Fight

Gaofeng enjoyed his time in the lounge by simply drinking water and meditating, and was in this way preparing himself mentally for the coming battles. He knew that the Crimson Arena would let the victor remain in the Arena and continue fighting stronger opponents, and what he desired to do was to continue fighting either until he was on the brink of death or until he had crushed all opposition. There was no in-between in Gaofeng's mind.

After a while, Gaofeng felt a warmth spread from his membership card. This was the Crimson Arena's way of giving him a notice that he was up next for his fight. Soon after another attendant of the Crimson Arena came over to Gaofeng and escorted him through a confusing amount of corridors. They eventually came to a stop in front of a large black gate.

The floor underneath Gaofeng's feet vibrated as the heavy gate in front was lifted, and a grand Colosseum was revealed. On the opposite side of the arena, a similar black door was opened, and a mature dark-skinned man with a military-style haircut walked out with solid steps. Naturally, Gaofeng was far from intimidated, and his own grand stature of eight feet made him tower over his opponent.

When both the contestants had entered the arena, the doors were closed behind them. The Crimson Arena only hosted fights to the death, meaning that one of these two would be dead at the end of the fight. Since Gaofeng was having his debut, he was given an opponent in the initial stages of the Heaven Ascension realm, but if he proved himself then his opponents would become increasingly powerful the further along he was.

The man opposing Gaofeng smiled at seeing the fresh meat. He loved getting an opportunity to slay young arrogant geniuses. There was no announcement of names or anything of the sort before the fight. There would only be one name worth remembering, the name of the victor. A gigantic "3" appeared in the middle of the air above the arena, and after a moment it changed to "2", and then "1". After the "1" was displayed, the number disappeared, and the fight had started.

Loud noises could be heard by the audience as some of them had recognized Gaofeng's opponent, and these audience members were cheering him on. Gaofeng didn't have anyone cheering for him except for his guide, Fox, who was truly mystified with Gaofeng's true abilities. Perhaps he would be able to see though Gaofeng's true depth soon.

Since Gaofeng didn't truly have an idea about his true strength, he didn't want to go all out at once, as if he won too easily he would be unable to tell the limits of his fighting prowess. Thus, Gaofeng didn't even utilize the Yin-Yang Dragon Fist. He simply used Shimmer to quickly arrive before his opponent, and then he struck out with the entirety of his physical strength.

The incredibly powerful movement technique caught his opponent off guard, as he simply saw blinding light arriving from every direction. Gaofeng's opponent couldn't even tell where Gaofeng was coming from, or where the strike would hit his body, due to the intense blinding light. Imbuing his fist with the blazing light and scorching heat of Shimmer, Gaofeng struck out towards the back of his opponents neck. In the moment his opponent was blinded by the light, Gaofeng had actually moved around him and manifested his true body there, with heat and light emitting from his entire being.

The entire Arena was lit up by this blinding light, and even the spectators had to look away or close their eyes in fear of having their eyesight permanently damaged, and that was even considering that this light was not directed towards them at all. When his fist of light struck his opponent's neck, his opponent was actually blasted apart. Charred pieces of flesh flew in every direction, and buckets of blood sprayed everywhere. Before the blood could settle on anything, however, Gaofeng initiated Bloodbath. When Bloodbath felt the high-quality blood of an expert of the Heaven Ascencion realm, it, almost in a human way, shivered with excitement.

The opponent's blood froze in place and its trajectory was reversed. Then Gaofeng opened his mouth and inhaled the blood as if it were mist rather than blood refined by a powerful cultivator. After Gaofeng had destroyed his opponent, he stopped utilizing Shimmer, and thus the light soon dimmed until the spectators were able to once again see the arena. This crowd hadn't expected such a sudden and decisive outcome, however, and low gasps and murmurs could be heard throughout the entire audience. Some were upset that they hadn't been able to truly observe the show, while others were greatly looking forward to Gaofeng's future battles. How far could this youth go before his inevitable fall?

At this moment, something curious happened, as blood-red symbols throughout the entirety of the Arena were activated. They shone with an increasingly powerful red light which shot towards Gaofeng. Gaofeng had already activated the Divine Myriad Changes to see if this was something he needed to run away from, or if it was good fortune. The color of the red light as seen through the Divine Myriad Changes was a bright yellow. Gaofeng hadn't experienced what yellow meant before. Perhaps it was to add additional nuance to the amount of great fortune due to him unlocking the Myriad Heart, or maybe it was something different altogether.

Gaofeng wouldn't realize this until later, but a yellow light meant something that would change his fate. This could result in greatness or in devastation, but it was an opportunity nonetheless. It only depended on whether or not Gaofeng would be able to handle the consequences of accepting such an opportunity. Naturally, even if Gaofeng knew about the function of the yellow light, he would still wholeheartedly accept the baptism of the red light.

The red light seeped through his skin and entered into his bloodstream, where it merged with his already potent blood. His blood increased in potency and power, until it carried about 50% more power. Having this potent blood flowing though his veins made Gaofeng more invigorated, and would also greatly increase his stamina as well as survivability.

The red light subsided soon thereafter, and Gaofeng longed to once again feel the empowering feeling he gained from the red light. To achieve this, he could only continue destroying his opponents.

In a private secluded booth on one of the walls of the arena, a group of elders were gathered. These elders were the presiders of the Crimson Arena, and they knew that being recognized by the red light only happened one time in a million victories. Due to the absolute rarity of such an event, they started a heated discussion about what to do with this young man. They couldn't come to a conclusion, however, and thus had to summon the Arena Master.