An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 171 The Gods' Gamble
Desolate, cold, and lifeless, devoid of any life, only magnificent buildings that seem to have existed since ancient times and will never collapse, with only the rough walls faintly showing traces of the passage of time.

In the face of these enormous buildings, even a blood infant tens of meters tall looks as small as a child.

A gentle breeze blew by, lifting Chu Xiu's cloak.

"So, we've come here again."

Looking at the statues of the four gods before him, Chu Xiu let out a soft breath.

"Bang, bang, bang."

A rhythmic sound of footsteps rang out, and an eighty-meter-tall Blood Servant draped in a priestly white robe approached. It lay prostrate on the ground, its enormous ears pointed at the statue of the god, its face full of piety, as if listening to a supreme divine oracle.

After a while, it turned its head, and a grand voice resounded in the arena.

"Gladiator, are you here to participate in the competition?"

"Yes." Chu Xiu nodded.

"Gladiator, the gods are pleased to see you enter a new realm so quickly and arrive at the arena."

"The gods have expressed their appreciation for your enthusiastic and proactive spirit."

"However, the gods also have some concerns about this, worried that you are acting too hastily."

"You are a gladiator highly regarded by the gods. The gods hope that you can make full preparations, elevate yourself to the peak of your current rank, and then challenge the arena."

It's no wonder the gods had such doubts, after all, only half a month had passed since Chu Xiu last entered the Blood Arena.

It should be noted that those who can enter the Blood Arena are all top-tier powerhouses among the myriad races of the Abyss. Each of them is almost capable of crushing their peers. Even the gladiators ranked at the very bottom have the strength to kill enemies of higher ranks!

However, faced with the god's doubts, Chu Xiu simply nodded calmly again.

"I am ready."

As the words fell, the Blood Servant lay prostrate on the ground again, and after a while stood up and said, "The first match will be arranged for you to be a prospective gladiator. This is not a formal competition. The points you will get from winning will be halved, and there will be no ranking points. It is just to let you get used to the combat intensity of the Fierce Rank."

Chu Xiu naturally agreed without any objection.

The official matches in the Fierce Rank are worth 500 points per game, which isn't much. The key is the ranking rewards; if you can reach first place, you can get tens of thousands of points in total.

There are also various strange competitions, which usually offer generous rewards.

In addition, if you perform well, you can receive extra rewards from the gods, since the main purpose of this place was to please the four great gods.

After he agreed, the Blood Servant slowly rose up, emanating countless blood threads from his body. These threads, connected by chains like umbilical cords, were transmitted to the enormous blood moon in the dome, or more precisely, to its blood-red eyes, which were as large as planets.

Chu Xiu only waited a short while before finding a suitable opponent. There were 647 official gladiators at the Fierce Rank, and tens of thousands of prospective gladiators! Many prospective gladiators who were determined to become gladiators would spend a long time waiting in the preparation area in order to participate in more matches.

As a red light emanated from the Blood Servant, the surrounding scenery began to change. When Chu Xiu came to his senses, he was already standing in the middle of a swamp.

Not far away, a huge phantom, symbolizing the boundless blood pool, hung in the sky, indicating that the boundless blood pool was watching this battle.

Not every gladiatorial contest can attract the interest of the gods; they usually only cast their gaze upon those they favor.

Just as Chu Xiu was pondering this, he suddenly felt himself being pulled downwards by an inexplicable force.

He looked down and saw that his feet were deeply sank into the mud, and from the depths of the swamp, a continuous suction force was pulling him down!
Chu Xiu snorted softly, and the Vampire Earl's Wings unfolded behind him, instantly creating a gust of wind that stopped his descent.

However, just as he regained his footing, a ripple suddenly appeared on the swamp not far away.

The next moment, a huge figure leaped out from the bottom of the swamp!

It was a crocodile that was at least twenty meters long, covered in hard scales, and was now opening its blood-red maw to bite Chu Xiu!

At this distance, Chu Xiu could even see the Adam's apple deep in its throat, as well as sharp teeth as thick as an adult's arm!
However, just as Chu Xiu was about to be swallowed whole, a huge demonic arm suddenly appeared and threw a punch!
"Bang!!!"

Amidst a deafening roar, the giant crocodile's entire jaw was knocked askew, and more than a dozen teeth were shattered by the immense force, falling out in pieces. Its massive body spun and flew backward, but before it had flown more than a few meters, another demonic arm grabbed its tail, forcefully pulling it back through the air!

Chu Xiu grabbed its tail with one hand and struck its head hard with the other!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of collisions rang out. When Chu Xiu stopped, the blood had already stained the entire swamp dark red, and the giant crocodile's head was a bloody mess, with even its hard skull being smashed to pieces.

