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

Chapter 172 O'Brien's Officer's Horn

The third match of the top 100 gladiators?
The Blood Servant's words made Chu Xiu narrow his eyes.

Without a doubt, this is a challenge with enormous potential rewards, but also with extremely high risks.

Chu Xiu glanced at the four statues beside the Blood Servant. They had all lit up, and the light they emitted was much brighter than before. Clearly, the four great gods had gathered and were looking forward to some new fun.

If they were to wager, the stakes would inevitably be higher, and Chu Xiu would be able to win more good things. In fact, the Boundless Blood Pool might even give him a substantial "reward" in his delight.

The problem is that the opponents chosen for him this time will definitely be more targeted.

"The Sand Shadow Clan gladiator was ranked 327th before. Considering that he has already won four consecutive battles, his actual ranking should be a little higher."

"His combat strength is undoubtedly comparable to that of an ordinary high-level general, but he was defeated so quickly because he was countered by my Eight Desolate Netherfire Formation."

"And the top 100 gladiators probably have strength approaching that of a king!"

After thinking it over carefully, Chu Xiu asked, "Can I find out more specific information about my opponent before making a decision?"

He was a cautious person. Strictly speaking, even the number one ranked gladiator was considered to be in the "top 100". Although he won the last two matches easily, he did not underestimate other geniuses.

None of the strong individuals who emerge victorious from the bloody arena are easy to mess with.

In response to his question, Blood Servant quickly gave a reply.

"The gods haven't decided on your opponent yet. It will take time to match you with someone or to select a player that will satisfy the gods."

"However, the gods can assure you that your opponent's ranking will not exceed fifty, and there will not be a situation where the difference between their strength and ranking is too great."

"Won't I be able to get past the top fifty?" Chu Xiu stroked his chin, and after a long while, he finally made up his mind and nodded, saying, "I'm willing to have another match."

He still has the trump card of the Judgment Demon Blade unused, and he also has the Mythical-level item, the Sky-Connecting Blood Vine, as a backup. Even if he is no match for the opponent, he should be more than capable of protecting himself.

Gladiators don't necessarily have to fight to the death; draws are quite normal. As long as the gods are entertained, that's fine. Moreover, as a contestant favored by the Boundless Blood Pool, Chu Xiu should be protected by the Blood Pool unless he is instantly killed.

After Chu Xiu agreed, the statues of the four gods shone even brighter, as if they were all looking forward to the competition. Blood servants appeared all around, with large amounts of blood rising from their necks and spreading towards the sky through their "umbilical cords," seemingly communicating with the other gladiators.

While the match was being made, Chu Xiu asked his personal blood servant for a list of items that could be exchanged for points and ancient blood.

After entering the Fierce Rank, his authority increased significantly, and he was able to exchange for many more valuable items.

He first looked at the "treasure trove" of the boundless blood pool that could be exchanged for ancient blood.

As a thick ancient book was opened, just like last time, a large amount of information flooded into Chu Xiu's mind.

He quickly found his target, the Resurrection Wine, which, like before, was priced at five drops of Ancient Blood.
The extra items are a large number of high-level equipment and items.

The worst quality items are still "Collector's Edition," with prices generally above five points, while "Perfect" equipment and items are generally around twenty points.

"It's considerably more expensive than the Warrior rank."

Chu Xiu began to read it quite carefully.

His goal is to acquire a piece of armor of the Fierce tier, preferably of the [Supreme] quality.

The skeletal armor that had been with him for so long was no longer able to keep up with the intensity of the battle; its current defensive capabilities were not even as strong as his skin.

With the Demon Blade of Judgment, Chu Xiu's offensive capabilities are now sufficiently guaranteed, but his defensive capabilities are somewhat lacking. When facing a truly formidable enemy like the Colonel, the margin for error is too low!

Therefore, finding good armor has always been Chu Xiu's top priority.

Although Chu Xiu didn't think that the [Supreme] armor of the Fierce Rank would provide much protection, it was better to have something than nothing. As for main equipment like armor and weapons, one piece could be as effective as several other pieces of equipment.

As for the [Legendary], that's beyond Chu Xiu's current reach. Even if the maximum is only the [Legendary] of the Fierce Rank, and it's not even equipment but just an item, the cheapest one would cost at least a hundred Ancient Blood.

Without further thought, he simply conjured up hundreds of [Supreme] level fierce-grade armors in his mind. The sheer quantity of his collection left Chu Xiu speechless with amazement.

Chu Xiu filtered out the heavy armor types and examined them one by one.

But in the end, his brows furrowed slightly.

These armors are all excellent; they are undoubtedly the finest of the finest.

