Chapter 119: Cross-Region (3)

On top of the high tower, all the very important people were watching the examinations going on via the screen of light.

There was only one live broadcast screen, yet there were ten thousand exam competitors, so naturally not each one was shown. Most of the time, the screen was constantly searching for interesting battles for those important individuals to watch.

Right next to the screen with all the interesting battles was the screen with the leaderboard.

The numbers on the screen were constantly changing and jumping. Every so often, the ranks would be shuffled, and the ranks of the exam contenders were constantly shifting up and down.

But no matter how they changed, some peoples’ positions did not change at all.

They remained at the very top!

The highest name on the rankings was Ji Hanyan. This name had a parentheses next to it which contained the words “Frostbird”. Finally, there was an eye-catching number: 75.

The parenthese was the bloodline. Only those with inherited bloodlines had this symbol next to their name. The number represented the number of points they possessed.

In half a day, this Ji Hanyan person had actually obtained seventy or so points. This was a frightening pace. One had to know that, because the examination had just begun, each opponent would usually only equal one point. Seventy points meant that Ji Hanyan only needed half a day to take care of at least fifty or so opponents.

Even if she had fireballed each one of them, not many people would possess that much Origin Energy to do it.

Below Ji Hanyan’s name was a large group of people who were constantly vying for a higher ranking. Almost all of those who had the highest rankings all had the bloodline symbol next to their names, and some bloodlines even appeared across multiple names.

Occasionally, some individuals without the bloodline symbol would appear, but they would quickly disappear again.

Regardless of whether it was Su Chen, Li Qingyun, Bai Li, or any other disciples in their clan, none of their names had ever reached the list of top a hundred.

“It seems like the situation will only develop to this point. Once again, the disciples of the noble clans are once again the most outstanding seedlings in the Hidden Dragon Battle. How boring,” a member of a noble clan laughed as he sat on the tall tower.

“Is that surprising at all? If noble bloodline clans weren’t stronger than some commoners without a bloodline, how could they be considered nobility?” a man to the side replied, unsurprised.

“Old Qi is right. This really is rather boring. If there were another Black Day Transformation, things would be a little more interesting,” someone said.

Upon hearing the words “Black Day Transformation”, many people suddenly began to whisper in each others’ ears.

Someone said unhappily, “I think that for people like Long Pojun, one is already too many, yet you actually want it to happen again. What point is there in bringing up such things that only cause us to lose face?”

“Come, come, Old Liang, you know that Old Qi was only joking. Why so serious? Someone like Long Pojun doesn’t appear even in a thousand years. How could there possibly be another one,” someone said, attempting to reconcile the situation.

“Yes, yes, let’s talk about something else. Of this year’s top ten, we have Frostbird Ji Hanyan, Blood Demon Zhong Ding, Bewitching Butterfly Jin Ling’er, and Treebow Zhang Sheng’an. There’s no suspense about these four, but the other six spots I am curious as to who will obtain those spots; it’s still quite suspenseful.”

“Charm Ape Wen Rushui comes from an illusion master clan, and she can probably obtain a spot.”

“I don’t think so. Although illusion-type bloodlines are powerful, they are not as useful on the battlefield and completely rely on the use of soul power. The recovery rate of soul power is much lower than Origin Energy, and she won’t have enough to make it later on in the examination. Although Wen Rushui may be strong now, as time goes on she will definitely fall in the rankings. I favor Guan Shanying more.”

“I think we can forget about Guan Shanying. As his name implied, he relied on the Ying Shanyi to obtain benefits, but in fact his strength is quite limited. He might be able to sneak some benefits by having affairs with women, but he definitely cannot tower amongst a group of strong men. I favor Sword Rhinoceros Zheng Kuang more. He is like an overlord with his spear – quite remarkable.”

“He has enough strength, but he doesn’t have much in the way of brains.

“Poisonous Centipede Kong Shen. His poison is very pervasive.”

“Thunder Spirit Bai Ou......”

“Drought Dragon Jiang Chang......”

“Fat Crane......”

One name after another was brought up through the mouths of these noble clan members, as well as their thoughts and outlook on the current Hidden Dragon Battle.

————————————

“Whew!” Su Chen let out a long sigh.

The opponent he was currently facing was somewhat of a burden. Su Chen took had to expend quite some effort to defeat him.

However, this was not the crux of the issue.

The crux of the issue was that, as he had battled, his expenditure of Origin Energy had greatly increased. He had only passed through two regions and it was enough for Su Chen to feel quite exhausted. However, he still had to pass through five more regions!

When he thought about that, Su Chen felt his head begin to hurt.

His mission was more difficult than he had anticipated.

While his opponent was still disoriented, Su Chen took his points and hid him in a nearby patch of grass so that he wouldn’t be taken advantage of by anyone else passing by.

Having finished this matter, Su Chen turned around, preparing to leave.

He hadn’t taken many steps when he suddenly felt that something was off.

Su Chen rapidly turned around, and an iron blade had already appeared in his hand.

