Chapter 442: Gao Yangyu’s Plot
Xiao Rou’s delicate face flushed red in anger. Amidst so many people criticizing her, she could not even slip a word in.
Xia Xiyan pulled Xiao Rou behind her and coldly looked everyone up and down. She bared the murderous intent in the depths of her eyes as she said in a sullen voice, “Such a big group of men bullying a small girl, are you all not embarrassed?”
When those people felt Xia Xiyan’s murderous gaze, they instantly stopped speaking. After all, her strength was clear to everyone. Furthermore, she had already become famous long ago.
Xia Xiyan was one of the peak geniuses of the Great Xia Nation, so offending her would not result in anything good.
The matches continued, but it was no longer something for Xiao Chen to be concerned about. He now fully focused on cultivating the Firmament Body Tempering Art.
When he heard all those mocking words and taunts, he simply ignored them; those insulting him were merely a group of jealous clowns.
Xiao Chen only focused on quickly digesting the insights he had gained today, hastening the Firmament Body Tempering Art’s breakthrough.
Xiao Chen improved more than he had expected. His Vital Qi moved throughout his entire body, surging in his three hundred odd acupoints.
The Azure Dragon in each of these acupoints enjoyed the Vital Qi. Every time the Vital Qi surged, Xiao Chen could sense the Azure Dragon’s greedy expression.
After Song Que had shattered the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit in the past, it split up and entered to all the acupoints of the body.
As Xiao Chen’s Vital Qi grew, the Azure Dragon’s Qi sealed in the acupoints was automatically released.
This was one of the reasons why Xiao Chen did not give up on cultivating the body. The Azure Dragon tattoo on his right arm was the best proof of the Azure Dragon’s strength.
Time slowly went by until the sky started to darken. Xiao Chen unknowingly cultivated for a long time.
The matches in the wrestling ring also came to an end. The seven people who obtained consecutive victories yesterday also continued their streak in an elegant manner, defeating their opponents with ease.
This created a sharp contrast with Xiao Chen’s arduous fights, making the crowd in the spectator stands more resolute in their decision. They felt that it was impossible for Xiao Chen to obtain sixty consecutive victories.
According to the rules, the contestants were free to leave after the matches ended. Xiao Chen got up and immediately returned to his courtyard.
After finishing his dinner, Xiao Chen stood in his spacious courtyard and started to analyze his fights.
The more Xiao Chen thought about it, the more he felt that the Great Dragon Tiger Fist had many flaws. There were too little moves and he could not switch between the offensive and defensive moves quickly enough.
Thus Xiao Chen ended up being more passive when he fought with cultivators practicing more exquisite techniques.
It seems like I have to change my strategy tomorrow, Xiao Chen thought to himself, I should start with making some alterations in my Martial Technique.
Given Xiao Chen’s level, he was not at the stage where he could create his own Fist Technique. However, making some adjustments to suit himself was not a problem.
Two hours later, Xiao Chen finally finished altering the Great Dragon Tiger Fist. After that, he continued to cultivate the Firmament Body Tempering Art’s fourth layer. He felt that he was already not far away from reaching Small Perfection in the fourth layer.
---
At the same time, a group of old men were currently busy tabulating some information in the room Gao Yangyu was at inside the tall tower.
“City Lord Gao, we have tabulated all the bets from today already. As you have said, Ding Fengchou and the others already have total bets of more than five million Medial Grade Spirit Stones. I estimate that there should be no problems with breaking past ten million tomorrow,” an old man said carefully while holding a stack of information.
Gao Yangyu was clearly in a bad mood. However, when he heard the tabulated sum, his expression turned warmer. He smiled and said, “As expected. The day after tomorrow is the final day of the betting. We should spread the news of the Ancient Desolate Tower’s selection in the wrestling ring tomorrow. If things keep going like this, we should be able to break pass fifty million Medial Grade Spirit Stones.”
