King of Slaughter

"My King, ever since the Reaper and the God of Slaughter arrived in our Slaughter City a year ago, the population of our inner city has plummeted by more than sixty percent in this short time!"

"If we do not take action, the strength of our Slaughter City will continue to dwindle!" the woman in black said, bracing herself.

"Are you questioning my decisions?"

"This subordinate would not dare!" Cold sweat streamed down the woman in black.

The King of Slaughter said coldly, "This Seat is naturally aware of the harm the Reaper and the God of Slaughter have caused our Slaughter City, but that young man codenamed Reaper has an extremely extraordinary background!"

"My King, does our Slaughter City truly need to fear outside forces?"

"Fool!" The King of Slaughter grabbed a wine goblet and hurled it at the woman in black.

The woman in black let out a painful howl, then clutched her bleeding forehead and hurriedly begged for mercy!

"This Seat has been wise for a lifetime; how is it that my subordinates are nothing but trash like you!"

"My King, please calm your anger. Your strength is peerless in this world, and we subordinates are naturally far inferior to you!"

The King of Slaughter calmed down and said indifferently, "Pass down the order: fighting is temporarily prohibited in the inner city. Aside from those whose one-year term has expired and must participate, registration for the Hell Slaughter Arena is temporarily suspended for everyone else!"

"My King!" the woman in black asked, "In this way, the casualties of the inner city's elite can indeed be greatly reduced, but to make such adjustments because of the Reaper and the God of Slaughter—where is the dignity of Slaughter City?"

"Hmph!" The King of Slaughter said disdainfully, "There is something in this world called flexibility!"

"In Slaughter City, we are the true kings, but unfortunately, there are two people in the outside world who can truly threaten us! You also know that those who pass through the Hell Road will receive the gift of Slaughter City—the Slaughter God's Domain! Within the domains of the two current Gods of Slaughter, all soul masters can use their soul rings!"

"That Reaper has a current God of Slaughter standing behind him! Although This Seat does not fear any challenge, I am unwilling to make an enemy of a true God of Slaughter!"

The woman in black hurriedly said, "My King is wise; this subordinate will go and convey your will to the citizens at once!"

Watching the woman in black depart, the King of Slaughter clutched his forehead and sighed repeatedly. In truth, he desperately wanted to deal with Su Yun Tao and his companion personally, but the fate of Slaughter City depended on Martial Soul Hall.

Not to mention the seven great titled douluos led by Qian Daoliu, even if the God of Slaughter Bibi Dong were to arrive at Slaughter City with several elders, it would be more than he could handle.

Although the King of Slaughter had temporarily usurped the body of the ninety-ninth-level peerless douluo Tang Chen, he knew his own true strength. While Su Yun Tao and his companion were arrogant, they came from Martial Soul Hall, and Martial Soul Hall was the only force in the outside world he dared not offend.

From this day on, Slaughter City became peaceful. The Blood Slaves in the outer city continued to linger on in their misery, while the Fallen Ones in the inner city temporarily abandoned slaughter and strife. The entire Slaughter City began to look no different from an ordinary city.

Su Yun Tao and Yang Wudi did not notice the various changes in Slaughter City at first, continuing to go their own way every day until the rate at which their victories accumulated slowed down more and more, and the two finally realized what was happening.

Time passed in a flash. Another half a year went by, and the victory counts of Su Yun Tao and Yang Wudi had accumulated to eighty-one and seventy-four, respectively.

It seemed they were very close to the hundred-victory mark, but now the two of them couldn't even participate in one Hell Slaughter match a month!

Faced with such a situation, Su Yun Tao and Yang Wudi consulted each other and ultimately chose to begin purging the Fallen Ones of the inner city.

"My King! That brat codenamed Reaper is too arrogant! He is currently purging the citizens of our Slaughter City! My King!"

The King of Slaughter said coldly, "This Seat is already aware. This Seat will deal with the Reaper and his companion personally."

"My King, if this continues, the entire Slaughter City will be slaughtered by these two. They are challenging your dignity. Please, My King, take action for the citizens of our Slaughter City..."

Before the words could finish, two blood-red rays of light shot out from the eyes of the King of Slaughter. The surrounding air became noticeably turbid, and a thick, bloody stench filled the space.

The woman in black let out a scream of extreme agony, and her curvaceous, graceful body lost all signs of life.

"Do not think that just because This Seat favors you, you can speak without restraint!" the King of Slaughter muttered. "That Reaper looks to be only about twenty years old yet possesses such strength; he is absolutely the most outstanding genius within Martial Soul Hall. If such a genius were to die at my hands, Slaughter City would face a catastrophe!"

