Final Phase
'Someone wants to see me fail?' Huo Long didn't expect such a curveball.
"I can only guess, Long'er. I can't hear the voices up there, so this is my best guess from the emotions I sense." Feng Huang right now couldn't even leave the ring, so unless it was a life-or-death situation, she didn't plan on using any energy, which also meant that she couldn't get all of the information from up on the stage.
'It doesn't matter, Master. Since someone wants to see me fail, then all I have to do is slap them in the face, right?' After hearing that no one wanted to hurt him, Huo Long was at ease.
After his metamorphosis, barely anything under the Dharma Idol realm could threaten him, so how could he fail being surrounded by greenhouse youngsters who didn't even reach the Qi Sea realm?
"Long'er, just make sure not to release the Nirvanic Flames. That woman on the stage has a weapon with an item spirit of a Luan. If you release them, that bird will notice." Feng Huang warned.
'Don't worry, Master. These kids can't even make me pull out my spear, let alone the Nirvanic Flames.' Huo Long answered confidently.
"Start!" Elder Zhuo suddenly shouted, bringing him out of his thoughts.
—
"Master, Junior Brother seems to be deep in sleep. Are you going to do something?" Ye Rou spoke to Yue Zifeng.
Xue Bai had gotten more and more brazen in his sleep, even going as far as to rest his legs on another chair.
"Bai'er has earned it. He's already almost at the peak of the Bone Strengthening realm at his young age. So a little rest is needed." Yue Zifeng spoke dotingly, "Besides, this tournament is only for me and the other heads to recruit some hidden gems. So you two don't have to bother so much about it."
Seeing that even her Master didn't care about Xue Bai's laziness, Ye Rou gave up and decided to join him.
She was tired too.
Shaking his head, Yue Zifeng looked away from his disciples and back to the arena.
"Dean Guo, that black-cloaked youth is certainly something. Even in the face of 4 half-step Qi Sea realm cultivators, he isn't backing down one foot." Yue Zifeng praised.
"Indeed." Dean Guo said a rare word of praise, "And he's only using his physical body. It seems he is a rare Body Cultivator."
Turning around to face the other heads, Dean Guo continued, "This disciple is mine. His cultivation path fits my Wushen Academy the best."
While Wushen Academy was a place that was all-inclusive because many youngsters often took Dean Guo as their idol, they had a huge population of Body Cultivators. So seeing Huo Long fight against four people with the same cultivation evenly, he naturally wanted such a talented youth.
Yue Zifeng and Sect Leader Zi didn't argue. Huo Long did look talented, but it wasn't enough to cause an argument between them. Yue Zifeng already had three gems, while the Hundred Flowers Sect only accepted women.
However, Duan Zhen didn't agree and wanted to fight for Huo Long.
The Great Xuan Empire of the four great powers was the strongest. However, to keep that up, they also needed good talents. And it was a known fact that Body Cultivators often had a much higher vitality than normal Qi Cultivators.
So he could get Huo Long to marry into his family and sire a few talented babies, the value would be immense.
But Duan Zhen didn't argue openly and planned to wait until the end.
Huo Long didn't disappoint the heads and very quickly disposed of his four attackers in order to claim a spot in the 3rd phase of the tournament.
And this time, Dean Guo was kind and allowed everyone an hour-long rest before moving on.
"Young Master, Master wants you to make a speech. Wake up." Xiao'er spoke softly as she gently woke him up.
Even though he had his eyes closed and stayed motionless, Xue Bai wasn't asleep, but he wasn't too far from it.
So after hearing the words of Xiao'er, he, albeit reluctantly, replied.
"A speech? Why?" Xue Bai asked without opening his eyes.
"Master said that since you're destined to be the leader of this generation, you should take this chance to talk to your fellow peers," Xiao'er replied, mimicking what Yue Zifeng said.
Nodding, Xue Bai got up from the lap of Xiao'er and walked over to the front of the stage.
Xue Bai sat at the back of the stage behind all of the powerhouses that Yue Zifeng, Duan Zhen, and the other two heads brought, so after he first appeared, he hadn't shown himself at all, meaning that his previous 'nap' hadn't been seen by the crowd. So after he stood up and walked to the front,
Sadly since he wasn't very well-versed in speeches, he could only give an extremely half-assed one that gave him a magnanimous appearance. Giving motivation to them all and telling them whether they won or lost, they were all someone who could keep their head up in the Southern Continent.
He also gave Huo Long a deep, meaningful look while changing his eye color to his hybrid form's starry look. Whether or not the protagonist knew what he meant, he didn't care. Feng Huang would.
==
"Long'er, you said that boy is your Brother, right?" Feng Huang spoke, her voice shaky.
"Yes, but our relationship is a lot simpler than you think." Huo Long answered, not hearing Feng Huang's tone, "Around seven years ago, he visited my clan and saw potential in me and invested in us. After that, he kept calling me Brother, so I felt obligated to do the same. Other than that, however, we don't have much of a relationship."
"Then no, never mind." Feng Huang didn't continue asking after hearing that. But inside, she was stunned.
'There is no mistaking it. That's Second Senior Brothers Bloodline!' Feng Huang was both confused and overjoyed seeing Xue Bai's bloodline.
