Chapter 44: Victory
Tuoba Xi's face darkened. Dugu Shuo was already troublesome enough, and now even his son, Dugu Feng, was proving the same—ruthless, decisive, and terrifyingly bold.
Heitian was dead.
The one with the best chance of securing dominance at that rank for the Black Tiger Sect had been wiped out with chilling efficiency.
Tuoba Xi was genuinely startled. The Dugu Clan's savagery exceeded expectations.
They knew perfectly well that the Black Tiger Sect was backed by Spirit Hall, that Spirit Hall wanted them to take the Yu Clan's place in the Grand Arena's management, and yet the Dugu still showed absolutely no mercy.
Had they acted alone—or had all the other families silently agreed to this stance?
"Master, bad news! Hei Ling was just killed by one of the Dai Clan's people during his match!"
A panicked voice suddenly shouted from another platform nearby.
But the messenger froze as soon as he saw Heitian's decayed corpse beside Black Demon. His face turned deathly pale.
Dugu Feng smiled coldly.
The profits of the Grand Battle Arena were not so easily claimed.
All five of the remaining families, aside from the Holy Dragon Sect, had already reached a tacit understanding—to suppress the Black Tiger Sect completely, to strike hard whenever they met one of their members, and, if possible, to kill them outright.
Hei Ling's death, a Soul King defeated by the Dai Clan, must have made them furious.
Black Demon's expression flickered with anger and disbelief. "I refuse to believe you can keep winning!"
He shouted, then stormed off the stage without looking back.
The Black Tiger Sect had sent five combatants—two were already dead on the first day.
But they still had three left.
All they needed was one rank where they could defeat all six great clans. That alone would grant them partial control of the Grand Battle Arena—and Spirit Hall's recognition.
When the day's matches ended, the audience dispersed with excitement.
They hadn't expected a contest among low-ranked soul masters to be so thrilling—and so bloody.
Even after the departure, people talked eagerly, utterly satisfied.
Dugu Feng's eyes scanned the crowd.
There—Zhu Zhuqing. At some point, she had arrived to watch, and now she too was leaving.
Gathering intel, perhaps?
Fine. When the time came, he'd make her meow on the arena floor.
Dugu Feng sneered faintly.
A little while later, he followed his father back to the top floor of the Grand Soul Arena.
Reports from the other platforms soon came in as well.
Those battles had been nowhere near as brutal—mostly friendly duels.
The Six Great Families were familiar with one another, and by simply watching which cultivators each sent to the stage, everyone could tell which rank each clan was aiming to dominate.
For example, Little Snake, at rank twenty-three, obviously wasn't contending for supremacy in his bracket—so opponents treated his fights more like sparring.
Zhu Zhuyun, however, was different. At rank thirty-seven, she had made it clear—to defeat every Soul Elder among the six families. Those who posed no threat didn't bother struggling against her.
After watching several matches, Dugu Feng found himself intrigued.
At first, he had thought these loosely structured rules were too casual.
But now, he saw the logic. To dominate one rank completely—to stand unmatched—that was what forged true powerhouses.
Any family that couldn't field one overwhelming soul master at every stage of growth was destined for decline.
The philosophy was simple—and brilliant.
Three more days passed in this fashion.
Dugu Feng fought three additional matches—against the Ge Clan, Thunder Academy, and the Dai Clan.
The Ge and Thunder representatives surrendered after releasing a single skill, unwilling to risk their lives.
The Dai Clan's fighter didn't even take the stage. He forfeited on sight—clearly terrified after witnessing Dugu Feng's first battle.
By the fifth day, his opponent was supposed to come from the Holy Dragon Sect.
Dugu Feng had been hoping for another proper battle, but the Holy Dragon Sect forfeited too. Not one dared to step onto the platform.
Meanwhile, the Black Tiger Sect—targeted by every other family—was down to a single Soul Emperor who had miraculously managed four consecutive victories.
Now came his fifth match, the most crucial of all.
If he won this one, he would already secure a position of power. The sixth and final match would be against the Holy Dragon Sect, who would surely yield deliberately.
Victory now would mean everything for them.
The pressure was immense.
To no one's surprise, the next opponent to face him was from the Dugu Clan.
And fate, it seemed, had a sense of irony—his opponent was Old Scorpion.
Not exactly coincidence; their encounter had been inevitable.
Given the stakes, the fight was arranged privately this time, without spectators.
They met within a sealed-off main arena, normally reserved for team battles. Only representatives of the six families were present to witness it.
This match would determine everything.
The circular platform stretched nearly seventy meters across—a battlefield vast enough for even masters of high rank to unleash their full strength.
Dugu Shuo, Old Snake, and Dugu Feng sat at the front of the viewing stand, eyes locked on the combatants.
Across the arena stood the Soul Emperor from the Black Tiger Sect—Hei Yan.
He was a larger, more menacing version of Heitian, his entire body radiating gray-black energy that spread like mist over the floor.
Facing him, Old Scorpion exuded a chilling frost—the icy aura almost tangibly sharp.
Cold—dually in aura and demeanor.
He had once told Dugu Feng that his resistance to poison came from two ice-element soul rings. The opposing elements within his own body suppressed his toxins, allowing him to live and grow stronger—an experiment in the clan's research into counteracting their own venom.
Since then, most Dugu soul masters had incorporated at least one ice-type ring into their paths.
Now, under the cold radiance, Old Scorpion's killing intent flared to life.
He entered Martial Soul possession; streams of poison-light erupted, forming a fog that engulfed the whole arena.
Then Old Scorpion charged—not as a poison master, but like a weaponized juggernaut.
His arms, transformed into scorpion-like appendages covered with armored carapace, lashed forward as he met Hei Yan head-on.
Inside the mist, dull thuds and fierce shouts echoed again and again.
Dugu Feng silently counted the seconds. The longer it lasted, the better for Old Scorpion—poison favored time.
Three minutes passed. Still no result.
His confidence grew.
Though Old Scorpion's Jade Phosphor Scorpion Poison lacked the overwhelming might of the Overlord's Poison, three full minutes was more than enough time for the venom to settle.
Hei Yan was doomed.
After several more minutes, however, Dugu Feng frowned slightly. Hei Yan must have taken antidotes beforehand.
But those too had limits.
If Hei Yan couldn't finish this quickly, the poison's buildup would turn fatal.
Then—bang!
A collision shook the arena. Both fighters separated, their bodies riddled with wounds.
Seeing the state of them, Dugu Feng felt certain—the poison was working.
Moments ticked by. The mist gradually began to fade.
When the air cleared at last, only one figure remained standing.
Old Scorpion.
Hei Yan lay motionless on the ground, long since dead.
Dugu Feng turned his gaze toward Black Demon in the stands. The man's face was ashen. Hei Yan's death meant the Black Tiger Sect had completely lost its chance of entering the arena's leadership.
Beside him stood a figure cloaked in shadows—Elder Gui Mei himself. His cold eyes swept once toward the Dugu Clan, then his form dissolved, vanishing silently.
Both of Spirit Hall's arrangements—the Elephant Armored Sect and the Black Tiger Sect—had failed. Furious, Gui Mei could do nothing.
After all, Yu Yuanzhen was present as well, and even Gui Mei dared not create a scene.
He would have to return to Spirit Hall immediately and report this disaster personally to the Pope.
(END CHAPTER)
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