Chapter 316 - 304: The Spell Duel Begins
Chapter 316: Chapter 304: The Spell Duel Begins
The sight of the goat made the disciples on the sidelines start murmuring.
"Why’d they bring a goat up here? Are they planning to slaughter it for a celebration?"
"Hehe, you don’t get it, do you? Arrays can be a matter of life and death. It’s best to test them with livestock first. Otherwise, what if it fails when it really matters? That would be a disaster!"
"That makes sense, but isn’t an elder using a Tier Two Skill on a goat a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut..."
Amid the discussions, the teaching elder formed a spell with his hands. With a wave of his palm, a log, dark all over and as thick as a giant urn, abruptly appeared in mid-air.
The massive log spun rapidly, letting out a deep rumble. Even the disciples on the sidelines could feel the powerful airflow.
BAA...
The goat seemed to sense the approaching danger. It trembled in fear, forgetting to even try to run.
"Falling Timber!"
The teaching elder gave a low shout and chopped his hand forward.
With a HUM, the massive log suddenly accelerated, crashing down with the force of a thunderbolt.
BOOM!
The huge log smashed into the ground with a deafening crash. Despite the protection of the Array, the crowd could still feel the tremors under their feet.
Just as the log was about to smash into the goat, a red light flashed. A ripple of Mana spread out, and the goat vanished into thin air.
The disciples looked around, only to see the animal standing perfectly fine in an empty space at the edge of the field.
A hush fell over the scene, followed by thunderous applause.
"That was amazing! Look at the goat—it didn’t lose a single hair."
"Yeah, I clearly saw the log coming down right on its head, but the Array saved it just in time."
"And that was a Tier Two Skill..."
Zhao Lin nodded to himself, his resolve to study Arrays growing even firmer.
"Will the six disciples please come to the field."
A smile appeared on the teaching elder’s face. He was the one who had set up the Array, and hearing all the praise, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.
Zhao Lin and the other disciple representing Nanhe Province, Yue Shengluan, exchanged a look and walked onto the field together.
Halfway there, a figure in blue robes flashed past them, cutting in front. It was the Sword Cultivator from Juyan Province.
’A Sword Cultivator, as expected. They always have to be first in everything.’
Zhao Lin didn’t mind. He glanced over toward the group from the Western Ox Continent and saw the Body Cultivator heading onto the field as well.
According to the rules of the tournament, the participants had to announce their names and origins before the match.
The blue-robed Sword Cultivator was the first to step forward. "Juyan Province, Fang Qinglu!"
The name "Qinglu" can mean "short sword," which complemented his chosen path of cultivation quite well.
"Juyan Province, Tao Yuanqing."
"Nanhe Province, Yue Shengluan."
"Nanhe Province, Zhao Lin."
"Western Ox Continent, Wang Jing."
The Body Cultivator spoke last. "Western Ox Continent, Wei Shi."
"How is there a Body Cultivator? And a Sword Cultivator! Ah, and a Martial Cultivator too..."
A cultivator in the crowd who was proficient in the Qi Observation Skill noticed something was off with a single glance and couldn’t help but cry out in surprise.
The news spread like wildfire, and soon everyone knew. A commotion swept through the crowd.
"Well, I’ll be. A Martial Cultivator, a Sword Cultivator, and a Body Cultivator. What kind of tournament is this?"
"All three major combat cultivator types gathered in one place. This is the first time I’ve seen this in years. This is going to be good!"
"What’s so good about it? The Magic Cultivators won’t survive the first round..."
Seeing this, Dean Pang of Dongyang County felt a headache coming on. His Spirit Dao Institute had performed poorly in the last tournament, so he had sent a Sword Cultivator this time, hoping to win back some face.
He never expected the other two powers to be pushovers, sending a Body Cultivator and a Martial Cultivator respectively. If word of this got out, people would laugh their heads off.
’I shouldn’t have given them advance notice.’
