Chapter 131 – Hero Arena

“Evolution?”

Troops indeed possess the potential for evolution.

By feeding a common-grade troop large amounts of rare-grade materials and allowing sufficient time for accumulation, that troop has the opportunity to advance to rare grade.

However, this involves the selection of feeding materials – a profound field of study so deep it’s practically a bottomless pit.

《Troop Evolution Studies》!

It’s just… slightly useless!

Apart from artificial intervention with massive investments, troops also have an extremely small probability of stumbling upon great fortune and evolving.

Just like Rakshasa at this moment.

He himself is special and seems highly compatible with these evil spirits. The collision between the two sparked flames.

The unique Red Robe, having absorbed countless blood through battlefield slaughter, awakened the ‘Blood Robe’ skill.

The evil spirits in this pit, whether in quantity or quality, far surpass the blood Red Robe previously absorbed.

Rakshasa encountered a one-in-ten-thousand opportunity.

However,

“Drawing large amounts of violent evil spirit power into one’s body cannot be without risk. This is indeed an opportunity, but it’s one that requires risking one’s life to possibly obtain.”

Under normal circumstances, Rakshasa could only rely on himself to endure.

Either withstand it and transform to advance, or fail to endure – in the worst case, “boom” – exploding.

Inside Rakshasa’s body, the reddish-brown patterns were increasing more and more, writhing like snakes.

Growing increasingly dangerous.

But,

Lord Mu would intervene.

He focused, and dots of light appeared in his vision, along with several evolution spheres representing major categories.

However, this was limited to Tianyuan Territory and its vicinity.

Rakshasa’s location was too far away.

He held his breath and closed his eyes.

In the vast darkness, three light points appeared – one large and two small. The large light point represented Tianyuan Territory, the core anchor point and origin of everything. The small light points represented the two heroes Deadbone and Dolai.

Heroes are extensions of the Lord’s will!

Mu Yuan’s vision continuously extended, finally reaching the Pit of Evil Spirits.

Outside the pit, Dolai, Red Robe, Asun and others could only offer Rakshasa spiritual encouragement, with no other methods available.

Mu Yuan pointed from afar across the distance.

“Hand of Evolution!”

「Undead Evolution Points -50.68.」

An invisible force descended.

Rakshasa, who had been struggling and experiencing pain, showed relief on his face. The patterns crawling over his body gradually integrated.

His aura surged again, whooshing as he absorbed the remaining evil spirits entirely.

「Prompt: Your troop ‘Rakshasa’ has transformed into ‘Fiendish Ghost General (Excellent Three Stars)’, and has awakened the talent ‘Fiendish Body’.」

After a while,

Rakshasa finally opened his eyes, pupils filled with endless murderous intent. His body remained similarly robust compared to before, but was now covered with patterns, making him appear more terrif… more imposing and majestic.

“Test your new abilities.”

“Yes.”

Rakshasa looked at his hands, slightly extending them, holding an imaginary grip front and back. The next moment, countless evil spirits gathered in his hands, intertwining to form a brownish-red spear.

His spear shot out like a dragon, piercing through earth and stone as if they were thin paper.

Through testing, ‘Evil Spirit Solidification’ worked best for shaping weapons. Unlike Red Robe’s ‘Blood Robe’, which could easily shape into various weapons and tools, the destructive power was much more formidable than Blood Robe – ordinary ranked defensive equipment would be torn apart.After breaking through the enemy’s defenses, the power of evil spirits directly invaded their bodies.

As for the innate talent ‘Fiendish Body’…

“Boom~!”

Rakshasa’s entire body suddenly exploded, transforming into a cloud of brownish-red mist.

The mist drifted and coalesced dozens of meters away, reforming into Rakshasa’s figure.

Initially somewhat unskilled, with practice, his speed at transforming into fiendish mist grew increasingly rapid. Rakshasa’s entire form seemed to teleport, whooshing repeatedly inside and outside the pit while leaving over a dozen afterimages behind.

“The Fiendish Body greatly enhanced the evil spirit power within Rakshasa, perfectly complementing the advanced skill Evil Spirit Solidification. Combined, his combat power has increased countless times.”

“While transformed into fiendish energy, Rakshasa comes and goes without a trace, extremely stealthy.”

Who would have thought that a sturdy-looking fellow like you would walk the path of an assassin.

In that case…

From now on, Rakshasa could be assigned reconnaissance missions, sparing Deadbone—who clearly wanted to lay low but lacked adequate stealth skills—from unsuitable tasks.

…

Dolai’s squad came and went.

Leaving behind only an empty Pit of Evil Spirits that had lost its enhancing abilities.

As daylight waned, following Dolai’s strong suggestion, the group hunted a giant bear for a feast. Although both Rakshasa and Red Robe indicated they didn’t need to eat, they couldn’t resist General Dolai’s enthusiastic hospitality.

Asun had already started eating.

After eating and drinking their fill, and before night completely fell, Dolai—equipped with polymorphic wings—buzzed ahead as they advanced toward the final destination.

The trees here grew increasingly massive, with sights of dozens of meters, hundreds of meters tall towering giants everywhere.

Since their target was a special structure and they were eager to return home, Dolai displayed rare caution along the way, avoiding combat whenever possible.

Even so, it still encountered numerous formidable enemies.

There were wild giants traveling in groups, dressed like primitive humans, wielding massive bone clubs as they roasted an enormous unknown Vicious Beast over a bonfire.

The sight made Dolai drool with longing, yet it reluctantly moved on.

They also encountered particularly troublesome monsters.

—Bloodthirsty Vine Trees, whose true forms were lush trees that blended inconspicuously among the verdant forest. Once prey stepped within range, numerous tough, serpent-like vines would descend, tightly binding the victim until all blood was drained.

