As the atmosphere at the scene reached a fever pitch, Shen Zhao and Xia Toutou, at Ding Buer's signal, stepped into the middle of the arena.
"Because this is a preliminary match, the competition will consist of three rounds."
"Each round will be one hundred and twenty breaths."
"There are no rules in the competition. As long as one side is down and unable to get up, the other side wins."
"Conversely, if neither side falls within the three rounds, the final victor will be chosen based on the contestants' specific performance."
"Of course, if one side concedes, they can tap the ground when they are down, and the other side will win directly."
"In addition, if you don't get up within ten breaths of being down, you also lose."
"Do you understand now?"
Ding Buer, even though you've been explaining the rules, your eyes have been glued to Xia Toutou.
After all, Shen Zhao set these rules, so there's no need to waste words on him.
Unexpectedly, Xia Toutou's eyes lit up at the words, and he whispered, "So, can I just fall to the ground, or tap out to concede?"
"That won't do!" Ding Buer said. "There's a rule against fixed matches. If you're caught, it's a death sentence, no exceptions. I've said all I needed to say, you two, you can start now."
Shen Zhao immediately smiled at Xia Toutou, showing off his muscular physique.
Xia Toutou forced a smile back, but it looked worse than a sob.
"Ding ding~"
With Su Yunying ringing the bell outside the arena, the thrilling cage match officially began.
Shen Zhao immediately adopted a fighting stance, employing a butterfly step as he approached Xia Toutou.
Xia Toutou, suppressing his fear, and feeling the passionate cries from outside the iron cage, finally mustered the courage to unleash the White Cloud Palm.
"Bang~"
However, Shen Zhao disregarded any sense of fair play. Seeing Xia Toutou advance, he threw a swift hook, instantly knocking him down.
In a flash, Xia Toutou saw stars. He shook his head and barely managed to stand up when Shen Zhao delivered another uppercut to his jaw, sending his body flying. He slammed heavily against the iron cage, causing it to violently shake.
This direct and stimulating scene instantly excited the audience, their blood boiling.
At that moment, everyone had only one thought: This was a real man's fight. Those wimpy battles, relying on immortal techniques and wits, were truly pathetic.
Shen Zhao took a quick step forward and, targeting the already dazed Xia Toutou, landed two more straight punches, "Crack," "Crack."
Xia Toutou was immediately covered in blood. This is so damn exciting, he thought, before collapsing to the ground and completely losing consciousness.
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
Ding Buer, acting as the referee, immediately dropped to the ground, slapping the ground with his palms and shouting out the countdown.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhao raised his arms high and began circling the iron cage, prematurely declaring his victory.
"Shameless!"
Lu Xuanji really couldn't bear to watch. Shen Zhao's strength was indeed beyond her expectations.
But what's the point of a battle with no suspense?
Even so, today's no-rules cage fight truly gave her a new perspective.
It was indeed thrilling and exciting.
Lu Chen and Gu Yunxiao shared the same sentiment. Before, during the fights at the arena, they hadn't sensed Shen Zhao's spiritual energy leaking out at all. This meant Shen Zhao had completely relied on his powerful physique to defeat his opponents.
There are many techniques for training the body: the Golden Lotus Sect's Adamantine Imperishable Body, the Mysterious Wonder Sect's Concealed Thought Dao Body, the Bodhi Sect's Bodhi Golden Body, and the Heavenly Demon Sect's World-Ending Demon Source, to name a few.
However, all these techniques require the outward flow of spiritual energy to form the power of Dao and Law around the body, thereby enhancing the physical body.
Yet, Shen Zhao didn't show any fluctuations of spiritual energy just now, which meant only one thing.
"Becoming a saint through the physical body! Imperishable and immortal!?"
Could this possibly be real? Such an incredibly powerful body-refining technique was lost long ago in ancient legends, and hasn't been seen on the Immortal Martial Continent for tens of thousands of years.
Could it be that this Shen Zhao is a disciple from an ancient aristocratic family, playing the role of a pig to eat the tiger?
The cultivators present began to speculate about Shen Zhao's identity.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Everyone! The victor is Shen Zhao!"
As Ding Buer raised Shen Zhao's arm high, the scene erupted in thunderous cheers.
"Awesome! Shen Zhao is awesome!"
"So cool!"
"I want to join the fighting competition too!"
"This is so exciting!"
"I don't want to cultivate anymore, cultivation doesn't have scenes like this to experience!"
The entire arena erupted, and the excitement ignited instantly, with the audience banging on the iron cage.
In the afternoon, everyone dispersed. After Lu Zhantian and the others said goodbye to Shen Zhao with lingering enthusiasm, the few of them began to settle accounts in the inner room.
"I contacted the people from the Guangyuan Merchant Guild. They're buying all the first to third-grade lower-grade spirit herbs for 150,000 Spirit Stones (lower grade). Also, four Yellow-grade spirit artifacts for 80,000 Spirit Stones, and two Xuan-grade spirit artifacts for 150,000 Spirit Stones. Total revenue is 380,000 Spirit Stones."
"And on my side, those injury medicine and spirit-replenishing pills sold well. Just during today's match, we sold over 20,000 Spirit Stones.
Too bad we didn't get involved in outside gambling. We definitely would have earned more."
The income of 400,000 Spirit Stones brought smiles to everyone's faces.
According to the previous agreement, Feng Xiunian and He Yishou took a share of 240,000 Spirit Stones. The remaining 160,000 went entirely into Shen Zhao's pocket.
Ding Buer's mouth was practically splitting with joy. He picked up his cup and stood up, saying, "Everyone, I have a suggestion. To make our business even more prosperous, how about we all have a drink together!"
