Fighting to Live

The prison cell door opened, and three guards entered.

Looking at Lu Chen, who was slumped against the wall, all three were shocked.

"This kid's chest was caved in and he's still alive. What a tough life."

"Stop yapping and drag him out!" The leader's eyes lit up.

"Perfect for him to put his remaining strength to use, to stimulate the audience, make them scream and revel in blood, haha..."

The leader waved his hand, and two subordinates grabbed Lu Chen by the arms, dragging him out of the cell. They passed through a long corridor and arrived at the beast-fighting arena, throwing him into one of the iron cages.

There were twenty such cages, all connected by iron gates.

If a beast in one cage was killed and people continued to bet on fights, beasts from other cages would be driven in to continue.

It was brutal.

It was quite impressive that Lu Chen had lasted a month.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

The spectators on the high platforms surrounding the arena screamed excitedly.

"Holy crap, isn't that the guy who was sent flying by the Bloodfang Boar yesterday? He's still alive! I bet he dies this time!"

"I bet he won't last five breaths!"

"I bet he gets four holes poked in him. Isn't this just handing over money? Rooooar, roooar, roooar..."

Wave after wave of sound, accompanied by occasional screams, fueled the already explosive atmosphere.

In less than ten breaths since they entered, three beast fighters had already been torn apart alive.

Lu Chen looked listless, leaning against the side of the cage, his eyes fixed on the figure approaching outside.

It was a Golden Armored Lizard.

Although it was a mere mortal-level young lizard, it was still far more powerful than a Martial Dao Cultivator at the Meridian Opening Realm or a cultivator at the Qi Refining stage.

This creature carried a potent poison. Once bitten, one would quickly lose consciousness, either to be torn apart or become its meal.

Roar!

As the cage door opened, the Golden Armored Lizard roared and charged like a hungry tiger.

Its mouth, full of fangs, lunged towards Lu Chen's waist.

Lu Chen, who had been poised for this moment, slammed his hands on the ground and leaped up.

The Golden Armored Lizard lunged at empty air.

Lu Chen leaped onto its head.

"Eat him!"

"Bite him to death!"

"Almost there, almost there, ah..."

As the Golden Armored Lizard opened its massive jaws and Lu Chen fell straight into its mouth, the arena erupted in a cacophony of screams.

The moment the Golden Armored Lizard's jaws began to close, Lu Chen let out a low growl.

Crack!

The Golden Armored Lizard's upper and lower jaws, which were snapping shut, suddenly stopped.

Lu Chen's legs, which he had spread apart, were wedged between them.

His free hands grabbed a long fang, making it look as if his entire body was embedded in the lizard's mouth.

"Open!"

Lu Chen grunted.

Crack!

Under Lu Chen's two hundred and thirty Bull Strength, two fangs were forcibly ripped out.

The Golden Armored Lizard, in pain, loosened its jaw to retreat, but Lu Chen was too fast.

He used the two ripped-out fangs to stab up and down.

Splat!

One fang pierced the lower jaw, and the other pierced the upper jaw, mashing the Golden Armored Lizard's brains into a pulp.

Thump!

The Golden Armored Lizard let out a pained cry and fell to the ground, meeting a tragic end.

Lu Chen, with nearly two-thirds of his body inside the Golden Armored Lizard's mouth, gasped for air while gripping the two sharp teeth.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

He looked extremely weak.

Seeing him crawl out of the Golden Armored Lizard's mouth, the scene fell into dead silence.

Immediately, a torrent of furious curses erupted.

"Damn it, he's still not dead! My spirit stones, ahhhh..."

"You damned bastard, die for me!"

"Cheating, cheating!"

Many people at the scene were enraged.

But the relevant parties turned a deaf ear.

They loved seeing this crazy side of things.

The crazier it got, the more they earned!

With a weapon, Lu Chen's confidence grew.

The second beast to enter was a Bloodfang Boar, not the one that had injured him yesterday, but a relatively stronger and more robust one.

As it ran, the ground shook, kicking up clouds of dust, its ferocity undeniable.

The moment the boar lunged with its tusks, Lu Chen dodged to the side and landed a punch on its nose.

This was a vital spot, the Bloodfang Boar's weak point.

The Bloodfang Boar's head slammed into the ground, its immense momentum causing its hindquarters to rise high into the air as it flipped over.

While it struggled, Lu Chen was already there.

With a squelch, a sharp tusk pierced its eye, driving into its brain.

Another one down.

This kind of desperate close-quarters combat was the most thrilling, the easiest to make people scream with excitement.

The key was that Lu Chen was still "severely injured."

Even with the curses, thunderous cheers and shouts of acclaim erupted.

"This kid is something else, worthy of being a Martial Dao Cultivator, truly tenacious!"

The person in charge of the arena, lounging on the main platform with two delicate ladies attending to him, couldn't help but have his eyes light up at the sight.

"Congratulations, Young Master Luo. These two matches alone will bring you immense wealth. Look at those people, they've lost until they're seeing red, hehe..."

A young man beside him chimed in with timely flattery.

"Indeed. Continue. Send him a mid-grade mortal beast!"

Luo Tiansheng chuckled.

Wealth was secondary; what mattered was capturing his interest.

Lu Chen, originally in tattered clothes, and now having taken down two beasts consecutively, was splattered with their blood, appearing completely like a blood-soaked man.

Who would notice if his injuries had healed?

He half-crouched, gripping a pair of sharp tusks, panting as he stared at the newly entered Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard.

No matter how fast the Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard was, it was only mid-grade mortal. Compared to Lu Chen's eighth level Meridian Opening Realm, it was still no match.

Though it seemed he was barely dodging every attack, it was all deliberate.

He was afraid of revealing his true condition.

After "difficult" dodges and a prolonged struggle, the moment the Crimson Blood Thunder Leopard leaped into the air, Lu Chen slipped beneath it and slashed open its belly.

Three consecutive victories.

He continued.

After another three fierce battles, he finally took down a high-grade mortal beast, a Green-Eyed Fire Lion, and was allowed to return to his cell.

Of course, he wouldn't get all six monster corpses.

Only two were dragged back.

And he had to fiercely glare at the guards and put on a desperate act to snatch even one of them.

These were both trophies and crucial for filling his stomach and maintaining his survival.

One Green-Eyed Lion carcass, one Raging Earth Ape, both high-grade mortal beasts.

Their blood was rich.

"Damn it, raw flesh and blood!" Lu Chen cursed, not caring about the stench, and drank his fill of the gushing beast blood until his stomach was full.

He hadn't eaten anything since crossing over, and he was starving.

Next, he skinned, deboned, and cut the meat.

The knife was a bone blade he had just sharpened with teeth; although it was dull, it was no match for his condensed Blood Qi.

Although very faint, almost imperceptible, it was still many levels stronger than the spiritual energy projection of a cultivator.

Invincible.

Cutting flesh and stripping bone would be as simple as pie.

"I wonder how many meridians I can open?" Looking at the two bloody skeletons, Lu Chen's mind stirred, and he collected them all into the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.

These were fresh remains, their energy far more abundant than the white bones he had stored previously.

Not to mention the condensed energy essence, he obtained ten drops of bone marrow alone.

One drop could increase his strength by one bull's power, so ten drops meant ten bulls' worth.

Coupled with the meridian opening from the flesh, bone, and skeleton essence, his strength could leap forward once more.