Seeing the look on Lofley’s face, Zhang Wen knew she had definitely misunderstood him. He couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile, “Relax, I’m not that cruel. While others might be helpless against the poison of the Sea Urchin Stone, I’m not. In fact, I’d say I’m probably the only one in the world who can deal with it.”
“What?” His declaration caused Iniel to stare at him in disbelief.
“What’s so surprising about it? This is just one of my special abilities. I can neutralize the poison of the Sea Urchin Stone, and each treatment can last up to a year. So, as long as you come to me for treatment once a year, you’ll never have to worry about the Sea Urchin Stone’s poison. As long as I live, you live; if I die, you die too. It’s really that simple.”
“This… simple?” Lofley’s trembling gradually stopped, but her expression became increasingly grim.
“Of course. Isn’t this the most generous condition you could hope for? All you need to do is cover for me as much as possible in front of your teacher. Considering your current state…” Zhang Wen suddenly reached out and grabbed Lofley’s chin.
“No matter what demands I make of you, do you really have the courage to refuse?”
“… …” Thinking of the pain of the Sea Urchin Stone’s poison, a flash of fear involuntarily crossed Lofley’s eyes.
“Then it’s settled. Now, wake up those two and let’s leave this place to find the airship.” Zhang Wen smiled mysteriously, releasing Lofley’s chin and standing up.
“Didn’t you plan to kill her from the beginning? You said that just now purely to…” Watching Zhang Wen smilingly walking toward Kai and Si, a sudden realization flashed through Iniel’s mind. Her face immediately flushed red with suspicion as she glared at Zhang Wen.
“What are you talking about? She tried to kill me.” Zhang Wen looked genuinely surprised. “I spared her life purely for your sake. How could you think you want me to kill her now?”
“Of course not! The… the reward you took has already been given. How could you go back on your word now?” Iniel stammered slightly as she said “reward,” her face reddening even more. “I just feel you never really wanted to kill her. No matter how I think about it, it seems like she’s more useful to you alive than dead.”
“Miss Iniel of Kentucky, now that he’s decided to spare me anyway, why do you keep thinking about useless things? Do you think if he admits he never really wanted my life to begin with, he can take back the ‘reward’ he already took?” Lofley, who had been sitting on the ground recovering her strength, suddenly sneered.
“That’s of course…” Iniel was left speechless by Lofley’s retort.
“You bastard! How dare you be disrespectful to the wise lady!” Si, who had just been woken up by Zhang Wen, happened to witness this scene. The first warrior of Kentucky immediately flew into a rage, charging toward Lofley in a few big steps. But halfway there, he suddenly tripped over his own feet and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
“Hmph! Even if I’ve fallen from grace, I’m not about to be bullied by the likes of you.” Lofley sneered coldly. Her figure sitting in the corner gradually vanished and reappeared behind Si.
“Alright, a little friction is good for your health.” After waking up Kai, Zhang Wen walked between the angry Si and Lofley, separating them. “However, we don’t have time to waste here. We’ve already spent too much time in this place. Also, Miss Iniel of Kentucky, don’t forget—you owe me a favor.” Finally, Zhang Wen suddenly leaned close to Iniel’s ear and whispered softly.
“I know.” Iniel bit her lip hard.
“Follow me then. It’ll take about an hour to walk from here to the nearest airship. If we don’t hurry, someone else might beat us to it.” Lofley sneered and walked toward the tightly closed door first.
※※※
“Hey! What’s going on? Aren’t we back on Pico Island again?” Seeing the familiar castle after stepping out the door, Si couldn’t help but shout out.
“This isn’t Pico Island. Pico Island is the entrance to the Infinite Arena. This place is part of the Infinite Arena itself.” Lofley glanced at Si.
“But this castle…”
“The Infinite Arena isn’t like the arenas you’ve seen before, where people just fight in a single building. How could it be called ‘Infinite’ if it were that small? Let me tell you. Across the Abyssal Ocean, there are a total of 1,473 islands. Excluding the 631 islands that are too close to the mainland or already have owners, the remaining 842 islands all belong to the Infinite Arena. The founder of the Infinite Arena built identical castles on each island, planted the same types of plants, and decorated all the islands to look almost exactly the same.”