The room in the tall tower was extremely large. Seven cultivators with extremely strong auras sat in the eastern corner, resting with their eyes closed.
Of the seven people, there was one with white hair and eyebrows. He had already lived for an unknown period of time. Even when his eyes were closed, one could still feel a horrifying killing Qi arising from him.
Occasionally, sparks flickered around him, or small tornadoes formed. Sometimes, flames appeared from nowhere.
Clearly, this old man had comprehended the various states to their limits. Thus, even when he closed his eyes, he unconsciously emitted them.
When the seven people heard that the bets might break past fifty million Medial Grade Spirit Stones, a look of joy flashed on their faces.
“City Lord, what should we do about that brat Xiao Chen? Should we ask these seven elders to make a move? Any one of them should be able to easily crush him.”
Gao Yangyu gave the seven people in the corner a glance and shook his head, “No, everyone can only appear twice. This is only the third day, this would be too wasteful.”
The old man continued, “Then, should we invite Shi Feng to make a move? Get him to cripple Xiao Chen before he can even admit defeat?”
[TL note: Note that this Shi Feng is a brand new character. This is the third Shi Feng in the story already. This actually makes more sense in Chinese as all three Shi Fengs use different Chinese Characters.]
Gao Yangyu shook his head and said, “That is even more impossible. Shi Feng is the final line of defense of our wrestling ring. If someone really obtains more than sixty consecutive victories, I will end up bankrupt.”
“Never mind, don’t bother yourselves with this matter. I will deal with this myself. I will go to Desolate City tonight.”
------
On the third morning of the matches, Xiao Chen suddenly opened his eyes while he sat on his bed. Two acupoints on his left palm and wrist suddenly exploded out.
Two strands of Dragon Qi can out and spread throughout Xiao Chen’s left arm.
“Bang!”
Xiao Chen clenched his left fist and punched the air. He sent out his Vital Qi and it immediately exploded. Ripples tore through his surroundings. As the ripples spread out, the entire building started to shake gently.
Xiao Chen revealed a joyous expression. He stood up from the bed and laughed, “The Firmament Body Tempering Art finally reached Small Perfection in the fourth layer. It unexpectedly managed to increase my strength by ten thousand kilograms of force, opening two acupoints in the process.
“If the fourth layer reaches Consummation, my strength might even increase by fifty thousand kilograms of force.”
The effects of a Heaven Ranked Body Tempering Cultivation Technique was indeed extraordinary. Xiao Chen’s physical strength had already reached a high level. Even an increase in five thousand kilograms of force was incredibly difficult. Back then, Bai Lixi remained stuck at this stage for decades.
Xiao Chen was extremely fortunate to be able to obtain a Heaven Ranked Body Tempering Cultivation Technique immediately after he reached his bottleneck.
The sky was already bright, so Xiao Chen left the room and headed towards the wrestling ring.
The moment Xiao Chen entered the spectator stands, the grey robed old man came to look for Xiao Chen and said, “Xiao Chen, pass me your iron medallion. I am changing it to number 125.”
Number 125…that was the last number for the matches. Xiao Chen did not ask any questions and handed over the iron medallion.
The grey-robed old man watched Xiao Chen accept the number change with a calm face before leaving immediately. He felt pressured by Xiao Chen who did not bother speaking any nonsense.
This fellow is so calm, that it is somewhat frightening.
To Xiao Chen, there was no difference in being the fifteenth to fight or the one hundred and twenty fifth.
He did not care if there were any plots against him or not. In this wrestling ring, the other party was making the rules, so Xiao Chen had no say in this matter.
He just went to his usual corner, avoiding the gazes of the crowd. Like before, he sat cross-legged and did his best to cultivate the Firmament Body Tempering Art’s fourth layer.
“This fellow is putting in last minute work again. How stupid!”
The others looked coldly at Xiao Chen’s actions, taunted him for a while before finally ignoring him completely.
