The Victors (1)

Shout-out to Malidiir!

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Entering the Slaughter City was simple enough. Kill everyone on the surface of the city, well, the remaining hundred are allowed to enter but since Ja Sun was in a hurry and he needed to enter the city as quickly as possible, a plain ol' massacre wasn't unknown to him. He had simply tried to use more peaceful options just because of the lack of need for bloodshed. He held no such concerns at the moment. He wanted to enter the Slaughter City and although he had confidence in dealing with Redstar, it was only based on mental energy that needed some serious rest. After all, using the entirety of the enhancement provided by Fiery Golden Pupils had drained him entirely.

The bartender of the only tavern in the location led him into the basement which extended to a natural rock tunnel. The moment Ja Sun entered the rock tunnel, he felt affected... and soothed. His spirit energy was beginning to be suppressed and the killing intent that was almost tangible as he grew closer to the city soothed him. It was so cold that it felt comfortable. Calm, even.

The tunnel extended to an opening that simply couldn't be referred to as a simple cave for it was too wide to be simply contained underground. After all, this underground held a 'sky.' The tunnel was connected to a paved bridge above a stream of foul-smelling lava. It was clear that the lava was made of blood but how it turned into this magma-like state was unknown to Ja un.

One thing was clear to him now that he wasn't confined to a small space within the city alongside a Redstar who would constantly bug him about his past mistakes as if they were kindred spirits:

The force of arrays was strong with this one.

The city in front of him was pitch-black and for some reason when Ja Sun tried to walk back, he was incapable of doing so physically. Another mystery waiting to get unraveled. The city was surrounded by giant walls and high in the sky hung a red moon that made his Evil Title pulsate gently. It was true. he was not able to activate any of his spirit skills or the spirit bones for that matter. Still, Ja Sun could wear the Vajra Gauntlets. There were a few limitations and even his mental energy was suppressed but his other skills such as the enhancement of the Fiery Golden Pupils were not suppressed. This part of the pupil technique had simply become Ja Sun's own biology, permanently changing his eyes.

{A/N: iirc, the slaughter city should allow the spirit bone abilities? But tbh, it didn't make much sense to me. I get it that the ones become part of your biology, but then it is also revealed that they are not part of the body during the god trials where bones are taken out but the spirit master is still able to stand. So, I'm taking a stronger twist by rejecting Spirit Bone abilities, too.}

Crossing the bridge, Ja Sun found himself welcomed by armored cavalry that gazed at him coldly. Of them, a knight walked out wearing pitch-black armor. The more Ja Sun looked at the individuals wearing armor the more certain he grew that he needed to develop armors that had a use. The armors worn by the spirit masters in front of him were clearly nothing more than a uniform.

And with how their spirit energy fluctuated, Ja Sun was sure that this particular group of individuals was not bound to the same restriction.

"Halt!"

The knight cried loudly and had his pitch-black stud come to a clobbering stop. Through the horned helmet, Ja Sun could see the eyes of the spirit master as he unsheathed his sword.

"Trespassing without approval! Dea—"

"I'll kill you," Ja Sun remarked with a smile as his stare turned icy, "If you don't get down your horse."

*Neeigghhhhh*

The horse instantly began revolting and thrashing on the spot as its eyes shook by the sight of cold killing intent and slaughter energy that began evolving around Ja Sun and he instantly felt a familiar feeling of the world following his will similar to what had happened within the space where he faced the War God. The knight instantly fell on the ground while the horse rushed back towards the gate.

'What a mystery,' Ja Sun grew interested by the second. He wondered if Ah Yin fell for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Valley similar to how he was falling for this property. And with this emotion naturally came the desire to have this place all for himself.

"You had something to say?" Ja Sun looked down on the man still shivering slightly.

"Y- yes. Here is your Slaughter City ID. Illegal immigrants are not tolerated. The envoy will receive you past the gates."

The man took out a skull-marked token with the number 6943 on its surface. There were greyed-out skull patterns underneath the identification number.

"What's the point of this ID?" Ja Sun inquired with a frown and the knight shook his head, "We are not allowed to answers any questions. The envoy will guide you into the city and answer all your questions."

Nodding, Ja Sun walked past the man and came across a giant door that expelled a sense of oppression, and beyond it was the corpse of the horse that ran away. Beside it stood a woman wrapped in black with her face hidden by a muslin mask. Further away stood many men and women. Almost everyone looked disheveled and quite simply put: hungry beasts.

