Chapter 209.1: Lu Changsheng Slays Hong Shan with a Flip of His Palm! The Battle Arena Erupts! A New King of the Battle Arena Is Born! (I)
Lu Changsheng walked down from the platform, and Wang Cheng hurried over with his spirit stones at once. "Brother Lu, here are your winnings along with your wager."
Lu Changsheng took the spirit stones from Wang Cheng's hands—64,860 in total. It was a satisfactory haul indeed. However, had Lu Changsheng not dominated every single fight, defeating his opponents with unstoppable force, his odds would never have fallen so low, and his spirit stones would long since have topped a hundred thousand.
Still, even more than sixty thousand stones was a staggering figure. With that many spirit stones, he could buy six drops of Heavenly Spirit Water outright.
The seven grand elders of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect roamed the Sacred Earth for years on end, and they only managed to gather eight drops of Heavenly Spirit Water.
Lu Changsheng, on the other hand, had only just arrived in the Sacred Earth, and just by winning ten fights in the arena, even setting aside the ten thousand spirit stones for that one drop of Heavenly Spirit Water, he had earned more than fifty thousand. With this, he had already proven himself to be far more efficient than the grand elders of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect.
In any case, Lu Changsheng was in no rush to spend his spirit stones all on Heavenly Spirit Water. He needed to accumulate spirit stones, enough to buy a sufficient supply of Heavenly Spirit Water in one go.
He had been waiting for an opportunity all along, a chance to gain a large amount of spirit stones through betting. And now, that chance had come: he would challenge the King of the Battle Arena.
From what Lu Changsheng understood, every challenge for the title of King of the Battle Arena drew wagers in the hundreds of thousands of spirit stones. Certain duels had reached as much as a full million.
That was the true main event of the arena. If someone challenged the King, the King was not allowed to refuse. Declining a challenge meant forfeiting the title and being barred from fighting in the arena ever again.
After handing over the spirit stones, Wang Cheng did not hurry off but stood to one side, as though quietly waiting for something. Lu Changsheng knew well enough what he was waiting for. He had won ten in a row, and by the arena's rules he was now qualified to challenge the King of the Battle Arena.
The arena had been in something of a slump as of late. For more than a full year, no supreme Dao Foundation cultivator or Dao Lord had managed ten straight wins; Lu Changsheng was the one to finally break that period of stagnation.
The arena had clearly hoped for this outcome, making sure that both Lu Changsheng and Dao Lord Dong Xu would advance to their ninth match. Regardless of who won, the arena would have set up a worthy main event for the title of King of the Battle Arena.
"Wang Cheng, who's the current King?" Lu Changsheng suddenly asked.
"Brother Lu, the current King of the Battle Arena is none other than Hong Shang! He's no ordinary figure. Here are some of his publicly known records. Have a look, Brother Lu."
Wang Cheng handed Lu Changsheng a dossier, clearly prepared in advance.
Lu Changsheng studied it carefully, slightly taken aback that this kind of information was openly available.
Hong Shan was a supreme Dao Foundation martial artist, and a rogue cultivator. He had risen from the dregs of the Sacred Earth, climbing step by step to a supreme Dao Foundation cultivator.
His cultivation had been rather sluggish at first, yet the more his advance, the faster his progress became. In the end, Hong Shan managed to comprehend nine Principles.
The only pity was that when he first imprinted his Principle Seeds, he had imprinted a Space Principle Seed among them, making for ten seeds in total. Unfortunately, the Space Principle proved to be forever beyond his comprehension. As a result, Hong Shan lost all hope of condensing a divine ability and reaching the Divine Ability Realm.
However, Hong Shan did not give up. He threw himself into earning spirit stones, buying all manner of peculiar items in his quest to master the Space Principle.
He entered the Battle Arena, won match after match with unstoppable force, challenged the reigning King and triumphed. He then accepted five further challenges in succession, winning every one.
Now, he had a reputation of being extremely powerful. Some even believed that no fighter at the Dao Foundation or Foundation Establishment Realm could match him.
Lu Changsheng focused mainly on the state of Hong Shan's Principles and divine techniques. Hong Shan had devised a supreme compound divine technique drawing on all nine Principles, which meant its power had to be earth-shattering.
Beyond that he wielded an array of techniques devised from five, six, seven, and eight Principles. With them all working in concert, he stood unmatched and seemingly invincible. Several fighters with ten consecutive wins had not even dared to challenge him.
"If I challenge Hong Shan, I imagine the odds would be quite high?" Lu Changsheng suddenly asked.
