Chapter 148: Snowflake source spirit
Chen Bingyu was filled with excitement over being able to join Qilin Hall and being able to learn that long awaited knowledge. She was not even willing to wait another day!
However.
At this moment.
Someone had blown up Qilin Hall, destroyed the Qilin Hall's equipment, and robbed the Qilin Hall's things...How could she not be angry? How could she not be filled with rage?
Chen Bingyu was nicknamed the "Ice Queen"!
Even the principal was afraid of her, as Chen Bingyu had a very extreme personality, making her methods were cold and ruthless. Adding in her high cultivation base, she did not fear anyone in Central State City. Although she was not subordinate to any powers, there was no one that dared to offend her!
This time.
The three great families had shot themselves in the foot!
A cold spirit energy and a terrifying killing intent filled the air. It was enough to freeze the earth, freeze all living beings, and freeze everyone's souls. This kind of cold wind suddenly appeared and it was completely unexpected. No one could prepare for it and it instantly ravaged an area of several miles.
The water in the air froze and countless snowflakes began to dance in the air.
The cold current was centered around Chen Bingyu and with an untraceable speed, it spread out in all directions. The ground was covered in ice and the flames burning training hall was instantly extinguished. At the same time, a layer of frost condensed as if winter had instantly set in!
The masked people were covered in a layer of white frost and felt that it was hard to move.
"What?"
"This kind of strength, she is..."
This cold current came from a long distance, but facing this kind of incomparable strength, they had no way of putting up any resistance.
Their strengths were not even on the same level!
They only thought of one thing...Run!
Only they had angered Chen Bingyu.
Could they still possible escape?
Chen Bingyu was covered in a snow white spirit energy and the invisible spirit energy around her body condensed into a octagonal shaped snowflake.
This was a source spirit?
A Snowflake Source Spirit?
This snowflake was not created by her cultivation technique. It was the shape of Chen Bingyu's source spirit!
The Southern Summer had all kinds of source spirits, but a Snowflake Source Spirit truly had not been heard of before!
This was because the appearance of the source spirit decided its strength.
A wild tiger source spirit would be much stronger than a wild cat source spirit. A wicked wolf source spirit would be stronger than a wolf dog source spirit. The more dangerous the appearance of the source spirit, the stronger it would be.
A snowflake gave a gentle feeling as if it was something harmless, so how strong could a cultivator with a Snowflake Source Spirit even be?
The strength that Chen Bingyu was displaying now completely subverted everyone's common sense!
That piece of octagonal crystal like snowflake was as clear as a crystal, transparent, and flawless. It was as beautiful as a piece of art!
From a few to many, from scattered to dense, in the end, several millions of snowflakes gathered together and formed a ice dragon that surrounded Chen Bingyu.
"Ice Blocking Out the Sun!
Chen Bingyu raised her hands.
The millions of snowflakes erupted out in a violent storm!
Every one of the snowflakes shot forward at a speed the naked eye could not keep up to!
These snowflakes turned into fatal darts as they instantly covered the mask people. There were too many of them, they were too quick, and it was too dense, they had no way of escaping.
The snowflakes directly ripped through their protective spirit energy and a terrifying power pierced into their bodies. It entered their five visceras and seeped into their veins. Each snowflake was composed of even smaller snowflakes, so once they entered into someone's body, the snowflakes dispersed and flowed through a person's meridians causing them to feel the pain of ten thousand blades slicing through their bodies!
"Ah, stop!"
The cultivators did not even have time to let out pitiful screams before they were all killed.
The final living cultivator was at the 4th Awakened Soul Layer, so he could hold on longer, but his body was still frozen and he was heavily injured. He begged for mercy, "Vice principal Chen, I am a consecrate of the Chu Family, you can't kill me!"
"Chu Family? You would have to die even if you were from the royal family!"
Chen Bingyu turned a deaf ear to the screams of terror. The terrifying ice power entered his body and instantly froze his five visceras.
The masked man was frozen from the inside out and had been turned into an ice statue!
"Break!"
Chen Bingyu waved her hand.
The ice sculpture shattered to pieces, turning into countless fragments.
Even a deity could not save someone from this kind of death!
Such a terrifying power!
The Awakened Soul Realm was divided into three stages, Void Soul, Illustrious Soul, and True Soul!
Although they were all apart of the Awakened Soul Realm, there was still a large difference between them. At the initial Awakened Soul Realm, the Void Soul realm, the cultivator could just use their source spirit's power, but the source spirit itself would not be very powerful. At the intermediate Awakened Soul Realm, the Illustrious Soul Realm, the potential of the source spirit was released. So before an Illustrious Soul Realm expert made a move, they could defeat their enemy with just their aura.
The late Awakened Soul Realm, the True Soul Realm was different.
The source spirits would have a terrifying strength and could even kill enemies in the same realm.
This woman did not use the power of any cultivation techniques, she just directly used the power of her source spirit!
Her strength was definitely in the late Awakened Soul Realm's "True Soul" realm and it was not weak. True Soul Realm experts in Central State could be counted with a single hand!
Before the Chu Family's consecrate had died, he had called her "vice principal Chen"!
This clearly revealed her status!
The Central State Academy's vice principal and renowned expert, "Ice Queen" Chen Bingyu!
What kind of person was Chen Bingyu? Even the City Lord had to give her face and the Divine Wind Marquis treated her as a friend. Those unlucky fellows that had died in her hand were doomed to have died in vain.
The three great families would not fight with Chen Bingyu over a few elders and consecrates. Even if it was the three great families going up against Chen Bingyu, they would still have to pay a heavy price.
This was not a sane thing to do!
This matter seemed fishy no matter how it was looked at!
Nangong Yun remembered the strange things Chu Tian did today.
She was not a fool and could clearly guess that this was Chu Tian's plan. He had used a borrowed knife to kill someone, completely using Chen Bingyu!
Otherwise, even if he did exterminate these people.
The three great families would not let him off and react even more strongly.
With Chen Bingyu being the one killing them, the result was very different. Even if the three great families wanted to counterattack, they still had to think it through carefully. They had truly suffered a large loss this time!
This fellow was truly as sly as a fox!
"Aunt Chen, why did you kill them all?" Nangong Yun said in an intentional exaggerated tone, "These people seem like they're from the three great families, killing them will bring a lot of trouble!"
Chen Bingyu gave a cold snort and said, "I'm not afraid of the three great families! The people were killed by me, so as long as I'm here, they won't dare to do anything! Take a look, see if there's anything that was lost!"
The Qilin Hall was completely ruined.
"This is bad!"
"The phonograph and discs have all been destroyed!"
The discs were retrieved from the corpses. These discs were covered in a layer of frost and had been mostly destroyed by the spirit energy snowflakes.
"It's destroyed!"
"It's all destroyed!"
Nangong Yun wanted to cry, but she had no tears.
"It seems like we can only shut down the Qilin Hall."
Everyone revealed a look of disbelief. What was happening?
Qilin Hall hadn't even been open for ten days and it was already going out of business? How could this be allowed? Although the Qilin Hall had only been open for a short period of time, everyone had no way of leaving here already!
"No, don't!"
"Qilin Hall cannot close!"
"Isn't it just a broken building that's gone? Worst case is everyone will just have to give a little money!"
"That's right, I'm willing to take out one hundred thousand!"
"I'll take out two hundred thousand!"
People quickly proposed the fundraising plan. As long as Qilin Hall did not close, they didn't care about taking out a little money, after all, Qilin Hall had a very important meaning for them. In just a few short days, they had felt like they had been reborn. What would happen if they could stay in Qilin Hall for a month, half a year, a year, or even longer?"
"You can't close!"
The one most anxious here wasn't the normal students, rather, it was Chen Bingyu.
Chen Bingyu was a late Awakened Soul Realm expert and she could be considered one of the peak experts of the Southern Summer Country. She had a never ending view, the worship of ten thousand people, and power at her fingertips, but Chen Bingyu did not care about these things at all.
Chen Bingyu could finally see her bottleneck.
Studying at Qilin Hall was the only opportunity she had. If she missed this, she would not have another chance.
Nangong Yun rolled her eyes, "We can rebuild the phonograph, record the magnetic sound discs again, and rebuild the building, but now the three great families are making a move against us. We can only..."
Chen Bingyu directly said, "I am willing to protect the Qilin Hall. As long as I am here, they will not dare to make a rash move!"
"Alright!" Nangong Yun chuckled to herself in her heart and a trace of cunning flashed in her eyes, "Since Aunt Chen is supporting us like this, how could Qilin Hall not stay open? I'll go and discuss with the boss and then we'll buy a new location and equipment. We will reopen the training hall within ten days!"
Everyone was filled with joy.
It was great that Qilin Hall wasn't closing!
Nangong Yun waved her hand, "Everyone go back first. As compensation for Qilin Hall being temporarily closed, we will be selling phonographs soon for everyone's learning convenience!"
The phonographs were about to be sold?
This was truly great!
Everyone revealed a look of pleasant surprised and walked away satisfied.
That night.
Nangong Yun excitedly raised her cup as she congratulated Chu Tian, "Your predicting abilities are divine! Not only have we solved Qilin Hall's problems, we have also created a strong enemy for the three great families and have obtained a strong backer for Miracle Commerce. This is truly an answer to multiple problems."
