Chapter 565: Entire Army Waiting to Depart
There were some people who recognized Xuanyuan Zhantian and said, “That is the Eastern Sea’s Little Dragon King, Xuanyuan Zhantian. He is the top genius of the Boundless Sea. Indeed, wherever a true dragon goes, he will s.h.i.+ne brightly. Even after he came to the Tianwu Continent, his sharpness is undiminished.”
In the face of Xuanyuan Zhantian’s mocking, Sima Lingxuan quickly recovered his calm after some initial astonishment. His strong self-confidence precluded him feeling any pressure; he just felt somewhat surprised.
“Xuanyuan Zhantian, I have heard of your name long ago. The reputation of the Eastern Sea’s Little Dragon King is well deserved. However, this world has s.p.a.ce for only one true dragon. When the arena battles begin, I will personally slay a dragon!”
Xuanyuan Zhantian withdrew his aura and laughed loudly. “I’m afraid that not only will you not slay the dragon, you will get slayed yourself in the process. You best not run into me in the arena battles. Otherwise, with your strong self-confidence, when you sink into the valley of defeat, you will never be able to turn the situation around again.”
“Boom!”
Just as the two of them were bickering, the two dragons fighting an intense battle in the sky broke through the dark clouds at the same time. Golden beams of light descended.
With a ‘Xiu’ sound, their stone pillars retracted into the ground, descending to Dragon Sealing City.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
At this moment, the frozen stone dragons revived. The ten-odd little dragons that had been suppressed for so long soared into the sky. They gave off ferocious roars that reverberated throughout the mountains.
The scene of a group of dragons soaring into the sky was very grand. This was especially so with the ten-odd beams of golden light descending at the same time. This was a great eye-opener that could not be forgotten easily.
Following that, golden dragons would soar into the sky and break through the dark clouds at every moment.
Xiao Chen, who was on the roof, had already lost all his patience for watching. Now, while the fight for dragon pillars went on, he casually looked around the city.
The Dragon Sealing City was the only perfectly preserved ancient city. Much of the architecture unique to the Ancient Era still remained. This was an eye-opener as well.
After seven or eight minutes, two figures came flying over. A staff of the Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion was leading Liu Suifeng over. Based on his dispirited look, he must have failed.
“I failed. There were too many geniuses. I only realized that I am nothing after arriving here.” Liu Suifeng sighed as he shook his head and looked at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen smiled gently and said, “Don’t be discouraged. Watch this Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion carefully.”
Liu Suifeng nodded seriously and said, “Definitely. Now that a great age is here, I do not wish to stagnate.”
After another seven to eight minutes, Mu Heng and Zhang Lie arrived as well. Xiao Chen was not too surprised to learn that they also failed.
However, the two of them did not seem disappointed. Originally, they were here just to widen their horizons and had not harbored too much hope. With the four of them gathered together, they were not too bored. They started to casually chat about some things.
Mu Heng glanced at Xiao Chen and said, “Before I came down, I took a look at Senior Brother Murong’s situation. He is really ambitious. He was trying to obtain a seeded spot. Until now, he has not had anything to show yet.”
Xiao Chen smiled calmly. “With his strength, it would be hard for him to get a seeded spot. However, he should not have any problems qualifying. Have you guys seen Senior Sister Yun? What’s her situation like?”
“Ha ha! I am here.” Right after Xiao Chen spoke, melodious laughter sounded in their ears. Yun Kexin, who was in a light-colored flowery dress, was smiling broadly.
When Xiao Chen saw that Yun Kexin’s smile was different from the rest, he did not even have to guess to know whether she qualified or not.
“Did you qualify?” Liu Suifeng and the others asked.
Yun Kexin nodded gently, still smiling. “I was lucky enough to qualify. Three days later, I can take part in the arena battles on the Wind Cloud Arena.”
Mu Heng and the others revealed envious expressions. However, they were all from the same sect, so there was no need to be jealous. They all performed cupped-fist salutes and congratulated Yun Kexin.
After chatting for a while, Liu Suifeng suddenly said, “Murong Chong lost.”
The group looked up and saw that the compet.i.tion for the remaining nine seeds had reached its climax.
The one who defeated Murong Chong was the scion of the eight n.o.ble Clans’ Qian Clan, Qian Wen. Of course, it was not a true defeat. The fight for the seeded spot was not a life-and-death battle.
The partic.i.p.ants would not reveal their killing moves and trump cards so early. So they would retreat when things got difficult.
Not long later, Murong Chong obtained a spot from a regular dragon pillar. Like Xiao Chen had said, he managed to qualify relatively easily.
The resonant dragon roars resounded without end. Many golden dragons soared into the sky and descending beams of golden light filled the sky.
Dragon Sealing City, which had normally been dark for the past few millennia, was very bright and dazzling today.
Time slowly went by, and the qualifiers of the Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion came to an end. Out of this somewhat desperate compet.i.tion, four hundred elites finally emerged.
They only had to wait three days for the arena battles to start. Then, the true excitement of the Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion would officially begin.
When the dark clouds in the sky were completely restored, the elders of the Heavenly Saber Pavilion finally arrived at the courtyard.
Xiao Chen and the others, who were on the roof, jumped down immediately.
