Chapter 306: The Ring Is a Performance Stage
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Shi Xingyun walked to Lin Feng and greeted him. Lin Feng tilted his head in response and said, "You don’t have to be so courteous, Princess Xingyun."
"I hope that one day the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders will advise me. It will be my genuine honor." Shi Xingyun stood up and turned to Zhu Yi. "One of my friends offended you before and I hope you will forgive him."
Zhu Yi watched the yellow-robed girl in front of him and replied calmly, "There’s nothing to forgive. Perhaps it’s just a misunderstanding."
Zhu Yi shook his long sleeve and a Great Boundaries of the Celestial Light and Darkness Mandala appeared in the middle his palm, much like a mandala flower oscillating between white and black.
In the centre of it was a tall and skinny youth who tried to take advantage of Zhu Yi when he was cleaving the rock to obtain the Mingdu Teeth.
Zhu Yi released the astral imprisonment and the tall and skinny youth fell out onto the ground. Before he could say anything, Shi Xingyun was already in front of him with a faint smile.
The tall and skinny youth trembled as he mumbled, "Princess Xingyun."
Shi Xingyun nodded her head lightly and replied, "When we reach Xiling City, you will proceed to the Clan Pavilion."
The skinny youth acted as if great mercy had been bestowed upon him and continually nodded his head while agreeing with Shi Xingyun’s statement.
Zhu Yi and company watched on with mild amusement. Xiao Budian tilted his head towards Zhu Yi and asked, "Look at him. He’s going to the Clan Pavilion to receive his punishment but he seems to be more afraid of being punished by Shi Xingyun herself."
Zhu Yi flashed him a smile and replied, "We will see what she is truly capable of soon enough."
Xiao Budian pouted and seemed to disapprove of what Zhu Yi said about Shi Xingyun.
Shi Xingyun greeted Zhu Yi again and said, "Thank you for your mercy, my friend." She flipped her elegant and pale hands lightly and a ray of golden light flew into the sky before arriving in front of Zhu Yi.
The ray of golden light radiated with the nature of Buddha – vast, bright and infinitely pure.
Zhu Yi took it all in and exclaimed, "Oh? Looks like a remnant of a robe once worn by a great monk from the Great Thunderclap Temple. Even though it’s just a small remnant piece of it, the mana is comparatively whole and untarnished."
Shi Xingyun laughed and replied, "You are indeed knowledgeable, Zhu Yi. This is indeed a piece from the Bright Treasure Robe and contains the true meaning of the Forever-Bright Light as well as a large amount of mana of Buddhist nature."
"I can see that your mantra is based off the integration between the fundamentals of your sect with your understanding of the Concept of intersections between light and darkness. I believe this remnan piece of the Robe will be useful to you."
She turned to look at the tall and skinny youth and continued, "A junior from my side has offended you, and we are lucky to have received your forgiveness. I am extremely guilty and I will give you this piece of the Robe as a form of compensation and apology."
At this point, Lin Feng turned his gaze and paused when it arrived on Shi Xingyun’s body.
The assassination event that just happened, as much as Shi Zongyue and company wanted to keep it from others they would not keep it from Shi Xingyun. Even though Shi Xingyun was a girl and was typically low-profile, her prodigal abilities and talent proved that she was one of the more representative individuals of her generation.
Even though she was only in the aurous core stage, the weight of Shi Xingyun’s words in the Great Qin Empire was quite substantial.
Previously, Shi Zongyue and the others promised to compensate Xiao Budian and willingly accepted his little ‘extortion’. Despite so, Shi Xingyun still took the initiative to seek them out and continue to repair the relationship between the two parties.
Her gift of compensation was real, but it had nothing to do with the tall and skinny youth.
As the daughter of the current Qin Emperor, her status was one of the most respected in all of the Great Qin Empire. Even so, her demeanour and way she carried herself was not too much and considered relatively low-profile.
Lin Feng and Zhu Yi did not underestimate her because of that, however. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Their regard for Shi Xingyun was only getting higher and higher.
Zhu Yi glanced at Lin Feng but Lin Feng did not say anything. He turned his gaze away and Zhu Yi immediately understood that Lin Feng would not be interfering in this matter and was letting Zhu Yi take responsibility and make the decision himself.
"You are too kind, Princess Shi Xingyun. I am extremely grateful." Zhu Yi thought for a moment and accepted Shi Xingyun’s offer and took the piece of the Bright Treasure Robe.
Shi Qingyun smiled and continued to chat for a while longer before she brought the skinny youth away after taking her leave.
From the beginning to the end, her conversation with Zhu Yi did not bring up anything about the assassination. However, with the transfer of ownership of the piece of the Robe, both parties did not need to voice out their intentions anymore.
After this little incident, the competition of the aurous core stage disciples was about to officially begin. With the Vivant Joy Holy Man as the host, the first round of lots were drawn.
Only Zhu Yi and Xiao Budian were representing the Celestial Sect of Wonders in this competition. Similarly, the two sword partners of the Sun Moon Sword Sect held two places. In the first round of drawing lots, sixteen advanced from the pool of thirty-two competitors and four people were bound to miss the first round and were automatically advanced to the next roun.
Tradition stated that all aurous core stage disciples who make it to the round-of-sixteen obtained permission to enter the Ancient World of Huanghai.
Besides the twenty-four people that would be divided into twelve groups to vie for advancement, four lucky cultivators would have the chance to advance to the next round without participating in the first round. This was equivalent to obtaining a free pass into the Ancient World of Huanghai.
Every disciple was anxiously waiting for the results of the drawing of lots by the Vivant Joy Holy Man.
