254: Chapter 254 The Asura Bloodbath and the "Low-Key" Art of Killing

Shura City, Shura Blood Arena.

"Dong—!!"

As the dull sound of the war drums, seemingly from an ancient battlefield, fell, the blood-colored stage spanning ten thousand feet instantly boiled. The already thick blood Evil Qi in the air was ignited at this moment by the killing intent erupting from thousands of contestants simultaneously, turning into a visible red storm.

Shura Bloody Battle, First Round: Chaotic Melee Elimination.

The rules were simple and cruel: within this sealed Restriction, only the hundred survivors would advance to the next round.

No nonsense, no testing the waters.

"Kill!!!"

Hysterical roars echoed through the skies.

The center of the stage instantly turned into a meat grinder. Colorful lights of Magic Treasures, hideous and terrifying Gray Realm dharma idols, and the most primitive and savage physical collisions intertwined at this moment into a scroll of Hell.

Severed limbs flew, and blood splattered like rain. Within just ten breaths of the opening, hundreds of Early True Immortal Stage Cultivators with slightly weaker cultivation were slaughtered. They didn't even have time for their Nascent Souls to escape before being assimilated by the surrounding crazed Evil Qi or devoured on the spot by other contestants.

...

The southeast corner of the stage.

This was relatively on the edge, but there was still no shortage of killing.

Zhou Wannian (alias Li Feiyu), dressed in a green robe and wearing a bamboo hat, stood quietly in the corner. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, looking defenseless, but in reality, his muscles were tightened to the limit, and every nerve was capturing even the tiniest airflow fluctuations around him.

He was in no hurry to act.

In this chaotic battle of thousands, those who were too dazzling often died the fastest.

"That one over there! Looks like a pushover!"

Three Gray Immortals wearing uniform black armor, clearly traveling together, targeted the lone Zhou Wannian. They were warriors from a small tribe in the Shura Realm, all with Middle True Immortal cultivation, coordinating perfectly with hooked chains and bone shields in their hands.

"Go! Kill him! Divide his sha yuan crystals!"

The leading Gray Immortal gave a sinister laugh. The chain in his hand shot out like a venomous snake from a hole, carrying a foul-smelling black mist, aiming straight for Zhou Wannian's throat. The other two flanked him from the left and right, bone shields raised, ready to block Zhou Wannian's retreat at any time.

This set of combined attack tactics was extremely effective in a chaotic battle.

However.

Just as the chain was about to touch Zhou Wannian.

Zhou Wannian moved.

He did not sacrifice any Magic Treasures, nor did he perform any brilliant escape techniques. He merely tilted his body slightly, as if he had already predicted the chain's trajectory, letting the strike that was sure to draw blood brush past the tip of his nose.

Immediately after.

He extended his right hand hidden in his sleeve.

That hand was not clenched into a fist but was in the shape of a palm blade. The fingertips were not covered with any startling light, only a faint, almost invisible transparent ripple—this was the extreme restrained use of the Space Law.

"Pu."

A soft sound, like cutting through tofu.

Zhou Wannian brushed past and appeared behind the leading Gray Immortal.

The Gray Immortal was about to swing his chain again, only to find his vision suddenly spinning. Then he saw his own headless body geysering blood.

"Too slow."

Zhou Wannian did not stop. The moment he killed one person, using the forward momentum, his body weirdly folded in mid-air at an incredible angle.

That was the Soft Bone Secret Technique from the Great Five Elements Illusory World Art combined with space folding.

"What?!"

The Gray Immortal holding the shield on the left felt his vision blur. The green-robed figure actually passed directly through the blind spot of his bone shield defense and slammed an elbow into his chest.

"Bang!!!"

A dull sound of bone cracking rang out.

This elbow strike contained Zhou Wannian's terrifying physical strength of a Middle Taiyi Stage. Although he didn't use immortal spiritual power, that pure vibration force directly penetrated the bone shield and protective Evil Qi, shaking the Gray Immortal's heart into a pile of mush.

"Mon... monster!"

The only remaining Gray Immortal was scared out of his wits.

How was this a pushover? This was clearly an immemorial Vicious Beast in human skin!

He turned to flee, trying to blend into the crowd.

But Zhou Wannian just flicked his toe, and the ownerless bone knife on the ground flew up, turning into a gray stream of light.

"Chila!"

The bone knife accurately pierced through the fleeing Gray Immortal's heart from behind, pinning him to the Restriction at the edge of the stage.

From the encounter to killing all three, it was less than two breaths.

Zhou Wannian patted his sleeves and stood back in the corner as if nothing had happened. Several Cultivators nearby who had originally wanted to take advantage of the situation saw this scene, swallowed hard, and tactfully avoided this "ordinary-looking" green-robed bringer of death.

...