"Is Dean Pang worried about not taking first place? There’s no need!"
The Dao Supervisor beside him thought he was worried about the tournament’s outcome and came over to reassure him.
"Qinglu has already manifested Sword Qi. Even Qi Refining Sixth Layer disciples who’ve been at the institute for seven or eight years are no match for him. Dealing with two fledgling Body and Martial Cultivators will be no problem at all."
"You’re right, Dao Supervisor Li."
Dean Pang replied casually, thinking to himself that as long as they won the tournament, he didn’t care what anyone else said.
Next, the teaching elder announced the rules of the tournament.
The rules were simple: in the first round, the six disciples from the three provinces would fight in crossover matches. Three would be eliminated, and three would remain.
In the second round, the three remaining disciples would face each other.
"For each match won, you will receive twenty merit points."
"The final champion will be awarded an additional Jade Marrow Pill!"
The moment the words "Jade Marrow Pill" were spoken, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
"My god, a Jade Marrow Pill?"
"Dongyang County is really sparing no expense!"
"If you ask me, they sent a Sword Cultivator because they’re almost certain he’ll win. That’s why they’re willing to offer such a high reward."
"So that’s how it is. What a clever scheme..."
The Jade Marrow Pill was a rare, high-grade medicinal pill that could temporarily raise the grade of a cultivator’s Spiritual Root.
For example, a cultivator with a mid-grade Spiritual Root could take one Jade Marrow Pill to elevate its quality to high-grade for a whole month.
Jade Marrow Pills were usually given out as sect rewards and were very difficult to buy on the open market.
The only thing available on the market was Jade Marrow Liquid, which was diluted with mead. One bottle cost three merit points plus three Spirit Stones, but its effects only lasted for three days and were significantly weaker.
However, one couldn’t take Jade Marrow Pills indefinitely; the limit was one per year.
Zhao Lin had long since researched all the medicinal pills needed for the Qi Refining Realm. When he heard this reward, his heart pounded with excitement.
’Merit points, pills, and Spirit Stones... I want them all! I can’t miss an opportunity this good!’
For the first round of matches, opponents would be chosen by drawing lots.
A disciple in charge of proceedings brought out six wooden plaques. Three different characters—A, B, and C—were written on them, with two plaques for each character. Those who drew the same character would fight each other.
Zhao Lin drew plaque ’A’ and was up first. His opponent was Tao Yuanqing from Juyan Province, a disciple at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
The teaching elder, Fang Qinglu, and the others walked to the sidelines to wait.
Because the protective Array was in place, no referee was needed on the field. The conditions for victory were also easy to judge: being knocked down, voluntarily admitting defeat, or being teleported out of the Array all counted as a loss.
"Brother Tao, you’ve got this!"
"Brother Tao, take him down!"
Tao Yuanqing had the home-field advantage. Before the match even began, the cheers echoing across the field were completely one-sided.
Zhao Lin paid them no mind and walked to one of the circles on the field, taking his position.
Two circles were drawn on the ground in white lines, twenty zhang apart. The two combatants stood inside their respective circles and were only allowed to leave them after the match began.
This was a common rule in tournaments, meant to prevent the combatants from starting too close to each other, which could lead to an uncontrollable situation before they could even cast their magic. High-level cultivators would fight at even greater distances.
Such a great distance was disadvantageous for Zhao Lin.
This was because Zhao Lin was only at the Qi Refining Second Layer. In the Qi Refining Stage, one’s Divine Sense expanded by ten zhang with every layer of advancement.
The range of one’s Divine Sense determined the maximum attack range of their magic and artifacts.
This meant that if Tao Yuanqing took just one step back, Zhao Lin’s magic would be unable to reach him. Tao, on the other hand, could cast his spells freely without any such restriction.
Zhao Lin and Tao Yuanqing took their positions and bowed with cupped fists.
"Please enlighten me!"
"Please!"