Lin Feng was mildly disappointed as neither Zhu Yi or Xiao Budian did not get the free pass to advance to the next round.
Lin Feng could not help but appreciate people’s character and how much they are worth conversing. Previously, during the drawing of lots for the foundation establishment stage competition, Wang Lin and Yang Qing simultaneously drew the free advance to the next round-of-sixteen. In the aurous core stage competition both Zhu Yi and Xiao Budian needed to battle in the first round.
Lin Feng glanced at Zhu Yi out of the corner of his eye and thought to himself, "It’s normal for Xiao Budian, but I thought your luck has always been good? How could you miss this draw? Zhu Yi, let me tell you, this is a huge blemish in your life!"
"The king of luck could not even pick up a one-in-eight chance to draw the free pass to the next round, I really ought to kick you out of my Sect and re-evaluate your luck with the Talent Detector to see if the value has dropped?"
"What an embarrassment! You little shit, you better put in your best for entry to the Ancient World of Huanghai. If not, you’ll have to bear that humiliation for the rest of your life and wear it like an albatross around your neck!"
In actual fact, Lin Feng was just extremely bored and shooting random thoughts through his head. In a moment, a thought popped into his mind and could not help but laugh out loud. "I forgot that this kind of ring battle is the most optimal opportunity for you boys to exert your dominance."
"To others, this is a ring battle but for you guys it’s like a performance stage."
Which man did not become a tough adversary when he steps into the ring? If you did not fight it out for as long as you can it was an embarrassment to even say you were in the ring at all.
Every competitor would be officially sequenced by their standard, from the lowest to the highest. In the road to ascension and promotion, the true competitor would be calmly waiting for their adversaries to arrive, and with a sincerity and composure as if he were advancing to the ladder of glory.
Even if there were tough opponents, they were just different kinds of scenery in the path to success.
Previously, Wang Lin had already proven this point. And now, Zhu Yi and Xiao Budian were on the same path to the top.
The only thing Lin Feng was unsure of was that if the two of them end up facing each other, who would be the ultimate winner?
As for everyone else, Lin Feng did not pay any attention to them as looking at the prized disciples of those big Sects were like looking at training dummies for them.
Lin Feng glanced at Xiao Budian and Zhu Yi again and thought to himself, albeit with a little playfulness, "So, who is stronger?"
Besides this, more gossipy thoughts surfaced in his head. "Talk about being the big winners of life. Riding through the path to career success and marrying a pretty and rich girl. Perhaps after the Spiritual conference the two of you may attract some pretty ladies with your capabilities?"
Just as Lin Feng’s thoughts were wandering around, the first round of drawing was completed.
The first four names that the public were most concerned about were the ones that drew the free pass to the next round. They ended up in the hands of Jiao Junchen from the Great Qin Empire, Tao Yaoyoa of the Sword of Radiance Sword Sect, Huo Ming of the Huo Family and Sang Luohe of the Royal House of the Northern Tribes.
The four of them did not have to participate in the round-of-thirty-two and advanced straight away to the round-of-sixteen, which meant they automatically obtained entry into the Ancient World of Huanghai.
Even though many were envious, the truth was that when the four of them drew the free pass many were more relieved.
To be fair, the four of them were considered a few of the strongest competitors in the pool, and their abilities were greater than their reputations.
Even if they did not draw the free pass and had to participate in the first round, unless they faced someone of their own standard they had no problem advancing to the next round based on their own abilities.
Their draw in the first round reduced the competitiveness of the round-of-thirty-two.
After the first round, the aurous core stage cultivators that advanced to the top sixteen were announced.
Besides the four that were given a free advance, two individuals from the Heaven Lake Sect, Song Qingyuan and Mu Jihai successfully advanced to the next round.
Shi Xingyun of the Great Qin Empire advanced to the next round. The tall and skinny fellow that antagonized Zhu Yi lost to Song Qingyuan.
One cultivator from the Sword of Radiance Sect advanced to the next round. The most powerful aurous core stage senior from the Sect besides Tao Yaoyao was Zhao Yan and he also successfully defeated his adversary to advance to the next round.
The Royal House of the Northern Tribes also produced a winner. Besides Sang Luohe, Du Kunhao also successfully advanced to the next round.
Two members of the Purple Clouds Sect also advanced to the next round by defeating their respective competitors. They were Gu Lei and Li Kuiyin.
Besides that, a cultivator from the Huo Family defeated his enemy as well to enter the round-of-sixteen. In addition to the free pass holder Huo Ming, the huo Family also had two placings in the next round.
What attracted the most attention was the two pairs sword cultivator partners of the Sun Moon Sword Sect. The four of them enter the round-of-sixteen together but only took up two placings. Their Dual Sword Combination was indeed impressive. It did not matter whether their adversaries had partners aiding them in battle or not, the cultivators of the Sun Moon Sword Sect still emerged victorious.
The four of them obtained the right to enter the Ancient World of Huanghai. From a certain point of view, they had a hundred percent success rate in this competition. At the same time, they were the Sect with the most individuals allowed to enter the Ancient World of Huanghai.
The other Sect with a hundred percent success rate was, naturally, Lin Feng’s Celestial Sect of Wonders. Xiao Budian and Zhu Yi had no trouble dispatching their opponents to advance to the next round.
However, such results no longer surprised everyone. After the Wang Lin set the bar during the foundation establishment stage competition, everyone had already accepted the supernatural abilities of disciples from the Celestial Sect of Wonders and were already used to their victories.
When the Celestial Sect of Wonders lost their match would thus be the big news.