lerbook Chapter 242: Sect Token
Chapter 242: Sect Token
The edges of the black stone arena were still covered with dark brown scabs from previous fights. A sultry wind, carrying the smell of rust, swept across the stands, bringing the cacophony of voices to everyone's ears.
The two people facing off in the arena were a young man named Li Shu and an old woman whose full name was unknown to everyone; everyone simply called her Old Mi.
According to the rules of the arena, those at the Refining Realm and above, or those between the Essence and Blood Realm, are not qualified to compete on the main stage. However, this particular match has become the focus of the entire arena today precisely because of Li Shu's well-known past.
Zhang Ping twirled a blank betting board between his fingers, his gaze sweeping over the odds board beside the table, his brows remaining impassive. The two sides were too evenly matched, making the outcome unpredictable, and the odds offered by the bookmaker fluctuated around 1:1, rendering any bet worthless.
He simply put away the wooden plaque, but his ears were filled with the chatter of people around him, and the stories about this feud became more and more outrageous.
Some said that Elder Mi acted to steal the physical constitution of Li Shu and his sister in order to save her seriously ill grandson; others said that she was nearing the end of her life and needed to use evil magic to prolong it, which was why she was so cruel to the two children she had raised herself. The conflicting accounts caused a group of teenagers in the stands to change their expressions.
Xiang Chunyuan and his group were originally scions of prominent families who traveled far and wide. They would always step in to help when they saw injustice. Now, hearing these rumors, each of them had a look of indignation on their face.
"Brother Chun, that old woman is too vicious!" Lin Lun gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his knuckles white, his tone laced with suppressed anger. "If this young man loses later, should we teach her a lesson?"
He was competitive by nature, but not inherently bad. He possessed the ruthlessness of a cultivator, yet he had not forgotten the moral principles instilled in him by his family. In addition, he read many biographies of wandering knights, so it was not surprising that he said such a thing.
Xiang Chunyuan frowned, his eyes filled with displeasure as he looked at Elder Mi, but he didn't act impulsively like his companion. He raised his hand and pressed Lin Lun's arm, carefully advising in a low voice, "Don't rush. What we've heard are all rumors from others, and the versions aren't even accurate. They might not be true."
Xin Yuhan, who was standing next to Lin Lun, nodded slightly and tugged at Lin Lun's sleeve.
The atmosphere among them became tense for a moment because of this, and a small unpleasant incident occurred.
All of this noise reached Zhang Ping's ears. He lifted his eyelids, glanced at the group of hot-blooded youths, said nothing, and quickly turned his gaze back to the fighting arena.
He didn't believe a word of what the others were saying, their emotions running high.
Or rather, not entirely believed it.
Regardless of whether it's true or false, the least plausible rumor is that Elder Mi used evil magic to seize the siblings' physical constitution. Such an evil technique is something even a cultivator at the Divine Integration Realm might not be able to obtain, so how could an old woman at the Essence Blood Realm easily acquire it?
Even if she did manage to get her hands on him by chance, given the trust the siblings had in her, they would have had plenty of opportunities to strike secretly. Unless they were extremely stupid, they would never have let things escalate to the point where the two of them could escape and have a life-or-death confrontation in public.
Of course, there might be other hidden reasons, or unforeseen circumstances he was unaware of. Zhang Ping refrained from making any hasty judgments, and simply observed the scene quietly.
The two fighters on stage didn't use any fancy moves; the only highlight was their ruthlessness.
So ruthless they'd risk their lives.
Mi Lao's palm swept past Li Shu's ribs, and the muffled sound of flesh being ripped open by the qi and blood was clearly audible. But Li Shu didn't even frown. He pulled out the heavy sword from his back, poured all the qi and blood in his body into it, and slashed at Mi Lao.
The blazing blood and qi, along with the blade, swept across the ground, carrying the scorching smell of burning flames as it brushed against Elder Mi's clothes. At such a young age, to be able to fuse blood and qi with fire-attribute techniques to this extent, it's no wonder that a powerful figure at the Divine Integration Realm once considered taking him as a disciple.
Before Old Mi could dodge, the heavy blade struck her right shoulder squarely.
After a dull thud as the blade pierced flesh, it nearly cleaved half of her body in two, and blood gushed out instantly, staining half of her grey cloth garment red.
One strike, and he was severely injured!
Li Shu gritted his teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with a desperate hatred. His hoarse voice, like grinding sand, said, "You old bastard! You dare touch my sister? Today, even if I lose my life here, I'll make you pay with yours!"
When young people go crazy, they truly disregard life and death. This ruthless, death-defying spirit even secretly alarmed many seasoned cultivators in the stands.
Despite suffering this fatal blow, Old Mi showed no resentment or ruthlessness on her face. Her cloudy eyes were filled with tears as she looked at the boy she had raised, her face filled with unbearable sorrow.
"Little Book," her voice trembled uncontrollably, "that's a demon, not your sister."
"Shut up!"
The word "monster" was like a needle, piercing deeply into Li Shu's nerves. His emotions fluctuated violently for a moment, and his previously stagnant blood and qi were thrown into disarray.
It was this fleeting opening that Elder Mi seized upon. A palm struck him squarely in the chest, causing Li Shu to grunt and stagger back half a step, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
But his grip on the knife hilt tightened even more.
Grandma Mi, supporting her nearly crippled body, stood on the blood-soaked stone platform, looking at him. Finally, she couldn't hold back her tears and cried out, her voice filled with heart-wrenching helplessness: "Xiao Cai died three years ago! The thing that's with you now isn't Xiao Cai at all! How can you possibly believe your grandma?!"
"I saw everything with my own eyes that day, and now I don't believe in anything anymore!"
Li Shu's eyes were bloodshot, and his chest was heaving violently.
