Up in the stands, Tuoba Xi's expression darkened. Dugu Shuo was troublesome enough, but his son Dugu Feng turned out to be just as difficult.
Hei Tian was dead.
Hei Tian had been the most promising candidate to dominate one entire realm, yet he had been killed so cleanly and decisively.
Tuoba Xi was a little shocked at the Dugu Family's ruthlessness.
They clearly knew that the Black Tiger Sect was supported by Spirit Hall, that Spirit Hall intended for them to join the ranks of those controlling the Great Spirit Arena.
And yet they still struck without the slightest mercy.
Was this only the Dugu Family acting on their own, or had they already reached some consensus with the other families?
"Patriarch, bad news! Hei Ling was killed by the Dai Family during a duel!"
Suddenly, a loud cry rang out near the arena.
But the man who came shouting, upon seeing Hei Tian's corpse beside Hei Mo, instantly went pale.
Dugu Feng smiled.
How could the profits of the Great Spirit Arena be so easy to seize?
Apart from the Sacred Dragon Clan, the other five families had already reached an agreement whenever facing the Black Tiger Sect, they would strike hard, kill if they could.
That Hei Ling was a Spirit King-level duelist.
Enough to make the Black Tiger Sect bleed.
Hei Mo's face shifted through many expressions. "I don't believe you can win forever!"
Without another glance, he turned and walked off the stage.
The Black Tiger Sect had sent out five people, and on the very first day they had already lost two!
But at least three still remained...
As long as they could win against the six great families in one realm, they could still seize the qualification to become a controller of the Great Spirit Arena.
The duels ended, and the audience gradually dispersed, all excited and satisfied.
No one had expected that the battles between low-ranked spirit masters would be this thrilling and everyone said it had been worth it!
Dugu Feng glanced toward a spot in the stands. Zhu Zhuqing had appeared at some point, and now she was leaving with the crowd.
Here to gather intelligence?When the duel comes, I'll make sure to beat you until you meow like a kitty cat!
Dugu Feng sneered coldly.
Moments later, he followed his father Dugu Shuo back up to the highest level of the Great Spirit Arena.
The other duels had also concluded.
They had not been nearly as bloody, and had mostly been sparring matches.
The six great families knew each other well.
From the spirit masters sent out, it was easy to tell which realm each family intended to dominate.
Like Xiao She, he was only level twenty-three. Other families could see at a glance he wasn't sent to seize dominance in that realm, so there was no need to fight to the death.
But someone like Zhu Zhuyun, already level thirty-seven, clearly intended to defeat all opponents in the Spirit Elder realm. With no conflict of interest, others would simply spar with her and give her way.
After today's duels, Dugu Feng suddenly felt that this kind of competition was very interesting.
At first, he thought the rules were too loose.
But now he saw, that dominating one realm meant demonstrating invincibility in that level.
That was how true experts emerged.
If a family could not produce a spirit master who could defeat all peers in one realm, then that family was bound to decline!
Very interesting.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye three more days had gone by. Dugu Feng had fought three more matches, against the Ge Family, Thunder Academy, and the Dai Family.
The Ge Family and Thunder Academy spirit masters released their skills and then immediately conceded.
The Dai Family spirit master didn't even go on stage, he simply admitted defeat.
Perhaps after watching Dugu Feng's battle on the first day, they were afraid of being poisoned to death?
On the fifth day, his opponent was from the Sacred Dragon Clan.
He had thought he could finally go on a killing spree.
But again, the Sacred Dragon Clan surrendered early, not even daring to step onto the stage.
Meanwhile, the Black Tiger Sect,which was targeted by all five families, had only one Spirit Emperor left who had strung together four victories. Today's fifth duel was the most critical, because in the sixth round his opponent would be the Sacred Dragon Clan who would definitely throw the match.
Thus, this fifth duel was the deciding battle that would determine whether the Black Tiger Sect could become a controller of the Great Spirit Arena.
To string together four victories already showed that the opponent was very strong!
This time, the decision once again fell to the Dugu Family and the one standing opposite was Old Scorpion!
Enemies truly meet on narrow roads. But then again, not exactly enemies but they were destined to clash.
This duel had no spectators. It was held in a relatively hidden main arena, with only members of the six great families present.
The stakes were too high, so everyone was extremely cautious.
The stage was over seventy meters across, usually reserved for team battles.
This time, it was given to Old Scorpion and the Black Tiger Sect Spirit Emperor named Hei Yan.
Dugu Shuo, Old Snake, and Dugu Feng sat in the front of the stands, watching intently.
Dugu Feng also studied Hei Yan.
Like a larger version of Hei Tian, his entire body seethed with evil energy, spilling gray currents across the stage.
Old Scorpion, on the other hand, released a chilling aura.
This cold was no different from that of an ice-element spirit master.
He had said before: the reason he had survived his venom was because he had absorbed two ice-element spirit beast rings, using their chill to restrain his poison and thus reaching the Spirit Emperor realm.
This had become the family's experimental method for countering their poison and nearly all Dugu spirit masters now carried at least one ice-element ring.
As Old Scorpion exuded his icy aura, his fighting spirit burned fiercely.
He spirit-attached, then released a storm of poisonous light, covering the entire arena in toxic mist.
And then — Old Scorpion went berserk.
He no longer looked like a poison spirit master.
He looked like a weapon master.
With spirit attached, his arms elongated into armored scorpion limbs, his claws turned into weapons!
He charged straight at Hei Yan!
Within the poison mist, shouts and crashing sounds echoed nonstop.
Dugu Feng silently counted. The longer the fight dragged on, the more favorable it was for Old Scorpion.
Three minutes passed.
Still no victor.
Dugu Feng's confidence grew. The Scorpion's venom wasn't as fierce as Tyrant Poison, but after so long… Hei Yan was already doomed.
Minutes more went by. Dugu Feng frowned. But then he understood...Hei Yan must have taken antidote pills before the match.
But even antidotes had limits.
The longer it dragged on, the deeper the venom would seep.
In the end, defeat was certain.
With a loud bang, the two clashed and then broke apart.
In an instant, Dugu Feng saw both bodies covered in wounds.
His confidence only grew.
Such a brutal battle, it seems the poison was definitely working.
A few breaths later, the fighting slowed. The mist dissipated.
Only one figure remained standing. Of course, it was Old Scorpion.
Hei Yan was dead beyond doubt.
Dugu Feng looked to the distance. Hei Mo's face had gone ashen. With Hei Yan dead, the Black Tiger Sect had completely lost their chance to enter the Great Spirit Arena.
Beside him stood a shadow — Ghost. Ghost shot a cold glance toward the Dugu Family's side, then vanished on the spot.
This time, Spirit Hall's two deployments — the Elephant Armor Sect and the Black Tiger Sect — had both failed, leaving Ghost seething with anger.
But Yu Yuanzhen was present too. Hence he could do nothing.
He had to return to Spirit City at once to report this failure to the Pope.