Chapter 81
As Long Hao Chen spoke, his left hand was holding his sword, and his right hand was about to take the bamboo cane in this young girl’s hand. The young girl was motionless, when suddenly, she felt a chill, coming from the bottom of her heart as Long Hao Chen was standing by her side, and she almost subconsciously let go of her bamboo cane.
“There’s no need.” The young girl’s voice was somewhat cold, but it was not the same coldness as the one exuded by Ye Hua. Ye Hua was only cold on the outside, while being warm inside, but Long Hao Chen felt that this girl was almost as cold as death itself. It seemed as if she wasn’t the slightest bit alive.
“Let me help you please, I will escort you home.” Long Hao Chen tried to make his voice as gentle as possible.
“I told you there’s no need.” The young girl coldly said, continuing to walk forward.
Long Hao Chen stood in place, looking at the figure of this young girl that became gradually more and more distant. He suddenly felt depressed from the bottom of his heart, without knowing whether it was because he didn’t give some help to this young girl, or for some other reason.
Slowly shaking his head, Long Hao Chen sighed from the bottom of his heart, as the ‘forget me not’ ring on his finger emitted a bluish glitter, storing his Radiant Shield and his Light Sword. He headed back to his hotel with large strides.
But at the moment he stored his weapon, the difficult girl in front of him suddenly stopped, and turned back.
“Hey.” The young girl called out with a calm voice, the previous coldness that used to fill her voice seemed to have weakened.
Long Hao Chen took the same direction as her; he was about to pass through her position, as he heard her call him out and instantly stopped his steps.
The young girl lifted up her right hand, pointing it at Long Hao Chen,
“Can you escort me for a little while please?”
Long Hao Chen was dazed by her sudden change of behaviour, as he instantly replied: “Yeah.” As he spoke, he lifted up his own left hand, holding the young girl’s little white hand.
This young girl’s hand was quite soft; this softness was quite similar to that of tofu soaked in water and her five slender fingers seemed as if they were sculpted from jade. Grasping her palm, he felt a mild and warm sensation. Long Hao Chen had never felt such a cozy feeling in the past.
On the other side, when the young girl held Long Hao Chen’s hand, her soft and tender fingers lightly rubbed the ‘forget-me-not’ ring in his hand.
Long Hao Chen’s face was quite red; he had indeed already reached the age of the first awakening of love. As he was holding the young girl’s soft hand, his heartbeat unconsciously accelerated.
The young girl was wearing her veil, so he couldn’t see the current expression on her face, but at the instant she touched his ‘forget-me-not’ ring, she tightly clenched her other hand, bracing her delicate body all of a sudden.
Because of this peculiar change in Long Hao Chen’s heart, his perception had declined. Unexpectedly, he didn’t even notice the subtle changes in this young girl’s mood.
“Where do you live?”Long Hao Chen restrained with difficulty his heart’s emotions, as he asked the young girl.
The young girl replied: “250 meters forward, then 125 meters after turning on the right and finally 66 meters after turning on the left, and we’ll have arrived.”
Long Hao Chen’s heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t because he was astonished by the fact this girl knew these distances so accurately, but because he felt really pitiful for her
Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on the girl’s hand, slowly advancing forward.
The two of them quietly advanced; their speed was slow, but without knowing why, Long Hao Chen felt really comfortable, deep inside. This was the first time he walked hand in hand with a girl; despite the fact that it was to help her, he had a kind of desire to keep walking while holding this hand forever.
The young girl’s attitude was quite cold, but she was calm, smoothly and steadily advancing, she simply blindly followed Long Hao Chen, as her purple-colored hair was being brushed by the wind, Long Hao Chen felt something akin to a gentle feeling from her.
“You, what’s your name?” The young girl suddenly asked.
“Eh?” Long Hao Chen was surprised, and slowly shifted his sight on this young girl’s face. Despite the fact that he knew that she was blind, he felt at this moment quite shy.
“My name is Long Hao Chen, and you?”
“I am Cai’er.” The young girl answered quietly; no one else than Long Hao Chen could hear her quiet voice.
“What a beautiful name. Cai’er, do you live in Holy City?”
Cai’er lightly shook her head, replying: “I live in a town in the east side of the Alliance. It is not here. This time, I came to handle a few matters.”
Long Hao Chen frowned slightly, remarking: “And the people from your family? How can they be at ease when you’re out on your own?”
Cai’er calmly answered: “I can take care of myself.”
Seeing her eyes that didn’t contain the slightest emotion, Long Hao Chen felt that his heart was choking. He was completely speechless.
“What’s up with you?” Cai’er didn’t hear Long Hao Chen’s voice for long, and turned to his direction, somewhat surprised.
Long Hao Chen calmly shook his head, “Nothing.” He blurted out these words, practically without thinking. He wanted to be considerate when speaking to her, but in the end, he could not control himself. He had neither this kind of ability nor this kind of qualification, and in addition, it was too bold for him. And deep inside, the sympathetic feelings he had for this lady who had lost her sight, Cai’er, had evolved.
Cai’er halted her steps, and Long Hao Chen, who was trying to suppress his inner feelings, stopped as well.
“What’s going on? ” Long Hao Chen looked at her. Cai’er said: “I arrived.”
Long Hao Chen was startled; he discovered that as he was accompanying Cai’er, she had become the one who took the lead.
“I am so sorry, I…” Long Hao Chen embarrassedly said.
Cai’er calmly shook her head, her hand slowly separating from his,
“Thank you.”
Long Hao Chen raised his head to take a look, this was a hotel as well, and it was very close to the one he resided in.
“I’ll take you inside.” Long Hao Chen said.
Cai’er frantically shook her head, “No need, I can go by myself.”
Long Hao Chen scratched his head, “Good bye. Be careful on the way.” He was fully aware that Cai’er couldn’t see, but he still waved his hand to her, before heading to the hotel, leaving her.
Cai’er didn’t return directly to the hotel. She calmly stood there, at the place where Long Hao Chen left her, and her lips secretly drew out an arc from behind her veil.
“It is really him. This idiot! Right! After so many years, how could he recognize me? And at that time, I had lost my basic ability to speak, although now, it’s my vision that is lost. Oh, Long Hao Chen, Long Hao Chen!” She had firmly kept this name in her mind before her hand was tightly grasped by Long Hao Chen. Making use of her blue-colored bamboo cane, she headed back to her hotel.
Long Hao Chen was back in his room, but the appearance of this young girl was deeply engraved in his mind. Even as he was seated crossed- legged, he didn’t manage to enter the meditative state at all.
“It appears that my choice to turn into a Guardian Knight was really right: in this world, a lot of people need protection.” Long Hao Chen sighed lightly before eating one of the pills Lin Xin gave him. Calming his mind, he slowly entered the meditative state.
Like that, the first day of the Demon Hunt Selection’s preliminary contest started. And when Long Hao Chen headed back to his hotel, even more competitors competed vigorously in regards to these preliminaries.
After the first day of the competition, half of the people had already left, eliminated from the competition.
In the Mage Temple’s stadium, Lin Xin was resting on a seat, looking at the ongoing competition. He wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, and seated there, he observed the surrounding competitors.
The place he chose was in the first row. There were two people beside him, a male and a female.
“You two, would you have interest in some pills?” Lin Xin smiled and turned towards the two, asking this question.
These two young mages looked at him with doubtful looks, showing cautious expressions…
Chapter 82
Lin Xin showed a faint smile, “Hey you two, nice to meet you, my name is Lin Xin. I come from Aimei City. The three of us are all at the fifth step, so let’s be good friends. Anyway, considering our strength, entering the top ten shouldn’t be a problem to any of us. Besides my outwards appearance of mage, I also happen to be an alchemist. Look, these are the pills I made.”
As he spoke, Lin Xin took out a crystal bottle from his bosom, and his astute eyes stared at them. He was inwardly thinking this: Big Brother has drugs, he’s without equal in the whole world!
Priest Temple Stadium.
“Ping.” The heavy magical staff in Sima Xian’s hand was completely overwhelming, ruthlessly smashing his opponent, as his [Sacred Hammer] directly smashed his opponent head on.
“I concede.”
His opponent was a youth whose face had already become pale, looking with disbelief at Sima Xian, “You, are you really a priest, or are you a warrior? Referee, this is unfair.”
Regardless of whether it was the people in the priests’ resting area, or the seniors in the platform of the stadium, everyone’s faces were filled with disbelief.
“If I don’t concede, I will be smashed to death.” The [Sacred Hammer]
was slightly sunken down.
“I, I concede…”
Sima Xian retrieved the staff in his hand, and layer upon layer of the ground let out a muffled explosion, as the referee’s face changed completely. Sima Xian touched his own bald head, without heading back to the rest area yet.
Warrior Temple Stadium.
Chen Chen stood there with an agonized face, he simply couldn’t believe what had just happened. Although he didn’t feel extremely confident in his own abilities and didn’t have much hope, after suffering such a crushing defeat in the first round, how could he feel at ease? More importantly, he lost against a Shield Warrior!
It wasn’t that he couldn’t break through the opponent’s defense, or couldn’t attack him, but he had already conceded after merely three moves.
