Just as the host's words fell, thunderous cheers and support erupted from the spectator stands. The vast majority of onlookers were emotionally invested in their betting choice—Scarred King—while those supporting Ignaz were few and far between.
Across from him, Scarred King spread his arms wide, gazing up at the dome ceiling, arrogantly basking in the crowd's support. In the next moment, his eyes locked onto Ignaz, filled with thick killing intent and a hint of contempt.
"Host, when does the match begin? I can't wait to watch this Emperor-Slaying White Demon die under my blade."
Faced with Scarred King's explosive aura, even the host felt a chill run down his spine. This man had achieved 15 consecutive victories in just one year at the underground soul fighting arena, with opponents barely lasting ten rounds before dying under his blade.
His true strength was probably comparable to a low-level Spirit Elder.
"Both contestants, in a death match there's no concern for life or death—only the winner! The soul fight officially begins now!"
The host immediately flew away from the soul-fighting platform. A nine-ring great sword appeared in Scarred King's hand as he quickly released his first soul skill. Three blade strikes slashed toward Ignaz, and at the same moment his soul skill was released, he charged forward.
Ignaz gripped the Fury Thunder War Spear tightly in his right hand, turning it inward. With soul power flowing to his feet at incredible speed, he swiftly dodged all three blade strikes.
Numerous spectators in the audience involuntarily stood up, staring in shock at Ignaz on the soul-fighting platform.
"Is this the kind of speed an ordinary Spirit Grandmaster should have? Could it be that the Emperor-Slaying White Demon has cultivated some self-created soul skill?"
"If not for that, how would a mere newcomer dare to blindly sign up for a death match challenge?"
...
At this moment, seeing Ignaz dodge his first soul skill like a ghost, Scarred King couldn't help but take the newcomer before him seriously.
Just as he prepared to launch his second soul skill, Ignaz instantly released his first and second soul skills in rapid succession.
"War Spear Dragon Transformation, Slaughter Thunder Three-Stage Kill!"
"Second soul skill, Dominating Tiger Rending Blade Slash."
The nine-ring great sword was like a fire-breathing tiger, appearing even more domineering and murderous in Scarred King's grip.
The moment the two clashed, Scarred King quickly held his blade horizontally across his chest, using the blade's back to block Ignaz's first attack. However, he was knocked back more than ten steps by the powerful war spear assault. All nine rings rang out, and the blade's back trembled violently.
Just as he prepared to counterattack, Ignaz's second attack came straight at his face, moving even faster than before.
Seeing this, Scarred King deployed his first soul skill again, attempting to forcibly disrupt Ignaz's attack trajectory. But Ignaz wasn't affected at all. Gripping the spear with both hands, he deflected horizontally with force, and the tremendous power generated by the spear shaft struck Scarred King's abdomen.
Then, taking advantage of his unsteady footing, the third attack was directly released.
"Puchi—"
The war spear pierced straight through his chest. Scarred King looked at Ignaz with terror, his ring-shaped great sword falling straight down from his right hand. Immediately after, two mouthfuls of blood spurted from his mouth.
"How could I possibly lose? No, impossible—"
Before he could finish speaking, Ignaz pulled out the Blood Thunder War Spear. Scarred King let out a cry of pain, then collapsed to the ground. Large amounts of blood flowed from his wound—he was as dead as dead could be.
Although this was Ignaz's first time killing someone, he didn't have that feeling of being constantly on edge and terrified after taking a life. Instead, he felt incredibly refreshed.
"This..."
When this scene unfolded, the entire arena fell into deathly silence. The spectators almost all stood up, staring in shock at the dead Scarred King on the soul-fighting platform.
"In less than five rounds, the mighty Scarred King who rarely met his match just died like that? And this newcomer's rusty spear has three-stage attacks?"
"That was a powerhouse who could match a Spirit Elder, yet he was defeated by a newcomer. Could it be that the Emperor-Slaying White Demon is a 29th-level Spirit Grandmaster?"
At this moment, Ignaz looked toward the host who had flown over but had yet to announce the match results, saying coldly, "Host, it's time to announce the results!"
"Con-congratulations to Emperor-Slaying White Demon for successfully killing Scarred King. Everything that belonged to Scarred King now belongs to Emperor-Slaying White Demon."
When the host's concluding words rang out, the entire arena erupted, especially the merchant sitting in the front row of the stands, whose excited smile was written all over his face.
"A clean win, a decisive victory! I knew I bet on the right horse."
The merchant's emotions fluctuated again as he muttered to himself,
"Why? Why didn't I bet more back then? Ninety thousand, one hundred eighty thousand gold soul coins—that's double, double!"
He was crystal clear that today Emperor-Slaying White Demon had become famous in one battle, and the betting odds would drop significantly. If only he had put half his wealth on the line when placing that bet.
Ignaz took all the gold cards and valuable items from the dead Scarred King's body, then turned to look at the host beside him, asking coldly,
"His corpse is also mine?"
"Yes, everything on the deceased belongs entirely to the winner, including his body."
The host didn't dare look directly into Ignaz's eyes. Looking at the spectators in the audience stands, he explained to Ignaz.
Ignaz looked at Scarred King's corpse on the ground, hesitated for a moment, then returned to the waiting room.
Actually, he very much wanted Scarred King's corpse to completely devour all its essence, but in a place like the soul-fighting arena where many eyes were watching, taking away the loser's corpse once or twice might be acceptable, but over time it would inevitably attract investigation from certain people.
If this matter exposed his martial soul's greatest secret, it would be more trouble than it was worth. Since that was the case, he might as well not take any of these losers' corpses at all.
As Ignaz left the soul-fighting platform and went to collect his winnings from the betting, quite a few people wanted to approach and strike up a conversation with him. But when Ignaz looked toward the crowd, they scattered like birds and beasts, wandering about nonchalantly.
Seeing this situation, Ignaz understood that his recent battle had completely proven his strength to them. It made perfect sense that they wouldn't dare approach him for conversation.
He came to the soul-fighting registration desk once again, paid the equivalent amount in gold soul coins, and said coolly, "Match me with a new soul-fighting opponent!"
The registration staff glanced at Ignaz, then immediately quickly matched him with a new Spirit Grandmaster arena match.
"Mr. White Demon, your next soul fight will be held in half an hour."
"Mm!"
Ignaz turned to look at the specific information on the large screen in the fifth arena area, which had already been updated again. The betting amount had dropped directly to one-to-one, and this randomly matched opponent was a contestant named Gong Changyan, whose martial soul and battle record were completely displayed on the big screen.
The news of Ignaz's next soul fight sent the spectators, who were still immersed in the previous battle with Scarred King, into shock once again.
"Doesn't this Emperor-Slaying White Demon need to recover his soul power or conceal his strength? He dares to fight continuously."