"Then how exactly am I supposed to test my spirit power's attributes?"
Tai Chu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
He knew quite a few people, but even so, it was far too awkward to walk up to someone and say, 'Hey, could you release a Spirit Ability for me? I want to copy it.'
If word got out that his Mangekyō Sharingan could see the flow of spirit power through a person's meridians when they used a Spirit Ability—
Then wouldn't he basically become a walking, talking database for extracting self-created Spirit Abilities?
If that secret were exposed, he'd probably be hunted down and exploited until there was nothing left of him.
So… was there a place where he could copy Spirit Abilities openly, without drawing suspicion?
He thought hard.
Finally—
"Right. There actually is such a place."
A location flashed through Tai Chu's mind.
It was already late, though, so he decided to leave it for tomorrow.
After cultivating for a while, he went to sleep.
Meditation could replace sleep, but there was no need to push himself. Excessive meditation consumed too much mental energy and left one sluggish, which would actually hinder cultivation instead.
From his own experience, the optimal daily cultivation time should not exceed ten hours.
---
The next morning, Tai Chu woke up early and headed straight for the Notting Spirit Fighting Arena.
This was the perfect place to copy Spirit Abilities freely—without anyone suspecting a thing. After all, who would imagine that someone came to the Spirit Fighting Arena just to steal Spirit Abilities?
The Spirit Fighting Arena was divided into three types of battles:
Sparring matches
Life-and-death matches
Gambling matches
Life-and-death matches were the most brutal, allowing fatalities. Gambling matches worked like wagers, where the winner took everything at stake. As for sparring matches, they were purely competitive exchanges—victory decided the winner, but killing was forbidden.
Tai Chu's goal was simple: one-on-one sparring matches.
Rather than sitting in the stands and secretly observing fights with his Mangekyō Sharingan, it was far better to participate directly.
Yesterday's fight with Tang San had made one thing clear to him—his combat experience was sorely lacking.
Yes, he had won, but objectively speaking, his fighting technique could barely be called technique at all. To put it bluntly, it was just wild punching.
Yesterday, he'd relied entirely on the Mangekyō Sharingan's dynamic vision and his own terrifying reaction speed, completely suppressing Tang San.
So this was perfect.
He could copy Spirit Abilities and repeatedly fight opponents to accumulate real combat experience.
With that in mind, Tai Chu paid the registration fee: ten gold coins.
He casually chose the alias "Blood Eye."
As for his real name—forget it. He had no interest in drawing unnecessary attention. He had even prepared a mask in advance specifically to conceal his identity.
When reporting his age, he claimed to be nine years old.
After all, he was already at Rank 18. If he admitted he was only six, it would attract far too much attention.
Under the arena's arrangement, he was scheduled to fight first.
The host's voice boomed across the arena:
"Up next, in the third Spirit Fighting Arena's one-on-one match, we have two Spirit Masters!"
"On one side, the control-type Spirit Master 'Blood Eye,' wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan Spirit!"
"On the other, the agility-attack-type Spirit Master Ye Zhou, wielder of the Thunder Wolf Beast Spirit!"
"Let us witness their intense battle! Fighters, please take the stage!"
Tai Chu, masked, and Ye Zhou stepped onto the arena platform.
Ye Zhou glanced at Tai Chu's mask and sneered.
"Kid, are you wearing a mask because you're too ugly to show your face?"
"If I didn't wear a mask, I'd be afraid you'd feel inferior," Tai Chu replied calmly. "If you saw my face, wouldn't you feel so ashamed you'd kill yourself?"
"You—!"
Ye Zhou's face darkened.
"You'd better hope your strength matches that mouth of yours. Otherwise, I'll personally rip off that mask and beat your face into a pig's head."
"Then you won't get that chance in this lifetime," Tai Chu shot back.
"That mouth of yours is begging for a beating!" Ye Zhou roared.
Immediately, Ye Zhou activated Martial Soul Possession.
His pupils shifted, sharp claws and fangs emerged, and arcs of lightning crackled across his body. A white ten-year spirit ring slowly rose around him.
Tai Chu quietly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Seeing this, Ye Zhou sneered.
"Mangekyō Sharingan? So it's just some trash eye Spirit."
"A trash Spirit dares to run his mouth in front of me? Wait until I tear that mouth right off!"
Under the mask, Tai Chu's expression didn't change at all.
A Body Spirit.
That was how they were classified.
Over countless years, Spirit Hall had awakened innumerable Spirit Masters with Body Spirits. Even those with high innate spirit power had never truly succeeded.
In the end, Body Spirits were lumped together with so-called trash Spirits—sitting at the same table as Blue Silver Grass.
"Are you a woman?" Tai Chu said lazily. "Standing there babbling nonstop—my ears are getting calloused."
"You're courting death!"
Ye Zhou's face flushed crimson as his spirit ring lit up.
"First Spirit Ability—Thunder Step!"
Lightning surged violently around his legs.
In the next instant, Ye Zhou vanished.
On the small fighting stage, he crossed the distance almost instantly, claws slashing toward Tai Chu.
"A lightning-attribute speed-type Spirit Ability."
In that brief moment, Tai Chu's Mangekyō Sharingan had already recorded the complete flow of spirit power through Ye Zhou's meridians.
Not bad.
But from now on… it's mine.
Tai Chu moved, meeting the attack head-on.
From the start, Ye Zhou thought his opponent was merely somewhat strong—capable of blocking his fast, ferocious strikes.
But as attack after attack failed, anxiety crept in.
Finally—
Tai Chu knocked Ye Zhou straight off the stage.
As Ye Zhou landed outside the arena, he realized something terrifying.
Tai Chu's clothes weren't even rumpled.
Only then did Ye Zhou understand—
From beginning to end, he had been nothing more than a whetstone.
And in this Spirit Fighting Arena, he was merely the first to fall at Tai Chu's hands.
He would not be the last.
In the battles that followed, the arena arranged several more matches.
Without exception—
Every opponent who faced Tai Chu was defeated, one after another.