Chapter 391: Astral Reaching Realm Elimination Tournament
Chapter 391: Astral Reaching Realm Elimination Tournament
Translator: Swammped Editor: Hitesh_
"Hey, hey… How much for the chicken puppet? Just name the price! Hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? That's not a problem for me." The young woman cutely curled her nose up as she called out to Ye Chen.
Ye Chen indifferently replied without turning his head, "I apologize, but I just want this chicken puppet."
"Man, you're really too stubborn. Alright, I'll give you thirty thousand medium grade spirit stones. Let me have the chicken puppet." Apparently, she was quite fond of the chicken puppet. Thirty thousand mid grade spirit stones could even buy a mid grade artifact. Ordinary Astral Reaching experts would simply be unable to resist such an enticement.
Of course, she was not some master who threw money wherever she went. It was just that puppeteering arts were on the brink of extinction in the True Spirit Continent, and puppet works were extremely rare in markets. Many such works didn't have any use whatsoever, but as the saying went, 'the rarer something is, the greater its value.' Puppet works were the same.
"Not interested."
Ye Chen left behind these two words.
"For crying out loud!"
Young woman hatefully stared at Ye Chen's rear. If not for Blue Mountain Island preventing battle inside and Ye Chen's cultivation base not being weak, she would have taught him a lesson long ago. How could she have endured his arrogance? "Humph, Senior Sister Feng said that Blue Mountain Island has all sorts of strange things. It really is true. But unfortunately, my mood is ruined by him!"
"Young miss, why don't you take a look at other antiques? I'll slightly lower the prices for you." The old man had heard the entire conversation between the two. Knowing that this young woman was rich and overbearing, he said with a face beaming with smiles.
"All this trash, I won't take it for free."
Leaving a faint fragrance in her wake, the young woman's figure shuttled through the crowd like a chilly breeze. Her frightening movement technique made some of the Astral Reaching realm experts go pale.
…
Outside the city, both sides of the road were covered in grass.
Ye Chen took out the puppet chicken. Upon finding the spirit stone valve, he slipped in a low grade spirit stone.
Grrrr….
The chicken's gem-like eyeballs rolled and hard feathers on its body shuddered, arranging themselves in a neat fashion. At the same time, the feathered nest on its neck swelled before it faced up and squawked. It was not clear whether it was the effect of sunlight or the spirit stone's Yuan Qi on its body, but its feather turned somewhat smoother than before, and were emitting a brilliant luster.
"Incredible! It's exactly the same as a real chicken. At a glance, it can easily pass as a real chicken. Although True Spirit Continent is primitive in some aspects, it is far above my previous world in other. No, as far as my knowledge goes according to my twenty years there, this puppet chicken is far beyond their imagination in technological aspect. First came dao, which divided into Yin and Yang, which then interacted and gave birth to all the matter. It is but one pathway among many others to reach to the peak. They are different routes to the same destination."
Sensing a bug in the grass beside, the frolicking puppet chicken went over and killed it in one peck.
After about a cup of tea worth of time, the puppet chicken suddenly stopped moving.
"As expected, low grade spirit stones can't sustain it for too long. Moreover, this is when its internal parts can absorb Yuan Qi from the heaven and earth under the effect of spirit stone. Otherwise, it would have used all the energy in half the time."
Taking out the used spirit stone, Ye Chen entered a mid grade spirit stone.
Grrrrr…
The chicken puppet came alive once again. The luster on its body turned increasingly brilliant, and its gem-like eyes swiveled with each moment or so, brimming with intelligence.
"If this were brought to that world, it would be considered a wondrous treasure, a miracle."
Taking back the puppet chicken, Ye Chen sighed inwardly before heading towards the center of the island, aiming for a big city.
"Brothers, another fat sheep is here. Kill him and take his storage ring."
On this world, there would always be people who preferred to plunder others rather than work for themselves. Fighting was forbidden inside the city, but outskirts concealed grave dangers. All sorts of bandit groups sat hidden in the depths of the mountains, waiting for the arrival of an easy prey.
Ye Chen's cultivation base was at the late Astral Reaching realm. Perhaps in some small country of the South Rudra Region, he would be considered a powerful expert, and people wouldn't dare provoke him. But here in the Blue Mountain Island, martial artists from all sorts of regions were present. Late Astral Reaching experts were as common as clouds, and thus, didn't amount to much. More than ten individuals rushed out of a hidden area. Each of them were at the late Astral Reaching realm, and one-third of them were even at the peak. Their formation was powerful, allowing them to kill the passersby with the stretch of a hand.
Unfortunately, they ended up choosing the wrong target.
Sword light flickered, soaring to the horizon. Ye Chen flashed through the encirclement, his speed quicker than eyes could fathom. The sword light hadn't even faded yet.
Slash slash slash…
Blood splattered, and all the individuals died in one strike. Their heads rolled, eyes filled with incredulous expressions.
"Killing thirteen individuals in one sword strike, what a swift sword! When did another peak sword artist appear in Blue Mountain Island? Too frightening."
The Astral Reaching experts traversing this road were not few. They were basically moving in groups to avoid becoming a target of bandits and meeting a tragic death.
"Interesting! I suppose he is going to participate in Astral Reaching Elimination Tournament!"
"If he participates, ten consecutive victories are absolutely guaranteed. Twenty is also quite possible, though thirty and higher will not be easy."
"Right, after twenty consecutive victories, one's habits and styles are laid out bare. Even a same ranked expert would be able to beat you then. Not to mention, Blue Mountain Island wouldn't sit idle and let one man score consecutive victories. They are sure to send their experts and put a stop your advance."
