Unable to use Inspect to directly view their attributes, Bai Qiu instead relied on the honey badger’s physique and performance to estimate its stats and combat style.
Judging from its appearance, it specialized in close-quarters combat.
Its heavy panting and the steam-like heat rising from its battered body suggested that its abilities focused on enhancing its own physical strength.
Its opponent was a sixty-meter-long venomous snake with a yellowish-brown body.
Its identity was obvious at a glance—it was a king cobra.
[It’s actually the Snake King! Didn’t it retire after being seriously injured last time?]
As soon as Bai Qiu approached the arena, he heard a telepathic broadcast from the surrounding beasts.
The sender turned out to be a pig.
It wasn’t particularly large, standing only about two meters tall and measuring nearly six meters in length—not much bigger than a domestic pig.
Bai Qiu’s first impression was that its combat rating was probably around D-rank, definitely not C-rank.
[Place your bets! Place your bets! Who do you think will win this time? The rising star, the Silver-Armored Honey Badger, or the long-famous King of Venomous Snakes?!]
A small monkey resembling a golden snub-nosed monkey ran out carrying a stone tablet.
It was actually imitating human gambling, encouraging the beasts to wager on the outcome of the match.
The monkey acted as the referee, ensuring fairness before collecting a 1% commission from every beast afterward.
[Hey, idiot pig! I’m betting on the Snake King this time. You in or not? Hurry up and answer!]
Another pig trotted over, grunting as it broadcast its thoughts to everyone.
[Hell yeah, I’m in! I’m betting three hundred Blood Crystals on the Snake King!]
[Holy crap, you lunatic! You’re going all in?!]
[Going all in is a kind of wisdom!]
Bai Qiu silently moved farther away from the two foolish pigs.
At this rate, they were probably about to lose everything.
Although the giant honey badger had expended a tremendous amount of stamina and was covered in wounds, leaving pools of blood across the arena, its aura remained incredibly fierce.
Its small eyes blazed with savage ferocity.
It was still very young.
As long as it didn’t die prematurely, it had a high chance of reaching the Transcendent Realm.
The king cobra, on the other hand, appeared completely uninjured.
However, Bai Qiu’s ocular technique revealed multiple hidden injuries beneath its scales.
Its aura was slightly unstable, and it was clearly in the twilight of its life.
The way it looked at the honey badger was filled with caution and wariness.
That was why Bai Qiu favored the honey badger.
Fearless.
When two narrow paths meet, the brave prevail.
The king cobra had already exposed its weakness before the battle had even begun—it was afraid.
The king cobra tossed its Blood Crystals into the blood pool suspended above the arena.
As the blood pool rippled, a clear bell rang out.
It signified that its 900 Blood Crystal arena entry fee had been accepted.
The battle officially began.
The instant the bell stopped ringing, the king cobra immediately recoiled, opening its massive jaws as it spat two streams of brownish-yellow venom straight toward the honey badger.
It had clearly come prepared.
Seeing the honey badger covered in open wounds, it intended to drench those injuries with venom and kill it through poisoning.
The honey badger reacted just as quickly.
Rather than stubbornly trying to tank the venom head-on, it darted around the arena at high speed.
Its plan was obvious—to exploit its superior speed and close the distance.
Once it got within melee range, this so-called King of Venomous Snakes would be nothing more than a spicy snack.
The king cobra clearly understood that as well.
When its opening attack missed, it immediately retreated, showing no intention of engaging the honey badger in close combat.
It was cautious to the extreme.
But this was an arena.
Even with a radius of 500 meters, a King-tier creature only needed about twenty seconds to circle it completely.
The king cobra was obviously slower than the honey badger.
Within moments, it was caught.
With a single swipe of its claws, the honey badger sheared off a section of the snake’s tail.
“Hiss!!”
The king cobra cried out in pain before whipping its head around, opening its jaws and lunging straight at the honey badger, intending to sink its fangs into its body.
The honey badger deftly dodged the bite.
As the king cobra attempted to pull its head back, the honey badger pressed its advantage and continued the assault.
But at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred.
The retreating king cobra abruptly opened its mouth again and spat another jet of venom.
This time, the venom splashed directly onto the honey badger.
It failed to evade it.
The moment the poison touched its body, the flesh around its wounds began to rot instantly, and its movements suddenly faltered.
Just when everyone thought it had reached the end of the road…
Its aura suddenly exploded upward.
The honey badger, now completely consumed by its berserk state, lunged at the king cobra and slammed it to the ground, pinning it beneath its massive body.
Its claws dug deep into the snake’s flesh.
The king cobra immediately let out a terrified hiss as its body writhed violently.
It opened its jaws and sank its fangs into the honey badger’s back.
After only slight resistance, its venomous fangs pierced through the flesh, and poison was instantly pumped into the honey badger’s body in an endless stream.
Yet the honey badger neither dodged nor retreated.
Keeping the king cobra firmly pinned beneath it, it began tearing into the snake with savage bites, refusing to give it even the slightest chance to escape.
No matter how desperately the king cobra struggled, bit, or coiled around its body, the honey badger never once let up.
The excruciating pain eventually left the king cobra too weak to keep its fangs embedded in the honey badger.
After struggling for a little over a minute, it was literally bitten in half alive.
The moment the king cobra died, a mysterious force decomposed its flesh into thousands of Blood Crystals, which quietly scattered across the arena floor.
The entire colosseum erupted into an uproar.
None of the spectators could believe that the crafty, battle-hardened king cobra had actually been defeated by a newcomer.
It hadn’t even been given the chance to surrender before being killed outright.
As for the two pigs that had gone all in, they burst into tears on the spot, letting out squeals as shrill as pigs being slaughtered.
They simply couldn’t accept that the Blood Crystals they had spent most of their lives accumulating had vanished in an instant.
Bai Qiu slowly shook his head.
Everything had unfolded just as he had expected.
No matter how potent the king cobra’s venom was, it still required time to take effect.
At best, the outcome would have been mutual destruction.
Of course, the snake had also been unlucky.
The honey badger had happened to bite straight through the area around its heart.
Having secured its tenth consecutive victory, the honey badger staggered off the arena.
From this battle alone, it had earned several thousand Blood Crystals, including the 900 Blood Crystal entry fee, as well as the Blood Crystals from several opponents that it had literally chewed to death before they could surrender.
Every creature that entered this place—including Bai Qiu—received a special storage space dedicated exclusively to Blood Crystals.
No matter how many Blood Crystals one possessed, they could all be stored there without affecting the user’s carrying capacity.
Bai Qiu knew his opportunity had arrived.
If he wanted to earn Blood Crystals, there was no better chance than this.
[Do you need me to heal you?]
Bai Qiu walked up to the honey badger and transmitted his thoughts through their telepathic link.
The honey badger was visibly taken aback.
Lowering its head, it looked at the unfamiliar creature before it.
Though Bai Qiu appeared small, he radiated an unmistakably dangerous aura.
[You can help me?]
The honey badger was already becoming delirious.
It knew the snake’s venom wasn’t enough to kill it, but hearing someone make such an offer still piqued its curiosity.
[Of course. I know your injuries aren’t fatal, and the venom won’t kill you either. But if things continue like this, you’ll likely end up walking the same path as that old snake.]
Bai Qiu spoke calmly.
Instead of immediately discussing payment, he first laid out the pros and cons.
[You don’t want the injuries from this battle to leave permanent damage and keep you from ever advancing beyond the King Realm, do you?]
— The end of the Chapter–
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