The plan actually carried risks.
Although Chu Tian had made preparations, if Chen Bingyu made a move without any warning, the plan could not have started.
As for Chen Bingyu's relation with Nangong Yun, Chu Tian did not know about it at all. It was also why Chen Bingyu did not make a move as soon as she came and gave Chu Tian a chance to win her over.
Chu Tian gave a faint smile, "But I have to say, this Chen Bingyu is your elder and has ties with your family, do you not feel guilty at all using her as your spear?"
"What feeling guilty! This was all done by you. If anything happens, don't think you can pin it on me."
Nangong Yun swallowed her cup in one gulp.
"Then again, when did we treat Aunt Chen as a spear? We are only giving her a few pointers and then using that chance to get her to join Miracle Commerce. I think in a few years, she will definitely be thankful to us. Otherwise, if we can't use her, then why would there be such a good opportunity! Don't you think so?"
"Ha, ha, it's good that you can think like this!"
"As for Qilin Hall closing, what are you prepared to do? That place makes a lot of money and we'll lose a few million just being closed for a single day!"
"For now there are no worries. I've talked with the Yun Family and they are willing to give us a new headquarters for the Yun Sect. In this new headquarters, there are research labs, practice grounds, and all kinds of equipment. Not only does the Qilin Hall need to teach, it also needs to build a comprehensive training base, so working with the Yun Sect is a winning proposal for us."
Nangong Yun's eyes lit up.
This was a good thing!
The new Qilin Hall would be built in the Yun Sect and they would have access to the Yun Sect's advanced research materials, as well as having more security. Even if the three great families were filled with hate, they wouldn't tread lightly on the Yun Family's influence, right?
After all, the Yun Family shared a name with the other three families!
The Yun Sect and Qilin Hall cooperating naturally had its benefits. The Yun Sect would gain influence meaning both sides would receive benefits.
"Calculating the time, the young miss will be coming to the Main City soon. The layouts are pretty much set and it will soon be time to open up in Central State. After not seeing each other for so long, I can't help thinking about them. I wonder how they've been lately."
Nangong Yun gave a gentle snort and was a little unhappy, "You haven't seen them in a few days only. When I came to Central State alone, I didn't see you miss me."
Nangong Yun could actually say this kind of thing!
Chu Tian was a little surprised.
Do you need to be missed?
With your disposition and strength, who would move against you!
Contrary to his thoughts, Chu Tian said, "Who says that? Of course I thought of you. I had to think about you a few times before I went to sleep everyday."
"Ou! How disgusting!" Nangong Yun's face turned a rare red colour and she quickly changed the topic, "Even if elder sister Qingwu and little sister Yingying have left, it will take them a few days to get here. The Central State Trials will be starting soon and this time they will be letting outsiders participate. Since you have nothing else to do, how about you give it a try?"
Chu Tian had heard about this from Yun Xiao and Yun Yao before.
"There really is this event." Chu Tian slowly stood up, "No matter what, the Chu, Luo, and Ye Families have destroyed my training hall, I have to personally repay this debt. Since the young miss is coming soon, I have to prepare a decent welcoming ceremony for her!"
Nangong Yun said with a proud face, "There's an 80-90% chance you can't beat me, so you should just let me do this!"
"I can't beat you?"
"You don't believe me? Then we'll wait and see! We'll meet each other on the stage!"
Nangong Yun just stated the facts. Chu Tian was in the 1st Awakened Soul Layer and Nangong Yun was in the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer, even if they both practiced the same defensive «Starlight Immortal Body» cultivation technique, their progress was around the same. A second layer's spirit energy releasing the Starlight Immortal Body was stronger than a first layer, so there would be a large difference in defense. In terms of defense, Chu Tian was at a large disadvantage.
Nangong Yun also had a God Level Source Spirit. Her battle strength was very abnormal and she could fight people with higher cultivation levels.
Just based on this, Chu Tian did not have a large chance of winning.
But this was also a direct provocation!
How could Chu Tian accept that? If he didn't teach her a lesson, she wouldn't know who was the boss!
That night, he gave some money to Yun Yao so she could buy the Elemental Source Stone for him.
Chu Tian was not trying to make Yun Yao run errands for him, but this thing was too expensive. If a nameless rogue cultivator spent that much money, it would draw the attention of a lot of people. It was better to let Yun Yao handle this.
He had earned a lot of money these past few days, but after spending several tens of millions buying the Elemental Source Stones and paying the first part to Tianchen Commerce, he did not have many gold coins left.
Money was just an item.
It was one way to reach a goal and it was an essential tool. As long as he could get something back for what he spent, it would all be fine!
Chapter 149: Participation
The Central State Four Courtyard tournament was about to begin!
This was an era lacking in ways of entertainment. This kind of exciting sports event with strong clashes, wonderful shocks, and frequent dark horses appearing was enough to fill the common folk with excitement, turning it into a festival and grand feast!
The contestants were usually all picked from the Central State Academy. Five groups of elites would be picked from the four courtyards, making for twenty groups of around one hundred people participating. They would participate in a tournament and the tournament would eventually pick out the top six contestants to participate in the trial.
This year the principal came up with a new idea and allowed for two groups of youths outside the Central State Academy to participate and fight against the talents of Central State Academy.
This caused a great stir in Central State City.
There were several hundred people that came to register.
With the nature of the competition, it was normal to be crippled or killed, but it would let the youths showcase themselves and establish a better reputation for their families. It would also give them a chance to be hired by the large families. This made all the rogue cultivators go crazy.
It was just like the South Sky City summit. On the surface it was a normal competition, but there were benefits to be gained from entering. The Central State City's competition was also like this and had been like this for a long time.
Three hundred and fifty years ago.
This area had been a deserted piece of land for several thousand years.
After it was discovered by the Southern Summer Country, it had quickly risen to become the Central State's Main City!
Other than the excellent geographical environment, the main reason was that there was a very prosperous ancient city here. Although the ruins of the city had disappeared, it still left behind many secrets. The most famous one was the ancient trial tower which had been renamed the Central State Tower.
They had no way of learning when Central State Tower had been built.
Because the researchers had found that Central State Tower was even older than the ancient city. That meant that thousands of years before the ancient city had been built, the trial tower had already existed.
This trial tower should be the reason why the ancient city was even built.
Central State Tower was opened once every five years. Those entering the tower could not be older than thirty years old and there could never be more than ten people that entered.
The Four Great Families all had a spot and the others were determined by Central State Academy.
The Central State Great Games was just to test for qualifications to enter the trial!
Principal Feng Yunhu had changed the rules, which went against the regulations, but it was only two extra groups, so they shouldn't have that much of an effect. The large families found it acceptable and the common folks had no complaints. The more people entering meant it would be more exciting!
Chu Tian only had an average interest in the Central State Tower's Trial.
But he was taking this opportunity to slap the three great families' faces and announce to Central State City, "I, Chu Tian have come!" This was enough of a motivation for Chu Tian to participate!
But Chu Tian had the status of a rogue cultivator, so he encountered a problem when he registered.
Each team had to have six people and no one could register alone!
At the registration ground, there were hundreds of rogue cultivators and juniors from medium and small sized families. They were all gathered here hoping to try their luck. They formed a giant crowd and everyone was a young Awakened Soul Cultivator, all of them trying to find a team.
When did Awakened Soul Cultivators become so common?
These people were not past thirty years old so they could be considered youths. There was some people from sects, some from underground powers, some that trained in secret, and also some rogue cultivators with excellent talent.
After Chu Tian looked around.
There was one team that caught his attention.
They were all at the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer and they all had a fierce aura around them, they were obviously a battle experienced team. The leader was a one eyed man less than thirty years old with a green dragon crescent blade and a thick wild beard making him very eye catching.
"Isn't that Green Dragon Blade Qi Ba?"
"He is a renowned person in the mercenary world!"
"I never thought that even he would come to participate. This is gonna be a good show!"
Everyone began to discuss with one another. They seemed to be filled with fear towards this green dragon blade carrying person, which meant that this person was probably quite strong!
They were the strongest team here and it was a coincidence that they were missing one person.
Chu Tian thought of joining and then went forward.
"1st Awakened Soul Layer?"
"You want to join our team with this amount of strength?"
"We are rushing for the top ten, so wouldn't your lack of strength hold us back? Before father has lost his temper, scram for us! Otherwise we'll break your legs!"
This was the so called fame attracts people.
A less than twenty year old 1st Awakened Soul Layer Cultivator who didn't even have a reputation, these people would not spare a glance for him!
He was being looked down on again!
Why are there so many blind people in the world?
Chu Tian said, "Anyone that feels like I'm not qualified can come and fight with me!"
"Brat, do you not understand what I'm saying? We said we don't want you!" Qi Ba said in a tough tone, "Scram!"
The little fox gave two unhappy cries to Chu Tian, telling him to teach them a lesson. Chu Tian was also feeling this way, but without time to make a move, a sound came from behind him.
"Qi Ba, you have such a great prestige!"
Qi Ba's expression changed, "It's you two…..What, are you here to cause trouble as well?"
