Slaughter

Xiaofei held his number tag and waited nearby.

At that moment, an arena match was underway in the City of Slaughter. Xiaofei sat in the stands, carefully observing the combatants. Their fighting was extremely straightforward. Without Soul Rings, practically no one used Soul Skills; most simply slaughtered one another with swords and blades.

Xiaofei's match soon arrived. As he stepped onto the arena, he felt as though the platform possessed some devouring force that made one's blood boil even more fiercely. Xiaofei walked onto the platform alone, ignoring the other nine people around him. For Xiaofei, who could already transform his limbs without using Soul Skills, the City of Slaughter seemed to be a bug-ridden place. The other nine people on the platform were quickly killed by him.

Xiaofei activated his Spiritual Power and carefully sensed the nine corpses. He felt their blood gradually disappearing as the ground beneath the arena absorbed it. Could this be the source of Bloody Mary? Xiaofei shook his head in confusion and stepped down from the platform.

Over the following period, Xiaofei entered an arena match almost every three to five days. Even more people died at his hands while trying to ambush him. In only a few days, the number had already exceeded a hundred.

Time flew by, and a year soon passed. Throughout that year, Xiaofei was constantly fighting. The City of Slaughter contained all sorts of dangers—food, threats from others, and even repeated attacks by groups of people—but Xiaofei dealt with them all with ease.

The air of the City of Slaughter also seemed to contain some kind of toxin. It appeared capable of affecting one's Spiritual Power and guiding people toward slaughter. Thanks to the Spiritual Wisdom Skull, Xiaofei suffered relatively little mental influence, while the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone was the finest healing medicine. Even if he was injured, he could recover in the shortest time.

Over that year, Xiaofei participated in an astonishing sixty-one slaughter matches. During the same year, Hu Liena and Tang San also arrived in the City of Slaughter one after another. Tang San called himself Thousand Hand Asura, Hu Liena was known as the Hell Messenger, and Xiaofei's name was Phoenix Butcher.

During this time, Hu Liena had approached him with the intention of forming an alliance. Xiaofei happily accepted, but he gave Hu Liena the clear impression that he did not trust her. As one of Spirit Hall's obvious three great pitfalls, Hu Liena was someone he had to befriend, but trusting her was impossible. Naturally, Xiaofei held a similar attitude toward Tang San. He could associate with him, but he could not trust him.

During the following year, Xiaofei's greatest difficulty was not fighting in the Hell Slaughter Arena, but finding enough people to make up a match. Each Hell Slaughter Arena match required ten participants. Whenever Xiaofei registered, almost no one else dared to sign up, leaving him extremely frustrated.

Time passed amid waiting and cultivation. Sitting cross-legged in the small room where he lived, waves of icy coldness continuously surged through Xiaofei's entire body. As his number of victories increased, the Killing Intent around him grew stronger and stronger. That immense Killing Intent seemed to seep into every cell of his body, into his blood, and into his marrow.

At the same time, bloodthirsty emotions flowed from within him. As time passed, the aura of slaughter became increasingly apparent. It was as though he wanted to kill any living creature he saw; casually killing someone felt as simple as crushing an ant. By the time he reached ninety-nine victories, the Killing Intent around him had nearly become tangible, as if he were about to become slaughter itself. This feeling somewhat resembled the Evil Fire he had once possessed, and it affected him in the same way. Evil Fire had more to do with his martial soul, while Killing Intent seemed to be on a higher level and had a greater effect on the mind.

Suddenly, Xiaofei thought of the Sea God Trial. The first trial of the Sea God Trial was Sea God's Light, while the first trial of the Asura God was obtaining Divine Slaughter's Domain in the City of Slaughter. Thinking about it carefully, they were rather similar: both used divine power to transform the body's qualities. The Killing Intent of the City of Slaughter should also be a form of divine power.

And as a God of Slaughter, one had to fully master Killing Intent. Otherwise, it was easy to lose oneself. Thus, during this period, Xiaofei had been using his body to feel and adapt to Killing Intent. In the myths and legends of his previous life, Buddhist enlightenment and Daoist comprehension of heaven and earth seemed to have similar effects.

Thus, after his ninety-ninth victory, Xiaofei shut himself in his room and earnestly contemplated his own body and martial soul, entering meditation like a Buddhist practitioner. Finally, after he completely calmed his heart, Xiaofei registered for his hundredth challenge.

When Xiaofei completed the arena challenge, endless cheers erupted from the entire venue.

"Congratulations, young Phoenix Butcher." A low, piercing voice suddenly came from all directions. The Killing Intent Xiaofei had released actually rushed back into him the instant the voice sounded, forced back into his body. His face immediately turned deathly pale.

