Spirit City, the Pope's Palace.
"Xiao Ling, are you three really leaving for Slaughter City now?"
Bibi Dong repeatedly questioned Yu Tianling and his two companions, who stood before her ready to depart. Naturally, their answer was yes.
"Yes!"
"Ah, very well. You have always had minds of your own, so I imagine you have your reasons for doing this. Set off at once, then. I will await your triumphant return here in the Pope's Palace."
With that, Bibi Dong turned slightly away, refusing to watch the three leave. She knew all too well how dangerous Slaughter City was. Even she had escaped it only after surviving nine deaths and a lifetime's worth of peril.
Tap, tap, tap...
As their footsteps gradually receded, Bibi Dong's thoughts drifted farther and farther away, as though she had returned to those years long ago when she had ventured out alone, without companions, with nothing but endless loneliness...
Upon reaching the palace doors, Hu Liena abruptly stopped and called out to Bibi Dong with a promise. "Teacher! We will definitely return safely!"
"Yes! As your teacher, I believe in all of you, and I believe in you!"
Bibi Dong trembled slightly before turning to look at Hu Liena, who was now a grown young woman, and answering solemnly.
Without another word, Yu Tianling and his two companions boarded the carriage prepared earlier and headed straight toward Slaughter City.
Bibi Dong came to the palace doors and quietly watched the carriage recede into the distance.
In her view, even if Yu Tianling had to visit Slaughter City to complete his God Trial, he could easily wait until his cultivation was stronger.
Yet all this time, she had never understood why Yu Tianling always handled everything with such urgency, as though an evil ghost were chasing him.
She had originally thought Yu Tianling cultivated so diligently and painstakingly because he wanted to avenge his parents. But Lin Qingze had long since said that Yu Xuanyu and his wife were very likely still alive. Given Yu Tianling's current status, his chances of avenging his parents in the future were high. There was no need for this at all.
"Xiao Ling, just what are you doing this for?"
Gazing at the rising sun, Bibi Dong still could not make sense of it all.
It would never have occurred to her that Yu Tianling wanted to complete his God Trial quickly and ensure his own safety and Spirit Hall's without the slightest chance of failure. Who knew how powerful the world's corrective force might be? With no way to predict it, Yu Tianling could only keep making himself stronger.
Moreover, the inheritance he bore already meant tremendous danger and opportunity. In the future, all the gods of the Divine Realm might become his enemies.
Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Yu Tianling was explaining Slaughter City to the two women in detail, truly holding one in each arm.
"Slaughter City is a rather special existence in the world of the Douluo Continent. Strength reigns supreme. No matter who you are, once you arrive, your fists do the talking. Status and symbols of prestige are worthless scraps of paper. It is a paradise lost for sin, an underground world isolated from the rest of the world. Divided into an inner city and an outer city, it forces everyone living there to keep slaughter as their companion. There are no moral standards governing behavior. It is a 'secluded paradise' that normal people cannot accept or endure, a heaven for fugitives."
"Slaughter City is ruled by the King of Slaughter, who has kept it operating in an orderly fashion for a thousand years. There are law enforcers within the city. With the King of Slaughter's permission, they can freely use Soul Skills, and their leader is a Titled Douluo. Against a group of Soul Masters who cannot use Soul Skills, they could be called the strongest beings there. Slaughter City is divided into two sections. One is the outer ring, where all fighting is forbidden. Anyone who breaks this rule will be executed on the spot by the city's law enforcers. The other is the inner ring, where people can fight and kill to their hearts' content. Everyone there is an enemy. There are no friends."
Seeing that neither woman beside him had any questions, Yu Tianling continued, "It has existed for over a thousand years. Legend says it is a domain left behind by a powerful Soul Master after breaking past rank one hundred. No Soul Master abilities can be used there. People can survive only through instinct and their own strength, though Soul Power can serve as a source of strength. Sect influence means nothing there. It has no ties whatsoever to Soul Master factions, and its existence neither strengthens nor weakens the organizations outside. Almost everyone who comes here is a fugitive who can no longer survive in the outside world. A small number treat it as a place to temper themselves."
"Why? There is no need to come somewhere so dangerous just to hone your ability to fight and kill, is there? Could there be something else to gain here?"
Zhu Zhuqing voiced her first question. She had initially thought Yu Tianling was coming here solely because his God Trial required it, but after hearing this, that clearly was not the whole reason.
Yu Tianling smiled faintly, rubbed Zhu Zhuqing's head with his right hand, and explained, "Though this place is a heaven for sin, it is also a hall of the strong. For every day you survive here, death accompanies you for a day, making it the best place to hone killing intent. Generally speaking, people enter but never leave. Unless you climb out of a pile of corpses, compete in the Hell Slaughter Arena, win a hundred matches, and earn the right to enter Hell Road, there is no way out. You must also pass Hell Road's trial to emerge from it. Only by obtaining the Divine Slaughter's Domain can you gain a new life and regain your freedom. Each match in the Hell Slaughter Arena requires ten participants. Private fights are forbidden outside the arena. Inside, there are no rules. The last one standing is the winner."
"So that's how it is!"
After hearing Yu Tianling's explanation, the two women understood. They also grew even more eager for their journey to Slaughter City, both looking forward to slaughtering their way through all opposition there and then obtaining the Divine Slaughter's Domain.
As for killing, none of the three considered it a problem. Which of them had not killed with their own hands or witnessed it at close range? Not to mention that most people in Slaughter City were Evil Soul Masters, leaving them with even fewer burdens when they struck.
At that moment, Yu Tianling could not help recalling Tang San's actions in the original story after obtaining the Divine Slaughter's Domain. In his heart, he held Tang San in utter contempt.
In his view, Tang San's behavior was a textbook example of cutting off everyone else's path. After taking every benefit Slaughter City had to offer, he had used excuses such as the Divine Slaughter's Domain being too terrifying and Slaughter City being too evil to destroy the city outright. From then on, for various reasons, Tang San became the primary user of the Divine Slaughter's Domain. After him, no one could ever possess it again, and thus no one could surpass him.
When Slaughter City had still existed, most evil people had been trapped inside, unable to leave. Tang San had done evil in the name of good, destroying the enormous "prison" that was Slaughter City and letting all the Evil Soul Masters escape. Perhaps it had not been obvious at first, but look at the era of Douluo II, Peerless Tang Sect, ten thousand years later. Evil Soul Masters ran rampant, and countless living beings died because of them.
Hmph! Tang San, this time I won't allow you to destroy a treasure land like Slaughter City. The moment I emerge will mark the doom of you and your father!
As he thought this, a cold glint flashed through Yu Tianling's eyes.
All of Yu Tianling's plans could be put into action once he emerged from Slaughter City. By then, he should have reached rank seventy. After obtaining his Seventh Soul Ring and activating his Martial Soul Avatar, his strength would make another historic leap. Yu Tianling even felt that, by then, not even the Clear Sky Hammer, the continent's number one Tool Martial Soul, would be able to injure his physical body!
When that time came, if he wanted to strike at Tang San, even Tang Hao would be powerless to stop him, wouldn't he?