The Shield Warrior Chen Chen was facing was a young girl. She was roughly 1.7 meters tall, her black hair was combed neatly in a ponytail, and she looked tall and thin. The space between her eyebrows made her look quite threatening.
If it was only in terms of outwards appearance, who would have thought that this slender girl would be a warrior? But beside her, her shield was 1.8 meters high, 1.2 meters wide, and looked just like a large tower shield. And it was her only weapon, a heavy shield that didn’t seem any lighter than 250 kg. Just a moment ago, as she faced Chen Chen, her arms moved freely and effortlessly, flying up and down without problem.
On the platform of the Warrior Temple Stadium, an elder that seemed full of power and grandeur remarked, completely dumbstruck, “Is this girl a Shield Warrior or a Berserker? Eh, no, she looks rather like an Axe Warrior, did you see, just now, her tower shield was employed just like a heavy axe. Who was actually able to raise such a little freak?”
The Demon Hunt Selection’s first day of preliminaries lasted until late night and had concluded. The last ones to finish weren’t actually the Warrior Temple that was the most populated, but instead the Mage Temple.
After the first round of knock-out-competition ended, each judge from the Great Temples were seated and discussing their observations, more precisely, the most freakish competitors were especially numerous this year. It was only the first day, but a great part of them were out of the ordinary.
Reportedly, on the side of the Spiritual Temple, to everyone’s surprise, there was a fourth step su
Only, the elite youths of the Six Great Temples didn’t have the mood to examine the information. Instead, each and every one of them simply headed back to their dwelling place to rest. The preliminaries were simply a knockout competition. More importantly, it was a continuous competition. No matter when your first match concluded on the first day, you would have to keep competing on the second day. It also tested the ability of the competitors to recover their energy.
Faint streams of golden air were rotating around, emitted by the three milky-white foot of the Spiritual Stove and were becoming gradually more and more bright.
Just like a tiny thread, the faint golden internal spiritual energy was unceasingly circulating and rotating around his bones, spreading around his whole body. It seemed as if a golden gloss had passed through his whole body.
Long Hao Chen had been cultivating for a full day since returning yesterday morning. In this cultivating state, he absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, replenishing his body, and decreasing his need for food. He had only eaten a bit in the evening of the previous day. Apart from this short time, he had spent all his time cultivating from morning to night.
Stirred up by the medicines, the growth speed of Long Hao Chen’s internal spiritual energy seemed completely stunning. After a single day, his internal spiritual energy had been increased by at least 20 levels. Going at
such a speed, he’d break through the fifth step in at most ten days. Of course, a bottleneck should appear right before the fifth step, and it would be hard to say how long it would take to break through it.
From his first cultivation to this moment, by relying on his physique of a Scion of Light, Long Hao Chen had never encountered a real bottleneck.
“Hao Chen, we should depart.” With knocking sounds on the door, Li Xin’s voice could be heard from outside.
The golden light vanished, together with the white light from his chest.
Long Hao Chen was awake from his cultivation state, “I am coming.”
Opening the door, Long Hao Chen looked at Li Xin, who was excitedly smiling.
“Sis, you won yesterday, right?” Long Hao Chen immediately guessed the reason of her excitement.
Li Xin nodded her head, “I won, and effortlessly. Only, I didn’t win as quickly as you. Lin Jia Lu also passed through this first round. Pity, though, Chen Si and Chen Chen were…”
Long Hao Chen was alarmed, “Eldest Brother Chen and Second Brother Chen both lost?”
Li Xin softly sighed, answering: “The competition within the Warrior Temple is more fierce and intense than ours. Almost all those who are capable of competing are fourth ranked powerhouses, so breaking through this obstacle is easier said than done. Let’s go, we should grab something to eat. Let’s try our best together during the second round of the competition that will take place today. Only thirty people will be left after this. Each round of competition will be even more challenging than the previous one. Lil’ bro, you can’t be careless. You must rush into the top ten. ”
After eating simple food, and joining up with Ye Hua, the group of three went once again to the Alliance’s Great Stadium.
Ye Hua gave Long Hao Chen a deep look, secretly nodding. This kid had been cultivating nonstop since he returned on the previous day, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to release such an imposing vital energy. He hoped that his luck today would be as good as that of the previous day so that he could have an early fight.
After passing through the competition of the first day, the number of knights competing was going to be once again reduced by a half. Although the number of people had decreased, the atmosphere had clearly become more tense. After the competition of the previous day, the young talents that were competing saw the cruelty of this competition, and all of them cautiously watched the other competitors, their potential future opponents. After all, no one could predict what the results of the lottery would be.
On the previous day, Long Hao Chen was the first one to appear on stage, and as a result, the participating knights were especially cautious against him. Long Hao Chen observed as well, but he only noticed a single person.
In the lounge, Long Hao Chen noticed this knight. It was a youth that seemed to be about 20 years old. This youth was quite tall: he was at least
1.9 meters tall, he had wide shoulders and a wide back, and short golden hair that stuck up like a long needle of steel. He had a handsome appearance and was extremely manly. His facial lines looked as sharp as a chisel.
He didn’t wear any armor, but instead, wore only a black outfit. Entering the lounge, he directly sat down on the central seat of the first row.
What a calm demeanor! Long Hao Chen was secretly in awe. This youth looked like he was only 20 years old, but he gave the impression that he was as steady as a mountain. In particular, his stoic look kept his state of mind hidden. Sitting perfectly straight, he didn’t move in the slightest. He stood there, completely immobile.
“Teacher, who is that person?” Long Hao Chen asked Ye Hua at his side in a low voice.
Chapter 83
Looking at that youth, Ye Hua also showed an impressed demeanor, “I don’t recognize him, but I am sure he’s at the fifth step. In accordance to the rules of the selection, only competitors at the fifth step can sit on the first row. This time, there are a total of four people at the fifth step from our Knight Temple. He should be among them, as he came to look at the fights, unlike the other three, even though fifth step fighters are exempt from the participating in the first two rounds. This person is frightening, you’d better pray not to meet him during the competition.”
Hearing his teacher’s words, Long Hao Chen’s look gradually changed, becoming as sharp as a knife. His look was previously gentle, and normally, this change would only occur when he held a weapon. But at this moment, his stubborn self had been aroused. Steadily and sharply, Long Hao Chen instantly became an unsheathed sharp sword.
“Teacher, I want to challenge him.”Long Hao Chen said in a low voice.
Ye Hua was startled. As he was thinking about what to say, this seated black clad youth seemingly noticed Long Hao Chen’s gaze, and slowly turned around. And at the moment he saw Long Hao Chen, his eyes immediately filled with astonishment. However, it wasn’t known whether he was astonished by Long Hao Chen’s age or his handsome appearance. Slowly raising up his head, a deep glance suddenly burst forth; his look was full of fighting spirit.
Long Hao Chen stood there without moving, but his eyes weren’t weakening the slightest bit. The two people’s gazes intersected, as if arousing sparks.
The corners of the black-clad youth’s mouth gradually drew an arc, and while facing Long Hao Chen, he moved his lips. He immediately turned back after this.
“What is he saying?”Li Xin asked, perplexed.
Long Hao Chen answered in a low voice, “He is saying that he is waiting for my challenge.”
Taking a deep breath, Long Hao Chen slowly sat down. In this instant, he only felt that his innermost being had been igniting, becoming as flaming as a fireball. Basically, after coming to Holy City, it was the first time his fighting spirit had been aroused so much. His mental capacity was innately different from ordinary people’s, making his perception exceptionally good. He could clearly feel that this black-clad youth was powerful, extremely powerful; he seemed even more formidable than Ye Hua. And as this pressure filled his heart, Long Hao Chen’s fighting spirit was becoming stronger and stronger.
At this time, the same vigorous voice as the previous day could be heard from the platform.
“After the first day of competition, only half of the competitors remain. In yesterday’s competition, some competitors didn’t lose in terms of fighting capabilities, but they lost to themselves. Be careful, if one is careless in the battlefield, he will not only lose, but will also be unable to move forward. Therefore, I hope that you will be able to learn from your defeats. No loser is pathetic, and only one person can be the winner. The competition of this second day will still be a knockout competition, as before. Start.”
An enormous golden ball appeared little by little atop the dome, instantly drawing everyone’s attention. Number changed very quickly as all the competitors became tense.
Quickly, two numbers appeared in the air. Immediately, two knights appeared on the battlefield, and the contest began anew.
Today, Long Hao Chen wasn’t as lucky as yesterday; after three draws in a row, neither his number nor Li Xin’s appeared.
Long Hao Chen stood there, motionless. An indiscernible light was twinkling in his body.
Seated not far way was Gui Wu who was di
Gui Ying coldly shot a glance at his son, “I am starting to pray that you don’t meet him, it would really be for the best.”
Gui Wu protested, “Papa, how can you be impressed by another, drowning your own son’s ambition. His strength is not bad, but he doesn’t have a mount after all, I am not as foolish as his opponent from yesterday.”
Gui Ying’s face became an ugly sight to behold, “Your talent is not bad, but you are too impatient. It is my fault, I pampered you too much when you were young. No one can be successful because of sheer luck. In such circumstances, even if I let you meditate, would you manage to do so? ”
Gui Wu became silent , and rightly so! This stadium’s atmosphere was quite enthusiastic, and full of pressure as well. How could he possibly calm his heart enough? However, this youth managed to do so.
