Chapter 696: Death is the Only End

The audience below was stunned, then immediately erupted into cheers and applause. They had thought the martial arts matches were over for the day, but now that the ring master had suddenly taken the stage, wouldn't there be a good show to watch?

The skinny man let out a long "Aiyee." Since this guy was going to take the stage, why hadn't he given him a heads-up beforehand? He could have opened a betting pool! The odds for Broken Blade were no longer just about a simple win or loss. Since everyone was betting on Broken Blade to win, where was the profit in that? The derivative ways to play were all about betting on how many moves it would take him to defeat his opponent, betting on whether he would use a certain technique or divine ability, and betting on how many people would go up to challenge him this time...

General Hong suddenly raised her hand and clapped slowly three times.

Each strike felt like it landed on the hearts of everyone present.

In just three breaths, the area around the ring fell silent.

Only then did General Hong say in a clear voice, "This month's live teaching session begins now!"

The Martial Arts Hall held a live teaching session every month, usually guest-starred by fierce generals, and General Hong would occasionally take the stage herself.

But she was truly too busy; He Lingchuan had entered Panlongcheng so many times and had never caught her live teaching session.

General Hong then added, "Teaching content: Observe Broken Blade defending the Life-and-Death Ring today. Real blades and spears are allowed, and a wheel-battle tactic is permitted."

A wave of sound erupted from the entire ring, nearly exploding.

Martial arts matches in Panlongcheng usually only allowed the use of wooden weapons from the Martial Arts Hall to avoid accidental killings. But there was another kind of ring match here for resolving grudges, known as the "Life-and-Death Ring," where there were no taboos during the fight—anything vicious or ruthless was fair game. However, both parties had to sign a waiver beforehand, taking responsibility for their own life or death, and after the fight, even the greatest of grudges had to be wiped clean.

A Life-and-Death Ring could not be opened casually; it required special approval and didn't happen even once in half a year.

General Hong was actually letting Broken Blade defend a Life-and-Death Ring and even allowed wheel battles; those who knew the cruelty involved were all dumbfounded.

What had Broken Blade done to deserve such a lesson? He Lingchuan wore a bitter smile: "General, this..."

"Fight until you die, and you won't be nervous anymore." It was unclear if General Hong's words counted as comfort.

Wasn't he afraid of death? Once dead, he wouldn't be nervous anymore.

Seeing that no one around was going up, General Hong simply called out names directly:

"Meng Shan, step forward!"

The crowd parted, and a massive figure hesitated for a long while before dragging himself out.

"General..." Meng Shan didn't want to go up. He had fought Broken Blade over a dozen times and was already sick of it.

General Hong tilted her chin toward the ring: "Get up there."

Meng Shan had no choice; he went to the weapon rack and pulled out a large staff.

General Hong, however, didn't let him off: "Where is your wolf-tooth club?"

Meng Shan had no choice but to take out his signature weapon and jump onto the ring.

This refined steel wolf-tooth club was nearly half a person's height, and the head was covered in black stains that couldn't be washed off; who knew how much human blood and flesh had stained it.

Ever since Meng Shan surrendered, He Lingchuan hadn't fought him with real blades and spears, but he still had fresh memories of this club.

Since he had to fight, in these few short breaths, he had already steadied his mindset and said to Meng Shan with a solemn expression:

"Please!"

Since he was here, he would fight! He and Meng Shan fought on the stage, while General Hong stood below the stage analyzing and lecturing for the onlookers.

Not only could they observe real combat, but they also had General Hong's commentary on the side; such an opportunity was too precious, and everyone watched without blinking.

Of course, neither He Lingchuan nor Meng Shan had the time to listen carefully to what she was saying.

After twenty rounds, Meng Shan was kicked off the ring by He Lingchuan.

Three breaths later, the wolf-tooth club that had almost been thrown into the sky finally fell back to the ground with a "clang," sticking into the ground beside the ring's wooden post.

"First round, Broken Blade wins." General Hong glanced at the stage; He Lingchuan's chest was heaving, but there was no sweat on his temples. "I see you're in good shape; resting for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense will suffice. Lao Chunsheng, step forward, prepare to take the ring!"

A sturdy man walked out of the crowd and loudly answered in the affirmative.

His weapons were a pair of board axes.

The crowd also let out an "Oh," as this man was also a combat hero in the Great Wind Army, and the pair of board axes in his hands had already beheaded a hundred men; they hadn't expected him to be designated as Broken Blade's opponent today.

At this time, the list of subsequent contestants to take the stage was also released.

The skinny man below was busy. There was no suspense in He Lingchuan's battle against Meng Shan just now; what everyone wanted to gamble on was how many rounds Broken Blade could hold out? Since it was a wheel battle, Broken Blade would definitely fall at some point.

Everyone believed that General Hong wouldn't really let him be beaten to death; only He Lingchuan himself understood that today's ring match couldn't end well.

One stick of incense later.

Lao Chunsheng jumped onto the ring and said in a deep voice, "I have no grudge against you, and I admire you, but today I will absolutely not hold back."

He Lingchuan had already regulated his breathing, turning sideways to press down on the hilt of the Floating Life Blade, not letting the cold light leak out:

"That is exactly as it should be!"

The sky was gradually darkening.

After Lao Chunsheng, many more people took the ring. Exactly how many? He Lingchuan couldn't quite remember anymore.

He had just beaten an opponent until he was flat on his back, unable to move, but he himself was leaning against the corner of the ring, unable to crawl up for a long time.

Two ribs were broken, half his face was swollen like a pig's head, and once the blood and sweat flowed down, he couldn't open his eyes.

There was also a three-inch-long wound on his left waist gushing blood.