Xiao Chen had already proven to himself that comprehending the Firmament Body Tempering Art’s fourth layer in the midst of battle was of great assistance, so he did not need to care about the gazes of people around him.
The matches began again. The fights of this day became even more intense than those of the previous two days. When the first ten-odd people appeared, most of them could not obtain any victories for more than half of their matches.
Even Yun Ping could only obtain nine victories. This was not very surprising, after all, they had fought many consecutive battles already.
The people in the spectator stands were already familiar with the characteristics of their Martial Techniques and habits. Furthermore, they did not have the habit of analysing each of their own battles like Xiao Chen did.
It was expected for the third day’s matches to be more arduous and for them to be defeated.
“Strange, several contestants already came up, why has that Xiao Chen not appeared yet?”
“Why do you care? Maybe his number was changed. You didn’t bet on him anyway. Look, Ding Fengchou is coming up.”
“That’s true, I betted five thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones on Ding Fengchou. I betted that he would be able to achieve fifty consecutive victories.”
“Ha ha! You are too gutless. I betted ten thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones on him achieving sixty consecutive victories. The payout is triple of yours.”
Some people in the spectator stands felt that it was strange that Xiao Chen had not appeared yet. However, this matter did not arouse too much attention.
As the favored contestant, Ding Fengchou, appeared, all doubts about Xiao Chen instantly vanished.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
Drummings resounded when Ding Fengchou entered the wrestling ring, as though they had sensed the atmosphere in the crowd suddenly erupt.
In his previous 28 matches, Ding Fengchou would defeat his opponent within fifty moves. He had used his Heavenly Gate Resistance Fencing to kill from a thousand meters away.
Ding Fengchou had obtained his victories easily and did not receive any injuries. He was extremely popular and he was the one most people betted on.
“I am Ding Fengchou of the Great Chu Nation’s Heavenly Sword Gate. Please grant me your guidance!”
Ding Fengchou, who was dressed in white robes and had a sword hanging at his waist, cupped his hands and faced the crowd. His demeanor seemed extraordinary.
After Ding Fengchou spoke, someone immediately came down to challenge him. Now that Ding Fengchou had obtained 28 consecutive victories, the reward for defeating him would be able to move some of the experts.
“I am Bai Yunfeng, pardon me for this offense!”
The person who challenged Ding Fengchou was also a swordsman. He made the first move and quickly rushed at Ding Fengchou.
He knew it would be impossible to defeat Ding Fengchou if he kept his distance given Ding Fenchou’s Heavenly Gate Resistance Fencing. Thus, his only chance would be to close the distance between them.
Ding Fengchou kicked off the ground. Contrary to Bai Yunfeng’s expectations, he rushed at Bai Yunfeng as well. He sent out a surging sword intent, and his sword light appeared before he even drew his sword.
“Xiu!”
Ding Fengchou used his fingers as a sword and pointed it at the ground. Then, eighteen strands of sword Qi appeared behind him.
“Weng! Weng!”
The strands of sword Qi buzzed in the air, as if they were real weapons. They carried a shart state of massacre and created eighteen gusts of strong winds. Howling, they dashed towards Bai Yunfeng.
“Ding Dang! Ding Dang!”
Bai Yunfeng’s face fell, and he quickly moved back. His weapon clashed with the sword Qi, giving off metallic sounds and countless sparks.
“Using Qi as Swords!”
Some of the sword experts from the spectator stands could not help but exclaim.
Using Qi as Swords was an exquisite technique of the Heavenly Gate Resistance Fencing. It turned Qi into sharp swords for one to use as they pleased.
It had no requirements on cultivation realm or talent. Instead, it had required extremely high comprehension ability.
Rumor stated that after it reaching Great Perfection, a Sword Sage could materialize tens of thousands of Qi swords out of nowhere. On top of that, the Qi swords would be very solid and would contain the will or state of the cultivator.