Wang Cheng was slightly taken aback. He's challenging Hong Shan, and his main concern is the odds, not how to actually defeat Hong Shan? This man really cares more for spirit stones than for his life.
Regardless, Wang Cheng shook off his surprise and nodded. "Indeed. Hong Shan is extremely strong. Your performance has been impressive, Brother Lu, but as things stand, your chances against Hong Shan don't look good, so your odds would certainly be high."
Lu Changsheng turned it over in his mind. If the odds were high enough, then all was settled.
"Wang Cheng, go and make the arrangements. I am challenging Hong Shan, the King of the Battle Arena.:
"Are you sure about this? Brother Lu, perhaps you should think it over before you make the decision?" Wang Cheng advised, feeling that such fortune might be too good to be true.
At this point, Wang Cheng saw Lu Changsheng as one of his fighters. Within the arena, he personally handled everything concerning Lu Changsheng. If Lu Changsheng actually went ahead with his challenge, regardless of the fight's outcome, Wang Cheng's standing in the arena would rise tremendously for having personally arranged a fight for the title of King of the Battle Arena.
Indeed, the potential benefits for Wang Cheng were enormous. And of course, if Lu Changsheng actually won, Wang Cheng's position would rise higher still. In a way, the two of them were bound in this potential fortune: if one flourished, so did the other.
"I've already thought it over. My decision is final," Lu Changsheng said firmly.
"Very well. I shall make the arrangements at once. Do remember that challenging the King for his crown is no small matter. The arena must properly publicize this match beforehand. The wider word spreads, the more it benefits you. Building up this main event shall take at least a month."
Lu Changsheng nodded. A month was nothing to him. He would have been fine with waiting even five months. I wonder how many spirit stones could this match draw with proper publicity? Hundreds of thousands? Maybe even more than a million?
The more that was wagered, the greater Lu Changsheng's haul would become. Of course, he could not afford to lose. Spirit stones were of no use to a dead man.
At any rate, Lu Changsheng rose and left the arena. He would not spend the month waiting there. Besides, this was a huge matter, and he felt that he should seek the advice of True One Cui Xuan.
He returned to the Vast Immortal Square. Business there had been brisk recently, with a steady stream of visitors coming and going. Lu Changsheng went straight to Cui Xuan.
"Greetings, True One Cui Xuan," Lu Changsheng said with a bow.
"Lu Changsheng, what brings you here?" True One Cui Xuan asked without even opening his eyes.
"Some time ago I joined the Battle Arena. I've now won ten matches in a row and earned the right to challenge the King of the Battle Arena. I'd like to know all I can about him, in as much detail as possible."
True One Cui Xuan's eyes snapped open, a strange flicker passing through them.
"Did you just say you've earned the right to challenge the King of the Battle Arena?" There was plain astonishment in his gaze.
Lu Changsheng had asked him about the arena before, so naturally Cui Xuan had anticipated that he might join it. However, he had never imagined that Lu Changsheng would win ten consecutive fights. After all, he knew well how brutal the arena could be.
Even winning three fights was incredibly difficult, with many Supreme Dao Foundation dying in their third match. And yet, Lu Changsheng had quietly racked up ten victories, and now he was about to challenge the King himself.
Incredible...
It was at this moment that True One Cui Xuan was beginning to understand why the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect had sent a Dao Foundation martial artist like Lu Changsheng to the Sacred Earth.
Indeed, Lu Changsheng was no ordinary man.
"If you want to gather intel on Hong Shan, the Vast Immortal Square holds only what's openly known on the surface," True One Cui Xuan said in a low voice. "Actually, that's about all there is on Hong Shan, and everyone knows it. Even so, Hong Shan has won every challenge he's accepted. You should understand well enough what that means."
Lu Changsheng certainly did. He's been holding his crown through genuine strength.
"If I had enough spirit stones, where would be the safest place to buy Heavenly Spirit Water?"
"The Heavenly Sacred Merchant Association, of course," said Cui Xuan. "The association is backed by the Martial Saints of Heavenly Sacred City, and its supply of Heavenly Spirit Water is vast. You can buy as much as you like."
Lu Changsheng nodded and rose. As he turned to leave, he took a deep breath. "True One Cui Xuan, I shall be fighting Hong Shan a month from now. If you have faith in me, perhaps you might consider placing a bet."
It was a friendly tip, his way of repaying kindness with kindness. True One Cui Xuan had helped him in the beginning, and now Lu Changsheng was giving True One Cui Xuan a chance to make a fortune.
Having said all he wanted to say, Lu Changsheng left.
Comments