His heavy sword trembled slightly, and his gaze seemed to pierce through the arena before him, returning to that evening three years ago, bathed in the orange-red sunset.
The dilapidated courtyard gate lay askew to one side. He saw with his own eyes his sister pinned to the bluestone slab by a long sword, blood flowing everywhere, her little face contorted in pain. But the moment she saw him return, tears mixed with blood streamed down her face like a burst dam.
If he hadn't risked his life to find a high-grade spiritual herb outside the city that day, his sister would have died in front of him long ago.
This memory, etched into his very bones, caused the anger in his chest to boil to its extreme in an instant.
"Xiao Cai is long dead!" Old Mi cried out, his voice cracking with urgency as he looked at the hatred in Xiao Shu's eyes. "The thing that possessed her body was a demon! Everything you saw was just an illusion it created for you! There was no longsword that day, you didn't leave the city, and you didn't find any elixir to save your life! Xiao Shu, you've been deceived!"
"No!"
Li Shu didn't want to hear another word from her. His blood and qi surged wildly, his meridians bulged under his skin, and he looked as if he were engulfed by a burning crimson flame. Anyone with eyes could see that he was overdrawing his own vital essence and blood, truly risking his life for his own.
In the stands, Zhang Ping, who had been leaning against the railing, suddenly straightened up, crossed his arms, and frowned as he looked at the surging yet extremely weak aura emanating from Li Shu.
"Isn't this kind of overexertion risking depletion of vital energy and blood, potentially causing you to die on stage?"
Not only him, but many cultivators in the arena also noticed something was wrong. No one discussed it anymore, and all eyes were fixed on the fighting arena, waiting for the final blow to fall.
Li Shu gripped the sword with both hands, poured all his energy into it, and unleashed a devastating strike.
A crimson blade flashed through the air, heading straight for Elder Mi's brow.
At that very last moment, Old Mi loosened her grip on her cane and slowly closed her eyes. She didn't dodge, she didn't block, she just stood there, letting the line of blood run from her brow all the way through her entire body.
Before she breathed her last, her chapped lips moved, uttering two barely audible words:
"careful…"
This scene caused Li Shu, whose heart was filled with hatred, to tighten his grip on the hilt of his knife, and a fleeting wavering crossed his eyes.
But that slight wavering was quickly suppressed. He gritted his teeth, his eyes regaining their resolve.
He didn't believe it.
His sister could never be some kind of demon.
The battle is over.
A life-or-death struggle that was neither exciting nor particularly spectacular came to an end. Old Mi's body lay on the cold, black stone platform, blood trickling down the cracks in the stone. The spectators in the stands murmured a few words, then gradually lost interest, and many had already gotten up to leave.
But just then, a golden-red streak of light suddenly shot through the air from the highest stands of the Colosseum.
The stream of light came to a steady stop in front of Li Shu, hovering motionless.
The next second, the cultivator presiding over the match, his voice imbued with spiritual energy, boomed throughout the entire arena:
"Lord Red Dragon has bestowed upon you a sect token as a reward!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the once noisy arena fell into dead silence.
The audience was filled with astonishment, surprise, and utter bewilderment.
Who is Lord Red Dragon? He is a top-tier high-level cultivator standing behind the arena, with intricate connections to the organizers. There are even rumors that this enormous arena was originally Lord Red Dragon's property.
"A reward from Lord Red Dragon?!"
After a brief silence, someone screamed in terror, their voice cracking.
Everyone knows that performing well in the arena, winning the favor of those in power, and receiving rewards are common occurrences. But the Red Dragon's reward has only appeared once since the arena's construction! This is the second time in history!
"It's actually a sect token?!" On the stands, Zhang Ping, who was usually calm, showed an undisguised astonishment for the first time.
Before he arrived, he had thoroughly investigated the matter. The rewards given by the higher-ups in the arena were mostly pills to enhance cultivation and low-grade spiritual artifacts, with very few truly valuable items. From the very beginning, he hadn't given the slightest thought to the rewards.
But to his utter surprise, this young man who risked his life in the fight not only received a reward from Lord Red Dragon, but the reward was actually the sect token he had been searching for for so long!
"Brother Chun, it's the sect's token!"
On the other side, Xin Yuhan, who had remained calm and composed since entering the room, suddenly changed her expression. She grabbed Xiang Chunyuan's arm, her voice filled with barely suppressed emotion. She didn't say it aloud, but both of them understood the meaning behind her words.
Xiang Chunyuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging desire in his eyes. He pressed Xin Yuhan's hand down and said in a very low voice, "Let's assess the situation first. Absolutely do not act rashly. If we anger the high-level cultivators of the arena, none of us can bear the consequences."
They were all scions of prominent families from the Central Plains, who had come to Penglai together for training. What they lacked most was a stable base and a place to cultivate their skills in peace.
In the present day, the best locations in Penglai have long been divided up by various powerful forces, and the remaining areas are all wild and undeveloped dangerous places. They have neither the energy nor the time to cultivate these areas, let alone the huge amount of manpower and resources required to defend them. It is absolutely impossible for them to pay such a high price for a temporary training ground.
But if you have the sect token, it's a completely different story.
The major families behind them would certainly be happy to pool their resources and establish a branch in Penglai using this sect token. Not only would they be able to profit from Penglai's resources, but their young disciples would also have a place to stay when they come to train.
However, this sect token, which can leverage countless interests, is never easy to obtain.
At this moment, countless gazes in the entire arena shifted from the corpses on the ground and fixed themselves on the sect token that floated silently in front of Li Shu.
Greed, covetousness, surprise, scheming—countless emotions silently spread through the stands.
Meanwhile, Li Shu, still gripping the blood-stained heavy sword, was covered in wounds, seemingly oblivious to the turbulent undercurrents around him.