"Why is it that you women simply cannot understand such a superficial truth? In this world, sometimes good people don't die, and bad people don't die—only stupid people die! The reason This Seat has been able to live until now, besides strength, is by relying on this brain!"

Faced with the aggressive, cornering tactics of Su Yun Tao and Yang Wudi, the King of Slaughter began to forcibly arrange for Fallen Ones to participate in the Hell Slaughter. Faced with such a sensible King of Slaughter, Su Yun Tao and Yang Wudi naturally returned the favor and stopped wantonly purging the Fallen Ones.

Of course, whenever the rate of victory accumulation began to slow down, the two would naturally clear out a wave of Fallen Ones to remind the King of Slaughter.

Just like that, relying on the tiger skin of Martial Soul Hall, it took less than a month for Su Yun Tao to officially complete his remaining matches.

Three days later, Yang Wudi killed his final opponent, also achieving the hundred-victory milestone.

"Reaper! God of Slaughter! Reaper! God of Slaughter!" The Fallen Ones in the spectator stands, driven by their respect for the strong, began to cheer for the two.

"Congratulations to you, young Reaper and God of Slaughter." A low, sharp voice suddenly came from all directions. The emotions of the Fallen Ones in the Hell Slaughter Arena reached their peak, for a blood-red figure was descending from the sky in mid-air.

"King of Slaughter! King of Slaughter! King of Slaughter..." The Fallen Ones shouted with all their might.

Su Yun Tao carefully scrutinized the King of Slaughter before him. This body was very tall and imposing. Knowing the plot, Su Yun Tao naturally knew that the owner of this body was the previous Clear Sky Douluo—Tang Chen!

The King of Slaughter had been able to plot against a ninety-ninth-level peerless douluo; his own strength was something that even the current Su Yun Tao found difficult to contend with.

"Reaper, God of Slaughter, I am very happy today. Slaughter City has not seen a hundred-victory champion in decades. Now that the two of you have achieved such a feat, I am very pleased."

"Thank you for letting me feel passion once again. To commend your achievements, I have decided to grant you the title of God of Slaughter as an exception. From this day forward, you may enter and leave Slaughter City at will and will be invited as guest ministers of my Slaughter City."

Su Yun Tao and Yang Wudi exchanged a glance. "Respected King of Slaughter, we cannot allow the rules of Slaughter City to be broken because of us."

"The two of us wish to pass the trial of the Hell Road. We hope to rely on our own strength to walk out of here and become true Gods of Slaughter."

The King of Slaughter smiled. "It is good for young people to have ambition, but the terror of the Hell Road is not something you can imagine. You only have one life, and I do not wish to see a genius like you wither away!"

Su Yun Tao's expression became somewhat strange. "Respected King of Slaughter, do you even believe the words you are saying?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone, including Yang Wudi, was instantly stunned.

"Cough, cough!" The King of Slaughter coughed a few times. "Young man, take my advice: the Hell Road is not so easy to pass."

"Many thanks to the great King of Slaughter for the reminder, but I still wish to walk the Hell Road!"

The King of Slaughter sneered, "So that is how it is! You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"

Before the words had even faded, countless enforcement knights of Slaughter City surrounded Su Yun Tao and his companion with fierce, murderous glares.

Yang Wudi looked at these powerhouses of Slaughter City with a grave expression; among the crowd, he could even sense a few individuals who were on the same level as himself.

Su Yun Tao looked at the formation before him and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "King of Slaughter, are you intending to violate the rules that have stood in Slaughter City for a thousand years? Do you wish to wage total war against our Martial Soul Hall?"

"Young man, I have no intention of being an enemy to Martial Soul Hall, but This Seat fears nothing that threatens This Seat!"

Su Yun Tao said indifferently, "King of Slaughter, the two of us have already achieved one hundred victories. According to the rules, we have the right to demand the opening of Hell Road. If you are truly unwilling, that is fine; the two of us will leave Slaughter City now."

Before the words had even faded, Su Yun Tao strode forward, beckoning Yang Wudi to leave with him in a calm and collected manner.

"Enough. Since you insist on this, This Seat has no choice but to open Hell Road. I hope you will not regret it when the time comes!"

The King of Slaughter sighed inwardly. Opening Hell Road would cause a massive drain on the strength of Slaughter City, but Martial Soul Hall was powerful after all, and he did not have the strength to openly defy the rules.

"King of Slaughter, as long as you open Hell Road, even if the two of us fail to walk out, this matter will have nothing to do with Slaughter City!"

