CHAPTER 216: LOST FACE NOT MONEY, TRUE ARENA

"I clearly won the bet! Now be a man of your word and pay me double the value of my treasure!"

Mao Ren declared, his voice ringing with righteous fury.

Luo Shen blinked, coughed once, and turned his head aside.

"Cough — what are you talking about? I didn’t quite catch that."

"What?!" Mao Ren’s eyes widened in disbelief before he shouted,

"As expected you’re not a man!"

The crowd instantly came alive.

"As expected, Luo Shen is shameless!"

"Ha! So much for being the ’Blue-Eyed Prodigy’!"

"I always knew his good reputation was built on illusions and hair gel!"

"Not keeping one’s word... truly disgraceful."

"Not manly at all!"

"Still, paying six hundred thousand sect points would make my soul leave my body..."

"But wait, wasn’t the real winner that young man with the fan?" someone pointed at Yu Xuan.

Luo Shen’s expression twitched. He could feel the weight of every gaze pressing down on him.

’If I pay, I lose six hundred thousand points. If I don’t... I lose face.’

Weighting pros and cons he exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing.

"So what? The bet was between the two of us, and the winner turned out to be a third party. Naturally, my words no longer apply."

"Hmph! Shameless! I knew you were no man," Mao Ren sneered.

"Perhaps I should warn that junior sister about your true nature..."

Luo Shen’s eyes flashed coldly.

"You dare?! Then let’s fight and settle this right here!"

Before he could step forward, one of Mao Ren’s quick-witted lackey quickly shouted,

"Why should our young master dirty his hands? You’re just trying to divert attention from your loss!"

"Ha!" Luo Shen snorted, flicking his sleeve dramatically.

"You people and your petty games... I’m no longer in the mood to waste my time."

With that, he turned on his heel and left, qi flaring faintly in irritation.

’Damn, I lost some face... but at least I still have my sect points,’ he thought grimly.

’Hahaha, at least you’ve learned some sense, brat,’ the old voice chuckled in his mind.

Mao Ren snorted at Luo Shen’s retreating back.

"Shameless to the core. I truly don’t understand what that junior sister ever saw in him."

He waved his hand.

"Let’s go. We’ve no business here anymore."

His lackeys followed, laughing and boasting about their victory. A free dinner awaited them.

"Maybe we should get going too," Yu Xuan said casually, turning to Lingluo and Tianmei.

He took out a small jade bottle, carefully collecting the faintly shimmering diluted Underworld Spring Water, then stored the empty stone in his space ring.

The shopkeeper looked at him as if Yu Xuan had personally burned down his ancestral shrine.

"Don’t be so sad," Yu Xuan said cheerfully, waving his fan.

"At least your business is booming now."

And with that, he walked away, Lingluo and Tianmei at his sides.

The shopkeeper watched them leave, then glanced at the swelling crowd of eager customers swarming his stall, wanting to test their luck.

He sighed, shoulders slumping.

"Tsk... damn lucky people."

***

Yu Xuan, along with Ming Tianmei and Lingluo, made his way toward the other side of the peak — where The Arena stood. He was quite excited to watch fights here.

He had considered going there on his glide disk, but with only one in his possession, he chose to walk beside them instead.

The auction wasn’t set to begin for a while, and watching a few good fights would be the perfect way to pass the time.

Before long, the towering coliseum came into view. Dozens of Discipline Committee disciples patrolled the perimeter, their uniforms immaculate and their expressions severe.

"Everywhere I go, these arenas all look the same," Yu Xuan muttered with mild amusement.

"Almost as if they were mass-produced."

Lingluo chuckled.

"That’s because they probably are. The Sect has one in every town, though they differ in sizes. Standardization saves resources."

"Efficient I guess," Yu Xuan said, fanning himself.

As they approached, he noticed the small side entrance guarded by two disciples — the way down to the underground arenas, where lower realm disciples, those in the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment stages, fought for sect points and pride.

"Let’s go watch some big matches," Lingluo said, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Yes" Ming Tianmei replied.

"Fine by me," Yu Xuan replied with a small smile, slipping his fan shut.

The trio stepped into the coliseum.

Inside, the vast expanse took Yu Xuan’s breath away.

