Chapter 86: The Loathsome Scoundrel

Three days later.

On an island in the sea between the Ten Southern Kingdoms, what had once been a barren isle was today alive with excitement.

In the sky, enormous flying demon beasts hovered one after another, so many they seemed to blot out the sun.

Upon the island, the geniuses of the ten kingdoms and the thirty-six autonomous islands had all gathered here.

And of course, there was no lack of gifted youths from the hidden lineages as well.

“One would never know without seeing it. To think so many heaven-favored talents are concealed among the mortal martial realms.”

In the air above, eighteen great figures from the supreme sects looked down upon the young prodigies below and could not help but marvel.

“Indeed. In terms of talent and constitution, quite a few among them can stand shoulder to shoulder with the top disciples of our sects.”

“It is only that the resources they have obtained are nowhere near comparable to ours, and thus the gap in combat strength remains vast.”

“Look there, that burly youth. His blood vitality is astonishingly rich. He should be one of the young descendants of the hidden Bloodline House of the Tyrant Body, should he not?”

“Precisely. He possesses the Azure-Blood Tyrant Physique. I want that boy for certain. And look at that one as well—he has refined his own body into a weapon and has already achieved some success. His future is boundless.”

The great figures conversed among themselves, but in truth they were already choosing their prospective representatives in advance.

That secret realm was exceedingly special, so what they valued more was one’s innate constitution rather than present combat power.

Xia Jiuxuan and his two companions also arrived upon the island.

“Senior Brother Xia, do you see? These people are all quite impressive!”

Duanmu Wan looked over the others and spoke to Xia Jiuxuan.

Xia Jiuxuan merely gave a faint nod and said nothing.

As for Mu Feng, seeing one gifted genius after another with rare constitutions beside him, a sense of dejection rose again in his heart.

He had thought that, having fought his way into the top twenty of the Hidden Dragon rankings, he could not be much worse than others.

But only today did he truly understand that those rankings were far too superficial. Most of the truly formidable figures had never taken part in them at all.

Leaving aside everyone else, this very Director Xia alone was stronger than him by an immeasurable margin.

He sighed softly and followed behind Qin Tian and Duanmu Wan with lowered profile, not daring to speak recklessly.

“Heroes all, registration for the championship has now closed. Time is short, and the contest is about to begin!”

A middle-aged man stood upon a battle platform forged from spirit artifacts and announced in a loud voice.

“Before we begin, I will briefly explain the rules.

“There are two hundred and thirty teams participating this time, six hundred and ninety people in total. The contest will be divided into three rounds. The first round tests the speed at which you absorb spiritual energy. Begin.”

After hearing the man’s announcement, many looked at one another in confusion.

These rules were far too concise; quite a few still had no idea what was going on.

“Very well, all heroes, please be silent. I will now distribute ten special spirit crystals to each of you. Within one hour, you will be scored according to your speed of absorbing spiritual energy. The highest score is one hundred.”

As soon as he finished speaking, ten spirit crystals flew automatically before each contestant.

These crystals were different in color from ordinary ones; they were violet.

“A test of cultivation speed? Who can compete with me!”

“This round, I’m absolutely getting full marks!”

“So many frills. Why not just fight directly?”

All six hundred and sixty contestants sat cross-legged and began refining the spirit crystals.

“Senior Brother Xia, hurry and begin!”

Seeing Xia Jiuxuan merely turning the crystals over in his hand, Duanmu Wan urged him.

“What’s the rush? You go ahead first,” Xia Jiuxuan said lightly.

“Uh, all right. I’m going to focus completely now!”

Duanmu Wan said no more. Placing the spirit crystals in her palm, she closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and began to cultivate.

Time passed bit by bit. Half an hour went by, and Xia Jiuxuan still had not begun.

By contrast, the crystals in Duanmu Wan’s hand were being consumed one after another at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before long, she opened her eyes.

“I’m done absorbing them.”

Duanmu Wan rose to her feet and glanced around. Aside from her, everyone else was still refining and absorbing.

“Excellent.”

The middle-aged man on the platform nodded with a smile, unmistakable delight in his eyes.

To refine ten spirit crystals in half an hour—this was absolutely talent among talents.

Even in the transcendent great sects, only a handful among peers possessed such speed.

Duanmu Wan’s performance at once drew the attention of the great figures watching from above.

“Do you see that girl? She is actually of the Sword Physique,” an old man said, somewhat astonished.

“The mortal martial realms are truly full of talent. That girl is no worse than Xu Ling of your Azure Dragon Sect.”

“Indeed. Her aptitude can contend with Xu Ling’s, but in the end she still cultivates mortal martial arts, so the disparity in strength is considerable.”

“Strength is of no consequence. Once inside the secret realm, everyone’s cultivation will be reduced to nothing anyway.”

“That is true.” One of the elders nodded, his gaze sweeping slightly over Xia Jiuxuan beside Duanmu Wan. “But why can that boy not refine even a little? How can such trash be allowed in to make up the numbers?”

At these words, the others all turned their eyes toward Xia Jiuxuan.

They had taken interest in Duanmu Wan, and naturally they worried she might be dragged down by others.

“How outrageous. Why did that girl form a team with such an ordinary nobody?”

“Let me see whether he possesses any special constitution.”

One elder’s eyes emitted a strange glow as he inspected Xia Jiuxuan.

After looking for a moment, the old man’s expression suddenly darkened.

“He has a mortal body—a mortal body with extremely poor aptitude.”

“Hmph. That girl is ignorant as well. Why would she bring such worthless baggage to compete?”

“What does it matter? If you dislike him, simply do not choose that girl’s team later. Besides, fast absorption of spiritual energy does not necessarily mean high comprehension. Let us wait and see.”