Two fit young men walked over.
"Isn't that the two Underworld heroes?"
"The Underworld Mercenary group is a new mercenary group, but they have already obtained quite a big reputation in Central State City!"
"These two are founders of the Underworld Mercenaries. Not only are they still young, they even have unique skills. The Ye Family had even reached out to them, but it was a pity they rejected them."
The two mercenaries had no opinions as they looked at Chu Tian.
"Ah!"
"It's you!"
The three of them were stunned at the same time.
The two young mercenaries were not strangers, they were actually Lin Mu and Fang Han. Back in Yellowstone City, it was Chu Tian that had saved their lives!
The corners of Chu Tian's lips raised into a smile, "Long time now see, it seems like your strength has increased by quite a bit!"
The two of them gave an awkward smile, "No, no, it was all thanks to you!"
Qi Ba was speechless and everyone else stared on with wide eyes!
The two of them were rising stars in the Central State mercenary world, but when facing this unknown youth, they were actually this respectful? What was going on?
Chu Tian suddenly thought of a new idea, "You seem like you don't have enough people. What do you think about me joining your team?"
Lin Mu and Fang Han were overjoyed.
This was truly great!
Qi Ba, you really are an idiot! If this little brat had joined your team, we would have no chance of winning at all.
Didn't this situation happen in reverse!
Qi Ba revealed a disdainful sneer, "Lin Mu, Fang Han, you two have showed off too much recently and father here has already felt very unsatisfied. I will be using this Great Game to teach you two a proper lesson!"
"Lesson?"
"Then you need to have the skill to do so!"
"We'll have to wait and see!"
Out of the six team members, they now had three people. As for the other three, where would they look?
"Lu Ren!"
While Chu Tian was in a tough spot, a very magnetic girl's voice rang out.
This was a beautiful girl dressed in a long robe. She had a high stature, a noble manner, and a beautiful face, making her visibly stunning. This girl had a very classic gentle beauty making everyone feel a kind of shocked feeling.
This was strange.
Chu Tian had never met this beautiful girl before.
"What, you don't recognize me?"
This beautiful girl's voice was very magnetic, giving Chu Tian a familiar feeling. He suddenly thought of something and revealed a shocked expression, "You're Caidie!"
Although she looked different from before, her aura and voice was still the same. This was not a stranger, this was Caidie who he had met before in the black market.
"Because I was outside, it wasn't convenient to show my true appearance. I hope brother Lu was not offended." Caidie revealed a faint smile, "I am called Feng Caidie!"
Chu Tian nodded and said, "I can understand that."
"Brother Lu, I never expected to see you here!"
A young man walked forward and it was someone Chu Tian could recognize. Wasn't this Xiang Hu? At this moment, Xiang Hu's aura was already much stronger and he must have gained a lot during this period of time. Now he was even a 1st Layer Awakened Soul Layer Cultivator.
Beside Feng Caidie and Xiang Hu, there was also another youth on the side.
This person was very young and wasn't that far from Chu Tian's age. He was also around sixteen-seventeen years old.
He had a head of dark green hair and was wearing a beautiful long robe. His face was full of pride.
When Lin Mu and Fang Han heard Feng Caidie's name, they were thoroughly scared. Isn't she the Divine Wind Marquis' daughter? Feng Caidie was very famous in Central State because she had an innate blocked meridian. As the dignified only daughter of the Divine Wind Marquis, she was actually a cripple. Not to mention Central State City, this was a fantastic story even for the Southern Summer Country.
What was even more amazing was the Feng Yuntian still treated his daughter like the apple of his eye. He had invested all of the Feng Family's resources in her and it could even compare to what the Four Young Masters received.
Because of this, the Feng Family was not the least bit inferior to the Four Great Families and was even a little higher, but the younger generation only had the Central State Four Young Masters and nobody from the Feng Family.
This put the Feng Family in a very awkward position.
"Xiang Hu has been received by my father as an honorary disciple and this is my younger cousin, Feng Qingyun. The three of us are entering the Great Games together and it seems like you are thinking of participating as well. You have three people and we have three people, since it's like this, how about we work together?"
The Great Games required six people in a group.
Right now Chu Tian had three people and Feng Caidie also perfectly had three people. If the six of them formed a group, wouldn't that be just enough?
Before Chu Tian even had a chance to speak.
"Those two mercenaries are decent and have the qualifications to fill our team's numbers." Feng Qingyun gave a cold snort. Then he looked at Chu Tian with a gaze of disdain, "As for you? Too weak! Just leave now!"
Feng Caidie couldn't help being a little angry, "You're not allowed to insult my friend!"
"Insult? Did I insult him? I just stated the facts, those that are weak are weak. Even that group of mercenaries disdained having him in their group, so what qualifications does he have to join us? Since he doesn't have the strength, he should just stay on the side, why is he trying to cause trouble? This kind of competition is not a place for him!" Feng Qingyun said with a proud face. Then he used a provoking tone as he said to Chu Tian, "Are you unsatisfied? Then how about you have a fight with me?"
"Shut up!" Feng Caidie knew her little cousin's nature and knew that her little cousin wasn't a simple person. She quickly walked out in front of Feng Qingyun, "Did you forget what my father said? Today I'm in charge of the group, so everything is decided by me! If I say he can join, then you'll let him join!"
"Humph, I knew you would bring up the Divine Wind Marquis again. You will only be able to depend on your father for your entire life!" Feng Qingyun crossed his arms and walked away with an unsatisfied mood, "But since you're taking out the Divine Wind Marquis out to suppress me, I can only let you do what you want! He's nothing more than another ride along!"
Feng Caidie stood there with an awkward expression.
Chapter 150: Selection round
Feng Qingyun was hiding the aura of his cultivation technique.
Without opening the Mind's Eye, Chu Tian could not determine how strong the opposing side was.
But acting so arrogantly to the point where he didn't even give face to Feng Caidie meant that he should have a bit of skill.
Feng Qingyun and Feng Caidie were members of the Feng Family and not members of Central State Academy. They were participating in this competition to benefit from the forced rule changes. From this matter, it was unknown whether the principal changed the rules for the benefit of his family, but the Feng Family should be placing their hopes on their shoulders.
Feng Caidie said with a helpless expression, "Qingyun is my second uncle's son and has been out training these past few years. He had returned specially for the competition. He never had any good feelings towards me since he was young and misunderstands a lot about me...So when he saw that you had good relations with me, he couldn't help saying what he said."
He was just a boy that was still wet behind his ears.
Although he had a harsh tone, but as long he did not become excessive, Chu Tian was not willing to argue with a little kid on account of Feng Caidie's face.
The six of them became a team.
Feng Caidie was registered as the team leader.
In the selection round, the teams would face off against each other and the remaining team would be the winner. Only two teams could pass the selection round.
There were tens of teams currently present and they were made up of famous Central State rogue cultivators and mercenaries. The Central State Academy's rule change came too quickly and the news did not have time to spread to the other cities, so most people did not have the time to rush over.
Everyone began to draw their opponents with ballots.
"Feng Caidie's team versus Jin Niu's team!"
Their first opponent was a team of mercenaries and rogue cultivators. Several of them were leaders of small mercenary groups, so they should have a decent amount of strength.
Feng Caidie was filled with confidence, "Let me do it!"
Chu Tian could feel that Feng Caidie's cultivation was already in the 2nd Awakened Soul Realm and she was much stronger than Chu Tian in terms of cultivation base. Feng Caidie was also the Divine Wind Marquis Feng Yuntian's daughter, so the resources she received were things mercenaries and rogue cultivators could not dream of getting.
Dang!
The sound of the copper plate being hit!
The competition had formally started.
"Kill!"
The six people of the Jin Niu team released the power of their source spirits at the same time and they rushed out in different directions. They used all kinds of attacks, rushing forward like wild raindrops.
Feng Caidie was not anxious and like an illusory butterfly, her soft body turned into a blur and flashed forward. The speed was not something the naked eye could keep up with and the Jin Niu mercenaries couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes.
"Such a strong movement technique!"
The Jin Niu team was filled with shock and at the same time, they had a terrible feeling in their hearts.
Feng Caidie gently leaped forward with both legs and soared through the sky like a beautiful bird. Blue coloured spirit energy was released, lingering around her body.
Zhi!
Suddenly!
A clear cry rang out!
A giant blue bird came out of Feng Caidie's body. This blue bird was extremely powerful and its body was covered in mysterious runes. An extraordinary noble aura covered the area and the strong oppressive force made the Jin Niu team step backwards.
Chu Tian slightly narrows his eyes, "Wind attribute Blue Luan? This is a pretty good source spirit!"
"Blue Luan!"
"The legendary being!"
"She has a source spirit close to the god level!"
The members of the Jin Niu team never thought that they would run into such a terrifying opponent in the first round!
The six of them were all in the 1st Awakened Soul Layer and they had average source spirits. Not to mention the fact that Feng Cai Die was already at the peak 2nd Awakened Soul Layer, even if she was in the 1st Awakened Soul Layer like them, just the power of the Blue Luan alone would be enough for her to fight all six of them by herself.
The Jin Niu team was not willing to lose like this, "Let's go all out!"
