Chapter 50
At the crack of dawn, the sun rose in the eastern sky.
Duan Ling Tian was already sitting cross-legged on his bed early in the morning, continuing to cultivate and assimilate the medicinal strength of the Dark Spirit Fruit.
Since consuming the Dark Spirit Fruit two days ago, Duan Ling Tian had only assimilated 20% of the Dark Spirit Fruit’s medicinal strength.
Nevertheless, Duan Ling Tian could still feel his lifeblood and fleshly body undergoing a metamorphosis…
This feeling was extremely vivid.
Duan Ling Tian walked out of his room as he thought in his heart, “I hope I’ll be able to smoothly break through to the ninth level of the Body Tempering Stage before the Clan Martial Meet.”
“Tian, I heard that the Clan Martial Meet’s registration starts today and continues for three days. Take Ke Er and go register after you’ve finished eating,” Li Rou said to Duan Ling Tian as they had their breakfast.
“OK.”
After finishing their breakfast, Duan Ling Tian brought Ke Er along as he left.
The young girl blinked her clear eyes as she slowly said, “Young Master, I heard from Big Sister Shi Shi that disciples who advance to the top few ranks will get quite the prizes during the Clan’s yearly Martial Meet.”
“Oh? Did she say what prizes?”
Duan Ling Tian felt slightly curious.
“Big Sister Shi Shi said that last year’s champion, an inner court disciple, obtained a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi. Young Master, a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi should be much more precious than a fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi, right?” she inquired.
Three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi?
Duan Ling Tian’s pupils constricted.
“Ke Er, I’ll put it this way…Fifty grams of fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi is worth a 1,000 silver; fifty grams of a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi would be worth at least 10,000 silver, and even at this price, there probably isn’t any in the market.”
Through the memories of Rebirth Martial Emperor, Duan Ling Tian knew the value of a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi.
The Blood Lingzhi in the medicine stores were ordinarily around the fifty-year-old mark, and a hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi was rare.
A three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi would be worth at least 10,000 for just fifty grams, comparable to ten pounds of fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi.
A three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi would at least weigh a hundred grams, and be worth over 20,000 silver.
If a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi was directly crushed and consumed, a mere fifty grams would be comparable to five pounds of fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi in terms of medicinal effects.
However, the medicinal strength of five pound of fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi would require an ordinary person to spend an entire year to assimilate.
Whereas a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi was different.
Its medicinal strength could be fully assimilated in at most one month’s time.
If the former is compared to a tractor, then the latter would be a rocket!
“So expensive?”
The young girl’s cherry lips slightly opened, obviously out of shock.
“If the prize this time is a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi as well…”
Duan Ling Tian’s heart twitched and his eyes emitted a burning gaze.
If it was so, he was determined to obtain it!
If he had a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi, he would be able to concoct even better medicinal liquids and increase the speed at which his defensive martial skill progressed by a lot.
Duan Ling Tian and Ke Er quickly arrived at the registration site.
A stream of people was flowing in. After lining up for a moment, some ‘inside information’ entered Duan Ling Tian’s ears.
“Let me tell you guys, the disciples who get into the top ten in this year’s Clan Martial Meet will not only be able to enter the third floor of the Martial Repository Pavilion and choose a high grade Profound Rank martial skill, they will also obtain three one-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhis and 10,000 silver,” an outer court disciple said mysteriously.
“There hasn’t been any news that leaked out so far. How do you know?”
Immediately, some people doubted him.
“Heh, you guys don’t know this, but my cousin’s neighbor’s daughter-in-law’s nephew is an inner court disciple; it was he who unintentionally overheard the discussion of a few Elders.”
The outer court disciple from before complacently laughed.
“What’s the prize for the top three?” another person asked.
“The prizes for the top three are nearly similar to last year. Besides entering the third floor of the Martial Repository Pavilion and choosing two high grade Profound Rank martial skills, they will also obtain a two-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi and 30,000 silver.”
“How about the champion?”
“The champion, on top of choosing three high grade Profound Rank martial skills, will obtain a three-hundred-fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi and 100,000 silver.”
“Oh my god, three hundred and fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi?”
“The prize for last year’s champion was a three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi, and it was already shocking, I didn’t expect that this year’s prize for the champion would be even better.”
“I heard last year’s champion, Li Feng, used the three-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi and cultivated his high grade Profound Rank martial skill to the Mastery Stage in one go. Among the youths below the age of twenty in the Clan currently, without using weapons, no one is able to break through his defense!”
“Yeah, Li Feng is a rare genius of our Li Clan, and he’s only nineteen this year.”
……
Hearing the discussion in his surrounding, Duan Ling Tian’s eyes narrowed.
Three-hundred-fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi?
If he could obtain it and concoct it into medicinal liquid, it would be more than enough to assist him, Ke Er, and his mother’s defensive martial skills to all break through to the Mastery Stage!
“If I can break through to the ninth level of the Body Tempering Stage before the Clan Martial Meet, becoming the champion won’t be impossible!”
Drawing in a deep breath, Duan Ling Tian made a decision in his heart to go all out!
Spare no efforts to break through!
The Clan Martial Meet was restricted to Li Clan disciples between the ages of sixteen and eighteen.
Once one turned nineteen, it would be considered leaving the scope of the term “youth” and they would be called “young man.”
This restricted from participating in the Clan Martial Meet.
According to what Duan Ling Tian knew, in the inner court, disciples at the age of eighteen were mostly at the ninth level of the Body Tempering stage, and a few had already stepped into the Core Formation stage.
