Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294
Page 36
He nodded, and said, “Thank you for your inside information.”
“Oh, right, Fourth Elder Brother is hosting a feast tomorrow night. Why don’t you come as well?” Qi Zhan Tai said, “Only those martial artists who have a chance of getting into the top fifty in the Da Yuan Tournament this time have been invited.”
Ling Han could not hold back a smile, and said, “Your elder brother is attracting the support of the people here.”
“You’re clever!” Qi Zhan Tai did not deny it.
If Qi Yong Ye intended to obtain the position of Da Yuan King in future, he needed to start gathering his support. It would not necessarily be the one who’s extremely talented or very powerful that would obtain this royal position. It depended on one’s popularity as well.
…If no one in the royal house was willing to support you, how would you be able to ascend to this position?
‘Although Fourth Elder Brother is extremely talented in the field of martial arts, Eldest Brother has built up his support through painstaking effort over the duration of more than ten years. Additionally, Eldest Brother’s mother is the daughter of the Liu Clan Clan Head. So with the support and favor of the Liu Clan, who would emerge victorious in the end is still uncertain!’ The young girl had curled her hands into fists, her face full of excitement, as if she wanted nothing more than for the two brothers to immediately start fighting, and allow her to spectate it to her heart’s content.
Aside from the King’s House, there were four other great parties in Da Yuan City that could not be underestimated. They were respectively the Stone Wolf Sect, Baili Sect, Jin Clan and Liu Clan. With the close relationship he had with the Liu Clan, the Eldest Prince really had a big advantage in the battle for the king’s position.
Ling Han only thought about it for a short while before pushing it to the back of his mind. What did this battle for the king’s position have to do with him?
Qi Zhan Tai kept chattering on and on, bothering Ling Han for a very long while, before she finally let him go. However, when she turned around, she revealed a very crafty smile, and murmured, “Fourth Elder Brother, Fourth Elder Brother, I’ve introduced a very capable helper to you. You must not mess things up!”
Ling Han was someone whom even Zhu He Xin and Zhang Wei Shan addressed as “Young Friend”, so he must definitely have an astonishing ability in the field of alchemy. If Qi Yong Ye was able to obtain Ling Han’s aid, then there would definitely be innumerable martial artists willing to join him.
For no other reason but for the sake of alchemical pills!
When a martial artist cultivated, he would definitely need the aid of alchemical pills to support his cultivation. And if there was a high grade alchemist overseeing things in the party, then it would naturally be very attractive to all martial artists.
Ling Han naturally saw through the little girl’s plot, but he did not think too much of it. He really did want to take a look at this Qi Yong Ye, and see how much of a genius he was.
On the second day, Ling Dong Xing went with Ling Han to register. The participants for the Da Yuan Tournament were only limited to the local area, so there was a need to provide proof of identification to go through a strict check, because this concerned the enrollment quota for the Hu Yang Academy.
There were thirty six cities in Rain Country, and it was impossible for them all to have the same average level of martial arts. Some were higher and some were lower. As a result, a martial artist who had only obtained the sixtieth position in a tournament in a city with a higher level of martial arts would be able to obtain the fortieth position in a tournament in a city with a lower level of martial arts. Then wouldn’t they all race over to a weaker city to participate in the tournament to be able to qualify for a place of enrollment in Hu Yang Academy?
The people of Da Yuan City could only take part in the Da Yuan Tournament, and the people from other cities too could not come over to participate. In this manner, everyone protected their own territory.
There was a large number of people queuing up to register, and the queue was very long.
Ling Han calmly joined the queue. He had already discarded the noble status of a martial artist in Heaven Tier he had possessed in his last life. Everything had begun anew, and he was setting out from the level of an ordinary man. There was nothing wrong with queuing up.
After about two hours, it was almost his turn. There was only one person left in front of him.
But it was at this moment that a young man escorted by four robust men in black forced the others in the queue aside. The five of them came to the registration point and directly cut into the queue in front of Ling Han.
“Hey, join the queue at the back!” Ling Han frowned, and said in displeasure.
“En?” The young man turned to look at Ling Han, and broke into laughter. With an expression filled with disbelief, he said, “You actually want me to queue up? Do you know who I am?”
Chapter 58
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
“I don’t care who you are, get back to the end of the line!” Ling Han spoke coldly.
“Hahahaha!” The young man laughed raucously, as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world. He shook his head, “You don’t know who I am? I am Jin Wuxiang, my elder brother is Jin Wuji!”
Jin Wuji, that was one of the strongest competitors in this round of the Da Yuan Tournament.
No wonder this guy was so arrogant. As a young master of the Jin Clan and with a very powerful elder brother, he did have the right to behave recklessly.
