly in his eyes, ready to activate at any moment.

The man seemed to notice Dai Tu's wariness. He waved a hand, his smile widening. "Relax. I'm not here to cause trouble. On the contrary, I'm here to offer you a great opportunity."

He paused and pointed at his own eyes. "Your Martial Soul is your eyes, right?"

Dai Tu's gaze sharpened.

"How did you know?"

"How did I know?" The man burst into laughter, extending his two extraordinary arms and waving them through the air. "Because I'm one too. My Martial Soul is Long Arm. A Body Martial Soul—both arms."

He took several steps forward. Moonlight fell across his face, revealing the excitement and eagerness in his eyes.

"Kid, what's your name?"

"Dai Tu."

"Dai Tu... good. Dai Tu, let me tell you this: every Body Martial Soul in the world should belong to one place." The man spoke each word deliberately, his voice brimming with pride. "The Body Sect."

Dai Tu's heart gave a sudden thump.

But his face remained expressionless as he calmly asked, "So?"

"So?" The man laughed again, this time with the kind of smile that said, Quit pretending, kid. "So it's time for you to come home. To the home of our Body Martial Souls. Every Body Martial Soul in the world is family. And family should be together."

He walked up to Dai Tu and patted his shoulder with that abnormally long arm. The blow was heavy, but carried no malice.

"My name is Wang Changbi. My Martial Soul is these arms. I'm a four-ring Soul Ancestor, and I count for something in the Body Sect."

Wang Changbi grinned.

"I happened to be watching the excitement at the Death Arena today. The moment I saw those eyes of yours, I knew I'd found one. Our Body Sect has gained another brother."

He paused, his smile fading as he looked seriously at Dai Tu.

"Dai Tu, I don't know what you've been through, or why you came to Heaven Dou City and fought for your life in a place like the Death Arena. But since you awakened a Body Martial Soul, you're one of us. The Body Sect will never abandon a brother, nor will we let any brother be bullied out here."

The words were plain, without any ornate rhetoric.

Yet as Dai Tu listened, an indescribable emotion rose within him.

Like a brazier in the depths of winter, like a spring in the desert, like... a hand reaching out to him in the darkness.

"Come with me." Wang Changbi turned and walked toward the alley exit. After several steps, he looked back and flashed a grin at Dai Tu, who was still standing there.

"I'll take you to meet the Sect Master. Our Sect Master is an extraordinary man. He'll definitely be thrilled when he sees you."

Dai Tu watched Wang Changbi's back, watched the unusually long shadow cast by him in the moonlight, and remained silent for a long time.

Then he lifted his foot and followed.

Wang Changbi did not take Dai Tu out of the city. Instead, he led him through an old district in the far western part of Heaven Dou City.

This area was run-down, with low houses, narrow streets, and uneven stone roads filled with stagnant filthy water. Most of its residents were poor commoners, and at this hour, they had long since put out their lights and gone to bed. Only the occasional bark of a dog echoed through the night.

At last, the two stopped before an inconspicuous residence.

The courtyard house was utterly ordinary: gray walls, black tiles, a weathered wooden door, and not even a signboard outside. If Wang Changbi had not led the way, Dai Tu could have passed by its entrance a hundred times without noticing anything unusual.

Wang Changbi stepped forward and knocked five times on the wooden door—three long knocks followed by two short ones.

Creak!

The door opened a crack, and a sleepy old man poked his head out. Seeing Wang Changbi, he paused in surprise. "Long Arm? What is it at this hour?"

"Uncle Liu, I brought back a newcomer." Wang Changbi stepped aside so the old man could see Dai Tu behind him. "Body Martial Soul—eyes. A genius."

The old man immediately sobered up. He examined Dai Tu from head to toe. When he saw Dai Tu's clear eyes, still bright in the night, a sharp glint flashed through his cloudy old gaze.

"Come in." The old man opened the door and let them enter.

Beyond the door was a very ordinary little courtyard, with vegetables growing in one corner and several pieces of clothing hanging out to dry. It was no different from the home of any ordinary family.

But after passing through the courtyard, entering the main house, and leaving through its back door, the sight before him left Dai Tu stunned.

A cluster of ancient buildings had been built along the mountainside.

Bluestone steps wound upward and disappeared into the night. On either side stood courtyard homes with gray walls and black tiles, arranged in orderly layers according to the mountain's slope.

Under the moonlight, scattered lights could be seen glowing from within the courtyards, like stars spilled across the mountain.

There was no grand gate, no splendid plaque, and no disciples standing guard.

Yet the understated bearing of a place hidden amid the common streets, neither flaunting nor revealing itself, was more breathtaking than any resplendent sect.

"This is the Body Sect?" Dai Tu asked softly.