The atmosphere in the Hell Slaughter Arena instantly surged to its peak, because a blood-red figure was descending from the air. "King of Slaughter! King of Slaughter! King of Slaughter..."

The Fallen Ones shouted themselves hoarse, yet showed no intention of stopping.

A crimson figure appeared in midair. The man was extraordinarily tall, his entire body wrapped in an enormous crimson cloak. He had a pale face, completely blood-red eyes, and a pair of crimson blood wings on his back. Xiaofei knew that this was—

The King of Slaughter's gaze fell upon the spectator stands of the Hell Slaughter Arena. "I am pleased to witness the birth of a powerhouse of the Slaughter Arena today. A hundred victories, something not seen for decades, has appeared in this young man. With his formidable strength and terrifying Killing Intent, he has made you tremble, has he not, my people?" "Yes—! Yes—! Yes—!"

The King of Slaughter seemed to possess a unique charm that caused every Fallen One to develop an almost crazed worship upon seeing him.

The King of Slaughter lowered his head and looked at Wang Xiaofei. "Phoenix Butcher. Thank you for letting me feel passion once more. A hundred victories—very good. To commend your achievement, I have decided to make an exception and grant you the title of God of Slaughter. From this day onward, you may enter and leave the City of Slaughter freely, and you will be honorably appointed as a guest elder of the City of Slaughter, second only to me."

Xiaofei refused. "Thank you, great King of Slaughter. The rules of the City of Slaughter should not be broken because of me. I hope to leave this place through my own strength and become a true God of Slaughter. Besides, I came here precisely to walk the Road to Hell."

Xiaofei ignored the King of Slaughter's proposal and attempt to recruit him.

The King of Slaughter's tone noticeably turned cold. "Since that is the case, then walk the Road to Hell. I hope you can pass the trial and become a new God of Slaughter."

A thick red mist abruptly erupted from the King of Slaughter's body. Evil, icy red ripples slowly spread outward. In just a few blinks, they had already filled the entire venue. The Fallen Ones seated in the stands were strangely excited, all hoping to witness the Road to Hell opening. Yet they did not know that their lives had already reached their end.

Other than Gods of Slaughter and the King of Slaughter, no one had ever seen the Road to Hell open. Because everyone who had seen it died. Or rather, they all became sacrifices for the opening of the Road to Hell. As the red light descended upon the spectator stands, the Fallen Ones who had been cheering madly gradually fell silent. Each of their eyes slowly became dull, then changed from dullness into bloodshot red. Before long, when the red light formed a massive barrier across the entire Hell Slaughter Arena, agonized screams began to rise from those who first came into contact with it. The skin of the slaughterers present peeled back, blood sprayed everywhere, and they even tore their own internal organs from their bodies. They went completely mad, stopping only when their lives came to an end. More and more Fallen Ones underwent this transformation until it spread across the entire venue.

Blood splashed onto the ground and began to gather. Vast amounts of blood flowed like little streams through inconspicuous narrow channels beneath the spectator stands toward the central arena. Clearly visible, countless winding currents of red liquid flowed into the arena like little snakes.

"To become sacrifices for the opening of the Road to Hell is their glory." The King of Slaughter's deep voice rang out.

At this point, the screams gradually died away. Other than Xiaofei and the King of Slaughter, there no longer seemed to be a living person here. The blood flowing into the arena did not spread in a straight line. At some unknown point, grooves had appeared in the ground. Blood poured into them and gradually formed a massive blood-red pattern on the floor. That pattern, congealed from blood, was actually a bird-like creature. Xiaofei knew it was the Blood Red Nine Headed Bat King.

Suddenly, the creature's eyes lit up. Xiaofei's Spiritual Power was nearly shredded to pieces in an instant as an immense red light shot into the sky, instantly engulfing both of them. Everything around him became blurred. Only the King of Slaughter's low, piercing voice echoed beside his ears. "May you have good luck on the Road to Hell."

Under that blood-red devouring force, Xiaofei felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. Everything around him became illusory, and all his senses were completely sealed at that moment.

When Xiaofei fully regained consciousness, he found himself standing on a circular platform. The platform was only about five meters in diameter.

Everything around him was tinted a faint blood-red. Beyond the five-meter-wide circular platform beneath his feet lay nothing but a bottomless abyss. Apart from that, a narrow path less than half a foot wide—only wide enough for both feet to stand side by side—stretched toward unknown darkness. It was also the only path leading away from their platform. That was the legendary Road to Hell.