“That is true enough.”

The group fell silent and continued observing the situation below.

After Duanmu Wan, several others successively stood up, indicating that they too had finished refining their spirit crystals.

Those few were all prodigies among prodigies.

Soon, the hour was up.

“All of you, stop absorbing. I will now inspect the results.”

The middle-aged man on the platform released his spiritual sense and swept it across everyone one by one.

Within the allotted time, a total of eleven people had completely refined all ten spirit crystals and thus received full marks, one hundred points.

Forty-two others had refined nine crystals.

Three hundred and sixty had refined eight.

All the rest had refined six or seven.

Only one person had refined fewer than six.

“I will now announce the scores. Duanmu Wan, one hundred.

“Long Yunfei, one hundred.

“Zhou Haoran, one hundred.”

He continued down the list.

“Li Wei, sixty.”

When he came to the last person, the middle-aged man paused, his gaze settling on Xia Jiuxuan. He looked carefully at the nameplate before him.

“Xia Jiuxuan, zero.”

The whole place erupted in laughter.

Those who had scored only sixty or seventy had thought themselves at the very bottom and were feeling dejected.

Yet there was actually someone with zero points?

What sort of rotten scrap was this, to dare come and participate in the championship with such ability?

“Xia Jiuxuan, stand up.”

Face dark, the middle-aged man called down.

Xia Jiuxuan rose. “What is it?”

The man said coldly, “Young Master Xia, by refusing to refine the spirit crystals, are you expressing dissatisfaction with the rules of this tournament?”

“Not at all,” Xia Jiuxuan replied flatly.

“Then why did you not refine them? Even a half-awakened barnyard fowl would not fail to refine at least a little.”

There was anger in the man’s voice. In his eyes, Xia Jiuxuan was deliberately disrupting order.

For he had watched the entire process: Xia Jiuxuan had not cultivated for even a single breath of time.

Xia Jiuxuan remained unhurried and said slowly, “Let me put it this way. Your spirit crystals contain special marks. Even if I refined all of them, you would still be unable to detect how much I absorbed. No matter what, I would still be scored at zero. So I did not bother.”

Another burst of laughter rang out.

Everyone thought the boy absurdly amusing.

If he lacked the ability, why not simply admit it? Why make excuses and spout nonsense?

Hearing this, the middle-aged man flew over and landed before Xia Jiuxuan.

“Fine. I will give you one chance. Refine them before me,” he said in a deep voice.

“Is that necessary?” Xia Jiuxuan shrugged.

“Are you trying to cause trouble on purpose?” The man’s voice grew even colder.

Seeing the man target him so aggressively, Xia Jiuxuan had originally been tempted to cut him down with a single sword stroke.

But after a moment’s thought, he decided entering the secret realm was more important, and so he restrained himself.

“Watch carefully.”

Xia Jiuxuan opened his palm, and ten violet spirit crystals floated above it.

In the next instant, with a movement of his will, all ten violet crystals vanished at once, transformed into spiritual energy and drawn into the Slaughter Domain.

Everyone stared at the scene, astonishment in their eyes.

“How did they all disappear at once!”

“That can’t be right! How is that possible!”

“You’ve got to be joking. Is that some trick?”

The heavenly favored on the field exploded into discussion at once.

The middle-aged man, however, showed no surprise at all. Instead, his face grew so gloomy it seemed about to drip with water.

“Do you find grandstanding amusing?”

Xia Jiuxuan frowned and said coldly, “You are the one refusing to let this go. What exactly do you mean by it?”

The spiritual energy inside the middle-aged man began to stir. “Boy, stop playing tricks. You must have sent the spirit crystals into a spatial storage device. Who do you think such a petty stunt can fool?”

The moment the crystals vanished, he had already examined Xia Jiuxuan with his spiritual sense and discovered no trace of marked spiritual energy remaining within him.

Thus he concluded that Xia Jiuxuan must have hidden the crystals inside a spatial container.

Otherwise, how could the crystals possibly vanish so suddenly?

To refine ten spirit crystals in an instant—there was absolutely no one in these mortal martial lands capable of such a thing.

Xia Jiuxuan gave a cold laugh. “Believe it or not, that is your affair. In any case, I have done exactly as you demanded. If you still insist on giving me zero, I have no objection.”

The middle-aged man was thoroughly enraged. In a frigid voice he declared, “I now announce that your qualification to compete is revoked. You are furthermore ordered to return the spirit crystals in full. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences.”

“You are being far too unreasonable.”

At these words, Duanmu Wan, who had remained silent until now, stood up.

“Young lady, your talent is quite good. Why keep company with someone like Xia Jiuxuan?” The middle-aged man was noticeably more polite toward her.

“Hmph.” Duanmu Wan gave a cold snort. “Who I choose to team up with is none of your concern. You just said he hid the spirit crystals away. Do you have proof? If not, then shut your mouth. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite.”

The entire crowd was stunned.

“Has that beauty gone mad? For the sake of some useless drifter, she dares offend that lord?”

“How could a beauty of such peerless looks keep company with a toad like him? I cannot understand it. After the competition ends, I ought to go get close to her. She’ll surely take a liking to me.”

“Heh, isn’t she that newly risen beauty who topped the Hidden Dragon rankings? So this is what she’s like?”

Discussion surged everywhere; every kind of remark could be heard.

When the middle-aged man heard Duanmu Wan challenge him so openly, he felt utterly humiliated. Releasing his aura, he intentionally or otherwise pressed down upon Xia Jiuxuan.

“Duanmu Wan asks this seat for proof. Very well. I now command you to hand over your spatial storage device so that I may inspect it and give everyone an explanation.”