Feng Caidie's palms came together, "Whirlwind sweeping away the clouds!"
The Blue Luan suddenly broke down into countless streaks of blue spirit energy. Under the control of Feng Caidie, the spirit energy began to revolve and form a terrifying spirit energy storm.
Finally it turned into a giant blue tornado and moved towards the six people.
"This is bad!"
"Run!"
How could these people outrun the wind?
The tornado rushed forward with overwhelming speed and strength. Before the six of them could react, the tornado swallowed them up, sending them high up into the sky. Losing the ability to resist, they were finally sent off into the distance.
Feng Caidie had her discretion.
Although the six of them had been cleanly defeated, she did not cause them any injuries at all.
"We have lost!"
"Young miss Feng is truly strong!"
The six people were convinced of their loss. Feng Caidie was already at the peak 2nd Awakened Soul Layer and with the power of her Blue Luan Source Spirit, she could even fight 3rd Awakened Soul Layer cultivators!
When did this wasted Central State City young miss become so strong?
The surrounding audience watched on with wide eyes. Her cultivation base, cultivation technique, and source spirit were all top class!
Was this still Feng Caidie?
It took the audience a while before they could recover, but they immediately broke out in applause and cheers.
"Good!"
"Good fight!"
Feng Caidie stood on the stage while looking at the people cheering for her all around her. The excitement and feeling in her heart was hard to describe.
No one could understand the pressure Feng Caidie felt.
She was the Divine Wind Marquis Feng Yun Tian's only daughter, and to train her, the Feng Family had used all their resources. However, because Feng Caidie had an innate blocked meridian and had no way of cultivating, everything the Feng Family did had no use and it had become the big joke in Central State City.
Feng Caidie had grown up with this kind of ridicule!
Today she could stand here proudly all because of the obscure youth behind her. It could be called the grace that Chu Tian had shown her!
Feng Qingyun's eyes hazed over, "I never thought that this vase would have a day where she would be reborn!"
The second competition soon began.
This time it was also Feng Caidie that went out to fight and once again, she easily defeated her enemies without any suspense.
Feng Caidie had cultivated all kinds of unique cultivation techniques from the Divine Wind Marquis. From defense to attack, from movement to strange techniques, she had practiced them all. Before when she was still in the Body Refinement Realm, these cultivation techniques did not have much use, but after she advanced into the Awakened Soul Realm, the cultivation techniques she had practiced over the years had advanced with her and naturally everything she learned combined to propel her into the realm of masters.
Because of this, Feng Caidie was strong in terms of everything!
Now that she had awakened the powerful Blue Luan Source Spirit with a strong amplification effect, even if she fought a 3rd Awakened Soul Layer Cultivator, she still had the strength to fight evenly with them!
Even Chu Tian did not have 100% confidence in fighting a 3rd Awakened Soul Layer Cultivator with his current strength. So Feng Caidie's current strength made her more than qualified to participate in the Great Games' final round!
This was a seed with great potential!
One after another!
Feng Caidie released all kinds of cultivation techniques, continuing to shock everyone. As for the members of Feng Caidie's team, they did not have the chance to make a move at all!
Finally they had reached the final fight of the selection round.
Now there were only four teams left. They would be split once more and those that won would pass the selection round. The final two groups that won would be considered a part of the official competition.
"Feng Caidie's team versus Qi Ba's team!"
The crowd erupted with cheers!
Feng Caidie's strength had already been established without any doubt.
But Qi Ba's team was not a very common team. Not only were they all at the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer, they all had profound cultivation techniques and extreme fighting experience!
This was a showdown people could anticipate!
However, Qi Ba's team all had ugly expressions on their faces.
This was because even if they worked together, they did not have the confidence to fight against Feng Caidie by herself. Moreover, there was still Lin Mu and Fang Han on Feng Caidie's team. They were both promising young mercenaries so they had little confidence in being able to win this fight.
Qi Ba spoke with a solemn expression, "We only have one way of winning and that is hoping they send a person out alone again. If the six of us can defeat Feng Caidie, we won't need to worry about the others!"
"That's right!"
"That's the method!"
With the momentum Feng Caidie had built, it was very likely she would be fighting the final match alone as well. If the six of them worked together against her, they might stand a chance.
While the six of them were thinking of a good countermeasure.
"It's been tough on you." Chu Tian took out the Netherworld Sword and walked past Feng Caidie, going towards the stage, "Let me do some work this time instead!"
Feng Qingyun gave a cold snort and spoke with a taunting expression on his face, "Aren't you trash at the 1st Awakened Soul Layer? Wanting to fight six people at the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer, are you prepared to disgrace yourself?"
A trace of worry flashed in Feng Caidie's eyes, "Lu Run, I know you're not weak. But they're all at the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer, even I don't have the assurance to win against them, you..."
Feng Caidie knew that this Lu Ren was incredibly strong.
When they were in the ten thousand corpse ancient tomb, how many ruthless characters had fallen at his hands? But when they were still in the ancient tomb, they had all been affected by the sealing array.
Chu Tian was only a 9th Body Refinement Cultivator at the time!
How long had passed since then?
Chu Tian had broken through to the Awakened Soul Realm and should have only just broken through. Without any kind of sealing array, could he even fight against six people all at the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer?
It wasn't that Feng Caidie did not believe in his abilities, it was because this was too impossible to imagine!
Feng Qingyun coldly said, "It doesn't seem like you can do it, let me go instead!"
Chu Tian completely ignored Feng Qingyun and said to Feng Caidie, "Relax! It's fine!"
After he finished speaking, he ignored Feng Qingyun's gloomy face and walked up with large steps.
Qi Ba revealed a stunned expression, "Why is it waste like you?!"
Another person smiled and said, "This brat was rejected by our team and somehow had the luck to grab onto young miss Feng Caidie's leg. It's actually him coming to play in the final round!"
"I'll urge you to stop asking for trouble! Scram! Let young miss Feng come up!"
Another member of the team probingly said, "Is it because young miss Feng is too scared and now is sending out waste like you to probe us?"
Chu Tian shook his head and said, "One slash per person!"
Qi Ba was stunned, "What did you say?"
Chu Tian did not bother explaining. He slowly raised his sword and all that was seen was blue and white flames appearing on the sword edge.
"This brat actually has some skills!"
"Go! Take care of him!"
As the six of them were prepared to make a move.
Sou!
The Netherworld Sword released a giant flame and that suddenly enveloped Chu Tian's body. When the flames had dispersed, Chu Tian had also disappeared.
"Where is he?"
"Why is he gone!"
The six of them did not even have time to be shocked!
Shua!
A flaming sword glow slashed out at them!
"Ah!"
The most forward person had their weapons and armour melted and the spirit energy protecting their body was ripped apart like paper. The Netherworld Ghost Flame stuck to his body and he screamed out in fear as he rolled on the ground to extinguish the flame.
The Netherworld Flame was not a normal flame, how could it be extinguished by rolling on the ground? The more he struggled, the brighter the flame burned.
They only saw the sword glow.
They did not see him!
This was an assassination class cultivation technique!
Qi Ba never would have imagined that this normal looking youth would actually be able to grasp this kind of cultivation technique.
Assassination cultivation technique were strange and unpredictable, they were much harder to cultivate than one could imagine.
Properly speaking.
Assassination cultivation techniques did not last long and what was shocking was that after that youth had released a slash, he still had not showed himself yet.
Shua!
In less than a second!
A burning sword glow appeared from behind the team and another member was hit. His armour and weapons melted and the Netherworld Flame ignited his body protecting spirit energy, turning him into half man half fire.
Too fast!
They didn't even have time to think.
Shua, shua, shua, shua!
They just heard the sound appearing from nowhere!
Qi Ba did not even see the young man's shadow before a streak of strong sword glow shattered the weapon in his hand and his armour was sliced apart.
Obviously.
The young man had shown mercy.
If he wanted to kill them, they would have died ten times already!
When he had easily crushed the six people's ability to resist, Chu Tian calmly walked out holding the long sword, "Do you still want to fight?"
"We...We admit defeat!"
They never would have imagined this even in their dreams!
This young man had this kind of strength!
They were truly blind back then. If they had recruited this person into their team, even if they met Feng Caidie's team, they would have had a large chance of winning!
Regret! Helplessness! Shame!
Qi Ba and the others truly wished they could crawl into a hole. They looked at the normal looking young man with a whole new respect.
The six of them had insulted him and the young man did not kill them, this was not the mindset a normal person would have!
"Many thanks for showing mercy! We wholeheartedly submit!"
"We apologize for our foolish behaviour towards you!"
Qi Ba's group let out a sigh and left the stage.
How could they have known that it was because Chu Tian disdained arguing with them, that was too priceless.
The battle had only lasted ten seconds and the crowd could not understand what had just happened.
Feng Caidie's heart filled with shock!
When Chu Tian was still in the 9th Body Refinement Layer, he could already fight a 1st Awakened Soul Layer Cultivator with tyrannical defense technique and source spirit. Now it seemed like he was even stronger than before!
He had not used his full power in this fight.
Chu Tian did not use his sword spirit that was not weaker than god level source spirits and he did not even display his incredibly strong defensive technique. It could be said that he didn't even display 50% of his strength in this fight.
