The Deity of War

“You investigated me?”

Qi Ying’s brows had already furrowed upon hearing Master Thirteen’s words and his expression changed drastically at the sight of the portrait on the sheet of paper.

“Hehe, don’t be nervous. It’s the Colosseum’s duty to have a thorough understanding of all of our warriors.” Master Thirteen smiled and said, “I am the only person aware of this information, so you can be at ease. I will keep everything a secret, including your identity, origins, and your reason for coming to the Celestial River County.”

Qi Ying picked up the portrait on the ground and took a deep breath before placing the portrait on a nearby candle.

Whoosh!

The flame on the candle soon incinerated the entire portrait.

“What do you want from me, Master Thirteen? I’m not a person that likes to waste time. I’m sure you didn’t summon me just to show me this portrait.”

“Haha! Great!” Master Thirteen burst into hearty laughter, “I’m also not a fan of wasting time. I prefer to work with people who are honest and straightforward as that won’t result in losses. I summoned you for a very simple reason. I just wanted to notify you that you must appear in your colosseum battles as the mysterious Nameless Warrior and to never expose your true identity. Also, do not let anyone know that you, Qi Ying, are a warrior of the Colosseum. That way, the Colosseum would be able to profit more from you.”

“Master Thirteen, you’re far too kind. I’m just an insignificant Strength Martial Stage warrior; how can I possibly bring any noteworthy profit to the Colosseum? Please entrust this duty to someone more capable.”

“An insignificant Strength Martial Stage warrior?” Master Thirteen chuckled, “You broke through six cultivation base ranks in six days and slew a Demonic Blood Wolf with your bare hands. You survived that Nameless Mountain expedition when many Spirit Martial Stage powerful beings suffered casualties and won the heart of the Qin family’s Young Mistress in the process. How are you insignificant in any way? In any case, this is something I’ve decided after doing a lot of research. Even though it may feel like I’m forcing this role upon you, but the future superstar of the Colosseum will be you. This is a win-win situation for both of us, so what reason do you have to refuse?”

Master Thirteen pulled out a shiny ring. “Everything inside this ring is a present from me.”

…

Qi Ying hurriedly made his way out of the Colosseum in his black cloak and traveled toward the Celestial River Academy.

…

“What? Tianshan is dueling Qi Ying?”

“What? You couldn’t find out any information? And you lost him as well?” Within the Colosseum, An Ruyi was scolding the leader of her guard squad in a cold voice, “The An family feeds you and pays you handsome monthly salaries, all for what? You can’t even do something as simple as this?”

“Young Mistress, we don’t know why, but all of the administrators are extremely tight-lipped in response to any questions regarding the Nameless Warrior. When we tried to follow the Nameless Warrior, we were stopped in our tracks by the colosseum guards and we lost him as a result. The Nameless Warrior seems to be someone of quite a high status and is being looked after by the higher-ups in the Colosseum. All information about him is strictly confidential and it’s basically impossible to find out his identity through normal methods.”

“Hmph, I don’t care! I must know who he is!” A hint of determination flashed through An Ruyi’s eyes,

…

The next day.

At the Celestial River Academy.

Qi Ying was the only person inside a self-cultivation room provided to the academy disciples.

‘Master Thirteen? He is indeed quite a character. He’s bold, knowledgeable, experienced, and has a level head. Working with him shouldn’t be a bad thing. Most importantly, I really need the resources that he can provide…’

Qi Ying sat with his legs folded before him and took off the silver glove on his left hand before pulling the shiny ring off his finger.

‘Mother Yu hasn’t noticed this ring as my glove had been able to conceal it. I can put all of the resources I receive from my colosseum battles inside.’

Spatial rings were an extremely sought-after item among people like Qi Ying, who hailed from humble backgrounds. Normally, only nobles or warriors in the higher Energy Martial Stages had treasures like this.

The spatial ring Master Thirteen had given him only had a storage capacity roughly equivalent to that of a washbasin, but it was still a valuable item that was worth several thousand crystals.

Furthermore, inside the spatial ring were several cultivation methods, battle techniques, as well as many vials of pills that were of a higher caliber than Energy Containment Pills.

Qi Ying knew that he couldn’t just accept these gifts without any repayment; he would have to pay a price in exchange.

However, this was simply far too tempting for him to resist.

Qi Ying knew how difficult it was for underprivileged warriors to progress on the path of cultivation, as they didn’t have sufficient cultivation resources, thereby resulting in them being left behind by noble warriors, even if both were of similar aptitude. They had to put in countless times more effort and often had to flirt with death in order to catch up to their noble counterparts.