Gui Ying was staring at Long Hao Chen’s arm. During the fight of the previous day, he clearly saw Long Hao Chen use [Power Storing] and [Divine Obstruction], two great secret skills. A Heritage Ring, this youngster definitely had some background. And considering Ye Hua’s cultivation level, he fundamentally couldn’t possess a Heritage Ring. A skill like [Divine Obstruction] was something Ye Hua himself couldn’t use.
In fact, from a young age, Long Hao Chen was capable of entering cultivation state like that, relying not only on his innate talent, but also on his great efforts and his willpower that were stronger than normal people’s. A single person’s innate talent wasn’t so frightful, but also a person who had innate talent and perseverance at the same time was.
Simply said, Long Hao Chen had followed his father’s instruction in regards to his cultivation for five years. He had never slept for real and all his time was devoted to cultivation instead. It could be said that during these five years, he basically never really rested. Regardless of whether it was his father’s requirements or the later requirements of Ye Hua, this Asura teacher, he fulfilled all of them. This hellish training trained his willpower to an astonishing level. His innate talent was being gradually coaxed out and made use of during this process.
“#98, #46, enter.” Accompanying this call, these words displayed in a gold-color, and the new match was about to be carried out.
Li Xin was shaken; standing straight, she took a deep breath, and started taking large strides, heading forward. Today, she appeared on stage earlier than Long Hao Chen
Upon hearing this number, Long Hao Chen who was standing at the same place, silently cultivating, slowly opened his eyes, ending his short meditation.
Li Xin’s opponent was a knight with a sturdy build. As soon as the competition, or more precisely the second day of the preliminary contest restarted, there was no one who judged the opponents by their external appearance. Despite the fact that he was facing a female knight, this sturdy competitor #46 was extremely cautious.
The referee immediately made a sound to start the match, and the two parties simultaneously summoned their mounts.
Rose Unicorn, no matter where she was summoned, would become the focal point. Not only because she’s a powerful magical beast, but also because she’s a bright and beautiful creature.
Under the red-colored Rose Unicorn, Li Xin’s beautiful face stood out even more. Leaping on her horse, her swords were inclined toward the ground on either side. A rich golden radiance of light was emitted from her holy internal spiritual energy, as the Rose Unicorn emitted a red radiance, rapidly fusing together with it.
“Mh?” Seeing Li Xin seated on her Rose Unicorn mount, Long Hao Chen let out a gasp of surprise.
Ye Hua gave Long Hao Chen a suspicious look, “What’s going on?” He saw the change in his disciple. His perception was particularly astonishing, he could notice little changes that ordinary people would never find out.
Long Hao Chen said in a low voice: “It looks like Big Sis’ Rose evolved.”
Ye Hua was startled, “You mean, sixth step?”
Long Hao Chen calmly nodded. He revealed an excited expression: the fact that Rose evolved to an early sixth step beast implied that Li Xin had better odds to break through the top ten.
Ye Hua looked pleasantly surprised as well. The day before, after Long Hao Chen left, he watched all the others matches, and although a lot of potentially very powerful mounts appeared, they were all young ones, there wasn’t a single magical beast that had broken through the sixth step. A sixth step magical beast was equivalent to a fifth step human powerhouse!
Chapter 84
Li Xin’s opponent was competitor #46. His face changed completely upon seeing the Rose Unicorn’s face that seemed to be emitting red sparks. His magical beast companion was an extremely imposing Austere Frost Bear. After maturing, the Austere Frost Bear would turn into a magical beast of the sixth step, and it wouldn’t be long before it became a full grown adult. It was roughly 1.5 meters tall and looked small and cute. Judging by its appearance, it was a beast that was approximately at the middle-rank of the fourth step. Cha, Li Xin let out a warcry, her hands holding her two swords, while the Rose Unicorn below her immediately charged like a red lightning bolt towards competitor #46.
#46, still shocked, took a large stride forward. The shield in his left hand was covered in the white glow of [Holy Filter Shield]. Sternly and calmly, #46 stood beside his Austere Frost Bear. With a smug look on its face, it released a blue light and immediately erected a little [Ice Wall] before him.
Li Xin was madly charging, her pair of swords lifted high in the sky, spreading gold-colored light all around. Looking at her current appearence, she was like a hero that had made many great accomplishments in his life.
#46’s complexion immediately became grim. The golden ray was rushing at him uninterruptedly as he relied on various Guardian Knight abilities to enhance himself. He clearly knew that when facing the Rose Unicorn, he had basically no way to win in terms of speed. If he couldn’t block Li Xin’s first attack, he would have no chance to win this fight.
Three thick ice spikes appeared from underground, trying to obstruct the assault of the Rose Unicorn. It was at this very moment that the vast difference in terms of abilities between the two magical beasts appeared.
Rose’s legs turned into a red blur, and facing the flurry of ice thorns appearing from the ground, she jumped above without the slightest hesitation. These ice thorns that jutted up from the ground were, without exception, melted by the red-hot flame attribute released by her body, and had absolutely no effect at all.
Right after #46 concentrated all of his power to try to block Li Xin’s next attack, Rose suddenly leaned in and swept to his flank.
“This…” Competitor #46 was completely flabbergasted, he didn’t understand what Li Xin was trying to do. However, this Austere Frost Bear of his was quite smart, and as its figure shone, it immediately avoided her, dodging to the other side while not letting Li Xin have the opportunity to attack.
Rose rushed from her originally distant location, and the red light on her body kept amplifying, gradually turning the spiritual energy released by Li Xin into a gold-red color.
From the lounge, Long Hao Chen revealed a faint smiling expression, before shutting his eyes once again, thinking to himself, Big Sis, you’ve become quite crafty! There’s no point in watching more of this match, I should resume meditating.
Joint spell.
Turning around and dashing out, Li Xin completed her joint spell with Rose. Before, she had relied on the same ‘mode’ to defeat the Dark-Green Dual-Bladed Demon. Without a doubt, this ‘mode’ of hers was her most powerful asset. Especially now that Rose had evolved, the power of the joint spell had increased by a wide margin.
Ye Hua’s face revealed a rare smile, When did this girl, Xin’er, become so crafty? Not only did she give herself the time to prepare this joint spell,
she also wasted the spiritual energy the opponent had spent on his all-out defense. At this point, there wasn’t any mystery for the outcome of this match.
As fast as lightning, the Rose Unicorn turned back and kept running.
Competitor #46 w
Launching out ten ice spikes, the Austere Frost Bear gave Li Xin’s companion a furious look, waving his bear paw.
It was too bad, these ice spikes didn’t have any effect. They vaporized and disappeared upon entering the range of the red-gold light emitted by Li Xin and her Rose Unicorn.
[Thorny Charge], [Instant Blast Cross Cut], [Lightning Thrust], [Light Thorn]…
Retribution Knights’ most tyrannical offensive abilities instantly broke out, continuously aimed at #46 one after another. Under the joint spell mode, Li Xin already possessed a cultivation level of the fifth step, so in addition to her dual attribute of light and fire, her offense was extremely overwhelming. Although in terms of raw power, this competitor #46 was stronger than Li Xin, he had no way to fight back at all.
A Retribution Knight had the advantage in this competition. Under her joint mode, Li Xin was even more dominant. She continuously broke the opponent’s defense, and when the pair of swords in her hands started to clash against the Austere Frost Bear and #46, Rose’s charge suddenly stopped.
Staring full of envy at the Rose Unicorn facing him, #46 helplessly said:
“I lost, but the one that outdid me was your mount, not you.”
Li Xin nodded at him, and taking back her two swords, she performed a knight salute before turning back.
This was the classic case in which the mount carried the fight. Regardless of whether it was in terms of speed, offensive power or defensive power, a
Rose Unicorn surpassed an Austere Frost Bear by far. Li Xin perfectly exploited Rose’s superiority to crush her opponent.
“#97, #99, next fight.” As Li Xin just left the stadium, upon hearing these two numbers, her heart skipped a beat, and she gave an astonished look to Long Hao Chen at the lounge.
Ye Hua displayed an ugly smile, coldly looking at the nearby Gui Ying. Gui Wu was close to Long Hao Chen and Li Xin when checking in, so without the slightest hesitation, the competitor #99 ought to be him!
Gui Ying looked at Ye Hua, as his eyes displayed a strong look, “No matter how, there’s no way for you to win in normal circumstances. Remember to use this ‘thing’ I gave you.”
“I will definitely win.” Gui Wu was somewhat sinisterly looking at Ye Hua and Long Hao Chen, who were not far from his position, but Long Hao Chen didn’t even glance at his direction.
Long Hao Chen and Ye Hua were looking at each other, with Long Hao lowering his head. He didn’t promise anything to his teacher, but let Ye Hua see the fighting spirit in his two eyes.
Summoning the Radiant Shield and the Light Blade from his ‘forget-me- not’ ring, Long Hao Chen headed out to the stadium with big strides, full of determination.
But Gui Wu was a bit faster than him, going into the stadium first.
Tightly pursuing his lips, he glared at Long Hao Chen.
