Temporary Lockdown! Severe Internal Strife! Heading to the Great Arena!

"Generous of you, boss. Thanks."

He stood and was just about to leave when, as he passed another stall nearby, the corner of his eye was suddenly drawn to a seed.

The seed was the size of a thumb, oval-shaped, with a rough, dark-brown shell. It looked no different from any ordinary tree seed one might find by the roadside, completely unremarkable as it lay mixed in with a pile of random junk.

The stall owner was a middle-aged fatty, the sort of man who looked like he bought any odd goods and sold any odd goods.

But Lan Tian stopped because he clearly sensed that something inside that seed was beating.

A life aura so dense it was almost tangible seeped out from beneath the seed's shell. Others might not be able to sense it, but his martial soul was Blue Silver Grass, and both his first and second soul rings came from Blue Silver Grass of the same source. His sensitivity to life aura far exceeded that of ordinary people.

"How much for this seed?" He crouched down, picked up the seed, and turned it over in his hand a few times.

The fat stall owner glanced at it, looking utterly unconcerned. "That? It came mixed in when I bought some goods. Don't know what kind of tree it is. It's been sitting here for years and never sprouted. If you want it, take it for one Silver Soul Coin."

Lan Tian took out his money pouch, fished out a Silver Soul Coin, placed it on the stall, then carefully tucked the seed into his robes.

By the time he emerged from the underground market, it was almost evening. The street lamps of Heaven Dou City were lighting up one after another, and the entire city was shrouded in a warm golden glow.

Lan Tian stood by the street and reorganized the space inside his storage ring. He transferred all the medicinal herbs and miscellaneous items from his backpack into the ring, leaving only his money pouch and medicine box on him.

He found an inconspicuous little inn and took a room. After closing the door, he sat on the bed, took out that strange seed, and carefully examined it in his palm.

The life aura inside the seed was still pulsing faintly, its rhythm slow and steady, like a sleeping heart beating.

He lightly touched the seed's outer shell with a Blue Silver Grass vine. As life energy of the same source passed into it, the surface of the seed actually flashed faintly.

Interesting.

Lan Tian carefully put the seed away, planning to try using Spring of Vegetation to stimulate its growth after he returned and see what exactly would sprout from it.

Based on his experience, a seed containing such rich life energy absolutely could not be some ordinary thing found everywhere by the roadside.

He blew out the lamp, lay on the bed, listened as the sounds on the street outside the inn gradually quieted, and closed his eyes.

His one-day tour of Heaven Dou City ended here. Early tomorrow morning, he would set off back to Nuoding City.

He had bought what he needed, seen what he wanted to see, and learned what he wanted to learn. The gains from this trip were far richer than he had expected.

A nine-hundred-year second soul ring, a rank twenty-three Great Soul Master, four pieces of Whale Glue around two to three thousand years old, a ten-cubic-meter storage ring, and a mysterious seed.

Although he had not found the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, these gains alone had already made the entire trip worthwhile.

He rolled over and sank into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, Lan Tian ate a steaming hot breakfast downstairs at the inn.

Heaven Dou City's breakfast was much more refined than Nuoding City's. A bowl of shredded-chicken wontons with two scallion pancakes left his whole body warm after he finished, improving his impression of the city by another notch.

He wiped his mouth, shouldered his pack, went downstairs to settle the bill, and calculated that he could leave the city before noon today, find a place to rest for the night by evening, and return to Nuoding City the day after tomorrow.

However, the moment he stepped out of the inn's main entrance, he sensed that something was wrong.

There were noticeably fewer people on the main street than yesterday, but from the direction of the city gate came the dull thud of footsteps and the clacking of metal. An entire squad of soldiers in iron armor stood in formation inside the gate, shields planted on the ground and long spears angled forward, blocking the exit passage tightly.

Many more crossbowmen had also appeared on the walls on both sides of the gate, staring down from above. The atmosphere was as tense as a taut string.

Lan Tian frowned, walked near the city gate, and asked a merchant who had also been blocked at the entrance, "Brother, what's going on?"

The merchant looked thoroughly unlucky and spread his hands. "Who knows! The gate was sealed before dawn today. They said orders came from above—no one goes out, only in. I've still got a cart of goods waiting to be delivered out of the city, and now it's all stuck in my hands!"

Someone beside them chimed in, lowering his voice. "What else could it be? Those big shots must be fighting again. That deputy general who died yesterday was only the beginning. The city's sealed today, so they're probably closing the net. There definitely wasn't just one person dead yesterday! We just don't know about it! The news has been locked down!"

Lan Tian stood where he was and listened for a few moments, the string in his heart tightening.

As expected, it was tied to Heaven Dou City's internal strife.

As an outsider, what he feared most was getting dragged in at a time like this. Once the city gate was sealed, everyone was trapped inside. Who knew what would happen next?

He immediately gave up the idea of forcing his way out of the city. In a conflict of this level, there was hardly any difference between a rank twenty-three Great Soul Master like him and an ordinary person. It was safest to honestly wait until the storm passed.

Just as he was thinking of heading back toward the inn, a large crowd suddenly surged over from the side, rushing noisily toward the eastern part of the city while shouting, "The Great Soul Arena is still open! Let's go take a look over there! Since we can't leave anyway, we might as well watch a soul fight!"

The mood in the crowd changed instantly. The merchants and pedestrians who had originally been anxious and uneasy at the blocked city gate all turned around one after another, following the flow of people toward the east side of the city.

The Great Soul Arena of Heaven Dou City was one of the liveliest places here. On normal days, it was already packed with people, and now that the city gate had been shut and everyone had nothing to do, they all surged over there instead.

Lan Tian stood where he was and thought for a moment. Since he could not leave for the time being, lying around back at the inn was still just lying around. He might as well follow along and take a look.

He really had never seen the Great Soul Arena of this era.

In his memories from his previous life, the soul arenas were something that had only developed fully decades later. Now was the perfect chance to broaden his horizons and see what the current soul arenas were like.

Besides, another thought lingered in his heart.

Since he was already here, should he step into the arena and fight a match to warm up?

If he won, there would be prize money too. In any case, he had nothing else to do.

He followed the crowd all the way to the east side of the city, and from afar, he saw a huge circular building standing ahead.

The building's exterior was built from gray-white boulders, with a ring of tall colonnades surrounding its outer perimeter. Above the main entrance was a relief of a giant eagle spreading its wings as if about to take flight, grand and imposing.

People came and went at the entrance. Several staff members in matching uniforms were maintaining order, and beside them stood a large board listing the day's soul fight schedule and match information.

Lan Tian squeezed up to the board and looked for a while. The rules were more or less the same as he remembered.

Soul duels were divided into two types: one-on-one and team battles. Contestants were ranked by soul-power level, and for every victory, they were awarded a corresponding prize based on their opponent's level and performance. Even losers received a small appearance fee, but it was pitifully little.

As he was reading, a uniformed soul-dueling arena staff member beside him glanced at him and asked, "Honored Soul Master, are you interested in going down and giving it a try? The city's sealed off today, so everyone in town is idle. We've got more than twice as many guests as usual and just happen to be short on fighters. What level are you?"

Lan Tian turned to look at him, thought for a moment, then nodded. "Two-ring Grand Soul Master, rank twenty-three, healing system. How do I sign up for a solo duel? I know some hand-to-hand combat."

The staff member's eyes lit up. "A two-ring healing-system Soul Master who knows hand-to-hand combat? Now that's rare! Please wait a moment. I'll take you to the registration office. You'll make quite a good attraction."