The King of Slaughter did not respond, instead ordering his trusted enforcement subordinates to withdraw. Once his personal troops had departed, a red mist began to emanate from his body.

The energy released by the King of Slaughter was not mere killing intent, but a cold, evil aura—an aura so frigid it felt as though it could freeze one's very marrow.

The evil, icy red ripples slowly expanded, and in the blink of an eye, they had spread across the entire arena.

The Fallen Ones sitting in the spectator stands were unusually excited, all hoping to witness the legendary opening of Hell Road. Yet, they did not know that the opening of Hell Road required their lives as the price!

The Fallen Ones, who had been cheering wildly, gradually grew quiet as the red light descended, the eyes of every one of them turning dull and vacant.

It did not take long. When the red light radiating from the King of Slaughter formed a massive barrier over the entire Hell Slaughter Arena, agonizing screams began to erupt from those who had first come into contact with the light.

Affected by the red glow, those Fallen Ones seemed to descend into madness, each of them clawing frantically at their own faces and bodies until they were covered in blood and gore.

More and more Fallen Ones succumbed to this transformation. Before long, aside from Su Yun Tao, his companion, and the King of Slaughter, everyone in the vast Hell Slaughter Arena had fallen into a state of extreme insanity.

Although Su Yun Tao had anticipated this, seeing it unfold before his own eyes still dealt a shock to his soul that was beyond compare.

While he felt that for the Fallen Ones in the Hell Slaughter Arena, death was a deserved punishment, when thousands of people were tearing themselves apart right before him, anyone with a shred of humanity could not help but be shaken.

The blood of countless Fallen Ones spilled onto the ground and gradually began to coalesce. Large quantities of blood flowed like small streams, following inconspicuous pipes beneath the spectator stands toward the center of the arena.

"Corpses strewn across the field, a river of blood!" Yang Wudi lamented.

The gathering pool of blood did not spread in a straight line; instead, it gradually converged on the ground into a massive, blood-red pattern.

Su Yun Tao recognized this massive blood-red pattern at a glance: it was the true form of the King of Slaughter—the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King!

"Young Reaper, I wish you good luck," the King of Slaughter said indifferently.

Su Yun Tao sneered, his mental energy fully unleashed as he focused his entire attention on the changes around him.

Suddenly, a massive surge of red light shot into the sky, instantly enveloping Lin Chen and Yang Wudi. The two did not choose to resist, instead focusing all their efforts on adapting to the changes in the red light.

Gradually, Su Yun Tao's powerful mental energy could no longer withstand the intrusion of the red light and began to dissipate, and everything around him started to blur.

When Su Yun Tao regained consciousness, he found himself standing on a circular platform. This platform was only about five meters in diameter.

Everything around him presented a faint, blood-red hue, constantly attempting to invade Lin Chen's mind, while beneath his feet, beyond the five-meter circular platform, lay nothing but a bottomless abyss.

Ahead of him, a narrow path less than half a foot wide—barely enough for two feet to stand side-by-side—stretched forward into the unknown darkness.

"Old Yang!" Su Yun Tao shook Yang Wudi's body.

The next moment, Yang Wudi sprang up, gripping his Soul Breaking Spear and scanning his surroundings with vigilance. Only when he realized the person before him was Su Yun Tao did he finally relax.

"Little Monster, how did you wake up before me?" Yang Wudi asked suspiciously.

"Old Yang, how should I put this? In truth, my mental energy is likely stronger than yours."

"Stronger than me?" Yang Wudi scoffed. "Your mental energy as a Soul King is stronger than mine as a Spirit Douluo?"

Su Yun Tao nodded. In reality, his mental energy was indeed stronger than Yang Wudi's. Although Yang Wudi was a Spirit Douluo, his attack power was even greater than that of an average Titled Douluo.

As the price for putting all his points into attack, aside from his speed being decent, his other attributes were only at the level of a Soul Sage.

Although Su Yun Tao currently only had five spirit rings, his mental energy had not only been strengthened by immortal herbs but also bolstered by a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring and spirit bone. Furthermore, the attribute bonuses from his fourth and fifth spirit rings were not to be underestimated.

With the gains and losses accounted for, Yang Wudi's mental energy was, in fact, not as high as Su Yun Tao's.

"Old Yang, let's rest for a moment. We are about to face a true test of life and death."

Su Yun Tao took out a large supply of cured meat and clear wine. No matter how dangerous the situation, he always made sure to eat when it was time to eat. His philosophy for living was: eat when you should, drink when you should, and don't let anything weigh on your heart.