Not faraway from him, a youth dressed in an azure robe stood there, a longsword on his back. Although it was just a normal longsword, its shape was quite strange. The body of the blade seemed to be much longer and thinner than most, and it was slightly arced. This kind of blade was not good for brute force encounters, so the opponent’s sword path must have been one of speed and agility.

At this moment, the youth’s arms were crossed as he said arrogantly, “Don’t worry, I’m not so lowly as to sneak attack you. It seems like you also have some guts, so after I defeat you in a bit, I won’t shatter your jade tablet.”

Unexpectedly, Su Chen gazed at him for a few moments before suddenly saying, “Li Qingyun?”

The azure-robed youth was clearly a bit stunned. “You recognize me?”

Su Chen nodded his head sincerely.

Of course he recognized Li Qingyun.

Li Qingyun and Su Chen were both considered geniuses back then, but their eventual fates were completely opposite.

Su Chen had suffered a calamity at the hands of an old beggar, while Li Qingyun had encountered a stroke of good luck in the same year. He had caught the eye of Willow Sword He Changsheng and was accepted as a disciple, who passed on the Dancing Wind Willow Sword and the Concealed Stab to him. The Dancing Wind Willow Sword was graceful and agile, and it moved in a strange way. The Concealed Stab was extremely domineering and was a one-hit kill. They were all techniques that were quite famous. As long as Li Qingyun had two-tenths of the strength of He Changsheng, Su Chen was not confident that he could win.

Li Qingyun finally realized something. “You are from Northface City?”

Su Chen nodded his head.

“I never expected that there would be another exam candidate from Northface City that would come to the twelfth region,” Li Qingyun laughed.

“It’s probably not just me and you,” Su Chen shook his head and said.

Li Qingyun was stunned for a moment before he suddenly seemed to realize something. He turned his head around and said, “Who is it, come out!”

“Senior Brother Li, your reactions are a bit slower than that Demon Face,” a voice laughed. It came from atop a faraway tree.

A young man had already appeared on top of the tree. It was precisely the unassuming youth dressed in coarse clothing, Bai Li.

“So it’s you.” Upon seeing that it was Bai Li, Li Qingyun harrumphed, “I should have known it was you. In the entire thirteenth region, those who dare to charge into higher-ranked regions probably are few in number. Where are Lin Shuyue and Lin Jingxuan?”

“Shuyue is still in the thirteenth region, while Lin Jingxuan seems to have run to the fifteenth region,” Bai Li replied.

Li Qingyun snorted, “Hmph, useless trash.”

If going from lower regions to higher regions was bravery, then going from higher regions to lower regions was essentially bullying the weak. People who truly possessed strength scorned and disdained doing things like that.

However, Lin Jingxuan had truly been misunderstood in this matter.

That was because sending him to the fifteenth region was Su Chen’s intentions. He wanted to preserve Lin Jingxuan as his last resort. If the matter of the Spirit Burying Terrace prevented him from accumulating enough points, he needed Lin Jingxuan to help him supplement.

After cursing out Lin Jingxuan, Li Qingyun said, “I never expected that the three of us from the thirteenth region actually have gathered together in the twelfth region. That is quite interesting.”

“That doesn’t really count as a coincidence,” Bai Li laughed as he scratched his head. “To pass through the twelfth region from the thirteenth, this is the closest road. If we came from the same road, we will more than likely run into each other.”

Li Qingyun harrumphed, “I don’t need you to analyze things so thoroughly. Since we’ve run into each other, then let’s fight.”

As he spoke, he began drawing the longsword on his back.

Bai Li continued to smile, but now his smile contained traces of caution and seriousness.

“Why not switch up the manner of competition?” Su Chen suddenly said.

The two of them looked at him simultaneously.

Su Chen said, “Since fate has allowed us to meet here, then perhaps there was a particular intention behind it. Look, we have all chosen to do battle in a place that is not our own region, and we all are headed towards higher-ranked regions. Why is that? Because we are not willing to fall behind, right? We all want to prove ourselves, but not in such a small, lacking city like Northface. Rather, we wish to do it in a much larger scope.”

These words moved their hearts.

If what Su Chen said wasn’t true, then why would they have come to this place?

Su Chen continued. “Since that’s the case, why bother fighting each other? Since fate allowed us to meet here, then perhaps we are supposed to know that there is no need to fight amongst ourselves. Yes, we do need to fight for a spot to enter the Hidden Dragon Institute, but the spots might not necessarily be determined by who defeats their opponents. We are competing with the entire Three-Mountain Range, and we are facing countless other opponents. There is no reason we cannot compete in other things.”

Li Qingyun harrumphed, “You’re just saying that whoever earns the most points win? That’s not very novel.”

“No, I’m saying that we should compete in who can make it the furthest and to the highest region.” Su Chen revealed a mysterious smile, and he pointed down the path as he said, “Follow this path all the way down. If you’re a man, sweep through the entire exam grounds!”