"It seems that in the future, whenever I set up a scheme, I still need to plan the ending properly."
Just like this time, outside factors had disrupted the finale, leaving him no choice but to enter the beast colosseum.
He just didn't know how Shi Lin was doing right now.
"Psst, psst—"
A hissing sound reached Li Guanqi's ears, followed by a young man's low whisper.
"Fellow Daoist... Fellow Daoist, I'm next door. Chen Liu'er."
Li Guanqi did not get up, merely furrowing his brows. "Something you need?"
With sharp ears and sunken, monkey-like cheeks, Chen Liu'er rubbed his nose. Though Li Guanqi could not see him, he habitually hunched over and leaned in close to the wall.
"Hehe, nothing major, just wanted to give you a heads-up, Fellow Daoist."
"That Number Ninety-Two is a poison master. Number Eighty-Seven looks like a swordsman on the surface, but he's actually a saber cultivator. Don't be fooled by him."
Li Guanqi found this somewhat amusing. He had not expected anyone here to be warmhearted enough to offer such advice.
"Why warn me?"
Chen Liu'er rolled his eyes around and rubbed his hands together, grinning. "Heh, I saw that you have a pretty good rapport with the manager, brother. I was hoping you might ask him to give me a healing pill..."
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered, and he asked softly, "How long have you been here?"
Chen Liu'er thought back for a moment. "Three years, maybe?"
"Meaning... you know most of the people here?"
"Pretty much. There aren't many unfamiliar faces these days."
"Then how many matches have you won so far?"
Next door, Chen Liu'er scratched his head in embarrassment. "Hehe, it's a bit embarrassing to say, but just one."
Li Guanqi was inwardly taken aback. This fellow was in a room in the nineties, had been here for three years, yet had only entered the ring once.
It seemed this guy truly had a good relationship with that manager...
Even so, the manager still did not dare break the rules to deliver him a pill! The beast colosseum's rules were strict; no one dared violate them.
After a moment's thought, Li Guanqi said softly, "I'll see what I can do later."
Seeing this, the other man thanked him profusely.
Li Guanqi had no intention of exposing his true arrangement with the beast colosseum.
Over the next few days, Chen Liu'er tried to chat with Li Guanqi whenever he had a spare moment. But Li Guanqi ignored him entirely, spending his time either swallowing pills in his room to heal or closing his eyes to mentally review everything that had happened.
Those three days passed in the blink of an eye.
A luxurious cloud boat suddenly appeared over Dixiu Bay.
Five figures stood at its bow.
"Father, Old Li couldn't have actually become a fighter in the beast colosseum, could he?"
"That's just ridiculous... Given sister-in-law's status, would a mere colosseum dare detain him?"
Lin Jinting shook his head with a wry smile. Beside him, Lin Ruhu ruffled Lin Wujiu's hair and said gravely, "The sect backing the Dixiu Bay beast colosseum... is not a power we can afford to provoke."
"Even so, they will certainly be wary of the force backing Little Li, so they probably won't do anything reckless."
Lin Changlu and Lin Shengwu were also present.
With four True Immortals in a single clan, the Lin family had now brought all four of them to Dixiu Bay.
The moment the Lin family's cloud boat appeared at the ferry crossing, it caused quite a commotion. Four whole True Immortal realm cultivators were nothing to sneeze at...
At present, the six cities within Dixiu Bay were in total chaos, with many minor clans and factions seizing the opportunity to rise up and carve out territories of their own. Barely any outside cultivators dared set foot in the bay anymore.
Today, the beast colosseum was packed to capacity as always.
Thanks to deliberate hype by the colosseum, nearly everyone knew that the cultivator entering the ring today would fight one against two.
Furthermore, this was the very person who had been hunted down days ago by Ye Lingyun of the Zhongtian Lands' Ye family.
Rumor had it that the city lords of Dixiu Bay's six cities had all been schemed against and killed by him alone.
With so many rumors layered together, Li Guanqi's identity was shrouded in mystique. And his rapid appearance in the arena was precisely what the crowd was eagerly anticipating.
After mooring their cloud boat, the Lin family members flew straight toward the colosseum.
The group bought the best seats available—a spacious, elegantly decorated private room separated from the center of the arena by just a single wall.
"Let's wait a bit. Today is Congxin's first match."
"I don't understand why he chose to stay here either..." Lin Shengwu muttered, his brow furrowed in bewilderment.
Lin Jinting sat in his chair and happened to meet Lin Ruhu's gaze.
The burly Lin Ruhu said in a deep voice, "This is very likely his own choice!"
Lin Wujiu looked at Lin Ruhu in surprise. "His own choice?"
Suddenly, a deafening cheer erupted across the arena!
"Oooohhh!"
A roar like crashing tsunamis swept through the massive colosseum, as spectators stood on their chairs, pumping their fists and shouting.
Soon, the colosseum's gate slowly lifted, and on the water mirror projection, two cultivators walked out side by side.
Their names and battle records were displayed one after another.
The two differed considerably in build—one lean and muscular, the other gaunt.
Both wore sour expressions; after all, someone had specifically called them out to fight two-on-one. If they lost, the humiliation would be unbearable.
The spectators in the stands barely spared them any interest.
The two exchanged hushed divine sense transmissions, sharing many of their hidden trump cards with one another just to ensure they could suppress and slay Li Guanqi!
"Next, please welcome our newcomer fighter!"
"A cultivator from the Human Spirit Realm who broke through two major realms within a single year of ascension, now at the peak of the fourth realm of Heavenly Immortal... King Yanluo!"
The announcer's voice rang out with impassioned vigor, instantly driving the colosseum's atmosphere to a fever pitch!
The pitch-black gate slowly opened.
Li Guanqi wore a blood-red robe, standing straight as a drawn sword, while a bronze mask covered his face.
This mask served only to conceal his features and possessed no special abilities. He had chosen not to wear the Rakshasa Ghost Mask simply because he did not wish to reveal too much of his identity or trump cards.
Holding an exceedingly ordinary grade-two immortal sword, he strolled out as if nothing was amiss.
When the spectators saw Li Guanqi dressed like this, their cheers grew even wilder!
Against his cold aura, the mask on his face made him seem all the more mysterious and formidable.
Both sides took their positions, separated by dozens of zhang.
Li Guanqi looked at them with calm eyes.
Raising an arm high, the announcer shouted, "Only life and death can decide the victor! Now, let us witness the coming battle!"
In an instant, all the clamor faded, and every gaze converged onto the three figures in the arena.
"Those two are both fourth-realm Heavenly Immortals. Can this 'King Yanluo' handle it?"
"One against two in the same realm is no easy feat. Schemes are useless inside the colosseum—this is a clash of raw, unvarnished power."
"Calling himself 'King Yanluo' in the colosseum means he's got quite an ego. Let's see if he actually has the strength to back it up."
Across from him, the two braced themselves.
One held a poison bead, the other a saber.
Flanking him from left and right, they shot toward Li Guanqi with overwhelming momentum!
Li Guanqi stood motionless, as if paralyzed by fear, offering no reaction even when the two closed to within ten zhang of him.
Just when everyone thought Li Guanqi was nothing more than an empty show, a sword gleam flashed and vanished from the arena.
Wearing his mask, Li Guanqi slowly turned around.
Boom!
A trench over ten zhang long tore open across the hard square ground!
The two mangled corpses were still locked in their forward charge, yet their bodies had already shattered into severed chunks.
A single breath...
In the blink of an eye, an instant kill!
The entire crowd erupted in an uproar!
An absolute crush of sheer power!
Chapter 1767