Chapter 863: No More Fighting

In the Xuan Dou Arena, middle section of the stands.

On an independent VIP seat, two long stone benches covered with animal skins were placed, and on the stone table in front were two exaggeratedly large stone cups filled with fresh blood from some unknown exotic beast, emitting a warm, fishy-sweet scent.

On one of the stone benches sat a dark-faced, burly man, beside whom leaned a woman with a graceful figure but ordinary looks, massaging his arm with her delicate hands.

Opposite him sat a man with a greenish-black complexion, clad in white bone armor, lean in build, with gray-white scales on his face. Three claw marks from a beast's slash ran across half his cheek, giving his features a somewhat ferocious and sinister look.

The greenish-black man's eyes fixed on the woman's alluring figure, sliding from her neck along her delicate curves down to her firm buttocks, then to her long, fair legs, without concealing the greed in his gaze.

"Huben, how about we raise the stakes?" the burly man asked with a smile, ignoring this.

"Chenyang, have you lost your mind lately? Betting on that frail human, and now you want to raise the stakes?" the scarred man asked, slightly surprised.

"You wouldn't understand—the bigger the bet, the bigger the win. It's all about the thrill," said Chenyang, the burly man, laughing nonchalantly.

"Fine, if someone's eager to throw money away, I won't refuse. Tell me, what of mine are you after this time?" Huben grinned.

"How about that scale-spined beast's core the city lord rewarded you last time?" Chenyang smiled.

Huben hesitated at this, his gaze involuntarily shifting to the human figure in the arena, a flicker of doubt and unease stirring within him.

He frowned briefly, then thought he was overthinking it. Today's opponent for that human was a tiger-scale beast with a lifespan of over three thousand five hundred years.

After all, survival in the Scale-Empty Realm was extremely harsh, facing not only battles among their own kind but also hunts by the exiled prisoners. Most exotic beasts were lucky to live past a thousand years.

Those that lived beyond three thousand five hundred years, aside from good fortune, relied on true strength.

"Alright, I'll take that bet. But if I win, this beauty of yours will have to serve under my command," Huben said loudly, his eyes lingering on the woman's buttocks beside Chenyang, as if wanting to carve off a few ounces of flesh.

"It's a deal," Chenyang said, deliberately patting the woman's buttock lightly, laughing.

The woman let out a coquettish laugh, turning her head to look at Huben, her eyes full of allure, adding a unique charm to her otherwise plain features, which stirred a heat in him.

"Roar..."

Just then, a violent roar suddenly erupted from the Xuan Dou Arena.

Everyone's gaze was immediately drawn over.

A fierce beast, over ten zhang in size, shaped like a massive striped tiger but covered in black and white scales, suddenly burst out of the opened cage.

Its mouth was filled with jagged, interlocking teeth that gleamed coldly, with two protruding fangs as sharp and long as barbed spears. As it raised its head high and roared at the sky, the cry was filled with fury and hatred.

The originally noisy and chaotic Mystic Combat Arena instantly fell silent at its wild roar, but then erupted into a thunderous wave of frenzied cheers.

"Kill, kill, kill..."

"Bite him to death! Bite him to death!"

...

Excited and frantic shouts came from all directions, and the atmosphere of the entire Mystic Combat Arena grew restless.

Han Li stood in the center of the arena, as the performer of this grand and bloody spectacle, but felt no enthusiasm at all.

He stared coldly at the beast opposite him, his heart filled with either indifference or anger. Though no aura emanated from his body, he gave off a strange and oppressive feeling.

After roaring with its head raised for a while, the tiger-scaled beast finally lowered its head and looked at the tiny human before it.

At that glance, the beast, whose whiskers were as hard as steel needles, suddenly stiffened slightly. Its lips twitched, causing its whiskers to quiver, and it let out a low, rumbling growl.

Its two thick front claws dug into the ground, and its body suddenly shot forward with extreme speed.

In an instant, the tiger-scaled beast's front claws were already upon Han Li.

Seeing this, Han Li immediately stepped back, his body flipping backward sharply. All thirty-eight acupoints on his body lit up almost simultaneously. As he flipped over, he kicked upward with one foot toward the beast's jaw.

A heavy thud was heard.

The tiger-scaled beast's massive body suddenly halted its forward charge, its head jerking backward, brought to a stop by Han Li's kick.

A gasp arose from the stands of the Mystic Combat Arena. Everyone had expected that the human, without armor or weapons, would be killed instantly by the beast, but instead, this strange scene unfolded.

In the VIP seats, Hu Ben was also somewhat startled. He leaned forward slightly, staring intently at the scene.

At that moment, the tiger-scaled beast, its head thrown back by the kick, suddenly slammed its head downward like a massive iron hammer, crashing into the ground.

A thunderous boom!

