Archean Eon Art

1

Meng Chuan calmly stood in the arena as two soldiers dragged the goat demon’s corpse down. A few soldiers simply cleaned the arena.

According to the rules of the Demon-Slaying Meet, a Dao Academy disciple could continue fighting against new demons in the arena as long as they won. The Jadesun palace would arrange for stronger demons to fight them as long as they were capable enough.

At this moment, another jail wagon was pulled up.

Oh?

Meng Chuan’s pupils constricted. There was a very thin demon in the cell, but it had a huge build due to its big bones. Though it was sitting cross-legged in the cage, its body appeared massive. Its dark yellow eyes swept across the outside world; its body was covered with dried fur that alternated between black and yellow.

Tiger demon? Meng Chuan was alarmed.

“It’s a tiger demon!”

“It’s actually a tiger demon!” the Dao Academy disciples exclaimed. Among the demons, there were many like pig demons and wolf demons. Most of them were ordinary and occasionally produced powerful demons. However, there were very few tiger demons; even the weaker ones were at the level of a greater demon.

The official from the Imperial Court laughed loudly and said, “Everyone, this is one of our greater demons at the Demon-Slaying Meet. Furthermore, it’s a tiger demon! Of course, it has been starving for a long time, and its body has become much weaker. Its muscles have also atrophied, leaving it at thirty percent of its peak strength. It will be Meng Chuan’s opponent, and will also be the opponent for Mortal Shedding realm disciples. Everyone, you have to be careful. Even if its strength has been greatly reduced, it is still stronger than you. You must be careful.”

Bang!

The cage door was pulled open. The one-armed man looked at the tiger demon and said coldly, “You can return to your cell after winning ten consecutive rounds. Furthermore, you will enjoy a month’s worth of food and drink.”

“Ten rounds?”

The tiger demon slowly walked out of the cage with its body bent. It scanned its surroundings.

It could sense a terrifying threat from over ten people in the spectators around the arena. The deans of the eight great Dao Academies, the experts of the five great family clans, the experts from the Imperial Court, Mei Yuanzhi from the Jadesun Palace, the one-armed man, etc. They added up to 18 people. Even at its peak, these terrifying humans were able to kill it the moment they clashed. However, it didn’t know that more than half of Eastcalm Prefecture’s powerful experts were present.

But of course, the scariest one was the person sitting in the seat of honor.

Jadesun Palace Lord sat there, and what it sensed from him felt like a sun! Just releasing a tiny bit of his might was enough to kill it.

“My first opponent is this little fellow?” The tiger demon glanced at Meng Chuan who was on the opposite end of the arena. “How weak.”

Tiger demon! Meng Chuan focused intently as the glow in his eyes converged. His killing intent intensified.

However, he remained motionless on the spot. This spot was at the edge of the arena. Even if the tiger demon rushed over, it had to be careful that it didn’t leave the arena. Demons were executed the moment they stepped out of the arena!

Meng Chuan planned on probing the tiger demon before deciding on a battle plan.

Whoosh.

The moment the tiger demon pounced on him, it brought the smell of blood with. It arrived in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Swoosh.

Meng Chuan immediately ducked, slashing out as he retreated. However, the tiger’s claw blocked the attack, causing Meng Chuan to retreat several steps when he landed on the ground.

Speed is my forte, but its speed is not inferior to mine. Meng Chuan was secretly stunned. Its strength is twice mine. This is thirty percent of its peak strength? Fortunately, it hasn’t reached the Unity realm, although it’s skilled in combat. I’ll target my enemy’s weaknesses with my strengths.

I have a chance of killing it!

He instantly made a decision.

Ordinary Dao Academy disciples would be nervous when fighting demons for the first time. It would be impressive if they were able to unleash 70% of their full strength. However, Meng Chuan was different. The flames of passion he had suppressed in his heart since he was young erupted when he faced demons. He became more thrilled! He became even more excited and focused. His body and mind worked in perfect concert, allowing the strength he delivered to be even stronger. This was his combat state.

