74 Suicide (1/2)
”Are you sure that you don't want to just challenge one opponent and then spend some time to digest and ponder on said fight, rather than start another battle right away?” the commander asked with some confusion, but Xue Wei shook his head.
”I need something to pressure me, and to do that I would like to face at least a few people. I would like to face either four or five experts in a row, or have a fight against three opponents at once.”
”Three at once?! No – not an option at all!” The Commander was horrified. He was of the opinion that Xue Wei was clearly suicidal to even think about fighting more than one enemy at a time.
Xue Wei just shrugged his shoulders. ”I got a lot of lifesaving abilities and treasures from Lan,” he said casually, putting all the responsibility on Lan.
”I learned quite a few abilities when he was here, and I should be able to hold my own against three Earth Warriors,” he continued to explain, but the commander was impossible to sway.
”Okay, since that is impossible, allow me to fight a few monsters one by one ,” Xue Wei was also not just going to give up just like that. ”I am sure that I will be able to survive.”
The commander started sweating. He could sense that Xue Wei was unbending in his request, but at the same time he understood that if he accidentally got Xue Wei killed, then quite a few people would come after him.
”Why don't we do like this?” Xue Wei finally sighed. ”I will fight one opponent. After that opponent dies, I will take a five minute break, and then I will say whether or not I am fit to continue fighting. If I am not in a good condition, I will stop; and if I am, I will keep fighting?”
The commander's eyes started shining with light. ”That is not a bad idea!” he exclaimed. ”We will do it like that. You can enter the arena tomorrow morning; by then the opponents will have been prepared.”
Xue Wei nodded his head and cupped his fists. Although it was not exactly what he had wanted, it was not a bad solution, and he would be able to test his strength against real opponents in a proper life-and-death battle.
Although it had only been Xue Wei and the commander within the tent discussing the possibility of Xue Wei fighting in a tag fight of opponents, the commander still had to tell the staff in the arena about the things that they had to do, and thus the rumor about his impending battle spread through the entire Genius Camp, stunning many.
Some were apprehensive and filled with confusion as to why Xue Wei would fight so many people at once, while others nodded their heads and seemed to understand that Xue Wei was finally about to start shining. A small group of people looked forward to his misfortune as they did not believe in Xue Wei's abilities. However, as time had gone by, more and more saw Xue Wei as a mysterious figure with immeasurable strength.
This was especially so for those who had seen him practicing the Kick of Forgotten Kings, alongside those who recalled how Lan had given him special attention and knew that the two of them had been training in the field for almost two weeks.
”He has never actually displayed his strength,” one of the experts said. ”He had to display it to enter the Genius Camp, but none of us got to see it back then, and now, after entering the camp, he is at the lowest of positions, never challenging anyone, so we haven't seen his prowess.”
”It is as if we are to see a dragon emerge, see a genius being born,” another expert said. ”He will emerge victoriously and challenge three experts.”
”That's a load of crap!” another expert interjected, ”he can at most handle two challenges in a row.”
”No, no, no. I believe he will prevail over five opponents!” More and more people pitched in their own opinions and thoughts of how long they thought Xue Wei could last, and a betting pool suddenly emerged.
The pool only dealt with gold pieces, and you could not bet more than ten gold pieces.
The more battles he won, the higher the odds were, and the more one would get paid out. Although some people thought he was able to win three battles, not many bet higher than that.
The Arena was used around once every month, but not more than that as these geniuses tended to rather challenge other geniuses than jump willingly into life-and-death battles.
As the morning broke, many experts gathered in the arena way before Xue Wei even arrived. The ones who had arrived first were all the third layer Warriors. Although they knew that their rank was above Xue Wei, none of them dared to take him lightly and wished to know exactly how strong he was.
Then came the smarter ones in the lower ranks. The ones who could use their guesswork to deduct that Xue Wei was no ordinary individual and wanted to see his strength for themselves.
Amongst these people came a few who wished to see him being torn limb from limb, but not many of those appeared at the arena as they had sensed the atmosphere and knew that something was amiss.
Xue Wei casually did what he did every morning. He went to wash and consumed a Rising Mountain Dewflower alongside half a stalk of Corpse Grass.
He then sat down until all the energy had been changed into a steady stream of Qi that permeated all of his body.
Only then did he stop his meditation and head towards the Arena. By now, a tense atmosphere had covered the blood pits. They had never experienced something like this before; even many of the captains and the commander himself appeared at the Arena to oversee what was happening.
As Xue Wei arrived, everyone noticed how calm and collected he was. He strode forward as if he had no care in the world, and his eyes were completely glued to the arena platform, as he ignored the roar of excitement that came from the audience.
Xue Wei looked at the arena platform and slowly moved in through the formation that was integrated into the stage. He then noticed how all sounds were blocked out – all that he could hear was his own heartbeat and the sound of his feet hitting the ground before he came to a standstill.
”I am here to test my abilities,” Xue Wei muttered to himself. ”Since that is the case, I will need to try out the Mind Infestation first. All I have done so far is making people fall asleep, but I need to remember what Lan told me: be careful with using Mind Infestation against Fierce Beasts.”