Li Shiqing, disguised by Yu Rumeng, was a Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivator, so the real Li Shiqing naturally had to be at the same level of cultivation. Otherwise, how could she have deceived Flower Shadow Great Emperor and the others? That level of cultivation wasn't exactly poor, but this was the Demon Realm after all, and Li Shiqing lacked Yang Kai's ability to ignore demonic energy's erosion. How could she possibly stand against other Demon Kings in this Blood Arena?
At this moment, Li Shiqing stood quietly beside the Demon King, appearing to have her cultivation unrestrained and without any restrictions placed on her. Yet she was perfectly still, both eyes shut tight, Emperor Essence flickering across her skin as she visibly resisted the erosion of demonic energy.
If she didn't do this, she would very likely fall to the demonic way in a short time, becoming a demonkin. No one knew how long she had been resisting like this, but her expression was clearly quite exhausted.
At the center of the arena, the Demon King who had brought Li Shiqing up smiled and spoke: "I'm sure many of you have already noticed something unusual about this woman. That's right, she is indeed extraordinary, because… this woman is a human from the Star Boundary!"
The moment these words left his mouth, the entire arena erupted in uproar. Because Li Shiqing had been constantly channeling her Emperor Essence to resist demonic energy, quite a few Demon King-level powerhouses had already sensed something off, but none had been entirely certain.
Now, hearing the Demon King's declaration, they realized this woman truly was a human. What a rare find! Due to the Laws of Heaven and Earth in the Demon Realm and its saturation with demonic energy, even if humans actually made it here, they couldn't remain unharmed. The most likely outcome was for them to fall into the demonic path and become demonkin. But judging from Li Shiqing's appearance, though she looked exhausted, she had clearly retained her sanity. What's more, her looks and figure were both exceptional, which naturally held tremendous appeal for the assembled demons.
"This woman is said to have Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation in the Star Boundary, equivalent to a mid-grade Demon King here!" The Demon King paused, then suddenly raised his voice: "The prize for the next Blood Battle is this woman! Whoever wins the upcoming Blood Battle may take her away. Hehehe, the taste of a human powerhouse — even I haven't tried it."
Li Shiqing's eyelashes trembled, and a look of grief surfaced on her face. Here she was, a proud disciple of the Flower Shadow Great Emperor, reduced to a prize offered in a demon Blood Arena. This kind of treatment was something she wouldn't have dared imagine before. She silently resolved that if things truly became unmanageable, she would immediately sever her own heart meridians. She would rather die than bring shame to her Master.
The audience seats fell silent for a moment, then erupted with unimaginable enthusiasm and cheers.
Just as the Demon King had said, not a single demon present had ever tasted a human powerhouse before. Li Shiqing's looks were fine, her cultivation was impressively high, and if someone could truly win her, it would be an extraordinary honor.
In an instant, the demons were fired up, and howls and shrieks of excitement rang out from the audience seats.
The Demon King continued: "This Blood Battle has no rules — it's a free-for-all. Anyone who registers may participate. All you need to do is survive to the end. You have the time of one incense stick to prepare. Anyone who arrives late will not be accepted."
After finishing his words, he seized Li Shiqing's arm and dragged her off, vanishing from sight.
The moment he left, numerous demons rose from the audience seats and rushed in one direction — and every single one of them was a Demon King-level powerhouse. Anyone below the Demon King level had no right to participate in such a Blood Battle. This event was different from previous ones; in earlier Blood Battles, the arena had arranged opponents of similar cultivation levels. But this time, with Li Shiqing as the prize, those with weaker cultivation would only be slaughtered if they stepped in. However, since this was a free-for-all, there was room for cunning — it all depended on how one played it when the time came.
Yang Kai turned to Xiao Wu and asked: "Where do I register?"
Xiao Wu was momentarily stunned, then pointed in a direction: "Over there, I think."
Yang Kai looked and saw that it was precisely where a group of Demon Kings had gathered. Without hesitation, he hurried over.
He had just been wondering how to rescue Li Shiqing if he ran into her here, and now the Blood Arena had conveniently offered him this opportunity. Win, and he could take the beauty home — this was a ready-made solution.
The registration area was a seething mass of people, deafeningly loud, and completely without order. The more powerful Demon Kings shoved their way to the front, while those with lesser cultivation had to give way for the time being. Fortunately, private brawls were forbidden inside the Blood Arena, or it would have devolved into an all-out fight.
Yang Kai exerted considerable effort to push his way to the front, then slapped his hand down on the registration desk: "I'm signing up!"
The Demon King in charge of registration looked up at him, a glint of surprise flickering through his eyes, and nodded: "One hundred thousand demon crystals!"
Yang Kai bared his teeth, then pulled out the registration fee of one hundred thousand demon crystals from his spatial ring. The fee wasn't targeted at him personally — all the Demon Kings who had registered before had paid the same, and Yang Kai had witnessed it. Naturally, he had come prepared.
The only problem was that when he had placed his bets earlier, he had wagered all the demon crystals he had on him. Being short one hundred thousand demon crystals would definitely leave his accounts unbalanced. He wondered whether he could place bets later. If so, he could bet on himself and try to recoup some demon crystals.
The demon accepted the crystals, recorded Yang Kai's number tag and cultivation level, and that was that.
After Yang Kai left, the demon in charge of registration looked up at his departing figure once more, then pulled out a small object and squeezed it briefly in his hand.
Deep within the Blood Arena, in a private chamber, a demon sat in a chair, eyes half-closed, his aura deep and unfathomable. Beside him, a demon woman knelt in attentive service. On the other side, a High-Grade Demon King listened for a moment, then turned and said: "My Lord, that fellow has registered."
The demon in the chair gave a slight nod, nothing more.
The High-Grade Demon King hesitated briefly, then asked: "Why does My Lord pay such close attention to this person? Is there something special about him?"
There was originally no free-for-all scheduled for today's Blood Arena, and certainly no human woman to be offered as a prize. This lord had suddenly arrived, brought the human woman, ordered the event to be held, and then specifically instructed him to keep an eye on that somewhat unusual-looking fellow.
Thinking about it now, My Lord had apparently used the human woman as bait on purpose to lure that fellow into registering for the free-for-all.
But how could My Lord be so certain the man would participate?