Strange Past and Bloody Present

"Why?"

Elvis twisted his head with difficulty, his eyes wide with fury as he stared fixedly at Blondi. Blood kept pouring from the corner of his mouth.

Blondi suddenly smiled, baring stark white teeth. The sharp blade in his hand twisted, and Elvis instantly lost all signs of life, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

"Why?" This time, the one who spoke was Li Junshan. The Black Dragon lowered its head and let him step down to the ground, then sneezed, sending out a cloud of black mist. Its huge eyes stared mercilessly at Blondi.

"Because you wanted him dead." Blondi put away his smile, bent down, removed the Space Ring from Elvis's hand, then took a silver-white necklace from his neck and walked toward Li Junshan.

Whoosh! A Xenomorph darted in front of Blondi. His heart tightened, but when he saw that the Xenomorph had only extended its forelimb, he relaxed and carefully handed the Space Ring and necklace to the drooling Xenomorph.

"That necklace is the Divine Grace Guardian Necklace." Seeing Li Junshan toy with the necklace, Blondi tactfully explained, "When worn, it can be activated with mental power or battle aura in a moment of danger. The wearer's body will be protected by the holy-light barrier sealed inside the necklace. It can withstand a certain amount of attack, but only for a very short time."

"Why help me?" Li Junshan put away the Space Ring and necklace, his eyes turning to Blondi.

Blondi did not speak. He only glanced at the few Xenomorphs around him, then looked toward the Black Dragon Xenomorph. The meaning in his eyes went without saying.

This Blondi really is something. With his kind of temperament, he'd probably survive even better than I would in Blood Canyon, Li Junshan thought. Just then, he heard footsteps.

"Xiaoshan." Robin walked over with Bertha at that moment. As soon as Bertha saw Elvis's corpse, she let out a scream and threw herself over like a madwoman.

"What happened?" Robin's face darkened. When he had come over, he had seen the other Grand Battle Master being corroded into a puddle of blood by the Black Dragon Xenomorph's black mist. All six of the opposing side had been wiped out, yet Elvis had died here. He could not help looking at Li Junshan.

"Big Brother, don't ask." Li Junshan forced a smile at him.

He had already killed two of their people. In fact, before entering Blood Canyon, he had already wanted to wipe out the trio completely. Back then, he had not found a suitable opportunity, and he had not planned to release the Black Dragon Xenomorph lightly, so the matter had dragged on until Blood Canyon. After learning Elvis's identity, that thought had only grown stronger. He had steeled his heart to silence the trio for good.

A prince of a small duchy would inevitably become trouble in the future.

The reason Li Junshan had acted so covertly against the trio was that he was afraid Robin would feel uncomfortable if he saw it. Though they had only known each other for a few days, Li Junshan greatly liked Robin's straightforward and honest temperament. Blood Canyon was strange and unpredictable; having a Battle Saint-level big brother was not a bad thing for him.

"It was you! You devil, you killed the young master!" Bertha raised her head and screamed hoarsely at Li Junshan. There was not much grief in her eyes, only extreme fear. Her body trembled as she edged toward Robin.

Clang! The broadsword in Robin's hand swept up a yellow sword glow, and he used the back of the blade to knock aside a Xenomorph tailbone that had somehow drifted behind Bertha. He said urgently, "Xiaoshan, stop."

Seeing several more Xenomorphs walking toward Bertha, looking rather eager to move, Robin grew anxious. While trying to persuade Li Junshan, he saw Blondi come over to help and pushed Bertha over to his side.

"Xiaoshan, listen to your big brother. Do you have some grudge with them? Bertha alone can't stir up any trouble. Spare her life." Robin advised him earnestly, putting away his broadsword.

At that moment, Robin saw a trace of a smile appear on Li Junshan's face. Thinking he had given up, Robin could not help relaxing. Suddenly, a shrill scream tore through the air. Robin spun around, only to see a sharp blade protruding from Bertha's chest. As the blade twisted, Bertha's corpse went limp and fell to the ground.

Robin stared at the calm-faced Blondi. The latter withdrew his blade and spread his hands innocently, then silently walked behind Li Junshan and lowered his head cautiously, like his shadow.

"Big Brother, I know you'll blame me." Seeing that Blondi had solved the trouble for him, Li Junshan felt relieved and spoke sincerely to Robin. "He was a prince of a duchy, while I'm just a fallen son of a small family. During the ten-person elimination before, I already killed two of their people. The grudge had already been formed. One day, either he would kill me or I would kill him. It was irreconcilable. I had no choice."

Robin looked at Li Junshan with a complicated expression for a long while. In the end, he sighed and said, "Forget it. What's done is done. Saying anything more is useless."

He glanced a few times at the two corpses on the ground, then gave a self-mocking smile and said, "Maybe someone with your temperament is better suited to surviving in the strange Blood Canyon. I'm just not used to it. One moment, we were friends fighting side by side, and the next... Forget it. I won't say more."

