Chapter 209.2: Lu Changsheng Slays Hong Shan with a Flip of His Palm! The Battle Arena Erupts! A New King of the Battle Arena Is Born! (II)
Such confidence... He hasn't even challenged Hong Shan, and yet he speaks as if he's already won? What kind of strength does he have that he's so sure of himself?
True One Cui Xuan narrowed his eyes, his heart genuinely stirred. He, too, was short on spirit stones. The Vast Immortal Square earned few of them, and what little it did could hardly all go to True One Cui Xuan alone.
He guarded the super-long-distance teleportation formation in Heavenly Sacred City, a duty that demanded his constant watch, never to be abandoned.
If he wished to cultivate without hindrance, he still needed spirit stones. How many did a Golden Core True One burn through each day in his cultivation? True One Cui Xuan would never think he had too many.
This really is a chance that comes once in a thousand years. The arena's people are sure to favor Hong Shan, after all, he hasn't lost in years. Betting on Lu Changsheng, the odds would be very high...
Still, True One Cui Xuan was hesitant about this. Could Lu Changsheng really defeat Hong Shan? Though he had never seen the King himself, he had heard of him many times.
Hong Shan was without doubt, a fearsome, supreme Dao Foundation martial artist. Were it not for the matter of the Space Principle, he would surely have condensed a divine ability and reached the Divine Ability Realm long ago.
So be it. Lu Changsheng has staked his very life. Why should I fear losing a few spirit stones? A month from now, I'll go and bear witness...
After turning it over, True One Cui Xuan decided to make the trip. Leaving the Vast Immortal Square for a short while carried some risk, but not a great deal, and the coming month was a fine chance to set things in order beforehand.
Time slipped by, and a month passed in a flash. Lu Changsheng rose and came to the arena, where Wang Cheng had long been waiting.
"Brother Lu, Hong Shan has accepted the challenge. In a few more hours you'll be taking the platform. Will you place a bet?" Wang Cheng asked, already accustomed to Lu Changsheng's way of doing things.
"How many spirit stones have been wagered so far?"
At the mention of the wagers, Wang Cheng grew visibly excited. "You might not believe it, but there are already 1.3 million spirit stones on the line," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"That many?" Lu Changsheng was somewhat surprised.
From what he had learned, the highest any previous challenge against Hong Shan had ever drawn was 930,000 spirit stones, less than a million. Yet now, with hours still left before the bout, the wagers had already passed a million.
It would be no exaggeration to say that this was the most anticipated main event in the history of the Battle Arena!
Wang Cheng smiled faintly. "Brother Lu, this owes to a few things. For one, Hong Shan recently announced that this would be the last challenge he accepts. After this, he'll withdraw from the arena.
"Many who heard the news came flocking in. Hong Shan is the strongest King of the Battle Arena in perhaps the last century. Naturally, many people want to witness his last fight.
"And then there's you, Brother Lu. You may not realize just how popular you've become. Your standing in the arena is high. All ten of your fights were widely talked about, each one a one-sided slaughter, where you crushed your opponent like a dead leaf. You've gathered a sizable fanbase. For this match, the odds on your victory are one to one. Hong Shan's are a bit higher, but odds like that are quite favorable, really."
Wang Cheng spoke with relaxed confidence. In fact, he had been riding high as of late. Once a wholly unremarkable figure in the arena, his standing had risen along with the tide simply because he had crossed paths with Lu Changsheng.
"One to one?" Lu Changsheng said at once. "Then wager every one of my 64,860 spirit stones!"
This was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. If he emerged victorious, Lu Changsheng stood to gain a fortune in a single stroke. Of course, he also stood to lose everything. This was a fight he absolutely had to win.
The arena only grew livelier as time passed. Nearly everyone in the city had come for this match.
"At last, after more than a year, someone's won ten straight and earned the right to challenge Hong Shan, the King of the Battle Arena."
"Indeed. Ten in a row, and they say Lu Changsheng never broke a sweat in either of those fights. He's a formidable fighter for sure!"
"A formidable fighter? Hahaha, who could be called a formidable rival before Hong Shan? Besides, from what I've gathered, this Lu Changsheng has only about eight Principles, whereas Hong Shan has nine."
"Eight, nine, there's not that much of a difference. Hong Shan had ten Principle Seeds to begin with, but he could never comprehend the Space Principle, leaving him with nine. He did bring the other nine to Perfection, though."