He was in a good state, and he was capable of performing exceptionally well.

“He actually managed to dodge? Interesting,” said the tiger demon in a deep voice before it charged forward once more.

Meng Chuan took the initiative to meet it by lunging forward. His speed was no less than the tiger demon. Unlike the tiger demon that just charged forward, his movements were more ethereal—like a gust of wind.

Their paths crossed.

The instant they met, Meng Chuan’s saber silently slashed forward. This strike was the Bizarro Saber Stance of the Falling Leaf Saber, and its crux was to take opponents by surprise.

The saber beam slashed across the tiger demon’s abdomen, tearing through its furry hide.

“You injured me?” The tiger demon stopped and touched its abdomen, looking even more ferocious.

Meng Chuan only stared at it and shouted, “Kill!” before he continued charging forward.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

They crossed each other again.

Meng Chuan didn’t embroil himself with the tiger demon. He relied on his bizarre movement techniques and employed a hit-and-run strategy. He knew very well that if he were to engage in a head-to-head battle, the powerful resilient tiger demon would be able to exchange blows with him. It only suffered minor injuries from each saber strike, but being hit by the tiger demon’s claw would result in severe injuries. It might even lead to death.

In the arena, the tiger demon chased after Meng Chuan with a murderous aura as the latter attacked and retreated repeatedly.

With every exchange, the tiger demon would be left with a wound on its body.

Clearly, Meng Chuan’s saber arts were more brilliant.

As its wounds increased in number, the tiger demon’s injuries gradually worsened.

Pfft. Another slash swiped across an existing wound on the tiger demon’s lower abdomen, widening the wound three times the size. Blood splattered everywhere, causing the tiger demon to stagger. It stared at the human youth with reddened eyes while Meng Chuan continued staring at it coldly.

“He actually injured the tiger demon seriously.”

“Why do I have the feeling Meng Chuan isn’t someone who recently gained insight into the Unity realm? The might he’s showcasing is even more ferocious.”

“He’s very calm. He doesn’t give the tiger demon any chance.”

The upper echelons of the five great family clans, the Dao Academies’ deans, and the experts of the imperial government were all chatting with one another. Clearly, they were quite impressed.

“Ah Chuan.” Liu Qiyue was extremely nervous. Every clash with the tiger demon made her reel with anxiety. That was a greater demon!

Is this Meng Chuan’s pursuit? Yun Qingping’s thoughts drifted as she watched. In her eyes, the silly and wooden Meng Chuan only had cultivation on his mind and was too mild-tempered. She didn’t like that. However, his killing intent was terrifying in the arena today. He had killed the goat demon with a single slash. And he was currently engaged in battle with the tiger demon. Although his killing intent was restrained, it only served to make Meng Chuan appear even more terrifying and ferocious…

This was still Meng Chuan!

Is this his real side? Yun Qingping felt that she had been wrong in the past. Meng Chuan—who normally looked ordinary—appeared ferocious during intense bouts of blood and steel.

Perhaps getting married to him wasn’t bad either.

However, what the family clan had done couldn’t be reversed.

…

The wound on the tiger demon’s abdomen was deep. However, its muscles rapidly contracted to stop the blood from flowing. Even so, the tiger demon’s speed suffered. It glared fiercely at Meng Chuan as it emanated a baneful aura.

However, Meng Chuan completely ignored its baneful aura. He was like the calmest hunter that was ready to take its life at any moment.

Whoosh.

Meng Chuan lunged forward again.

“Roar!” As the two sides closed the gap, the tiger demon roared as it charged forward.

With a roar, distorted black ripples surged in all directions.

The tiger demon’s black and red fur immediately lit up as a golden glow saturated its eyes. Its claws’ might increased tremendously.

