Chapter 37 - Challenging the Big League

Han Wu submitted his application to challenge Demigods for his next match. The receptionist confirmed with him multiple times, since almost no one would want to challenge someone above their rank. He had to plead with them before they submitted the application.

It took some time before the higher-ups of the Blood Coliseum approved the application and started combing through the list of Demigods for Han Wu’s match.

Even though the Blood Coliseum hadn’t advertised his upcoming match against a Demigod, people somehow caught wind of it and began to gather.

“I’ve heard of the Locust Plague before. He’s a newbie who joined the Blood Coliseum less than 30 days ago. He must think that he’s unbeatable amongst Divine Beings and chose to go against a Demigod instead. Isn’t he too arrogant? I hope that Demigod will put him in his place. I’m going to make my bet now.”

“A Demigod has a higher core level and can equip more Sacred Objects. More importantly, a Demigod has Divine Aspects and can use their Divine Skills. Why would the Locust Plague challenge a Demigod?”

“I think he’s become overconfident after dominating the Divine Being rank. I’ve checked his data before, and he’s actually lost three times.”

***

The crowd, thinking Han Wu was being overconfident, scoffed at his immaturity. Since most of them thought they would yield swift and effortless returns by betting on the Demigod, the odds for Han Wu’s match dramatically increased to 100:1.

Han Wu, after seeing the odds, had a brilliant idea. While he could not place a bet on himself as a challenger, he could ask Tian Wen to do so on his behalf. Han Wu's request left Tian Wen perplexed, as it seemed their roles had unexpectedly reversed, with Han Wu becoming the teacher instead. Regardless, he acknowledged that 10 million Divine Points was a substantial sum, even for a Demigod.

Why do I feel that Han Wu is actually very rich? Since when could he easily take out 10 million Divine Points?

Despite harboring reservations, Tian Wen thought that it was good for Han Wu to be confident.

Tian Wen staked 10 million Divine Points on Han Wu's win, and further showed his trust by adding 5 million from his own pocket. While a loss would be financially painful, it would be manageable. However, if his student emerged victorious, he stood to win a massive 500 million Divine Points!

After placing the bets, Tian Wen approached Han Wu and patted his shoulder. “Han Wu, I’ve placed my money and my hope on you. You’ve got to win! If you do, I will buy myself a God equipment to celebrate your victory!”

Though confused as to what his victory had to do with his teacher buying himself a piece of God equipment, Han Wu chuckled in response. “Thank you, Teacher.”

Clearing his head of those thoughts, he headed towards the Blood Coliseum’s landing pod and proceeded to enter his divine realm.

Even though Han Wu leveled up his Core a couple of times, he still hadn’t equipped any additional Sacred Objects. He still had just two Sacred Objects equipped to his Core—the Incomplete Rank 2 Sacred Object: Law of Gluttony and the Rank 1 Sacred Object: Poison Orb. He still had four more Rank 1 Sacred Objects of high quality and two Rank 1 Skill Gems.

Just as Han Wu was about to equip his Sacred Objects, Yuan Zhong, the God whose weapon he was fixing, called to request for his daily Sources of Sacred Objects.

After passing the 100 Source of Sacred Objects that he had prepared beforehand to Yuan Zhong, Han Wu casually mentioned, “You’ve told me before that you can easily get any Rank 4 Sacred Objects or below, right?”

“Master, I have a lot of Rank 4 Sacred Objects and below in my divine realm. Let me know if you need anything specific.”

Han Wu was elated. “I need some strong Rank 2 Sacred Objects, preferably with the poison, earth, dark, or fire attribute.”

“Give me a minute.”

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Yuan Zhong swiftly prepared 50 Rank 2 Sacred Objects and passed them to Han Wu.

After analyzing them, Han Wu found that all were of excellent quality. He sighed, admiring how rich Gods were.

He ignored the Rank 1 Sacred Objects in his own inventory and started shifting through the Rank 2 Sacred Objects for anything useful. It took him some time, but ultimately he found two Rank 2 Sacred Objects that fit his locusts.

[Rank 2 Sacred Object: Molten Earthflare. Possesses both earth and fire attributes. Increases core race’s defense, status resistance, and recovery.]

This was a suitable Sacred Object for the Abyss Bugs.

[Rank 2 Sacred Object: Shadow Nail. Dark attribute. After equipping to the core, it will allow compatible units to learn the Rank 2 skill, Shadow Nail. Launches a nail made from the shadows at the opponent’s shadow to restrict their movement.]

Unsurprisingly, the Dark Curse Bugs were very compatible with the Shadow Nail.

Han Wu equipped both Sacred Objects to his Core and a wave of energy washed over his core race. Though many of the locusts exhibited no changes to their body, about 80% of the Abyss Bugs were affected by the Rank 2 Sacred Object: Molten Earthflare, making their exoskeletons thicker and fiery red, and 76% of the Dark Curse Bugs were affected by the Rank 2 Sacred Object: Shadow Nail.

Overall, Han Wu managed to reinforce 4 billion of his locusts with the addition of the two new Sacred Objects.

He was now ready for his match. However, before he could even check the data on his newly mutated locusts he received a notification.

[Challengers, please prepare for your match.]

Han Wu was instantly teleported back to the arena. This time however, the arena for their match was 10,000 sq km large, fit for a match between a Divine Being and a Demigod.

The crowds were cheering loudly from above.

“Elephant Lord, stomp him to death!”

“Elephant Lord, show him the power of a Demigod!”

“Locust Plague, hang on and win! I’ve bet a lot of money on you!”

***

From the chaotic sounds around him, Han Wu gathered that virtually no one had bet on him. His opponent was a Demigod with the title Elephant Lord. The Elephant Lord wasn’t wearing a mask. He had golden hair, pale skin, strong limbs, and was at least 2.2 m tall. He was like a giant compared to Han Wu.

The Demigod Elephant Lord said arrogantly, “I never thought I would be so lucky today as to match against an arrogant Divine Being. Hey, newbie! Are you really fine with sending your forces to their death?”

He did not entertain even the slightest notion that Han Wu would present a formidable challenge. Han Wu chose to ignore the Elephant Lord’s blatant provocation—he preferred to demonstrate his strength through his actions.

Seeing Han Wu remain silent, the Elephant Lord remarked, “Newbie, I admire your courage to challenge a Demigod, but courage alone can’t beat me. I will show you how terrifying a Demigod can be. Come out, my mammoth army!”

A massive gate appeared behind the Elephant Lord.

The mammoth army’s leader was a Heroic Fulgur Mammoth, a massive creature measuring ten meters in height and five meters in length, entirely enveloped in crackling lightning. Behind the Fulgur Mammoth were 250 Unique War Mammoths, each nine meters tall. The rest of the army included 740,000 Elite mammoth units.

The sheer size of the mammoth army caused the ground to shake as they advanced forward, prompting a wave of boisterous cheers from the Elephant Lord’s numerous fans.

Savoring the exhilarating atmosphere of the Blood Coliseum, the Elephant Lord acknowledged his adoring fans with a wave and said to Han Wu, “Newbie, it’s your turn! Do your best to entertain me!”