68: Chapter 68 The Arena

"Welcome to the Arena."

A greeting robot slowly walked up to the group.

It had a massive electronic screen on its chest.

The lobby was unusually empty today, which made Leng Xiaoyue feel a surge of joy.

"Little Linglong, take out your Family emblem."

Leng Xiaoyue operated the screen quickly.

Before long, a slot suddenly appeared on the robot's chest.

The youth took out an emblem with a wolf's head and placed it inside.

The next moment, the robot's eyes projected a scanning beam.

A second later, its eyes flickered with green light.

"Generally speaking, one must pay Spirit Crystals to enter the Arena. However, we of the Royal Clan can waive the fee with our Family emblems, and there's no time limit either."

"But Sister Yan doesn't have a Family emblem..."

Ying Linglong mimicked the boy's actions and inserted her emblem, which bore the head of a cat.

"It's fine, one emblem can cover up to two people..."

"Beep beep! Number of people does not match! Beep beep!"

Before he could finish his sentence, the robot's eyes instantly lit up with red lights.

Leng Xiaoyue's smile froze on his face.

"Ahem, Young Master Leng, we've just changed the rules here. To save Arena resources and prevent people from freeloading, from now on, one Family emblem can only correspond to one person."

An old man wearing a Tang suit walked over and explained with a smile.

"Oh, my apologies, Elder Hua. May I ask when this rule was changed?"

"Just now."

"Ah... what?"

Xing Yaoyan, standing to the side, was also completely bewildered upon hearing this.

Surely this wasn't targeted at her...

She wasn't wrong, but the result was somewhat beyond her expectations.

"Hmm, this must be Miss Xing Yan. Hahaha... I've heard much about you. Seeing you today, your Aura is indeed extraordinary. This is a permanent membership card for our Arena; you may use this card to enter and exit the Arena as you please in the future."

"Oh! Right, Miss Xing Yan is likely here for the first time. Let this old man show you around."

As Elder Hua spoke, he pulled a black-gold card from his pocket and handed it to the still-shocked Xing Yaoyan.

The two Yao beside her were even more dumbfounded.

One must know that in the entire Kingdom of Myriad Demons, only the King possessed a permanent membership card for the Arena.

Xing Yaoyan didn't understand, but they certainly did.

"Heard much about her? Isn't Sister Yan visiting the Imperial City for the first time? And she said she came from some scattered Yao tribe in the Land of Destruction... Could she have another identity?"

Leng Xiaoyue's heart tightened.

"They say the current King of the Kingdom of Myriad Demons has reigned for a hundred years and still has no crown prince. Could she be..."

While Leng Xiaoyue was having an internal struggle, Elder Hua had already led the White Wolf Girl into a certain passage.

"Hey! Little Linglong, we..."

"Wow! As expected of my Sister Yan, she has so much prestige!"

Stars seemed to twinkle in Ying Linglong's eyes.

Without waiting for the boy to finish, she sped after them.

"Hey! You haven't successfully authenticated yet! If you go in like that, you'll be..."

"Meow! Ah!"

...

Xing Yaoyan fell into deep thought as she looked at the cat-eared loli whose hair had been electrocuted into an afro...

But seeing Ying Linglong's hesitant and embarrassed state, she didn't feel right asking too many questions.

"Miss Xing Yan, outside that window is our Arena's combat stage. It's usually not open to the public. It is only put into use during major festivals like the 'Demon God Festival'."

Following Elder Hua's finger, Xing Yaoyan saw a massive circular platform through the glass, spanning a full kilometer in radius.

Golden light flowed across the platform; it was likely some sort of Spirit Array used for maintenance.

"Wow~ It's so big..."

Xing Yaoyan's mouth hung open slightly.

Even through the glass, she could faintly feel a heavy sense of pressure radiating from the combat stage.

Wait... this one combat stage took up almost the entire area of the Arena, and it wasn't even open to the public normally...

So how did Leng Xiaoyue and the others improve their strength through life-and-death battles here?

As if sensing her confusion, Elder Hua continued his explanation:

"The Yao who come here normally use our Arena's teleportation Formation to go to the 'Beast Arena.' There, they fight against out-of-control Spirit Beasts, which are Vicious Beasts."

"Look, the teleportation room is just ahead..."

Xing Yaoyan quickly learned from Elder Hua's words that through the teleportation Formation, a Yao could randomly appear at any location within the Beast Arena.

As for the method of return, one was through the bracelet taken before teleporting; alternatively, if one sustained a fatal injury, the bracelet would automatically teleport them back.

"The Vicious Beasts inside range from the first to the fifth rank. Each Yao only has one chance to enter per month. Sa— Miss Xing Yan, do your best."

After explaining everything, the old man slowly strolled back.

He hummed something as he walked; Xing Yaoyan only faintly caught words like "pay raise" and "good show"...

"Sister Yan, when we go in later, we'll stand back-to-back in a triangular Formation. That way, we won't be insta-killed by a sneak attack after entering."

Being a veteran who had spent a lot of time in the Beast Arena, Leng Xiaoyue's advice was pure gold as soon as he spoke.

"Besides teleportation, our bracelets can also check the information of people in the Beast Arena. There's also a leaderboard. It ranks you by converting the number and rank of Vicious Beasts you kill into points. The leaderboard is divided into the Lesser Yao Rank and the Greater Yao Rank..."

While the youth explained the details of the Beast Arena, even the usually lively Ying Linglong held her breath and listened intently without interrupting.

"Sister Yan, you and Little Linglong need to register an account on your bracelets before going in. We also need to form a party through the bracelets, otherwise, we might not be teleported together."

With that, Leng Xiaoyue walked into the teleportation room and entered his account and password into a machine. Subsequently, a transparent bracelet was spat out by the machine.

Xing Yaoyan and Ying Linglong followed his instructions and operated the machines...

"'Your Daddy Is Here', 'Evil Kitty'..."

Leng Xiaoyue stared at the names of his two teammates on his bracelet and fell into deep thought. He felt his own name, "Heavenly Wolf Howling at the Moon," was completely out of place among these two.

"Then let's head in using the Formation we just discussed."

After quickly adjusting his mindset, Leng Xiaoyue led the two excited girls into the teleportation beam.

Xing Yaoyan felt a flash of light before her eyes and a slight discomfort in her head. The scene before her instantly turned into an apocalyptic landscape: cracked earth, dried-up riverbeds, and stands of withered trees.

She was currently standing on a rocky slope.

"Blegh~" The sound of the cat-eared loli dry-heaving came from beside her.

"Isn't this the Land of Destruction?" Xing Yaoyan exclaimed.

"That's right. This Beast Arena was built upon the Land of Destruction."

Leng Xiaoyue walked to her side.

"But don't worry, there's a Formation personally set up by the King for protection; no Star Beasts will get in... However, our luck is pretty good this time. The view here is open, and there are no Vicious Beasts."

Haha... didn't I just get in?...

Xing Yaoyan laughed awkwardly.

"Meow! Yan... Sister Yan, quick... come quick."

Ying Linglong, who was kneeling on the ground, stared fixedly down the rocky slope, her voice trembling.

"Hmm? What's wrong..."

Xing Yaoyan and Leng Xiaoyue hurried over, only to see the area below the slope packed with dense, black figures.

It was as if they had sensed they were being watched.

In the next moment, countless red dots lit up within the black shadows.

In Xing Yaoyan's vision, a sea of malicious blood-red instantly appeared below the rocky slope.

"Haha... is our luck really that good?"