Book 3, Chapter 42: Prelude

Sun Zhiming didn’t reveal what was under the black cloth to the right. Instead, he brought Chen Chuan’s group further into the exhibition hall.

It had all sorts of strange creatures with bizarre appearances from the ocean. Some of them looked so terrifying that they brought shivers down their spines.

With a smile, Sun Zhiming explained, “They look scary, but they’re not dangerous. They also have very specific requirements for their living conditions, so we must protect their habitat at all times.

“These are mainly for the passengers with picky tastes. They have very high standards. Only these strange and exciting creatures can satisfy their tastes.”

Chen Chuan agreed with Sun Zhiming’s statement that they weren’t dangerous, because after seeing so many of these creatures, only the Crimson Sea Worm made his second self blur out. The other creatures didn’t.

On the way, he took a moment to look for information regarding the Crimson Sea Worm. It secreted a powerful toxin that could take down a normal person if they so much as touched it.

Third Limit martial artists were different, though. The toxin wouldn’t be much of a threat to them. It would either be blocked or rapidly metabolized.

Another curious thing was that the creature could even fight onshore, though it couldn’t compare to the fierce creatures born on land.

Because of this, Sun Zhiming’s words that the creature was just going to liven things up for the match tomorrow were most likely correct.

By the time they went through the entire exhibition hall, more than an hour had passed. It caught all of them off guard.

When they came out, Sun Zhiming said, “Azure Dragon’s business has been expanding and has led to quite a number of competitors being hostile toward it. Every year, we run into people attacking and damaging our businesses. The security team needs new blood, so we welcome all talented students to join us.”

As he said that, he handed a blue card made of jade to Chen Chuan, Pan Xiaode, and Qi Huixin. “Azure Dragon’s stamp is on the cards. With them, you can board any of our ships anchored near shores or ports at any time. The night view tonight is amazing, so I hope that you’ll have a pleasant night. I’ll be leaving now.”

After Chen Chuan’s group thanked him and watched him leave before Pan Xiaode commented, “Senior Sun is a pretty good person, huh?”

“Senior Sun’s reputation in the university has always been good, and he’s part of the middle management of Azure Dragon now. He no longer needs to fight on the frontline,” Tan Zhi supplied.

“Oh.” That was all Pan Xiaode said about the topic, because compared to managing people, he preferred fighting.

“It’s still early. Where should we go next?” he asked a bit later.

Tan Zhi thought about it and suggested going to the casino below deck, only for no one to take up his suggestion. Then, he suggested watching the band the cruise ship had hired. This time, Chen Chuan and the other two didn’t say no, and surprisingly, the performance was pretty good. They stayed until it was almost 10 p.m. before returning to their cabins.

The next day, the crew members arranged a wakeboarding event for them, and in the afternoon, they had a scuba diving event to chase fish around.

Such events were really popular among martial artists. The participants had to wear specially-made diving suits and divided themselves into a few teams. Within a set amount of time, they had to gather fish of all colors, perhaps even snatching them from other teams. Throughout it all, they also had to make sure that the fish remained in perfect health.

Chen Chuan’s group naturally formed a team and competed against the others. Pan Xiaode had a lot of fun with it.

Since Chen Chuan had diving experience from his training with He Xiaoxing, the event was pure entertainment for him, but it was a rare chance for him to relax.

They had fun until the evening, since the two Third Limit martial artists were going to have their match at 7 p.m.. Hence, at 5:30 p.m., the four returned to the cruise ship, took a shower, had dinner in the restaurant, and went to the arena.

When they arrived, quite a number of people were already sitting inside. They weren’t the only Martial Valor University students present. Some of the upperclassmen had also arrived, though they showed no intention of greeting them.

That made sense. Even though they were from the same university, they had their own social circles, and plenty of people didn’t know the others or found them an eyesore. It was normal for them not to take the initiative to greet Chen Chuan’s group.

Once they found empty seats, they sat down, and Chen Chuan looked around. Wherever he looked, he saw a sea of heads in the circular arena, but most of them were just holograms. Still, they added to the atmosphere.

He then turned his eyes to the arena. The elevated platform had a huge aquarium tank that connected to the ceiling. It was so large that it practically occupied the entire space. On both sides of it were watertight gates and corridors. No water was inside yet, but it was clear that this was where the martial artists were going to fight.

***

Sitting diagonally across from them was Gong Zhanyi. Even though a high-caliber match was about to start, his mind kept wandering.

The manager walked over just then and gave him a shake of his head.

“He’s still not here?”