With this kind of strange and unpredictable sword technique, the strong defensive technique, and the amplification from his source spirit, even a 3rd Layer Awakened Soul Cultivator would not be his match!
He really did not let them down!
When Feng Qingyun saw Chu Tian reveal his strange techniques, his eyebrows raised a little, but he quickly returned to normal, "What's the use of having a little skill? You won't be able to enter the finals with just this bit of strength. Do you think that random pieces of trash will be able to qualify for the Central State Trial?"
He intentionally said it in a loud voice so Chu Tian could hear him.
Chu Tian's brows knit together.
Chu Tian did not care what kind of grudge this fellow had with Feng Caidie, it didn't involve him. If he had a grudge, every grudge had its cause, so what skill did he have to take his anger out on outsiders? Chu Tian had been ignoring him on account of Feng Caidie, but if he keeps provoking him like this, he was not putting father in his eyes at all!
Chapter 151: Breakthrough
Chu Tian displayed a calm expression on his face, but a cold glow shined in the depths of his pupils, "You seem very confident in your own strength."
"I don't dare to say that, but it's more than enough to take care of you." Feng Qingyun gave him no face and continued to provoke him, "Are you not convinced? I'll give you a chance to challenge me and I'll give you ten free moves, how about that?!"
With this kind of provocation?
Would Chu Tian still keep ignoring him?
Feng Caidie could see that the situation was bad and quickly walked in between the two of them, "Qingyun! That's enough! If you're not satisfied, then come find me. There is no need for you to be rude to my friends!"
"How could I dare! You have your father, the Divine Wind Marquis!" Feng Qingyun spoke in a strange sinister voice and then he looked at Chu Tian again, "A piece of waste that needs to be protected by women, it's fine if you don't make a move!"
After speaking in this high and mighty manner, he walked past Chu Tian.
Feng Caidie looked at Chu Tian with an apologetic face and said, "Brother Lu, don't mind him. Qingyun has been practicing outside of the family for many years and has only recently returned to Central State City. It's said that he had quite a big harvest, so it would be best not to fight with him."
Chu Tian did not give face to even Chu Xinghe.
What did this little brat count for?
However, Chu Tian said in a curious voice, "The relationship between you cousins is not good."
Feng Caidie revealed a helpless expression, "I have indeed wronged him."
"Oh?" Chu Tian was a little interested, "What happened?"
"You know that I have an inborn blocked meridian and therefore have no training value. Because of my father, the family still put the best resources into my body, wasting all those precious treasures with no effects at all. If it weren't for me, those resources would have gone to Qingyun and with his talent, he would not be inferior to the Four Young Masters!"
"Only because of this, he's this upset with you? I think there's more to it!"
Chu Tian laughed.
"You no longer have an inborn blocked meridian and your talent will not lose to his, with all that spiritual energy being stored in your body over the years, your growth has speed up by leaps and bounds! He has a bad look right now and that is jealousy and fear! This person is too narrow minded, he will not be able to accomplish great things. You do not have to feel guilty, it is not your fault."
Feng Caidie's elegant face turned a little red, "It is all thanks you to. My father wishes to meet you in secret."
"Since Marquis Feng has invited me, I will go when I have the opportunity!"
Who was Feng Caidie's father?
This answer was pretty clear already.
Feng Caidie was the Divine Wind Marquis Feng Yuntian's daughter.
Chu Tian had wondered before why the Divine Wind Marquis helped him. Even if he had driven off Ye Wudao with Ye Tianlang, South Sky City would not have had peace afterwards.
Feng Yuntian had suddenly appeared to settle the matter and had forbidden the Chu, Luo, and Ye Families from entering South Sky City, giving Chu Tian a period of peace.
This fellow was quite a character, he had to see him if he had the chance!
If that fellow Feng Qingyun knew that it was Chu Tian that had cured Feng Caidie, he would have hated him to his bones and would want to skin Chu Tian alive!
But then again.
Feng Qingyun really was not weak!
He would not be weaker than Feng Caidie!
Even after seeing the Netherworld Flickering Flames strange speed and power, Feng Qingyun was still arrogant enough to allow Chu Tian ten moves, which meant that he truly was not simple.
Even if Chu Tian hid himself, it was not certain he would win.
But he was still in the Void Soul Realm, so how strong could he be?
After the selection round ended, only two teams remained.
One group was naturally Chu Tian's team.
The other team's strength was not bad. In name they were rogue cultivators, but they were actually retainers for large families. Or they were simply young talents from large families. Because they had great talent since they were young or because their families considered them important, they weren't studying at the Central State Academy.
Didn't they say they were picking people not from Central State Academy?
Regardless of their age or status, they met all the requirements!
Tomorrow would be the real competition.
Chu Tian needed to make some preparations.
When Chu Tian came back, he immediately closed his doors.
In the center of the closed room was a giant boulder. It was as black as ink and it seemed like it was made of volcanic glass with a beating green flame sealed within.
Elemental Source Stone!
Yun Yao had followed Chu Tian's instructions and secretly placed it here after she bought it.
When arriving in front of the Elemental Source Stone, the Netherworld Sword couldn't help trembling. The sword spirit could feel the energy contained within and longed to obtain it!
"Don't be anxious! This is for you!"
The ice cold dark blue sword blade was stabbed into the Elemental Source Stone and the tip touched the dark flame in the center. The giant boulder immediately began to fiercely tremble.
On ice crystal blade's edge, a massive web of runes suddenly appeared. The Netherworld Flame was controlled by Chu Tian and began to spew out, completely enveloping the blade in flames.
Pure!
Deep!
The energy spilled out of the Netherworld Sword like a river, continuously nourishing the sword blade, making the Netherworld Flame grow stronger. With this trend, the Netherworld Flame was going to be at least several times stronger.
What Chu Tian didn't expect was.
There was a pure spiritual energy flowing into his body from the sword hilt, spreading out through his meridians!
Perhaps this Elemental Source Stone came from a high level elemental spirit and that was why the energy was so strong. Once the dark and flame essence had been absorbed by the Netherworld Sword, the remaining spiritual energy was useless to the sword and so it was sent into Chu Tian's body.
The man raised the sword and the sword raised the man to raise the sword again.
Chu Tian practiced his sword art to increase the might of the Netherworld Sword. As the Netherworld Sword became stronger, it would also feed Chu Tian and raise his strength.
This was something even Chu Tian did not think of.
Because the Elemental Source Stone contained life spiritual energy, its body combined this spiritual energy with its source, making it impossible to extract. However, the Netherworld Sword could take it out.
This is great!
Chu Tian definitely would not let this good opportunity go. He immediately sat down cross legged and both his hands grabbed the sword. He opened all the meridians in his body and began to allow the spiritual energy to pour into his body as he refined it.
This was a large amount of life spiritual energy.
It completely exceeded Chu Tian's imagination!
Chu Tian felt the spirit energy inside his body increasing, finally reaching a critical point where he was just a step away. How could Chu Tian let go of this rare opportunity?
In a single push!
He would force open his veins!
Endless spirit energy began to condense in his dantian!
Chu Tian released an intense glow from his body and invisible waves of spirit energy were released. The entire room began to tremble as cracks began to appear on the wall.
"What is happening?"
"Such a strong aura!"
Yun Yao had been standing guard outside the whole time. When she felt the aura coming from inside the room, she immediately knew that Chu Tian was having a breakthrough.
When Yun Yao and Chu Tian met for the first time, he was still a normal 9th Body Refinement Layer Cultivator.
How could he reach the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer in this short period of time?
This speed was truly too fast!
What made Yun Yao terrified was that while Chu Tian was breaking through to the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer, the aura and pressure she felt was not something that a Void Soul Cultivator should have had. His battle strength would increase accordingly to his cultivation base!
In the Void Soul Realm, it would hard for him to find an opponent right now!
After around half an hour, the room finally calmed down!.
Chu Tian let out a long sigh and pulled out his sword from the Elemental Stone. The stone that looked like jade had now turned into a normal stone and the fire in the center had been extinguished.
The Netherworld Sword released an even colder aura.
This sword had been stuck in the ancient tomb for countless years and the sword spirit had mostly dried up. Chu Tian had used the new Netherworld Flame to create a new sword spirit, but it was still weak and had no way to display the might of a true Soul Contracting Spirit Weapon.
This time, the sword spirit had been completely nourished. Although it still couldn't compare to the power it had at its peak, compared to before, the sword's power had been increased by quite a bit.
The most important thing was.
Chu Tian's Netherworld Flame Sword had been increased by quite a bit, going from the Small Success Realm to the Obscure Realm. As for its might, it could not even compare.
Yun Yao watched him walk out, "There won't be many people that will be your opponent in the Great Games. You definitely have a chance of winning the championship."
"Being the champion is not enough!"
Chu Tian gave a mysterious smile and swaggered off.
Isn't he being too arrogant? He was basically saying that the championship would be easy to obtain. Although he was already in the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer, it was not certain that he would become the champion. There were quite a few strong enemies in the Great Games!
...…
The next morning.
The Central State Tourney had officially begun!
The Great Games had attracted the attention of many Central State large families and the common folk regarded it as a fun event. The Great Games had not started yet, but various gambling dens had opened up and the entire city began to bet on the tournament's champion.