They gazed at the corpse with desire and it irked Ja Sun slightly. He continuously felt that the killing intent was impure. According to Redstar, Bibi Dong succeeded in some forms of a trial that allowed her to get what Redstar termed a Deathgod Domain that was a metaphysical representation of killing intent that affected reality. But hers and Tang Hao's killing intent was pure. Although the two of them had the same domain it was clear to Ja Sun that the domain is affected by one's own understanding.

Bibi Dong's domain held a strange form of irrationality that was dangerous in itself but pure nonetheless and Tang Hao's intent was fueled by unreasonable rage.

In here, however, the intent was corruptive. It fell short compared to Ja Sun's experience but it was still an interesting fact.

"Welcome to the Slaughter City, 6943."

The woman had a chipper tone as she gestured Ja Sun to step into the city's perimeter through the gate. Giving the outside world one last glance, Ja Sun stepped in and observed his surrounding. The gate, meanwhile, closed up behind him.

"I'm your guide through the city. For the next 24 hours, you will not be harmed in the outer ring of the city and I will answer all your questions."

"Who are you?" Ja Sun began. There is one thing that anybody should be careful of and that is giving a curious soul free rein to question.

"I'm the envoy of the Slaughter City."

"What's your name?"

"I don't have a name."

The woman moved and gestured Ja Sun to follow her. The moment they walked into a distance, the group of men and women who had opened a path behind instantly shot out, tearing the horse raw.

Looking away, Ja Sun observed his surroundings. The City looked like a ghost town with sparsely spaced blue and purple lanterns illuminating the filthy street. Ja Sun was already made to understand about this location but he didn't want to let go of the chance to ask about it from the so-called envoy.

"What is this place?"

"Slaughter City is a domain where the spirit masters with no place to go in the surface world may enter should they have enough strength. The history of this location is lost but one thing is for certain, entering the city is relatively easier but exiting it isn't. In fact, the only way to exit the city is by becoming the champion of the Slaughter Arena."

As they walked, Ja Sun saw a few individuals lined up as a Knight distributed food.

"What's the economical condition of the City?"

"Excuse me?" The woman stopped momentarily.

"What is the currency of the City? And how can a person sustain itself here? What are the rules?" Ja Sun cleared up as the woman chortled.

"There are no rules—"

"Then how about letting others exit and enter freely? If not isn't this already a rule? This token id has a number which means that immigrants are being recorded. The act of recording itself underlies the fact that there are a few policies which can only be formed because of rules."

Ja Sun's words struck the woman speechless. Seeing this, Ja Sun couldn't help but sigh. The Knights being able to use spirit skills. The woman in front of him saying that there is a rookie period and what not...

'How about that. Redstar was right. Bureaucracy did kill the intent of the supposed into of the city.'

According to Redstar, before the arrival of the Slaughter King, the only rule here was that there were no rules. Killing and strength ruled this location which kept everyone on their toes and indeed, there was an envoy who would start the trials but he was killed by Slaughter King himself who took over.

{A/N: I feel that every god has a different way of setting their inheritance sight and by that I mean the race. Like Humans having nine trials of similar tests and the divine beasts having a different test. This isn't canon, but I intend to give it a shot if possible. And since this location should have been similar to the Sea God's pavilion since Tang Chen was given 9 trials, too. There must have been a guardian like Bo Saixi for the Seagod's temple. It is reasonable to assume that Slaughter King killed it and intentionally pulled the city into a more debauched state than the pure killing one.}

Ja Sun could feel the woman's emotions getting better of her as the surrounding killing intent was beginning to warp around her.

"Mister 6943, if you wish to challenge the Slaughter King—"

The woman suddenly felt a sharp pain stabbing her head and she grunted. With a whimsical hum, Ja Sun looked at the woman's bleeding head before tossing his token over. His act was witnessed by many and the Knights had taken their swords out.

But again, a mistake was committed. A killer found himself in his natural habitat.

"I guess I can find out about this location on my own."

Ja Sun smiled widely as the slaughter intent around him attacked the weak-minded. The more Ja Sun killed, the more he felt the impure killing intent rising from the corpses. The knights revealed their Martial Souls only to be knocked out by suppressed mental energy enhanced by his eyes.

