An oppressive aura emerged. He Xian's silver, cross-shaped pupils shone as he stared coldly at the fellow he had placed on his kill list.
Arrogant-he admitted that the fellow standing before him had the capital to be arrogant.
Unfortunately, his luck was poor. He was destined for an early grave.
"Ah." He Xian sighed softly.
"What are you lamenting?" Ming Si stopped mocking him. When the being seated cross-legged before him opened his eyes, he knew he seemed to have spoken too soon.
Ming Si respected the strong.
This mixed-blood seemed capable of threatening him!
"On the Great Dao's road, we tread toward heaven; one careless step, and all turns to nothing. I see a bloody calamity in your future," He Xian murmured, rising with his blood and vitality depleted.
At the same time, an intimidating aura swept toward him from behind.
It felt somewhat familiar.
"Hahaha, you really did join this grand gathering! You made me search long and hard, Crane!"
Behind them, directly in front of Ming Si, came laughter that could pierce metal and split stone, threatening to crack their skulls with its vibrations.
The laughter was piercing and possessed terrifying penetrative power, like peerless immortal metal being hammered, ringing and throwing off sparks with astonishing destructive force.
It was actually an acquaintance, Chi Menghong. He had spotted He Xian.
Chi Menghong laughed loudly as he approached step by step, filled with hatred and a desire for revenge.
He wore crimson armor and had a tall, straight figure that looked imposing and martial. A sharp, oppressive aura surrounded him, and his handsome face in particular held a hint of savagery.
"The Red King Lineage?!" Facing Chi Menghong directly, Ming Si looked delighted, seemingly regarding him as prey.
Ming Si came from the Death Forbidden Sea lineage, whose members loved collecting the heads of powerful beings. For their coming-of-age ceremony in particular, they needed a suitable trophy.
Clearly, he had set his sights on Chi Menghong.
Even if Chi Menghong died during the Title Competition, the Red King Lineage would have nothing to say. This was a contest for an entire realm's fortune.
Indeed, Chi Menghong was currently arrogant and domineering, his ferocious might unrivaled, his spirits soaring.
One glance was enough to see that he would make a suitable trophy.
An intense desire for revenge surfaced in Chi Menghong's eyes.
His long hair hung loose, every strand lustrous. His handsome face was exceptionally striking, and he resembled a god of war surrounded by Order Divine Chains, his bearing extraordinary.
After his battle with He Xian, he had nearly been crippled. Who was he, after all?
A descendant of the Red King, carrying the bloodline of a supreme powerhouse! His ancestors belonged to an Emperor Clan reputed to have fought across heaven and earth without finding an equal, yet he had suffered such a crushing defeat.
But as descendants of an Emperor Clan, the Red King Lineage naturally possessed heaven-defying treasures and materials, which had helped Chi Menghong recover.
Moreover, with the help of a mighty expert in his clan, Chi Menghong had undergone an astonishing transformation in a short time. That was why he was so impatient to find He Xian in the Title Competition.
"Crane, every moment, I've been wondering which of us will win when we meet again." Auspicious radiance bloomed within Chi Menghong's pupils as he completely ignored Ming Si, whose aura was clashing with his.
"You will still lose. Nothing can turn that tide." He Xian merely glanced at Chi Menghong and spoke calmly.
"Hahahaha!!!"
Chi Menghong laughed, coldly and chillingly. His crimson armor clanged like trembling scarlet dragon scales, and surging red radiance flooded the arena.
"Do you two think I don't exist?" Ming Si laughed as well, his laughter like jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, making people's scalps prickle.
He fixed his gaze on Chi Menghong. His black hair hung loose and his eyes were deep and dark. Powerful blood energy poured from his body and swept across the surroundings, making the void rumble.
On the other side, Heavenly Blade arrived as well, cradling a blood-red saber. His eyes held the madness and fighting spirit found only in a battle maniac.
He no longer flaunted his edge. It was as though a peerless blade had found its sheath: it could remain hidden, but once drawn, it would shake heaven and earth.
His gaze also locked onto He Xian.
"It seems you really are extraordinary. Being targeted by these two at once would make even my heart pound with alarm!" Though arrogant, Ming Si was no fool. With both of these fellows targeting him at once, his chances of victory truly would not be great.
Ming Si chuckled.
He left to continue clearing people out.
He Xian looked at Chi Menghong and Heavenly Blade. His appearance had undoubtedly changed many things, accelerating Chi Menghong's growth and bringing Heavenly Blade into the world when he should not have emerged.
Was this the butterfly effect? Yet he gave it little further thought.
Merely defeated opponents. Not worth mentioning.
He Xian sat cross-legged and began healing. He had a feeling that the battle in the Fourth Arena would soon begin.
It would be a massive free-for-all.
"Hmph!" Chi Menghong snorted coldly at the sight, but still stood quietly beside He Xian.
Heavenly Blade also approached and stood on the other side.
Chi Menghong exchanged a glance with him.
In this strange fashion, the two became his left and right guardians!
Three days later!
The arena rumbled, and heavenly light blazed. Everyone stood, sensing that they were no longer being restrained from attacking.
Only one person in this arena would be allowed to advance.
This would be an extremely bloody and brutal free-for-all.
"Hahaha, you bunch of mongrels! I can finally clean you out!" Ming Si immediately reached out with a large hand. With an utterly ordinary motion, he crushed more than a dozen King Clan prodigies and supreme independent cultivators into bloody mist.
Dark death mist billowed around him. He opened his mouth and inhaled, sucking all that bloody mist inside.
He looked as though he had taken a potent restorative.
With a fierce expression, he turned and lunged at some of the other unfortunate souls he had singled out.
"Attack together!" Their faces filled with terror, and someone immediately cried out.
"A mantis raising its arms against a chariot-nothing but wasted effort!" Ming Si's face was full of disdain.
He waved his hand again. From the endless depths of the Underworld, as though its gates had swung wide open, a withered ghostly hand of death reached out, manifesting the might of the nine netherworlds. Thousands of feet long, it grabbed straight at the people he was charging toward.
Its momentum was unrivaled, and the aura of death coiled around it.
Beneath that hideous ghostly hand, those with weaker cultivation perished with agonized screams the moment it touched them.
As though tainted by Nine Netherworld Flames, their bodies spontaneously ignited and exploded.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, beings from Emperor Clans also began clearing people out.
For a time, severed body parts scattered across the arena, blood flew everywhere, and clouds of bloody mist burst in every direction.
He Xian remained quietly seated with his eyes closed, healing his wounds, without the slightest sign of waking.
Unwillingness showed in Chi Menghong's eyes. He had wanted a perfect, satisfying revenge at this Title Competition, where even Immortal Kings would cast their gaze.
Of course, the Immortal Kings would only turn their attention to the final arena.
The ultimate victor would receive a title personally bestowed by a "King."
That was unsurpassed glory!
Merely thinking about it made Chi Menghong's expression turn fervent and his body tremble.
Unfortunately, why did this son of the Crane Clan's progenitor look as though he was about to perish? He had suffered severe Dao wounds, and his strength had greatly diminished. Chi Menghong could see all of it.
"A pity. I won't get my wish." Chi Menghong shook his head and looked toward the other parts of the battlefield.