Arena Three

"Third place, sixty jin of spirit gold!"

"Second place, ninety jin of spirit gold!"

"First place, one hundred and fifty jin of spirit gold!"

"Note that the spirit gold offered as prizes is limited to the most common Five Elements varieties. In addition, each of the top three will receive a supplementary volume of the Scarlet Horned-Dragon True-Origin Visualization Diagram."

Having said that, Deng Yuantong looked at the nine people on the arenas, and his gaze gained a trace of profound meaning.

"As for why we selected the nine of you, some know the reason, while others do not. None of that is important."

At those words.

The other eight, along with the stewards on the high platform, all turned their eyes toward Arena Seven.

Clearly, aside from Lu He, no one else remained ignorant of the specific reason.

"The reason I and all the stewards present have emptied our fortunes to provide you with mid-grade treasure pills, even more precious artifact spirit gold, and supplementary visualization volumes, is for one purpose alone—"

Deng Yuantong's voice rang out again.

Drawing everyone's attention back to him.

"It is to hope that, after you head to White-Scale Lake tomorrow, you can increase your strength as quickly as possible and survive well."

"There may be many opportunities there, but there will be even more dangers. If you achieve success in cultivation someday, do not forget us old fellows."

"Those who receive spirit gold may, after entering White-Scale Lake, ask an artifact refiner to forge an artifact for self-defense. Given your special status, you will not need to pay much."

As he said this.

A trace of envy rose on his face.

Artifacts were precious, certainly because their materials were difficult to find, but the real expense lay with artifact refiners.

Those sons of bitches set their fire-consumption fees so high they had no shame at all.

They were a match for the alchemists in his own Medicine Garden's Inner Garden!

Yet these seeds who were about to head to White-Scale Lake had no need to worry about that.

After all, among the forces responsible for nurturing them were experts from the Famous Artifact Pavilion. There would surely be preferential treatment when forging artifacts.

As if recalling the times he had been fleeced.

Deng Yuantong sighed inwardly and said with rather diminished interest, "Enough nonsense. Begin on your own."

As his words fell.

The atmosphere instantly turned tense.

The people on the arenas began sizing one another up, their expressions shifting uncertainly.

Though there was no limit to the number of challenges, no one present was a fool. Each drop in rank clearly meant a lower tier of prizes.

If they knew they had no chance of winning yet still stepped up, only to get injured or expend too much strength and lose the rank they should have earned, then they would truly be left wanting to cry without tears.

Only three people remained seated steadily.

Lu He was among them.

So they selected geniuses to go to White-Scale Lake. And Steward Deng did not ask us just now—at least, he did not ask me whether I wanted to go... In other words, there is no choice?

His eyes narrowed slightly. A thread of scarlet light ignited deep within them, intertwined with excitement and anticipation.

As for whether they might be heading to the White-Scale Lake battlefield as cannon fodder...

Lu He shook his head slightly and quickly dismissed the thought.

Leaving aside whether his group even had the strength to serve as cannon fodder, would the descendants of those stewards rush to become cannon fodder?

He did not believe it for a second!

Coming back to himself.

"The arena numbers represent the final rankings. The top three, spirit gold..."

Lu He's eyes lit up. Thinking of his [Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel], he immediately looked toward the first three arenas.

In his sight.

"Qin Lie, come fight!"

The young man who had been on Arena Two leaped directly toward Arena One. His body was abruptly enveloped in scarlet radiance so dense it seemed tangible.

Rolling heat distorted the air.

Through the red light, seven Red Qiu True Talismans emerged, interweaving into a seamless whole as they frantically drew in the surrounding spiritual energies and formed a dense, dragon-scale-like barrier three inches from his body.

Boom!

The man's foot landed on Arena One like a heavy mountain crashing down, producing a dull thunderous sound.

Even from dozens of zhang away, the tremors beneath their feet could be clearly felt.

At the sight.

A smile of delighted hunter's joy slowly crept onto Qin Lie's stern face.

The instant he rose, scarlet radiance coiled around his body. Seven Red Qiu True Talismans rose from his brow, erupting with vast amounts of light and heat.

"Come fight!"

Qin Lie also shouted, his entire body instantly transforming into a streak of scarlet light as he brutally slammed toward his opponent.

