The clamor of the spectators diminished into a gentle lull within a matter of moments, the thousands of people seated within the stadium staring towards the prepared stage of loose stand at the center.
Coaxed by the numerous people around her focusing their gaze towards the basin of sand, the young girl eventually followed suit with a light sigh.
The atmosphere of the Heaven and Earth Arena briefly tensed, before calming in a ruthless plunge.
From one of the ends of the arena, an elderly man dressed in billowing golden robes stepped forth.
Taking long strides, the elder had crossed half of the arena in an eye’s blink, appearing at the center of the basin of sand before many of the spectators could notice it.
Observing the movement of the old man, An Fei’s eyes couldn’t help but slightly narrow in surprise.
To the mortal spectators besides her, the elderly man’s movements appeared no different than teleportation.
The young girl, on the other hand, clearly noticed that the elder’s feet moved in a completely linear pattern of movement, the tip of one foot properly lined with the heel of the other, a faint violet light pulsing and expanding at the contact.
WHOOSH!
The spectators erupted into a long cry of cheering at the old man’s appearance, the resounding din causing the entire structure to tremble from the vocal wrath of the thousands of earnestly beating hearts and souls.
The crystal ball above their hands reflected a giddy pulse of scarlet that resonated with the cries and stamps of the spectators, forming an unusually excitatory atmosphere.
The elderly man besides An Fei released a heavy sigh of exasperation and emotion, directing a glance towards the young girl before focusing onto the old man standing at the center of the arena.
The elder within the basin of sand stamped his feet, the shockwave quelling the boiling emotions of the spectators.
“Everyone!”
The powerful yet hoarse voice boomed across the entire Heaven and Earth Arena, as though ringing directly into participants’ ears.
An Fei clapped her hands over her ears in a panic, only to begrudgingly lower them after noticing that nobody else appeared to be relatively surprised.
Caw!
The little raven hummed with a tinge of disgust, ruffling its wings in its annoyance.
“The first match of the Heaven and Earth Arena shall begin now!” the elder spoke with a clear and unhesitant voice.
“The rules of the match shall, by tradition, be explained before the beginning of each match. Now, everyone, welcome the two participants of the first duel!”
Contrary to expectation, the spectators did not release an energetic cry of support, instead falling into an eerie silence.
The young girl observed with raised eyebrows as two socketed portions of the wall encircling the area retracted, revealing pathways of adequate size for a tall challenger to pass through with ease.
Soon, two pairs of footsteps lightly pounded onto the loose sand ground of the arena, one light and the other heavy.
The two participants of the first duel was as the three cultivators had discussed prior to the event, Meng Peng and Yan Xiao.
As they stepped forth, the spectators merely watched with bated breath.
Meng Peng was a rather tall youth exceeding a hundred and eighty centimeters in height, with a bulky and powerful stature and decorated with a taut and handsome countenance.
Yan Xiao was of a more slender, thinner build, without any obvious inclination of having undergone intensive muscular training.
Both were dressed in a prepared combat attire of a uniform of black fabric, with a snakeskin belt with three golden stars nailed to the side.
Under the elderly man’s directions, the two stepped forward until they stood at a distance of three meters apart from the other, both staring at their opponent with equally mixed countenances of apprehension and distaste.
The elderly man raised his hands to his sides, gesturing for the spectators to pay attention. With a simple flourish, the old man released a dull copper light from his body, triggering a wave of energetic cheers and worship from the sea of people.
“Everyone, the rules of the Heaven and Earth Arena shall be professed at this moment,” the old man cried with his voice enhanced by spiritual essence.
“The Heaven and Earth Arena hosts duels of life and death between two individual participants, with the only prerequisites of a conclusion constituting the ultimate defeat of one participant, or the declaration of surrender. Beyond the state of defeat, neither side may issue another strike towards their foe; such an act will not be tolerated and is punishable by death under the jurisdiction of the Heaven and Earth Committee!”
The elderly man paused, taking a deep breath as his hand shot to rest on the two youths’ shoulders, a powerful impulse of force preventing neither Meng Peng or Yan Xiao to breathe a single word of dissent.