Chu Wufeng!
Judging by the data of the major gambling halls, he was the person with the highest chance of winning!
Chu Wufeng was Chu Xinghe's little brother and was only five years younger. Other than the famous Chu Xinghe, he had the greatest talent in the Chu Family's third generation.
Chu Wufeng had just turned twenty one and had held first place on the Azure Dragon Courtyard's Rankings for two years now.
Out of the Central State Academy Four Courtyards, the Azure Dragon Courtyard was the strongest, so Chu Wufeng could be considered number one in Central State Academy.
There were people that said that Chu Wufeng's greatest regret was being in the same generation at Chu Xinghe.
This view was quite reasonable.
If the Chu Family did not have someone like Chu Xinghe, then they would have invested all of their resources on Chu Wufeng. He would have been the head of the Chu Family's third generation and would have been a part of the Four Young Masters!
The heavens have truly blessed the Chu Family!
It would have been fine if they just had a shocking talent like Chu Xinghe!
Now there was also a high level talent like Chu Wufeng! It really made the other three great families envious!
Of course.
Everyone chose to ignore a certain person.
That was the strange young man of South Sky City who was also surnamed Chu.
Perhaps it was because the Chu Family had too many talents in one generation, so it did not matter if there was one more or one less.
Up to this point, the Chu Family had always regarded him as waste and never thought of bringing him back into the family. Instead they wanted to kill him as fast as possible. This caused a quarrel between Chu Tian and the Chu Family which had now reached the point of fire and water not mixing together.
Other than Chu Wufeng.
Ye Hen and Luo Jinshi were also top contenders for the championship.
Ye Hen and Luo Jinshi were not any worse than Chu Wufeng. One was the head of the White Tiger Courtyard and the other was the head of the Black Tortoise Courtyard. They were the greatest rivals for Chu Wufeng in the Central State Academy, constantly fighting one another with wins and losses. Although Chu Wufeng was slightly stronger, it was not a guarantee that he would win.
If everything went as expected, the champion would be amongst the three of them.
However.
This year's competition was very abnormal.
Because there were too many extra factors added in.
It's said that the low key Vermillion Bird Courtyard's first place was a super talent that had just entered the academy a month ago and this person had a source spirit that could be considered rare in Central State City. In terms of source spirit strength, it was even stronger than the Four Young Masters and could be considered God Level.
There was also the Yun Family's young master that everyone had underestimated. He had suddenly erupted forth right before the competition and now it was hard to predict just how strong he was.
Outside of the Central State Academy, there were also two groups of outsiders in the competition this time.
One of the teams had the splendor of the Divine Wing Marquis' only daughter Feng Caidie. This was a dark horse character that filled many people with anticipation.
There were many experts in the Great Games this time.
To earn the precious chance to enter the trials, everyone would fight with all their effort. It would be hard to predict the final result.
Chapter 152: The first fight
At the Central State Tournament location, there were vast crowds of people surrounding the arena. They were all excited, perfectly showing off the prosperity of Central State City.
Six large stages were built from strong hardwood, each one being separated by several feet. It seemed to be arranged in a hexagram pattern. There were six different stages at each of the six points as well as a giant central stage that was clearly going to be used for the final fight.
The stages were completely surrounded by people, with several distinguished guest areas set aside for the large families. Currently, those areas were still empty with no large families showing themselves yet.
There was a giant wooden board near the area with large fist sized golden words inscribed stating the rules and which stage each competitor was fighting on.
Chu Tian's group was split up between the six stages, so unless it was the final battle, they would not meet each other.
Feng Qingyun looked at the rules on the wooden board and gave a laughing snort as he said, "I hope your luck is good, or else you won't make the final fight."
Chu Tian thought otherwise, "My luck is always good."
The surrounding crowd became excited.
"The Chu Family is here!"
"It's the Chu Family's head Chu Shanhe and the Heavenly Sword Young Master Chu Xinghe!"
The Chu Family's lineup was not big, but it was very magnificent. The Chu Family swordsmen were all dressed in uniform and they seemed to all be elder level characters. Any one of these people could be considered an important person in Central State City.
There were around fifty Chu Family elders and Chu Family attendants following a hundred meter behind surrounding two beautiful sedans as they walked towards the distinguished guest viewing area.
"The Luo, Ye, and Yun Families."
"The other three great families are here!"
"Luo Family's Luo Liancheng and Dragon Tiger Young Master Luo Xianglong. The Ye Family's Ye Wudao and the Heavenly Wolf Young Master Ye Tianlang. The Yun Family's patriarch Yun Tianhe and the Purple Lightning Young Master Yun Yao."
"This truly is the grant summit held once every several years in Central State City. All the legendary characters of Central State City are gathering together like this."
The heads of the Four Great Families and their successors were all attending this grand summit!
"Central State's Grand General Xiong Wuji!"
A dark and strong general led several hundred elite guards in as everyone looked on with awe. The Xiong Family were a leading family in Central State, only being inferior to the Feng Family and the Four Great Families.
Chu Tian's eyes slightly lit up.
It's actually him?
It was the general Chu Tian had met back in the Black Wind Stronghold that had left a good impression on him. Although he knew that this person didn't have a low status, Chu Tian never would have thought that this person would be in charge of the Central State military.
Although his family's influence was weaker than that of the Four Great Families, in terms of his personal strength, this Grand General named Xiong Wuji was not weaker than the other family heads.
"The mayor is here!"
"The principal is here!
At this moment, drums began to beat as magnificent guards appeared.
A man wearing the blue mayor's robe floated through the sky and landed in the judge's seat. There was a scholarly middle aged man following behind the mayor. Their faces were very similar, making it clear they were blood brothers.
Central State City's Mayor Feng Yunlong!
Central State Academy's Principal Feng Yunhu!
These two were the backbone of the Central State City Feng Family!
One governed the Main City and the other governed Central State Academy!
With this, the large military and political families as well as the Four Great Families had all arrived!
The people standing on top of the Central State pyramid were here. Central State City attached a great importance to this meeting which could be clearly seen from this display.
This competition was related to the Central State Trial's quota!
The Central State Trial was something all the Central State youths all dreamed about participating in!
The Central State Trial meant great treasures, even including inheritances from ancient cultivators. Every time the Central State Trial opened, only ten people were allowed to enter!
The Four Great Families were seniors of Central State City, so each family already had a place.
The remaining six places were determined by the Central State Tournament. Even the Feng Family did not have a place, after all, even though the Feng Family had a high position, they did not have that many people. They had only been in Central State City for tens of years.
Dong, dong, dong!
The golden bells rang out!
The audience immediately turned silent.
Everyone understood that this grand summit was about to begin.
At this moment, strong winds filled the sky and an overwhelming aura suddenly appeared. A long laugh sounded from the sky and resounded throughout the Central State Tournament arena.
"This year's tournament is quite lively, so this marquis is here to join in!"
When they heard this voice, everyone was filled with shock!
The common folk all knelt down. The normal generals, officials, and small to middle sized family heads all half knelt down. The Four Great Families' heads and Four Young Masters all had to stand up to pay their respects.
"We greet the Divine Wind Marquis!"
"We greet the Divine Wind Marquis!"
The Divine Wind Marquis Feng Yuntian was wearing a simple blue robe and walking through the sky. Moving a hundred meters, he fell down in front of his two younger cousins sitting in the judges' seat.
"No need for formalities!"
"This marquis is only here to watch. However this tournament proceeds, it will still be the same! There's no need to change anything for me!"
Still the aristocrats all revealed an excited look. The Divine Wind Marquis did not have a position, but was the protector of the Central State County as well as one of the Southern Summer Eight Marquis!
With just the name Divine Wind Marquis.
It would represent a position higher than the mayor!
The Feng Family was a respected family in the Imperial City and had made many contributions in the Spirit Beast war. In the past, Feng Yuntian's entire branch had thrown themselves into the war and only a few people had returned. Feng Yuntian's military merits had earned him the title of Divine Wind Marquis and he had brought his family to Central State twelve years ago.
In that tragic war, most of the Feng Family's direct descendants had died.
Feng Yunhu and Feng Yunlong were younger cousins of Feng Yuntian, but strictly speaking, they were both from a branch family. However, Feng Yuntian did not care about power and not only did he raise their positions, he had even resigned as the head and made their branch the main branch.
When it was found that Feng Yuntian's daughter had an innate blocked meridian, the Feng Family knew that it would be a waste, but they did not hesitate to pour all kinds of precious resources into her.
The reason here was.
Feng Yuntian was originally the family's head.
He had contributed this much to the family and had given up his position, so how could the Feng Family mistreat his descendants? This was the least the Feng Family could do!
The Feng Family controlled the Central State area, but there weren't many people in their clan.
However, the Divine Wind Marquis' strength surpassed the Central State area and no one could go up against him, he could even moved unstopped across the Southern Summer Country. Only those old monsters in the Three Great Families could force back the Divine Wind Marquis.
So it didn't matter they only had a few members!
The Divine Wind Marquis' reputation was enough to protect them!
"Greetings elder cousin!"
"Please have a seat!"
