Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

The main characters of a death match must, of course, be star players with a certain weight, but the supporting roles are never a concern.

If both sides have main characters, that's certainly better, but the desperate struggle of nobodies is equally fascinating.

The crowd doesn't care, they just want fiery blood!

"Publicity needs a little time, sir. Why not watch a few preliminaries backstage to get in the mood?"

"Hmm," the cold-faced bovine warrior nodded and walked steadily toward the backstage, disappearing from the distant watching eyes.

Bai E donned a disguise and squeezed into a corner of the arena.
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Surrounded by spectators who howled and roared senselessly as if mad, each effective strike and bloodshed on stage triggered wave after wave of climax.

The atmosphere of the entire arena was filled with the stench of sweat and boiling emotions.

Bai E, blending in among them, swayed his body rhythmically with the crowd as if part of the performance.

He let out a shriek, "Ooh~"

You know, once you get into this style, it seems rather intoxicating.

"Ooh~ Ooh~ Ooh~ Ooh!"

The defeated, exhausted gladiator was dragged away like a dead dog, fresh but not yet dry bloodstains already underfoot of a fresh pair of feet.

The two beast-like gladiators eyed their opponents with a cold gaze, the ferocious glint in their eyes eager to burst forth at any moment.

"This is our..." The host's voice was always so impassioned, even if it was just two gladiators with no significant reputation.

Because they were ordinary, they fought all the more fiercely.

Behind the host's echoing voice, two new gladiators had already violently collided.

Strength, stamina, will...

In the most basic and primal confrontation between people, it was these fundamental elements that influenced each combatant's performance.

Foreheads, elbows, knees, and even teeth.

Every part of the body could be used as a weapon.

Bai E squinted his eyes, feeling that the intensity of this match was even greater.

He wasn't new here; having already watched two matches, he subconsciously made his own intuitive judgment about what was happening in the arena.

Neither side was particularly strong, so the vicious moves typical of the desperate struggle of the underdogs, like groin kicks and eye gouges, were all fair game.

In order to win, this was beyond reproach.

But the combatants were fighting too recklessly.

This wasn't a death match, which the organizers would have announced in advance.

It was just an ordinary gladiator fight, and even if core interests were involved, the combatants' attitude was too aggressive, as if determined to bring about each other's demise.

It was even madness.

A gladiator who bit into his opponent's neck finally seized upon a fatal mistake by the other, ignoring the retaliatory punches smashing into his stomach regardless of the blows he received. With no special technique at close range, it was hard to cause enough impact, but his teeth, yellowed with stains, once clenched, did not let go.

The biting force of a human mouth might be far less than that of a wild beast, but in a frenzy of tearing, it could still rip apart the not-so-tough skin and muscle tissue of a fellow human.

"Pfft!" A small chunk of flesh and blood was torn off in one bite, and acute pain struck every sensory neuron throughout the body like lightning.

The pain did not lead to collapse; the retaliation intensified under the influence of a crazed vengeance.

Disregarding the bleeding wound on his neck, the injured gladiator pounced on his opponent in a rage, pummeling him with a flurry of punches, blood droplets splattering.

"Wow!" The whole arena erupted instantly, even the host's voice, boosted by a dozen huge speakers, being drowned out by the roar of the now frenzied crowd.

Bai E squinted his eyes, focusing intently on the body being pinned down in the arena.

It was gradually becoming motionless...

The first to be severely injured, the gladiator's ferocious counterattack, had snatched the final victory.

But why hadn't the staff intervened?

The fact that the losing party had completely lost the ability to resist was evident, so was this neglect on the part of the staff or deliberate indulgence?

Blood oozed from all around... The enhanced attributes allowed Bai E, even far up in the spectator stands, to see the dark red trails flowing from the gradually softening, motionless body.

On the arena floor, blood meandered and slowly congealed...

The molecules of blood dissolved into the air, as if coating the entire venue with a faint layer of pink, blood-stained air.

Sweet and tantalizing... it was intoxicating.

"Huff!" Realizing that his opponent had been completely smashed into a heap of flesh after a furious outburst, the gladiator stood up abruptly and raised his right hand, declaring his victory to the audience.

Thus, he received an enthusiastic response, "Wow!"

His head pounded with excitement as blood unceasingly gushed from the wound on his neck, leading to a sudden bout of severe dizziness. The victor, after staggering with his arm raised, suddenly crashed backward.

It was only then that the arena staff belatedly appeared, jogging to drag away the two figures that showed little signs of life, leaving behind only two dark red streaks of blood.

"Without a doubt, it was an exceedingly spectacular performance!" the host finally had the chance to make his announcement. "Now, I have some good news—tonight, our always mysterious masked 'Bull Warrior' will face his first fight to the death! And if he can make it to the end, it will be the first time he removes his mask in front of everyone!"

"Huh?" Kuang Xin looked bewildered in the rest area, glancing at the attendant standing by, ready to serve at any moment. "I never said that."

The attendant's face bore the standard smile, "It's just promotion; whether you agree is up to you."

"Oh~" He wasn't really opposed.

The good-looking face he had chosen was meant to be seen, and besides, he was a player... he wasn't scared at all!

Kuang Xin sat back down.

"Before the Bull Warrior's true fight to the death arrives, let us continue to watch a few more exciting matches!"

...

Another pair of relatively unknown gladiators stepped onto the bloody arena.

The hazy heat in the air did not recede, so much so that under the extremely high temperatures, Bai E could almost see the muscles of the two gladiators swell through the distorted air.

He blinked, and the illusion disappeared immediately.

The battle kicked off swiftly, with the two competitors not disappointing the audience whose blood was already boiling with excitement.

From the get-go, the situation plunged into frenzied chaos.

"Just like this…" Bai E squinted, muttering to himself.

His soft question melted into the surrounding fervor, so even the closest spectators couldn't hear him.

It shouldn't be like this.

He himself had participated in arena competitions, although he stopped attending later on because the gains were too insignificant to warrant participation.

But to his understanding, the arena did not need to indulge every gladiator in a battle to the death like this.

After all, the arena doesn't produce its own gladiators; besides the audience, it has to attract competitors.

If every battle was fought to the death like this, a few times wouldn't matter, but multiple times...it would scare away more competitors.

A normal gladiator's fight wouldn't be so utterly insane, just like the ones he participated in himself. Even if everyone wanted to win, they weren't as wholly lost to madness as they were now.

Were these purposely trained death fighters by the arena?

No.

Rather than training, they could simply choose.

This was deliberate.

The purpose...was it for the fight to the death involving "Bull Warrior" that had just been announced?

How similar was the frenzied atmosphere around him to the battle with the Blood God that day?

Back then, the Blood God, no matter how reluctant to fight to the death, was forced into a one against three real combat by the organizers that was no different from a death match.

Now...was the chosen one "Bull Warrior"?

Or rather, Kuang Xin?

Bai E raised an eyebrow, pressing on the retractable composite bow hidden beneath his wide robe.

The rules and rhetoric of a place like this were not his concern; should the situation truly turn dire, he would naturally take action.