《The Immortal Supreme》Chapter 6, Martial Stadium
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The day seemed perfect. The suns were high in the sky and the clouds provided just the right amount of cover such that people did not have to bear with the glare. There were people moving about carrying out various activities and birds were flying in flocks up above, letting out the occasional cheerful chirp.
In the Martial Stadium, a man could be seen fighting a ferocious tiger. The man was quite powerful. His strength equivalent to somewhere in the middle of the qi condensation stage. The tiger's strength was also similar to the man's. Only a fair fight such as this where the man's Martial arts could be put to the test would move the audience's hearts.
*Roar!*
The tiger leaped up into the air and towards the man, claws out in the open and ready to kill the man. However, the man skillfully dodged to the side with a profound movement technique. To add to the excitement of the audience, this had shockingly left behind an afterimage!
Right after the tiger had pounced on where the man was before, a cold blade pierced through it's neck.
Blood spurted right through the wound and onto the man's bare body. His muscular frame quickly turned red as he embraced the kill with his arms wide open. His eyes closed as he soaked himself in the warm blood trickling down his belly along with the frenzied cheers of the audience. A short, gentle sigh ironically sounded out from the man's mouth.
"JIA WEN CLAIMS VICTORIOUS!!"
The audience became even noisier as soon as the announcement had been made. The man's eyes opened up and a look of genuine delight was expressed by the man's proud smile. While waving his hands, he walked to the exit of the stadium. Seeing his exit, the clamor eventually died out.
As the man slowly enjoyed the feeling of a glorious triumph, an annoyingly loud voice was heard from the tunnel where the exit of the stadium leads to.
"HEY, I'M SERIOUS NOW! PUT ME DOWN! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT!"
A slender boy roughly around the age of 11 was thrashing at the thick muscular arm tightly wrapped around him. His loud voice echoed through the tunnels to make it even louder, up to the point where he could be heard from every seat in the stadium. The despair and helplessness could clearly be felt by all those who had heard the words shouted by the boy.
The crowds were confused and their interest was piqued when they heard the cries of the boy. Some were trying to guess who it was that was so unfortunate while the others all already knew who it was.
Naturally, the boy was Jian Yu. He had been brought against his will to the Martial Stadium where he would fight a wild beast. The developments that led to this scenario were nearly comical.
"Look, Jian Yu. You will fight for people's entertainment. Isn't that a great glory? Look, a senior disciple of my very own sect is walking out now. Don't you see his face? It's filled with the satisfaction of a glorious fight."
Tian Yu talked a bit more to Jian Yu in an attempt for him to take his situation more seriously. At the same time, he was admiring the silhouette of the man who he had taken to be his first target to surpass. Although Tian Yu was only on the 1st level of qi condensation, he was sure to catch up soon. After all, as a member of one of the 3 Great families, it should only be expected for him to grow stronger faster than others.
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Hearing the quick little speech of Tian Yu's made Jian Yu shiver a little. How could he not know that this was his punishment for being so rash? This fight might as well be a public execution for crying out loud!
"Hey, brother Tian, I've known you for so long. Your fame has travelled across the lands. I truly admire you for who you..."
Before he could finish smooth talking Tian Yu into releasing him, a hand had slapped against his exposed and unprotected cheek. Apparently, Jia Wen had silently walked towards Jian Yu to give what seemed to be a righteous slap. Before Jian Yu could even talk back to Jia Wen, Jia Wen said a few words.
"That's a slap not from me, but from everybody you insulted."
Then, he just walked away, not bothering himself in the little squabble that is Jian Yu's kidnapping.
Tian Yu just smiled coldly at Jia Wen's response and said, "Toss him into the stadium!"
"WAIT JUST A MO..."
Before Jian Yu got to finish his pleas, the big burly man quickly began to run forward towards the stadium. When the sunlight finally touched his toes, he tossed Jian Yu like rubbish into the stadium.
