Chapter 536: Demonic Man
From the outside, the black palace didn't appear all that large, but it was quite spacious on the inside with seven or eight giant rings that were enshrouded within transparent restrictions. Each ring was around 5,000 to 6,000 feet in size, and they were surrounded by raucous spectators.
Han Li stood at the entrance and swept his gaze over the surrounding area to find that fierce battles were taking place on all of the rings. Some were one-on-one battles between two demon beasts, some battles had more than two combatants, and some battles were taking place between demon beasts and cultivators.
Whenever any of the combatants sustained any injuries, the people gathered around the ring would immediately let loose thunderous cheers.
The raw brutality of these battles seemed to have ignited the bloodlust deep within the hearts of the spectators, and all of them were cheering with excitement.
At the center of the arena was a large stone plaque, upon which were inscribed the matchups for the ongoing and upcoming battles, as well as the odds on offer.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
He wasn't unfamiliar with these types of arenas as he had seen other similar places in the past, but he didn't enjoy this type of environment much.
He continued to scour through his surroundings, and he quickly caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd beside one of the rings.
Just like all of the spectators around her, Jin Tong was currently yelling loudly at the ring, and her face was brightly flushed.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he heaved a long sigh before making her way toward Jin Tong.
Jin Tong seemed to be oblivious to his approach, and she was yelling at the top of her lungs, looking as if she wanted to jump into the ring to fight herself.
"Jump! Use your tail... Agh, what an idiot!"
Han Li cast his gaze toward the ring in front of Jin Tong to find that there was a pair of ferocious beasts locked in battle inside.
One of them resembled a giant lizard that was over 100 feet in length with its entire body covered in dark purple scales. There were also several sharp hooked spikes on its tail, and its mouth was filled with fangs that resembled sharp swords, giving it a very menacing appearance.
The opposing beast resembled a lion that was 70 to 80 feet tall. It had a single horn on its head and an extremely fearsome physique, coupled with claws that resembled anchors.
A hint of intrigue appeared in Han Li's eyes at the sight of the two beasts.
According to his knowledge, both of the beasts in the ring were primordial demon beasts that had been captured from the primordial land. They were extremely vicious, but their demonic power had been sealed, so there was no danger to any of the spectators.
At this moment, the two beasts were locked in an intense battle, with blood splattered in all directions, while scales and tufts of fur were flying everywhere.
It was clear that Jin Tong was supporting the lizard-like beast, but it was gradually being forced onto the back foot by its opponent.
Right at this moment, the lizard let loose a low roar before darting back like lightning, then swept its spiked tail horizontally through the air, lashing out viciously at its pouncing opponent.
However, the horned beast possessed agility that belied its bulky appearance, and it quickly darted away to the side, allowing it to evade the lizard's sweeping tail.
Before the lizard had a chance to do anything, the horned beast bit down like lightning, sinking its fangs into the midsection of the lizard's tail before whipping its head ferociously to one side.
The lizard was swung through the air before crashing heavily into the restriction that encompassed the ring.
Immediately thereafter, the horned beast pounced forward, and its horn pierced viciously into the lizard's belly, pinning it into the restriction.
A vast volume of blood erupted out of the lizard's body as it let loose an agonized wail, and it was struggling with all its might, but unable to break free.
As it continued to bleed, the lizard's struggles quickly became feebler and feebler, until it finally fell completely still.
The horned beast took a step backward, then whipped its head to the side again to send the lizard flying through the air.
A loud thump rang out as the lizard fell onto the ground, and its limbs spasmed a few times before quickly falling still.
A wave of thunderous cheers instantly erupted around the ring, and the horned beast stood with its head held high and its bloodstained horn pointed directly upward, as if it were basking in the cheers.
Jin Tong stomped her foot into the ground in frustration upon seeing this.
Standing beside her was a purple-robed young man, and he chuckled, "Looks like I win this time."
"Don't get cocky just from winning one bet!" Jin Tong scoffed with a displeased pout.
Han Li was rather taken aback to see this.
Jin Tong had always been quite resentful toward cultivators other than himself, so it was very surprising for him to see her interacting with another cultivator like this.
With that in mind, he took a glance at the purple-robed young man, upon which his pupils immediately contracted slightly.
The man was giving off a True Immortal Stage aura, but with Han Li's immense spiritual sense, he was immediately able to tell that this was a disguise, and that his true cultivation base was at the mid-Golden Immortal Stage.
Furthermore, the aura that he was giving off indicated that he was a demonic cultivator.