At the top of the stands, the VIP seats.

The view here was excellent, allowing one to see the slaughter below clearly.

Heavenly Court Special Envoy Gongshu Tian was leaning lazily on a white jade chair, lightly waving a folding fan, his eyes showing a high-and-mighty indifference.

"Boring."

Gongshu Tian yawned and casually tossed a peeled immortal fruit into his mouth.

"Realm Lord Luo, are these the elites of your Shura Realm? All of them are just reckless brutes who only know how to act blindly?"

As a Taiyi Jade Immortal Peak, he was used to battles in the Immortal Realm that often involved the Laws of heaven and earth and colorful Spells. He really couldn't muster any interest in this kind of mud-rolling physical combat.

"If Envoy Gongshu finds it boring, why not look at that corner?"

Realm Lord Luo Hou was expressionless. His ruby-like eyes didn't look down but stared at Gongshu Tian.

"Oh?"

Gongshu Tian followed Luo Hou's gaze and happened to see the scene where Zhou Wannian shattered the Gray Immortal's heart with an elbow.

"A bit interesting."

Gongshu Tian's eyebrows rose slightly, and his folding fan stopped.

"He didn't use much immortal spiritual power, relying purely on his Physical Body and... a mere smattering of the Space Law?"

"This person's physical strength has probably already touched the threshold of the Taiyi Stage. He's a good prospect for a Body Cultivator."

But that was all.

In Gongshu Tian's view, this kind of Body Cultivator who relied purely on physical strength might be troublesome among those of the same rank, but before a true master of Laws, they were just slightly harder sandbags.

"Is he that Li Feiyu?" Gongshu Tian asked.

"Not sure." Luo Hou shook his head. "Li Feiyu is skilled in the Great Five Elements Illusory World Art and proficient in the Time Law. Yet this person has only used his Physical Body and a bit of spatial techniques from beginning to end. Even his use of Evil Qi is extremely skillful. He looks more like some hidden Gray Realm ascetic."

"Humph, hiding his head and showing his tail."

Gongshu Tian gave a cold laugh.

"Regardless of whether he is or not, as long as he wants to get that cross-realm teleportation slot, he will show his fox tail sooner or later."

"Pass down the order."

Gongshu Tian calmly instructed the void behind him.

"In the next round, let 'Blood Puppet' test him. I want to see his limit."

"Yes."

In the void, a shadow quietly retreated.

...

On the stage, the slaughter continued.

An hour had passed.

On the stage that originally had thousands, there were now fewer than five hundred people still standing.

The bodies piled on the ground were already half a person high, and the flowing blood gathered into a river, flowing along the patterns of the stage toward a huge Formation eye in the center.

Zhou Wannian still guarded his corner.

At this moment, he was holding a black heavy sword he had picked up from the ground (the previous bone knife had already been chipped). He was covered in blood from who knows whom (actually, he had deliberately rubbed it on himself), looking quite disheveled, even panting heavily as if his physical strength was greatly exhausted.

"Acting is also a part of one's strength."

Zhou Wannian muttered to himself in his heart.

He knew very well that Gongshu Tian and Luo Hou were watching from above. If he performed too easily, he would immediately become a target for everyone.

"Tie Zhu, tally the remaining number of people."

"Current survivors: 482. According to the rules, it must be reduced to 100 people. It's expected that another high-intensity purge will take place."

"Hmm?"

Just then, Zhou Wannian suddenly felt the stage beneath his feet vibrate.

"Roar—!!"

In the center of the stage, those Formation eyes that had swallowed a large amount of blood suddenly opened.

It was not the signal for the end.

But... a beast tide!

To speed up the elimination process, Shura City actually released hundreds of hungry Gray Realm Vicious Beasts into the chaotic battle!

Each of these Vicious Beasts had the strength of the Late True Immortal Stage, and because they were stimulated by drugs, they were in an absolute state of frenzy, biting anyone they saw.

"Ah!!"

Screams instantly rose one after another.

The contestants who were still killing each other were instantly scattered by the beast tide.

An [Iron-armored Boar], ten zhang long and covered in spikes, snorted and charged toward the corner where Zhou Wannian was. Its tusks were hung with shredded meat, clearly having just eaten some unlucky fellow.

"The opportunity has come."

A sharp light flashed in Zhou Wannian's eyes.

This was an excellent cover.

In the chaotic beast tide, Divine Sense investigation would be greatly interfered with, making it the perfect time for him to use some "little tricks."

"Sou!"

Zhou Wannian did not retreat but advanced, charging toward the boar.

At the moment they were about to collide.

"Mantra · Instant."

The Time Law within his body trembled slightly, acting only upon himself.

In that instant, his speed was incredibly fast.

In the eyes of others, it looked like he was sent flying by the boar. But in reality, at the moment of contact, he used time acceleration to circle to the boar's belly—its only weak point.

