Chapter 296: Asura’s Rise

Chapter 296: Chapter 296: Asura’s Rise

Chapter 296: Asura’s Rise

Rhain did not return to the blood-soaked sands the next day.

Following his breakthrough in the second level of Core Formation Realm, he needed some time to consolidate his cultivation before he steps in for another life and death match.

He spent the entire second day in seclusion, completely isolating himself from the bloody chaos outside.

Meanwhile, outside his warded stone suite, the Crucible Arena was buzzing with frantic speculation.

In the taverns, the betting halls, and the spectator stands of the colosseum, the absence of the demonic masked youth was the only topic of conversation.

"The Silver Rank 1 demon didn’t show up today!"

"Hah! I knew it! You don’t just fight three Domain Masters in a single day and walk away unscathed!"

"Exactly! He might have won and forced them into submission, but he definitely suffered severe, hidden internal injuries. Taking on Deathblade, Bloodfiend, and Venomfang back-to-back? He must have burnt his blood essence to survive. He is probably coughing up his own organs in his suite right now."

"He’s exhausted. I bet he won’t show his face in the pits for at least a month!"

The ruthless denizens of the Crucible Arena nodded in agreement.

They fully believed that "Asura" had reached his limit and was currently hovering on the brink of death.

But on the morning of the third day, the wild speculations of the crowd were ruthlessly shattered.

A dark-robed figure wearing a demonic Asura mask walked back in the arena.

There was no sign of so-called exhaustion or injuries.

"He... he is back!"

"He doesn’t look injured at all! He looks completely refreshed!"

Ignoring the stunned murmurs, Rhain focused on his next matches.

Rhain stepped onto the arena floor to face his first opponent of the day—an early-stage Domain Master wielding a pair of massive, blood-stained warhammers.

"DIE, YOU BUG!" the hammer-wielding Domain Master roared, unleashing a fierce Domain of Lightning.

"Origin Domain of Darkness."

WHOOSH—!!!

A pitch-black void erupted from the mark on his forehead.

With fifty-two percent comprehension of a the law, the strength of the domain had increased again.

The opponent was completely crushed.

Void Fist. Second Form.

BANG!

It lasted less than three minutes.

The lightning-wielding Domain Master was left coughing up blood in the dirt, his essence was sucked dry from Rhain’s brutal punches.

Under the threat of imminent death, he raised three trembling fingers and swore the Heavenly Vow of submission.

An hour later, Rhain stepped into the ring again.

His second opponent, a swift and cunning assassin who utilized a Domain of Shadows, attempted to use hit-and-run tactics to drain Rhain’s essence.

It was entirely useless.

Rhain’s domain of darkness completely suppressed the opponent’s domain of shadow.

Within a few moves, he shattered the man’s weapons and broke both of his arms.

"I yield! I yield! I will be your slave!"

In just one morning, Rhain gained two more Domain Master slaves, bringing his total count to five.

The entire colosseum watched in mind-numbing silence.

On the fourth day, the sun rose again, and the demonic Asura mask appeared in the colosseum once more.

The stands were packed to the brim.

But this time, Rhain ended up waiting for full five hours before his first match.

Finally, he managed to find a single Gold Rank 1 opponent.

The fight was brutally short.

The opponent tried to rely on a Mystic grade movement art to exhaust Rhain’s essence, but without any eyes to see, where could the opponent flee from Rhain.

Rhain simply materialized directly before the opponent, and shattered the man’s defenses within a few strikes.

With a boot pressed against his throat, the sixth Domain Master swore his loyalty to Asura.

Six early-stage Domain Masters.

In the outside world, this was a military force capable of establishing a small power.

------------------

The sun rose on the fifth day.

Rhain leisurely walked into the Registration Hall, his six towering slaves following closely in a perfectly synchronized, intimidating formation.

The gloomy hall was filled with the usual assortment of dangerous, masked individuals exuding dense killing intent.

The moment Rhain approached the registration desk, the old clerk stiffened.

The clerk’s lone eye twitched violently as he looked at the six infamous executioners of the blood pits standing silently behind the man whom he had once mocked him for throwing his life away

"Schedule me for a Gold Rank 1 match," Rhain stated flatly.

The clerk looked up at the demonic Asura mask with a bizarre, almost helpless expression.

"I can’t," the clerk muttered with a resigned sigh.

Rhain frowned slightly. "Why not?"

The clerk leaned over the desk, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

"Because there is no one left to fight you." the clerk spoke.

Rhain’s eyebrows rose a fraction. "What do you mean, no one is left?"

"I mean exactly what I said," the clerk sighed, gesturing toward the completely blank slab designated for early-stage Domain Masters. "As of last night, every single Gold Rank 1 fighter in this arena has formally withdrawn their name from the death match roster. Some even paid astronomical fines just to break their existing arena contracts!"

The clerk looked at Rhain as if he were looking at a walking natural disaster.

"And it’s all because of you, Asura," the clerk stated grimly. "Fighting you leaves them with only two options: die, or become your chained dog. You’ve enslaved six of their peers in less than a week!"

The old man gestured broadly toward the six men standing behind Rhain.

"No one wants to fight a battle which you are certain to lose."

Rhain stood in silence, he wasn’t expecting something like this to happen.

While it was slightly amusing, it also created a problem for him.

He was currently sitting on over nine thousand Blood-Iron Tokens—a fortune worth nintey billion Aetherium Crystals.

It was an astronomical sum, but he had no idea how absurdly high the bidding would go for a technique capable of blinding a Monarch’s eyes.

He needed more tokens to ensure absolute certainty at the secret auction.

If the early-stage Domain Masters were too terrified to step into the ring with him, then he had no other choice.

Rhain looked back down at the old clerk.

His dark grey eyes flashed with a resolute light.

"Then move me up," Rhain commanded indifferently.

The clerk’s lone eye went wide.

He stared at Rhain, entirely convinced he had misheard. "Move you up?"

"If there are no Gold Rank 1 opponents left," Rhain stated confidently, "Then I formally demand to be registered for Gold Rank 2."

The clerk was utterly stupefied.

His jaw practically hit the wooden desk.

A first-level Core Formation cultivator demanding to fight middle-stage Domain Masters in a death match.

"You..." the clerk stammered, entirely running out of words to describe the sheer audacity of the boy.

But looking into the placid dark grey eyes visible behind the crimson slits of the Asura mask, the clerk realized that this man was deadly serious.

"Register it," Rhain insisted again, leaving no room for argument.

The clerk nodded woodenly.

With trembling hands, he reached for a new runic contract.