“The match may now begin.” With the command of the referee, Long Hao Chen did the same as before as a sort of fog of light was circling around his body, [Storing Power].
Gui Wu coldly smiled while quickly summoning his Scarlet Shelled Earthworm. His left hand held a circular bright shield with red patterns on it, and his right hand grasped the lance he used that day against Sima Xian.
To break the skill [Storing Power], the best method was to immediately launch an attack, preventing the [Storing Power] from being completed. But Gui Wu came up with another choice. His mount, the Scarlet Shelled Earthworm ran to the place at the furthest distance possible from Long Hao Chen.
[Storing Power] was in reality a process that consisted of compressing spiritual energy. After compression, spiritual energy could bring out a formidable offensive power. Naturally, the consumption when compressing spiritual energy was as great as the amplification. The reason why this skill didn’t have much interest was because the spiritual energy after compression wasn’t very stable, so even if [Storing Power] was completed, a skill had to be used within three seconds, and if not, the previously compressed spiritual energy would be scattered quickly. Not only would his compressed spiritual energy be unusable, all the spiritual energy consumed by [Storing Power] would also go to waste.
The whole stadium was 200 meters long, and Gui Wu was retreating to the stadium’s edge, increasing the distance between Long Hao Chen and him to roughly 130 meters. Within three seconds, could he cover a distance of 130 meters? I will let you waste your [Storing Power], using up your spiritual energy for nothing, thought Gui Wu.
A cold sneer was faintly drawn on Gui Wu’s lips, who was standing behind, holding a circular shield in his left hand and the lance in his right hand. Slowly lifting them up, both the shield and the lance were taking and sending out a large quantity of golden light. The armor on his body also issued an intense bright luster. He just stood at that place, calmly waiting for his opponent.
In this kind of circumstance, Long Hao Chen’s apparent goal would be to immediately launch an attack using the compressed energy. However, what he actually did was against all expectations.
Chapter 85
Standing there, as deeply concentrated as in the last fight, Long Hao Chen calmly used [Storing Power], locking it onto the opponent.
Since the preliminaries had started, this was the most peaceful fight of the whole competition: both sides didn’t attack, but motionlessly confronted each other. The mood wasn’t softened either, because even if there was no confrontation, the referee didn’t intervene at all; [Storing Power] couldn’t persist forever after all. Once his spiritual energy was used up, this compressed energy would have to be used, and Long Hao Chen would be forced to launch an attack.
But as time passed, Gui Wu’s face became more and more anxious.
Long Hao Chen was storing power as before, and two entire minutes had passed. As everyone knew, the longer [Storing Power] was used, the more mighty it was, but the spiritual energy consumption would increase as well.
To counter this skill used by Long Hao Chen, Gui Ying gave his son a piece of advice, giving him a detailed breakdown of how [Storing Power] worked. Under the fifth step, each minute of [Storing Power] would consume 500 units of spiritual energy. Two minutes had already passed, so basically, Long Hao Chen had already compressed at least 1000 units of spiritual energy.
Is he insane? Don’t tell me he’s preparing an attack. But at such a distance, how is that possible?
Gui Wu’s heart was full of incomprehension, and he was extremely anxious. But, at this very moment, he couldn’t stop halfway 1. He had already lost his chance to interrupt Long Hao Chen’s [Storing Power]. 1000 units of spiritual energy stored! He could already launch an incredibly powerful attack, and all Gui Wu could do was to wait, as he didn’t dare approach Hao Chen.
Time slowly passed, as in a nightmare. Three minutes, already three minutes. It was not only Gui Wu, but each and every one of the competitors in the lounge had almost stopped breathing.
1500th spiritual energy level? That was already the level of a seventh ranked Grand knight, a power that no youth younger than 18 years-old could possibly have. More importantly, Long Hao Chen’s [Storing Power] was still ongoing!
When four minutes had passed, the whole lounge was already in an uproar. Gui Wu couldn’t help but glare at the referee, loudly saying, “It’s impossible, he cannot have possibly reached the fifth step…”
2000th spiritual energy level implied that he was an Earth Knight, but also implied a liquified spiritual energy. But the spiritual energy he had released up to now hadn’t shown any signs of liquefaction. Still, his [Storing Power] had already persisted for 4 whole minutes! It had far exceeded Gui Wu’s expectations. How could he know that the same skill, when relying on a physique of Scion of Light, was consuming a lot less of Long Hao Chen’s spiritual energy?
Gui Wu stood there, looking at the referee, shouting loudly that IT’S IMPOSSIBLE, as Long Hao Chen suddenly started to move.
His right feet loudly stepped on the ground as he rushed with all his strength, just like a golden arrow that was being launched at Gui Wu. The three seconds of [Storing Power] had started at this very moment.
Because he was in the middle of questioning his predicament, Gui Wu’s reaction was slightly delayed. Regardless of the difficulty, he had to resist
this attack. Resisting it was akin to winning, as Long Hao Chen’s spiritual energy was already wasted up to its limit.
A scarlet light shone from his shield, and a red light directly entered his Scarlet Shelled Earthworm’s body. In a split second, the Scarlet Shelled Earthworm roared as it looked up at the sky. His eyes were colored in a crimson red, and his whole body&rs
The shield Gui Wu held was equivalent to a piece of equipment at the Spiritual Tier, with a supplementary ability, [Blood Thirst]. Under the effects of [Blood Thirst], the Scarlet Shelled Earthworm’s attack, defense and speed were all instantly increased by ten percent for a whole minute.
Meanwhile, the lance in Gui Wu’s hand emitted a dazzling light. It was a Spiritual Weapon as well, with [Body Penetration] as its supplementary ability.
Immediately acting, Gui Wu instructed his Earthworm to go at the fastest speed possible. Charging at mad speed to the lateral side, he was doing his utmost to pull open the distance separating him from Long Hao Chen, to waste time. His sole goal was to make his skill [Storing Power] go to waste, to make this match’s victory inevitably belong to him.
In barely a second, Long Hao Chen had rushed 30 meters forward, and was currently only 100 meters far from Gui Wu. His right feet once again stepped energetically on the ground, and with the help of his compressed spiritual energy from the previous [Storing Power], he slightly changed direction, dashing towards Gui Wu even more rapidly.
35 meters, in the next second, he had actually covered 35 meters. The distance between Gui Wu and him had been reduced to 60 meters.
There were 60 meters left, and Gui Wu’s face was already exposing a victorious smile. To knights below the fifth step, the limit distance of attack was only 15 meters. In the last second, no matter what happened, Long Hao Chen could never cover 45 meters of distance and enter the attack range. In addition to that fact, Long Hao Chen wasn’t charging straight at him!
Peng, as Long Hao Chen’s left foot fell on the ground, a shallow hole appeared forcibly on the ground. Further accelerating, he covered a distance of 40 meters almost instantly.
In 3 steps, within 3 seconds, Long Haco Chen covered more than 100 meters. To a knight of the fourth step, this was a sprint exceeding all records.
But at this very moment, he still had 30 more meters to cover, as he was madly dashing towards Gui Wu.
3 seconds passed, and the spiritual energy that he stored should be scattering.
The word ‘stupid’ appeared in the thoughts of almost all spectators. Even a part of the honorable seniors seated at a location far away from the platform thought the same.
From their point of view, Long Hao Chen was going to be defeated without the slightest doubt. To choose such an offensive style, could it be that he was simply dumb?
From the first row of the lounge, the black clad youth that was looking face to face with Long Hao Chen earlier had a puzzled look, and on his resolute face, his brows were wrinkling, as he murmured, “What is he doing?”
Ping–
At this very moment, Long Hao Chen used his actions to answer those who were questioning him. Taking a fourth step, he didn’t even slow down one bit.
But, will this be of use? Every spectator wondered the same thing. [Storing Power]’s spiritual energy was already scattering, so what if he charged? It would only make him the sandbag for his opponent.
This time, Gui Wu didn’t run, the Scarlet Shelled Earthworm stopped moving and suddenly lifted its head. Its tyrannical body was welcoming Long Hao Chen’s strike. Two golden halos blossomed one after another on Gui Wu’s body, and both were amplification skills of Guardian Knights. The lance in his hand thrust towards Long Hao Chen like a lightning bolt, and his round shield was placed before his chest. The current him had his face blossoming with a victorious smile, as he looked disdainfully at Long Hao Chen.
And at the same time, Long Hao Chen who was rising in the air finally made his move. His sparkling Radiant Shield and his glittering Light Sword were heroically thrust forward.
An incomparably dazzling bright light shone upon the edge of the stadium, and a substantial golden blade edge made of light was launched. Gui Wu couldn’t believe what he saw, as his lance struck it.
[Light Thorn], the first long range skill learned by knights. But Long Hao Chen fully used the potential of [Light Thorn], to the extent that this attack obviously outstripped completely the realm of [Light Thorns].
The substantial bright blade edge even had the texture of real metal, and as it closed the distance, it seemed as imposing as if it could split the whole Earth open.
Hong—
The spear snapped in half, the shield was broken into pieces, the armor was destroyed and Gui Wu was sent flying…
It seemed as if Gui Wu’s body was hit head-on by a kind of enormous mad dragon, and together with his Scarlet Shelled Earthworm, he was sent flying. They smashed ruthlessly against the protective mantle of light located above the stadium, before bouncing onto the ground.
