Chapter 114: Ancient God Arena

Puff!

Breaking the surface, Gu Chen spat out all the seawater from his mouth.

Gasping heavily, he felt like an idiot for trying to die by suffocation.

This was different from being killed by a monster or other external forces.

The game's 10% pain feedback made deaths from external forces far less unbearable than imagined.

Even if he felt fear at the time, for some reason, each resurrection left him in high spirits, and recalling it brought no discomfort or oppression.

But suffocation wasn't pain—it couldn't be muted by 90% feedback. Even knowing this was just a game, the process of trying to suffocate filled him with intense survival instinct.

He couldn't help but surface to gasp for air.

After several repeated attempts, he completely abandoned this stupid way of dying.

"Guide, is there another way?" Gu Chen looked up at the floating guide beside him, seeking help.

【Yes, starve to death!】

"That's even harder to endure than drowning."

This time, the guide didn't answer, only stared at him with the look of someone watching an idiot.

Realizing the guide couldn't help, Gu Chen decided to dive deeper to find a fierce large fish—and beg for death.

He plunged into the sea, sinking steadily downward.

Around him grew vast amounts of coral, but the fish drifting nearby were mostly low-hunting-level species; seeing him approach, they swiftly flicked their tails and fled, giving him no chance to get close.

After searching fruitlessly, Gu Chen surfaced again, gasping for breath.

At that moment, he noticed a strange flying vessel hovering above him, shaped like a speedboat.

Estimated at thirty meters long and over ten meters wide, its entire structure was covered in strange mechanical components and engraved symbols of unknown origin; its shell wasn't metal but a faintly blue-glowing translucent material, seemingly capturing ambient light and converting it into energy, giving him the illusion of both lightness and heaviness.

At its rear were two irregularly shaped propellers, spinning rapidly with nearly silent efficiency, providing propulsion for this massive vessel; each time the propellers cut through the air, they left faint blue trails. On its underside was a sealed door, embedded with a crystal-like object emitting strange light, flickering like a firefly, brightening and dimming in sync with the vessel's movement.

He activated the Analysis function, and instantly a flood of information surged into Gu Chen's mind.

【Huntmaster Flying Vessel】:

Target Description: A flying tool used by the Ancient Gods to capture Arena Combatants, operated by their servants.

……

At that moment, a gap opened beneath the vessel, and a beam of energy rope shot toward him at incredible speed.

On instinct, Gu Chen tried to dodge—but there was no time.

The rope wrapped around his body several times, then tightened sharply, pulling him straight toward the gap.

Entering the gap, his vision plunged into darkness; all he heard was the grinding of interlocking gears, followed by the heavy thud of descending metal.

The energy rope around him vanished at once.

Gu Chen felt around and realized he was imprisoned in a cramped metal container, too small even to crouch.

"Fuck, this is worse!" Gu Chen looked at the guide waterball still floating beside him:

"Guide, is this a hidden quest?"

【Unclear. Maybe.】

"Don't you have even a scrap of insider info?"

【I'm just a beginner guide, not omniscient. Why don't you ask me if your wife's having a boy or a girl?】

"Huh? How do you know my wife's pregnant?"

【Guessing.】

Unable to get help from the guide, Gu Chen fell into thought.

Two options lay before him: self-harm to end it, or wait for the plot to unfold.

Remembering how lucky he'd been today—catching a Meng Yuan Chu monster while sea-fishing—he immediately abandoned the first idea.

The dark environment felt oppressive, so he opened his guild chat channel to discuss his situation with his friends.

Hearing he might have triggered a hidden quest, his friends went hysterical, crying over how all the luck seemed to fall on him alone.

Then they all demanded he turn on the Live Broadcast function to follow the unfolding plot.

Gu Chen didn't refuse—he promptly activated Live Mode.

Besides his friends, bored players occasionally entered the stream, saw only darkness, and quickly scrolled away.

The wait was excruciatingly long; Gu Chen passed the time chatting with his friends, occasionally hearing the clashing and battle cries from their ongoing fight against the insect tide.

Three hours later, a sudden, intense weightlessness struck.

Gu Chen immediately realized the plot had advanced.

He could feel the metal container carrying him being transported somewhere, jolting violently along the way.

Soon after, the metal box opened, and blinding light forced him to squint.

Crack!

The sound of metal locking echoed; Gu Chen felt pain in his right forearm. He looked down and saw a black bracelet had appeared on his wrist.

