Chapter 2422: Life Struggle

Lu Ye waited in the secret room for less than a short while when his Battle Token suddenly vibrated slightly. He picked it up to check, then stood up and walked out.

Soon, he stood before the vortex entrance again and, without hesitation, stepped inside.

The world spun, and when he regained his senses, he had already arrived within a fragment of the starry sky.

He looked around but found nothing, though he knew many cultivators were currently watching the battle in a certain arena. He couldn't see them, but that didn't mean they couldn't see him.

Before he entered, all the information previously recorded about him had already been transmitted to the spectators via their Battle Tokens. The same applied to his opponent, whom he had not yet met, to allow spectators to place bets easily.

Suddenly, a surge of violent energy fluctuated from his side. Lu Ye quickly turned his head to look, seeing a tide of colorful lights converge into a torrent of spells, surging towards him.

This opponent, whom he had yet to meet, clearly had no intention of getting acquainted with Lu Ye. They merely intended to launch a surprise attack, catching Lu Ye off guard.

The moment his opponent made a move, Lu Ye immediately locked onto his position.

He darted forward, rushing straight towards the tide of spells. His long saber unsheathed, and under its dazzling gleam, streams of spell light were extinguished.

When Lu Ye, with an unstoppable momentum, pierced through that torrent of spells, the original myriad colors had all shattered.

Only then, not far away, a cultivator in a long robe watched in astonishment as Lu Ye rapidly approached.

He had initially been quite pleased to see Lu Ye not evading his spells, but only now did he realize he had rejoiced too soon.

In the brief moment he was stunned, it was already too late for him to widen the distance from Lu Ye.

Three breaths later, Lu Ye's long saber pierced through his protective Dao power and cut into his body. Just as blood began to splatter, the cultivator's figure suddenly vanished.

The battle Lu Ye participated in was a Life Battle, where both combatants can withdraw from the arena at any time.

It was precisely because he withdrew in time. A moment later, he wouldn't have been able to retreat even if he wanted to.

Life Battles do not guarantee the absence of casualties. There are always some unlucky individuals who, even in a Life Battle, die on the spot.

Lu Ye actually didn't want to participate in Life Battles because the Dao Fish earned from them were far less than those from Death Battles. However, the battle arena had its own rules: cultivators like Lu Ye, who were participating for the first time, had to complete ten Life Battles and win at least six of them to qualify for Death Battles.

If they didn't meet the qualification in the first ten battles, they would have to defer to the next set of ten.

Since there were rules, Lu Ye naturally had to comply.

After dealing with his first opponent, Lu Ye did not leave. Instead, he stood still, took out his Battle Token, and conveyed his desire to continue battling.

This way, he could wait in this fragment of the starry sky, and the battle arena would continue to arrange other opponents for him, saving him the trouble of leaving and re-entering.

Lu Ye's Battle Token also contained some information about him, but at this moment, Lu Ye found an additional piece of information that hadn't been there before.

Dao Jade: Fifty.

Winning one Life Battle yielded fifty Dao Fish, which amounted to five hundred Dao Power.

The Dao Power Lu Ye consumed in his recent battle with that cultivator was naturally less than this amount. But that was because he eliminated his opponent quickly.

If it were a battle between evenly matched opponents, and the fight prolonged, the Dao Power consumed would definitely be more than five hundred.

From this perspective alone, the consumption and income were not proportional, meaning that often, participating in battles in the arena was a losing proposition.

However, from another perspective, a cultivator's Dao Power could be obtained through diligent cultivation, whereas Dao Fish were a common currency that could be used for various purposes. Therefore, only considering the consumption and gain of Dao Power wasn't very meaningful.

Even knowing that more Dao Power would be consumed, it did not deter cultivators' enthusiasm for participating in battles.

But what was this "Dao Jade"? Yuan Xi had told him it was "Dao Fish," but the Battle Token recorded "Dao Jade."

Lu Ye guessed they were likely two different names for the same thing. They sounded similar enough, anyway.

He didn't wait long. The number of cultivators entering and leaving the battle arena daily was enormous, and the number of cultivators actively participating in battles, like Lu Ye, was also high. Therefore, arranging opponents for the battle arena was relatively easy.

When Lu Ye sensed a vital presence in the distance, he knew his opponent had entered the arena.

He didn't hesitate. Immediately, he concealed his aura and darted towards that direction.

Perhaps he concealed himself too well, or perhaps his opponent's perception wasn't as sharp. So, when Lu Ye appeared fiercely before this opponent, she was clearly stunned.

It was a female cultivator.

The first thing she did upon seeing Lu Ye was not to attack or defend. Instead, she turned and fled, panicked like a startled rabbit.

As she ran, she shouted, "Please wait, fellow Daoist! How about we chat for a bit? This is my first time participating in a battle, and there's a lot I don't understand."

