The fighting arena was fifty yards long and fifty yards wide. Each clan had five seats. Below the clan leaders' seats, there was a table where the five senior fairies of different clans sat. Xiao Huli sat right in the middle, with his two daughters, Xiao Dan and Xiao Hui, on his right, and Ping'an and Lee Dachin sitting on his left.
The competitors stood behind the seated five seniors, their faces grim and determined.
One of the elder seniors stood up and said, his voice echoing through the hall, "Let me make the rules as simple as possible. First, once the battle begins, no one is allowed to interfere. If any clan tries to interfere, your clan will be disqualified. Once you enter the arena, death is unpreventable. If someone dies, you cannot seek revenge on the winner. If you seek revenge, your clan will be punished by the death penalty." The elder senior put a small wooden box on the table. He closed his eyes, then pulled out a small bamboo stick, the size and length of two fingers. "The first clan to enter the arena is the Wolf Clan." The elder senior showed the bamboo stick to everyone, then reached inside the wooden box again. "Their competitor is the Flower Clan." The elder senior showed the bamboo stick to everyone again. Then he put the two bamboo sticks on the table.
The Wolf and Flower Clan competitors walked into the arena, their expressions wary. An old man holding a small red wooden box went up into the arena. A disciple of the Wolf Clan took out a bamboo stick from the small red box.
The old man read it aloud, "Water." He showed the bamboo stick to everyone, then put it back in the red box and left the stage.
"Water? They are competing drinking water?" Zhao Renshu scoffed, confused.
"Observe carefully," Guo Baiyu advised, his gaze fixed on the arena.
"Pay attention," Fang Yaoting added, a slight frown on his face.
One of the elder seniors conjured a talisman and sent it directly out at the arena. The arena began to change form, rumbling and shifting. High rocks emerged from the ground, and the fifty-yard-long arena submerged in water, transforming into a treacherous aquatic battlefield.
The two Flower Clan competitors jumped onto one rock, and the other was already standing on another rock, seeking higher ground. The wolves moved first. The two wolves turned into two big wolves the same size as ponies, and jumped directly to the single Flower Clan competitor, separating her from her companion.
"Smart move," Fang Yaoting observed.
"A smart move?" Zhao Renshu complained, scoffing. "They are bullying a beautiful lady. It's a pity that two men are fighting with a fragile little lady!"
"We are not competing with monkeys," Fang Yaoting retorted dryly.
The two wolves prevailed. One of the wolves transformed back into a human form and fought against the Flower Clan competitor, while the other wolf guarded her, preventing escape. The wolf man conjured a sword, and then attacked the weaker Flower Clan competitor aggressively. He slashed twice, and both strikes fell on the poor Flower Clan competitor, wounding her.
"She needs to jump into the water!" Zhao Renshu shouted, offering advice. "Wolves cannot survive in the water!"
When the injured Flower Clan competitor tried to jump into the open water and escape another attack, the wolf transformed back into a wolf jumped up, bit her arm, and then swung her backward to the wolf man. The wolf man stabbed her stomach hard, then kicked her out of the rock, and the dead Flower Clan competitor fell into the water. When the corpse hit the water, a large black worm with a terrifying mouth came up to the water surface and swallowed the corpse whole, a gruesome sight.
Zhao Renshu startled at what he had just witnessed, his eyes wide.
"Safer in the water, huh?" Fang Yaoting teased Zhao Renshu, a grim smile on his face.
"Let's just say that the arena is not safe," Guo Baiyu remarked, his expression serious. "There must be some tricks behind it."
Xiang Huaban, leader of the Flower Clan, stood up, his face pale with grief. "Stop." He paused for a moment. "We surrendered."
Another elder senior sent out a magic talisman, and the arena was back to its original dirt arena, as if nothing had happened.
The elder senior said, "The winner is the Wolf Clan." He took the Wolf Clan's bamboo stick and put it in another wooden box. He reached inside the first wooden box and pulled out a bamboo stick. "The Fox Clan is next." He showed the bamboo stick to everyone and then put the bamboo stick on the table. Then he pulled out another bamboo stick. "The Snake Clan." He showed the bamboo stick to everyone and placed the bamboo stick on the table. "The two clans, please enter the arena."
Zhao Renshu cracked his knuckles excitedly. "Brothers, that's us!" He smirked and began cracking his neck, eager for the fight.
Fang Yaoting stood up, a serious expression on his face. "Don't be too happy. These people are here to kill. They are not here to play like you. Always be on your guard."
"I am not here to play either," Zhao Renshu smirked, confident. "If they play nice, I will play nice."
"If we can spare lives, then do it," Guo Baiyu advised, his voice calm. "It's not necessary to kill."
Zhao Renshu and Fang Yaoting both nodded at Guo Baiyu, acknowledging his words. The three men and three women walked into the arena.
The same elder senior walked with the red wooden box, and he approached the three friends (referring to Guo Baiyu, Zhao Renshu, and Fang Yaoting as the competitors).
Zhao Renshu looked at Fang Yaoting. "Yaoting, you pick," he offered.
Fang Yaoting reached inside the red wooden box, pulled a bamboo stick, and handed it to the elder man.
The elder senior read out loud, "Spikes." He showed the bamboo stick to everyone.
The three friends waited, but the arena had not changed at all, remaining a flat, dirt surface.
Zhao Renshu smiled and said, "Hey, you lucky bastard."
Just after Zhao Renshu's sentence was said, the three friends saw six sharp wooden spikes the size of a man's arm flew straight to the Snake Clan competitors from behind.
Guo Baiyu, reacting instantly, conjured his bow and sword and fired six arrows, precisely destroying the six spikes before they could hit the Snake Clan competitors.
The rival competitors didn't care that Guo Baiyu had just saved them. They immediately launched their attack at the three friends, showing no gratitude.
"Do they care that we just saved them?" Zhao Renshu scoffed, enraged by their ingratitude. He sent ten sharp icicles at the three female Snake Clan competitors.
"Told you, this is a competition," Fang Yaoting said dryly, dodging an attack.
One of the Snake Clan members turned herself into a huge, half-black snake. Her tail was twenty feet long, and she lunged her massive body directly towards Fang Yaoting.
Fang Yaoting did one somersault over the charging snake, then, with incredible speed, pierced his sword into the snake's tail and nailed her tail into the ground, pinning her. The female snake screamed in pain and hovered backwards, with a sword in her right hand, charging furiously towards Fang Yaoting.
Lee Dachin's heart was beating fast while watching, like it would burst out of his chest. He was very scared and worried about Fang Yaoting's safety.
"Dachin, don't worry," Ping'an said, sensing his fear.
"I have heard of such a story," Lee Dachin whispered, his voice strained, "but I have never experienced it. I feel fear and tension at the same time."
"I felt the same when I first saw them," Ping'an admitted, recalling her own first encounters with powerful beings.
Guo Baiyu and Zhao Renshu were still attacking the other two Snake Clan competitors. They couldn't help Fang Yaoting, knowing that once he nailed the snake's tail to the ground with his sword, he would be weaponless and vulnerable, needing to retrieve it.