"Jin Tong," Han Li called out.
"Oh, what a coincidence, Uncle!" Jin Tong exclaimed as she rushed over to Han Li.
The purple-robed man also turned around to discover Han Li approaching him and Jin Tong.
The man appeared to be in his twenties with a head of slightly curly white hair and a set of handsome features. His eyes were particularly bright, and his pupils were a peculiar light purple color.
"I had to come looking for you because you've been gone an entire day, and it's already nighttime!" Han Li grumbled.
Jin Tong scratched her head in a sheepish manner as she replied, "Is it already that late? I didn't notice. You should come and play with us, Uncle. It's really fun here!"
Han Li paid no heed to Jin Tong as he asked, "Who is this fellow daoist, Jin Tong?"
"He's a friend I just made, his name is Shi Chuankong," Jin Tong replied.
At this point, the purple-robed man had also made his way over to Han Li, and he cupped his fist in a salute as he said, "I am Shi Chuankong, a primordial hunter. May I ask your name?"
As he raised his hands to cup his fist in a salute, his sleeves slid down his forearms to reveal a layer of fine purple scales over his skin.
Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and he returned the salute as he returned the salute and replied, "My name is Li Feiyu."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fellow Daoist Li. Jin Tong and I have been getting along quite well, and we've been having some fun betting on the battles here. I hope I haven't caused any trouble for you," Shi Chuankong said.
"Jin Tong has always been quite naughty, and I don't know how to keep her in check, so I'm very grateful that you've been looking after her for me," Han Li replied with a smile.
"That's good to hear. By the way, I heard from Jin Tong that the two of you have only just arrived in Primordial Origin City and are planning to travel to the primordial land. I also plan to travel to the primordial land by ship in half a month, so how about we travel together?" Shi Chuankong proposed.
"Thank you for the kind offer, Fellow Daoist Shi, but we already have other plans," Han Li refused with a shake of his head.
"Is that so? What a pity," Shi Chuankong replied with a disappointed expression.
"We still have some other matters to attend to, so we'll be taking our leave now, Fellow Daoist Shi," Han Li declared.
"Surely there's no hurry to leave, Fellow Daoist Li. Why don't you place a few bets as well?" Shi Chuankong proposed.
Right at this moment, another wave of raucous cheers rang out from the nearby ring, and another battle had begun.
An excited look immediately appeared on Jin Tong's face upon hearing this, but Han Li shook his head as he replied, "Once again, thank you for the kind offer, Fellow Daoist, but I'm not interested in betting on these arena battles, so I'll leave you to it."
He then grabbed onto the reluctant Jin Tong and dragged her toward the entrance of the hall.
Shi Chuankong shook his head in disappointment before turning back to the ring again.
......
"Why were you with that man, Jin Tong?" Han Li asked after exiting the arena.
"He was constantly betting against me, so we started challenging each other," Jin Tong replied as she placed her hands on her hips.
"What do you think of him?" Han Li asked.
"He has a similar scent to yours, so I don't detest him like other cultivators," Jin Tong replied as she summoned a tanghulu and began nibbling on it.
"That's certainly a rare occurrence," Han Li mused with a contemplative expression.
"Is there a problem with him, Uncle?" Jin Tong asked.
"There's more to him than meets the eye, so make sure to be careful if you run into him again," Han Li cautioned.
"For sure! Next time I see him, I'll definitely be more careful so that I don't lose to him again!" Jin Tong replied with a firm nod.
Jin Tong was left feeling rather speechless by this response, and he took a glance back at the arena, then returned to the Faint Smoke Garden with Jin Tong.
The next day, he shopped for some more things that could be useful for the upcoming journey into the primordial land, then returned to the Faint Smoke Garden and remained in his room the majority of the time thereafter.
As a safety precaution, he didn't allow Jin Tong to continue wandering the city as she pleased.
During his infrequent outings, he wasn't able to gather much information about the primordial land, but he did hear some things about the sea of sand outside the city.
The sea of sand wasn't just a barren desert. Instead, some earth-attribute spirit materials could be found there, and there was also a type of special sand beast residing in the area, beasts that could be slain for their precious sand crystals, which were similar to demon cores.
Many of the cultivators in Primordial Origin City often ventured into the outskirts of the sea of sand to slay some smaller sand beasts for their sand crystals.
However, there had been some unrest in the sea of sand recently, resulting in the disappearances of many of the cultivators who had ventured into it, so people were much more apprehensive about the area.
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