Chapter 619: Ripened
Translator: TYZ Editor: Lucas, TYZ
Skyheart City, Lake of Masters.
The Lake of Masters, which usually had tight security, looked as if it was preparing for a formidable enemy today. The layers of guards that surrounded the lake were like steel walls, rendering the lake impregnable. All the important figures of Skyheart City were gathered here today.
Madam Ye was standing on the lakeside. She had a calm and tranquil look on her face, looking no different from her usual self. Only a right-hand man like Nian Tingfeng would know she was suppressing her emotions.
Master's Glory, which they had spent so many years to carry out, consumed countless amount of resources and manpower, and triggered numerous debates, had finally ripened.
Nian Tingfeng knew how much Madam Ye had sacrificed for Master's Glory.
From the beginning until now, Master's Glory had faced countless objections and criticisms. If it weren't for the fact that Madam Ye actively promoted it with an unparalleled persistence, it wouldn't have made it today.
With regards to this point, Nian Tingfeng had nothing but respect for Madam Ye. How successful would the Master's Glory be? Could it really produce Masters? Even if it did produce Masters, what would the strength of the Masters be like?
No one knew the answers to these questions.
Madam Ye was willing to place all her chips on an unknown future. All this time, she did not hesitate and her persistence did not waver. How many men actually possessed such determination and decisiveness?
Madam Ye might have done some scandalous things, but she also did some things that won people over.
Those who were invited today were the higher-ups of Skyheart City. Some were Elders from the Elders Guild and some were the family heads of aristocratic families. Every single reputable individual from Skyheart City was invited.
Different people had different reactions to this event. Some were feeling excited, some were feeling doubtful, some remained silent, and some were whispering to each other.
Madam Ye had a panoramic view of everyone's facial expressions. A tinge of indifference and disdain appeared in her eyes.
How would these mediocre individuals understand that today was the beginning of a new era?
She noticed that Ma Shiji's body had frozen. She smiled and consoled him, "Shiji, don't be anxious. I invited them here to join in the fun. Even if today isn't the day, so what? They have to come if I ask them to."
Ma Shiji forced a smile as beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead unwittingly.
He was indeed feeling nervous. According to his estimation, today was the day that the five elemental lotus seed heads ripened. However, he did not expect Madam Ye to invite so many people to attend this event. Therefore, he was feeling extremely nervous. He did not dare to think of the consequences if he miscalculated the date and embarrassed Madam Ye,
Madam Ye smiled and shifted her gaze to the enormous five elemental lotus seed heads on the lake. The glow of the five elemental lotus seed heads was flickering, dousing the lake in a myriad of brilliant colors. It was extremely beautiful.
Suddenly, Nian Tingfeng gasped in surprise and looked at the center of the lake.
A bright glow appeared in his eyes all of a sudden.
"Official Nian, have you discovered anything?" Madam Ye asked.
The bright glow in Nian Tingfeng's eyes disappeared and he withdrew his aura. With a respectful tone, he replied, "Madam, congratulations."
Just as he finished his sentence, the garish glow over the lake disappeared all of a sudden, becoming pitch-black. It resembled a bottomless abyss that trapped light.
The 25 enormous five elemental lotus seed heads looked as if they were on a plane of darkness.
All the conversations came to an end spontaneously.
All of them looked fearful as they realized that the surrounding elemental energy was mysteriously frozen. Those slightly weak elementalists discovered that they couldn't channel the elemental energy in their bodies. It was as if their bodies had been frozen. They could neither move nor produce any sound at all.
This phenomenon came suddenly and left suddenly. In the blink of an eye, everyone was back to normal.
At this moment, no one was talking and everyone had a bewildered look on their face. What had just happened? Were the Masters produced by Master's Glory… really that powerful? The momentary display of might just now had unsettled the critics of Master's Glory.
A flush appeared on Ma Shiji's haggard face, looking as though he was drunk.
He restrained his excitement and bowed politely. "Madam, please move to the lakeshore."
Madam Ye nodded her head reservedly and walked to the lakeshore with an elegant pace.
Ma Shiji continued, "Madam, please use your essence blood to wake the Masters up."
Without saying anything, she reached out her snow-white arm and a sharp, exquisitely-made dagger appeared in her other hand. Following which, she pressed the dazzling blade of the dagger on her tender arm and a drop of bright-red blood seeped along the blade.
Soon, a glistening trail of blood flowed down her white and flawless arm. The scene contained an indescribable yet enchanting sense of beauty.
There was an abnormal calmness on Madam Ye's face, exuding an awe-inspiring aura of might.
Her blood dripped into the lake.
Madam Ye seemed to have heard a murmur that sounded familiar and strange at the same time. She looked slightly startled. When she listened carefully, she couldn't hear anything. Her beautiful, limpid eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist at that instant, becoming blurred and distant.
After a while, she moved her cherry lips gently and said softly, "Xiaobao, wake up."
Burble.
One of the five elemental lotus seed heads gave off a soft, bubbling sound. Suddenly, the outer layer of the lotus seed head exploded into smithereens, resembling the process of a flower blossoming. The top-half body of a familiar-looking young man was revealed.