A loud thud resonated through the ears off everybody still present after the day's highlight fight as Jian Yu's face planted itself onto the ground. His nose had even dug out a bit of dirt after he was tossed onto the uneven ground.
*clang!*
As per the rules before initiating a fight, the metal gates behind Jian Yu were locked and secured to prevent any mishaps were the beast were to try to escape. Of course this also prevented letting the fighter in the stadium from escaping from a dangerous situation but they should have known the dangers of fighting a beast before they signed up and entered the queue for a stadium fight.
The city of Acirema has been using the Martial Stadium as a training grounds for many years already. In fact, it even encourages people of all backgrounds to fight with the enticement of profit. They had put up an entrance fee for fighters to queue for a fight with a beast and when the fighter wins, they get a larger sum of money than the entrance fee. Thus, it was a win-win situation for everybody.
However, the city eventually used the Martial Stadium as not only a training grounds but to additionally squeeze out a bit more profit from the people. In recent years, the stadium installed seats up above the ground where they are safe so that spectators may come and entertain themselves with bloody fights of man versus beast. Although some Martial arts fanatics were offended by this marketing move, they soon found that more and more people came to feel more encouraged to cultivate and join the various sects. In the end, the city had made another win-win situation for itself.
And as of this moment, Jian Yu was now stuck in that very stadium as he waits to fight for his life. He staggered up to his two feet and looked around. All he saw was no more than a hundred people seated around the stadium. He didn't know most of them; probably due to how they were adults who liked to make money from small bets but Jian Yu didn't know that.
Most of them had bored expressions while the rest had amused ones. The majority were bored due to how they were able to guess how this would turn out; with the death of the fighter. Wasn't it obvious with the way he was brought in against his will? In the end, there wouldn't even be an exciting battle and the bets would obviously be placed on the beast.
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However, the ones who were amused just wanted to see the blood and gore to get their own blood running. So it didn't matter which side died, the man or the beast, as long as the other perished in battle.
Jian Yu began to regret his actions of the past even more now. If it led to people incessantly insulting him, he could endure. If it led to people beating him up, he could endure. But now, he was in a hopeless situation where he could die! How could he endure it?
As if on cue, the announcer spoke out with his regularly loud voice, "Let the bloodshed begin!"
A metal gate identical to the one that had shut behind Jian Yu began to open up slowly on the other side of the stadium from where Jian Yu was at. From behind the gate, a bloodthirsty growl echoed out that frightened only Jian Yu. A constricted pupil surrounded by an oddly red sclera peeked through the tiny gap that was ever expanding as the metal gates opened.
Jian Yu shivered at the sight of the eye as big as his own head. He even imagined his own image reflected in the eye of the beast. However, he never got the chance to get over this fear as the beast rammed it's head against the gate and forced a way out!
The beast was a spectacle for all to see at this point. It was glaringly obvious to all that it was another tiger and a ruthless predator. It's size was immense, perhaps 8 meters long. It's rough and unkempt fur on its back along with the chiseled teeth and claws also showed that this was a beast with a shocking history!
However, these details were overlooked by Jian Yu. All he was paying attention to were the eyes. The same eyes that stared at him from right behind the gates. Even now, they stared at Jian Yu. It's emotions were much more noticeable now. Other than bloodlust, it looked at Jian Yu with contempt and rage in it's heart. To it, anyone put in front of him was out to kill it. So, it was only right for it to defend itself and kill!
Such was the law of the jungle. The strong prevailed as they feed on the weak. There was no glory in this for the tiger; only survival.
Such thoughts were not found in Jian Yu's head. His thoughts were much simpler. All that was in his head as he faced off against this beast was how to get out of his predicament. If he counted his weapons, he had nothing other than his body.
The tiger that had forced it's way out of it's cage finally acted. With a shocking speed, it rapidly moved it's way to Jian Yu on all fours. Killing intent rising with each step it took. Suddenly... it pounced.
