Chapter 16: The Unspoken Rules of The Colosseum

Even though there was a slight mishap in Qi Ying’s battle against the Ironback Gorilla, that didn’t influence the end result. Qi Ying heaved a long sigh of relief and patted his chest as he thanked his lucky stars.

If he had recovered from the stunning effect of the Heaven Shaking Roar just a split second later, then there would have been a very good chance that he would be the one lying dead on the ground as opposed to the Ironback Gorilla.

It looked like the biggest threat Yellow Tier beasts possessed was their battle techniques!

However, there was no time to wallow in lingering fear, as the second colosseum battle commenced, right after the Ironback Gorilla’s body was taken out of the battle cage!

“Howl!”

A petite, purple beast with ferocious, piercing eyes appeared.

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It was a Yellow Tier Fourth Rank beast, the Lightning Panther. That beast was known for its insane speed and its lightning battle technique which was capable of roasting an opponent on the spot.

Even though a Lightning Panther was a beast of a higher rank than the Ironback Gorilla, it posed much less of a threat to Qi Ying, as he had fought a Lightning Panther once in the past. The beast was extremely agile, but its defensive prowess was nothing short of pitiful. On that occasion, he had goaded the Lightning Panther into striking by intentionally exposing a weakness, before snapping its spine with ease. It was a similar story this time, as he used his left hand to ward off the Lightning Panther’s lightning battle technique, before swatting it through the air. He didn’t kill it this time and instead, he picked it by the tail and put it back into its beast cage.

“This Nameless Warrior seems to be a compassionate man!”

Some of the female spectators were very much in approval of Qi Ying’s humane method in handling the Lightning Panther.

The third colosseum battle was a little difficult for Qi Ying. He was up against the Yellow Tier Fifth Rank Venomous Forest Python, which was capable of releasing a poisonous mist that could instantly kill a warrior. Furthermore, its body could secrete poison that was capable of eroding even treasured tools; Qi Ying was only able to defeat it with much difficulty, after evading the poisonous mist and using his left hand to crush the python’s heart.

Within an intricate booth on the second floor.

The place was brightly-lit and one could clearly see what was happening outside, but the special material of the windows meant that those outside could not see into the booth. There was a large, wooden bed inside, upon which a man and a woman had just done the deed.

The woman had long, wavy curls and she was helping the man put on his clothes. “Master, is it really a wise decision to let that boy challenge a Yellow Tier Seventh Rank beast?”

The woman with long, wavy curls had a thin veil draped over her body and she turned with a concerned expression to appraise the scenes outside. “No matter how powerful or special he is, he’s still just a Strength Martial Stage warrior…”

Master Thirteen had his head resting on the woman’s legs and his eyes were closed as if he were completely unconcerned about what was happening outside. “Don’t worry, I’ve administered medicine to all of the Yellow Tier Third and Fourth Rank beasts, including this Venomous Forest Python, along with all of the Yellow Tier Sixth and Seventh Rank beasts. The medicine has restricted their power; he’ll be able to take care of all of them as long as he puts up a good performance… When that time comes, the Colosseum will have a new Silver rank warrior. Look at the audience outside; all of them think that he’s some sort of exceptional warrior, but who could possibly know that he’s just an underprivileged disciple of the Celestial River Academy?”

The woman massaged Master Thirteen’s shoulders as her brows furrowed. “But Master, he’s still just a Strength Martial Stage warrior and he’s only fifteen years of age. You can restrict these beasts through the use of medicine now, but you can’t keep this up forever. Sooner or later, some powerful warrior is going to figure out that something is amiss.”

“Heh! With his aptitude, as long as I can supply him with enough pills, I won’t even have to administer medicine to the beasts in about a week or so.”

“That’s really strange. How could an underprivileged disciple of the Celestial River Academy be so talented? Even the renowned prodigies from the capital cities can’t compare to him…”

“That’s because you don’t know who he is. You wouldn’t be saying that if you were aware of his true identity.”

“His true identity?”

A hint of surprise and curiosity appeared on the woman’s face.

“That blind woman and I are probably the only ones in the entire Celestial River County who knows who he is. Even he himself has no clue about his true identity.” A self-deprecating smile appeared on Master Thirteen’s face, “Just like how only a small handful of people in the Celestial River County’s noble families know that I, Yan Thirteen, was just an impoverished thief in the capital city all those years ago. Even I didn’t think that I would see them here again after fifteen years. Back then, there was a massive gulf between our social statuses. But now, our roles have been completely reversed.”