“Oh? It actually has the bloodline of a demon monarch? It has been imprisoned for more than a year, but we didn’t realize it. It really hid itself well.” Seated in the seat of honor, Jadesun Palace Lord was alarmed. Invisible forces enveloped every corner of the arena as he was prepared to interfere at any moment. It was Jadesun Palace’s fault for arranging demons that exceeded their expectations.

When the roar hit him, Meng Chuan felt his ears and head ring. Yet, the more critical the moment, the more focused his mind. This allowed him to maintain his lucidity. Facing the mighty claws, he immediately switched to defending. Over the past few years, he had been defending against Qiyue’s archery every single day, so he was extremely skilled in defense.

Boom! Meng Chuan felt an incomparably heavy and terrifying force pass through his saber and into his body as he was thrown backward.

As he was sent flying backward, Meng Chuan immediately tapped the arena beneath his feet to hasten his speedy retreat.

The tiger demon immediately pounced forward. It was a narrow escape for Meng Chuan as it failed to pounce onto him.

He immediately retreated from the arena and landed on the ground. He staggered as he used his saber to prop himself up.

Pfft. He couldn’t hold back the mouthful of blood that erupted out of his mouth. His face was pale, and blood seeped out from his ears. It was due to the earlier roar.

He actually escaped?

The tiger demon stared at Meng Chuan below, feeling extremely shocked.

In the face of death, it had been forced to reveal its hidden demon monarch bloodline. The Tiger Roar would usually be able to stun an enemy at a critical moment! It would take the opportunity to kill the enemy. However, the human youth was still able to block its attacks despite the bleeding in his ears. He didn’t hesitate to tap the arena to speed up his retreat as he was sent flying backwards. This caused its second pounce to fail.

“Chuan’er.” Meng Dajian rushed over, and Liu Qiyue was worried as well.

“This Meng Chuan…” Palace Lord Jade Sun’s eyes lit up when he saw this. Many experts might seem to be at a high realm, and their combat techniques were powerful during training. However, when it came to life-and-death battles, it was rather impressive for them to unleash 60 to 70 percent of their full potential. As for how many could exceed their usual standards, that depended on multiple aspects such as their battle intelligence, will, and state of mind. Those who were good at combat were capable of killing three or four opponents in a row even if they were in similar realms with their opponents.

COMMENT

“This is his first time dealing with demons, right?” Jadesun Palace Lord was very satisfied. “I hope he really can become a Godfiend.”

Meng Chuan could also feel his hearing gradually recovering. Meng Dajiang used his Quintessential Energy to check on him as he said, “Chuan’er, it’s fine. Your ears were damaged from the vibrations. You will recover in a few days.”

“Okay.” Meng Chuan nodded.

“You were very wise to retreat from the arena just now. This tiger demon actually has the bloodline of a demon monarch.” Meng Dajiang said solemnly, “It will be sent to the State Capital even if it survives since it has been exposed.”

“Next…” Suddenly, a voice rang out.

Meng Chuan looked over and saw that the speaker was the official from the Imperial Court. The official smiled and said in a loud, clear voice, “Jadesun Palace, Yan Jin!”

“Eh?” Everyone present was shocked.

He wasn’t a disciple from the eight Dao Academies?

After Meng Chuan, shouldn’t it be a Mortal Shedding realm disciple from the Dao Academies? Why was it someone from Jadesun Palace?

“Our Jadesun Palace has a junior as well. He wishes to give it a try.” Palace Lord Jade Sun smiled as he nodded at the white-robed youth behind him.

The white-robed youth rose to his feet and walked towards the arena.

“What? He’s also in the Marrow Cleansing realm?” There were many experts present. They could naturally determine from the white-robed youth’s aura that he had yet to cultivate a Godfiend body and was still at the Marrow Cleansing realm.

“To deal with the tiger demon at the Marrow Cleansing realm?” Everyone was somewhat astonished.

Even Meng Chuan was astonished. He knew how powerful the tiger demon was.