by Tinalynge
Xue Wei had recognized the voice as belonging to Li Chen and thus he did not shift his attention away from the faces of the two vengeful brothers.
While the angry and aggressive one turned pale with fright and retreated slightly, the eyes of the calm and collected one turned serious and solemn.
“We did not know that this youngster was your friend,” the calm one finally spoke up. “To think that the miss is worried about someone this much. In that case, we would, of course, have to step back,” he continued with a shallow smile on his face, a smile that was impossible to see through.
The two brothers quickly took their leave and vanished deeper into the cave, evidently seeking to spectate the battles in another cage.
Xue Wei’s eyes did not leave them before they had vanished completely from his sight into the sea of people. He suddenly had a very bad premonition.
“You can sense it too, right?” Bai Tianyi suddenly asked. Xue Wei looked at him before nodding his head. “The angry one is easy to deal with, but the other one will prove to be a thorny issue.”
“He is cunning,” Bai Tianyi agreed. “Hopefully he does not value his lost brother too much.”
“We can always hope he doesn’t,” Xue Wei said, frowning. “He was told off by Li Chen, and she has quite the background. He might not feel that we are worth it.” Bai Tianyi could not help but sigh.
“It seems that no matter where we go, we end up being chased as public enemies number one, two, and three.” Bai Tianyi grinned when he said this, to which Xue Wei replied with a snort before he looked into the cage in front of them.
Although his attention had been drawn to the two remaining brothers of the Tiger Triplets, who had now left, he had not forgotten about Hei Gou’s battle.
Hei Gou had not let him down. The cultivation level of his physical strength exceeded the level of his Qi strength. Although he outwardly seemed weak, he was indeed a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Without even using any of his innate abilities and only relying on his physical strength and his claws, he managed to reduce his opponent into a sorry mess that was bleeding from various wounds all over his body.
From the look in Hei Gou’s eyes, Xue Wei could see that he too was enjoying the thrill of the hunt. This feeling was better than being drunk; it was so intoxicating that it was impossible to resist, and now the smile on Hei Gou’s lips and his red eyes showed that he was enjoying the slaughter.
“He is a beast,” Bai Tianyi commented when he saw the situation in the cage. Xue Wei just shrugged his shoulders. Being a beast was not such a bad thing.
The battle did not last long after this. Hei Gou’s foe had his stomach gutted by the former’s claws, leading to a very painful and disastrous death.
The audience was silent for a moment before they erupted into cheer. “That is amazing!” someone exclaimed. “He dominated the entire fight! Is he really a beginner?”
“Those three came together, but none of them are easy targets. I bet they are from some secret organization and are just here passing time.”
Lots of assumptions were thrown around after that. Hei Gou left the cage and went back to Xue Wei and Bai Tianyi.
“That was so thrilling!” Hei Gou was filled with excitement. “I have never felt a hunt like this before. I felt so alive, so invigorated! Killing is one thing, but battling like this is another!”
While Bai Tianyi did not seem to fully understand what Hei Gou was saying, Xue Wei chuckled and nodded his head. “I understand,” he said seriously. “We can come here once a week and let go of our inhibitions; we can immerse ourselves in the hunt and whatnot, but we should never let the feeling consume us. Don’t go out and kill people randomly just because you feel like it, understood?”
“Well, I would never cause problems for you,” Hei Gou said while acting rather embarrassed. “Especially not while the Diviners are at large. I’m satisfied with a match a week!”
“Sounds good,” Xue Wei was satisfied with this reply. “So now that the dog and I have both fought,” Bai Tianyi suddenly said, “why don’t you go and fight now?”
“I guess I should,” Xue Wei snickered. He had not fought yet, and he truly felt a need to let go of his pent-up frustrations, alongside once more tasting that feeling of killing someone, of hunting them, of having their lives in the palm of his hand and then ending it all.
“I would like to sign up,” Xue Wei went straight for the counter and went through the motions. He waited for a few moments for the opponent to appear. When he saw him, Xue Wei raised an eyebrow in surprise.
This opponent was not unknown to him. It was the man who had tried to fight him the first day he had signed up; the man who was so fat that he would be better off rolling along the ground rather than walking on it. But although he seemed like someone that was easy to handle, Xue Wei felt a distinct sense of danger coming from this man.
Chapter 18 - Unsatisfying Battle
Before the battle began, Xue Wei considered his options. First of all, he could choose to use Mind Infestation and take over the fatty’s mind, finishing the battle with a clean suicide or at least confusing him enough to easily execute him. However, this method was incredibly boring.
Secondly, he could use his beast transformation, but doing so was the same as him admitting to being a beast.
Lastly, he could fight with his other abilities, which would be the many martial art techniques he had gotten from the heritage ring and along the way. This would be the most interesting way to fight. A way to be equal to his opponent and a way to test himself while truly enjoying the battle in the best way possible.