…

Qi Ying knew about the unspoken rules of the Colosseum. Every time the Colosseum wanted to create a new superstar warrior, they were willing to sacrifice some assets first in order to do so. As such, Qi Ying did not hesitate in the slightest when he saw the dreary Yellow Tier Sixth Rank Scorpion Tailed Lion emerge from its cage. He immediately unleashed his Falcon Claw Hand with his left hand to gouge out the lion’s eyes before snapping its throat, thereby insta-killing it!

“Wow, that was so awesome!”

“What kind of powerful being is this Nameless Warrior? That Scorpion Tailed Lion has already defeated more than five Bronze rank warriors, but it still couldn’t even force the Nameless Warrior to unleash his battle techniques!”

There were some people who thought that the Scorpion Tailed Lion didn’t look quite right today and raised their suspicions with regards to how the Scorpion Tailed Lion was defeated before it had even done anything. However, other audience members immediately offered retorts. “The Nameless Warrior was able to insta-kill it, so no matter how powerful it is, it’s all the same thing to the Nameless Warrior! The only reason you think the Scorpion Tailed Lion is too weak is that the Nameless Warrior is too powerful.”

The fifth beast to appear was one of the superstar beasts of the Colosseum, the Flaming Cerberus. That battle was quite an intense one and flames shot forth in all directions. In the end, it was still the Nameless Warrior who came out on top, as he secured victory by smashing the Cerberus’ three heads in quick succession.

“He won!”

“The Nameless Warrior has won all five colosseum battles! He’s now a Silver rank warrior!”

“There are currently less than ten Silver rank warriors in the entire Colosseum and they make extremely rare appearances. Every time they participate in a battle, the price of the tickets doubles at the very least, so today’s tickets were a bargain! We paid the normal price, but we were able to witness the Silver rank Nameless Warrior in action for five consecutive battles!”

“These unspoken rules are way too cruel!” Qi Ying looked at the body of the Flaming Cerberus and thought to himself, “Amitabha, I don’t know what medicine Master Thirteen fed you, but the flames you blasted at me weren’t hot in the slightest. It’s a shame that you blasted so much fire at me, all in a futile effort… But then again, you brought this upon yourself. This is what you get for frightening Master Thirteen’s daughter to the point of tears when she last came to visit the Colosseum. It’s really no surprise that Master Thirteen is disposing of you like trash now.”

Rules were always devised to create profit for the strong!

Regardless of whether one was a superstar warrior or a superstar beast, they were all just tools used by Master Thirteen to attract more spectators and revenue.

Qi Ying had become a Silver rank warrior and according to the rules of the Colosseum, he had to go through the Silver rank warrior inauguration ceremony. Qi Ying stood with his head bowed on a temporary podium, while the female colosseum administrator with the long curls hung a floral wreath around his neck. After that, a Silver rank warrior badge was presented to him by the owner of the Colosseum, Master Thirteen.

Master Thirteen clasped his hands behind his back and appraised Qi Ying with a smile. “Nameless Warrior, congratulations on becoming the twenty-fifth Silver rank warrior in the Colosseum’s thirteen-year history. You still have a chance to put on another performance today. Would you like to challenge the Dark Golden Ape?”

“No.” Qi Ying shook his head, “I’m done for the day. Maybe next time!”

“Alright.” Master Thirteen nodded, “You probably don’t think that the Dark Golden Ape is a worthy opponent for you anyway. We’ll raise the Dark Golden Ape to Yellow Tier Seventh Rank, then organize a battle between the two of you! Please don’t refuse when the time comes.”

“Alright.”

…

Qi Ying changed out of the Colosseum’s clothes and put on his cloak as well as his silver glove. He received his reward for becoming a Silver rank warrior and defeating the five beasts before setting off to hurry home. He wanted to return home earlier today in order to give Xuan Yu the present that he had prepared for her.

At this moment, a lithe and graceful woman stopped Qi Ying in his tracks.

“Do you need something from me?”

Qi Ying’s footsteps faltered at the sight of the female administrator with the long, wavy curls.

“I’ve got good news for you.” A suggestive smile appeared on her face as she nudged Qi Ying’s arm with her elbow. “Someone wants to sleep with you.”