Unless he breaks through to the ninth level of the Body Tempering Stage, it will be extremely difficult to compete against them.
Eventually, it was Duan Ling Tian and Ke Er’s turn.
At the registration site, the two of them registered and each got a number card.
Duan Ling Tian was number 77.
Ke Er was number 78.
The Aurora City Li Family Main Clan had a population of almost 10,000. Youth disciples between the ages of sixteen to eighteen amounted to nearly 300 people.
Besides a portion of inner court disciples, outer court disciples that met the criteria for registration amounted to over 200 people as well.
For the first round of the Clan Martial Meet, the inner court disciples obtained a bye to the second round, whereas the outer court disciples would compete for thirty placements to directly become inner court disciples.
The start of the second round would be the true fierce struggle.
Deciding the top ten, top three, and even the champion!
Winning matchless honor and generous prizes.
The first round of the Clan Martial Meet competition would begin after ten days.
For the next ten days, besides eating and sleeping, Duan Ling Tian was practically always cultivating the Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique.
Absorbing Seven Treasures Body Tempering Liquid in extremity, desperately assimilating the Dark Spirit Fruits medicinal strength…
For the sake of the three-hundred-fifty-year-old Blood Lingzhi, Duan Ling Tian was really going all out this time!
“Tomorrow is the Clan Martial Meet, but I still haven’t broken through until now… Luckily, after the first round, the second round will only begin after three days. With my current strength, entering the top thirty of the outer court disciples in the first round isn’t really a challenge.”
Thinking up to this point, Duan Ling Tian heaved a sigh of relief.
In these past ten days, besides cultivating, Duan Ling Tian did hear some rumors from Ke Er.
The Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid had thoroughly become famous!
Aurora City was going crazy over it!
What the Li Clan outer court disciples discussed the most nowadays was the Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid.
If anyone’s parents bought them some Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid, it would attract the jealousy and envy of many outer court disciples.
Along with the arrival of Aurora City’s three great clans’ Clan Martial Meets, the Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid’s supply could not meet the demand…
People who had no accumulated wealth in their homes would even go so far as to borrow money in order to be able to buy some Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid for their children.
The Clan Martial Meets affected the lives of many.
If one was unable to become an inner court disciple by the age of nineteen, their life would be doomed to end without any accomplishments.
As a parent, no one would hope for their children to face this.
Of course, the Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid did allow many eighteen-year-old outer court disciples to achieve a further breakthrough before the Clan Martial Meet, increasing their chances of advancing to become an inner court disciple.
These examples that were plain for everybody to see caused the black market price of the Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid to experience a price hike to 3,000 silver a portion.
“A bunch of madmen.”
After hearing about all this, Duan Ling Tian couldn’t help but be amazed.
It was lucky that he had long ago told the medicine store manager to keep his identity a secret.
Or else, if anyone knew that he was the one who concocted the Six Treasures Body Tempering Liquid, he would never get a shred of peace.
In a wide courtyard of the Li Clan.
Whoosh!
An extremely swift figure stepped in at a peculiar pace. The figure flew past as if it had transformed into a gust of wind.
The figure stopped and revealed itself.
It was a youth at around the age of seventeen.
It was precisely Li Yuan.
“Haha… Good! Yuan, your Unfettered Steps has finally stepped into the Mastery Stage. With this, besides Li Kuang, there will be no one in the outer court who can be your match. Even entering the top ten of the Clan Martial Meet wouldn’t be impossible.”
A middle-aged man who stood at the side laughed.
“I will surely enter the top ten of the Clan Martial Meet! If I can obtain three one-hundred-year-old Blood Lingzhi, my Golden Bell Cover will be able to step into the Mastery Stage earlier.”
Li Yuan’s eyes flickered, showing incomparable confidence!
Quickly, a towering youth’s figure flashed inside his mind.
Duan Ling Tian!
“Last time, my movement technique was inferior to yours, allowing you to gain the upper hand.
“But this time, my Unfettered Steps has been cultivated to the Mastery Stage. I will surely defeat you and mercilessly humiliate you!”
Unfettered Steps, a middle grade Profound Rank movement technique, when cultivated to the Mastery Stage, its speed will in no way be inferior to Duan Ling Tian’s Spirit Serpent Movement Technique.
In a slightly cramped courtyard.
Whoosh!
An icy cold sword shine flew out accompanied by more than ten sword afterimages; it was as if a sword net had been condensed in the air, without an opening and extremely powerful.
Clang!
The three-foot-long blade entered its sheath.
“I have finally stepped into the Initial Stage before the Clan Martial Meet.”
The green-clothed young girl stood still, her face had a light smile.
A married woman with a slightly pale complexion was standing in front of the door, coughing twice before she slowly said, “Shi Shi, you need to properly thank the person that passed this sword skill to you.”
“Mom, why are you out here? Your body isn’t well, so stay inside your room more often, and don’t come out often.”
Li Shi Shi’s face emitted a trace of reproach, supporting the married woman into the room.
In another courtyard.
“You really are trash. I passed the Howling Tiger Fist to you so long ago, but until now you still haven’t broken through to the Mastery Stage!”
Li Zhong looked at Li Xiao with a gloomy expression.
“Brother, I’m sorry.”
Li Xiao lowered his head, not daring to retort.
“Zhong, stop scolding your brother. He has already worked hard, it’s just he’s limited by his natural talent, which is far from yours.”
The middle-aged man who was standing nearby couldn’t bear to watch any longer, so he interrupted.
“Dad, it’s because you’ve spoiled him.”
Li Zhong frowned as he left Li Xiao behind and angrily returned to his room.