The truth was that Xue Wei had a clear advantage. If he wanted to, he could kill his opponent instantly with either Mind Infestation or pure power from his transformation, but there was no fun in doing that to him.
The real reason he had come here was to feel his blood boil again, to feel alive. Nothing could beat the intoxicating feeling he got whenever he was battling in these underground cage battles.
Even before the battle had begun, Xue Wei was smiling. The smile on his face was sinister and cold, and his eyes gleamed dangerously with a dark light that promised great suffering for the opponent.
He knew nothing about the opponent in front of him, but he did understand that he was a slight threat to him—his senses told him as much, but this only served to make his blood burn more intensely.
The fat man facing Xue Wei glanced at him with eyes that resembled a pig’s. He did not laugh out loud or in any way seem to be aggressive; in fact, he was incredibly quiet and humble. It was clear that he was serious about the coming battle.
Xue Wei cracked his neck and observed the man. He was clearly not an expert in speed. It would be incredible if he could move fast with that body of his, so that could not be his forte, but what was it then?
Could it be that he specialized in defense? It seemed likely, but just the thought alone made Xue Wei feel excitement. The uncertainty, the fact that he had to learn this person’s battle style on the go excited him. The thought of killing him thrilled him even more.
“Battle start,” the bookie announced, signalling to begin the battle.
Xue Wei closed his eyes for a brief moment and calmed his wildly beating heart.
When his eyes opened again, a shine that had not been there before could be seen. His eyes were sharp and focused. His muscles pulsed with varying degrees of tension as though he was priming them, and he slowly cracked his wrist a few times before he balled his hands up into fists.
Xue Wei exhaled a deep breath. It was as if he could sense the calm before the storm. Although his heart was beating like mad and the killing intent was driving him insane, telling him to start the battle right away, he felt extremely calm and collected at the moment.
The contradicting feelings of violence and calmness had a strange way of engraving themselves into Xue Wei’s inner being. Although he was bloodthirsty and eager to start the battle, he had not lost his head i
n the moment.
Neither the opponent nor Xue Wei moved. Both observed one another; one was casual and had a malicious smile on his face, the other was alert and careful with furrowed brows.
The first to make a move ended up being Xue Wei. After observing his foe for some time, he had noticed that the opponent had no intention whatsoever of moving. The fat man was like a mountain, rooted on the ground, waiting for Xue Wei to deliver himself in front of him. Xue Wei did not disappoint.
Forbidden Rush!
Xue Wei vanished from the spot where he stood, moving so fast that only those of a higher rank could track his movements.
His opponent’s eyes widened; a slight fear rose in his heart, but he quickly quelled it. He was not willing to give up, as giving up meant losing his life.
Taking in a deep breath, the man steeled himself for the impact he knew could come at any moment. Qi started cloaking his entire body, laying itself like a layer of extra skin.
This layer of Qi seemed almost useless, but Xue Wei’s eyes narrowed when he saw it. It was clear that this thin layer of Qi was unlike any shield he had ever seen before.
Still, he was not going to stand back and cease fire. If he stopped the attack now, the chances were likely that he would fall into an unfortunate position.
Shattering Mountain Palm!
Xue Wei shot forward like a shooting star, his momentum carrying with it a strong sense of power as the palm descended.
Just as the palm landed on the chest of the opponent, Xue Wei felt a tremor run through his arm. The outcome of his attack this time was different from anything he had experienced before. Some of the power from it had actually been rebounded straight back to Xue Wei. Although he had an overwhelming amount of physical strength, he still very much felt the shock, which left his hand numb with pain.
Retreating faster than he advanced, Xue Wei was at first stunned, but then a maddened smile spread on his lips.
“Fun!” he exclaimed while starting to laugh. “This is fun!” The audience outside the cage had become as silent as an empty graveyard. Many of them knew of Xue Wei’s opponent and his ability to return damage to the one who had sent it out, so they were not shocked about that, but where they would usually see someone with a terrified expression after going through that, Xui Wei’s maddened excitement was so different and so scary that it sent a chill down their spines.
Not only the audience, but the opponent was also terrified. Although he had managed to return some of the damage and mitigate a lot of the remainder with his stocky body, the palm attack had set a deep, lingering fear into his heart.
He had never seen someone so excited to face him. It was clear that Xue Wei was enjoying the battle. He could clearly see that Xue Wei was the type to sink into the depths of carnal thrill from hunting and killing, especially so considering the latter’s killing intent had now begun leaking from his body.
His killing intent was so dense that everyone felt the temperature around the cage drop a few degrees. It was clear that it was getting colder, but the cold was not the only thing that came with the killing intent.