Gui Wu and the Scarlet Shelled Earthworm’s mouths simultaneously spit out blood.
Including the referee, among the spectators, few were those who could clearly see what happened at the instant when the [Light Thorn] collided against Gui Wu’s lance. At that moment, a little change occurred: the blade edge of light simply struck Gui Wu directly, on his side. But the lance didn’t stop it the slightest bit.
Pu Long Hao Chen steadily landed on the ground, as the substantial bright light scattered slowly around him, accordingly. Looking at his face, it seemed that he didn’t have the slightest change compared to his state at the beginning of the fight.
Notes:
Chapter 86
In the lounge, Li Xin, who was standing, and had watched him this entire time, resolutely clenched her fists and waved them, “He won, Hao Chen won! What a formidable strike!”
Ye Hua calmly told her, “Sit down.”
Li Xin stuck out her tongue, and hurriedly sat down, quietly asking Ye Hua, “Teacher, with such a high level of cultivation, it looks like Hao Chen won’t be in danger this time. Can it be that he might even have a chance against that guy?”
Ye Hua gave her a glance, seeing that Li Xin’s look was brimming with excitement, he replied, “If I am not guessing wrong, that guy should be concealing his strength right now. It is a tactic as well.” As he finished speaking, he slowly stood up, and looked at Gui Ying’s direction.
On the stadium, Gui Wu was still spitting out blood. Looking at his armor which had been completely broken, he lifelessly declared, “Impossible, this is absolutely impossible. How could [Storing Power] not have been scattered earlier? He’s at the fifth step, he’s definitely at the fifth step, he violated the rules of the competition!”
The referee looked at Gui Wu and then turned towards Long Hao Chen, Fifth step? Is he really at the fifth step? Such a young child?
At this very moment, a vigorous voice echoed on the platform, “This match has settled with the victory of competitor #97. Test his spiritual energy; if it is really at the fifth step, we will have him forfeit.”
“Yes.” The referee respectfully saluted him before making some gestures to instruct Long Hao Chen to come. Long Hao Chen nodded and followed the referee who moved place. Gui Wu and his Scarlet Shelled Earthworm were naturally carried by staff members out of there.
In the lounge.
Gui Ying was sitting at the same place, his face was blue one minute and red the next minute as he looked straight at Ye Hua. At this very moment, he was filled with agonizing pain. Each step Ye Hua took was akin to his feet violently trampling on his heart.
This place was filled with so many new talents, especially among young knights. From afar, he could clearly see that scene. But the one who lost was his own son. The bet, the bet…
Ye Hua unhurriedly approached Gui Ying, directing his ice-cold look at him, “The bet, you lost it.”
Gui Ying ferociously clenched his teeth, standing upright and unafraid, “Come.” As a knight, he could lose a bet, but he could absolutely not show dishonest behaviour.
Seeing the peaked ugly face he currently showed, Ye Hua loudly sighed, and spat out these words, “A master for a day is a father for a life, once back, let’s see him, I still have things to ask him. Leave first.”
“You…” Gui Ying looked at Ye Hua, completely with a blank face. He didn’t slap him at the face, accordingly to the bet.
Ye Hua indifferently told him: “You should thank Hao Chen, I was actually influenced by his good nature. Your son’s injuries are not light.”
Gui Ying clenched his teeth and gave Ye Hua a perturbed look, with his five senses in complete disarray. With his foot heavily stamping on the ground, Ye Hua turned around.
Turning around as well, Gui Ying headed to the location of the wounded Gui Wu, with a thought filling his mind: “Teacher, in those days, you were in the wrong…”
A short time after this match ended, a firm voice could be heard, coming from the platform, “In the match between competitors #97 and #99, competitor #97 has emerged the victor!”
An instruction was given without explanation. The order was to keep Long Hao Chen’s cultivation records secret, and to let all competitors know
On the platform, an elderly man was seated upright. He smiled with a pondering face and said: “He comes from Hao Yue City, has an Inheritance Ring, his spiritual energy is at the 1803rd level. A ninth ranked Grand Knight who’s only 14 years-old. It looks like another astonishing genius showed up in our Knight Temple. Pass this order, any information regarding #97 is to be sealed off. No information of him should ever be leaked out. In particular, his age. Eh, no, alter directly the information we have on him. Declare his age to be 18 years-old, and notify Hao Yue Hall to bring representatives on my orders. ”
“Yes.” People in the rear naturally carried out his orders.
“As long as this child can smoothly mature, our Knight Temple’s place among the Six Great Temples will definitely remain stable for the next century. What I am curious about is how high the innate internal spiritual energy of this kid is. And from whom he got his Inheritance Ring.”
Another elder seated beside him showed a smile and said: “What a rare thing to see, this Saint Knight acting out of fondness. Can it be that you want to personally raise this child?”
The elder that was called the ‘Saint Knight’ shook his head, still smiling, and replied, “Demon Hunts are a better training than any kind of teachings. I wish for him to be capable to enter the top ten this time, to set earlier on his journey in the world of the Demon Hunts.”
Long Hao Chen went back to his lounge, silently looking at Ye Hua who was sitting at his side He once again became the focal point of the lounge. But he didn’t pay attention to anyone’s look. He just sat, contemplating with his head lowered.
His fight with Gui Wu seemed quite thrilling, but what only Long Hao Chen knew was that nothing was left to luck; he had calculated everything beforehand.
Gui Wu lost mainly because he relied too much on his father’s information about the skill [Storing Power]. Long Hao Chen possessed the physique of a Scion of Light, so any ability would show some slight changes when used by him. These changes include changes in power, a lower spiritual energy consumption, and a longer duration.
After he used [Storing Power], the duration of the amplification was not three seconds, but four seconds. This difference of one second is what fated Gui Wu to this tragedy. This [Light Thorn] was the formidable result of more than 1500 units of spiritual energy belonging to Long Hao Chen compressed in it. And these 1500 units of spiritual compressed were equivalent to more than 2000 units of the spiritual energy belonging to an ordinary knight, contained in a single attack.
There was no need to mention the fact that Gui Wu relied on two pieces of Spiritual Tier Equipment: even a regular Earth Knight would not necessarily be able to resist this attack.
[Storing Power] was a skill that ‘has little interest’, but if enough time was given to accumulate the energy, the effects of this skill would become extremely frightening. A formidable skill using the equivalent of 2000 units of compressed spiritual energy! It could be said that the previous strike of Long Hao Chen could match the power of the attacks of a Radiant Knight. The only difference was his spiritual energy was in a gaseous state instead of a liquid state.
If not for Long Hao Chen holding back upon releasing his attack at the last moment, there would probably not be much left of Gui Wu.
This was the first time Long Hao Chen had used [Storing Power] to such an extent. Consequently, he was contemplating deeply, pondering over the positive and negative effects of using the strategy of [Storing Power]. During the time his spiritual energy was being compressed, he could clearly feel that his spiritual energy was undergoing qualitative changes. In particular, in the area surrounding his Saint Spiritual Stove, the rotation speed suddenly plummeted, and he could see that the golden gloss that was emitted all around weakened by a huge margin.
Spiritual energy liquefaction. Long Hao Chen clearly felt that this process was taking place in him. For a powerhouse, regardless of his rank, during the time of breaking through, a moment of insight was extremely important. At present, Long Hao Chen grabbed this opportunity and was seated, completely motionless, reflecting on his past experience.
Ye Hua sat by Long Hao Chen’s side, and didn’t ask him anything from beginning to end, and went as far as to prevent Li Xin from speaking to him. To this disciple of his, Ye Hua was full of envy. He had definitely gained some benefits from the previous fight.
“Teacher, I am going back to proceed with my cultivation.”, Long Hao Chen whispered at Ye Hua’s ear.
Ye Hua nodded while looking at him, proudly patting his shoulder.
Long Hao Chen still had the wonderful feeling that came with the insight he had a moment ago; he went as far as to forget to greet Li Xin, as he hurriedly moved away from the stadium.
“Hu–” Taking a deep breath, Long Hao Chen moved both of his hands rhythmically, imitating the changes in the internal spiritual energy flowing in his body.
Grasp this chance, he definitely had to grasp this chance! Long Hao Chen was in ecstasy: he knew that the comprehension of this concept was even more important than cultivating his internal spiritual energy to reach the 2000th level.
Chapter 87
“Mh?” He was about to head back to his hotel as quickly as possible, in order to cultivate and to meditate on his previous insight. But with a glance, not far ahead, he saw a blue bamboo cane lightly hitting the ground, making harmonious du, du, du sounds.
It was her! Long Hao Chen’s heart skipped a bit and instantly, his joy from the insight almost disappeared, and instead, a tingling and confused feeling filled his heart.
Quickly advancing, Long Hao Chen called out in a low voice, “Cai’er.”
Cai’er who was walking forward immediately stopped her steps, “Long Hao Chen, is it you?”
Long Hao Chen had already arrived by her side, “It’s me.”
Cai’er faintly smiled. Although she was wearing a veil, as before, and her face couldn’t be seen, Long Hao Chen was absolutely sure that she was currently smiling.
“Take me home, okay?” She took once again the initiative to lift up her hand.
