Chapter 500: Entering the Third Grade Battlefield
Furthermore, most people would have to swear an oath on their heart demon to not leak the secret techniques. Only someone like Leng Tianhe could ignore these rules.
Xiao Chen asked somewhat excitedly, “Where is your adoptive father now?”
Xiao Chen could finally hand over the Divine Weapon. This item with him was a hidden danger. Once it was exposed, he would not survive even if he had nine lives.
Shi Feng’s gaze turned cautious as she countered, “What are you planning?”
“I…I…nothing, I was just asking. Can you tell me? I would like to seek advice from him. After all, I come from the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.”
Xiao Chen wanted to tell the truth. However, when he thought about it, the Divine Weapon was an important manner that he should not speak of easily. So Xiao Chen could only lie.
Shi Feng said coldly, “You are hemming and hawing. I can tell with one glance that you are lying. No way I am telling you.”
Xiao Chen smiled and did not deny it. There was no rush to this matter. At least he had found a clue. All he had to do was follow this clue and he would be able to find Leng Tianhe.
The two continued moving forward. Xiao Chen found the masked girl very interesting as they chatted along the way.
He discovered that Shi Feng was different from what he expected. She was not as cold as she looked. Although she kept her guard up against him, it was not overtly so.
“Speaking of which, why do you wear a mask? Is your true appearance something that cannot be seen?” Xiao Chen asked another question that he had wondered about.
Shi Feng said indifferently, “My adoptive father told me to wear it. He said that when I fight, I cannot control my emotions, allowing my opponents to read me.”
Xiao Chen asked curiously, “In that case, if you can never control your emotions, won’t you have to wear this mask forever?”
She replied coldly, “Are you cursing me?”
He smiled and said, “How can that be? You are overthinking this. I really want to see you remove your mask and see your true appearance.”
When Shi Feng heard this, she said, “You will. My first purpose in going the Battlefield is to remove my mask.”
“What’s the second purpose?”
“To improve myself and defeat you. I had never been defeated by someone of the same generation before you. So, you best not die in the Battlefield.”
Flabbergasted, Xiao Chen asked, “Speaking of which, are you guiding me now because you are afraid that something would happen to me, and then after you improve, you would not be able to find a whetstone to sharpen yourself further?”
Shi Feng nodded and smiled. “That is absolutely correct. However, the whetstone is one for swords, not sabers; I cultivate the sword, not the saber.”
[TL note: There are two words for whetstone here 磨刀石 and 磨剑石. The first literally means ‘“stone for sharpening sabers” and the second is “stone for sharpening swords.” When Xiao Chen spoke, he used the saber one.]
Xiao Chen immediately felt very depressed. No wonder Shi Feng was so kind; she had such an agenda. “In that case, I better curse you to not be able to remove your mask forever.”
“Xiu!”
Shi Feng drew her twin swords and sent two strands of sharp sword Qi at Xiao Chen.
Shi Feng attacked on a whim. Xiao Chen was startled and quickly tilted his body to dodge. The two strands of sword Qi brushed past him and created huge waves on the sea.
“In that case, you, a person with a poor sense of direction, can continue forward by yourself. This Miss will not accompany you further.”
Shi Feng sheathed her swords and flashed forward, ignoring Xiao Chen. In a few breaths, she disappeared from Xiao Chen’s sight.
I really still do not understand how women think. They change on a whim. Xiao Chen felt very depressed as he watched Shi Feng vanish.
I should just wait. After all, it will be night soon. At that time, I just have to keep heading west.
“Burble…” Just at this moment, the sea in front of him suddenly became turbulent.
Xiao Chen took ten steps back as his expression changed. He placed his right hand on the saber hilt and cautiously observed the situation.
“Chi!”
A huge azure dragon head came out of the water. The dragon head was made out of metal and the water did not cling to it. The dragon mouth opened with a ‘ka ca’ sound.
Two middle-aged men in purple robes jumped out of the dragon mouth. The sides of the purple robes were embroidered with gold and an azure dragon at their backs.
“Are you here to participate in the third grade Battlefield? You just have to reply yes or no.”
The person on the right spoke very fast. When he saw Xiao Chen nod, he said, “Very well, get aboard. We are from the Divine Dragon Palace.”
Xiao Chen was not in a rush to board. Instead, he asked, “Do you have any proof?”
When the person on the left heard that, he frowned and said impatiently, “You are just a mere Medial Grade Martial King; why are you spouting so much nonsense? Just come in when you’re told to.”
However, the person who had spoken first did not bother trying to argue. He took out a command medallion and said, “This is the command medallion of a Divine Dragon Palace’s outer sect elder. It is definitely real. Please hurry up. We are in the periphery of the Outer Sea that is in the Black Dragon Group’s control. We cannot linger for too long.”
After Xiao Chen saw the medallion, he no longer hesitated. He followed behind the two and entered the dragon mouth.
The dragon mouth closed and the metal dragon quickly sank into the sea and proceeded on its way.
Xiao Chen followed the two into the body of the dragon and discovered the interior to be like a small palace. There were Night Pearls on the ceiling to illuminate the passage, so it was not dark.
The group arrived at a hall and Xiao Chen saw that there were about ten-odd people there. They were cultivators who were going to the third grade Battlefield like him, but he did not see Bai Lixi or Sun Guangquan.
