Chapter 96: Three Quota Spots
Time passed and three months quickly fleeted by.
I went through hundreds of fights in these last three months. Most of them were, of course, the sparring I had with Tang Zhilong. I was now quite different from when I first entered the Phantasm Rain Pavilion. The current me was like an eagle with a scar mark on my face. I got this mark from the fight a month ago against those four punks. Though I did get injured slightly, those four were badly battered regardless. Yup, you didn’t read wrong. It was I against the four of them and I beat them badly!
The damn reason was that they didn’t give my backpack back despite losing the bet, so it was solved with our fists. Thus, I finally snatched my rucksack back. But even though my stuff was still inside, the chicken blood and cinnabar had turned rotten and couldn’t be used to draw any charm at all. That was why I had not been able to summon Big Sis and ask for her help.
‘Dad and Mom must be worried to death because of me since I’ve been missing for four months…’
I sighed inwardly before heading to the Outer Court pavilion. Today was June 1st and the Six Months Competition started today!
As I arrived at the gate, I saw the hill-like Tang Zhilong so I came over and greeted him, “Hey, Gorilla. I just went to your place to find you, but you weren’t home. Why didn’t you at least wait for me to get here together, huh?”
He did not get angry at me calling his nickname. “Bah. Who the heck knows where you were? You’re always roaming around all day long. No way I want to track your whereabouts!”
“Hahaha. I hope we won’t bump into each other in the draw for the game today. I really wanna get one of those three quotas…”
Tang Zhilong corrected me, “You’re not the only who wants to get it, mate! Those in the courtyard also want it yet only three quotas are available for all. You know what? You can also get some treasures if you win the quota. Take a look at this. I got this interspatial ring three years ago, His Venerable Emperor himself was the one who put on this ring on me!”
I was a bit speechless. “Okay, okay! Jeez, it’s already the 97th time you showed it off to me…”
During that time, I kept asking him in roundabout ways about the method to open the interspatial ring. But Tang Zhilong told me there was no such thing as recognizing the owner of the ring whatsoever. After that, I had been trying to use his methods but to no avail. So, it was either this silver ring being unlike an interspatial ring at all, or he did not teach me the correct method to open it.
The more I thought about it, the more I was disappointed with this silver ring…
Soon after, Sun Yongfu appeared and announced with his passionate way of speaking, “Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re going to start the Six Months Competition for a total of 242 Outer Disciples. However, since I myself won’t take part in the contest, only 241 people will participate. Thus, there will be an empty number in the draw because of the odd number of participants. The wildcard holder will not compete until 240 people have gone through the preliminary rounds for 120—60—30—15 places. Hence, the holder will directly go to the 8 of 16 round, meaning he will go straight to the quarter-final if she or he wins!”
While holding a bit of doubt, I asked Tang Zhilong in a whisper, “Hey, Gorilla. From 8 of 16 round, the contest then will go to the 4 of 8 round. But how would the top three places get picked, exactly?”
“Isn’t it quite simple?” Tang Zhilong said, “It will be 2 of 4 round and the other two participants will be eliminated, so those two will have a chance to contest and one of them will be a winner. I think one can get the third place according to… Bah, forget it. I don’t even have the confidence to get into the top 3. I guess you won’t have a chance to enter the top 60 either.”
“Are you underestimating me?”
“I’m not looking down at you, Bro. You’ve been sparring with me every day. How would I not know what cards you have up your sleeve? Still, I’ve been here for 10 years and you already know each and everyone here has some kind of power. If you’re out of luck and your draw gets you that chilling woman, Liu Mengyan, you will definitely be fucked up and get kicked out on the first preliminary round!” There was a bit of fear on Tang Zhilong’s face when he looked at the only woman in the courtyard while speaking to me in a low voice.
That’s right. Rumors had it that this woman was amazingly formidable. She was here four or five years earlier than Gorilla and she always got into the top three in every competition. That was a tough next-to-impossible feat! Now I really wish I could get that wildcard slot…
‘O’ Old Swindler, O’ Brave Lady, you have to give me your blessing so I can get the wildcard slot…” I prayed inside.
A box then appeared in Sun Yongfu’s hand. He put it on the table and said, “Alright. Using psychic power and mental perception is prohibited. You lot are to line up now and go forward one by one, then show me the number of your draw.”