“Yeah.” Long Hao Chen discovered to his surprise that his own hands, which were burning hot in the previous instant, had become cold because of the nervousness.
He gently and cautiously held Cai’er’s hand. It was as if he was afraid of being disrespectful towards her.
Her hand was as soft as before, but this time, it also felt warm, and the cold atmosphere that was previously emitted by her body had disappeared.
Long Hao Chen led her, still taking her hand, and they advanced little by little. They walked slowly, even more so than on the day before. At this very moment, his brain was completely empty, and he didn’t have a single thought related to his cultivation. He only felt calm, full of eagerness, and completely filled with a happy feeling. This tactile sensation gave him an indescribable sense of pleasure.
Regardless of how slow they were, the road had an end. What’s more, Cai’er’s dwelling was very close to the place where they met up.
Long Hao Chen went as far as to think, deep inside, Why doesn’t she live further away?
“We have arrived.“ Long Hao Chen stopped on his tracks. In his eyes, it could be seen that he was somewhat reluctant to part with her.
Cai’er lightly retrieved her hand, “Thank you.”
Long Hao Chen hastingly shook his head, but right after that, he suddenly realized that Cai’er could not see it.
Right at this time, Cai’er quietly said, “Tomorrow, I will have some matters to handle, so I will probably be a bit late. Will you still be willing to accompany me back? ”
“Yeah.” Long Hao Chen answered almost instantly. The next day, he will enter the third round of the competition. In the Knight Temple, the number of people that were still competing was already reduced to thirty-something, and the competition would definitely be finished quickly.
Cai’er waved her hand in his direction, and with her bamboo cane touching the ground, she turned towards her hotel.
This time, Long Hao Chen was continuously following her figure with his eyes until she disappeared from his field of vision. He really liked the
feeling he had when he was together with this girl.
Long Hao Chen, who had only been cultivating for five years straight, was quite ignorant in regards to emotions between males and females. He didn’t even know what he was supposed to do. But just by thinking about the fact that he would be able to see her again on the next day, his heart was full of expectation.
Back in the residence, Long Hao Chen sat cross-legged on his bed. This time, he wasn’t as unsteady as on the previous day. Instead, he directly entered the state of meditation.
He didn’t know why it became like that either, all he thought was that he was influenced by Cai’er’s special qualities.
An insipid gold-colored fog was surrounding Long Hao Chen’s body, [Storing Power]. Surprisingly, he used the skill [Storing Power] in his own room.
This time, because he didn’t have to observe the opponent or fight, his spirit was completely focused on observing the skill [Storing Power].
Long Hao Chen could clearly see that the internal spiritual energy within his body was passing through numerous different paths. With the rotations in spiral patterns in his chest, it seemed as if everything was frozen. It was no longer slowly rotating; it only calmly stopped there, like a gold-colored sharp cone.
Like a silk thread, the spiritual energy was uninterruptedly circulating. A large amount of internal spiritual energy softly moved accordingly to a particular tempo.
No matter how formidable the amount of surrounding spiritual energy in the external world was, the volume of cone-shaped energy that was rotating didn’t change from beginning to end. Only its color would become even purer.
That’s right, it’s the color.
A mild gold color, this was the color of his own internal spiritual energy. And it became a bright gold color after compression. On the surface of his body, changes of color appeared as well, because of this compression that occurred within his body.
In a split second, a new insight appeared in his mind. The gaseous and liquid states of the spiritual energy were actually due to a difference of compression of the spiritual energy.
Exactly! Liquid spiritual energy was in reality spiritual energy which had been compressed to a certain extent. The main problem was how to keep this liquid state steady.
As [Storing Power] proceeded, the gold-colored rotations also became more and more intense, and a gold-colored fog appeared once more, surrounding the Saint Spiritual Stove. Only, this time, Long Hao Chen didn’t compress 1500 units of spiritual energy before stopping, but went all- out, compressing all the spiritual energy in his body. He used [Storing Power] at its maximum might.
It was a compression with a duration of four minutes, but without a doubt, his spiritual energy had been consumed until the last drip. In fact his spiritual energy was only a bit higher than 1800, so with his external spiritual energy that was a little higher than 200, after completing the compression of 1500 units, there was already not much left.
Long Hao Chen could clearly see that, closely around his Saint Spiritual Stove, a thin fog was undulating. As his internal spiritual energy kept compressing, this fog gradually became thicker and thicker. One drop of gold-colored liquid after another appeared, starting to surround his Saint Spiritual Stove.
And at this moment, from his originally milky-white-colored Saint Spiritual Stove, a faint white light was suddenly emitted.
Ever since he obtained this spiritual stove, this was the first time Long Hao Chen discovered this phenomenon: as these drops of gold-colored
liquid formed, a white glow appeared together with it, and simultaneously, the rotation around the Saint Spiritual Stove slowed down.
This, this is…
At this very moment, Long Hao Chen’s body suddenly shook, all the spiritual energy in his body had already been compressed, and the rotations violently accelerated. The compression reached his psyche. It was precisely because of Long Hao Chen’s mental capacity that Long Xing Yu dared include [Storing Power] among the skills unlocked at the fourth step, when he gave him the Heritage Ring.
Taking a deep breath, Long Hao Chen stopped [Storing Power], letting the enormous quantity of compressed spiritual energy to scatter accordingly.
But he didn’t end his observations at that, he watched the changes of his Saint Spiritual Stove, as calmly as before.
This feeling was marvellous, Long Hao Chen felt completely empty from inside, but in this state, his thinking was even quicker.
The rotations in Long Hao Chen’s body showed gradual changes, before the immense quantity of compressed spiritual energy began to scatter at a very quick pace. Immediately following, the fine drops of liquid around the Saint Spiritual Stove gradually dissipated.
But Long Hao Chen clearly noticed that the droplets of gold-colored liquid surrounding the Saint Spiritual Stove were a lot slower to dissipate than his spiritual energy.
Was this the benefit of the liquid state of the spiritual energy? Long Hao Chen was startled. Clearly, compared to the spiritual energy in its gaseous state, the liquid spiritual energy was a lot more pure.
Chapter 88
Gradually, these droplets of liquid disappeared, and Long Hao Chen was completely emptied of his spiritual energy. There wasn’t even the slightest bit of spiritual energy left inside him.
In the moment when his internal spiritual energy finished scattering, Long Hao Chen felt a little shiver reverberate throughout his entire body. The air was filled with the holy element, and to his astonishment, the rotations in his body had accelerated by a wide margin. It was as if silk threads were rapidly gathering around the Saint Spiritual Stove in his chest.
Almost instantly, it took the shape of a small vortex, simultaneously recovering at least 10 units of internal spiritual energy.
The rotations slowly resumed in that small vortex and his internal spiritual energy started to recover automatically. Long Hao Chen didn’t do anything, but he was rapidly restoring his energy.
Was it actually possible that after his internal spiritual energy had been completely depleted, there would be this kind of change? His internal spiritual energy was recovering at least twice as fast as normal!
However, Long Hao Chen discovered that soon after, the recovery speed of his internal spiritual energy was gradually getting slower. After about half of his internal spiritual energy was restored, his recovery speed had returned back to normal. No, in reality, it seemed a little faster than his original recovery speed.
Long Hao Chen slowly opened his eyes. It seemed that he had discovered a brand new type of practice method!
Generally speaking, nobody, regardless of their vocation, would let their own internal spiritual energy be completely exhausted. It was just too dangerous. As a result, the people who had experienced what Long Hao Chen had experienced earlier were few in number. Furthermore, his light element affinity was almost perfect, so his perception was far superior to ordinary people.
What Long Hao Chen didn’t know was that the skill [Storing Power] was originally an almighty tool of cultivation, a skill that was used as a training method to help spiritual energy to be transformed. And on this day, he discovered that pushing [Storing Power] to the limits was a training method as well. This training method had never before been recorded by the Temple Alliance.
Perhaps it wasn’t the best training method, but without a doubt, it was the best choice possible to make his spiritual energy break through from the gaseous state to the liquid state.
What Long Hao Chen did next was to wait for his internal spiritual energy to recover to its peak, before completely using it up again through the means of [Storing Power]. Around the Saint Spiritual Stove, his internal spiritual energy constantly transformed from the gaseous state to the liquid state.
Long Hao Chen also discovered that right after every attempt, right after his spiritual energy turned into a liquid state, his spiritual stove reacted.
Could it be that this was the evolution that father told me about? My Saint Spiritual Stove actually wants to evolve?
Long Hao Chen could still clearly remember what his father told him in the past – that the Saint Spiritual Stove could evolve at most five times. But he still couldn’t clearly remember what his father had said regarding how it would evolve.
In reality, Long Xing Yu had not told him that. Up till now, there had never been someone who managed to make his Saint Spiritual Stove evolve five times.
Li Xin and Long Hao Chen had smoothly passed through the second round, but Lin Jia Lu had been defeated. On her second match, she had been completely dominated, losing to a seventh ranked Grand Mage.
Lin Jia Lu didn’t plan to remain in Holy City. On that evening, she bid farewell to Li Xin and left, toge
Because Long Hao Chen was still cultivating, Li Xin didn’t disturb him with this matter.