He'd seen this device before in Bricklaying Crew's livestreams—it was a special apparatus that suppressed one's power.

Immediately following it was a powerful sense of weakness, identical to the feeling of logging out of the game.

"Out!"

His eyes quickly adjusted to the bright light, and he saw clearly the speaker's face.

It stood nearly three meters tall, its body forged from metal shards, broken rock, and fused flesh; every inch of its skin radiated savage power. Its metal and rock components writhed with its flesh as it breathed, its body like a running machine emitting a low, rumbling growl—like the breath of an ancient beast, shaking the surrounding space. On its head were a pair of bull horns, one broken halfway.

In its hand it gripped a chain of bone spikes, staring coldly at Gu Chen, delivering a powerful visual impact.

Clearly not someone to mess with.

He mentally cursed, but still stepped obediently out of the metal box.

Glancing around, this was a field overgrown with wild grass, with dried blood stains on the ground and a faint smell of blood lingering in the air.

At this moment, figures also began to emerge from the other metal boxes; they were intelligent beings from different races, and their expressions all showed extreme terror.

Gu Chen's gaze finally returned to the burly monster, and the Analysis ability activated:

【Barbarian Slave】:

Hunting Level: 139

Target Introduction: Servant of the Ancient God Clan, responsible for overseeing the operation of the Death Arena.

Just as Gu Chen was shocked by the Barbarian Slave's terrifying Hunting Level, the Barbarian Slave raised a foot and stomped the ground.

Instantly, a beam of blood swept over their bodies; Gu Chen immediately felt a stinging pain in his right forearm. Looking down, he saw a complex symbol floating on it.

In the Analysis information, this symbol represented the number: 0.

The Barbarian Slave's cold gaze swept over the crowd, and he spoke in a deep voice:

"Listen to me all. Next, I will introduce the situation here and the rules you must follow in detail."

"First, this place is called the Death Arena, one of the three arenas created by the Ancient God Clan. You are all Death Fighters captured here. Your existence is to please the Supreme Ancient God through bloody slaughter. In return, the Ancient God will grant every winner a boon, even the supreme power of immortal lifespan, but the premise is to prove your strength in the arena."

"The blood seal on your arm represents the number of victories you have won. Every time you kill an opponent in the arena, the number will increase by 1, and you will win this round of the arena. In the next round, you will fight opponents with the same number of victories."

Speaking thus, the Barbarian Slave pointed his finger toward the energy-constructed staircase in the distant sky:

"There are 15 arenas on the Sky Ladder. Ascending one level grants a period of rest and a generous reward bestowed by the Ancient God. The Death Fighter who reaches the summit will receive the Ancient God's blessing and proceed to a higher-tier Dark Arena, ascending to become a Glory Fighter."

Hearing the Barbarian Slave's introduction, Gu Chen muttered in his heart:

"Guide, how many opponents need to be eliminated to reach 15 victories?"

Facing the inquiry, the Guide replied with a bored expression:

【Of course, it is to eliminate 15 opponents. But if we count the opponents eliminated by the opponents you defeat, to reach 15 victories, you must eliminate a total of 32,767 opponents. That is, when you kill the opponent in the 15th arena, 32,767 arena fighters have already died in battle, becoming stepping stones for your 15 victories.】

"Holy crap, that many!" Gu Chen was instantly startled.

While listening to the Barbarian Slave's introduction, he felt 15 victories didn't seem like much, but the Guide's answer startled him.

This number would obviously become even more exaggerated further on.

He subconsciously asked another question:

"Guide, if one reaches 10 victories, how many fighters will die?"

【1,023】

"Then how many fighters must die to reach 30 victories?"

【1 billion 737 million 41 thousand 823】

"Hiss, that's way too many!"

Through the Guide's answer, Gu Chen had already realized how terrifying the Ancient God Clan was, which captured Death Fighters everywhere.

The birth of every 15-victory fighter is paved with the blood of over thirty thousand fighters.

The intensity of the slaughter in the arena will rise exponentially; one can imagine how high the difficulty of ascending each level will be in the later stages.

"Next, follow me. You will be sent to the first-level arena to participate in the first slaughter duel."

Speaking thus, the Blood Slave turned and walked toward the Sky Ladder.

Seeing this, Gu Chen decisively followed.

At this time, Qi Sheng, who was behind the scenes, was also observing the situation in the arena.