Everyone quickly lined up while I and Gorilla squeezed into the middle of the line.
In front of me were over 100 individuals who already drew their slots, but nobody had gotten the empty number yet. My heart couldn’t help pounding hard. If I were to get the wildcard, I would have a glimmer of a chance to get the quota. ‘O’ Brave Lady, please rain me some luck…’ [1]
Gorilla was lined up in front of me, yet he did not get the wildcard slot either. I could hear him cursing as he walked back. Then, he said to me, “I hope you can get the empty number, Buddy!”
“I’ll take your lucky words!”
I put my hand into the draw box, took a deep breath, and fished out a ball of paper from the inside. I opened it and saw that no writing was on it, at all.
“Blank card!” I couldn’t help but exclaim out loud!
Though I had been praying the entire time, never did I expect that I could get the wildcard! You know, I once drank up a bottle of pesticide and then took up another bottle before I grew up! And I was going to commit suicide back then… but… but how the heck could I have such good luck today? Was it really the blessing from Murong Daiyu? But heck, that was just outright, unreasonable nonsense on a whim, right? Besides, it was only my own way of having a kind of spiritual support.
In any case, I got the wildcard regardless of everything!
Tang Zhilong almost fell to the ground. He grabbed the white paper in my hand and took a closer look before saying, “What the fuck? You really nailed it this time, punk! With this stuff, it means you’ve gone straight to the top 16! Damn, you’re really fucking lucky!”
Sun Yongfu was at the side, so him snatching the empty card did not raise any problem. Sun Yongfu just grinned and said, “What good luck! Congrats, good for you,” as he recorded in the book, and then smilingly came to the side, showing all the excitement he had inside on his face.
Yet, the sole reason I want to get the quota was not for treasures but simply my desire to go out and meet my parents and Xiaoling, lest they worried about me. After all, I had been away and missing for more than three months without any news whatsoever. Even though back then I told Jiannan jokingly that I would go back to the Headquarters and be away for some time…
****
Two hours later at the martial arts arena.
The martial arts arena had a total of 20 rings made of stone. The bouts inside the 20 rings were grueling and intense! The rules were as per custom, as in, killing and crippling the opponents were forbidden. Not only would the offender be disqualified doing that, but they would also be punished severely.
Hence, a lot of participants chose to knock out their respective opponents and claimed their wins while avoiding to kill and maim them.
Each and every person in the Phantasm Rain Pavilion had special abilities and the most common abilities were Elementalists of the Five Elements, such as Tang Zhilong’s Earth bending ability, those who used flying swords based on the Metal bending technique, or the likes of Gao Jian who had the innate Ice bending ability.
Shortly put, each and every bout on the stage was an enjoyable sight to behold, even I looked around left and right and earned myself a lot of insights and knowledge.
After more than two hours, half of the 240 people had been eliminated. Gorilla himself was able to pass through the preliminary round. He was just on the stage for some dozen seconds or so and his opponent was already knocked out. That was some freaking speed! Speaking about speed, though, that woman called Liu Mengyan truly had the talent to terrify people it seemed! Her opponent just stood in the ring and straightly spoke: ‘I pass’, before hastily jumping out of the ring…
The next four hours was resting time, and the competition heated up again afterward!
As for myself, well, I had never been better! I just strolled around and watched the play from one stage to another. Besides, this Patriarch was the only one who got the wildcard, no? You know, for me to have this Red Arrow fate mark as well as not having any good deeds done for a long time to alleviate it, it would make sense if I feel like this for having such great luck, right? But then, I suddenly had a kind of bad premonition, like some impending doom was about to befall me!
After watching the game for a while, I walked away and sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly adjusting my own condition.
I had been sitting cross-legged in meditation every day in these three months, so the True Qi inside my Dantian had changed a lot! It even gave me a lot of pleasant surprises!
The number of participants had dwindled so the game proceeded faster. It only took over an hour to complete the 60 of 120 round into the semifinal.
It was scheduled that one night would be used as a rest period, and the game would be continued at 5 in the morning, while free meals were given along with various pastries.
Therefore, I finally had some REAL food to eat! After which, I hunkered down on the floor and dozed off. But most of those who just participated in the game looked ashen and depressed. Man, it seemed like I was the only one who got it easy among all the participants.