And as he killed, Ja Sun began feeling something else escaping the corpses and rise towards the sky before being 'refined' by the 'moon' and it intrigued him because he had read about this particular sensation only in one item in his possession.

The Rakshasa Soul Devouring Technique.

Soon...

[Objective: Successfully Scam Redstar Douluo.

Mission Rank: S

Mission Rewards: Blood Egg

Time Limit: 24 Hours]

Surrounded by the corpses of the simplest kind, Ja Sun silently stared at the crimson egg with golden markings on its surface with a bleak expression.

However, as he looked back, seeing a stunned Xie Xan gazing at the bloodbath, Ja Sun stored the egg and grinned, "How the hell did you enter this place?"

"Came here to find if you were enjoying yourself... or were being tortured," Xie Xan mumbled and his expression paled the moment he saw the corpse of the envoy.

"You fucking idiot! Follow me!"

---

"Isn't this too... personal?" Tang Yuehua frowned. The arena created right in front of the Supreme Pontiff Palace was a giant one with the seating capacity of over ten thousand and yet aside from the Supreme Pontiff himself seated on the higher platform with elders around him, a few other unfamiliar faces could be observed.

"Is that your father? He's glaring at us for a while now," Oscar whispered. Their team sat on the first row directly next to the ring just like various other teams. In total, there were nine teams prepared from the Spirit Hall out of which, seven of them were completely formed from Spirit Sages. The other two were led by Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong.

Hearing Oscar's words, Liu Erlong, and others looked towards the viewer's area up above and found two middle-aged men. One with greying hair and one with white sideburns. The long-haired man with a thinner face and white sideburns continued to gaze in Erlong's direction. Meeting the man's gaze, Erlong shrugged.

"He's just a man lonely enough to hire a prostitute and impregnate her. I'd hoped that my father would be more manly," The bald woman pursed her lips.

"I'm confused, is he or is he not?" Jun'er tilted her head.

"She is mocking her blood father," Bibi Dong shook her head.

"As for your question," The leader looked at Yuehua, "It is because of the existence of 84 Spirit Sages appearing at once. Again, they are trained using a method that completely removes their potential and after rank 71, they are simply unable to cultivate. And their strength is much weaker than an ordinary spirit sage, too. But they are useful to the Spirit Hall. Still, we cannot expose our methods easily. The appearance of the Patriarch and the Second Elder of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is an exemption caused by the second priest— Golden Crocodile in an attempt to reveal the progress of his disciple."

Yuehua nodded, "Then do you know how Yu Xiaogang reached rank 53 so quickly?"

Ja Sun had informed others of Yu Xiaogang's sudden improvement. Of course, their own team had gone through such bursts of improvement now.

"I have a few options in mind. Three in particular. First, he got an immortal herb through luck, just like us... second, he has simply four or five spirit bones in quick succession. And finally, he has survived a fatal training ground or a trial of sorts just like Slaughter City."

"He's a stupid bastard! I hope he dies!" Hu Lana huffed in dissatisfaction. She hadn't said much as Xie Xan prepared to leave. It wasn't in their nature but now, behind his back, she was worried sick. Although Xie Xan promised to return quickly and the group had been going easier on Hu Lana to support her, it wasn't enough as Hu Lana would have her burst of anger at times.

"Well, I hope Ka-ul and Xie Xan survives. We have quite a large chance of winning already," Bibi Dong stated calmly. She hadn't expected to participate in the competition personally but life is an uncertain path. Things change.

"Oh, here comes the competitors. Remember, the first round of competition will eliminate four teams. One of the team has gotten a free pass. Since this is a personal competition, we wouldn't be using the round-robin method. So, the first match will be used to measure our team's strength and Yu Xiaogang's team's abilities, too.

Only two of our teams actually matter since we have potential. Tomorrow, during the second round, there is a high chance that we will face Yu Xiaogang's team so watch well."

In fact, before them, Spirit Academy had even begun internal competition to see which team will get a chance to participate against the special soldiers of the hall. Out of thirteen teams, Yu Xiaogang's team won with the highest advantage and passed on. Bibi Dong, on the other hand, didn't need the internal competition because she and her team were no longer part of the Spirit Academy but Supreme Pontiff Palace.