"Cheers!"
Everyone clinked their glasses and emptied them in one go.
My lord, there's more to this chapter. Please click the next page to continue reading, it gets even better!
After the alcohol went down, Su Yunying spoke, "Shen Zhao, you're so capable. Aren't you going to consider nurturing a Female Emperor?"
Shen Zhao: "Why are you still thinking about this? Do you know how many resources and how much effort it takes to cultivate a Female Emperor?"
Shen Zhao wasn't just talking nonsense. In his previous life, he spent nearly twenty years helping Yu Xiyan reach the Great Emperor realm.
Furthermore, the threshold for becoming a Female Emperor: the Supreme Realm.
This alone would eliminate ninety percent of ambitious individuals.
The tribulations endured during that time were truly difficult to describe, and that was with the assistance of the system.
Now that he had finally gotten rid of the shackles, you want him to nurture a Female Emperor again?
Shen Zhao really didn't have that kind of patience or perseverance.
Little did he know, if the words in his heart were heard by the exceptionally talented Female Emperors of the Immortal Martial Continent, they'd probably just want to shut themselves off.
Twenty years to cultivate a Female Emperor in the Emperor Realm?
Did he think the Emperor Realm was as common as cabbage?
Especially the Profound Heaven Female Emperor, who was hailed as having peerless talent. Back then, it took her a full hundred years to go from the Body Tempering Realm to the Emperor Realm, and even that was already considered the fastest rising genius in the history of the Immortal Martial Continent.
"Female Emperor? Sounds good!"
Surprisingly, Ding Buer clapped his hands and said.
"Master Shen, I think it's worth a try!"
"Master Ding, have you had too much to drink? Want to fight to sober up?"
"Shen Zhao, hear me out. Cultivating a Female Emperor is indeed troublesome, but the rewards will be substantial.
If we succeed, we'll gain both fame and fortune. Even if we fail, we can still make a fortune and enjoy a carefree life. No matter how you look at it, it's a profitable deal."
"Oh? Tell me your idea."
"It's simple. We first need to join an organization, one with influence."
"Ding Buer, I can help you with your brain if you need it. The reason I, Shen Zhao, joined this life was to avoid dealing with those sects' faces! Don't you understand!?"
"Don't get excited. Let me finish. The organization I'm talking about doesn't have many restrictions and will actually help our future business. It depends on whether Shen Zhao is interested."
"What kind of trash organization?"
"The Arbitration Council!"
He Yishou paled at the words, his eyes rolling back. "Little nephew, can you be serious for once? Even dogs wouldn't go near the Arbitration Council, why would you want Brother Shen to jump into a pit of fire?"
Shen Zhao narrowed his eyes. "You actually know about the Arbitration Council?"
Ding Buer said, "I've seen it in the annals of the Immortal Martial Continent. They're the sect that maintains order among all factions on the Immortal Martial Continent. A thousand years ago, when an executive officer from the Arbitration Council appeared, the three thousand Mysterious Sects trembled.
But then the Arbitration Council went through a change. Plus, the new chairman has only known how to engage in dual cultivation for thousands of years, leading to a mixed bag of disciples within the council. They haven't produced any outstanding talents to hold up the place.
The Immortal Sects naturally don't give the Arbitration Council any face. I think if Master Shen became the new executive officer of the Arbitration Council, he could definitely cultivate Miss Su into a Female Emperor.
When she shows her face in the nine major realms of the Immortal Martial Continent, she could walk around with her head held high and make a fortune."
Shen Zhao said, "You've said so much, but I still don't understand how the Arbitration Council has anything to do with the Female Emperor cultivation plan?"
"It has a huge connection!" Ding Buer widened his eyes. "If we can revitalize the Arbitration Council's prestige, wouldn't we be able to enforce the law in Immortal Sects and prominent families, and have them bring us money for free?"
"Which of the Immortal Sects in this world is truly clean? If you look closely, you can always find something to exploit. Once you present their evidence of wrongdoing, won't they obediently hand over their Spirit Stones and spiritual medicines? This is what we call making money while lying down."
Shen Zhao asked, "So, aren't I just the same as them? What's the difference?"
"Making money isn't shameful!" Ding Buer sneered. "The key is that you don't have to grovel to make money. Just thinking about it is exciting. If I had the ability, I'd go to the Arbitration Council right now and kowtow. Consider it, Brother Shen.
Take a gamble, and in one fell swoop, grow bigger and stronger. It's better than just muddling through in this wretched place."
Hearing this, Shen Zhao looked at Su Yunying. "What do you think?"
Su Yunying gave a faint smile. "I listen to the boss."
Shen Zhao then looked at Feng Xiunian and He Yishou. "You two agree as well?"
The two of them laughed. "There's nothing much going on in Qingyang City right now. Brother Shen can try it out. We'll take care of the Fighting Club's business, and we definitely won't break the rules."
Shen Zhao sighed. "That's right. I'm not doing anything anyway, so let's do it. We'll head to the Arbitration Council in half a month!"
"Thank you, Boss!"
Su Yunying excitedly threw her arms around Shen Zhao, her small face flushed with excitement.
The moment he was embraced by her soft form, a fragrant breeze brushed his face, and Shen Zhao's mind momentarily blanked.
After ten lifetimes, this was the first time a young woman had willingly thrown herself into his arms.
In his previous life, he had embraced Yu Xiyan, but that was only to save her, a last resort. At least, Yu Xiyan had never voluntarily hugged him, not even once.
Su Yunying's enthusiasm truly made Shen Zhao feel a little unaccustomed.
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