Seeing Gu Chen follow the Barbarian Slave toward the first arena platform, he turned his head to look at the Guide floating beside him:

"Do you know the Ancient God Clan?"

【No, but it can be confirmed they are a faction that descended in the late stage. Their capturing fighters everywhere should be related to the world rules mastered by this race.】

Hearing this, Qi Sheng's gaze swept toward the arena.

"Are you saying this race, like the Mechanical Overlord, has mastered a type of world rule?"

【Correct. The entire Death Arena should be covered by a layer of rule-specific energy. Allow me to analyze and see.】

After a brief silence, the information obtained by the Guide's analysis flooded into Qi Sheng's mind.

【World Rule · Fighting Soul】:

Rule Characteristic: A rule characteristic from the Blood Soul World. Duels occurring within the covered range can generate Fighting Soul power. Every wisp of Fighting Soul power carries powerful destructive energy (the firmer the will of both duelists and the higher their life strength, the more Fighting Soul power is produced).

This analysis information made Qi Sheng understand exactly what the Ancient God Clan mentioned by the Barbarian Slave was doing.

The Barbarian Slave said the battles between arena fighters were to please the Ancient God, but in reality, the Ancient God Clan was obtaining rule energy through the life-and-death duels between fighters.

Creating the three great arenas was also to allow countless fighters to profit for themselves through duels and slaughter.

As for why they didn't raise a batch of fighters for repeated use, the analysis explained it very clearly: the firmer the will of both duelists, the more Fighting Soul power is produced.

What the Ancient God Clan wanted was for arena fighters to fight with a mind set on death.

Qi Sheng's vision switched to the player's perspective at this moment.

Following the Barbarian Slave to the ground-level first arena.

The shape of the first-level arena resembled a giant snake with its body coiled, its head raised high, and its tail hidden. The core area was a huge circular ring; the ring's surface was covered with strange runes, and the floor was constructed of crystal-clear spiritual stones, emitting a soft glow.

Following the Barbarian Slave's request, Gu Chen walked into a separate room embedded in the wall and began to wait.

During this process, the scene on the ring could be seen through the room's window.

At this moment, two alien warriors were engaged in slaughter on it; they were obviously 0-victory Death Fighters just captured like him.

Looking at the live broadcast room in the upper right corner of his vision, it had already exploded.

Everyone was discussing the origins of the Ancient God Clan behind this arena, wondering how they could capture people everywhere to participate in duels.

Some players also said, if you want to please the Ancient God, just commit suicide right there and go back to the black room.

But more players expressed they wanted to see how the plot would unfold next.

Turning off the live stream display, Gu Chen was also curious about how the next part of the plot would develop.

Especially what the victory reward mentioned by the Barbarian Slave was.

While waiting, the room suddenly shook, and spatial spirit runes surfaced on the ground.

After the intense weightlessness, he found himself standing on the arena platform.

"Layered space?"

The two death gladiators he had seen moments ago were still fighting, yet he had been teleported to an empty arena—this made him realize the platform, like the Test Tower, had multiple layers of space.

At that moment, a flash of Bai Guang appeared ahead, and his opponent's figure materialized.

The death gladiator who entered the arena had a humanoid body, covered in light armor woven from animal hides and metal plates, wearing a helmet made of ram horns, revealing only a tightly pressed mouth and slightly panicked eyes.

Gu Chen could even clearly hear its increasingly heavy breathing.

He activated his Analyze ability, and the opponent's information flooded into his mind.

【Iron Helm】:

Hunting Rank: 26

Target Info: Cangxinghai Wormhole Island, young warrior of the Hide Tribe.

……

Seeing the opponent's hunting rank, Gu Chen immediately relaxed.

His Force Barbarian Axe and Broken Knife were both level 25; winning this battle clearly wouldn't be hard.

【Begin your battle. End when one side dies.】

At that moment, the Barbarian Slave's voice echoed overhead, and the black wristbands on their right wrists vanished automatically.

Before Gu Chen could act, the horned warrior lunged forward, slamming his clenched right fist straight at Gu Chen's head.

Facing the assault, Gu Chen decisively summoned his Force Barbarian Axe to meet it.

But the opponent reacted with astonishing speed—he ducked low, evading Gu Chen's slash at his neck, then drove his coiled right fist straight into Gu Chen's abdomen, followed instantly by a brutal knee strike as Gu Chen instinctively bent forward.

