Chapter 870: Gu Qianxun's Invitation

"Come in, Fellow Daoist Chen," Han Li said as he made an inviting hand gesture, and Chen Lin duly obliged.

After the two of them had taken a seat, a slightly awkward look appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "I'll compensate you for the Heavenly Star Shell as soon as possible. It's just that I've spent all of my profound points on my cultivation recently, so..."

Chen Lin raised a hand to interrupt him as he interjected with a faint smile, "It's fine, Fellow Daoist Li, I understand the situation that you're in, and I'm not here to demand payment from you. Instead, I wanted to discuss something else with you."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Chen," Han Li prompted.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Toxic Dragon will be coming out of seclusion soon, and he'll be sure to come after you once he does. Have you made any preparations?" Chen Lin asked with a serious expression.

"How else can I prepare? I'll just have to face him head-on," Han Li replied, and Chen Lin was rather taken aback by his calm demeanor.

"I understand that you're confident in your own abilities, but Toxic Dragon is not to be underestimated. I have a way to help you avert this crisis, would you be interested in hearing it?" Chen Lin asked in a mysterious manner.

"Of course," Han Li replied.

"Toxic Dragon is unmatched in our ninth area, but that doesn't make him invincible in the arena. There are several other area leaders who are more powerful than him, and I just so happen to be familiar with Mistress Gu Qianxun. If you want, I can ask her to mediate the conflict between you and Toxic Dragon," Chen Lin said.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

He had heard of Gu Qianxun during his time in the arena, and he knew that she was the leader of the first area and the undisputed most powerful area leader. On top of that, the fact that she was a woman only further contributed to her legend.

"I've never even met Fellow Daoist Gu before, how can I expect her to help me?" Han Li asked.

"Mistress Gu Qianxun has seen a couple of your battles, and she's very interested in you. Truth be told, she was actually the one who asked me to come and see you after hearing about your conflict with Toxic Dragon," Chen Lin said.

"Even with Fellow Daoist Gu's powers, surely this is not something that she'd get involved in lightly. What would I need to do in exchange for her help?" Han Li asked.

"To tell you the truth, Mistress Gu Qianxun is very interested in you, and she would like to invite you to join her Myriad Bone Alliance," Chen Lin revealed.

Even though the arena was split up into ten areas, there were also some individual powers formed by gladiators from different areas, the most prominent of which was Gu Qianxuan's Myriad Bone Alliance, which had members from all areas.

This was not something that Green Goat City was opposed to. In fact, it was subtly encouraged.

The more circles and factions there were among gladiators, the more conflicts would arise, and that gave rise to rivalries that were lapped up by the spectators.

Han Li considered the offer momentarily, then shook his head as he replied, "I appreciate the kind offer, but I've grown quite accustomed to a free and autonomous lifestyle, so I'm afraid that I'll have to refuse."

He didn't know much about Gu Qianxun and the Myriad Bone Alliance, but he did know that Gu Qianxun was an extremely tough and unyielding woman, so in exchange for her protection, his freedom was most likely going to be severely restricted.

He was already very displeased at being forced to become an arena gladiator, so he certainly didn't want to have to deal with further restrictions. On top of that, he still wasn't very familiar with the arena yet, so it would be unwise to join the Myriad Bone Alliance blindly.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

As for his conflict with Toxic Dragon, if worse came to worst, he would just have to resort to his Spirit Refinement Technique.

"Please consider this matter carefully, Fellow Daoist Li, Toxic Dragon is not to be underestimated," Chen Lin urged in a solemn manner.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Chen, but I've already made up my mind. Please pass on my gratitude and apologies to Fellow Daoist Gu," Han Li replied.

"In that case, I won't try to dissuade you any further," Chen Lin sighed, then stood up to depart.

Following Chen Lin's departure, Han Li sat back down onto his bed, then closed his eyes to continue his cultivation, and soon, all forty-three of his profound acupoints lit up in unison.

As he opened more and more profound acupoints, the amount of starpower required to open more acupoints also increased.

Hence, he was only able to open a single profound acupoint of late, which was much slower progress than before.