Gong Zhanyi was quite surprised and a little frustrated. “Did we make a mistake? No. He has to be on the cruise ship. I can’t be wrong. I’m sure he’s in the arena. No matter what it takes, we have to—”

“Young Master, we’re on Azure Dragon’s cruise ship,” the manager reminded him.

Those words were like a bucket of ice water poured on top of Gong Zhanyi’s head. It helped him calm down in an instant.

The islands beyond the Great Shun Republic were all terrified of Azure Dragon. The republic didn’t stick its nose into any of the island nations’ affairs, but Azure Dragon often had contact with them due to business deals, and the company was strong enough to strike fear into their hearts. This wasn’t the time to ruin their relationship.

Squashing his frustration, Gong Zhanyi said, “Let’s wait a little longer. We’ll act after the match.”

***

Many people outside the arena were also paying attention to the match.

Who were stronger: martial artists with implants or those from the wilderness faction? They really wanted to know.

Most people thought that this was just a match between the implant faction and wilderness faction.

But in truth, due to the differences between each individual person, no matter who won or lost, no one could just use the result to decide which faction was stronger.

However, if the implant faction won, the companies would undoubtedly promote this match to the high heavens so that they could carve the belief that the implant faction was stronger into the public’s minds. Once this belief was instilled among the people and a stereotype was formed, it would be difficult to change their minds.

At 6:55 p.m., the door to the arena closed, and the lights lit up.

“It’s starting!”

Everyone perked up and looked to the stage in unison.

Chen Chuan looked over as well and saw a lanky man walking in from the right. He had thick eyebrows and didn’t seem to have ever brushed his beard and hair. His fingernails and toenails were sharp, thick, and yellow. Along with the paint on his face, everything about him gave off an air of primitivism.

His well-defined muscles were firm and spoke of agility. He held no weapons and only wore a self-made, fitted diving suit.

On the other side, a martial artist with implants came in. Compared to his opponent, there was nothing distinctive about him. He had an average face that wouldn’t leave much of an impression. Surprisingly, Chen Chuan couldn’t find any distinctive traces of implants on him.

Because of it, Chen Chuan observed him a little longer. The man appeared no different from a normal person; his movements were stable and normal. If the emcee hadn’t introduced him as someone with implants, Chen Chuan would have never guessed that this man had practically every part of his body replaced with implants.

So, this is the man with a synchronization rate of more than 90%?

he wondered.

The aquarium tank began to fill with water that slowly went over their heads.

The martial artists were only using Rhinoceros’ Horn for their match, and Rhinoceros’ Horn was just providing the place for their match. Out of respect for the martial artists, there was no emcee in the arena itself, and Rhinoceros’ Horn never revealed their names.

Of course, the discussion on the communication platform was a different matter. The people were chatting up a storm in there from the get go.

The audience outside was watching their Realm Passes with a sense of novelty and nervousness.

Someone asked whether the two martial artists would end up drowning in the tank, and someone else immediately answered that skilled martial artists could breathe underwater. They also added that the match was likely not going to be that long, so holding their breaths wasn’t going to be a problem for the two.

Someone also began explaining in detail why some martial artists could breathe underwater. Since they went deep into the topic and used martial artists’ lingo, the crowd cheered and fawned over them.

Compared to the rambunctious audience outside the arena, the martial artists inside were calmer. All of them had stern expressions and only used their Realm Passes to communicate occasionally.

The martial artists from the wilderness faction and implant faction had fought before, but they had never had a match before the public eye. The match today might affect the direction of martial arts in the future, perhaps even affect all of their lives, so they had to pay attention to it.

The aquarium tank finally filled with water. Then, a hole opened at the bottom of the tank. Due to the water pressure, a clearly visible whirlpool formed. Soon, the hole shut, only for another hole to open elsewhere in the tank. This process repeated itself. Sometimes, two or three holes would open at the same time.

An organizer then came forward on the Realm Pass to tell the audience that this was to increase the difficulty and unpredictability of the match. Both of the martial artists had agreed to it.

Unable to help himself, Chen Chuan observed the match a little closer. This might look like a small change, but when two people of equal strength fought, the tiniest external change could become the deciding factor.

Then, he cast his gaze on the two martial artists while he did a mental assessment of their strength.

Chen Chuan had fought against a few Third Limit martial artists before, but he hadn’t actually reached the Third Limit. How exactly were two Third Limit martial artists going to fight? He was planning to watch closely.

Drums rang out so loud that they filled up the entire arena, and Chen Chuan realized that the match had started.