Speaking about it though, I was aware of the fact that my odds of winning were still increasing and getting bigger. The resting time in between fights was very short, so when they got to the top 16 round, they would not be at their peak state if not fully spent. For me to enter the game at this time was simply gifting me a great chance to win!
Thus, the reason why these poor participants were glaring at me with jealous eyes…
The next day, the game for the 30 participants to fight for 16 places unfolded. Although Tang Zhilong came out as one of the finalists, he also spent a great deal of his physical strength and was no longer at his peak. The third day, which was today, was the start of the game for the quarterfinal, the best 8. It was also my turn to join in the fun, so I had myself doing some sit-ups and warming up so as to be in the best condition.
Meanwhile, in another hill within the Phantasm Rain Pavilion area, inside an unusually unique chalet…
Feng Nian was sitting in front of a round table with hands on her chin, pouting and muttering to herself, “Dammit. I really want to go back to Qingtian City to find you. But never did I think that you would not even pick up my phone. Hmph… I’ll never pay any attention to you again!”
As she was immersing in her soliloquy, a young man entered the chalet. He looked to be in his 20s with ordinary features but with a refined aura within him. He wore a white robe of ancient fashion accompanied by an amicable and fine expression. He then smiled after seeing Feng Nian’s rather gloomy expression and said, “What are you thinking about?”
“Huh? It’s you, Master. Why didn’t you knock the door when you came in…”
“The door is already open so I came straight inside. What is it? You’ve been outside for a year, yet now you feel kind of estranged towards your own Master?”
“No. Not that, Master. It’s just… it’s not fun outside. I won’t go out again later.”
The young man smilingly asked, “What unpleasant things did you bump into outside, exactly?”
“Why don’t you divine it yourself, Master?”
“Do you think your Master is a kind of the all-knowing God or something? How could I use divination for this kind of… thing? Anyways, let’s have some fresh air outside so you can have a pleasant and relaxing time with your Master. Besides, today is the competition final for Outer Disciples and there are some good seedlings among them. Seems like it will be interesting to watch it…”
Note:
[1] The Brave Lady here refers to Murong Daiyu
Chapter 96: Three Quota Spots
Time passed and three months quickly fleeted by.
I went through hundreds of fights in these last three months. Most of them were, of course, the sparring I had with Tang Zhilong. I was now quite different from when I first entered the Phantasm Rain Pavilion. The current me was like an eagle with a scar mark on my face. I got this mark from the fight a month ago against those four punks. Though I did get injured slightly, those four were badly battered regardless. Yup, you didn’t read wrong. It was I against the four of them and I beat them badly!
The damn reason was that they didn’t give my backpack back despite losing the bet, so it was solved with our fists. Thus, I finally snatched my rucksack back. But even though my stuff was still inside, the chicken blood and cinnabar had turned rotten and couldn’t be used to draw any charm at all. That was why I had not been able to summon Big Sis and ask for her help.
‘Dad and Mom must be worried to death because of me since I’ve been missing for four months…’
I sighed inwardly before heading to the Outer Court pavilion. Today was June 1st and the Six Months Competition started today!
As I arrived at the gate, I saw the hill-like Tang Zhilong so I came over and greeted him, “Hey, Gorilla. I just went to your place to find you, but you weren’t home. Why didn’t you at least wait for me to get here together, huh?”
He did not get angry at me calling his nickname. “Bah. Who the heck knows where you were? You’re always roaming around all day long. No way I want to track your whereabouts!”
“Hahaha. I hope we won’t bump into each other in the draw for the game today. I really wanna get one of those three quotas…”
Tang Zhilong corrected me, “You’re not the only who wants to get it, mate! Those in the courtyard also want it yet only three quotas are available for all. You know what? You can also get some treasures if you win the quota. Take a look at this. I got this interspatial ring three years ago, His Venerable Emperor himself was the one who put on this ring on me!”
I was a bit speechless. “Okay, okay! Jeez, it’s already the 97th time you showed it off to me…”
During that time, I kept asking him in roundabout ways about the method to open the interspatial ring. But Tang Zhilong told me there was no such thing as recognizing the owner of the ring whatsoever. After that, I had been trying to use his methods but to no avail. So, it was either this silver ring being unlike an interspatial ring at all, or he did not teach me the correct method to open it.
