Heavenly Jewel Change

Due to the rarity of Alexandrite Cat’s Eye Elemental Jewels, as such, only Lin TianAo and Shangguan Bing’er who already knew the facts, none of the others had any suspicions about it, all of them thinking that the Lightning Attribute and Darkness Attribute Skills were actually inscribed on his Consolidated Bow.

Zong Stage Consolidating Equipment Masters were able to create Consolidated Equipment with such capabilities. It had to be done so by sacrificing a socket, and instead inscribing a skill upon it permanently. That would bring an extreme power to this Consolidated Equipment, but it was also a huge drain on Heavenly Energy due to the difference in attributes. Furthermore, the drawback as compared to sockets was that it was fixed, and it was definitely not as flexible in fights as socketing different Elemental Jewel Skills. Also, it would forever remain at that power level, and would not improve like personal skills as cultivation level increases. However, it was still worth it when inscribing a powerful Skill.

The eight man Fei Li Battle Team left the Fei Li City under Lin TianAo’s leadership, boarding a ship across the Fei Li Lake, heading towards the east.

As they travelled along, Lin TianAo explained more to the three of them about the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, letting them know more about the entire event, which would be held in the ZhongTian Empire’s Capital City, the ZhongTian City.

The Boundless Mainland was extremely huge, and there were several dozen Empires all around, large and small alike. The Empires’ strength were measured in various rankings, and amongst them all, the two strongest were the Zhongtian Empire and the WanShou Empire.

The WanShou Empire occupied nearly the entire northern boundary of the entire mainland, and their territories amounted to almost a fourth of the entire landmass. As for the ZhongTian Empire, they occupied the entire center of the mainland, which was mostly arable land suitable for farming, and their entire territory was even larger than the WanShou Empire. As such, these two Empires alone were about four seventh of the entire Continent. Even the next two largest empires, the Fei Li Empire and the Bai Da Empire were barely half of either Empire when added together.

As for high level Empires like the Fei Li Empire, there were a total of five in the entire continent. Besides the Fei Li Empire and Bai Da Empire, there was also the Dan Dun Empire at the south, the Bao Po Empire and the Geritimo Empire in the east. These five ‘2nd’ ranked Empires, along with the two top Empires, would make up more than ninety percent of the continent’s landmass. The remaining ten percent would be consisted of the other twenty odd small empires, and the Heavenly Bow Empire which Zhou Weiqing came from was one of these smaller, unassuming Empires.

As such, the main competition of the Heavenly Jewel Tournament was actually only amongst the seven large Empires. Although the smaller Empires might occasionally produce a powerhouse or two, it was rare and far in between, and would do little to affect the status and ranking of these seven large empires.

On the last Heavenly Jewel Tournament, the Fei Li Empire’s Battle Team had actually scored a pretty decent result, achieving a good 5th position, almost making it into the top four. Alas, it was just too difficult to actually make it. This round, of the five students who made up the main battle team members, only Lin TianAo had attended the previous Tournament three years ago.

After passing the Fei Li Lake, Lin TianAo bought eight good horses, and all of them mounted up to continue on their journey. According to Lin TianAo’s plan, the earlier they reached the ZhongTian City, the better it would be. Firstly, they could rest up and nurture their strength in preparation for the fight, and it would also allow them to prepare battle plans.

Among the eight of them, Zhou Weiqing, Shangguan Bing’er and Crow had never ridden a horse before. In the past, when they were in the Heavenly Bow Unit, they had always headed out for missions in Hua Feng’s luxurious carriage. Now that they had to ride horses, both of them felt it was a novel experience. After all, they were Heavenly Jewel Masters with exceptional physiques, and under the tutelage of Lin TianAo and the rest, they quickly picked up the trick to riding.

The only one with problems was Crow, causing her to feel rather gloomy. In the five days that day had taken to travel to the borders of the ZhongTian Empire, she had actually had to change steeds six times, with each horse barely lasting a day. The reason was simple, this beautiful young lady’s weight was unbelievable. Even the stoutest mount was barely able to carry her along for a day before frothing at the mouth.

“Big Sis Crow, you’re truly too valiant… you have to change horses again…” Zhou Weiqing said rather speechlessly at Crow, who was staring helplessly at her frothing steed.

Crow gave a cold humph and said: “I’m just a little heavy? These little horses are just too weak.”

Zhou Weiqing said curiously: “To be honest, though you’re slightly bigger than me and Leader Lin, you shouldn’t be that much heavier than us right? Why can’t your horses take it?”

Crow glanced at him and asked: “How heavy are you?”

Zhou Weiqing replied: “Less than 200 jin 1 I think?” With his well muscled, 1.9m tall frame, such a weight was very healthy. Amongst normal humans, he would be considered huge.

Crow looked to Lin TianAo and asked: “Leader, what about you?”

Lin TianAo was even larger and more muscular than Zhou Weiqing, and he replied: “I’m about 230 jin or so.”

Crow grinned and said: “The both of you added up together are still lighter than me.”

“Ahhh?” This time, everyone was startled. Zhou Weiqing and Lin TianAo added up together was already more than 400 jin! Although Crow was large, she definitely did not look to be 400 jin!

