Chapter 32: Arena Erupts
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The moment the shattered star competition started. inside the arena where Yin Zhe stood, the entire atmosphere became different. The ground under their feet hummed with a low vmmmm as the arrays lit up along the edges of the fighting circle. All twenty arenas across the plains of the Iron Vein Spirit Palace reacted in the same way, but right now only this one mattered to Yin Zhe. The Dust from the floor drifted in slow waves around their ankles. because people kept sliding and adjusting their stance. The air carried that mixture of heat, sweat, and the building up of raw spirit energy. Every cultivator in the arena gathered their energy simultaneously. It felt like a storm waiting to break out.
And Inside this arena, chaos came fast.
The contestants didn't even hesitate. They all started aiming at the strongest of cultivators right away, trying to wear them down from the start. or drag them out of the ring. It was obvious most of them had made silent plans and agreements, even before the battle started. Yin Zhe saw two groups already forming on opposite sides of the ring. They were whispering plans, while glaring at a tall guy whose body was covered with faint spirit essence, glowing dim and bright like his breathing. Another group focused on a woman whose spear tip flickered with pale blue spiritual essence, as she made the ground squeak and creek under her boots.
All the cultivators were moving fast, dashing, stomping, and yelling, trying to knock out the biggest threats before the mess got too big. A few loud THUD! THUD! sounds echoed every time someone tried to shoulder-ram someone over the boundary line. Someone screamed "Move or die!" while another person grunted and spat blood like pfft, because he had gotten elbowed in the throat.
And Yin Zhe… he just stood there watching the entire mess.
He didn't even pull out his sword or make a move. Yin Zhe didn't even bother to unleash his spirit essence. Instead, he just stood there and watched the entire mess like someone whose bored at a small street fight. He looked nonchalant as they ignored him. All of them. Every single contestant treated him like he was a piece of stone that was just sitting on the ground, perhaps his cultivation was too weak for them to even consider. Some of them even bumped his shoulder without saying a word, not even sparing a glance. One guy hissed in frustration "Outta the way, weakling". Everyone was focused on the bigger prey.
Yin Zhe blinked slowly, he felt an odd mix of amusement and irritation. His chest rose and fell as he thought, "So this is what they think of me? I'm invisible? Pfft… alright then… let's see who's really invisible."
A small grin pulled at the corner of his lips as he decided to make his presence known. If they wanted to ignore him, he would make it impossible.
He drew in a breath, using the Nine Breath Cycles reactive technique, letting his spiritual essence energy rise from his dantian. It swirled through his meridians, and the faint warmth under his skin lit up with small flashes of jade-colored light because of the Jade Skin skill he had leveled up to early stage one of the Qi realm. That glow toughened every part of him. His bones, flesh, and voice. His throat tightened for a second as he focused the energy to wrapped around his vocal cords like a thin armor.
Then he opened his mouth sucking air in and releasing it with a loud sound.
"STOP!!!"
The sound blasted outward like a hammer made of air. It sounded like the air exploded.
BOOOOM!!
The whole arena shook for like half a second. All the voices, stomps, clashing weapons, the insults and the movements. everything had froze at the same time. People clapped their hands over their ears with sharp "ahhh!" or "tch!" sounds. A guy even dropped his blade because his fingers went numb. The woman with the blue tip spear staggered back with her eyes wide open, her spear tip scraping the stone floor with a sharp creek.
Even the very dust in the air had trembled like the vibration had stunned it.
Everyone turned to Yin Zhe.
Dozens and dozens of eyes locked onto Yin Zhe. They look at him as if he had just appeared out of thin air. Some stared in confusion. Others in annoyance. A few stared in anger. Most couldn't even understand why someone with his level of cultivation had a voice that loud. Even a peak stage 10 Root Awakening cultivator shouldn't have been able to shake the arena barrier like that.
But somehow, he did. And it was just from standing there with calm eyes.
System:
[Cursed Reactive Points +144]
[Suspected Reactive Points +156]
[Suspected Reactive Points +146]
The system notifications flickered across his mind, numbers were appearing like sparks that danced across a dark surface. The sounds from the system always came like a small faint ding.. ding.. sounds in his mind, but he didn't let his expression change. Even as he farmed reactive points.
Around them, the crowd at the stands leaned forward trying to see what was happening in arena number 07, but the sound array barrier made it impossible to hear anything from the inside. All They saw was that all the contestants suddenly froze and turned toward one spot, which made whispers and gossip run through the stands. But that was all, they couldn't even hear what was going on. They could only watch the sudden change in the arena with confused excitement.
Inside the arena, Yin Zhe cleared his throat with a small "ahem…" as if nothing had happened just one.
Yin Zhe slowly looked around, meeting every contestant's gaze one after the other. His eyes carried that strange calmness that annoyed people more than open pride.
"I want to fight everyone here. All for one"
A few of the cultivators in the arena made confused "huh?" sounds.
Yin Zhe kept going, with a steady voice that sounded loud enough to roll through the arena again, though not as explosively as before.
"I've been practicing a defensive body technique," he said, while placing one of his hands lightly against his own chest, Yin Zhe's fingers tapping the almost jade-colored glow beneath his robes. "And I want to test it today. Anyone who thinks they can break it… come and try, you peep squeaks."
He paused for a few seconds. long enough to let that settle in their heads.
Yin Zhe's lips curled into a relaxed smile. just that "do whatever you want" nonchalant kind of smile that irritated people more than insults.
Then he tilted his head slightly and added, "All of you at once is fine too. Like I said, all for one"
That silence that followed wasn't just shock. It was an insult. The cultivators felt insulted.
A loud wave of reactions hit the system.
System:
[Mocked Reactive Points +136]
[Cursed Reactive Points +144]
[Ridiculed Reactive Points +167]
[Suspected Reactive Points +188]
[Cursed Reactive Points +124]
[Suspected Reactive Points +156]