The killing intent also made their bodies tremble uncontrollably. The legs of the weaker experts among the audience started buckling, and their vision turned hazy and blackened. The ones at Xue Wei’s level of strength felt their bodies tingle and become sluggish. Those stronger felt a slight electrical current enter their bodies.
The people who watched this battle were filled with shock. Such a dense killing intent… how had he gained it? It was clear that one had to have walked out from a mountain of corpses to achieve something like that, but this man seemed so young.
Xue Wei was like a wild beast. Usually, the Fierce Beasts would make a lot of noise in their pens, roaring and screeching, and the other experts currently fighting in their cages would yell and shout, but right now the entire underground realm had gone silent and the other fighters had halted their matches.
Every person, man or beast, converged around the cage Xue Wei was battling in. No one spoke, and everyone watched with bated breath.
“I thought that the fatty would be the winner, but with such killing intent, I think it is quite obvious who will win,” someone finally muttered. Those that heard the statement could not help but nod their heads.
Everyone had reached this conclusion, including Xue Wei’s opponent himself. His face was pale and sweat was beading on his brows. They had only exchanged one attack so far, but that one attack had truly awakened a sleeping dragon.
“Let us try this again!” Xue Wei laughed out loud. His eyes turned slightly red as he stomped on the ground and charged at his opponent with Forbidden Rush.
Kick of the Forgotten Kings!
Xue Wei had already used one attack, so now it was time for another. His leg had been covered with scales inside his boot and his nails became claws, but the transformation was subtle enough to not tear through the boot itself.
The kick was strong. Flame-like Qi was emitted from his leg as it drew an arc through the air toward his opponent, shooting out like a flying flood dragon.
A crunching sound could be heard when the leg came into contact with the layer of Qi that covered the fat man.
When they came into contact, it was as if time had stopped; neither moved, and cracks appeared on the ground beneath the opponent. Soon afterwards, however, both men shot backward, one a bit more graceful than the other.
Xue Wei retreated five steps, the smile never once disappearing from his face. When he finally came to a stop, he stomped his foot on the ground a few times to make the tingling and numb sensation go away.
Even after he protected his leg with scales, the reflected damage still made it feel numb.
The opponent was much worse off though. He had been blown backward like a football, and his entire body was trembling. Blood was trickling out of the corner of his lips.
“Don’t give up already!” Xue Wei said with roaring laughter before he rushed at his opponent again. “I am not satisfied yet!”
The fat man was terrified, and he was unaware of what he should do.
He did not know how to escape from Xue Wei. He knew that he would not be able to get away even if he tried, and his defense which had always been like an unbreakable iron wall was now useless.
Xue Wei was very much a madman. He was completely drunk on the fight, but he had, all things considered, not actually lost his rationality.
This was indeed the most dangerous kind of person and situation to face for anyone. Facing a person who was both maddened and at the same time rational was too scary.
The opponent eventually lost his will to fight back. He simply gave up. He stopped protecting himself with Qi and gave up on running away.
His eyes were listless, and his body quickly became riddled with wounds. But Xue Wei was unhappy. The listless and defeated expression on the fat man’s face was enough to awaken Xue Wei from his engrossed state of mind, which upset him so much that he ended up just cutting off his opponent’s head, ending the fight in an overwhelming fashion. Unfortunately, his mood did not improve afterwards.
Chapter 19 - Darkness
Sighing at the hopelessness of his now executed opponent, Xue Wei shook his head. A sneer adorned his lips and his mood was foul.
He reached a hand out and took his dead foe’s storage ring, but he did not bother to rummage through the man’s pockets or the spots in his clothes where one could hide valuables.
Without even waiting for anyone to declare him the winner, Xue Wei left the cage, not looking back at the corpse on the ground in the cell ever again.
As he exited, the audience unconsciously made a path for him and he quickly grouped up with his companions.
“Let’s go,” Xue Wei said. Neither Hei Gou nor Bai Tianyi cared about staying as they had already had their share of fun, so they nodded their heads and left the cave together with him.
“We got to be careful,” Bai Tianyi said after a while. “Those Tiger Triplet br
others might have given up on the outside, but I fear that they will not have given up in their hearts.”
“I know,” Xue Wei said, annoyed, “they are right behind us.” Bai Tianyi snickered. “So even you could sense them?” he joked, but Xue Wei ignored him.
Usually, it would be hard for Xue Wei to pinpoint someone of a stronger cultivation base than himself with his spiritual energy, but he had recognized it right away since he had already memorized their auras in their previous encounter.
“The brute is not much of a problem,” Xue Wei said casually while looking at the dark sky above him. They had left the underground battle area early so it was still night time.
“We can overpower him and kill him should it come to that, but the other one is difficult to deal with. I have no idea what he is thinking, nor do I have any idea what his exact plans are,” Bai Tianyi added agreeingly while rubbing his chin.