Boom!

The knee strike sent blood spraying from Gu Chen's nose and stars dancing before his eyes.

Before he could recover, Iron Helm closed in again, grabbing Gu Chen's right hand to disarm him.

Gu Chen made no resistance, letting him take the Force Barbarian Axe.

Just as Iron Helm raised the axe to cleave Gu Chen's skull, Gu Chen's face twisted into a savage grin:

"You hit way too hard, asshole! Say sorry!"

As the words left his mouth, the Force Barbarian Axe in Iron Helm's hand vanished, and Gu Chen's hand reformed a pale golden Force Barbarian Axe, which he slammed down hard onto Iron Helm's neck.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Iron Helm staggered backward several steps, his eyes beneath the helmet filled with unmistakable terror.

Seeing Gu Chen gain the upper hand, the live stream erupted in cheers, especially from his close friends and supporters, who flooded the chat with celebratory messages.

Now it was Gu Chen's turn to press the attack, aiming to finish the fight with one swing.

But the wounded Iron Helm proved far more stubborn than expected—he kept swinging his fists despite his low health, overwhelming Gu Chen with superior technique.

Five minutes later, as Gu Chen, his arm broken, tried to dodge Iron Helm's heavy punch, he noticed the fist never came down.

He turned his head—and saw Iron Helm's body slowly tilting forward, then crashing to the ground with a thud.

"Holy shit, finally won."

【Embarrassing. Two level-25 Painful Painful Minghun couldn't beat a level-26 opponent.】

"Different. The insect and black tides have no intelligence. This kid's clearly a martial artist—his technique is too strong."

【Just an ordinary warrior. Technique strong? Your technique is weak.】

Just as Gu Chen was about to retort, the Barbarian Slave's voice rang from above:

"Battle ended. One victory."

As the words faded, another array appeared beneath Gu Chen's feet. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the room.

Compared to before, the room had noticeably expanded, and a wooden bed had been added. Looking out the window, he no longer saw the first-tier arena—but a completely different arena, shaped like a giant sword, with the platform positioned before its blade.

This made him realize he had been teleported to the second-tier arena space.

"Ancient God's Blessing: One victory grants one Low Martial Soul Pearl. Remaining rest time: 69 hours 39 minutes (translated in hours)."

The Barbarian Slave's voice echoed again. After the array on the ground flashed, a crimson soul pearl rose into the air.

Curious, Gu Chen immediately activated his Analyze ability to examine it.

【Low Martial Soul Pearl】:

Item Description: A Special Item forged from a living being's soul. Consuming it awakens latent physical potential, enhances physical attributes, rapidly heals injuries, and can be sacrificed beneath Di Zhao to gain 2134 Shou Shou Jili reward.

……

Seeing the pearl's value, Gu Chen's eyes widened.

The Barbarian Slave had said arena rewards increased with victory count—but he never expected the first win to grant over 2000 Shou Shou Jili.

"Guide, how much Body Strengthening EXP does this thing give if I eat it?"

【About 1342 points. The extra benefit is rapid injury recovery.】

"Only a fool would eat it. Better to give it to Di Zhao, old man."

Gu Chen immediately picked up the hovering Low Martial Soul Pearl with his left hand and stored it in his Spatial Satchel.

Then he pulled out a healing potion from inside and drank it in large gulps.

Just as Gu Chen was happily anticipating extra gains, the watching players in the live stream lost their cool:

"Holy crap, you can get rewards just for dueling in this place? I want to go, looking for a way in."

"If I get three wins, won't I strike it rich? The rewards might directly boost my Body Tempering rank, or even more. I want to go too."

"I'm curious how good the reward for fifteen wins would be. I dare not imagine. Looking for coordinates. Don't wait for them to catch me; I'll walk right up to their door."

"Wailing! I just entered the livestream to watch the fun, yet I see others getting rich again. Only I'm poor. You all got rich."

"The dueling stuff doesn't matter; mainly, I want to please the Ancient God. Please him to death."

Gu Chen's experience, along with the livestream clips, quickly spread across the forum.

Learning there was such a place where defeating an opponent earned rewards, all the players grew envious, one after another declaring they would go to the arena to please the Ancient God and fight to the death.

Ten thousand words, finished~

I've created a group to urge updates; there's a direct link in the introduction. You can come chat about the plot or urge updates.

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(End of Chapter)