But the problem is that Chu Xiu is just too strong!
"【Hundred-Refined Steel Heavy Armor】, the standard armor of the Steel Knight, is known for its amazing defensive power. The chest is the most solidly protected part, with a protection attribute of up to 150 points."

This is already the armor with the highest protective attributes, but its defensive power is less than half that of his bones.

Moreover, the price of its extremely high defense is that its repair ability is very poor, and its weight of several tons and its structure that does not completely conform to the human body will also affect its agility to some extent.

"Although there are a few additional attributes, they are merely icing on the cake and do not provide much help."

Furthermore, the price is 48 points, which he still can't afford.

Chu Xiu then looked through the other equipment, but these heavy armors were all very similar, with no real difference.

There was no other way; the Golden Muscle and Dark Bone were simply too powerful, and normally, one could only reach the fourth level after reaching the General rank.

Out of desperation, he looked through other items, but still couldn't find anything that satisfied him.

However, just as he was feeling disappointed, Chu Xiu suddenly changed his expression and focused his attention on a piece of equipment.

[O'Brien's Officer's Horn]

[Level: Fierce]

[Quality: perfect]

[Attribute 1: Allows linking to up to three hundred creatures.]

[Attribute 2: All creatures that hear the horn sound gain +5 to all attributes and continuously regenerate health and energy.]

[Evaluation: One of the magical artifacts prepared by the extraterrestrial demon Obris for his officers, which can greatly enhance the overall strength of his subordinates.]

[By combining it with any Oubre's Horn, it can be upgraded to Officer rank (Fierce rank).]

[Note: An additional Officer's Horn is required when synthesizing the Ferocious-tier Obraith's Roar]

Price: 24

This equipment made Chu Xiu look thoughtful.

Chu Xiu had a love-hate relationship with this horn.

What I love is that as long as you collect all three, you can synthesize a legendary item; what I hate is that they're so damn hard to collect!

Even the Blood Pool Treasure Vault, with its vast collection, only had one type. Chu Xiu felt that unless he had extraordinary luck, he would most likely not be able to collect them all. Therefore, Chu Xiu had originally planned to give up.

After all, even if a [Legendary] equipment is synthesized, as a standard magical artifact manufactured by Obris, it should be of the same rank as before synthesis, just a Warrior-level [Legendary].

For Chu Xiu at this point, it wouldn't offer much of an improvement.

But the officer's bugle call in front of him made Chu Xiu's eyes light up.

With his help, Chu Xiu can upgrade the horn's rank to the Ferocious rank! In other words, Chu Xiu has a chance to obtain a Ferocious rank [Legendary]! And a [Legendary] that can provide a group buff to his ghost army!
"That's right, why should I be so fixated on armor? As long as my demon subordinates are strong enough to kill the enemy without me having to lift a finger, then whether I need armor or not doesn't matter, right?"

With this in mind, Chu Xiu began to plan carefully. After searching for a while, he was pleasantly surprised to find that there was indeed a chance!
There are a total of eight horn-shaped artifacts in the treasure vault!

As for Chu Xiuque's horn, the treasure vault actually has a fierce-grade version! There are three of them! They cost 36 points of Ancient Blood!

Chu Xiu understood.

He completely misunderstood.

"I used to think that the horns were too rare or difficult to collect, and that there was only one in the treasure vault of the Blood Pool, so I simply gave up looking for them."

"But now it seems that the warrior-level horns are too trash, and the Blood Pool doesn't even look at them. They were probably just fed into the Blood Pool by chance and then put into the treasure vault. Only the fierce-level horns are worth collecting."

This left Chu Xiu both amused and exasperated.

Come to think of it, according to the rating description, O'Brien's horn is standard equipment, the kind that every officer under him has one, so how could it be scarce?
However, this makes things easier for him. Now he only needs to buy three Officer's Horns and one Fierce-tier Guardian Horn, totaling 108 Ancient Blood, to own a [Legendary] piece of equipment!

Although the cost was high, Chu Xiu felt it was worth it.

"Let's exchange one drop of Resurrection Wine for the rest of the Ancient Blood to trade for this [Legendary] equipment!"

Having made up his mind, Chu Xiu closed the ancient book and then went to look at the good things that could be exchanged with points.

Points are used to exchange for blessings, and his first goal this time is naturally to eliminate pollution, which costs five thousand. He just doesn't know if one time is enough to offset the pollution caused by fusing the bloodline symbiosis trait.

In addition, there are many good items, including the straightforward [Lava Behemoth Power (S): Constitution +480, Price: 120000 points].

There is also a magic-type [Spirit of Nature (S): Designate a tree and a stone to become a wood spirit and a stone spirit respectively to fight. The strength of the generated creatures depends on the quality of the designated creatures. Price: 170000 points].