The Central State City Mayor did not dare to act arrogantly in front of the Divine Wind Marquis. Feng Yuntian acted impolitely and sat down in the highest position, "Has it begun?"
"It'll begin now!" Feng Yunhu was the Central State Academy Principal, so he was the main judge today, "The Great Games will now begin!"
The golden bell rang out once again.
Over a hundred participants arrived at the arena.
"Arena number three, first round!"
"Lu Ren versus Chu Ming!"
Chu Tian was stunned for a few seconds. This can't be right? What a coincidence! He was fighting the first match.
His opponent was even surnamed Chu!
Chu Tian walked out.
Several large characters looked over at him.
Yun Tianhe stood up, "It's the little brat!"
Chu Xinghe also opened his eyes and his eyes that were as sharp as swords looked over, "It's him?"
Feng Yuntian of course was also paying attention to Chu Tian, looking over him a few times, "This camouflage technique is quite good, it's even hard for me to see through it. No wonder it could fool so many people."
Chu Ming was a retainer of the Chu Family.
The Chu Family was a little similar to the Yun Family. If the Yun Family was a scholarly family, then the Chu Family was a militaristic family. The Yun Family recruited all Central State scholars, whereas the Chu Family recruited warriors with talent across the Central State.
The Chu Family was much stronger than the Yun Family and could provide greater benefits.
Naturally there wouldn't be a free meal in this world. The Chu Family gave better benefits, but they had much stricter conditions. From the consecrates to the retainers, they all had to change their surname to Chu once they entered the Chu Family.
It was like this with Chu Tongwen and Chu Batian.
It was the same with the young Chu Ming.
Chu Ming was originally a very famous young talent and because the Chu Family liked him, they had spent a large amount to buy him over. He had practiced for ten years in the Chu Family and had been taught the top cultivation techniques the Chu Family owned, now he was a member of the Chu Family.
Chu Ming had not entered Central State Academy and out of the two teams of outsiders, Chu Ming had come from the other team.
The Chu Family members revealed a satisfied look.
An elder said, "Chu Ming's talent is rarely seen even in the Chu Family."
"That's right!" Another elder nodded, "He's only twenty years old and is already in the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer. He has already surpassed normal Chu Family elders and high level managers."
"What is most terrifying is that he has a superb sword art. There aren't many experts at the same level that can block Chu Ming's sword, even you and I might find it difficult."
"What nonsense. Our Chu Family's sword techniques are famous throughout the Southern Summer Country, how many people can block them?"
"This nameless rogue cultivator has lost for sure!"
The Chu Family members were filled with confidence.
Only Chu Xinghe slightly knit his brows together.
At this moment, Chu Ming pulled out a curved sword and coldly looked at Chu Tian, "Just give up now! I am a member of the Chu Family and a trivial rogue cultivator fighting the Chu Family is just seeking death!"
Chu Tian did not even draw his sword and crossed his arms in front of him, "You can even say these kinds of naive words? Not to mention a Chu Family slave like you, would I care if it was even a true member of the Chu Family? Stop wasting time and just make a move!"
Chu Family slave?
These words really hurt Chu Ming!
"You're seeking death! Then I will help you!"
Chu Ming gripped his curved sword and like stepping on a skateboard, his body did not move as he appeared in front of Chu Tian. The curved sword sent a cold glow right at his chest.
Too fast!
Chu Ming's body did not seem like it had moved, rather it seemed like it had teleported as a cold glow split through the air with intense momentum.
Chu Tian did not even blink as he watched the sword pierce forward.
Everyone shouted out in shock, "Why is he not dodging?"
When the sword glow was about to pierce him, Chu Ming suddenly disappeared!
The crowd suddenly realized!
Chu Ming practiced an assassination cultivation technique. On the surface it seemed like he was attacking, but it was only an illusion meant to confuse his opponents, making it hard for them to differentiate between what was real and what was fake.
If Chu Tian had made any attempts to dodge or resist, he would have revealed an opening which Chu Ming could take advantage of.
The instant the illusion disappeared.
Chu Tian felt a chill striking out at his throat.
Hyperfocus!
Chu Tian slightly moved his body and the cold sword passed by his neck, missing by the smallest amount.
Chu Ming's expression changed.
He quickly charged forward.
Once again disappearing with a blur.
Chu Tian revealed a cold taunting smile and spirit energy condensed in his left hand, gradually turning his two fingers a golden colour.
Diamond Cutting Pulse Finger!
He poked out in front of him.
Dang!
The two golden fingers caught the sword stabbing forward.
Pa!
Chu Tian used a little strength.
The blade broke immediately and the wild energy went out of control, forming an intense explosion. A transparent figure fell from the air and was forced back several steps.
It had been broken through!
This was the Chu Family's «Illusory Body Sword Art», how could it be broken!
Chu Ming stared at the broken sword in his hand and his face turned sinister with anger.
How could this be possible?
I am a talent taught by the Chu Family! I'm actually losing to a rogue cultivator!
"I don't believe I can't kill you!"
Chu Ming stimulated his spirit energy to release another attack, but he suddenly felt intense pain coming from his chest. He looked down to see a snow white broken sword blade inserted into his chest. Blood continued to spew out.
"No, no!"
Chu Ming panicked as he grabbed his chest. He walked forward a few steps and then fell to the ground.
"This is the Chu Family's sword technique?" Chu Tian walked up to Chu Ming's limp body and like playing with a ball, he kicked him out of the ring, "What a mess!"
Such an astonishing move!
There was no doubt this would cause a great stir!
The Chu Family's sword techniques were a mess?!
This was like a slap on those that were filled with pride with themselves, resounding out very clearly!
They were Central State strongest sword cultivating family, coming close to the strongest sword cultivating family in the Southern Summer Country, yet he called the Chu Family's sword technique a mess? He was clearly trying to ruin the Chu Family's reputation!
Chu Shanhe's eyes turned ice cold, "This child must die!"
Chapter 153: Luo Jinshi and Ye Hen
Chu Tian left the stage.
Xiang Hu was filled with frustration as he walked over with a depressed expression on his face.
He had been eliminated in the first round!
He had been a rogue cultivator the whole time and with some crazy luck, he had been accepted by Feng Yuntian as an honorary disciple, but he was still only an honorary disciple in name. With the Divine Wind Marquis' disposition, would he personally teach him? He just gave him a bunch of Elixirs and cultivation techniques and he allowed him to practice it alone. Normally he just did manual labour usually around the valley and was no different from a servant.
Now that there were participants at the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer and some even at the 3rd Awakened Soul Layer, it was not strange for someone like Xiang Hu who had been carried along by Feng Caidie to be eliminated in the first round.
Chu Tian wanted to comfort Xiang Hu with a few words, but before he could say anything, he suddenly heard some news.
"That mercenary named Lin Mu seemed to have run into some trouble."
"He's fighting Luo Jinshi in the first round!"
Chu Tian knit his brows.
Is that fellow's luck really that bad?
At this moment Lin Mu was standing on the second stage and his opponent was a very bulky man. Although he was only twenty years old, that wild beard on his face made him look like he was thirty.
The large man did not bring any weapons and was dressed simply. His two thick arms were exposed and there were red tattoos on them that made him look like a wild tribal warrior.
The Black Tortoise Ranking's first place, Luo Jinshi!
Other than the Luo Family's Dragon Tiger Young Master Luo Xianglong, this was the person with the greatest talent in the Luo Family!
Luo Jinshi's lion like majestic eyes stared at Lin Mu and his eyes filled with deep disdain, "Just a dirty mercenary, you're not worthy of fighting me! I urge you to focus on your job! Is the Central State Trial something trash like you can touch? Scram! Otherwise don't blame me for being impolite!"
Lin Mu was at the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer.
Luo Jinshi was already at the 3rd Awakened Soul Layer.
Luo Jinshi was one of the key successors worth training, so the amount of family distributed resources he received was quite great. It was impossible for this person to be a normal person, even cultivators at the same level would not necessarily be his opponent!
Lin Mu Yu calmly said, "The Ye Family are also mercenaries, so would this be an indirect insult talking about mercenaries like this?
With this one remark.
The Ye Family members' faces turned ugly.
"You..." Luo Jinshi's expression changed, "Your mouth is quite quick, but I hate people like you the most. Today I'll destroy your mouth, making it impossible for you to speak anymore!"
Lin Mu revealed a dignified expression, "I wish to ask the Luo Family to compare notes!
"Seeking death! Then I'll help you!"
Luo Jinshi's eyes burst open as his spirit energy quickly formed a giant golden lion. This giant lion had a large build and it was as if its body was crafted from gold. It released a powerful aura that shocked everyone.
Luo Jinshi!
He was just like his name!
His source spirit was a Golden Lion!
This was a very high level demon beast that could prey on mammoths and rip dragons apart. With a boundless might, it was incredibly strong. When the Golden Lion Source Spirit appeared, Luo Jinshi's strength and speed were increased by several times. With the Luo Family's close combat cultivation technique, he could be called a human crusher!
So strong!
He really deserves the being the first ranker for the Black Tortoise Courtyard!
Comparing this person's prestige with the Dragon Tiger Young Master, it was only a little bit less than his!