“What? More than 800 islands exactly like this one… are all Hassan’s property?” Si was so shocked his mouth hung open.
“What are you thinking?” Lofley looked at Si with even more disdain. However, Si was too stunned by his own imagination to notice.
“This is the Infinite Arena! How could it all belong to Hassan? No matter how rich Hassan is, he’s just a local tycoon in the South. He did invest a large sum of money into the Infinite Arena, but among its actual owners, he’s barely considered a third-rate figure. The Infinite Arena is far more powerful than you could ever imagine!”
“Oh?” Iniel frowned in confusion.
“Hehe! It seems Miss Iniel of Kentucky still doesn’t believe me. Then I’ll reveal a bit more information. In your opinion, who is more powerful between Hassan and an Over-ranked warrior?”
“Uh… they should be about equal, I guess.” Si and Kai exchanged glances and reluctantly answered.
To be honest, both Si and Kai felt that saying Hassan was on par with an Over-ranked warrior was actually giving Hassan too much credit. No matter where you went, Over-ranked warriors stood at the pinnacle of humanity.
In the Empire, the Federation, and the Alliance—the three major powers—there were hundreds, even thousands, of powerful merchants and aristocratic families as wealthy and influential as Hassan, or even more so.
Yet, in all three major factions combined, the total number of Over-ranked warriors in the fields of Mind Arts and Body Arts had never exceeded fifty!
The difference in status between the two was already clear from the numbers alone.
“Hehe…” Lofley didn’t expose Si and Kai’s little calculation but instead smiled mysteriously and held up one finger toward them. “Among the bounty fighters of the Infinite Arena, there are ten Over-ranked warriors with the title of ‘Overlord.’ And above these ten Over-ranked warriors, there is one legendary ‘Sovereign.’ Moreover, I’ve also heard some even more interesting rumors…”
“What rumors?” Not only Si and Kai but even Iniel were now intrigued by Lofley’s words.
“It’s said that the person holding the title of ‘Sovereign’ in the Infinite Arena isn’t a Body Artist but a Mind Artist. All the Mind Art channels set up on the islands of the Infinite Arena were created by this ‘Sovereign.’ Also, I’ve heard that this ‘Sovereign’ was personally acknowledged by the ‘King.’ He is the only person in the world capable of killing the ‘King.'”
“Killing the ‘King’? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” As soon as Lofley finished speaking, both Si and Kai couldn’t help but shout out in excitement.
In this world, the King had been recognized as the strongest for over seventy years! Even colossal powers like the Empire and the Federation dared not show the slightest disrespect to the King! In fact, they had even set aside the planet where the King resided as an eternally independent territory, calling it the “Throne.”
In everyone’s hearts, the ‘King’ was the symbol of ultimate strength. How could there possibly be someone in this world capable of killing the King?
“You don’t have to shout at me. I only heard it secondhand.”
“Just how did you come to know so many rumors about the Infinite Arena?” Iniel asked suspiciously again.
“Hehe. Isn’t that simple? My master, Omega the Thunder God, has always been the ‘Seventh Overlord’ among the ten overlords of the Infinite Arena.” Lofley laughed, suddenly casting a meaningful glance at Zhang Wen. “And the ‘Sixth Overlord’ of the Infinite Arena is the former South Ruler, the Ruby Serpent’s Silver Dragon, Clasus.”
“No wonder Omega the Thunder God was so determined to claim the position of South Ruler. With the former Number Six dead, as the next in line, the ‘Seventh Overlord,’ he naturally wants to inherit all of his predecessor’s titles, even going a step further. Otherwise, wouldn’t he be forever overshadowed by a dead man?” Kai couldn’t help but mutter softly.
“Let’s not talk about that for now. Lofley, if the Infinite Arena is really as colossal as you say, hiding your airship in a place like this probably isn’t as simple as finding it and flying it away, right?” Zhang Wen smirked, half-smiling as he asked Lofley.
“Of course not.” Lofley naturally sneered and shook her head. “You met me, but others will also have to go through some trials.”