Taking advantage of the intermission, A Luo hurried to treat his wounds, whispering:

"I think you've fought enough; ask General Hong to stop!"

General Hong happened to pace over to He Lingchuan's side, looking at him with her hands behind her back: "Want to fight or stop?"

He Lingchuan smiled bitterly: "Is it possible to stop?"

He was no longer nervous.

"How do you know if you don't try?"

He Lingchuan then said sincerely: "Reporting to the General, I want to stop the battle."

"Denied." General Hong refused flatly. "The match will only end when you truly cannot move."

"..." Giving a bit of hope only to snuff it out was truly worse than having none at all from the start.

A Luo asked in shock: "Wh-why?"

"No battle will stop just because you call for it." General Hong walked to the edge of the ring and personally struck the bronze bell. "The match continues!"

￥￥￥￥￥

The moment the first ray of morning sunlight shone in, He Lingchuan woke up.

He blinked, his consciousness still lingering on the final battle in Panlongcheng. It seemed it was the tenth or eleventh opponent; both were panting like oxen, feeling as if their lungs were broken bellows, each breath making a wheezing sound.

His consciousness was dull; he didn't even remember who he was.

His opponent's weapon had already been knocked away by him, but the opponent had pulled up a post from the ring and smashed it fiercely into He Lingchuan's temple.

During the previous fighting, the ring post had long since loosened, and there were still two nails remaining on it.

He Lingchuan even remembered the feeling of the nails piercing through skin and flesh, stabbing directly into his temple...

Pain, too much pain.

But it was only for that one moment.

He must have been knocked out, because he woke up directly.

In that instant, he seemed to hear some bastard below the stage yelling: "I won, I won!"

Who knew who had made a fortune off his pain, betting correctly on the number of wheel battles.

He Lingchuan muttered a curse twice, then suddenly discovered that after waking up, his state of mind had changed.

Having experienced a night of cruel and relentless wheel battles, he had instead become calm, as if he had been knocked out of his soul by that post, looking at himself, looking at others, and looking at everything that was about to happen from the perspective of a bystander.

He didn't know if this state counted as numbness, but in any case, he had entered a state of no sorrow and no joy, his heart as calm as a stagnant pool.

General Hong's method was extremely crude and extreme but effective; at least he was indeed not nervous now.

Not even a little bit.

When he had fought with all his might, struggled, and finally helplessly but calmly accepted death, death could no longer threaten him either.

He Lingchuan let out a long sigh.

Entering Panlongcheng last night, he had intended to find Master Baili, whether to reminisce or say goodbye, but in the end, he hadn't even seen the beauty's face.

Clearly, the Great Fanghu believed that what he needed at this moment was not romantic entanglements.

This was truly a divine artifact with a personality; it didn't care about its master's emotions at all.

He Lingchuan packed his bags, changed his clothes, and strolled out of his residence.

After a night of wind and rain, the morning brought a rainbow bridge flying across, one end of which seemed to be built on the lake water of the Pianxiang Villa.

The morning air was cold and fresh.

He Lingchuan walked into the painted boat, drifted into the lake, and closed his eyes amidst the rippling green waves, grasping to realize the battles of last night.

Every life-or-death struggle; every time he fought with all his might; the state of mind of knowing the battle was endless and relentless, unless he fell from exhaustion, yet still firmly facing the next one.

Panlongcheng was trying to teach him how to face despair.

He didn't know how much time had passed when someone suddenly called him from the shore:

"He Xiao, it's time to go!"

At this time, the sun was high, and Fushan Yue, who did things with lightning speed, had already returned from the Lingxiao Palace.

This trip, he had gone to bid farewell to the Demon Emperor.

The Emperor was currently overwhelmed by the anti-aging medicine case and the Qingyang State Preceptor, wishing he would leave; he didn't even try to persuade him to stay during the meeting, only saying a few kind words for Fushan Yue to bring to the Chiyan Demon King.

That afternoon, the Chiyan delegation exited from the South Gate and left Lingxu City.

Many nobles came to see them off, and the air was filled with a cheerful atmosphere; they also saw with their own eyes He Xiao accompanying the Chiyan Crown Prince, exiting the wonderful big stage of Lingxu City together.

But it didn't matter; regardless of whether the Chiyan people left or not, the many amusements in the city would continue.

He Lingchuan traveled with Fushan Yue for three days, basically traveling day and night, and was already far from the territory of Lingxu City.

During these three days, Panlongcheng had not opened to He Lingchuan again.

As long as they hurried south for another three or four days, they would reach the northern border of the Chiyan Nation.

Fushan Yue was eager to return home, whipping his horse the whole way.

And just after passing the Tianshui Post, He Lingchuan parted ways with him.

Fushan Yue knew his intention to leave was set, so he didn't try to persuade him, only asking: "We'll meet again?"

"Of course." He Lingchuan smiled. "I think we will see each other again very soon."

"That's good." Fushan Yue's words were sincere. "Write more often if you have nothing to do."

The two clasped fists, both feeling a sense of melancholy for a moment.

The fierce tiger Jiao Yu pounced over, its fan-sized claws hugging He Lingchuan's shoulders, its large head rubbing against his forehead while making a "moo-moo" cow sound.

With its strength, an ordinary person would have been knocked away long ago.

He Lingchuan heard its sadness, reaching out to hug its large head and rubbing it hard, feeling very reluctant: "There will always be a parting; I'll come to see you again later, okay?"

It was a pity he still had important business to attend to.

Fushan Yue pursed his lips, jumped onto his horse, and said, "You'll regret not returning to Chiyan with me sooner or later, heh!" Having said that, he whipped his horse and left, never looking back.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 697 =====