Meanwhile, Jian Yu had put aside any thought of anything other than survival. He focused his eyes forward... and dodged to his side. A dust cloud formed where he had just stood. Fear emerged again in his eyes and he ran for it.
Every time the tiger got close, Jian Yu would dodge to the side by the skin of his teeth. In fact, he escaped with a scratch most of the time which only served to fuel him with more energy to keep running.
By this point of time, Tian Yu, who was spectating by the seats of the stadium safely, began to feel more annoyed than he knew he should be. Just knowing it took this long for this huge tiger to kill a mere mortal who hadn't stepped onto the road of cultivation was acceptable. After all, the strong tiger he had chosen to kill Jian Yu with also hadn't even reached the 1st level of qi condensation . But this Jian Yu kept barely surviving the attacks of the tiger. How could he not be annoyed at how Jian Yu was teasing him?
"Jian Yu! If you can kill the tiger, I will let you have one of the qi gathering pills that I bought just now! How about it?!" Tian Yu stood up from his seat to shout and make his presence more obvious to Jian Yu.
However, Jian Yu still continued to run away from the tiger and it's claws. Currently, Jian Yu has already run around the stadium a total of 3 times. Although it doesn't sound like much, it was already a shocking display of stamina as the stadium was immense. However, the crowd did not know that Jian Yu's stamina was being constantly replenished by the qi stored in his dantian.
"How about three?"
Again, he was ignored.
"Fine! I can at most hand you 6 of my wife gathering pills! Look, it's a loss for me already!"
Now, he was certain that Jian Yu hesitated before running again. Tian Yu's eyes twitched as he felt embarrassed from the looks of everybody around him. This enraged him.
"JIAN YU, I ASSURE YOU THAT I WILL LEAVE YOU ALONE WITH ALL OF MY QI GATHERING PILLS IF YOU KILL THE DAMN TIGER! IF I DARE LIE, MY NAME IS NOT TIAN" Tian Yu couldn't take it anymore and shouted with all his strength, emphasizing every word. After he finished his sentence, he was short of breath and his throat nearly dried up. However, his eyes gleamed with a cold light when he noticed Jian Yu actually stop!
Immediately, soft chatter could be heard from every corner of the stadium.
"Does this boy think he can actually kill the tiger? He's overestimating himself."
This line of thought was in the minds of everybody spectating the fight. They saw how Jian Yu's legs were giving out; albeit slightly.
Down on the stadium grounds, Jian Yu finally took his back away from the tiger and ran towards it!
Throughout the run for his life, he had been shocked countless times. Countless times had he barely escaped a mortal wound by the skin of his teeth. Everytime it happened, more veins could be seen in the white of his eyes. Now that he had turned back, the tiger that had been originally playing with Jian Yu in a game of cat and mouse, felt a bit scared. The eyes of Jian Yu were bloodshot and his expression was one of pure madness.
From the sudden turn of events it had never faced before, the tiger felt confused on what to do and hesitated. It's legs slowed down and its jaws clenched slightly. For a brief moment, it stood in place before it was about to leave backwards.
However, that brief moment was enough for Jian Yu to make a final leap. This leap encompassed the full distance that had originally been between him and the tiger. His right fist launched at the tiger's skull as he twisted his hip. All of his remaining strength in his muscle combined with the remaining qi he had in his dantian was used up in this attack. If this didn't amount to anything, his life would be forfeited and used to feed the tiger. Immediately, the fist landed.
*Bang*
To everyone's shock, the tiger's legs gave out and it fell onto its side. Even more shocking however, was that the tiger's head had caved inwards! Everybody subconsciously started to stare at the young boy on front of the tiger's corpse.
"Why was it that the tiger died? That punk must have played some underhanded move!"
Of course, nobody ever voiced out their opinion. If they did, they would certainly be indirectly slapping the face of the young master of the Tian family.
As everybody stayed seated with weird expressions on their faces, a soft mutter could be heard.
"T-that was it?"
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