"Hong Shan is fearsome, true, but it's not like Lu Changsheng doesn't have a chance. I have a feeling that this Lu Changsheng is truly special..."
For a while, the crowd buzzed with talk, the atmosphere excited. After all, eight Principles against nine looked, on the surface, like an even match, with little between them. The only real difference was the sheer renown and following that Hong Shan held. However, Lu Changsheng was not lacking on that front either. He had ten consecutive victories backing him, and many saw him as being unstoppable.
On the surface, this looked like a close fight, and that was precisely what drew so many people. No one could tell who was actually superior until the blades actually crossed.
There were only two hours left before the long-awaited fight.
Wang Cheng returned to Lu Changsheng, his face flushed with excitement.
"Brother Lu, did you hear? You're not going to believe this!"
"How much?" Lu Changsheng asked.
"Two million! More than two million! It's simply unbelievable..." Wang Cheng's eyes went wide, as though he could not believe it.
The sum nearly qualified as the largest wager ever placed on a Dao Foundation Realm bout in the arena.
"More than two million spirit stones..." Lu Changsheng made a rough calculation. If he won, his total spirit stones would likely surpass three hundred thousand. The exact figure would only be higher rather than lower.
That was a staggering number, an overnight fortune in the truest sense. Once he won, Lu Changsheng could exchange the spirit stones for more than thirty drops of Heavenly Spirit Water. With that much, his Dao Fruit might well have enough to transform into a divine ability, and then he could finally become a Divine Ability cultivator!
"Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Brother Lu, you must stay calm and sharp. That Hong Shan..."
Wang Cheng, for his part, was quite clear-headed at this moment, even urging Lu Changsheng to remain composed.
However, Lu Changsheng was perfectly composed, his heart calm as ever.
At last, two hours had passed, and the fight for the crown of the Battle Arena was about to begin.
Lu Changsheng opened his eyes. He had spent those two hours resting, and now he seemed to have tuned himself to his finest condition. Step by step, he slowly mounted the platform.
At the same time, from the other side, a black-clad figure came walking forward just as slowly.
That was Hong Shan, the undisputed King of the Battle Arena. His presence was cold and stern, as if to keep everyone away.
Hong Shan and Lu Changsheng stood upon the platform.
"I've looked into you, Lu Changsheng," Hong Shan suddenly said. "You've mastered at least eight Principles. I imagine there's no one else in the arena who can force you to go all out.
"However, you shouldn't have challenged me. Had you waited for me to leave the arena of my own accord, you might have become the new King of the Battle Arena, and perhaps you would have reigned for a long time. A pity that you made such a reckless choice."
Lu Changsheng smirked. "I've looked into you as well, Hong Shan. Your ambition soared higher than the heavens. You imprinted ten Principle Seeds, one of them a Space Principle Seed. And do this day, you've yet to grasp the Space Principle.
"I imagine you regret that choice. Was it greed or arrogance that made you imprint that tenth seed? Doesn't matter, for it's too late for regrets now. The Divine Ability Realm remains forever out of your grasp. I, however, am a different story!"
Lu Changsheng's words drove into Hong Shan's heart like a sharp blade. Despite his iron will, he found it difficult to keep his composure in that moment.
And as Hong Shan's emotions surged, Lu Changsheng struck. This was one of the few times in the arena when he struck first.
Boom!
As soon as his Mind Space materialized, a singular Principle released a black hole that swept toward Hong Shan in the blink of an eye.
Lu Changsheng had wasted no time in unleashing the Mental Black Hole, taking advantage of the crack in Hong Shan's composure.
However, there was no trace of panic in Hong Shan's eyes. "There it is. I've been ready for this move of yours all along."
A mental divine technique represented a grave threat to most fighters, but the King of the Battle Arena couldn't have failed to prepare for this. As it happened, Hong Shan had a mental divine technique of his own.
"Mental Net!"
The Mental Net was a very rare mental divine technique, belonging to the category of techniques that focused on control and binging. This particular technique could also defend against other mental techniques.
The Mental Net stretched across the air and collided violently with Lu Changsheng's Mental Black Hole. The two techniques crashed and tangled, grinding each other down without pause.
Lu Changsheng's Mental Black Hole was, after all, the very limit of what his transcendent Perception could devise, and its power was naturally no trifling thing.
In mere moments, Hong Shan's Mental Net collapsed, shattered by the Mental Black Hole. But following that clash, only a little remained of the Mental Black Hole's force, far too little to shake Hong Shan's mind.
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