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In the process of transforming his Myriad Heart, Gaofeng had already reached the peak of the first level of the Qi-gathering realm, but once again he didn't want to break through without consolidating his cultivation realm, and thus he decided he would wait until the next day at least. He stood up, brought the meditation mat back into the spacial pouch, and left the cultivation chamber.

On his way out, Gaofeng took out the dagger he had received to carve his heart from his robes and put it into the pouch together with the rest of his items. After exiting his room, he went to the main hall and told a nearby servant to send for someone to update him on the situation with the doctor, and the doctor arrived soon after. His expression told Gaofeng everything, but he still wanted the doctor to actually confirm the situation of Meng Xie's sister.

The doctor, who was an elderly man dressed in all white, expressed with a sad voice "There is nothing I can do to help that child. However, I was able to get some insight into the reason for why she is so ill. It's not a sickness exactly. She is actually suffering from the backlash of her great talent. I cannot tell the exact details of the matter, but it seems as if she has a great physique which conflicts with her inherent potent bloodline. This problem cannot be solved through medicine, but rather only by great experts. The level of the expert would have to at least be at the Dao Transformation realm, but this expert would likely have to destroy or suppress one of the two gifts she has to make room for the other, while only a Transcendence realm expert could truly create harmony between the two."

This insight made Gaofeng elated. Although it might be incredibly difficult for a normal cultivator to come into contact with such great beings, Gaofeng's own father was in the Transcendence realm. There would be no problem as long as he was able to bring this girl back to his clan.

Gaofeng then asked the elderly doctor the most important question, "How long do you estimate that she will survive in her current state?" The doctor looked hesitant as he answered, "Perhaps another three months, but no longer than six months." Gaofeng felt that he would be able to finish his matters in this valley, and overall in the Holy Temple, before that time, so he simply nodded. "Then it's not much of an issue. Thank you for your great service, doctor. I, Shangsheng Gaofeng will not forget this."

Previously, Gaofeng could still leisurely take his time and take great benefits from this mysterious place, but now he felt a slight urgency in his actions. He couldn't delay his trip to the Blood Ocean anymore. There was only one thing left to do before he left for the Blood Ocean, which was to assess his true combat prowess. He didn't simply want to do a strength test, and instead itched for true combat. It had been far too long since he had even had a good spar with someone who could give him a fight.

He had often sparred with various martial instructors in the Shangsheng family, and he still hadn't lost a single spar when his opponent didn't utilize their cultivation. Now he couldn't wait to truly unleash his true might, and thus he once again asked for Fox to guide him to someplace he could do just that.

When Gaofeng voiced his desire, Fox immediately chose a destination and claimed that where they were going, the "Crimson Arena", was the single best fighting arena in the entirety of the valley. Steadfast acted as a sort of capitol of the valley, but there were still multiple cities comparable to it, meaning that the arenas were likely far inferior to the Crimson Arena if its reputation was this great.

Before they had even arrived at the Crimson Arena, Gaofeng felt an intense aura of brutality, blood and death coming from the general area of the Arena. This was truly an arena which he could utilize to temper himself. All he needed were worthy opponents. There were likely no one who could match him in the younger generation, but what about the older cultivators who had fought in this arena for millennia? They would naturally have a great cultivation in addition to vast experience, and it was exactly against such veterans Gaofeng needed to use as grinding stones for his own strength.

A large queue of people were standing outside of the arena, waiting for entrance to watch the spectacle. A shorter separate line was formed a bit to the right of the main queue, and in this line every person were surrounded by a ruthless and bloodthirsty aura which merged into the greater aura of the arena.

Fox showed Gaofeng over to the shorter queue, and asked, "Do you have any demonic cores? Lower levels of transactions are often traded for by utilizing smaller parts of demonic cores, but the Crimson Arena only accepts entire demonic cores as payment." Gaofeng glanced at Fox briefly before stating, "It won't be a problem."

After about ten minutes, it was Gaofeng's turn to sign up for fights. "Name and approximate fighting prowess." Gaofeng answered the attendant, "Shangsheng Gaofeng, approximate fighting prowess of Heaven Ascencion realm." At this statement, the attendant looked at Gaofeng with wide eyes. Heaven Ascencion prowess wasn't too unusual in Steadfast, but such a young man having this kind of prowess was truly shocking, as normally only people who had lived thousands of years would be able to cultivate all the way to the Heaven Ascencion realm.

Naturally, it was not up to the attendant to judge whether or not this youth was truly this strong, only to sign him up. "That will be one grade 6 demonic core." Gaofeng didn't have any grade 6 demonic cores, but he did have grade 8 demonic cores, and so he simply handed over a grade 8. The attendant's eyes widened at the sight, but didn't hesitate to take it. However, such payment was far more than Gaofeng was supposed to pay, so this attendant wasn't sure what he should do.

After he communicated with his superiors, he asked Gaofeng, "Since you paid such a large sum, we can offer you a membership card to the Crimson Arena which will let you fight at any time for no additional fee. What do you say?" Gaofeng was naturally happy with such an arrangement, and nodded his head in response.

The matter had been sorted and Gaofeng was handed a black card with his name engraved on it in gold. This made for a beautiful contrast. Then Gaofeng was escorted through the hallways and walkways of the Arena until he arrived at a nice lounge. This lounge was akin to an oasis in the desert, as even though the entirety of the Arena screamed brutality, this room felt completely tranquil.

There was a koi pond, a bar, many nice private booths, and elegant servants handing out refreshments. This was likely a form of enticement for the fighters to return repeatedly by giving them the feeling of having status and living in luxury. Gaofeng quickly found himself a seat and waited patiently to be called up to the arena.