On just the very first day of arriving in the City of Slaughter, Yang Xiong could already feel its extraordinary nature.
Even though he had found an empty, secluded house, during the very first night there were no fewer than seven groups of people who tried to sneak in, all clearly with malicious intent.
It seemed almost everyone assumed he was a newcomer to the City of Slaughter,completely unprepared,and so they targeted him immediately.
In this place, Yang Xiong had no time at all for meditation. There was no distinction between day and night; at all times, the air was filled with killing intent, and his nerves had to remain taut without a single moment's relaxation.
The methods of attack here were incredibly varied. Some used the special traits of their martial souls to attack,such as poisoning, confusing, or even those with dark-attribute martial souls that could ensnare the unwary in an instant.
In short, there was no order here, no morality. Sneak attacks from behind were nothing unusual.
Moreover, those who could survive in the inner city of the City of Slaughter were all seasoned in combat, constantly alert. Even the most inconspicuous and downtrodden person carried a hidden killing intent. Until an enemy fully stopped breathing, one could never relax.
Yang Xiong understood this perfectly. That was why he primarily fought with a sword in the City of Slaughter,partly to hone his swordsmanship, partly to conceal his formidable physical combat ability. If he revealed everything, he might be killed at any moment.
The next day, when Yang Xiong entered the Hell Slaughter Arena again, the looks in the surrounding crowd's eyes had clearly changed,there was now a trace of wariness.
It was obvious that many had been watching him the previous night, though only a few had actually made a move. The rest were likely still probing and waiting for an opportunity.
In the City of Slaughter, every person was valuable,especially corpses.
Not only was human blood a main ingredient in Bloody Mary, but there were also other usable materials on a body.
That day, Yang Xiong took part in another Hell Slaughter Arena match. Once again, he emerged completely uninjured and won decisively,killing seven of the nine opponents himself, while the remaining two were killed by others.
After his second match, his killing intent within seemed to grow noticeably stronger. This feeling was completely different from killing soul beasts or ordinary people outside; it felt as if this unique environment of the Hell Slaughter Arena amplified it.
The whole arena felt like a great formation, and the ten-person battles were like a ritual. After each kill, the killing intent seemed to seep into his body, bones, and even his soul.
Those who had participated in different numbers of battles in the City of Slaughter not only looked different outwardly, but the depth of their killing intent also grew with experience.
Yang Xiong had encountered several people who had fought over fifty matches in the arena. These were no longer ordinary humans, but beasts of pure slaughter,red-eyed, their very souls tainted by killing intent.
Since he could not meditate in peace, Yang Xiong focused on observing the City of Slaughter, studying changes in his own body, and devoting more effort to creating his own soul skills.
Time flew by, and Yang Xiong soon found himself having spent a full year here.
In that year, he had fought seventy-one Hell Slaughter Arena matches,an astonishing number.
At first, he fought once every two days, but as time went on, the gap between matches lengthened, reaching nearly ten days between battles by the end.
It wasn't because he couldn't physically handle the intensity,rather, the more battles he fought, the heavier his killing intent became, and the harder it was to control himself.
Unlike Hu Liena and Tang San, who each possessed a top-quality head soul bone, Yang Xiong had none. His Purple Demon Eye had also not broken through, still at the peak of the second stage: the Detailed Realm.
The killing aura of the City of Slaughter didn't just affect the body,it also affected martial souls. A martial soul exposed to this aura for a long time gradually began to change.
Yang Xiong's martial soul was unlike anyone else's,his martial soul was his own body. Thus, the killing aura's influence on him was far greater.
Originally, cultivating the Purple Demon Eye turned his eyes purple. But after a year here, his eyes had become a blood-red shade, more terrifying and chilling, brimming with killing intent.
Every day, Yang Xiong worked to keep his martial soul in sync with his body. Without a head soul bone, he relied on bodily stimulation to push his martial soul toward change.
When he used his true body martial soul before, his body would turn silver.