Despite this, Qi Ying had a goal that he was chasing. A goal which was unreachable in the eyes of others and would draw ridicule from anyone who heard this goal! This meant that he had to pay an even heavier price as reaching this goal would be countless times more difficult than facing off against the most ferocious beasts!

A captivating set of features began to surface in Qi Ying’s mind.

“Susu… I’m going to become stronger for you and make everyone in your family acknowledge me! With my aptitude, I’ll definitely be able to catch up to the prodigies in your family if I am given sufficient resources!”

“Pills… I need more pills! I need an infinite amount of pills! Only with pills of a sufficient caliber will I be able to improve my cultivation base quickly! Only with a sufficient number of pills will I be able to survive!”

…

“Dark Wolf Cultivation Method.”

This was not a very valuable cultivation method and was one that refined one’s body both internally and externally. Through imitating the motions of the Dark Wolf beast, a warrior could cultivate the power within his acupoints. This was a rather prevalent Strength Martial Stage cultivation method, but it was still better than the free cultivation methods provided by the academy and the cheap stuff Qi Ying had bought in the past.

Qi Ying opened a jade vial and tipped out two translucent pills into his hand. These pills had a similar effect to Energy Containment Pills and the only notable difference laid in the ingredients and refinement methods used.

Gulp!

He swallowed the two pills and they immediately melted as they traveled down his throat.

Whoosh!

Qi Ying activated the energy within his body, in accordance with the internal section of the Dark Wolf Cultivation Method; he also unleashed his internal inspection skill at the same time to survey his internal condition.

The solid pills were soon transformed into liquid essence before being guided by Qi Ying’s energy and seeping into his blood vessels.

At this moment, a grey light suddenly flashed from the blood within his veins.

Whoosh!

The essence of the pills instantly disappeared!

Furthermore, the blood within his veins had changed color from a vibrant red to a dull, greyish red.

The blood circulated within Qi Ying’s body along his veins and meridians. Each time the blood flowed through the nine major acupoints, there would be a slight increase in the amount of energy within those acupoints; then, the color of his blood would revert slightly toward its original color. Once the blood flowed into his left hand, it would completely revert back to its former vibrant red color.

Only one complete circulation cycle lasted for about a dozen breaths and the two pills had already been completely refined by Qi Ying, despite the fact that these pills could be considered to be quite a luxury, even for First or Second Energy Martial Stage warriors!

“Phew…”

Qi Ying opened his eyes and exhaled. ‘Even though ninety-five percent of the pills’ power has been absorbed by my left hand, the fact that I’m able to refine a hundred percent of the pills’ power somewhat makes up for this problem.’

Ever since Qi Ying began to refine pills through the use of his cultivation method, Qi Ying discovered that his bloodline seemed to differ from everyone else’s. This difference was exemplified by the fact that he could absorb a hundred percent of a pill’s power!

It was as if someone gained bodyweight that was directly equivalent to the mass of whatever food that was consumed. For Strength Martial Stage warriors, it was considered to be quite good if one could absorb thirty to forty percent of a pill’s power, even for pills like the Great Strength Pill, which were ideal for refinement. If they were to try and refine pills of a caliber which exceeded their cultivation base, that rate would fall to around ten to twenty percent.

However, Qi Ying was able to absorb a hundred percent of the power within all of the pills he consumed, presumably due to the grey light that appeared in his blood whenever he took any pills.

Even though his greedy left hand took the vast majority of the pills’ power, the remnant power still contributed greatly to filling his major acupoints!

This was the other secret Qi Ying had aside from his left hand of darkness; even Xuan Yu wasn’t aware of this.

“My cultivation base has improved extremely quickly ever since I embarked on the path of cultivation. This must have something to do with my peculiar blood.” Qi Ying thought to himself, ‘It was said that some descendants of prominent families had inherited bloodlines that normal people did not have. After reaching the Spirit Martial Stage, these descendants would then be able to tap into their massive latent potential. Could it be that I’ve also inherited one of these bloodlines?

Before Qi Ying had a chance to explore this train of thought further, he suddenly sensed the acupoints within his body stirring.

“The barrier to the eighth acupoint is about to be broken! I’m going to progress to the Eighth Strength Martial Stage!”

Whoosh!

Qi Ying put on his silver glove and jumped up before rushing out of the self-cultivation room.