Chapter 63 - The Martial Competition
Tianyun City, the God Stone Square.
A small hill-sized, diamond-shaped meteorite stood tall in the God Stone Square. More than half of the meteorite was sunk deep into the ground, and the part that was visible was hundreds of meters tall, making it look very magnificent.
Legends say that this was a piece of the meteorite that fell from the sky thousands of years ago. It crashed right here, where at the time there was no Tianyun City, but merely a piece of wasteland.
It was said that after the meteorite fell from the sky, in the beginning, every night under the glistening moonlight, the meteorite would emit a bright silver light. Later on, this silver light started to dim day by day, and in the last ten years, the meteorite has never shone, appearing just like a normal rock.
The people of the Merchant Union treated this meteorite as a God Stone, and established Tianyun City around it. (天陨 means sky meteor).
It has been many years since then, and now Tianyun City has become a big city and the center of the Merchant Union.
However, even though the meteorite stopped shining in silver brilliance, for the warriors of the Merchant Union, it was a blessing from God, and thus the meteorite was zealously treated as a God Stone.
The God Stone Square was also built from that meteorite.
In the Merchant Union, many couples would come to the God Stone Square and make their vows, with the God Stone as a holy witness to their love.
Every Martial Competition in the Merchant Union, was held in the God Stone Square.
On this day in the God Stone Square, there was an endless stream of crowds. Outside the Square there were countless vendors, many of whom were warriors selling mostly items that were associated with cultivation.
In the God Stone Square
In front of that enormous meteorite were sixteen battle arenas. Each one was about a hundred square meters and was made out of solid green iron. Even warriors in the Human Realm wouldn’t be able to break it using all their strength.
Around these sixteen battle arenas stood five tall stone towers.
One of the towers was fifty meters tall, while the other four were forty meters tall. These five towers were equally spaced a hundred meters apart in distance, and on those towers stood the people from the five families, who were able to view all sixteen arenas below.
On one of the stone towers, Shi Yan stood next to Shi Jian, condescendingly looking down upon all the participants around the God Stone Square who came to compete in the Martial Competition.
This stone tower belonged to the Shi family, which was forty meters tall. The other four were for the Beiming, Ling, Zuo and Mo families.
The stone towers belonging to the Ling, Zuo, and Mo families were also forty meters tall, just like that of the Shi family. However, the Beiming family was an exception. Their tower was fifty meters high, a whole lot taller than the other four families’ towers.
Just from the height of the stone towers, it could be seen that the Beiming family held an absolutely strong position in the Merchant Union!
This was the first day of the Martial Competition.
The direct descendents of the Shi family; Shi Jian, Shi Tie, and Shi Dang, were all on the stone tower by this time.
The Han Brothers, Han Feng and Han Zhong, were also in the stone tower, plus a few other strangers that Shi Yan didn’t know. Through Han Zhong’s introductions, Shi Yan learned that those were the loyal subordinates of the Shi family. They usually worked in the city, but were called here because of the Martial Competition.
However, Yang Hai was not in the stone tower, and that was because Yang Hai did not practice Martial Arts. When the Martial Art masters of the other cities were called here, Yang Hai had to go and take charge in case any problems come up while the Martial Competition was being held.
Every year’s Martial Competition was separated into five categories: Elementary, Nascent, Human, Disaster, and Earth. However, in the category of Earth Realm there would usually only be one figurehead.
Usually, even the warriors who were unaffiliated to any power, when they managed to reach the Earth Realm, they would have certainly gained their own cultivation opportunities. It was unlikely for them to covet the prizes given by the five families.
An Earth Realm warrior, whether in the Merchant Union, the Fire Empire, or the God-blessed Empire, would be considered a master.
Such warriors wouldn’t need to compete in the Martial Competition to obtain a nice cultivation environment. They can just go to any powerful force to become a dedicated warrior.
Even if an Earth Realm warrior didn’t join any power, the major forces would still reach out their arm, hoping to recruit the warrior.
Because of this, even though the Martial Competition set a competing category for Earth Realm warriors, but the warriors that actually came to participate, were nearly nonexistent.
Even the warriors who reached the Disaster Realm would rarely come to the Martial Competition. Every year, there would only be a few warriors that would show up.
The ones who really came for the Martial Competition were mostly at the Elementary, Nascent, or Human Realms.
These three kinds of warriors with lower capabilities were the majority, as they often couldn’t find their own cultivation opportunities. Therefore they would have to participate in the Martial Competition in the hope to win some precious cultivation materials, or to obtain a nice position in one of the five families.
The Martial Competition usually lasted for five days.
The first four days were generally for the warriors who came for the prizes. These people would be watched by the five families. Throughout the four days of fighting, the families would choose their favorite warriors and reach out to them.
The last day, however, would be the highlight of the Martial Competition.
On this day, the five families would send their best dedicated warriors and descendents to go compete with the masters of the other families. The five families would test each other’s power on the last day of the Martial Competition.
This day, was also the day when the five families would show their strength to others!
And on this day, the fighting was often accompanied with the enormous conflicts of interests and profits, and earth-shaking gambles would often happen.
