STNS: Chapter 509 (Patreon)

The oppressive shouts from the arena came at Yōuměi on all sides, but she ignored them as she focused on her opponent. She was a very pretty big sister with a slender yet powerful body. Her striking golden eyes with slit pupils were filled with intelligence and sadism. Yōuměi had heard that this woman was cunning and loved toying with her prey.

She was very strong. The woman had five powerful techniques that she switched between at will and could shift from her human to beast form whenever it suited her. Her name was Mèngxǐng, and she specialized in poison and illusions. Yōuměi’s body was covered in several cuts and had purple bruising where she had been struck by the woman’s tail.

“You’re pretty strong for such a small child,” Mèngxǐng grinned at her, revealing sharp canines hidden behind ruby red lips. “But you’re still just a small fish who was swimming in a tiny puddle until recently. You can’t beat me with your paltry powers.”

“Shadow Stakes!”

Yōuměi ignored the woman’s words and shoved her hand into a shadow at her feet. The shadow undulated before quickly extending, turning into a sharp spike that attempted to impale Mèngxǐng.

“Whoa!”

Mèngxǐng was quick on her feet, dancing backward with serpentine grace. She could not break these shadows. Only someone with a lot more chi or the ability to use shadow’s elemental weakness could break them. However, as she danced around the shadow stakes, the woman inhaled a deep breath, then expelled it.

“Venomous Breath!”

Mèngxǐng expelled noxious green mist from her mouth. Yōuměi already knew this mist was a poison that could paralyze and disorient people who inhaled it. She had never been struck by it, but she heard about it from Hóngyàn Shūshu.

Yōuměi did not have any techniques to blow away the mist, so all she could do was back off as it expanded. The mist would eventually disperse. However, she already knew that her opponent would not wait for that to happen. Mèngxǐng was immune to her own poison.

The woman in question erupted from within the mist, grinning sadistically as her legs combined into a tail, which she quickly extended to try and wrap around Yōuměi.

“Serpent’s Embrace!”

Mèngxǐng’s tail grew to roughly 30 yīngchǐ before it attempted to coil around Yōuměi. It wrapped up and constricted, but Yōuměi was not there, having already disappeared into the floor with Shadow Walking.

The world inside of shadows was pitch-black, yet Yōuměi could navigate around as easily as if it was broad daylight. She could just sense where to go. Traveling through shadows was a lot like swimming. It didn’t long to reach her destination. Erupting from the shadows like lava from a volcano, Yōuměi leapt at Mèngxǐng from behind, hands extended like claws.

“That won’t work on me!! Serpent’s Gaze!”

Mèngxǐng’s golden eyes began glowing brightly as she locked onto Yōuměi… but nothing happened.

“What?!”

“Gotchu!”

Just as Mèngxǐng shouted in surprise, another Yōuměi emerged from the ground underneath her.

“Shadow Fang!”

“Nggg!?”

Mèngxǐng hissed in pain as a fang-shaped shadow pierced her torso. Blood gushed from the wound, dark red and viscous as it oozed around the shadow.

“Damn you!”

With a vicious curse, Mèngxǐng tried to attack, but Yōuměi had once more disappeared into the shadows. She reappeared somewhere else and attacked again. More wounds appeared on Mèngxǐng, who roared in frustration. The woman sucked in a deep breath once more and expelled out a poisonous mist.

“Venomous Breath!!”

The mist quickly covered the entire arena. Yōuměi hid inside of a shadow. The mist could not reach her there. The only problem was that, while the mist could not reach her, she also couldn’t tell what was happening. Yōuměi could only sense things that were connected to the shadows. She could feel Mèngxǐng. Mist, however, had no physical form. 

Yōuměi knew she would eventually have to emerge from the shadows, and even if the mist dispersed, Mèngxǐng would be wary of another surprise attack. What should she do? She thought about it. Hóngyàn Shūshu had said that Mèngxǐng was cunning, intelligent, and sadistic, but she wasn’t patient, especially when things didn’t go her way. Things weren’t going her way now, right? That meant she was losing patience, right?

I’ll attack now!

“Maw of Darkness!”

Yōuměi expelled more chi to create a massive, gaping maw of shadow that was large enough to swallow a normal enemy whole. Mèngxǐng had partially transformed into a serpent, and her tail was quite long, so she couldn’t swallow the woman’s entire body, but the fangs of her technique sank into Mèngxǐng’s scaled flesh and caused the woman to writhe and scream in pain.

Leaping out of the shadow, Yōuměi engulfed her arm in chi, causing it to turn pitch black as it became wreathed in misty shadows.

“Shadow Claw!”

While her nails became razor-sharp, Yōuměi did not use them to attack the woman. She instead grabbed Mèngxǐng’s head. Tightening her grip as the woman reached up as though to pry her hand off, Yōuměi roared as she used her superior strength to slam the woman headfirst into the ground. A loud quaking sound erupted all around them as the earth beneath her feet and Mèngxǐng’s head shattered. Yōuměi’s opponent twitched several times before going still.

“Unbelievable! Yōuměi Xiǎo Yǐng has won once more! That makes this fourteen victories in a row! She only needs one more to ascend to the next level! Can she manage it?! I guess we’ll find out during her next fight!”

The crowd cheered, and Yōuměi smiled as she raised her hands, waved, and ran around the arena floor like a little child. Ever since her third victory, the arena goers had given her the nickname, Xiǎo Yǐng, which stood for “Little Shadow.” It was an affectionate term that supposedly emphasized her small stature and shadow techniques. Nicknames like this were quite common in the arena. Mèngxǐng was called Dú Měi, which meant “Poisonous Beauty.”