"Big Brother." Li Junshan was about to speak, but Robin raised a hand to stop him. He looked up and smiled, saying, "Let's go. We lost three people, but we still won this Elimination Match. From this moment on, we can be considered fully integrated into Blood Canyon."

Seeing that although there was still conflict between Robin's brows, his expression had relaxed considerably, Li Junshan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The black mist had long since been scattered into the air by the forest wind. Li Junshan recalled the Black Dragon Xenomorph, then stored the Mystic Water Yin Snake's corpse in his Space Ring. He had taken a liking to its hide. The other level-six magical beasts had all been turned into pus by the poisonous mist sprayed from the Black Dragon Xenomorph, yet the Mystic Water Yin Snake had not been corroded in the slightest.

Before he could do it himself, Blondi, like the most loyal servant, took out a glove as black as ink and put it on, then carefully picked up the Space Ring from the corpse of the wind-element magus that had turned into pus and handed it to Li Junshan.

The other two Grand Battle Masters and that summoner had nothing of value. Their clothes and armor had dissolved along with their corpses. Li Junshan looked around a few times, then followed Robin out.

The powerful mountain wind blew through the woods, making them whimper. The field returned to silence once more. If not for the pus, blood, and corpses all over the ground, who could have told that a life-and-death battle had just taken place here?

"Nicholas—oh, right, you told me to call you Xiaoshan."

Gelu sat before the stone table, his eyes filled with smiles and relief. "Xiaoshan, your victory in the initial match was within my expectations, but seeing you return still makes me very happy."

After the Elimination Match, Li Junshan followed Gelu back to his stone cave.

"Thank you for your kindness, mentor." Li Junshan stood before the stone table and spoke respectfully, reaching into his chest to take out the Snow Spider Silk Armor and hand it over.

"Keep it." Gelu waved his hand and said, "Starting from the rank of Summoning Saint Master, we summoners can comprehend the skill Soul Damage Chain. As long as we aren't killed instantly, we can transfer most of the damage our bodies suffer to our summoned beasts to share. This Snow Spider Silk Armor isn't of much use to me, so consider it a greeting gift."

Li Junshan unceremoniously tucked it into his chest, then thoughtfully refilled Gelu's glass with red wine. Gelu smiled in satisfaction and nodded to him, indicating for Li Junshan to sit opposite him.

"You must have a belly full of questions right now. Ask. As long as I know, I'll answer them for you." Gelu tilted his neck back and drank a large mouthful of wine. Perhaps he had drunk too fast, and perhaps he could not hold his liquor; two blushes instantly rose on his pale face.

"Did the ten-person elimination exist from the beginning of Blood Canyon, or was it added later? However many newcomers enter each year, the same number of veterans have to hold Elimination Matches with them, and people often die in challenge duels inside the canyon too. If this keeps going, wouldn't Blood Canyon end up with no one left? But I clearly saw that there are many people here." Li Junshan fired off the questions in his stomach like a string of firecrackers.

Gelu closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. Without saying a word, he picked up the crystal wineglass and drained it in one go. Only after a long while did he say, "The ten-person elimination began thirty years ago, and the Elimination Match was also a new rule created at that time."

"Who set it?" Li Junshan could not help cutting in. "Was it Mr. Donald? Blood Canyon is a cradle for nurturing human elites, and can also be considered an alliance. Could it be that he alone can decide everyone's fate here?"

Gelu poured himself another glass of wine, but did not drink it. He held it in his hand and examined it for a while before saying, "As for your second question just now, you've seen those black-clothed guards. Whenever the number of people in the canyon falls below four hundred, Mr. Donald brings some people back from outside to fill the numbers, including those maids."

"These people revere Mr. Donald like a god. Aside from the maids who handle daily affairs in the canyon and work in the various shops, the others are selected by Mr. Donald to train in different paths."

"It was a little better before. Over the past ten years, old bones like us who have stayed in Blood Canyon for around a hundred years have lived more and more humbly. The people Mr. Donald personally brought back all had first-rate aptitude and physiques. They all had some foundation, so they advanced quickly in training. Did you see the duel between Boer and Harry on the day you first arrived?"

Li Junshan nodded. Gelu continued, "Harry came more than ten years after I entered the canyon, so he counted as a veteran. Just because he complained a few words about Blood Canyon's current state after getting drunk, he brought trouble down on himself."

At that moment, a faint sorrow rose in Gelu's eyes. He took a deep breath to calm his emotions, then said, "Over more than half a year, among the newcomers Mr. Donald brought back, more than thirty people challenged Harry one after another. They were like a pack of lunatics with no regard for their lives. They clearly knew they were no match for Harry, yet still challenged him to duels as if they didn't care whether they lived or died. Until the day you entered, when Harry was finally killed by Boer, a mage among the newcomers who had just advanced."

"Why would Mr. Donald do this? Couldn't you challenge them in revenge?" Li Junshan could not understand it no matter how he thought about it, and asked with a frown.

To his surprise, Gelu shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Thirty years ago, he changed. After advancing from a mage into a Saint-level Mage, he completely became another person."