Mines, commercial streets, treasures, and even bizarre Martial Skills could become the stakes of the five families!
Just one Martial Competition, could lead to one family gaining the most extravagant riches, and could also reduce a family’s savings to nothing. The last day of the competition would become a topic that people would talk about for years to come.
This day, the masters from the different families would expose their true capabilities, showing rare Martial Spirits. Also in the intense fighting, different secret treasures might also show up.
Most warriors who came from the outside were also here for the last day of the Martial Competition.
From the fights on last day of the Martial Competition, they could find out the difference between them and the warriors of the five families. Through watching the fierce battles, they could understand their own inadequacies, and find the ways to improve their standards and capabilities.
And they might even be able to raise their own strength through the battles from the Martial Competition.
This was why the Martial Competition attracted so many people!
Shi Yan stood on the stone tower serenely, condescendingly looking down upon the arenas and the many warriors who came to participate.
Two hundred meters away on the tower of the Beiming family, two beautiful figures followed Beiming Ce up the high tower.
On the high tower, Mu Yu Die and Di Yalan stood side-by-side with Beiming Ce. Together they were looking over all of the arenas.
Mu Yu Die wore a white dress, her hair flying in the wind. On the tall tower, her beautiful posture made her look like a fairy on the mainland.
Di Yalan was still in that crimson armor, her hot body was visible underneath the coverage of that armor made her figure look very seductive. Only her eyes looked troubled.
From two hundred meters away, Shi Yan slightly raised his head and shot a glance at the two girls, secretly smiling in disdain.
“Kid, these four days you better carefully watch. You lack experience, so you need to watch how the others fight; don’t just mess around.” As Shi Jian caught him staring at the two girls on the Beiming family’s tower, he snorted as he became displeased, “Women are everywhere, and with what you have, what woman can’t you get in the future. Don’t get distracted before you become strong!”
“Yes, I know what I’m doing.” Shi Yan nodded.
“Brother, Kro from the Misty Pavilion has come to see you.” Shi Tie, who stood near the staircase entrance of the stone tower, suddenly shouted.
“Kro?” Surprise flashed across Shi Jian’s face. He blanked out for a second, but then nodded: “Invite him up.”
“Grandpa, how’s the situation at the Misty Pavilion?” Shi Yan lowered his voice, and secretly asked.
Shi Jian slightly nodded and said, “You shouldn’t care much about this, don’t mention it next time, understand?”
“Okay.” Looking at his expression, Shi Yan knew that Zuo Xu and him must have sorted out all the details. But as Han Feng and all the dedicated warriors were on the tower, Shi Yan was confused as to whether the Shi family sent anyone to help Chi Xiao at the Misty Pavilion or not.
Kro came up with a smile as he calmly walked next to Shi Jian, and said, “Head of the Shi family, I have come to request help from you. I’m wondering where your son Yang Hai is right now, I want to invite him to the Misty Pavilion. Is that alright?”
“Yang Hai?” Shi Jian’s expression darkened as he snorted, but said in confusion, “The Misty Pavilion has been trying to find people named Yang Hai everywhere, what are you trying to do?”
“A friend of mine has come from the Endless Sea. Her older relative lost an infant a very long time ago. The infant is called Yang Hai, and so they requested me to look around for him. Thus I ask for your help, Master Shi.”
Shi Jian’s heart skipped a beat and his eyes flashed with a strange unknown expression. After quite a while he finally shook his head and responded, “Yang Hai is not in Tianyun city right now, because I called many people back for the Martial Competition, Yang Hai is has been taking charge in another city, this… we’ll talk about this some other time.”
“Sure, as long as you’d remember, Master Shi.” Kro didn’t urge deliberately, and smiled, “When he comes back, please allow him to come to the Misty Pavilion, Master Shi, haha, don’t worry, I won’t let him run all this way for nothing.”
“Okay.” Shi Jian indifferently nodded.
“Then I will take my leave.” Kro didn’t stay for long, and after the issues were negotiated, he left straightaway.
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Melodious and soothing music came from the tower of the Beiming family.
The heart-warming sound of nature immediately rang throughout every corner of God Stone Square. Mu Yu Die sat crossed-legged on the stone tower of the Beiming family, absorbed in playing the zither.
Many warriors who came to the Martial Competition, were attracted by this ethereal music, and their expression was full of fascination as they looked up at the Beiming family’s stone tower.
Next to Mu Yu Die was Beiming Ce, his expression full of pride, and the corner of his lips showed a trace disdain for all living things. He stood there and accepted the admiring and envious gazes from the many warriors.
Mu Yu Die’s music was like a mountain stream, flowing into the hearts of the warriors, as if cleansing their souls.
Just with one song, the warriors were mesmerized, their faces stunned.
Then at this moment.
Beiming Shang suddenly flew from the tall tower, his magnificent figure magically floated on the sky above the God Stone Square, like a God looking down on all human beings. He shouted, “The Martial Competition, officially starts!”
“Walking in mid-air! Sky Realm warrior!”
Many warriors screamed out one by one, their expression in awe, shocked by the capabilities shown by Beiming Shang.