Unfortunately, the one he had encountered now was Ling Han.
“Who cares if you’re Jin Wuxiang, or Jin Wuji… whoever you are, get back to the end of the line!” Ling Han gave an impatient wave of his hand.
The smile on Jin Wuxiang’s disappeared, replaced by an angered expression. After this brat found out who he was, he still dared to talk back to him? He gave a humph and said, “It is beneath me to lower myself to the level of a minor character like you!”
He turned back around, and was about to begin the registration process.
“Get lost!” Ling Han stretched out a hand, took hold of Jin Wuxiang’s shoulder, pulled back and “shua,” the guy was flung out of the line.
“Peng!”
He crashed into the wall and slid down with a groan. He immediately grimaced in pain.
“Young Master Wuxiang!” The four men in black hurried forward to help Jin Wuxiang up.
Yet Ling Han did not even afford him a glance, and said, “I would like to register.” When he looked at the man responsible for registering the participants, a faintly surprised expression appeared on his face, because this ordinary-looking old man was actually an elite martial artist in Gushing Spring Tier.
“Bastard, you actually dare to make a move against me, and still want to pretend that nothing has happened?” Jin Wuxiang shoved away the four robust men and strode forwards, his eyes spitting fire.
He was the one and only Sixth Young Master of the Jin Clan and the younger brother of Jin Wuji, yet someone actually dared to disrespect him?
“Get lost!” Ling Han said coldly.
“Who do you think you are, to actually be so bold to disrespect me!” Jin Wuxiang said furiously, stretching out a hand to take hold of Ling Han.
“Why are you making a racket here?” The old man who was in charge of registering the participants said, very displeased.
“Old guy, you dare interfere with my business?” Jin Wuxiang immediately gave a humph and glared at the old man. He was used to being arrogant, plus he was currently furious, and thus he did not give his actions a second thought.
Ling Han could not help shaking his head internally. This guy really was seeking his own demise.
“Hehe, every generation of the Jin Clan is weaker than the last. The brats now are becoming more and more thoughtless,” the old man sighed. He stretched out his right hand and gave it a flick. “Peng,” a herculean strength rushed forth,
and Jin Wuxiang directly flew out of the registration room due to the resulting shock wave.
When the old man made a move, everyone finally realized in shock that this was actually a powerful elite martial artist. All of their faces were filled with astonishment.
Who would have thought that an old man who was in charge of recording and registering the participants would actually be an elite martial artist laying low.
“I know who this senior is, he’s the Chief Butler of the Royal House of the Da Yuan King!”
“What, the Chief Butler of the Royal House of the Da Yuan King? How come he’s personally doing this kind of work?”
“You ask me, but whom should I ask?”
Someone recognized the identity of this old man, immediately causing a bout of whispering amongst the witnesses. Meanwhile, Jin Wuxiang who had intended to avenge himself, immediately became well-behaved.
Although the Jin Clan was powerful, it was nothing compared to the power of the Royal House of the Da Yuan King! No matter how arrogant and overbearing he was, he was not a fool. He knew what kind of people he could trifle with, and what kind of people he shouldn’t even think about trifling with.
He quickly fled with his tail between his legs, followed by his four lackeys. After all, the registration deadline was the day after tomorrow, so there was no need for him to register today no matter what. However, Ling Han had become the target of his grudge–if it wasn’t for his interference, there wouldn’t have been any dispute about his cutting into the queue at all.
“Many thanks for your fair judgment, Senior,” Ling Han said, raising his clasped hands in gratitude. This was an elite in Gushing Spring Tier, and compared to the current him, the old man was much, much more powerful. Additionally, he had already let go of the identity of his last life as a powerful warrior of Heaven Tier and the Alchemy Emperor. There was nothing inappropriate about addressing the old man ‘Senior’.
The old man had a bit of a blurred vision, and he smiled at Ling Han and said, “To be able to break through to the Element Gathering Tier at such a young age, such talent is really promising! My Seventh Young Mistress is about the same age as you, so there might be chances of a match there!”
When everyone heard this, they could not help the weird expressions plastered on their faces. Was this Chief Butler here to seek a Prince Consort for the Royal House?
However, it was impossible for a princess’s marriage to be decided by a butler. At most, the Chief Butler could only be responsible for the first round of selections. Whether the candidate passed or not would still be decided by the Da Yuan King.
Even so, everyone sat up and took notice of Ling Han. To be able to gain the recognition of an elite of Gushing Spring Tier, this brat must have had some outstanding quality!
Yet Ling Han pondered and recalled–Seventh Young Mistress, wasn’t that Qi Zhan Tai, that young girl? He laughed loudly, and said, “Many thanks for your recognition, Senior, but we should complete the registration process first!”