But after a year of being nourished by the killing aura, faint blood-colored patterns began appearing on it,patterns that, upon close inspection, slightly resembled the demonic markings on the Slaughter King's face.
It was thanks to his martial soul that Yang Xiong had not fallen into madness; in fact, his mental power and body showed signs of breaking through.
He even began to suspect that if he completed the City of Slaughter's trial, his true body martial soul might undergo a qualitative transformation,perhaps even a unique secondary awakening.
It was known that true body martial souls had silver-grade and gold-grade awakenings, but even in the Body Sect, no one had ever experienced a secondary awakening in an environment like this. This place was a miracle unmatched in the world, even in later generations.
What puzzled Yang Xiong was that in this whole year, he had neither seen Hu Liena nor Tang San, as described in the original story.
He wondered whether they would even come here, or if their arrival time had changed.
Among Yang Xiong's biggest changes was his mastery of sword energy. Before coming here, he had prepared many weapons,especially swords,for long-term survival.
Originally, he could barely use sword energy, and ordinary longswords couldn't withstand it; they could only release one slash before breaking.
But after a year of relentless killing here, his killing aura had grown stronger, his whole body exuded a blood-red aura, and he could now unleash multiple sword energy slashes without breaking his blade. His mastery of the Seven Kill Sword Technique had clearly improved.
After resting for ten days, Yang Xiong prepared for his seventy-second match in the Hell Slaughter Arena.
With his increasing number of battles, his name had become infamous throughout the City of Slaughter. The number of people who had died at his hands was uncountable, and ordinary people didn't dare provoke him.
However, the downside was that in the arena, everyone now targeted him; all nine opponents would attack him with everything they had.
Defeating one person used to be simple, but facing nine at once was an entirely different matter,far more than nine times harder.
When Yang Xiong stepped onto the killing floor again, the nine other contestants exchanged glances, then attacked him together with their strongest techniques.
Poison gas, throwing knives, hammers, steel chains,every imaginable method appeared.
But Yang Xiong's sword was razor-sharp, his swordsmanship refined, his strikes fast and powerful. He blocked every attack.
After half an hour, he killed all nine opponents, though his body was now covered in wounds and most of his stamina was spent.
The moment he left the arena, he was surrounded by hundreds of people. Led by two men, they seemed to have prepared this ambush in advance,an unusual level of cooperation for the City of Slaughter.
Yang Xiong's face turned icy cold. "Power King, Iron Claw King. I don't recall offending you, yet you've organized such a massive ambush. Looks like this was planned for a while."
A middle-aged man with a huge iron claw on his hand sneered. "Xiongba Tianxia, you've been fighting so often,how are the rest of us supposed to survive? Today, we've gathered to kill you just so we can keep living."
Yang Xiong snorted. "Don't make it sound so righteous. You just want my treasures. If I remember correctly, you haven't fought in the arena for nearly a year. You're just afraid to face me there."
The man with the giant hammer spoke. "Enough talk. Once we kill you, your wealth will be ours, and we won't have to worry about meeting you in the arena again."
Before Yang Xiong could reply, a hidden arrow shot straight at his face,it was clear they had planned to strike from the start.
Yang Xiong sliced the arrow cleanly in half with one swing.
But the crowd surged toward him with weapons in hand, clearly intent on killing him.
Yang Xiong swung his sword, sending out a slash of sword energy that cut several people in front of him in half.
The rest only became more frenzied, fighting with reckless abandon.
The Power King and Iron Claw King stayed still, like predators waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Both were famous in the City of Slaughter, their ages unknown. One was known for raw strength and wielded a massive war hammer; the other for his iron claw, said to tear enemies apart with ease.
They were both Contra-level powerhouses. Though they couldn't use soul skills here, their physical strength far exceeded that of ordinary people, making them ferocious threats.
Having already exhausted much of his strength in the arena, Yang Xiong now faced a sudden mass assault. His eyes grew wild.
This time, he wielded a heavier, sharper sword with both hands, attacking the enemies around him without holding back.
In moments like this, he couldn't afford to show the slightest weakness,or he would be torn to pieces.
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