※※※
Waa! Waa! Waa!
More than a hundred kilometers west of Pico Island, on a certain unnamed small island, a flock of black birds screeched and flew from the forest.
Occasionally, the air currents generated by the fierce battles of warriors surpassing the Tenth Rank exploded among the trees of the small island, and bursts of radiant battle energy flashed intermittently.
“Damn it! Do these guys really want to kill us? Don’t you understand? We’re just here for Hassan’s selection match! You can’t kill us!” Facing the extremely fierce attack of the Saint-ranked warrior before them, several Tenth Rank warriors screamed in terror.
“Do you guys have problems in your heads? Who cares about Hassan or whoever! This is the Infinite Arena! I only know that anyone who steps onto this island is my prey. If you want to keep your lives, don’t come here in the first place.” The Saint-ranked warrior sneered coldly and finally lunged at the four Tenth Rank warriors who had been cornered…
The same battles were simultaneously taking place on various unnamed small islands within a 300-kilometer radius centered around Pico Island.
Of course, not every bounty fighter in the Infinite Arena could successfully claim their opponent’s life.
On a small island about 200 kilometers east of Pico Island, just outside the castle exit in a patch of dense forest, three Saint-ranked bounty fighters were secretly observing a group of four people emerging from the castle.
“Hehe! It was definitely the right decision to come to you.” One of the three Saint-ranked fighters sneered sinisterly. “Earlier, three Saint-ranked experts suddenly showed up in my territory. Even with the advantage of terrain, it was impossible for me to fight three alone. I could only watch helplessly as they flew away in their airship.”
“The same happened to me. Three Saint-ranked experts appeared together, and I couldn’t take action alone. Fortunately, it seems like only the one at the back of your group is a bit difficult to handle. How about this? We each take one of the three easier ones. Then we’ll leave the one at the back, who’s more difficult to handle, half-dead for you, how about that?” Another Saint-ranked bounty fighter observed the condition of the four targets while speaking to the leader standing in the middle of the three.
“Deal.” The one in the middle coldly nodded with a smirk, and the three figures flashed and quickly disappeared into the dense jungle of the island.
A few seconds later, three gray figures shot out of the dense forest like lightning and appeared beside the group of four who had just exited the castle.
“Ahh…” The three Tenth Rank warriors at the front of the group screamed in terror but were too late to react.
“Hehehehe!” The three bounty fighters released the three corpses, letting them slump to the ground.
Immediately after, the three bounty fighters unleashed their full strength again, rapidly surrounding the last remaining “prey” among the four with radiant bursts of battle energy.
“You’re quite clever. You chose to walk at the back yourself, letting the three weaklings go ahead. This way, they could indeed help you guard against ambushes. Unfortunately, you were too cowardly and miscalculated. If they had all survived, combining the strength of the four of you might have given you a slight chance to hold out. Now that they’re all dead, you can only obediently follow them to the grave.” The Saint-ranked bounty hunter standing in front of the last “prey” sneered得意地, eager to witness the panic in his opponent’s eyes—the sight he enjoyed so much.
Unfortunately, the “last prey” surrounded by the three Saint-ranked bounty fighters did not show the slightest panic. The gentle smile on his face didn’t change at all, only his gaze seemed to gain a hint of mocking coldness.
“Hmm… It’s quite troublesome that you suddenly jumped out and killed them. I heard that the airship must be operated by four people together. Is that right?” The young man with a gentle smile suddenly looked up and asked the bounty fighter in front.
“You… you bastard, looking for death!” The bounty fighter caught the contempt in the young man’s words and roared furiously, lunging at their “last prey” together with his two companions.
Boom!
The three Saint-ranked experts’ full-force attack struck the young man standing in the center without any flourish.
The massive battle energy overturned the ground, uprooting the surrounding trees. Violent air currents roared and exploded, swirling up a storm of leaves and dust.
Such violent aftershocks were even difficult for the three Saint-ranked experts themselves to willingly get caught in. At the moment of launching the attack, the three of them immediately leaped with all their might, retreating from the range of the aftershock.
“Hmph! Seeking death…” The bounty fighter who had been provoked sneered, but his words were cut off halfway through.