In the early morning, possibly due to the preliminaries entering their crucial stage, when Long Hao Chen and Li Xin followed Ye Hua and left the hotel, he could feel that the atmosphere of the whole Holy City had become somewhat tense.
It was the third day of the preliminaries. It was already the middle stage, and there were a total of 138 participants left. The four powerhouses at the fifth step would finally appear for the first time in the competition. In reality, there were, up to now, only 134 people.
After two days of fierce competition, only a few fortunate competitors remained. In total, there were only 34 people left, so including the four powerhouses at the fifth step of the vocation, it made a total of 38 people.
Today, among the 38 people, only 19 of them were going to remain. The next day of the competition would be the last day of knockout competition.
During these two days of preliminaries, from beginning to end, Ye Hua watched all the matches and gave some advice to Long Hao Chen. The matches that would take place today were going to be even more intense.
The fact that today, only the best 19 people could remain implied that among the top ten, there would be a vacancy. As for this vacancy, it would be filled after this day of the competition. The one who would display the
most strength today would obtain this place. After being approved by the committee, they would gain the right to enter the top ten, and grab this tenth place.
More importantly, on the previous day, the evaluation committee announced that because the powerhouses at the fifth step didn’t participate to the two previous rounds, this vacancy would not be obtained by them.
Without the slightest hesitation, this decision was going to make today’s competition even more intense. Who would not want to seize this place? Seizing it implied to be directly included in the top ten of the Temple Alliance, and also signified that one would obtain the qualification to enter a Demon Hunt Squad. This was an honor, and also a gateway to the most extreme door.
In the history of the Demon Hunt Squads, there had never been a Demon Hunt Squad member that didn’t surpass the sixth step. And in terms of fighting strength, Demon Hunt Squad members were a lot more powerful than other powerhouses of the same step. They were also the core force of the Temple Alliance.
As one could imagine, members of the Demon Hunt Squads were an important resource to the Temple alliance. As such, they had a higher probability of becoming one of the strongest of their generation.
Up until recently, the overwhelming majority of the higher ups of the Six Great Temples, including those legendary powerhouses of the ninth step, came from Demon Hunt Squads.
As members of the Demon Hunt Squads, after completing missions for ten years, they could choose to withdraw from their Demon Hunt Squad to hold a post in the Temple. They would then be heroes in the mouths of ordinary people.
After entering the stadium, Long Hao Chen unconsciously looked forward. They had come early today, but a lot of the competitors that won their second matches had already arrived.
Long Hao Chen gave the fourth man in the first row a glance.
The day before, this black-clad youth was seated on this seat as well, and had exactly the same attire. It was as if he didn’t judge it necessary to wear his armor in advance.
As for the three others, Long Hao Chen could only see their figure from behind. All of them were males.
Actually, within vocations like knights or warriors, the quantity of females appearing was low. At the present time, in the Temple Alliance Stadium, among the 38 people who remained, Li Xin was actually the only female knight.
Today, Long Hao Chen didn’t conduct meditation because the count of competitors was quite low, so he was likely to be among the first ones.
Everyone here, including Li Xin, was quite nervous. The overwhelming majority was silently praying, praying not to run into one of these four fellow seated in the first row. They were at the fifth step! Running into them was almost akin to lose the chance to enter the top ten.
Only, Long Hao Chen was an exception. While sitting, the first thought that came to his mind was that after his match, he would get to meet Cai’er, and to send her back home.
In that moment, Long Hao Chen’s mild-gold-colored eyes showed an excited look.
As Li Xin saw Long Hao Chen’s unperturbed appearance, she secretly thought: He’s only 14 years old! He still had a stable mind in such circumstances. I am 20-something years old, don’t tell me that I cannot compare with Long Hao Chen’s attitude? As she shut her eyes, calming herself down, her nervousness started to disappear.
Chapter 89
Mage Temple Stadium.
Two competitors’ numbers were being displayed on the board, and everyone in the lounge of the Mage Temple was completely silent.
Among these two numbers, the first one that was displayed was #61, and the second one was #1.
#1, the number 1 mage was about to appear on stage.
In the preliminaries of the Six Great Temples’ selection, the first ten numbers were set aside for competitors at the fifth step. If there weren’t enough of competitors at the fifth step, the other spots containing these numbers would remain vacant. The fact that #1 appeared implied that the first fight of the third day of the competition would involve a Magic Leader of the fifth step.
A young, stupefied girl stood up from the resting lounge, advancing in the field. She was precisely that unlucky competitor #61.
In the first row, Lin Xin, wearing a red gown, slowly stood up. That’s right, the competitor holding #1 was him.
Lin Xin was tall and handsome. In particular, he had deep, green-colored hair that was especially bright.
He wore a fire-red-colored gown releasing incomparably rich fire elemental ripples. The present mages could clearly feel that this gown contained an important fire elemental power that leapt around excitedly. .
Gold-colored inscriptions covered this mage gown, and when Lin Xin moved, they seemed to be almost alive.
Lin Xin turned around, his hands combing his long hair, while facing the other competitors with a graceful smile. To everyone’s surprise, he was full of self-confidence, unhurried. The heartbeat of the nearby female mages clearly accelerated.
Lin Xin slowly walked away, and while heading to the field, a rich flame element started to envelop his body, not because he was using some magic, but because of the effects the gown seemingly produced.
Lifting his left hand, he made a quick motion forward, searching for the fire element in the air, and gathering it in his hand. One drop after another of fiery red liquid appeared, gradually forming a fantastic pure gold-colored magical staff.
This magical staff wasn’t big, but it appeared in a flash. It seemed as if it completely filled the Mage Temple’s atmosphere with its aura of the fire attribute.
Impressive, so that was the power of a Magic Leader? The competitors couldn’t help but open their mouths in astonishment. Looking at Lin Xin who proudly entered into the stadium, the other competitors were full of envy and jealousy, but the main feeling that filled them was fear.
Looking at competitor #1, it was obvious that he was a mage of the fire attribute that had an incredible mastery in the laws of fire.
The young girl bearing #61 had a deathly pale complexion. She was really too unlucky! Not only did she draw a powerhouse at the fifth step as her opponent, but in addition, this competitor at the fifth step before her eyes could possibly be the most powerful of those selected to participate to the Mage Temple qualifiers! She could clearly feel the fire attribute aura, so much that it frightened her to the extent of making her mentally unstable.
The referee was an elder. According to the rules of the Demon Hunt Selection, when a competitor at the fifth step appeared in a match, the
referee had to be someone of at least the seventh step.
He gave Lin Xin a glance, “Stop showing off, before I announce the match’s start, you are not to use any skills, and that includes your equipment’s amplification abilities. ”
“As you wish.” Lin Xin showed a faint smile, and the gold red glow in his hand vanished. After a little sigh, he thought aloud, I originally didn’t plan on using my magical staff, but since things are this way, I shall
Hearing him, the complexion of the young girl facing him became even uglier. She went as far as to curse this referee for meddling in other people’s business. He was already so powerful, but if in addition, if he used his magical staff, how much would his power grow?
With a red glow, a magical staff quietly appeared in Lin Xin’s hand. Frankly speaking, it couldn’t really be called a magical staff, but it was closer to a grotesque red-colored crystal.
This crystal was 1.65 meters long, with its thickest location having a diameter like that of a fist. Its main body looked somewhat distorted, its appearance wasn’t the slightest bit close to a standard magical staff, and there was nothing inlaid on it.
However, the referee who was previously reprimanding Lin Xin actually started to stare at him with widely opened eyes, and involuntarily let out these words, “Such a big fire cloud crystal, you want to use it to make a magical staff?”
Lin Xin faintly smiled, acting as if it was a very ordinary thing, “I bought this a few days ago, but I didn’t find the time to look for a jewelry master. This fire cloud crystal isn’t top notch material, so its fire- condensing property is only at a passable grade.”
The referee’s complexion instantly changed as he criticised him in his head, This little kid is really quite wasteful.
A fire cloud crystal wasn’t a magical crystal, but a kind of natural mineral. It contained an extremely pure and captivating fire element. It could only appear after being soaked in magma for more than 1000 years.
Even an egg-sized fire cloud crystal, after being inlaid in any kind of magical staff, could turn it into a Spiritual Tier piece of equipment with a fire attribute. Lin Xin had such a large crystal in his hand so that even if it wasn’t worked yet or used in a combination with a magical array, his magical staff would at least double his spiritual energy’s might. This was something a piece of equipment under the Radiant Tier would have no way to accomplish. If a powerful mage used a magical array in combination, this fire cloud crystal could even have a chance to turn into a piece of Legendary Tier equipment.
A magical staff created using only fire cloud crystal, what kind of concept was that? Even with a lot of money, this kind of thing couldn’t be bought, it would cost at least 50,000 gold coins at the market!
Lin Xin was facing the young girl bearing the number 61, already showing a dull, lifeless look. She was a dual element mage who could use magic of the wind and fire elements. In her hands, she was holding a magical staff that had one fire cloud crystal as well as one wind spirit crystal, although both were of the size of a fingernail.
Taking a look at his hand, before giving another glance to her own hand, the young girl bearing the number #61 really wanted to hide her own magical staff.
