"Monthly…" John couldn't help but mumble out loud.
He was no stranger to life and death battles, having partaken in one with Hunter. The Heavenly Lightning Sect did allow life and death battles, but they were extremely rare. The previous life and death battle before John's took place nearly a year prior, showing just how rare they were.
However, the Elder on the stage had clearly said monthly, which was completely shocking to John.
'Surely there's hardly anyone participating...right?' John mused with a wry smile on his face.
"All those who wish to participate, please step forward onto the arena," the Elder instructed.
Instantly, a dozen youths in the crowd stood up and walked onto the stage, once again shocking John greatly.
'This many!!!'
While John did not care if the Bloodfiend Sect slaughtered themselves, and actually wanted such a thing to happen, the scene before him was still shocking. The Elder quickly went one by one to each of the youths on the stage, asking them several questions.
After a brief period of information collecting, the Elder addressed the crowd once more.
"All the participants have agreed that their grudges can only be solved through death. There will be six fights taking place. The first fight is between Ancel and Trax. The second fight is between…"
The Elder listed off the pairs of fighters, each of which clearly had great enmity with their opponents. John couldn't help but stare at this scene with a blank look on his face, as the Elder did nothing to try to ease the tensions between the groups, and instead seemed to look forward to the fight to come.
The ten other fighters stepped off the fighting platform, leaving only the two youths of the first group, and the Elder. The youths were both first year youths, and both had cultivations at the Middle Core Formation Realm. Each stared at the other with hate filled eyes, a sign of their great enmity.
"This fight will only end when one, or both of you, dies. Begin"
His commencement echoed throughout the entire stadium, which erupted in a thunderous uproar of cheers and excitement. The entire stadium seemed to be whipped up into a wild frenzy of bloodlust, shocking John once again.
"Kill that fucker Trax. Rip his head off!" an impassioned shout boomed out from next to John.
"Trax, kill that bastard Ancel. Make him suffer first though!" another shout boomed out, conflicting with that of the first.
The two who had shouted these lines looked towards each other with fiery eyes, as if they were about to start fighting each other at a moment's notice.
Thousands of similar lines echoed throughout the entire stadium, drowning it in a nearly deafening cacophony. John sat there in stunned silence, unsure of how to take in the scene before him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
However, he had to admit that even he felt himself being wrapped up in the frenzied atmosphere.
'Life in the Bloodfiend Sect seems quite brutal, so this must be a rare treat for those not fighting to sit back and enjoy.'
John's eyes turned from those in the stadium to the martial arena below.
Boom!
The first exchanges between Ancel and Trax collided in mid air, washing the stadium with a loud boom as the Qi attacks exploded.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Dozens and dozens of attacks were exchanged over the next several minutes, as the two youths fought with their lives on the line.
'Perhaps its things like this that make the Bloodfiend Sect so fearsome. Their disciples are truly thrown into the pits of death, and only the strong survive. No wonder they were the most fearsome group within the entire wastelands and ancient city,' John mused as he watched the fight closely.
Che!
A sharp, blood red sword light suddenly pierced through Ancel's shoulder, its speed and power too overwhelming for him to block. Blood spurted out of the wounds, as his arm was nearly severed from his body.
"Haaaaaa!"
The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers at the sight of blood. As if further fueled by the thunderous applause, Trax followed up with several more overwhelming attacks. Crippled from his previous exchange, Ancel fought back with his full might, but was unable to stem the tide.
Che!
Trax dashed by Ancel, his sword slashing out like a blur. A moment of silence descended over the arena before a thin red line appeared on Ancels neck. His head fell to the ground below, as blood spurted out of his neck. Ancel's body dropped to the floor, now completely lifeless.
"HAAAAAAAA"
Both Trax and the crowd erupted into an absolute frenzy at the conclusion of the first battle. The stadium's frenzied bloodlust only seemed to be ignited further, and several fist fights broke out within the stadium itself.
Some attendants rushed onto the martial platform and quickly cleaned up the mess of Ancels blood and corpse, before the Elder stepped up onto the stage once more.
"The next fight will commence. Hella, Averia, step up onto the arena," the Elder instructed loudly.
Two girls hopped onto the stage and walked to the middle near the Elder. Both were second year disciples, and had cultivations at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm. They were both fairly attractive, and both had many suitors staring lovingly from the stadium surrounding the martial platform.
The frenzied cries from the stadium boomed out even louder than the previous fight.
"Hella, kill that bitch!" a loud shout washed over John.
"Fuck you," an impassioned cry echoed out from the other side of John. "Averia will slaughter Hella mercilessly."
"What did you say?" the one who had shouted first turned his head and yelled out.
"You heard me. In fact, why don't I follow in Averia's footsteps and beat you down right now," the second yelled back.
"That's it," the first youth yelled, and sped towards the other. The second youth did the same, and they collided against each other directly in front of John. They began to fight each other with their fists.
"You're blocking my view," John spoke out as he suddenly stood up.
Bang!
A loud sound boomed out, and both youths cried in pain as a kick from John launched them down the stadium towards the lower seats. They crashed into several youths below them, causing those youths to be angered.
The misunderstanding caused an even bigger fist fight to break out, as now dozens of youths were fighting each other with their fists. Although the fights were not to the death, they were still quite brutal, as noses were broken, and eyes were blackened.
John sat back down and looked back towards the martial arena, as the fight between the two girls took place. Both were quite talented, and displayed numerous abilities that John had not seen a Bloodfiend Sect disciple use yet.
Hella specialized in a whip, while Averia used two daggers. Their fight was quite impressive, and John watched intently, unknowingly getting caught up in the frenzied atmosphere.
"Gah!"
A pained cry erupted from Hella, as one of Averia's daggers pierced into her abdomen. Hella stumbled backwards and tried to stem the bleeding, but Averia utilized a strange movement art, which allowed her to get behind Hella without her noticing.
"Die, you bitch! Let's see you steal my man now!"
Averia's hate filled words echoed throughout the stadium, as her other dagger pierced into Hella's abdomen once more, shredding her internal organs. Hella's eyes widened in pain, and a pained cry once again escaped her lips.
To add insult to injury, Averia sliced her dagger over the front of Hella's robes, cutting them in half. Hella's bare body was exposed to the crowd, humiliation now accompanying her near death. Hella's face turned into one of pure despair, while the crowd erupted into a further frenzy at the sight before them.
Averia withdrew her daggers and took a step backwards, as she watched the life slowly leave Hella's body. Before long, her life fully faded, and Averia spat on her corpse once before turning around and leaving.
The crowd, still unable to contain their emotions, broke out into thunderous applause or grief, and dozens of fist fights broke out in the stadium once again.
The mess was cleaned up, and without missing a stride, the Elder stepped up onto the stage once more and spoke out.
"The third fight will begin…"
John stared at the scene before him, his face blank, but his internal emotions running wild.
"This place is pure insanity!"