The Spirit Academy represented Elder's Hall interest and that is the location where the priests of the hall have been known to find their disciples the most. Ja Sun and Ah Yin were taken in by Qian Daoliu there, too.

Meanwhile, Bibi Dong represented Supreme Pontiff's interest. The other seven teams collectively represented the interest of the outer factions such as the Spirit Temples and Supply chain that supports the Hall from a monetary point of view.

Amongst the elders, this act of the competition was to simply measure the two teams that represented greater interests. The Second Priest would not have allowed Yu Xiaogang to participate and tarnish his name if there wasn't a chance of victory against these specific soldiers and the Supreme Pontiff was the same in this regard.

"Oh, the reports are true. He can cultivate," The man sitting beside Qian Xunji commented. His eyes were sharp and dreadful as they gazed at Yu Xiaogang. But more than that, the man had his heart startled by Qian Xunji's level of strength.

"Of course, Second Priest is a capable instructor and a doting master. His fascination for dragon-type martial souls is without competition, too. It would be strange if Yu Xiaogang hadn't reached the level of Spirit King by now," Qian Xunji smiled lightly and explained.

Two teams walked up the stage.

Seven members each.

One fully comprised of spirit sages and the other one mostly formed from Spirit Kings, a few spirit Emperors, and one Spirit Sage.

The difference was startling but behind everyone else, Yu Xiaogang looked calm.

In the center stood a Spirit Douluo. The referee of the match.

"Killing the opponents is against the rules. Know your body's condition well. If there is a chance that you might get maimed then step down instantly."

The robed man explained and then turned to look towards the Supreme Pontiff.

"Bow!"

Spirit Douluo hissed loudly as the fourteen spirit masters bowed towards Qian Xunji.

Standing up, his voice echoed in the empty arena.

"I don't have much to say now. Your teachers and masters must have explained the significance of this competition. As the first-ever meet spanning across the whole continent, I merely wish to appreciate the future generation of the continent and hope that later down the line they can surpass all of us."

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

"Ha!"

The group of the soldiers began shouting zealously while Yu Xiaogang's team bowed a little deeper. The youth's gaze fell on his father. In his clan, only his elder brother had ever shown any form of affection to Yu Xiaogang so as he looked at his father and stunned the man with an equally piercing gaze, all Yu Xiaogang held was the thought of making his name across his clan.

As he looked at the opponent's side, Yu Xiaogang frowned when he failed to find Ja Sun or Xie Xan. If Bibi Dong could get information on the group so could Xiaogang albeit his information wasn't up-to-date or as informative as Bibi Dong's but it gave him a general idea.

Seeing that the ace of the team wasn't present, a sense of distaste was left in his mouth.

"Take your positions!" The referee shouted and the two teams changed their positions.

What came next shocked everyone who witnessed Xiaogang's martial soul for the first time. Even Qian Xunji's eyelids jumped for the umpteenth time. This was the reason why Qian Xunji hinted Bibi Dong to be cautious of Yu Xiaogang.

It was a dragon's roar. Unlike anyone had ever heard. A real dragon from the primitive ages emerged from Yu Xiaogang's chest as its presence alone began affecting the surroundings with lightning crackling around the dragon and Yu Xiaogang. This allowed Bibi Dong to realize why Yu Xiaogang's team had opened a clear path between them: To give the dragon enough space to emerge.

A pressure enveloped the entire arena and it mildly affected the viewers. It was the oppression of a greater form of Martial Soul over a lesser form. However, to the holders of the Martial Soul of the draconic lineage, for instance, the patriarch and the second elder of the clan, the pressure simply wasn't mild. It was threatening. Hailed as the strongest Beast Type Martial Souls, they found their beast spirits retreating within themselves and this is what Liu Erlong felt back then. Naturally, this was merely a sense of oppression. It could be fought against using sheer will. But this represented a mighty force and potential that their martial souls couldn't achieve and the expressions of the two men changed constantly.

The Patriarch looked at Qian Xunji and seeing his calm smile, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. Not the loss of a son. If he felt that, then the man would not have left Yu Xiaogang to fend for himself in a cruel war where his martial soul ended up being murdered. It was a loss of a great asset.

Meanwhile, only one hooded individual had excitement coursing through her veins as opposed to the previous sense of suppression, she only felt a deeply growing sense of challenge within herself.