The atmosphere in this place was quite heavy. Xiao Chen immediately found a corner, sat down, and closed his eyes to recuperate.
After the two Divine Dragon Palace outer sect elders brought Xiao Chen here, they did not linger. Instead, they quickly headed off anxiously.
“I heard that this time, seventy percent of the cultivators here to participate in the Battlefield were abducted by the Black Dragon Group. Ten percent were killed and only twenty percent managed to escape.”
“Now, we have only twenty percent of the usual number of people. This Battlefield is going to be much harder than usual. Probably only ten percent will survive.”
“The Black Dragon Group seems to be making a big move. The Divine Dragon Palace has been rising very fast recently. It would be hard for twenty percent of the usual number of people to eliminate the Demons of the third grade Battlefield.”
“It seems like this is a bad time. Unexpectedly, the Black Dragon Group and the Divine Dragon Palace are at war. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing for us.”
“He he! Fortune or disaster would depend on how you look at it. A more intense Battlefield would mean better experiential training. There would be no point to it if it were too easy.”
When the dragon submerged, some people in the hall sighed, some were excited, and some were indifferent; there were many reactions.
Xiao Chen felt the Azure-Dragon-shaped warship surface and submerge another three or four times, bringing in another five or six people.
After moving underwater for a long time, they finally surfaced and soared into the sky, flying amidst the clouds.
After flying for an entire night, they finally arrived at a small island.
The two Divine Dragon Palace outer sect elders who had led Xiao Chen in entered the hall and said to the crowd in an unhurried manner, “We have arrived. Please disembark!”
Xiao Chen opened his eyes and slowly followed the crowd and emerged from the dragon mouth.
Xiao Chen looked around and found himself surrounded by hundreds of Azure-Dragon-shaped warships parked on the huge drill grounds.
Countless cultivators came out from the dragon mouths and gathered together. There were at least two thousand people.
Xiao Chen felt astonished. Just twenty percent meant more than two thousand people. This meant that if everyone was here, there would have been at least ten thousand people.
The two thousand people present were the people who managed to escape the pursuit of the Black Dragon Group; they were all elites.
The weakest of them were peak Superior Grade Martial Kings. About one third of them were half-step Martial Monarchs.
Xiao Chen continued looking around and finally discovered Bai Lixi and Sun Guangquan. So, he quickly moved through the crowds and went over to them.
Bai Lixi laughed loudly and said, “I knew that nothing would happen to you. Indeed, it is as I have expected; you are not even injured.
Xiao Chen nodded slightly before saying, “I heard some things on the warship. This time, it seems like only twenty percent of the usual number will be participating in this Battlefield.”
Nodding, Bai Lixi said, “I don’t know what the Black Dragon Group is doing, but that is a matter between them and the Divine Dragon Palace; it has nothing to do with us. For us, it might be a good thing.”
Sun Guangquan added, “The third grade Battlefield is not as horrifying as you imagine. The strength of the Demons would not exceed Martial Monarchs. Fewer people merely means that we have to kill more.”
Xiao Chen then asked, “So what exactly is our mission in the Battlefield?”
Bai Lixi answered, “It is very simple, we just have to kill Demons. Every Demon we kill will give us some points. We can use these points to exchange for Medial Grade Spirit Stones or even Superior Grade Spirit Stones with the Divine Dragon Palace.”
Xiao Chen said in shock, “We can even get Superior Grade Spirit Stones?”
Bai Lixi smiled and answered, “Of course. The Spirit Veins of the Deep Sea are much better than those of the continent. Why else do you think there are so many people coming to the Battlefield?
“Experiential training for cultivators is phrasing it nicely. In fact, every Deep Sea Battlefield is a threat to the Divine Dragon Palace. Once there are too many Demons, and the resources become insufficient, the Demons will plunder the nearby islands.
“You understand what I mean right?”
Xiao Chen nodded his understanding. Simply put, the Divine Dragon Palace did not have enough manpower and were spending Spirit Stones to hire people to help.
Cultivators could undergo experiential training here and raise their combat experience as well as obtain Spirit Stones. This was killing two birds with one stone. No wonder there were so many people.
“Elder Feng, everyone is here. This disciple counted the number of people and there are only 2,300 people. The rest had been abducted by the Black Dragon Group.” A middle-aged man in purple robes respectfully reported to an old man on a platform in the drill grounds.
This old man’s name was Feng Buyu. He was a Martial Monarch and a Divine Dragon Palace inner sect elder. He was also the overseer of this third grade Battlefield.
[TL note: Feng Buyu’s name means the wind does not speak. Not sure if this is going to be a pun on his character.]
Feng Buyu muttered, “Just ignore the matter of the Black Dragon Group. Naturally, our superiors will find an countermeasure. Two thousand elites is barely sufficient. Gather all of them and let’s begin.”
“I obey your commands!”
The purple-robed man left to carry out his orders, issuing some instructions. All the outer sect elders immediately moved to gather Xiao Chen and the others together.
“Ka ca! Ka ca!”
All the Azure Dragon warships opened up in the middle and joined together.
Shortly after that, before Xiao Chen’s astonished gaze, they formed a huge rectangular platform. Hundreds of dragon heads lined the sides of the platform.
Bai Lixi patted Xiao Chen’s shoulders and said, “Don’t be too astonished. This is just the Divine Dragon Palace’s Divine Dragon Warship. When you reach the Battlefield, you will see larger ones. Let’s go.”