The man refused to be outdone, neither dodging nor evading.

In an instant, the two streaks of scarlet light wildly collided and tangled atop Arena One.

Other than the stewards on the high platform, only a scant few could catch sight of the two figures.

Not long after.

"You let me win, Brother Deng!"

Qin Lie laughed loudly.

Amid a roar like mountains collapsing and earth splitting, a figure was flung away. It traced an arc through the air before turning back and landing once more on Arena Two.

It was the man who had taken the initiative to challenge Qin Lie.

"We shall fight again next time."

The man's gaze swiftly regained its calm. He then closed his eyes to rest, seemingly certain no one would challenge him.

Where he stood.

"After condensing the seventh True Talisman, they could actually draw in spiritual energies on their own and form dragon-scale-like protection outside their bodies. Had they truly cultivated themselves into horned dragons?"

Lu He curled his lip as the White Ape Dao Diagram silently faded from his eyes.

He had originally considered seeing whether he could contend for one of the top two spots and obtain more spirit gold. After all, the [Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel] had a full three layers!

The more spirit gold, the better, naturally.

But now—

He sighed helplessly.

Strength and speed were secondary. With the third-stage Immaculate Heart Ape, he was still confident he could contend with them for a while.

But that dragon-scale-like barrier was truly too shameless.

Merely watching the two fight made it clear—it was unbelievably sturdy and could even regenerate.

No matter which one he faced, he did not have the slightest hope of winning.

"In that case, third place will do. At the very least, I should forge the first layer of the [Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel] first."

Lu He forcefully suppressed the burning excitement in his heart. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he rose and calmly walked toward Arena Three.

Tap, tap—

His footsteps rang out, drawing dozens of gazes filled with probing or expectation.

"Which arena is this one going to challenge?" someone among the many seeds watching below muttered, his voice full of curiosity.

At the center of Arena Three.

Watching the figure slowly approach.

A tall, slender man stood with his hands behind his back, a trace of gravity faintly showing in his eyes.

As one of the only two geniuses with six Red Qiu True Talismans, it went without saying who the other's target was.

The instant Lu He stepped onto the arena.

"Sorry, Junior Brother Lu. Senior Brother truly cannot yield third place to you. Otherwise, we descendants of immortal masters will become a joke."

Apology flickered in the man's eyes. Before his words had even faded, his body shot forward. In an instant, he closed in on Lu He and viciously drove a fist toward his face.

The entire process was incomparably fast, yet utterly silent, as if it had been planned long ago.

Fast! Precise! Ruthless!

At the end of his fist condensed a streak of scarlet bloodlight, nearly solid, flashing with a sharp chill.

Just one glance at it gave the terrifying feeling that even one's line of sight would be sliced apart.

"A sneak attack?!"

Lu He's black pupils reflected that ever-brightening scarlet streak. Deep within his consciousness, the White Ape Dao Diagram suddenly blazed with light.

Whoosh! Everything around him abruptly slowed.

The third-stage Immaculate Heart Ape seemed to have elevated Lu He's ability to observe and analyze his surroundings to another level.

Interesting. He condensed the Dao patterns of all his flesh and blood into a single point, exchanging everything for extreme killing power. Some special combat technique? Though his methods are rather vicious.

Lu He retreated half a step and tilted his head back, narrowly evading the punch.

The next instant.

He reached out with his left hand. The divine radiance within his flesh and blood surged wildly, and while the man's momentum had yet to abate, he directly clamped down hard on his wrist.

A flash of panic passed through the man's eyes.

"It is impolite not to return what one receives. Senior Brother, be careful."

Lu He grinned, and six blazing scarlet suns rose in his eyes.

His five right fingers spread open, then abruptly clenched.

The air erupted with a violent blast!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Imitating the other man's method, Lu He condensed the divine radiance of his flesh and blood into his right hand and unleashed dozens of punches in an instant, battering his opponent's consciousness apart by brute force.

More than a dozen breaths later.

Rustle—

Lu He dragged his senior brother, whose eyes had rolled back and whose consciousness had fallen unconscious, by one leg to the edge of the arena and tossed him straight down.

As he did so, the clamor throughout the palace came to an abrupt halt.