If the outer city of the Slaughter Capital was a world of deathly silence and cold indifference…
Then the inner city was one of luxury and madness.
Colored lights flashed everywhere. Compared to the sparse population outside, the inner city was bustling with far more people. Yet the atmosphere was utterly different—where the outer city was eerie and quiet, the inner city was chaotic and deafening, filled with wild laughter, agonized screams, and countless chilling sounds.
Lin Fan even witnessed, in broad daylight, a burly man yanking a voluptuous woman's hair, dragging her like prey.
A crowd surrounded them—not to intervene, but to cheer him on with excited shouts.
Not far away, three or four men were savagely beating a young man until one of his arms was torn clean off.
Here, everyone was unleashing the darkest parts of their nature, and no one felt it was wrong.
There was no such thing as order.
"Rather than calling this a paradise of sin, it would be more accurate to call it a world of beasts," Lin Fan remarked indifferently as he took everything in.
The veiled maiden's eyes sharpened instantly. Her voice grew stern:
"9517, are you already planning to challenge the authority of the Slaughter King? If you are, then the great Slaughter King will erase you without hesitation. Since you've come here, you can only abide by the rules of this place."
Lin Fan merely glanced at her without responding to the warning.
"Take me to the Hell Slaughter Arena."
Of course, Lin Fan knew the true identity of the Slaughter King. There was no denying it—Tang Chen, even though he had lost his sanity, had already obtained the Shura Sword, an ultimate divine weapon, and completed eight of the Shura God's trials. He was but a single step away from inheriting the Shura God's position. Lin Fan, at his current stage, was not his match.
But since he had come to the Slaughter Capital, Lin Fan knew it was only a matter of time before he faced Tang Chen head-on.
The veiled maiden held some dissatisfaction toward his tone, but she did not argue further this time. With long strides, she led him deeper into the city.
The inner city was indeed a den of extravagance—or rather, debauchery. Just as the maiden had said, with her presence, even though countless unfriendly eyes fell on Lin Fan, no one dared step forward to provoke him.
But Lin Fan knew: even without her, he would not fear these people.
As they weaved through the alleys and streets toward the tallest building in the city, Lin Fan witnessed every sort of darkness imaginable.
Then, he suddenly felt a chill.
From the corner of a side street, a short figure in black launched a sneak attack, brandishing a dagger that reeked of bloodlust.
Lin Fan immediately realized the cause: while observing his surroundings, he had slowed his pace, and the veiled maiden, irritated by his tone earlier, had walked faster. Without noticing, he had fallen more than ten meters behind her.
That was the moment this small man had chosen to strike.
Lin Fan understood why. Newcomers brimmed with fresh blood—an invaluable currency in the Slaughter Capital.
"Courting death!"
With a single sidestep, Lin Fan dodged the dagger's thrust. His hand rose, and in a flash the Slaughter Sword appeared. One crimson arc of sword qi tore through the attacker's body, killing him instantly.
"Such speed… as expected of a Titled Douluo from the outside. Even without soul skills, relying on soul power as raw strength, he's far beyond most here."
The veiled maiden, sensing the disturbance, turned her head. She frowned when she realized Lin Fan had strayed more than ten meters from her side.
Her gaze lingered on the blood-colored sword for a brief moment.
Why does that blade feel so familiar…?
But the sword vanished back into Lin Fan's body before she could study it further.
Meanwhile, the corpse of the short man was instantly swarmed by nearby scavengers, who rushed in to drain his spilling blood. None dared approach Lin Fan himself, however.
The veiled maiden returned to his side.
"Mr. 9517, impressive skills."
Lin Fan sneered faintly.
"So this is the 'safety' you promised by staying near you?"
"That was my negligence," the maiden admitted calmly, unembarrassed. "Come. The Hell Slaughter Arena is just ahead—the very core of this city."
Guided once more by her, Lin Fan soon stood before a strange structure.
It was circular, or more precisely, an inverted cone. The base was wide, narrowing as it rose. Around thirty meters from the ground, the walls leveled out and then extended upward until they reached fifty meters in height.
The arena was massive—only slightly smaller than the Great Spirit Arena Lin Fan had fought in at Heaven Dou City.
Its black-and-red walls exuded a suffocating aura. The entire floor of the arena had been drenched in blood, radiating a murderous energy that compelled all who stood there to kill.
At the entrance to the viewing platform, the veiled maiden explained the rules:
They were simple. With his identity number, 9517, Lin Fan could enter the ring. Once ten participants had gathered, the match would begin.
Winning one battle allowed the victor to live in the Slaughter Capital for a full year without having to pay the price of Bloody Mary—the monthly tribute of blood.
By now, with the maiden's guidance, Lin Fan fully understood the rules of this place.
"Very well. Let's play. Register me—I want to enter a match."
He handed his identity token to her.
The veiled maiden no longer thought of this youth as reckless. Even she felt an involuntary fear at Lin Fan's overwhelming strength as a Titled Douluo.
If not for the Slaughter King's protection, she would never have lived so securely here. In truth, she was nothing more than the King's plaything, and only through him did others cower before her.
Before long, she returned with his token.
"Mr. 9517, you may enter now. Until the ten participants are gathered, you may not attack. Once the battle begins, anything goes. As long as you are the last one standing, you win."
Lin Fan accepted the token and leapt onto the stage in one smooth motion.
"A new round of slaughter is about to begin!"
"Looks like a newcomer. Haven't seen him before."
"The Slaughter King's messenger is watching… he must've just arrived from outside."
"Hah! How foolish. Let's see if he can walk away alive."
Perhaps it was because of Lin Fan's newcomer status, but the ring quickly filled with the remaining nine fighters.
And as if in agreement, all nine immediately chose him as their first target, surging toward him in unison.
Each one radiated the aura of coldness, bloodlust, and cruelty.
"That burly one… his soul power is the strongest. Equivalent to a Soul Emperor in the outside world."
Lin Fan's eyes narrowed.
"So, you want to take me down first? Then I'll start by taking out the strongest among you."
With that, the Slaughter Sword materialized in his hand. His Titled Douluo-level soul power erupted like a tidal wave, halting the attackers in their tracks for just a moment.
And in that instant—
A scarlet slash of sword qi pierced straight through one of them.