"Using the swamp terrain to aid in combat? But taking them by surprise could indeed lead to being caught off guard?"

"But he's already at the Fierce Rank and he's still using such a primitive fighting style? No wonder he's just a quasi-gladiator."

This thing is only on par with the corrupted mech; even with the terrain advantage, it's at best a low-level general.
It seems the Boundless Blood Pool wanted to leave a deep impression on him, to prevent him from becoming arrogant, which is why they chose an opponent who looked intimidating but whose actual combat strength wasn't particularly strong, and who was also huge in size, and who happened to be countered by the Berserk Demon Hand.

According to Xuechi's estimation, after a fierce battle, Chu Xiu should emerge victorious.

Blood Pool hadn't anticipated that the power of the Berserk Demon Hand would surge so dramatically, crippling the enemy with just a few punches.

Chu Xiu casually tossed the giant crocodile's corpse aside, and the blood pool on the horizon spewed out several jets of blood like a fountain, as if celebrating his victory.

Suddenly, Chu Xiu's vision blurred, and all the scenes disappeared. He was back in the ancient arena, where the Blood Servant was already waiting.

"The gods are very pleased with your performance and have awarded you an additional 500 points, as well as a bonus of [Ancient Blood*2]."

"Furthermore, the gods are eager to see your performance in the next match. If you are willing to start a formal match immediately, the gods will double your reward for the next match."

Faced with the Blood Pool's proposal, Chu Xiu agreed without hesitation.

He entered the Bloodstained Arena this time not for a mere 500 points or two drops of blood.

It's important to know that eliminating the [contamination] requires 5,000 points, and even the Resurrection Wine requires five drops of Ancient Blood to exchange for.

Upon seeing him nod, the blood gushing from the blood pool seemed to become much brighter red, and at that moment, the large maggot statue next to the blood pool also lit up.

This means that another deity has come to see him.

Clearly, Chu Xiu's previous performance had left a deep impression on the four gods, and his quick return to the Blood Arena naturally attracted considerable attention.

At that moment, strands of silk rose from the statues of the two deities and intertwined in the air.

This made Chu Xiu's expression change. A similar situation had occurred in his previous competition. At that time, Laplace said that it was a bet between gods.

Chu Xiu casually asked about the Blood Servant, and the answer he received initially surprised him, but then his face lit up with joy.

"That's right, the two gods are making a bet."

"Your next opponent will be a gladiator from the opposing god. In the official gladiatorial match, if you win, you will receive three out of two hundred thousand as a reward, as is customary."

This news both surprised and delighted Chu Xiu. He was surprised because since the opponent was specially chosen by the god, it would definitely prioritize choosing an enemy that could counter him. He was delighted because he hadn't expected that the god would win the gamble and he would also get a share. He just didn't know what kind of opponent that long worm would choose for him.

Without thinking further, Chu Xiu took a deep breath and prepared to fight.

Soon, as the bet was concluded, the surrounding scenery changed once again.

This time, he arrived in a desert.

Looking around, all he could see was endless yellow sand. A wave of heat blew in, hitting his face along with the sand.

In the distance, a figure stood wielding two swords.

He wore a gray-brown cloak and a gold metal mask over his face, revealing emerald green pupils that resembled those of a cold, venomous scorpion.

At the same time, a message flooded into Chu Xiu's mind.

"Shajak Yo Khan, a member of the Sand Shadow Clan, is a Level 9 Ferocious-Rank creature, ranked 327th among Ferocious-Rank Gladiators. He has achieved four consecutive victories and possesses strong dual-wielding combat skills, extremely high movement speed, and the special talent skill of creating clones."

"It's interesting."

As he expected, the opposing god chose a gladiator specifically to counter him. Whether it was the extremely high movement speed or the innate skill of creating clones, it completely restrained his berserk demonic hand, making it the complete opposite of the previous giant crocodile.

However, Chu Xiu was not afraid at all; instead, a hint of excited fighting spirit flashed in his eyes.

"This guy is effective against me, but the Berserk Demon Hand is still my main attack method."

Chu Xiu smiled and casually waved his hand, sending eight array flags, each over a meter tall, shooting out and embedding themselves deeply into the yellow sand around him!

Not long after he made this move, the gladiatorial combat officially began. The Sand Shadow warrior opposite him swayed and charged towards him without saying a word!

His figure flickered eerily in the air, and with each step he took, his body split in two. By the time he arrived in front of Chu Xiu, he had split into a total of sixteen!
Chu Xiu narrowed his eyes, his Netherworld Eyes flashing with spiritual light. However, in his eyes, these sixteen clones were exactly the same! Their auras and the danger level of their sword strikes were all identical, making them indistinguishable!
Although his divine sense captured all sixteen clones, there was no time for Chu Xiu to carefully distinguish the differences between them. Divine sense is like a 3D scanner; it is easy to scan out the location of the other party, but it takes time to distinguish the subtle differences between the clones and the main body.