The more I thought about it, the more I was disappointed with this silver ring…
Soon after, Sun Yongfu appeared and announced with his passionate way of speaking, “Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re going to start the Six Months Competition for a total of 242 Outer Disciples. However, since I myself won’t take part in the contest, only 241 people will participate. Thus, there will be an empty number in the draw because of the odd number of participants. The wildcard holder will not compete until 240 people have gone through the preliminary rounds for 120—60—30—15 places. Hence, the holder will directly go to the 8 of 16 round, meaning he will go straight to the quarter-final if she or he wins!”
While holding a bit of doubt, I asked Tang Zhilong in a whisper, “Hey, Gorilla. From 8 of 16 round, the contest then will go to the 4 of 8 round. But how would the top three places get picked, exactly?”
“Isn’t it quite simple?” Tang Zhilong said, “It will be 2 of 4 round and the other two participants will be eliminated, so those two will have a chance to contest and one of them will be a winner. I think one can get the third place according to… Bah, forget it. I don’t even have the confidence to get into the top 3. I guess you won’t have a chance to enter the top 60 either.”
“Are you underestimating me?”
“I’m not looking down at you, Bro. You’ve been sparring with me every day. How would I not know what cards you have up your sleeve? Still, I’ve been here for 10 years and you already know each and everyone here has some kind of power. If you’re out of luck and your draw gets you that chilling woman, Liu Mengyan, you will definitely be fucked up and get kicked out on the first preliminary round!” There was a bit of fear on Tang Zhilong’s face when he looked at the only woman in the courtyard while speaking to me in a low voice.
That’s right. Rumors had it that this woman was amazingly formidable. She was here four or five years earlier than Gorilla and she always got into the top three in every competition. That was a tough next-to-impossible feat! Now I really wish I could get that wildcard slot…
‘O’ Old Swindler, O’ Brave Lady, you have to give me your blessing so I can get the wildcard slot…” I prayed inside.
A box then appeared in Sun Yongfu’s hand. He put it on the table and said, “Alright. Using psychic power and mental perception is prohibited. You lot are to line up now and go forward one by one, then show me the number of your draw.”
Everyone quickly lined up while I and Gorilla squeezed into the middle of the line.
In front of me were over 100 individuals who already drew their slots, but nobody had gotten the empty number yet. My heart couldn’t help pounding hard. If I were to get the wildcard, I would have a glimmer of a chance to get the quota. ‘O’ Brave Lady, please rain me some luck…’ [1]
Gorilla was lined up in front of me, yet he did not get the wildcard slot either. I could hear him cursing as he walked back. Then, he said to me, “I hope you can get the empty number, Buddy!”
“I’ll take your lucky words!”
I put my hand into the draw box, took a deep breath, and fished out a ball of paper from the inside. I opened it and saw that no writing was on it, at all.
“Blank card!” I couldn’t help but exclaim out loud!
Though I had been praying the entire time, never did I expect that I could get the wildcard! You know, I once drank up a bottle of pesticide and then took up another bottle before I grew up! And I was going to commit suicide back then… but… but how the heck could I have such good luck today? Was it really the blessing from Murong Daiyu? But heck, that was just outright, unreasonable nonsense on a whim, right? Besides, it was only my own way of having a kind of spiritual support.
In any case, I got the wildcard regardless of everything!
Tang Zhilong almost fell to the ground. He grabbed the white paper in my hand and took a closer look before saying, “What the fuck? You really nailed it this time, punk! With this stuff, it means you’ve gone straight to the top 16! Damn, you’re really fucking lucky!”
Sun Yongfu was at the side, so him snatching the empty card did not raise any problem. Sun Yongfu just grinned and said, “What good luck! Congrats, good for you,” as he recorded in the book, and then smilingly came to the side, showing all the excitement he had inside on his face.
Yet, the sole reason I want to get the quota was not for treasures but simply my desire to go out and meet my parents and Xiaoling, lest they worried about me. After all, I had been away and missing for more than three months without any news whatsoever. Even though back then I told Jiannan jokingly that I would go back to the Headquarters and be away for some time…
****
Two hours later at the martial arts arena.