Lu Ye had no time for small talk with her. He needed to quickly complete ten Life Battles and then head to the Death Battle arena to earn Dao Fish. His speed suddenly increased further. Seeing she couldn't shake off Lu Ye, the female cultivator became agitated and frustrated. With a resolute bite of her lip, she turned around and cried, "I'll fight you!"

She raised her hand and summoned her Dao weapon, charging towards Lu Ye.

In that brief moment of contact, the female cultivator's panicked mood relaxed slightly. "So, you're not that powerful after all," she thought.

She could feel that Lu Ye's strength was only slightly greater than her own. She felt foolish for having fled so frantically just now. If her opponent was only this strong, then she wasn't without a chance.

However, no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the power that had been only slightly greater than hers rapidly intensified. Soon, it reached a level that completely overwhelmed her.

The female cultivator's expression changed drastically. She dared not hesitate any longer and quickly withdrew from the battle arena.

The second opponent was also dealt with effortlessly. Aside from Lu Ye's inherently invincible strength in the Dao Integration realm, the two opponents he had encountered truly weren't strong. They were only at the third or fourth level of Dao Integration. Even a typical sixth-level Dao Integration cultivator would have been able to handle them with ease.

As he was thinking this, Lu Ye suddenly realized something was amiss.

How could there be third or fourth-level Dao Integration cultivators in the Inner Realm? And those two opponents were clearly very weak.

Didn't they say that only Dao Integration cultivators with sufficient strength and profound foundations could enter the Inner Realm? The Dao Integration cultivators Lu Ye had previously encountered when contending for the Dao Integration Orb with Yuan Xi were indeed very formidable. So how could two oddities like these appear in the battle arena?

If there were two, there must be more.

However, he then remembered the maid, Xiao Ning. She hadn't even entered the Dao, yet she still appeared in the Union Realm, didn't she?

This place was the Union Realm. Fundamentally, it was another independent space within the Inner Realm.

Perhaps those two opponents were Dao Integration cultivators born and raised in the Union Realm, or perhaps they came from other Dao Integration cities.

A moment later, the third opponent appeared in this fragment of the starry sky...

Then came the fourth, the fifth...

No opponent could withstand Lu Ye's saber for three breaths; as long as they met, defeat within three breaths was certain.

Within the battle arena, there was a secret location, which could be said to be the central hub of the entire battle arena. Internally, it was called the Grand Central Hall, and all battles, betting, and odds adjustments were controlled from here.

Several thousand cultivators were permanently stationed here, able to accurately and efficiently process all kinds of information transmitted from various battle arenas.

This included arranging opponents for participating cultivators, which was also coordinated and arranged by the cultivators in the Grand Central Hall.

Cultivators who could work here might not have high cultivation levels or possess great strength, but their control over their divine sense absolutely had to reach a meticulous level. Only then could they accurately process the vast and complex information they encountered daily.

Cui Can was one of them.

In terms of identity, she was a slave of the battle arena. She had been trained by the battle arena since childhood. The name 'Cui Can' (Dazzling) was also chosen by herself. Though a slave, she hoped to one day live a dazzling life of her own, even though she knew it was a dream that could never be realized.

At this moment, she sat cross-legged at her station. Before her was a massive circular disk, on which various streams of light flickered. Each point of light represented a piece of information flowing in from various parts of the battle arena.

What people like her needed to do was to examine this information and then make the correct choices and responses.

She raised her hand and tapped. She found it was a request to continue battling, sent from a Life Battle arena.

She handled countless similar pieces of information daily, so she was naturally adept at it.

Therefore, she first checked the information of the cultivator requesting to continue battling.

Lu Ye, Human, Dao Integration Sixth Level, Weapon Cultivator, Long Saber Dao Weapon. Life Battle Arena participation count: nine times.

Victory count: nine times.

No defeats.

While impressive, this wasn't actually uncommon. Many strong Dao Integration cultivators participating in Life Battles would not suffer defeat. Instead, they would advance triumphantly into the Death Battle arena, only to be slain and perish in a certain fierce confrontation.

Logically, Cui Can wouldn't pay much attention to it.

But she still couldn't help but review Lu Ye's information again.

Because if she wasn't mistaken, just a moment ago, she had arranged an opponent for this Lu Ye, and at that time, his battle count was only six.

How long had it been for it to already be nine times?

For a moment, she thought she had made a mistake. She couldn't help but check the specific information of the opponents Lu Ye had encountered, as she had the authority to clearly examine the detailed information of every opponent Lu Ye had faced.

She finally confirmed that this Human, Lu Ye, was indeed the one for whom she had recently arranged an opponent.

Many cultivators maintained perfect win streaks from the Life Battle arena into the Death Battle arena, but Cui Can had truly never seen anyone achieve it so quickly.

What surprised her even more was that Lu Ye's eighth opponent was also a Dao Integration Sixth Level cultivator.

Clashes between cultivators of the same realm usually didn't conclude quickly, but this Lu Ye had managed it, and had subsequently fought his ninth battle.

This fellow... was a bit peculiar!