In the large empty space created by the previous attack, a figure with an unusual smile stood in the center.
“Hehe! I suddenly thought of a good idea.” The person looked at the three Saint-ranked experts, and his smile suddenly became even more radiant.
“Who are you…” Seeing that face, the Saint-ranked expert who had sneered earlier trembled, and in an instant, his entire body was soaked in cold sweat.
“Shh! It’s better not to say my name out loud.” In the next moment, the person had suddenly vanished from his original spot, as if crossing space, and abruptly appeared in the middle of the three Saint-ranked experts.
“This… this is…” Without even moving a finger, an immense and terrifying pressure suddenly pressed the three Saint-ranked experts to the ground, leaving them paralyzed.
Half an hour later…
The airship carrying Zhang Wen and his group slowly landed on the deck of the Star Moon. Zhang Wen and the three from Kentucky stepped off the airship, and immediately, several beautiful maids respectfully approached, gesturing for the four to follow.
“Please come with us.”
“Hmm.” Zhang Wen nodded slightly, glancing around briefly, and noticed that besides their airship, there were already two other identical four-person airships on the deck.
“That’s Mr. Ruhl’s airship. Also, Mr. Xie, who came with you, has returned with some other gentlemen.” One of the maids winked at Zhang Wen and whispered secretly.
“Thank you.” Zhang Wen smiled secretly and winked back at the maid.
“No need to thank me! Do you remember Lina and the others? The two girls you met in the hall before. They are my good friends.”
“Oh! Then we are all on the same team now.”
“Hehe! Exactly! In the future, if Teacher Zhang Wen wants to know any information, just leave it to me!” The maid proudly puffed out her small chest and continued leading Zhang Wen’s group forward.
Not long after Zhang Wen’s group left the deck and entered the floating staircase leading to the cabin, a small black dot appeared on the horizon to the east of the Star Moon.
“Quick! Clear the deck!” The sailors on the deck immediately got busy.
The speed of the four-person small airship was quite fast. Before long, it had already landed on the deck of the Star Moon.
A young man with a gentle smile stepped out of the airship.
“Oh! Welcome back to the Star Moon!” One of the waiting maids on the deck immediately walked forward with a sweet smile.
“Thank you.” The young man smiled gently as he stepped off the airship.
The maid waited beside the young man for a moment but was surprised to find that the other three in the airship showed no sign of getting off.
“Aren’t the other three coming down?” The maid curiously glanced into the airship.
“Eh?” Not only the maid who came to greet the young man but even the sailors nearby were stunned.
A total of six airships were scheduled to return to the Star Moon, but currently, only four had returned, with two more possibly appearing at any moment. Therefore, the sailors had to clear the deck to make room for the two remaining airships to land.
However, if the three Body Artists in the airship currently parked on the deck refused to disembark, how could they clear the deck? They couldn’t just close the airship door and shove the three Body Artists and the airship into the ship’s hold, could they?
“Um… this Body Artist gentleman…” The boatswain among the perplexed sailors soon stepped forward to explain their predicament to the young man with the gentle smile.
The boatswain’s intention was naturally to hope the gentle young man would persuade his friends to get off the airship quickly so the sailors could continue their work. However, the boatswain didn’t see the terror on the faces of the three Saint-ranked Body Artists on the airship as he spoke to the young man.
“Oh, I see. I understand.” The gentle young man smiled and nodded to the boatswain.
“Waaah!” The three Saint-ranked Body Artists suddenly struggled in terror inside the airship.
Then, the sailors saw the gentle young man suddenly wave lightly toward the airship behind him, which occupied nearly half the deck of the Star Moon.
Boom!!!!
A towering column of battle energy suddenly flashed from beneath the airship, shooting straight into the sky in an instant! The column of light just covered the airship parked on the deck. A few seconds later, the airship within the column, along with the three Saint-ranked Body Artists inside, had already turned into dust in the air.
“That should be fine now?” The young man smiled gently and walked directly toward the floating staircase leading to the hall.
Behind the young man, the maids and sailors stood there with their mouths agape, staring at the gradually dissipating column of light, unable to utter a single word.
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