There's even the [Damage Sharing (A)] that summoners dream of: Share the damage you take with up to three nearby summons, priced at 110000 points.

Chu Xiu was dazzled by the various amazing blessings bestowed upon him, and naturally, they were all extremely expensive. Chu Xiu could only look on with envy.

Just as he was enthusiastically browsing the items he could exchange for, the Blood Servant's voice rang in his ear:

"Gladiator, the gods have chosen your opponent."

"Ranked 59th, Kaba Tok from the Redscale Clan has been fighting in the arena for more than seven years and is a powerful veteran."

"However, although the match is complete, the gods still have some disagreements about the contents of the bet. Boundless Blood Pool hopes that you will watch your opponent's battle replay first."

As the Blood Servant finished speaking, a scene unfolded before Chu Xiu.

In the center of the image stands a three-meter-tall man with a reddish-brown complexion. His skin is covered with dense scales, and a faint dark gold color flows between the scales. These scales are extremely special, as if they can breathe and undulate slightly.

Suddenly, he disappeared from the scene, his speed startling even Chu Xiu!
The next moment, the scene changed, and two sharp blades extended from his arms, slashing forward rapidly. His opponent was cut into pieces the instant they made contact!

The other side in this battle happens to be of the same species as the giant crocodile he had fought before, except that the giant crocodile this red-scaled gladiator was facing was even larger!
"This guy is extremely fast. Although he can't match the colonel, he doesn't have the colonel's sluggishness. Overall, his agility is about the same. At least my Heavenly Demon Hand would have a hard time hitting him."

"And its offensive capabilities are also very strong."

Having fought against the giant crocodile before, Chu Xiu was deeply impressed by the creature's defensive capabilities. Its skull was extremely hard, requiring several punches from the Berserk Demon Hand to break it. The giant crocodile in front of him was even larger, yet it was instantly shattered!
"Furthermore, although it wasn't shown in the video, those strange scales must be extremely powerful, most likely intended to counter my Eight Desolate Netherfire Formation."

Chu Xiu thought to himself.

Next, several battles were broadcast, giving Chu Xiu a more comprehensive understanding of his opponents.

Extremely fast and powerful, but the common downside of pursuing speed is low defense. However, its scales give it extremely high resistance to various things, especially high temperature resistance. As a race that lives near volcanoes, its scales can even allow it to dive into magma!

"So, you mean to use high agility to dodge my Heavenly Demon Hand, use Crimson Scales to resist the flames, and use your twin swords to break through the Heavenly Demon Hand's defenses?"

"As expected of an opponent specially chosen by the gods, he truly has me completely restrained in every aspect."

Chu Xiu stroked his chin, looked up and asked, "So, what are the gods still hesitating about?"

"The gods would like to ask you, how long do you think you can hold out against them?" the Blood Servant replied.

"The Bloody Arena is usually automatically matched with its own matchmaking mechanism. The gods know that the opponents they have specially selected are not fair to you, so the gods do not require you to defeat them, but only to fight for a certain period of time."

"Currently, the gods have three bets: one minute, thirty seconds, and ten seconds, respectively."

"Which one are you confident about?"

Chu Xiu did not answer immediately, but fell into thought.

Ten seconds is a very short time for an ordinary person, almost enough to do nothing, but in a battle between different classes, it is enough for them to exchange hundreds of blows.

After a long pause, Chu Xiu looked at the Blood Servant: "The longer you persist, the better the reward?"

"Of course, the higher the difficulty of the bet, the bigger the wager usually is, and the greater the reward for you will be. Moreover, the gods who win good things are more likely to reward you."

“In fact, if you are confident enough, you can even suggest that the gods increase the stakes, but if you lose, it is easy to incur the wrath of the gods,” the Blood Servant replied.

"The wrath of the gods?" Chu Xiu was taken aback. "Will I be annihilated?"

"It's not that serious. Gods are not unreasonable beings, but they may reduce their attention to you or even deduct some of your points."

Chu Xiu nodded. It seemed that these gods had good sportsmanship when it came to gambling.

Knowing what was going on, he looked up and said, "Please tell the divine that I choose ten seconds and ask Him to add more."

Chu Xiu's words startled the Blood Servant.

He then said, "If you are confident in increasing your bet, why not choose a longer timeframe? With such a choice, it is unlikely that you will gain the trust of the gods."

"You've misunderstood." Chu Xiu grinned, revealing his white teeth.

"The ten seconds I mentioned doesn't mean I can only last ten seconds against that Crimson Scale Gladiator."

"In fact, it will only take me ten seconds to kill it!"

By the way, there's something I didn't mention in the text to avoid being accused of padding the word count: the protagonist now uses Demonic Energy Infusion by default in all battles, a secret technique he can now use without taking any damage.

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(End of this chapter)