Ever since she had fallen and had her sect collapse Feng Huang had always been thinking of her 2 Senior Brothers. And since her first Senior Brother had disappeared before her death, she had been thinking of her Second Senior Brother.
However, now seeing the famous and signature bloodline of her Senior Brother on Xue Bai, Feng Huang was happy to see his lineage continue.
But also confused about how Xue Bai ended up in a mortal plane and, even more coincidentally, the mortal plane she fell into.
"Long'er get close to that boy. He's going to be something special." Feng Huang suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
'Even more than me Master? You said that I'm a 'Child of the Plane.' Isn't that something amazing?' Huo Long asked curiously.
"I can't tell this early on which of you two will be stronger in the future, but my instincts are never wrong. So become closer to that boy, but if you truly can't, then don't be his enemy. And while I don't think you'd lose to him, having one less strong enemy is always good." Feng Huang said.
Though Feng Huang was unconscious during the lightning shower, she knew that Huo Long was a 'Child of the Plane' because of the Fate Lines that gathered around him.
Fate Lines were like Spiritual Qi Veins in the ground that produced Spiritual Qi for the world. However, instead of their Spiritual Qi counterpart, Fate Lines instead produced Karmic Luck and ensured that the Baishen continued prospering.
But unlike Spiritual Qi Veins, Fate Lines, instead of staying in the ground and only supporting that area, flowed all through the Baishen Plane like clouds, gathering toward experts and talented youths.
Usually, talented youths would have a few dozen Fate Lines around them, while top geniuses would have a few hundred with upward of a thousand. However, Feng Huang could see that Huo Long was the favored of these Fate Lines, with tens of thousands around him constantly supplying him with Karmic Luck.
If he wasn't a 'Child of the Plane,' then who could be?
It went without saying that only God Great Realm cultivators could see these Fate Lines. So other than Feng Huang, no one could see them.
'But this Xue Bai doesn't seem to have any Fate Lines around him? That usually means that such a person is about to die. However, this is a descendant of my Second Senior Brother. How could he not have a life-saving measure? And if something can destroy that and kill Xue Bai, surely it would kill everything else around him, and not only the boy?' Feng Huang couldn't wrap her head around the anomaly known as Xue Bai, so she stopped
'As long as he doesn't hurt Long'er, nothing matters.'
Back on the stage, Xue Bai sat back down, once again taking his seat on the lap of Xiao'er.
"Junior Brother, you aren't the best at speeches, aren't you?" Ye Rou laughed as Xue Bai sat back down.
"I've never had to," Xue Bai responded with a shrug, "I'm the son of a Duke. When would I have to write and present a speech?"
Ye Rou only put on a smug smile. It seemed that her all-talented Junior Brother had some bad sides.
"Why are you so happy? The fighter I chose is still in the tournament and is one of the favorites to win at that. Do you like losing money?" Xue Bai angrily said after seeing her expression.
"Master would never let me go without resources anyways?" Ye Rou stuck her tongue out and responded.
Xue Bai had no more words to speak after hearing that. She was right.
After the hour ended, Dean Guo, once again getting his queue to speak, stood up.
"The last remaining 100 participants for all of you to get this far means that you are all geniuses and treasures of our Southern Continent. And each of you can join one of the four great powers, without question, once this is over." Dean Guo announced, bringing cheers to the crowd.
ραпdα Йᴏνê|(сòm) "But I know that some of you aren't content at joining a force at the bottom. So that's where the final phase comes in," Dean Guo continued, "This final phase is something special."
"There are ten platforms, and there will only be ten winners in this phase. So in order to win, you have to stand in the arena and win five matches. The winners will not only get the promised rewards, but they will also be eligible for an Inner Disciple spot!"
Dean Guo would go on to describe what the top 10 would win, which was rather valuable. Three pill bottles of various High Yellow-grade medicinal pills, a High Yellow-grade weapon of their choice, and most important of all, a High Yellow-grade Cultivation Technique!
At first, many of the people in attendance didn't think the rewards would be good since almost everyone in attendance was either a rogue cultivator with almost no background or a greenhouse Young Master.
However, after they heard that a High Yellow-grade cultivation technique would be handed out to the top 10, everyone in the crowd was excited, even the second-generation Young Masters.
Seeing their excitement, Dean Guo's face grew a smile, and he waved his hand for the last time.
"Elder Zhuo, you may have the honors," Dean simply spoke, sitting back down.
Nodding, Elder Zhuo quickly formed over a dozen hand seals before slapping his hands onto the ground.
"RISE!"
Following his shout, the ten arenas, which were once large enough to comfortably hold more than 1000 people, morphed. They all decreased in size to the point where they were almost 10 meters by 10 meters which were fitting for battles on the Qi Sea realm intensity.
After that, the arenas were also raised into the air by 5 meters.
"Participants who are brave enough to start, choose a stage for your battles." Elder Zhuo calmly spoke before returning to his refereeing stand.
Every Core Elder in the Soaring Sword Sect besides Elder Yang had an elemental affinity, and Elder Zhuo's was the earth element. And while it didn't harmonize well with his Sword Cultivator occupation, it did, however, make him the perfect construction worker, and coupled with his polite and gentle character Elder Zhuo eventually got the unofficial title of the Soaring Sword Sect's 'Housekeeper.'
And while it was an odd title, he wore it with pride.
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