"In the past ten years, only a total of fourteen people have scored more than fifty consecutive victories, and only one has managed to score a hundred consecutive victories. There were many powerful experts who couldn't even go past fifty. After all, while participating in the Elimination Tournament, you can't use your defensive artifacts, and even the weapon in your hand will be replaced by standard weapons provided by the Blue Mountain Island. In order to win, you can only rely on your cultivation base and martial skills."
"The latest expert to score more than fifty consecutive victories is said to be the elder disciple of Cloud Billow Region's Lunar Pavilion. His martial skill is quite special, as ordinary people can't see through it all. His style is also filled with variations, ever-changing like clouds. His opponents sure think they can see through his moves, but when it's the time to fight, every single one of them leaves the stage with a confused look."
"Blue Ridge City's Feng Yanrou has already scored forty consecutive victories as well, not that far away from fifty."
"Feng Yanrou, the second disciple of Misty Snow Region, the one who has the title of Drifting Snow Sword Artist?
"That's the one!"
"It's getting more and more interesting. Feng Yanrou definitely ranks among the top five in Misty Snow Region's young generation, and could even be in top three. Moreover, after fifty victories, at every tenth battle, one has to face another fifty consecutive victory scorer. The winner can move on, but the loser's advance will be halted."
"Just speaking about it is making my heart itch. We need to hurry up!"
As Ye Chen heard these conversations, his corner of mouth curled into a faint smile. The Elimination Tournament of Blue Mountain Island was challenging indeed. No defensive artifacts, and the offensive artifacts were replaced by standard weapons provided by Blue Mountain Island... This way, a part of extreme Astral Reaching experts would be brought down by a level. After all, the basic requirement of an extreme Astral Reaching expert was a mid grade defensive and offensive artifact. Losing these two assets would naturally cause their battle strength to plummet. Of course, there were powerful extreme Astral Reaching experts that remained quite strong even after losing their mid grade artifacts compared to average extreme Astral Reaching experts.
As for consecutive victories, it wasn't so easy either.
Firstly, there was no need to mention that after fighting so many battles, one's moves and styles would be completely seen through while one would be clueless about their opponent. In addition to that, after battling for a long time, one would lose the initial edge and wear down one's body and mind. At this point, a similarly ranked expert could easily end the streak.
Even if you were able to overcome these issues, the latter challengers would become increasingly powerful. Nobody was stupid. Why would one who knew that they wouldn't be their opponent, go up the stage? Only those who had some confidence in their abilities would go up. Once one defeated them, the next one would be even more powerful. Moreover, the island itself might send experts to curb one's advances. After fifty victories, one would also have to battle against the fifty-victory scorers of other two cities. They would make one reveal even more of one's depths, allowing the competitor next in line to prepare accordingly.
"In the past ten years, only one person holds the record of hundred consecutive victories. That person ought to have an overwhelming strength."
Blue Mountain Island had three big cities with over ten million residents. They were Blue Mountain City, Blue Summit City, and the one where Ye Chen had arrived- Blue Water City.
Blue Water City covered an enormous area, and its gate was a hundred meters high. Inside, there were at least ten million permanent residents. Adding the coming and leaving travelers, its population stayed more or less around fifteen million.
On the main entrance, which was wide enough to allow thirty two horses to walk side by side, the entering and leaving martial artists seemed like a dark flood. As far as prosperity was concerned, it was far above the Black Dragon Empire's martial city.
Without needing any directions, Ye Chen followed the tide of people and arrived at the city's eastern district. The buildings here didn't come in varying shapes and sizes. Instead, there was only one grand and imposing dueling stage. It occupied a perimeter of about hundred li, encircled by a high wall. Outside the wall stood armed patrols, guarding it with cold and stern faces.
The stage had many entrances. Ye Chen arrived before one.
On one side of entrance stood an announcement board, "Fifty mid grade spirit stones or five thousand low grade spirit stones for entrance. Please get a guest token before you enter. Perpetrators of creating trouble shall be killed without exception."
"Low grade spirit stones really have no value at all. It's reaching a ratio of 100 to 1 in comparison with mid grade spirit stones. Clasping Yuan martial artists would exhaust their entire wealth in a few shows."
Although Ye Chen had a lot of low grade spirit stones, he didn't need to be excessively stingy with mid grade spirit stones. If he, as an Astral Reaching expert, were to pay the entrance fee with low grade spirit stones, it would be simply too miserly.
Paying the fifty mid grade spirit stones, Ye Chen entered the stage through the entrance passage.
As far as eye could see, rings of spectator seats were brimmed with heads. The ear-deafening noise soared the sky.
Ye Chen had arrived neither early nor late. The front seats were fully occupied, but the middle seats had some vacancies.
Finding a seat, Ye Chen sat down and looked around. Astral Reaching experts made up the greater majority, while Clasping Yuan realm martial artists were quite numerous as well. In the middle, under the spectator stands was the dueling site. Two Astral Reaching experts were engaged in a fiery battle, letting out magnificent Zhen Yuan ripples every now and then.
"Winner Liu Zhendong. Is there any hero left willing to enter the stage? If you defeat Liu Zhendong, not only will you win a thousand mid grade spirit stones, you will be ending his winning streak. This is an excellent opportunity to gain fame. If you have ten consecutive wins, my Blue Mountain Nation will award you a ten consecutive win token. You will receive a five percent discount throughout the entire Blue Mountain Island. Ten percent discount on a twenty win streak, fifteen percent on a thirty win streak, twenty percent on a forty win streak… And on a fifty win streak, in addition to mid grade spirit stones, you'll also receive five hundred upper grade spirit stones." From the stage, a black-robed old man's voice echoed.