Crow said proudly: “I don’t mind telling you all my secret. I’m from one of the minority tribes at the northern border of our Fei Li Empire, the Gold Crow Tribe. We are born with extremely dense bone and musculature structures, and also with great physical strength. My weight is about 600 jin!”

“Damn!” Besides Shangguan Bing’er and the steady, unflustered Lin TianAo, everyone else couldn’t help but let loose a curse at that.

600 jin? Was that even human?!

Drunken Bao muttered: “No wonder your strength is so terrifying, you are actually one of the Gold Crow Tribe! The Gold Crow Tribe, they are known as Berserker Tribes! During their greatest times, they numbered over a hundred thousand members, and they were famous for their five thousand strong Gold Crow Axe Troops, who were undefeated in battle. At the peak of their fame, they were comparable to the WanShou Empire’s Barbarian Wolf Fang Tribe, both considered one of the strongest infantry forces in the entire continent. However, nobody knows what happened but the numbers of the Gold Crow Tribe started dwindling, and eventually lost their prestige and might. However, no matter what, whenever a member of the Gold Crow Tribe joins the army, they are still very highly rated and are usually given a high rank. On the battlefield, the Gold Crow Tribe Members are like a battle machine on their own.”

Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er listened attentively to assuage their curiosity. After all, the rest of the team were from the Fei Li Empire, and they more or less knew about the Gold Crow Tribe, as they nodded in agreement.

Little Four said curiously: “However, as far as I know, the Gold Crow Warriors are at most Physical Jewel Masters. I have never heard of a Heavenly Jewel Master amongst them, yet Crow, you are one!”

Crow’s expression grew dejected, and she said slowly: “Indeed, our Gold Crow Tribe members are all born with immense physical power, and we can be said to be unmatched in terms of strength, even without Power Jewels. Due to our physical density, any of the normal adult Gold Crow Tribe members, no matter male or female, will be at least over 500 jin in weight. Furthermore, our skins and muscles are extremely tough, giving us a natural ‘armour’. It can be said that any ordinary Gold Crow Axe Warrior can be a match for a normal Jewel Master.”

“Alas, one day, our Gold Crow Tribe started having problems in reproduction. Nobody knows why, and it happened quite suddenly. None of our tribe members were able to reproduce when mated with one another. With no choice, we could only seek to find mates outside the tribe. Alas, our weight is also extremely heavy even as a fetus. As such, our males are unable to find mates outside the tribe, otherwise any normal human females will be killed by the heavy fetus breaking through her womb. Only our females will be able to find mates outside. However, you can tell how we look like… In the entire Gold Crow Tribe, I am already considered the most beautiful. As for the other female members, even the shortest is at least 2 metres tall. Which normal human would be willing to marry us? As such, this has caused our population to drop drastically. In truth, the original reason I came to the Fei Li City and entered the Heavenly Jewel Master Academy was to look for my fiance. That bastard… when he saw what I looked like, he actually ran away from home! I heard he came to the Fei Li City and came here looking for him… but I still have not managed to find him yet.”

“I myself am a product of an ‘outer’ marriage, my mother is the current chieftain of our Gold Crow Tribe, and my father is the chieftain of a Barbarian Tribe from the WanShou Empire. Years ago, my father had gotten into trouble while exploring the world, and had been rescued by my mother. Later on, they had me. As such, I am not a pure blood Gold Crow Tribe member, which is why I am a Heavenly Jewel Master.”

Hearing Crow’s explanation, everyone couldn’t help but feel a sense of solemnity. This was indeed the sorrow of an entire race!

Zhou Weiqing said apologetically: “I’m sorry Big Sis Crow, I did not know that your weight was due to your racial attributes.”

Crow shook her head and said: “No problem, who asked my weight to be so unique. That said… Bro Zhou, looking at your physique, it seems pretty good… and your Physical Jewel is also Strength Attribute right? Why not come to our Gold Crow Tribe, you do not even have to marry anyone, you can just leave your seed with us.”

Zhou Weiqing almost fell off his horse, looking at Crow in abject horror. “No please! Big Sis, please let me go! My little body, how can I withstand 600 jin!!”

Crow looked at Zhou Weiqing slyly and smiled, saying: “You can be on top!”

At that, besides Shangguan Bing’er who flushed a deep red, everyone else burst out laughing. It was rare to see Zhou Weiqing to be rendered speechless after all.

By now, the eight of them were mounted on their steeds, racing along the official roads of the ZhongTian Empire. Although Zhou Weiqing did not know much about this No. 1 Empire in the world, he could still read many things from this immensely wide official road.

Not even speaking of the Heavenly Bow Empire, even the official roads of the Fei Li Empire were barely twenty metres wide, and that was considered one of the top roads. Yet, this ZhongTian Empire’s official road was more than thirty metres wide. Along the broad road, there were large trees growing neatly along the road, and the entire road seemed to show the prosperity and bearing of a massive empire.

The Fei Li City was at the northern part of the Fei Li Empire, while the ZhongTian City was also at the northern part of the ZhongTian Empire. The Fei Li Empire’s eastern border met with the ZhongTian Empire’s western border. As such, it wasn’t really too far from the Fei Li City to the ZhongTian City. Riding their horses, they should reach in about a dozen or more days. By now, they were already about halfway to their destination.