Jiang Chi looked around at the wretched courtyard and sighed softly. “I have wronged you all. We were placed in this broken-down place because our Heavenly Saber Pavilion had declined too much over the years.
The courtyard was indeed simple. With about ten people here, everyone would be able to get a room to themselves. However, there was no personal backyard.
If would not be very convenient if one wanted to cultivate at night.
Of course, this was the rule of Dragon Sealing City. It was naturally fair. If you were strong, you would be able to get a luxurious courtyard.
Take for example the eight n.o.ble Clans and ten great sects of the Great Jin Nation. These groups of people would get much more lavish courtyards at the Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion.
For them, not only would everyone get a small personal courtyard, there were also special cultivation rooms left from the Ancient Era to allow the partic.i.p.ants to make their final preparations.
Murong Chong said, “Everything will be fine after this Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion. In the future, the people of the Heavenly Saber Pavilion will not suffer like us again.”
Shen Manjun smiled and said, “Let’s not talk about this first. There are many special cultivation grounds in Dragon Sealing City. The sect will pay for all your expenditures here.”
Jiang Chi stepped up and gave the three people who qualified a spatial ring each. Those who did not qualify got a wooden box.
Xiao Chen extended his Spiritual Sense into the spatial ring and was startled. It had a lot of Medial Grade Spirit Stones, a total of four hundred thousand.
With the three of them, that would amount to over a million Medial Grade Spirit Stones. It looked like the Heavenly Saber Pavilion had invested a lot in this Five Nation Youth Compet.i.tion.
However, Jiang Chi did not reveal any pained expression at all. It was already beyond his expectations that three people could qualify this time.
One had to know that only four hundred people in the entire continent could qualify. It was truly not easy for the Heavenly Saber Pavilion to obtain three spots.
Even the Heavenly Saber Pavilion’s long-time rival—the Misty Sword Sect—only obtained two spots. The Night Spirit Palace was worse off; Mu Chengxue had barely managed to obtain one spot.
As for the other n.o.ble Clans of the Great Qin Nation, aside from Duanmu Qing, no one else qualified.
Jiang Chi smiled gently and said, “Go rest for a while. There will be time for you to look around Dragon Sealing City. There are many fun things in the city.”
Night came early due to the heavy dark clouds covering the sky above Dragon Sealing City. After another four hours, it was completely dark.
Xiao Chen gently pushed open his room door. Then, he leaped up and flew towards the ring of peaks. He used his Spiritual Sense to scan the area and discovered that many cultivators on the various peaks had the same intentions as he did.
The arena battles were about to officially begin. Naturally, they had to sort out all the Martial Techniques that they learned. They could not relax too much.
When Xiao Chen found a desolate peak, he paused in the air. After that, he quickly descended to a forest there that had level ground.
Although a chill night wind blew strongly and Xiao Chen wore only a single layer of clothing, he did not feel too cold.
After thinking for a while, he completely calmed himself. Then, he placed his right hand on the saber hilt and drew it.
A surging saber intent immediately poured out and spread through the forest. Countless tornadoes appeared and picked up a large amount of fallen leaves.
The saber intent slowly grew stronger. Soon, it reached Small Perfection. But it did not stop there, continuing to grow stronger.
The forty percent comprehended saber intent caused the tornadoes to elongate into a long line. The dead leaves on the line started spinning, becoming like sharp knives. The tornadoes kicked up an enormous amount of dust, creating a large cloud.
The dead leaves looked like they could not endure the energy; they seemed likely to explode at any moment. However, they did not explode in the end, demonstrating Xiao Chen’s perfect control.
Fifty percent comprehended saber intent…strong winds blew and tiny cracks appeared on the dead leaves.
Sixty percent comprehended saber intent…a loud ‘boom’ resounded as all the dead leaves exploded at the same time. The surging saber intent turned into countless saber winds launching out into the forest.
“Ka ca! Ka ca!”
The trees in the forest shattered. By the time the saber winds died down, all the trees in the forest had been chopped in half.
If someone else saw this, they would be greatly astonished. Bai Qi’s Small Perfection saber intent was already sufficient for him to stand out and be proud.
However, the saber intent that Xiao Chen demonstrated reached sixty percent comprehension. He was a mere ten percent short of reaching Great Perfection.
As for the situation in the forest, Xiao Chen was not overly excited about it, maintaining his calm.
If he forcibly raised his saber intent, he could reach sixty percent comprehension as well. That was no worse than Sima Lingxuan. However, it would be difficult for him to perfectly control it as he pleased.
Xiao Chen felt like he was just needed one more step to gain perfect control and advance his saber intent to Great Perfection. However, this step was as difficult as scaling the heavens.
He said softly, “My saber intent can only be considered as forty percent comprehended. However, if I run into Sima Lingxuan, I can try going all-in. There is no need for me to fear him.”
Sima Lingxuan had his strong self-confidence. Although Xiao Chen normally maintained a low profile, he did not consider himself weak.
Even if your aura is overwhelming and exploding with self-confidence, I do not fear you and can defeat you.
Xiao Chen slowly moved about in the forest, practicing his Martial Techniques—the Wukui Saber Technique, the Lightning Tribulation Saber Technique, and the very strong Four Season Saber Technique.
A strong aura spread out in the forest and explosions resounded continuously. By the time he sheathed his saber, the flat forest had become riddled with holes, no longer level.