Under the curtain of night, piles of bonfires encircled the great arena.
Beyond the bonfires, a dense black mass of people craned their necks to watch.
Forty men from the Ten-Thousand Axes Gang and Three Rivers Mountain crashed together like two black pythons.
The north wind covered the clash of blades and axes, the bonfires blocked the curses and battle cries, and night swallowed one figure after another.
In less than a few dozen breaths, only two men from the Ten-Thousand Axes Gang remained standing on the field, shoulder to shoulder, silently sealing their acupoints to stop the bleeding, their eyes as black as the distant treetops.
"The Ten-Thousand Axes Gang wins. Their ranking remains unchanged, fifteenth on the Outer City Red List."
People from both factions rushed forward, some tending to the wounded and others carrying away corpses.
"Are there any Outer City Red List factions that wish to issue a challenge?"
Tens of thousands silently watched the people coming and going atop the arena. No one answered.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "Our Curved Saber Association refuses to accept the Divine Bow Sect!"
The crowd froze. How had an Inner City gang set its sights on the Outer City's Divine Bow Sect?
Following the familiar voice, Li Qingxian looked over and saw Hong Sanxiong, the Curved Saber Association's minor leader, standing before the association's wooden sign.
More than a hundred members of the Curved Saber Association stood or sat, firelight flickering across their faces with the swaying bonfires.
Wei Changsheng, the senior instructor of Enlightenment Academy, frowned and said, "Challenges between the Outer City and Inner City are unprecedented. Still, the Talent-Seeking Gathering does not forbid them. Ji Xiaodao, does your Curved Saber Association truly wish to challenge the Divine Bow Sect?"
"Yes." A man holding a curved saber and