Lin Mu knew just how strong his opponent was, but this young mercenary still couldn't stop his blood from boiling. Luo Jinshi was strong, but he was not an unbeatable character like the Four Young Masters. Since he could stand on this stage, how could he not fight back?
"He!"
Lin Mu raised his hands up and a willow tree began to grow, instantly reaching over ten meters tall. The emerald light covered the area and the thousands of long willow leaves danced in the wind, just like a demon god's wild hair.
"Yi? A plant type source spirit!"
The four heads were all surprised.
This source spirit could be strong or weak, but they didn't know what this mercenary was like.
"Die!"
Luo Jinshi was like an out of control rhino as he charged forward.
"Wooden Thorn!"
Lin Mu slapped the ground.
Luo Jinshi could feel the spirit energy fluctuations coming from the ground and soon wooden logs shot up. He quickly dodged out of the way and with his extreme speed and detection abilities, Luo Jinshi easily dodged this attack.
At this moment.
"Lock!"
Lin Mu's hands came together and the countless demonic leaves shot out as quick as lightning as they surrounded Luo Jinshi's neck, arms, waist, and other parts of his body, suspending him in midair.
Everyone was shocked by this.
Lin Mu had used his source spirit to attack?
Void Soul Realm source spirits were still weak and could only provide support effects. Yet Lin Mu's source spirit was clearly not ordinary since it could attack directly!
The Luo Family's cultivation skills were close combat based, so if they were suspended in midair like this with no way of using force, they would lose their ability to fight.
Lin Mu gave a loud roar.
A black aura was released and his skin turned black. Everyone could see that this was a very powerful demonic art.
Lin Mu suddenly shot out.
Several willow leaves followed closely around him and simultaneously attacked Luo Jinshi suspended in the air.
Peng, peng, peng!
Those sharp spear like willow leaves continuous fell onto Luo Jinshi like raindrops. While Luo Jinshi was suffering this storm of attacks, Lin Mu concentrated his strength to the max and his right fist turned as black as ink as it punched at Luo Jinshi.
Luo Jinshi's protective spirit energy was already weakened.
If this fist could hit Luo Jinshi, it would be enough to cause heavy injuries to him!
"You only have this little bit of skill?"
Luo Jinshi's Golden Lion Source Spirit let out a roar and waves of spirit energy was sent forth, completely destroying all the willow leaves around him.
"You want to witness the Luo Family's cultivation technique? Then I'll let you see the strength of my Luo Family's «Lion Tiger Double Phase»!"
The claw in his left hand released a wind strike that turned into the figure of a lion's head. It ripped apart the willow leaves and Lin Mu's demonic art, leaving a giant injury on Lin Mu's body like he had been bitten by a giant lion.
"Die!"
Luo Jinshi released another fist out and spirit energy turned into a giant tiger jumping forward, falling down on Lin Mu in mid air and knocking him down to the ground. He heavily fell down into the center of the stage, creating a large hole in the ground.
Lin Mu's bones all went kacha during this process, breaking at least ten bones.
The spirit energy turned into a giant tiger roar.
Lin Mu suffered another heavy injury and the armour he wore was shattered to pieces as he was sent flying from the stage like a kite with its string cut.
Luo Jinshi did not show mercy at all, completely going all out!
A young mercenary with no background or strength, so it did not matter if he died. What was so great about him!
Who would have thought that before Lin Mu hit the ground, he would actually stand up and release his willow tree source spirit once again. Moreover, during this process, the shape of his legs suddenly began to change. Just like root piercing into the ground, digging deep into the soil, a green energy began to surround his body.
Ka, ka, ka, ka, ka!
Some of his broken bones began to heal!
His heavy injuries had been instantly half healed!
Then the Willow Tree Source Spirit slowly disappeared. Although he had suffered heavy injuries, they were still slowly being healed.
Feng Yun Tian was a little surprised seeing this, "This young man's source spirit's greatest use is its recovery ability."
The Willow Tree Source Spirit could absorb the injuries on Lin Mu's body.
This was truly rarely seen!
Yun Tianhe pondered for a few seconds before saying, "I'm afraid it's more than that. His body should have a special essence and he should have a special bloodline which should have come from the elves. This young man has quite the potential!"
Chu Tian could also see it.
Lin Mu's bloodline was a little special and he could temporarily change the essence of his body, which should be a power possessed by an ancient clan. He should be the descendant of an ancient clan and although his blood was diluted, becoming very thin, he still had a good potential.
Lin Mu did not have these kind of skills back at the Blackwind Stronghold.
This must have slowly awakened after the battle. This brat really had quite a bit of potential, it was no wonder he was able to have this kind of cultivation at his age even with no backers. He was someone worth winning over and cultivating.
Although Lin Mu still had the strength to fight, he had been knocked out of the stage and according to the rules, he had been eliminated.
Lin Mu was also very clear on how big of a gap there was between his current strength and Luo Jinshi's.
The first round ended this quickly.
Out of Chu Tian's group, Xiang Hu and Lin Mu had been eliminated. The others had all passed the first round.
In the second round, Chu Tian had met one of the top five rankers of the White Tiger Courtyard, but he was also in the 2nd Awakened Soul Layer. He did not need to pay any attention to this kind of person. Without even taking out his sword, he easily won the match.
"Fifth stage! Fang Han versus Ye Hen!"
When Chu Tian heard this news, he couldn't help worrying for these two mercenary brothers.
It was fine that Lin Mu had met the head of the Black Tortoise Courtyard Luo Jinshi.
But it seemed like Fang Han did not have any luck either, running into the head of the White Tiger Courtyard, Ye Hen this early on.
Ye Hen and Luo Jinshi shared the same title. In terms of strength, he should not be weaker than him at all.
Fang Han and Lin Mu were very similar. He had a rare ice attributed source spirit and practiced a very strong demonic art. He could even change his body into ice essence energy which was also an ancient bloodline.
Ye Hen's source spirit was also very strange.
From the beginning of the fight, he summoned an almost transparent demon wolf source spirit, only revealing a pair of eyes. Those eyes released grey ripples and anyone who stared at the demon wolf source spirit would feel their minds going blank like they had just been hypnotized.
"Illusory Pupil Demon Wolf!"
This was a very dangerous demon beast.
Although this demon beast's battle strength was not great, it could directly attack one's soul. It was unpredictable and virtually impossible to guard against. Ye Hen was a very talented individual with a rare spiritual attributed source spirit that could launch soul attacks.
Without a single shadow, killing without a trace!
One could not look directly into his eyes!
Fang Han knew how terrifying Ye Hen was and compared to him, he would rather fight Luo Jinshi. At least with Luo Jinshi, he could happily fight without care, but with Ye Hen, life and death could be decided in a single instant.
He released the Ice Giant Source Spirit!
A blurred ice mirror appeared and Fang Han used this mirror to track Ye Hen's figure. Since he couldn't look Ye Hen directly in the eyes, why not use a mirror to follow his movements?
Ye Hen did not have high battle strength. As long as he could not use his soul illusion technique, he had no way to fight.
It had to be said.
Lin Mu and Fang Han were both good. They were both clear headed and had a talent for fighting.
But they made the same mistake.
They underestimated their opponents.
"Monster Wolf Transformation! Enter my body!"
Ye Hen's demon wolf spirit dissipated into a shadow and fused with Ye Hen's body. Man and wolf as one, flesh and spirit combining together, this was the Ye Family's inherited cultivation technique, «Monster Wolf Transformation»!
This cultivation technique required one to have a wolf source spirit.
Back in South Sky City, Ye Tianlang had also used this technique to fuse with his wolf spirit.
After Ye Hen displayed his «Monster Wolf Transformation», his body began to turn transparent. Fang Han's ice mirror could no longer see his figure and Fang Han's face fell.
Several streaks of black claw lights shout out.
The ice mirror was shattered.
Ye Hen passed through the ice mirror and a pair of glowing eyes stared at Fang Han!
"This is bad!"
The instant Fang Han locked gazes with his enemy, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Ye Hen took the chance to punch Fang Han, shattering his ice armour. Fang Han had been seriously injured and fainted as he landed out of the stage.
"Fang Han!"
Lin Mu quickly went over to help him up.
Chu Tian also came over and helped him take his pulse. His brows knit together as he said, "There's no need to worry about the damage done to his body, but his soul has been quite heavily damaged."
"What is happening?"
"In the instant he locked gazes with Ye Hen, he had already fallen prey to his illusion technique. It seemed like a short period of time to us, but in the illusory world, an entire hour passed. That also means that Fang Han suffered at Ye Hen's hand for over an hour in his illusory world! If it weren't for his strong will, even if he did not die, he would have gone crazy."
"How ruthless!"
Ye Hen looked down at them from above. His lips curled into a ridiculing cold smile and then he turned to leave.
Ye Hen and Luo Jinshi!
One is a spiritual attack genius.
The other is a close combat genius!
Now only were they both in the 3rd Awakened Soul Layer, they had top level talents and cultivation techniques. They were both very powerful, not something a normal person could fight against.
Central State Academy also had a Chu Wuming. Although he had not shown his powers yet, it was said that he was a half step stronger than these two.
This competition was truly full of experts. It was hard to tell what the final outcome would be.