Asun fell victim to one immediately.

Dolai was at a loss—using fireballs or lightning strikes risked taking Asun out along with the vines.

It was Rakshasa who intervened, solidifying evil energy into sabers to swiftly slash through the resilient vines before making a quick retreat.

They also encountered other formidable foes like ‘Windfang Dragons’, ‘Winged Swarms’, and ‘Fallen Black Crows’.

Dolai grumbled, “This is way too difficult.”

Its hair appeared disheveled, though during the Hero trials General Dolai had crushed everything in its path!

…

“This area could be called the Greatwood Forest.”

Having no prior knowledge of this region, Dolai and the others progressed much slower, almost at a snail’s pace.

Soon, night fell.

But everyone figured since they’d already come this far, turning back wasn’t appropriate, so they cautiously pressed forward.

The pale golden needle finally began to tremble, indicating the target was nearby.

When suddenly danger struck.

A burly minotaur warrior wielding a sharp axe leaped out from grass several meters high, a crimson axe arc slashing toward Dolai flying at the front.

The Slime was shocked!The Shapeshifting Badge shot out, transforming into a diamond-shaped flying shield that clanged as it blocked the chop.

The diamond-shaped shield buzzed and trembled, finally repelling the leaping axe-wielding minotaur.

But in the blink of an eye, several more burly minotaur warriors, radiating faint energy glows, leaped out from the distant tree trunks, nearby pits, and surrounding bushes.

Dolai could glimpse a corner of a magnificent building hidden among the trees in the distance.

Was this a minotaur trap?

It wondered uncertainly, preparing to unleash its power and let the juniors witness the might of Hero Dolai.

But Rakshasa was faster.

His entire body exploded, transforming into smoke and mist in 0.3 seconds, shooting like an arrow toward the ambushing minotaur warriors. The brown-red smoke coalesced, materializing his form.

He held a long spear, thrusting with speed, precision, and ruthlessness.

The minotaur warrior seemed to raise its axe to defend, but was too slow—the malevolent spear had already pierced through its neck armor, stabbed deep, and withdrawn.

By the time the sharp axe swung through by inertia, it only sliced through a few wisps of brown mist.

Rakshasa appeared beside the second minotaur warrior, then the third, fourth, and fifth.

Five burly, dark-skinned figures wreathed in strands of brown-red mist simultaneously appeared beside the monsters, simultaneously thrusting their spears.

The next moment—

Boom—!

The mist dispersed, and these minotaurs—not weak, having reached the mid to late stages of Professional Tier—were instantly annihilated like goblins and other small fry.

One spear, one kill.

Incredibly fast Rakshasa!

Dolai widened its eyes: “⊙_⊙”

It hadn’t even made a move yet.

Wait, was junior Rakshasa this strong? It always had this illusion that even if it went all out, it might not be able to obliterate these not-weak monsters within two seconds.

Hmm, must be an illusion.

Red Robe yawned; not having to fight was the best.

She drifted around, keeping watch.

Dolai scurried about, collecting all the Soul Sand and Remnant Souls dropped by the monsters, and also swiped the more valuable armor from the minotaur warriors.

Through Asun’s vision, Mu Yuan scanned the building hidden within the giant forest.

Ancient and magnificent, with a flat cylindrical structure, it seemed like a massive ancient sports arena.

「Hint: You have discovered the special building ‘Hero Arena’.」

——

「Description: This was once used by the ancient <Holy Radiance Empire> to train and hone heroes’ combat skills. Within the arena, true death is impossible. When battling here, challengers can rapidly advance their combat techniques and energy utilization skills.」

「Hint: Only Heroes and Lords may enter the ‘Hero Arena’, and they may enter via consciousness.」

「Hint: Any Hero or Lord only has three hours of free usage time. Obtaining Holy Radiance Empire Medals or other methods can extend usage time.」

Mu Yuan, the novice, had heard a bit about the Holy Radiance Empire—apparently one of the most powerful nations in Eternal World’s history.

However, it had long fallen, becoming mere history.

So where could he obtain Holy Radiance Empire Medals?

“Doesn’t matter, there’s still three hours of free usage time.”

“It’s just a special building anyway, over a hundred kilometers from the territory, and there’s not much time to come here often.”

The arena appeared open-air from the outside, but one could only truly enter through the main gate.As soon as Dolai stepped inside, it felt as if it had entered a unique space. Mu Yuan also received a prompt asking whether he wished to project his consciousness.

He didn’t rush to make a choice.

He could already quietly observe his surroundings through Dolai as an anchor point.

The ground was paved with smooth, flawless floorboards, completely free of dust. Not far away stood a massive light gate—only by stepping through it would one officially begin the combat training.

Mu Yuan promptly projected his consciousness as well, and in that mysterious moment, he received more information about the Hero Arena.

Skills also have their limits.

Breaking through these limits allows one to step into a new realm.

During the Hero Festival, the Advanced Hero ‘Flowing Cloud Swordsman’ had broken through the mundane with his sword techniques, reaching the Transcendent level and attaining the Concept of the Sword.

This is a Domain that only genius Lords or Heroes are qualified to glimpse.

Ordinary troops? They haven’t even awakened self-awareness; at best, their skills are merely proficient—how could they possibly break through?

“The Hero Arena seems to be a Treasure Land for honing Heroes and enabling breakthroughs? In that case, the three hours of free time are indeed a bit too little. How annoying,” he thought.

Suddenly, a line of text drifted across the sky above the arena:

「Hero · Locke has initially grasped the Concept of the Gun.」

…

「Lord Wang Ba has initially grasped the Concept of the Saber.」

The King Overlord of Wangba Territory is actually this terrifying!

(End of Chapter)