The arena floor was divided into eight massive sections, radiating outward from a central Yin-Yang symbol that glowed with interwoven black and white energy.

Around it, the Eight Trigrams extended like petals of an ancient lotus, each segment encased in a faint, shimmering barrier that separated its unique domain.

One zone shimmered with blazing heat — a volcanic field of molten rock. Another swirled with mist and lightning The air itself seemed to hum with the intensity of ongoing battles.

"The sect really went all out with this one," Ming Tianmei said softly, her eyes reflecting the glow of the central arena.

"Of course I can see that," Yu Xuan replied.

At first, Yu Xuan had assumed the coliseum where Core Formation and higher cultivators fought would be simple — perhaps just a vast space reinforced with formations.

But upon entering, he realized how wrong he was. The inner structure was far more intricate, vibrant, and alive than he’d imagined.

They gazed across the sprawling arena, where six battles were already underway. Each clash shook its respective domain. Yet the section they had entered was currently on standby.

"Seems this part’s on wait," Lingluo said.

"Then let’s go find something more exciting," Yu Xuan replied, tucking his fan into his sleeve.

The trio made their way to another section.

When they arrived, Yu Xuan’s eyes widened slightly — a massive projection screen hung mid-air above the stands, displaying a fierce battle between two Nascent Soul cultivators.

The illusion was so vivid that it felt as though the combatants were fighting right before their eyes.

Checking the details on his sect medallion, Yu Xuan browsed through the local forum and chuckled softly.

"Well, that makes sense."

Apparently, while the fight could be broadcast directly, the projection was designed to give spectators the illusion of being present inside the battle itself — the pressure, the speed, even the shockwaves were simulated to a controlled degree.

After all, if the actual battle were to take place in open area, the surrounding areas would be obliterated in seconds.

The commentary on the forum also mentioned that each duel took place within a pocket dimension, created and maintained by the coliseum’s Eight Trigrams Formation, where real-world terrains and environments were replicated flawlessly.

Yu Xuan’s expression turned thoughtful, admiration flickering in his eyes.

"So this entire arena... is one massive formation," he said, voice low with awe.

"And probably one with extended spatial layers." Ming Tianmei added.

’Maybe I should register later,’ Yu Xuan mused.

He had already cleared the Foundation Establishment bracket and was now eligible for the Core Formation division. Watching these fights would give him a good idea of what to expect.

His attention shifted to one of the ongoing matches — a battle raging above a molten battlefield. Streams of lava surged and cracked beneath a volcano.

There, two Nascent Soul cultivators were locked in combat.

One of them made Yu Xuan’s brow twitch.

It was Ye Chen — a name that immediately stirred faint irritation in Yu Xuan’s chest.

The man’s once ordinary brown hair and eyes now blazed like molten gold, his True Yang Physique fully awakened.

Sunlight seemed to radiate from his every movement, each strike sending out waves of scorching brilliance.

’He’s gotten stronger,’ Yu Xuan thought.

’Guess getting humbled gave him motivation. Maybe I should beat him again for good measure.’

Ye Chen’s opponent was a lean young woman with snow-white hair and a composed, almost ethereal air. Her qi rippled with cold sharpness — a perfect counter to Ye Chen’s blazing yang.

The contrast between fire and ice, sun and moon, filled the battlefield with blinding light and freezing mist.

"That fellow again," Lingluo said, narrowing her eyes.

"Isn’t that the one you flattened last time?"

"Oh? What happened?" Ming Tianmei asked, though her curious tone and slight smile suggested she already knew.

Lingluo eagerly began recounting the story, her hands gesturing animatedly as she described Ye Chen’s glorious defeat.

Yu Xuan, however, remained focused — his gaze locked on the clash unfolding before them.

The volcano roared. The sky shimmered between flame and frost.

Ye Chen sprinted effortlessly across the molten terrain, each step igniting ripples of blazing energy beneath his feet. The molten rock bent to his will, heat itself seemed to obey him.

His opponent, the white-haired woman, moved with equal grace but opposite nature.

Wherever her feet touched the ground, the lava froze solid, forming crystal bridges of ice that shattered moments after she passed.

The terrain gave Ye Chen the upper hand — a sea of fire beneath the sky, feeding his True Yang Physique. His aura blazed brighter, his form wreathed in golden light.