The martial arts arena had a total of 20 rings made of stone. The bouts inside the 20 rings were grueling and intense! The rules were as per custom, as in, killing and crippling the opponents were forbidden. Not only would the offender be disqualified doing that, but they would also be punished severely.
Hence, a lot of participants chose to knock out their respective opponents and claimed their wins while avoiding to kill and maim them.
Each and every person in the Phantasm Rain Pavilion had special abilities and the most common abilities were Elementalists of the Five Elements, such as Tang Zhilong’s Earth bending ability, those who used flying swords based on the Metal bending technique, or the likes of Gao Jian who had the innate Ice bending ability.
Shortly put, each and every bout on the stage was an enjoyable sight to behold, even I looked around left and right and earned myself a lot of insights and knowledge.
After more than two hours, half of the 240 people had been eliminated. Gorilla himself was able to pass through the preliminary round. He was just on the stage for some dozen seconds or so and his opponent was already knocked out. That was some freaking speed! Speaking about speed, though, that woman called Liu Mengyan truly had the talent to terrify people it seemed! Her opponent just stood in the ring and straightly spoke: ‘I pass’, before hastily jumping out of the ring…
The next four hours was resting time, and the competition heated up again afterward!
As for myself, well, I had never been better! I just strolled around and watched the play from one stage to another. Besides, this Patriarch was the only one who got the wildcard, no? You know, for me to have this Red Arrow fate mark as well as not having any good deeds done for a long time to alleviate it, it would make sense if I feel like this for having such great luck, right? But then, I suddenly had a kind of bad premonition, like some impending doom was about to befall me!
After watching the game for a while, I walked away and sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly adjusting my own condition.
I had been sitting cross-legged in meditation every day in these three months, so the True Qi inside my Dantian had changed a lot! It even gave me a lot of pleasant surprises!
The number of participants had dwindled so the game proceeded faster. It only took over an hour to complete the 60 of 120 round into the semifinal.
It was scheduled that one night would be used as a rest period, and the game would be continued at 5 in the morning, while free meals were given along with various pastries.
Therefore, I finally had some REAL food to eat! After which, I hunkered down on the floor and dozed off. But most of those who just participated in the game looked ashen and depressed. Man, it seemed like I was the only one who got it easy among all the participants.
Speaking about it though, I was aware of the fact that my odds of winning were still increasing and getting bigger. The resting time in between fights was very short, so when they got to the top 16 round, they would not be at their peak state if not fully spent. For me to enter the game at this time was simply gifting me a great chance to win!
Thus, the reason why these poor participants were glaring at me with jealous eyes…
The next day, the game for the 30 participants to fight for 16 places unfolded. Although Tang Zhilong came out as one of the finalists, he also spent a great deal of his physical strength and was no longer at his peak. The third day, which was today, was the start of the game for the quarterfinal, the best 8. It was also my turn to join in the fun, so I had myself doing some sit-ups and warming up so as to be in the best condition.
Meanwhile, in another hill within the Phantasm Rain Pavilion area, inside an unusually unique chalet…
Feng Nian was sitting in front of a round table with hands on her chin, pouting and muttering to herself, “Dammit. I really want to go back to Qingtian City to find you. But never did I think that you would not even pick up my phone. Hmph… I’ll never pay any attention to you again!”
As she was immersing in her soliloquy, a young man entered the chalet. He looked to be in his 20s with ordinary features but with a refined aura within him. He wore a white robe of ancient fashion accompanied by an amicable and fine expression. He then smiled after seeing Feng Nian’s rather gloomy expression and said, “What are you thinking about?”
“Huh? It’s you, Master. Why didn’t you knock the door when you came in…”
“The door is already open so I came straight inside. What is it? You’ve been outside for a year, yet now you feel kind of estranged towards your own Master?”
“No. Not that, Master. It’s just… it’s not fun outside. I won’t go out again later.”
The young man smilingly asked, “What unpleasant things did you bump into outside, exactly?”
“Why don’t you divine it yourself, Master?”
“Do you think your Master is a kind of the all-knowing God or something? How could I use divination for this kind of… thing? Anyways, let’s have some fresh air outside so you can have a pleasant and relaxing time with your Master. Besides, today is the competition final for Outer Disciples and there are some good seedlings among them. Seems like it will be interesting to watch it…”
Note:
[1] The Brave Lady here refers to Murong Daiyu
