Arena Battles Begin

Next, he continuously dripped increasingly concentrated Clear Spirit Water into his eyes, patiently testing it. Each time, his eyesight improved slightly.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and directly dripped undiluted Clear Spirit Water into his eyes.

At once, Liang Bo felt his eyes turn incomparably cold, and a wave of piercing pain came from them.

"Oh no, my eyes aren't going to go blind, are they?" Liang Bo was startled.

Fortunately, his worries were unnecessary.

Once the intense pain faded, it was as though a great door had been pushed open. Liang Bo instantly discovered that his eyesight had become vastly, vastly stronger than before.

At that moment, the whole world seemed to have been dyed in splendid colors, becoming dazzlingly vibrant. Every object appeared clearer than before. Liang Bo's eyes could even catch tiny specks of dust and moisture floating in the air—minute particles that normal vision could never perceive.

Not only that, but his field of vision had also expanded by a great deal. After pushing open his door, he could even clearly see the busy ants on the ground dozens of meters away, as well as the intricate veins on the leaves!

"Right, according to the booklet, the Eye of Truthpiercing can also greatly improve dynamic perception. I wonder how effective it really is. I should find someone to test it on."

Liang Bo immediately summoned Xie Jia and had him demonstrate a set of sword techniques in the courtyard.

As a result, he immediately discovered that the sword moves which had once seemed incredibly fast to him now appeared "slow as molasses," as if they were being played in slow motion. His eyes could easily capture the trajectory of the sword, and he could see every minute change with perfect clarity!

This discovery left Liang Bo both shocked and delighted. Ordinary martial artists did gain some improvement in sensory abilities such as eyesight and hearing as their strength increased, but compared to the growth of their overall strength, those improvements remained limited.

Thus, once a martial artist reached a certain level, they would often find that their sensory abilities gradually failed to keep pace with the growth of their overall strength. Though they possessed great power, their lagging perception prevented them from fully bringing it to bear. It was said that this situation could only be alleviated after reaching the Human Origin Realm.

The secret art Liang Bo cultivated would undoubtedly solve this problem ahead of time, allowing him to fully unleash all his strength while remaining even more calm and unhurried when facing enemies.

As for the secret art's other function—seeing through concealment and hiding techniques—no one around him knew such techniques, so it could not be verified for the time being.

After confirming the effects of the Eye of Truthpiercing, Liang Bo activated the modifier again and prepared to lower the secret art's proficiency.

However, when he changed the proficiency from 20 points to 19 points, he was astonished to discover that the secret art had directly failed. The eyesight of both his eyes immediately dropped back to its previous level.

"What's going on?" Liang Bo froze for a moment, then hurriedly changed the proficiency back to 20 points. The secret art immediately became effective again.

"Could it be that this secret art can only be used when its proficiency is maxed out? Once the proficiency falls below the maximum, it immediately fails?"

Liang Bo was stunned. He hurriedly tested it repeatedly and soon confirmed his earlier conjecture. This secret art was indeed only effective when its proficiency had reached the maximum; otherwise, it would fail. This was completely different from other martial techniques.

Other martial techniques could still be used even at low proficiency, at most suffering a reduction in power. This secret art, however, was entirely different.

This discovery disappointed Liang Bo somewhat, but he soon came to terms with it. After all, the secret art's effects were excellent, so a few flaws were nothing much.

Moreover, according to the booklet, even with the aid of the corresponding heavenly treasures, this secret art would require at least several years of repeated practice to master. Yet he had directly mastered it by modifying its proficiency. That was already heaven-defying enough. One could not be too greedy, or one might easily get struck by lightning.

During the two days Liang Bo spent cultivating the secret art, the astonishing news that he would publicly duel Sima Kai of the Ruyang Prince's Residence in an arena battle, with a wager of one million taels of silver, spread through all of Wan City like a whirlwind.

The wager of one million taels of silver, along with the involvement of Liang Bo, the young martial artist who had recently risen to fame through his saber techniques, drew vast numbers of martial artists eager to watch the battle.

Many wanted to know whether Liang Bo, this young martial artist renowned for his saber techniques, was equally accomplished with his fists and feet!

Some gambling houses in the city had even opened betting on their match. Judging by the current situation, the odds for the two were roughly even. Clearly, even the big shots behind those gambling houses could not determine who would win.

As for the other martial artists, they argued endlessly over the question. Some believed that since Liang Bo had dared to propose a wager of one million taels of silver, he must have had absolute confidence; yet quite a few others believed that while Liang Bo's saber techniques might be peerless, his unarmed skills might not surpass Sima Kai's.

In short, within just a few days, nearly all the martial artists in Wan City were discussing the upcoming duel.

Early that morning, the plaza before the martial academy was already packed shoulder to shoulder.

"One million taels of silver! My monthly living expenses are only fifty taels of silver. Those two are really betting big!"

"I wonder whether Liang Bo will win, or whether Sima Kai of the Ruyang Prince's Residence will come out on top."

Quite a few martial artists were discussing it in low voices. They had all come to watch the arena battles. As for the martial artists who had passed the second round of testing and were preparing to participate in the arena battles, they had already entered the martial academy to make preparations.

At this moment, a challenge platform had been set up in the middle of the martial academy's grounds, with a diameter of roughly one hundred meters. Opposite it stood a raised platform more than two meters high, upon which one hundred seats had been placed. From left to right, they represented ranks one through one hundred.

According to the annual custom of the arena battles, representatives of the various factions would select one hundred martial artists based on their performances in the previous second-round test and have them take their seats in order. The remaining martial artists could only obtain a ranking through challenges.

Given Liang Bo's strength, he had naturally entered the top one hundred. Moreover, he had received the unanimous approval of the various faction representatives and was temporarily seated in the first-ranked position.

Ranked second was a fat youth named Chen Feng. He came from the Chen Clan, one of Wan City's three great families, though he had no dealings with Liang Bo.

Ranked third was a young girl named Su Yan, who came from a small aristocratic family in the eastern part of the city.

As for the current fourth-ranked person, it was none other than Sima Kai!