The Xuan Dou Arena floor shattered, sand and gravel splashing up as dust spread out.

Han Li's figure was also swallowed up, no longer visible.

A roar rang out, and the Tiger Scale Beast's massive form burst forth from the dust, charging straight ahead, with one of its huge fangs pressed firmly against a figure—naturally, Han Li.

Han Li's hands gripped the beast's fang tightly, his feet planted one in front of the other, but he was still pushed back by the immensely strong creature, his feet plowing two deep furrows in the ground until he slammed into a rock wall on one side.

The rock wall was made of some unknown material; Han Li's back felt a slight coolness against it, yet it was extremely solid.

Han Li's chest heaved violently, and he spat out a mouthful of stale air. He suddenly pressed his hands downward, channeling the tremendous force of the Tiger Scale Beast's charge into the ground.

With a sharp clang, the beast's fang, guided by Han Li, plunged deep into the earth.

The Tiger Scale Beast's fang stuck in the ground; it struggled violently but could not pull it out, its entire head seemingly nailed to the ground.

Han Li seized the opportunity to leap into the air, stepping on the beast's nose and kicking off, nimbly jumping onto its head.

The Tiger Scale Beast shook its head violently, trying to break free.

But Han Li bent down slightly and suddenly raised a fist, striking down heavily on the beast's head.

With a thunderous boom,

an invisible shockwave exploded from the Tiger Scale Beast's head, sweeping in all directions.

The beast's head, which had just lifted slightly, was slammed down again, its two fangs driven even deeper into the ground.

Boom,

after one punch, another followed.

Han Li did not relax after gaining control of the beast; instead, he rained down punch after punch.

Boom, boom, boom—

the Tiger Scale Beast's head shook repeatedly, the ground rocks shattered and split, and streams of crimson blood trickled out, forming several rivulets of blood.

The stands of the Xuan Dou Arena fell silent; everyone was stunned. How much time had passed? A quarter hour? Half a quarter hour?

It seemed as if less than the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, this mere human had actually beaten the Tiger Scale Beast to the ground.

After a dozen or so consecutive punches, the Tiger Scale Beast, which had still been arching its back, now lay prostrate, its body trembling slightly but no longer struggling violently, as if its life force was barely hanging on.

Finally, Han Li stopped, slowly straightened up, and swept his gaze across the stands, eventually fixing it on the VIP box where Chen Yang was seated, his eyes icy cold, as if looking at a dead man.

His fists were already a bloody mess, whether from his own blood or from the beast's, drops of blood trickled from his knuckles, splashing onto the Tiger Scale Beast and forming small blossoms of red.

After a moment of silence in the Xuan Dou Arena, a burst of cheers erupted, but this time the cheers were all for Han Li.

“Li Feiyu, Li Feiyu, Li Feiyu…”

“He won, he won… I made money, I made money…” The horned man who had bet on Han Li stood up excitedly, shouting repeatedly.

“This human scum seems a bit unusual…” Hu Ben looked at Han Li, spat lightly, and cursed.

Chen Yang, while fondling the smooth jade-like leg of the woman in his arms, just smiled without speaking.

Hu Ben, seeing this, pondered for a moment, caught on, and frowned, “Chen, tell me honestly, did you know something beforehand?”

“Heh, what could I know? Once thrown into the Xuan Dou Arena, it’s a matter of life and death; we all bet on our judgment and luck. Besides, the outcome isn’t decided yet,” Chen Yang said with a lazy chuckle.

As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred in the arena!

“Roar…”

After a狂暴 roar, the black and white scales of the Tiger Scale Beast flipped up layer by layer, standing erect like countless sharp blades. Han Li, who had been standing on its head, leaped aside and jumped down.

In the Xuan Dou Arena, the Tiger Scale Beast, which had been beaten to the ground and seemed barely alive, now rolled its eyes upward, its black pupils turning up completely, revealing a second pair of pupils in the whites of its eyes, which had turned a cyan-purple color.

“This is… a Double-Pupil Scale Beast?”

Catching sight of this, Chen Yang’s expression suddenly changed. Ignoring the seductive woman still clinging to him, he pushed her aside and stood up.

“Haha… a Double-Pupil Scale Beast, that’s a rare mutant species. Its strength is no longer that of a Yellow-rank Scale Beast. It seems Captain Chen has misjudged today,” Hu Ben now laughed triumphantly.

“A mutated Double-Pupil Tiger Scale Beast, its strength comparable to a Xuan-rank Scale Beast. This Xuan Dou cannot continue…” Chen Yang, however, paid no attention to his bet with Hu Ben, his expression grave.

With that, he was about to leave the VIP box and go down to the management office of the Xuan Dou Arena.

“Brother Chen, where are you going?” Hu Ben, seeing this, frowned and blocked his way.