“Start the match.” The referee resisted his inner thirst for this fire cloud crystal, and loudly shouted to announce the start of the match.
Lin Xin smiled at the young girl facing him and said, “Beautiful girl, how do you feel about working together? Magic spells have no eyes, and with a spell at the fifth or the sixth step, my control is not so great. It wouldn’t be good if I were to hurt you. All of us are people from the Mage Temple, and as a man, I want to behave like a gentleman. Let’s do it like this: It looks like you can also use magic of the fire attribute, so let’s have a simple contest of fire control, if you can at least be at my level, then let’s
consider this as your win. Let’s save ourselves from a dangerous and bloody match, and settle this amiably, how about it?”
Hearing his words, the young girl facing him let out a breath of relief. It was clear to everyone that the gap between her and Lin Xin was too wide to overcome.
Hastily nodding, she felt extremely grateful, “Please give me your guidance, senior.”
Lin Xin was calm and relaxed; faint, tiny magic rings were surrounding his body, gently undulating. It made him give off a very influential image.
Looking at the girl, Lin Xin revealed a faint smile. Lifting up the fire cloud crystal in his hand, he slowly gave shape to a fiery red halo.
This halo was fiery red-colored, but it didn’t emit the slightest bit of fire. It was closer to a mark that appeared in the air, and its fiery red illumination was quite imposing.
Liquid spiritual energy. Only spiritual energy in the liquid state could result in such an impressive sight. And looking at that sight, the control of this liquid spiritual energy had at least attained the level of perfection; it didn’t belong to a newcomer who had just reached the fifth step.
As Lin Xin returned the fire cloud crystal back to its starting point, this fire-red-colored halo became completely shaped, quietly floating on Lin Xin’s side, and suddenly, all the fire essence vanished, without the slightest amount left over. The fire-red-colored halo didn’t show the slightest change in its color.
The girl’s complexion was already completely pale, looking at this scene that she could by no way reproduce. The elemental essence surrounding him had so easily vanished? Let alone the control of his own spiritual energy that he showed earlier, in fact, Lin Xin’s halo currently didn’t have the slightest flaw.
Chapter 90
“Take a clear look, I am going to start now.” Lin Xin showed her a gentle smile.
What? You haven’t begun yet? The young girl was already on the verge of collapsing.
Raising the fire cloud crystal once again, he lightly used it to hit the center of the halo. With a sort of Ding metallic sound, the fiery red ring instantly dispersed, turning into countless fiery red dots, lighting the air and floating in midair,
At this point, all competitors were focused on Lin Xin’s body, but no one could guess what he was about to do.
“Transform.” Lin Xin said in a low voice, and everyone could clearly see that the fire cloud crystal in his hand started to shiver. He seemed to be muttering a kind of incantation, but his chanting speed was just too fast, neither his opponent or the referee could clearly hear it.
The fire motes in the air started to transform and grow. The strangest thing was that, during this process, they looked like flower buds that were slowly blooming.
One fiery-red-colored rose after another appeared in midair without any foundation, revolving around Lin Xin’s body, slowly rotating.
This scene was simply excessively shocking! The originally handsome Lin Xin was surrounded by a bunch of roses, filled with solidified fire
essence; he looked just like a fairy.
Looking at this scene, almost all of the competitors had their breath taken away. They simply couldn’t believe their eyes.
There were at least a hundred of these fiery red roses. How good was his control, for him to be able to manipulate so much fire essence as meticulously as he did?!
Lin Xin’s opponent, a girl that didn’t pass easily the two first days of qualifiers, was no longer pale. Instead, she started to blush intensely: as she was extremely close to him, she could see this scene extremely clearly. All girls seek beauty. Even without mentioning his exquisite magic control of the fire element, her eyes were already empty of all bitterness, and were filled with admiration instead.
But Lin Xin wasn’t done yet. Pointing at the fire cloud crystal before him, he ordered, “Split.”
Instantly, all the fiery red-colored roses seemed to react, and gathered together, forming a fiery red shape. This dazzling fiery red color belonged to a perfect rose that appeared at this moment.
Lin Xin pointed toward the left side of his chest, and instantly, a sound could be heard, “Thump, Thump; Thump, Thump”. It was the sound of a heartbeat, and it accompanied this heart-shaped rose’s appearance, together with these pulsations that seemed just as if they belonged to a real heart.
The fire cloud crystal ignited once again, astonishing everyone. This huge “heart” flew straight in the direction of the female mage facing Lin Xin.
How could the shocked and shaken girl have the time to react? Looking at such a huge blaze flying at her, her face instantly changed, but she didn’t even have the time to think about dodging it. Looking at this blazing rose shaped like a heart, her brain completely blanked out.
And at this very moment, all the roses quietly faded away while the “heart” grew, turning into an enormous heart-shaped ring with the girl inside. It didn’t have any offensive effect at all, only quietly surrounding this woman’s body. It produced a fiery red brilliance encircling this female mage, and reflecting her deep red-colored blushing face.
The girl stood there, staring blankly at him. She didn’t have the slightest idea about what she should do, but among the observing competitors, almost all the female mages were full of envy.
So cool, so romantic. So mages could actually give birth to such a
“My demonstration is finished, please.” Lin Xin courteously said, looking at his opponent.
“Ah!” #61 cried out in alarm, almost falling down. She had completely lost control and her cheeks were blushing deep red.
“I, I can’t… I concede.” As she finished her sentence, she could feel her heartbeat speeding up. As she didn’t dare look at Lin Xin, she escaped, at near the peak of her running speed.
Without needing to mention this girl that was completely stunned by the sight of this scene, even the referee of this match, a Grand Magic Tutor of the seventh step, was completely dumbstruck. He was utterly confused, He could himself achieve such a delicate control, but was absolutely unable to be as fast as Lin Xin, while remaining so calm. Such a great magic control could already not be described as ‘genius’ anymore, it was simply a peerless talent!
On the platform, an old mage seated at the first row loudly groaned, “Vulgar nonsense to please the crowds; a handsome exterior but hollow inside.”
To his astonishment, the mages to either side of him were in awe, and the old mage seated at his left spoke back, “Old Lin, you cannot describe him as like that. Such an exceptionally beautiful scene held an incredible ingenuity and control. This child’s sentiments in regards to magic are
simply astonishing. In the future, he will definitely become a leading figure of our Mage Temple.
Old Lin groaned in fury, “Old geezer Ge, your eyes have a problem. A leading figure? Bullshit, he’s closer to a vulgar buffoon only suited for pleasing the crowds.”
Old Ge’s face was black with rage, “Old Lin, you cannot speak in this manner. We are already at this age, don’t tell me that you are jealous? Although you are a Magic Regiment Leader, if you want to harass a young talent of this kind, I won’t give you my approval.”
Old Lin suddenly stood up, “Okay, then I won’t keep watching this; I am so furious. You think I will beat down this little bastard? Do you think he has anything that I cannot match?”
Old Ge was indignant, “Why are you cursing at people? Do you not have a little bit of the demeanor of a magic sage?”
Old Lin snorted, “What if I am cursing at my own grandson, is it your problem?” As he was done speaking, he angrily left. As before, his eyes were fiercely wide opened, glaring at Lin Xin who was wearing a smile while beckoning all the other competitors.
Lin Xin felt a shiver, and didn’t dare keep showing off. He hurriedly returned to the lounge.
After Old Lin left, Old Ge revealed a peculiar expression, “Turns out that this youngster was Old Lin’s second grandson, that legendary freak. It’s no wonder that this old fellow wanted to tick him off. ”
Assassin Temple Stadium.
In the Holy Union’s Great Stadium, the Assassin Temple’s stadium was really the strangest one: compared to the five other stadiums, it bore no resemblance to their well-lit environ at all. Instead, it was somewhat dark, and could even be described as sinister.
Today, the competition in the Assassin Temple’s stadium started a little later than in the others, because of the decorations they set up.
Enormous stelae were towering in the middle of the stadium. These stelae had a layout that seemed somewhat random. Each stele was thick enough that two people would be needed to reach around it. It seemed that they had just finished to put them in order.
A cold voice came from a sort of remoted platform, “This year, there are a total of 48 competitors. After the two first days, there are 12 people left. Today, to determine the top ten, you will enter the stadium together, and have a contest. You may use any means, all those who are not in state to fight will be eliminated. The first four eliminated competitors will be drawing lots as a final step to eliminate two of them. All competitors enter; after my countdown of 10 seconds, the match will begin.”
“Ten.”
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh……” A stream of noises sounded, and the participants in the resting area all shot out like arrows.
The assassins of the Assassin Temple were a lot more mysterious than other temples. Every person’s face was covered with a veil of some sort, and some even had their foreheads covered, only revealing their eyes. Their actions were swift and nimble, and that gloomy voice had not even counted to three when the participants who shot out seemed as if they had all disappeared into thin air.
“Du, du, du, du, du……” The quieter it was, the easier it would be for some sudden noise to catch the attention of other people, just like it was at this moment.
Not all of the participants had moved at the very first moment; there was one exception.
Long, purple hair draped smoothly over her back, her blank pupils gave people a sort of solitary feeling. The blue bamboo stick lightly tapped on
the floor, its master moving slowly, step by step, towards the center of the arena.