After running around energetically, Yōuměi retreated through the arena’s entrance. The next battle was set to take place soon. She walked down the hall and soon entered her room, where she found someone waiting for her.

“Nice job, Yōu’er. You did a very good job!”

“Hóngyàn Shūshu, thank you for your help,” Yōuměi said with a polite bow.

“Ha ha ha! You’re welcome little one,” Hóngyàn Shūshu laughed and patted her head. Yōuměi didn’t quite like his rough hands. Master’s hands were much softer and more comfortable, but this man’s hands were warm and friendly, so she let him pet her.

Hóngyàn had been her first opponent in this arena and had taken a strange liking to her. He treated her like a favorite niece. She had been wary of him at first, but he had helped her a lot. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that her last fourteen victories had been made possible thanks to her. That was why she had given him the nickname of “Shūshu,” which meant uncle in the ancient tongue.

This uncle had taught her a lot about this arena, how it worked, how could she get the items that would help her master, and how she could attain her freedom.

The arena worked on a point system. Fighters are categorized into different ranks based on their performance and the number of victories. Each rank provides access to better rewards, increased point earnings, but also tougher opponents. The first rank was Novice. Yōuměi was currently a Novice. After Novice was Intermediate, Adept, Expert, Master, and Legend. There were only a handful of Legend rank fighters. Hóngyàn Shūshu said Legend rank fighters rarely ever fought because there weren’t many opponents strong enough to make them appear.

Points and victories were earned by defeating opponents in standard matches, but there were also tournament matches, special events, and team battles. Tournament matches granted extra points, while team battles allowed fighters to work together, but the points were evenly distributed between teammates. Yōuměi’s current goal was to reach Intermediate Rank, which required winning fifteen times in the arena.

“Since you did so well, let me get you something to eat,” Hóngyàn Shūshu said with a smile.

Yōuměi’s eyes lit up. “You’re paying?!”

“Of course.”

“Yay!”

The Colosseum had a mess hall that provided a standard one meal a day for free, but the food was basic and bland. They mostly served congee with only a small portion of meat. However, fighters could spend points they earned in the arena to buy more extravagant meals.

Because Yōuměi was trying to save money for the ingredients needed to refine a pill that would restore Master’s legs, she hadn’t spent any of her points. It was… hard. She wanted to eat good food, and denying herself that pleasure and eating nothing but bland congee made her sad.

Hóngyàn Shūshu chuckled. “I like that you’re so easy to please. Well, come along then.”

The Colosseum’s mess hall was designed to serve both fighters and staff. It was spacious and had a high ceiling supported by grand wooden beams. While the beams were massive, they were unadorned and plain. The owner of this place didn’t see it necessary to provide grand decorations since arena fighters were basically slaves. The centra area was a large open space meant for dining, with long communal tables made of a dark wood. Private alcoholes and smaller tables lined the walls for people who wanted to eat in solitude, but you had to pay to use them, so they often went unused.

Hóngyàn Shūshu led her to a large serving counter at the end of the hall, staffed by cooks and assistants who prepared the meals. Several people were already lined up. Yōuměi recognized a few of them by scent. There was Zhenshu, whom she had lost to during her second match in the arena, but she won against him during her fifth fight. The other two were also people she had defeated. They looked at her with a fierce glare, but she ignored them as Hóngyàn Shūshu spoke to a young woman at the counter.

“Two of your Daily Specials,” he said.

“You’re quite the big spender, Hóngyàn. I’m surprised to see you here.” The woman then eyed Yōuměi and smiled. “I see now though. It looks like you’ve finally taken an interest in someone after so long. Good for you.”

“It was bound to happen at some point, I guess,” Hóngyàn Shūshu said with a shrug.

“You are quite lucky, little one,” the young woman addressed Yōuměi, who could only tilt her head in confusion.

Yōuměi and Hóngyàn Shūshu were told to sit down while their meal was being prepared. She was about to head to the communal table, but her companion directed her toward an alcove. Yōuměi sat down curiously, feet dangling off the floor.

“Are you rich, Shūshu?” asked Yōuměi.

The older man laughed. “Well, I’m a little more well-off than most I guess. 

Hóngyàn Shūshu is a mysterious person.

She had already noticed it, but there was a lot about this man that seemed odd. Yōuměi thought he was a Novice rank fighter because they had fought during her first bout ever. However, she had never seen him fight again after that. It was weird. Novice ranked fights were the most numerous because there were more fighters in that rank than any other, and they happened several times every day. Yōuměi had been here for roughly a month, which meant he should have fought during that time, shouldn’t he?

Well, he doesn’t smell bad, so I guess it’s okay.

A young woman soon came up to serve them food. Yōuměi almost salivated when she saw everything on her plate. A savory stir-fry with lots of meat, juicy skewers of marinated meat, and dumplings filled with something that smelled sweet and delicious.

“Don’t stand on ceremony. Dig in,” Hóngyàn Shūshu said.

“I will!”

Yōuměi dove into her food with relish. It was all so good. She had forgotten how tasty food could be, eating the same bland gunk every day. Eating such delicious food after so long made her want to cry.

Hóngyàn Shūshu watched with a grandfatherly smile. His scent seemed nostalgic. She wondered about that, but he began talking, so she focused on his words.

“Your next fight will determine whether or not you ascend to the rank of Intermediate,” he said. “They’re not going to pit you against another novice for this battle. You’ll be fighting against an Intermediate Rank fighter, so be careful.”

Yōuměi wanted to talk, but her mouth was full of food, so she chewed quickly, swallowed, then said, “I’ll be careful. Who am I fighting?”

“His name is Lìyǔ, and he is a Storm Hawk at the Third Subrealm of the Deva Realm,” Hóngyàn Shūshu informed her with a smile that belied caution.