In the end, Yu Tianming's left hand didn't slow as it clamped tightly around the speckled man's throat.
With a slight twist of his thumb, a crisp crack sounded—like a heavy ear of wheat snapping a stalk. The speckled man's neck twisted to one side, his head now hanging by a flap of skin.
There was no blood, but his neck and head were barely attached. The massive blade that was his martial soul clattered to the ground and vanished on the spot.
In less than a breath's time, life and death had been decided.
The companions who had arrived at the Hell Slaughter Arena with the speckled man hadn't even had time to react before their leader's neck was snapped.
But these were people who had lived in the City of Slaughter for a long time. To survive in this lawless place, they had honed extremely quick reflexes.
Without a moment's hesitation, they turned and scattered like startled birds.
Yu Tianming didn't chase after them. Instead, he used his tail to scoop up the cup the speckled man had dropped.
Then he used his dragon claw to slice open the corpse's neck and filled the cup with still-warm, freshly spilled blood.
He turned to the stunned black-veiled woman.
"Will this cup get me into the Hell Slaughter Arena to watch?"
"…Yes. Of course."
She recognized the tattooed man that Yu Tianming had killed. The guy had roamed free in the City of Slaughter for over ten years, with at least hundreds of deaths on his hands.
But now, this grizzled veteran had been swatted down like an ant by this seemingly inexperienced youth.
It was the first time she had seen Yu Tianming fight, and the sheer shock of it made her instinctively step aside and say, "Allow me to lead you into the Hell Slaughter Arena."
Though the arena took up a huge amount of space, the interior was stark and apocalyptic in design, appearing very basic and crude.
Unlike other soul battle arenas, this structure had no barriers or partitions. Under a thirty-meter-high dome was a massive circular stage over a hundred meters wide. Surrounding it were tiered stands that extended upward—much like a domed Roman coliseum.
In this small city, the open stands were enough to seat all residents of the inner city.
At the moment, the crowd was sparse—only about twenty percent of the seats were filled—but that already amounted to nearly half the inner city's population.
At the entrance, Yu Tianming poured the cup of "Bloody Mary" into a massive container.
He casually picked two seats and sat down with the black-veiled woman.
No sooner had they settled than ten vicious-looking men and women in bizarre attire walked into the central arena.
The crowd erupted in cheers upon seeing them.
In the City of Slaughter, where entertainment was scarce, watching brutal fights not only helped fallen ones prepare for their own future battles, it had also become their favorite pastime.
Most of the ten contestants didn't attack immediately. They stayed along the edge of the arena, keeping distance and eyeing each other warily.
But not all were cautious. One tall, heavily armored man exuded confidence.
He appeared to be around Soul Emperor level, clad in a mismatched patchwork of armor—some pieces black, some white, some heavy, some light—all crudely cobbled together.
Though he was large and overweight, the overly loose armor still barely hung on his frame.
Rather than a doomsday-style suit of armor, it looked more like an ill-fitting patchwork robe.
As soon as he entered, he activated his martial soul—his body sprouting coarse black hair, tusks extending from his mouth, and his head morphing into a massive boar's head.
His swelling muscles stretched the armor tight. He charged directly at a scar-faced middle-aged woman nearby.
The woman didn't flee. In this tight arena, running would only lead her into someone else. If surrounded, she'd die even faster.
She summoned a long blade and held it with both hands, facing the charging boar-head man.
The boar-man grinned and charged faster.
As soon as they clashed, the woman's long blade sliced with surgical precision into the gaps of his armor, carving several deep wounds. Through the broken plating, yellow fat could be seen squishing out.
But the boar-man only grew fiercer. Guarding his vital points, he forced himself forward, taking the cuts.
In a flash, he stepped in front of the woman and slapped her head with both hands—crushing it to pulp. Red and white matter splattered all over his armor.
As the victor emerged, the audience roared in approval.
The black-veiled woman leaned toward Yu Tianming and explained, "The battles in the Hell Slaughter Arena are different from those in the outside world. Here, every match is a fight to the death—so they're always brutally savage."
Yu Tianming said nothing, just nodded and continued watching.
After killing the scar-faced woman, the boar-man ignored his injuries and grinned hideously at the remaining soul masters.
Seeing this, the others stopped watching each other and instead began circling the boar-man in unspoken agreement.
But he showed no fear—he charged at another nearby soul master.
None of them were as strong as the woman he first killed. In less than half a stick of incense's time, more corpses lay at the boar-man's feet.
Though badly injured, only three contestants remained, still struggling to survive.
With a survival rate of one in ten—and the risk of ambush afterward—the reality was often that none made it out alive.
The black-veiled woman turned to Yu Tianming and warned, "In the Hell Slaughter Arena, even the victor can get ambushed right after the match. That boar-head soul master underestimated the woman with the long blade. Now even if he finishes off the rest, he's severely injured. He'll definitely be ambushed afterward. Sometimes, the ambush is deadlier than the fight."
Yu Tianming didn't respond, but said calmly, "Please sign me up for the next match."
She no longer doubted his strength. Just watching this battle made her feel a deep chill.
Without hesitation, she took his ID plate and went to register.
Yu Tianming only felt disgust toward the City of Slaughter. He didn't want to waste even a single day here.
Win a hundred battles, claim the championship, challenge the Road of Hell—and leave.
He had decided: his slaughter journey would begin today.
(End of Chapter)
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