When Madam Ye saw the familiar face, her petite body trembled as she lost control of her emotions. "Xiaobao!"
The top-half naked young man slowly opened his eyes. The dull look that used to reside in his eyes had disappeared and was replaced by a crystal-clear, sparkling one. In his eyes, one could not see the slightest tinge of warmth except for chilliness and indifference.
Xiaobao looked as if he had become a completely different person. Other than the shape of his face, he hadn't really changed much. His body had become perfect and without blemish, resembling the masterpiece of an outstanding sculptor.
A bright, colorful light band was spiralling around his body. Metal, fire, wood, water, and earth. It was a five elemental ring!
Burble, burble, burble.
Soft bubbling sounds echoed through the air. One by one, the outer layers of the lotus seed heads exploded like flowers blossoming.
Human figures appeared before everyone's eyes.
The lakeside was dead silent and the air seemed to have frozen. Not even a trace of breeze was present.
The naked figures standing on the lotus seed heads were giving off an indescribable aura of might.
All of their bodies were different but perfect. Every detail of their bodies looked as if they were meticulously carved out by a master sculptor. Their eyes were limpid and sparkling, exuding indifference and chilliness as well.
Some people began to lick their lips nervously, but most people had their bodies turned frozen with fear.
Including Nian Tingfeng.
He had never seen such a bizarre scene where there were a few hundred people that looked somewhat similar to each other. He strongly felt that they were clones, even though they weren't.
They looked too similar to each other!
They were definitely different in terms of height. However, their mannerisms, auras, ice-cold gazes, flawless bodies, and spiralling five elemental rings made them looked like they were clones.
He had met many people that had similar mannerisms to each other. For example, every soldier that was from the Surveillance Division usually had similar mannerisms. This applied to the other two central divisions as well. However, this group of people had exactly the same mannerisms.
A cold shiver went down Nian Tingfeng's spine and a sense of fear arose in his heart. He did not dare to think too much.
All of the Masters standing on the lotus seed heads opened their palms and shook their hands gently. The five elemental rings that spiralled around their bodies entered the backs of their palms and transformed into thumb-sized fire elemental ring imprints.
Their movements were neat and uniform, looking as if they were the same person.
Madam Ye stared blankly at Xiaobao. Xiaobao's gaze was cold without any emotions. She could sense a faint trace of telepathic connection between her and Xiaobao.
"Congratulations, Madam! Congratulations!"
Madam Ye returned to her senses. Ma Shiji's facial expression was extremely agitated.
Ma Shiji quickly continued, "I have counted just now. We have nurtured a total of 316 Masters! It's so much better than we expected! The last time Madam came here, there were 44 out of 360 people that failed! At that time, we made a conservative estimation and concluded that it will be a great success if we could nurture 200 Masters. But now we have actually nurtured 316 Masters! Congratulations, Madam! Congratulations!"
Madam Ye's facial expression returned to normal and she smiled. "All the credit goes toShiji! For the sake of Master's Glory, you have racked your brain and worked your heart out. I can see for myself how hard you have worked. Shiji, I will reward you accordingly!"
Ma Shiji quickly shook his head and replied with gratitude, "If it weren't for Madam's recognition of my worth, I don't know where I would've ended up in this world. Subordinate can only repay Madam's kindness of recognizing my worth by sacrificing my life to complete the heavy responsibility that Madam gave me!"
Madam Ye smiled with satisfaction. "We will talk about the rewards later. It's definitely not right for me to not reward you handsomely for your incomparable meritorious service. Right now, I want you to introduce our Masters to everyone."
"Words mean nothing without actions. Why not Madam let one of the Masters put up a demonstration?" Ma Shiji replied politely.
"Ma Shiji is right." Madam Ye nodded her head.
She turned around and raised her voice and asked, "Is there anyone who wants to spar with one of the Masters? If you win, I will reward you with three elemental elixirs!"
A commotion broke out among the onlookers.
Elemental elixirs were extremely rare nowadays. One could not buy them even if he or she had the wealth to do so. Therefore, when Madam Ye forked out three elemental elixirs as the reward, many people were tempted by it.
"Madam, may I know what type of elemental elixirs you are offering?" someone yelled.
Madam Ye was in a good mood and she did not get angry. She smiled and replied, "Any type you want."
Immediately, all the onlookers became excited.
"Madam, I am willing to give it a try," a middle-aged man stood out and said respectfully.
When everyone saw clearly who this man was, all of them quieted down immediately. This man exuded a mighty aura and his face was awe-inspiring. One could tell that he was a powerful individual.
Zhong Houjun was currently the most powerful expert in the Zhong Residence. Even though the aristocratic families no longer possessed the prestige and power they used to have and the Zhong Residence had been in a decline for quite some time, they were still very powerful.
Zhong Houjun used to be the vice division leader of the Infantry Division, and he was supposed to be the next division leader. However, after the appearance of the Silver Soldier, not only did he lose the position of vice division leader, his Zhong Residence also went into a decline.
Many people knew that Zhong Houjun was filled with resentment and anger.
When everyone saw Zhong Houjun volunteer himself, they knew that there was going to be a good show, so all of them shut their mouths.