"Puchi!"

The black heavy sword in his hand (which actually had a trace of the xuantian spirit slaying sword's Sword Intent secretly attached) accurately pierced the boar's heart.

"Boom!"

Using the boar's forward momentum, Zhou Wannian slid past, bringing out a shower of blood.

The boar crashed to the ground, twitched twice, and then lay still.

Zhou Wannian took the opportunity to roll under the boar's carcass, using the massive beast corpse as cover to quickly observe his surroundings.

By now, the field had turned into a complete mess.

Most people were being hunted by the Vicious Beasts, with only a few experts still dealing with them calmly.

The most eye-catching among them was a red-haired man in the center of the stage.

He was shirtless, carrying a huge blood-colored gourd on his back. He didn't even deign to dodge; any Vicious Beast that approached him would have its flesh and blood instantly sucked dry by a stream of blood sand from his gourd, turning into a dried corpse.

Blood Weeping Tribe—Xue Di Zi (Half-step Taiyi).

"He's a formidable opponent."

Zhou Wannian secretly noted down the name.

"However..."

Zhou Wannian turned his gaze in another direction.

There, a young man in white holding a folding fan was strolling leisurely through the beast tide. He didn't strike, but there seemed to be an invisible force field around him, causing all the Vicious Beasts that lunged at him to mysteriously slide away three zhang away.

Space Law?

Zhou Wannian's eyes narrowed slightly.

"No, it's some kind of illusion that can distort perception."

This person should be one of the three Puppets brought by Gongshu Tian that Ghost Hand had mentioned earlier.

"It seems the Heavenly Court has really invested heavily this time."

...

Half an hour later.

The beast tide finally subsided.

These Vicious Beasts were either killed or, having eaten their fill, were teleported away by the Formation.

On the stage, those still standing were sparse, exactly around a hundred people.

The air was filled with a nauseating smell of blood, and the ground was so slippery that it was impossible to stand firmly.

"Dong—!!"

The war drums sounded again.

"First round, end!"

The voice of the presiding Elder sounded like heavenly music, making the remaining survivors breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhou Wannian pushed aside the carcass of a Vicious Beast pressing down on him and stood up shakily. He leaned on the already chipped heavy sword and wiped the blood from his face, revealing a pair of eyes that looked somewhat "dull" and "fatigued."

"Finally... I survived."

He pretended to pant heavily, even coughing up two mouthfuls of blood.

"I give this acting a ten."

In his mind, Tie Zhu roasted him mercilessly.

"Host's heartbeat is steady, immortal spiritual power is at 98%, and the Physical Body is undamaged. That mouthful of blood just now was congested blood you forced out, which helps with metabolism."

Zhou Wannian ignored the System's roasting; he felt several powerful Divine Senses scanning the field.

It was Gongshu Tian and Luo Hou.

Those Divine Senses lingered on him for a moment, seemingly confirming his status. Seeing his weak aura and body covered in injuries, they quickly moved away, turning their attention to the red-haired man, Xue Di Zi.

"Very good."

Zhou Wannian sneered in his heart.

"Despise me, ignore me."

"When the finals come..."

"I will let you know what a surprise is."

...

Post-match rest area, underground stone room.

The hundred people who advanced were arranged in independent stone rooms to recover, waiting for tomorrow's second round—group duels.

Upon entering the stone room, Zhou Wannian immediately set up three layers of isolation Restrictions.

"Hu..."

He let out a long breath, and the listless aura on him instantly dissipated, replaced by a sharp edge.

"That Xue Di Zi Cultivates the Law of Blood; he has a home-field advantage here in Shura City."

"That white-clothed illusionist should be a hidden pawn of the Heavenly Court."

"And there's another guy hiding in the shadows..."

Zhou Wannian recalled a moment during the chaotic battle when he sensed an extremely cold killing intent. That person hadn't acted, but the corpses around him all had a single red dot on their foreheads, clearly a terrifying assassin.

"They're all tough nuts to crack."

Zhou Wannian sat cross-legged and took out the [void-splitting ruler] (an upgraded version of the heaven measuring ruler), which had already been upgraded to a half-step Xuantian Treasure.

"However, the stronger, the better."

"The Shura Bloody Battle's championship reward, 'time crystal sand,' is the key material for cultivating the fourth layer of the Great Five Elements Illusory World Art. No matter who the opponent is..."

A flash of golden time radiance passed through Zhou Wannian's eyes.

"This item, I will definitely have it."

He gently stroked the void-splitting ruler; the ruler's silver light flowed, resonating with the true word treasure wheel inside him.

"In tomorrow's battle, I will no longer hide my skills."

"Since Gongshu Tian wants to see my limit."

"Then I will... show him just a little bit."