His spiritual sense range was only two hundred meters, which was long enough for an ordinary person, but in a battle of this level, it was just a breath away!

Before Chu Xiu could think any further, sixteen figures had already surrounded him and simultaneously drew their swords! Instantly, sharp blades swept towards him from all directions!

However, just as he was about to be struck, eight fire dragons suddenly rose up around him!

The Sand Shadow Warrior paused, and before he could even show a look of horror, the Netherfire from the depths of the Underworld instantly engulfed him!
"boom!"

A pillar of blue-purple fire shot into the sky, covering an area of ​​100 meters in radius!
Under the scorching heat of the Netherfire, each clone let out a shrill scream and turned into a phantom. Even the sand melted under the terrifying temperature!
Even more astonishingly, eight fire dragons swam within the pillar of fire, constantly spewing flames downwards.

This caused the temperature inside the formation to rise even further!
The Sand Shadow Gladiator finally couldn't take it anymore and leaped up to flee towards the outside of the formation. At that moment, a tall figure appeared behind him like a shadow.

"Pfft."

The long sword pierced the chest of the Sand Shadow Gladiator in mid-air, and the figure of the Samurai Demon General fell from the sky. On the tip of its sword was the Sand Shadow Gladiator's struggling figure, his eyes constantly rolling back in his head.

"boom!"

A fire dragon breathed a stream of fire downwards, completely burning it to charcoal.

The arena fell silent, with only the sound of the ghostly flames burning quietly.

The gods on both sides remained motionless, seemingly stunned by the result. Even those who believed Chu Xiu could win against the Boundless Blood Pool probably never expected such a swift and decisive victory!

Even Chu Xiu was somewhat stunned.

Looking at the Sand Shadow gladiator in front of him, who was almost burned to a crisp and whose armor even showed signs of melting, he was full of question marks.

No, you call this "usable"?

This battle marked the first time he had used the Eight Desolate Netherfire Formation.

Originally, Chu Xiu only wanted to test the power of this magic weapon and did not expect to achieve any results. In fact, he had already ordered his summoned creatures to lie in ambush around the area to deal with the attack of the Sand Shadow Gladiator.

But to everyone's surprise, the terrifying flames wiped out the entire area in one fell swoop.

Although it was partly due to the Sand Shadow Gladiator's excessive pursuit of speed and neglect of defense, and the fact that the strength of each individual was reduced after creating a clone, this was still enough to make Chu Xiu overjoyed.

"This pillar of fire, covering the entire area of ​​the formation, has a temperature of at least over two thousand degrees Celsius! Furthermore, it possesses the strange characteristics of Netherfire, making it difficult to extinguish while also inflicting continuous mental damage!"

"If I were to be directly sprayed by eight fire dragons, the temperature at the center would probably be four thousand degrees Celsius! Even I couldn't withstand it for long!"

"This is actually just the lowest grade of the Eight Desolate Netherfire Array?"

Chu Xiu's eyes showed shock.

However, upon further reflection, the Eight Desolate Netherfire Formation also has significant limitations and requires prior setup. If there is no preparation time during the competition and the opponent attacks as soon as the match begins, then he will be unable to use it.

As the highest level of the demonic path, it is not unreasonable for it to be more powerful under these restrictions.

Even so, he was still very satisfied with the power of the Eight Desolate Netherfire Formation!
Chu Xiu let out a pleasant sigh of relief. At that moment, the blood pool that occupied the entire western sky suddenly spewed out a large amount of blood, seemingly celebrating Chu Xiu's victory with excitement. Meanwhile, the giant maggots on the other side angrily burrowed into the void and disappeared.

The surrounding scenery began to shatter, and the notification sound rang in Chu Xiu's ears at just the right moment.

[Winning the duel rewards you with 500 base participation points: 2]

Your ranking has risen to 327th, and you have been awarded 4760 ranking points (2).

[You have received a special reward from the Boundless Blood Pool: 14000 Karma Points, 16 Ancient Blood]

[The Boundless Blood Pool has increased its attention on you!]

"I never expected to actually obtain causal points; this is truly a pleasant surprise."

"Looks like you can earn more by participating in competitions with betting agreements!"

Chu Xiu couldn't help but smile.

Coincidentally, the moment this thought crossed his mind, the other two statues of gods, which had been dim, suddenly lit up.

At the same time, the Blood Servant's voice rang in his ears:

"The gods are asking if you would like to participate in another competition."

"This time your opponent will be one of the top 100 gladiators, but if you win, you will receive triple the reward! In addition, the gods will bestow upon you extra special rewards!"

Note: There is no double reward bonus for the bet split.

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(End of this chapter)