This brat really was quite bold to actually dare reject the Chief Butler in this manner.
Yet the Chief Butler was all smiles. He was only under the command of the Da Yuan King to see if there were any outstanding geniuses in this round of the Da Yuan Tournament. It was definitely not possible that Ling Han would become the son-in-law of the Royal House just because he had taken a fancy to him.
“Good, where are you from, how old are you, what is your cultivation level and what is your name?” he asked.
“I am Ling Han, I came from Gray Cloud Town. After the New Year, I’ll be seventeen, and I am currently in the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier,” Ling Han replied to each question with a smile. [1]
“Pu!”
The eyeballs of those who were close enough to hear his reply were in danger of popping out of their heads, as if they had seen some kind of ghost.
Many of them had already seen that Ling Han was in Element Gathering Tier. Those who were not able to were clued in to the fact by the words of the Chief Butler. But when they saw how young Ling Han was, they had all thought that he had just broken through. At most, he could only be at the peak period of the first layer of Element Gathering Tier.
Yet Ling Han was shockingly in the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier!
A seventeen-year-old in the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier… this was absolutely astonishing! Even for the genius that was the Fourth Prince, with the endless cultivation resources supplied by the Royal House, had he managed to reach the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier at seventeen years old?
Perhaps he had, but that was the farthest he could have ventured!
With such a comparison, they could now easily see how freakishly talented Ling Han was. No wonder the Chief Butler wanted to enlist him as a Prince Consort candidate.
Ling Han took out his proof of identification. This was something that every citizen of Rain Country would receive upon their birth. For those who did not have this kind of proof of identification, if they were discovered, they would either become slaves or would be forced to flee from the country.
The Chief Butler only gave it a brief glance, and then gave a plaque to Ling Han. This was the plaque that would allow Ling Han to participate in the Da Yuan Tournament that would be held two days after tomorrow.
Usually, no one would dare to falsify their identity. This was because once you manage to squeeze into the top fifty, there would be a second check to verify your identity. If it was discovered that anyone had dared to falsify their identity, this was definitely a very heavy crime.
The Chief Butler was very interested in Ling Han, and kept chatting with him about ordinary, daily life. He really seemed as if he intended to marry off his own daughter to Ling Han.
Although everyone else was starting to feel impatient, no one dared to rush him in any way. Even without his esteemed position as the Chief Butler of the Royal House of the Da Yuan King, as an elite martial artist in Gushing Spring tier, he was undeniably a powerful presence within the nearest thousand miles.
It wasn’t until Ling Han finally voiced his intention to leave of his own accord that the Chief Butler ended the conversation. Yet he still told Ling Han that if he was free, he was welcome to visit the Royal House of the Da Yuan King, which caused everyone else to turn red-eyed with envy.
This was the same as giving a protective charm to Ling Han. Who would dare make a move against him now?
Chapter 59
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Because the registration process took too long, Ling Dong Xing and his son had their lunch before returning to Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion. After resting for a while, it was about close to nighttime.
After Ling Han and Liu Yu Tong made slight preparations, they set off towards the residence of the Fourth Prince to attend the dinner banquet.
The residence of the Fourth Prince was only one street away from the Royal House of the Da Yuan King, so the two residences were really very close. However, out of the many children of the Da Yuan King, only two had gained the privilege of possessing their own individual residences.
The First Prince and the Fourth Prince.
The First Prince, Qi Yong Sheng, had displayed his outstanding qualities from birth. With his extraordinary talent, as well as the fact he was the eldest son of the first wife of the Da Yuan King, he had naturally long firmly established his identity as the heir. But with the sudden emergence of the powerful Fourth Prince, he was currently under a great threat. Now, the position of the heir that he had maintained for so long appeared to be facing imminent danger.
As a result, the competition between the two princes was getting more and more turbulent, and becoming more and more of a dilemma to the various parties as they wondered which prince they should support–if the prince they supported ascended gloriously to the royal position, that would be great, as their own status would then be raised accordingly as well.
But if the prince they sup
ported failed?
When a new king is crowned, he brings to court his own favorites and expels those he disliked. The new king would definitely pay them back for their previous lack of support.
Ling Han and Liu Yu Tong did not travel by carriage. Instead, they walked to the residence of the Fourth Prince; at the door, there were many guards stationed, helping to welcome the incoming guests.
“Excuse me, please show us your invitation, the two of you.” When a guard saw the two of them approach, he walked over and blocked them from advancing further.
“Invitation?” Ling Han startled. He did not have this kind of thing, as Qi Zhan Tai had only issued him a verbal invitation. He said, “I’m Ling Han, and I should be on the namelist for guests.”
“Then I apologize. Those without an invitation will not be allowed to enter!” The guard said solemnly.