With that in mind, he devoured another Tarot Beast Core before closing his eyes once again.

......

After leaving Han Li's room, Chen Lin made his way out of the ninth area and soon arrived in the exchange hall.

There were two gorgeous women standing outside the exchange hall, observing the plaza down below.

Both of them had very tall and proportionate figures, and one of them was wearing a purple dress, while the other was dressed in yellow.

The woman in purple turned around as if she had detected Chen Lin's approach, and it was revealed that she was a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties with a cold and proud look on her face.

Chen Lin gave the woman in purple a nod, then strode over to the woman in yellow as he said, "I'm sorry, Alliance Leader, I wasn't able to complete the mission you assigned to me."

"What? He turned you down? Is he not aware of how powerful Toxic Dragon is? What an arrogant and ungrateful bastard!" the woman in purple snapped in a cold voice before the woman in yellow even had a chance to reply.

Gu Qianxuan slowly turned around, and it was revealed that she was rather ordinary in appearance, slightly lacking in beauty even compared with the woman in purple beside her.

However, there was a sense of unflappable composure about her, and she had a pair of bright and vibrant eyes, as well as exceptional glowing skin that made up for the inadequacies in her appearance.

If anyone were to gaze upon the two women, their eyes would inevitably be drawn to Gu Qianxun first.

"It's fine, I already anticipated that this would be his answer. I suppose we're going to have a good show to watch soon," Gu Qianxun said with her faint smile, and her voice was very alluring, warm and gentle, but tinged with a hint of authority.

Chen Lin was very relieved by Gu Qianxun's amicable reaction to the bad news.

"A good show? You think far too too highly of him! There are countless gladiators in our Myriad Bone Alliance who have just as many profound acupoints as him, what makes him so special?" the woman in purple scoffed in a disdainful manner.

"While it's true that he hasn't opened that many profound acupoints, he's an extremely seasoned fighter, and even against enemies more powerful than himself, he's always able to remain calm and find ways to make comebacks, and that's a very rare trait," Gu Qianxun replied.

"So what? There's such a massive gap between him and Toxic Dragon that none of his composure and resourcefulness will even matter in the end," the woman in purple countered.

"I suppose you're right," Gu Qianxun said with a faint smile, and a vindicated smile appeared on the face of the woman in purple upon hearing this.

"It sounds like Li Feiyu's truly in a pickle then," Chen Lin remarked in a grim voice.

"That'll depend on how sharp his eyes are," Gu Qianxun replied before departing, followed by the woman in purple.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chen Lin murmured to himself with a perplexed expression.

......

A day and a night passed by in a flash.

On this day, the door of Toxic Dragon's room swung open, and an enormous figure emerged from within.

Scarface was already waiting outside, and he immediately approached Toxic Dragon.

Almost all of the gladiators in the ninth area were gathered here to welcome Toxic Dragon out of seclusion, and Chen Lin was also among them.

Even though he was only standing still on the spot, there was a mountainous aura emanating from Toxic Dragon's enormous body, an aura that was even more formidable than before.

Scarface's eyes immediately lit up upon sensing this, and Toxic Dragon declared with a pleased smile, "Even though the injuries I suffered were quite severe, it proved to be a good thing in the end as I managed to open a profound acupoint."

"Didn't you open your last profound acupoint only less than a century ago? This is incredible progress!" Scarface praised in a sycophantic fashion, then took a glance at Han Li's room as a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes.

Chen Lin's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and a hint of concern flashed through his eyes.

"Is he in there?" Toxic Dragon asked as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

"He is, and it's already been quite a few days since he's come out. I bet he must be shitting himself in there!" Scarface goaded, and many people burst into laughter upon hearing this, including even some of the people who had been friendly to Han Li of late.

A faint smile appeared on Toxic Dragon's face as well, and he strode over to the door of Han Li's room, yet right as he was about to push it open, the door opened from the other side to reveal Han Li.

Even after catching sight of Toxic Dragon and all of the other gladiators outside, Han Li remained completely composed and unfazed.