“Meng Peng and Yan Xiao are today’s first participants; Meng Peng, the challenger, is of the third pillar of the Body Tempering Realm, whilst Yan Xiao is of the first pillar,” the elder explained with a curt and simple tone.
“The grudge between the two participants is an act that defiles the arrangement between man and woman! Abusing his heightened strength, Meng Peng seized the betrothed of Yan Xiao and committed barbaric acts of rape and battery, thus triggering this duel!”
“Meng Peng, you should be sentenced to death!”
“Meng Peng, the Bone Spirit Town doesn’t accept you even if you win this duel!”
“Meng Peng, you scourge!”
The spectators jeered with an astonishing wrathful voice, dominating the entire atmosphere of the Heaven and Earth Arena to be bathed with a vicious and bloodthirsty mood.
The elder besides An Fei revealed a sardonic smirk, tapping his cane onto the ground with a disheartened sigh.
“The match shall begin… now!”
A loud popping noise struck throughout the stadium, and the old man retreated from the basin of sand.
No longer restrained by the imposing pressure of the Heaven and Earth elder’s aura, the two youths glared at the other, prowling around in a full circle as though they were bloodied wolves.
“Yargh!”
The youth named Yan Xiao struck first, his right fist lashing out forwards towards Meng Peng’s chest with a piercing roar.
Meng Peng revealed a disdainful sneer, stepping forward with his left foot before driving forth his entire body’s momentum into his right fist to produce an intense collision.
The thin youth suddenly relaxed the grip of his fist, the fingers opened up as though the blooming petals of a budding flower. Just as his palm intercepted Meng Peng’s fist, Yan Xiao clamped down onto the bulky youth’s fingerbones, his nails digging heavily into the other’s skin.
“Yan Xiao, you brat!” Meng Peng roared with pain, his left fist arcing to connect with the thin youth’s torso.
“You dare injure this Father! See how I deal with you!”
With a yelp of pain, Yan Xiao was hurled backwards with great force, flying for several meters before colliding onto the sand ground with a fierce grunt.
The thin youth blearily attempted to rebalance his trembling body, discovering the blurred figure of a bulky man standing mere inches from his body.
Thud!
Fist after fist shattered onto Yan Xiao’s torso, sides, and back, causing hollow sounds to reverberate throughout the silent spectator stands of the stadium.
Accompanied among several of the impacts were pained cries, with flecks of scarlet dying the golden grains of dry sand.
“This… is simply a brutal melee between two fighters…”
An Fei furrowed her brows in disgust, her interest of observing the Heaven and Earth Arena having been eradicated by the blood seeping from Yan Xiao’s uniform and staining the sand with a coat of red.
The young girl glanced around for an opening to slip through, only to discover a sea of iron countenances eagerly absorbing the brutal scene before them with rapture, awe, and enjoyment.
Savages!
The young girl groaned in her heart, resigning herself to watch Yan Xiao be tossed around as though a beating rag.
Puff!
The thin youth rolled backwards in the sand to evade Meng Peng’s fist, vomiting a mouthful of blood in the process.
Yan Xiao glared at the well-built and muscular frame of the youth across from him, his trembling fingers clenching into a tight fist.
He had avoided receiving any strikes to his vital areas and his countenance, strictly to land a single hit!
“Oh? Yan Xiao, you brat, you want to try something against this Father?”
Meng Peng sneered, the muscles of his right arm bulging as the bulky youth summoned even more of his physical strength to flood his body.
With a powerful roar, his fist sped towards Yan Xiao’s thinned countenance, seeking to thoroughly maim the pesky mosquito.
In response, a slender, thinner fist soared towards Meng Peng’s chest, escaping detection from many simply due to the unimpressive presence and demeanor of the strike compared to the latter’s physical prowess.
Unknown to many, the thin fist was coated with a paper-thin barrier of scarlet light, an intense malevolent desired soaked within the filament of scarlet.
The young girl’s eyes suddenly twitched, causing her to blink in irritation.
Boom!
What struck was not a bulky fist propelled by an immense might, but a sledgehammer towards a person’s heart.
When the spectator’s eyes refocused from the sudden auditory shock, they noticed a ring of blood surrounding the two youths fighting in the basin of sand, and a thin arm stabbing through a bulky chest as though it were nothing but thin leather.
