“Congratulations, Brother Ling!”
“Congratulations!”
Qi Yong Ye and the others all gathered around Ling Han to offer their congratulations.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Ling Han clasped his hands politely in response.
“Haha, later we definitely have to get ourselves thoroughly drunk!”
“But of course!”
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
Only the top fifty participants could attend the banquet. Their friends and family were not allowed to accompany them, so whether it was Ling Dong Xing or Liu Yu Tong, neither could accompany Ling Han to the banquet.
Very soon, Ling Han and the others arrived at the Royal House of the Da Yuan King. This was a colossal residence, at least ten times bigger than the residence of the Fourth Prince. The embellishments and decorations within were all extremely extravagant and luxurious, causing quite a few young men who had come from some smaller towns to look around with gaping mouths, as if they were village boys who had managed to enter the imperial palace.
The host of this banquet was the Da Yuan King, and later on, he would be directly presenting the top ten with their respective prizes.
However, the Da Yuan King did not stay for too long. He was a powerful warrior of Spiritual Ocean Tier, so he needed not put on any airs at all. He only needed to take a seat and he would naturally exude a terrifying aura, causing all the others to feel a kind of pressure.
After he left, the atmosphere finally became lively. All of them were young people, so very quickly, they found similar topics of conversation. Soon, they would all be heading to Hu Yang Academy, so naturally they all wanted to make more friends. That way, they would be able to look after each other at the academy.
However, Ling Han was a bit agitated. He was waiting very impatiently for the presentation of the Dark Moon Grass, a treasure that even powerful warriors of Heaven Tier would feel envy over. As long as it had not entered his pocket yet, there was no way for him to set his mind at ease.
When he thought about it, it was actually quite funny for him to become this impatient with his temperament.
After waiting for two hours, this banquet finally ended, and the prizes for the top ten were all presented to their winners, contained in small boxes. Ling Han opened his box and took a look. Inside lay a herb that was about a foot long. Each of the leaves were crescent-shaped, and their color resembled darkened moonlight.
It was indeed the Dark Moon Grass!
Ling Han let out a breath in relief. He was just about to take his leave, but Qi Yong Ye and the others all came over to make small talk with him, so he couldn’t leave just yet. It wasn’t until about midnight that the guests finally departed, and Ling Han could finally return to Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion.
The first thing he did was begin preparation to concoct an alchemical pill.
Although the Spatial Pill was something that even powerful warriors of Heaven Tier would feel envious over, it could still be taken by martial artists of Element Gathering Tier, so strictly speaking, it was only a Yellow Grade mid level alchemical pill. Ling Han of course was able to concoct it.
He had already long since prepared all the other ingredients necessary. The only thing missing was the main ingredient, Dark Moon Grass. Since everything was ready now, he immediately began to concoct the pill.
Now that he was in Element Gathering Tier, concoction of a Yellow Grade mid level alchemical pill was naturally a piece of cake. After only half an hour, he had successfully concocted the Spatial Pill.
Unfortunately, there was only one.
Without any hesitation, he immediately swallowed the Spatial Pill. He promptly sat down and waited quietly for the pill to take effect.
“Hong,” very quickly, there occurred a tremendous change within his body. It was as if his Dantian had become an ocean where raging waves were surging; each time the waves crashed, the space within his Dantian would enlarge by a little bit.
Chapter 77
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
One time, two times, three times. The space within Ling Han’s Dantian continuously enlarged at a shockingly rapid pace.
He felt as if his body was about to burst, but in truth, the Dantian was a small world. Even if it became larger than this whole planet, no physical changes would appear on him. [1]
Ling Han, with the help of the medicinal effects from the Spatial Pill, stimulated the continued expansion of his Dantian. At this point, every bit of increase could only be beneficial.
Ten times, twenty times, thirty times!
Ling Han was overwhelmed with astonishment and joy, for there was still a large amount of medicinal effects that had not yet been expended. So to what extent would this allow his Dantian to expand?
But when he thought longer about it, this was only normal. This was an alchemical pill that would cause even powerful warriors of Heaven Tier to be moved, and now it was actually taken by him, a lowly martial artist of Element Gathering Tier, so how awesome would the effects be! Unfortunately, the people now actually don’t recognize the kind of priceless treasure that was the Dark Moon Grass, and extravagantly use it to break through to Gushing Spring Tier. What a waste!
Unfortunately, a martial artist could only take a single Spatial Pill once in his lifetime. If he took another, there would be no effects at all. If it had not been for this, Ling Han believed he would be able to get his hands on more Dark Moon Grass. However, on the other hand, for most people, the Spatial Pill was not very valuable because rarely would they battle until the point that their Origin Power was completely exhausted.
…The increase of space within the Dantian only improved the martial artist’s ability to battle longer. There was no change in the amount of power behind each attack.
But for a minority of geniuses, this was an extremely valuable item, as they would often battle until the point where they had no way out. So the larger the space within their Dantian, the longer they would be able to continue battling, and on many occasions, this would be a life-saver for them.
Ling Han was of course even more pleased. He possessed the Five Element Origin Nuclei, and previously, the space within his Dantian was really too tiny. There was completely too little Origin Power for his use!
Eighty times, ninety times, one hundred times, and finally, all the medicinal effects of the Spatial Pill were exhausted. Ling Han finally opened his eyes.
Expanded by a hundred times!
If this Spatial Pill was swallowed by a powerful warrior of Heaven Tier, the space within the Dantian would only expand by one percent. However, even this single percent would be larger by one hundred times than his own expansion of a hundred times!
There was absolutely no comparison between the two.
It was not because the Spatial Pill was not awesome enough, but because his current cultivation level was really too low. However, with every future increase in his cultivation level, the degree of expansion of the space within his Dantian would also be much higher than others, though it would become gradually less and less, until the point where it would only be an expansion by one percent when he reached Heaven Tier.
As a result, there was no loss in him taking the pill so early on. Instead, the earlier he took it, the earlier he could make use of it. The benefits of the Spatial Pill could last from Element Gathering Tier all the way to Heaven Tier, or even until Shattering Void Tier in future.
He did not immediately stand up. Instead, he stimulated the Five Elements Mix Chaos Lotus to continuously absorb Spiritual Qi, which would be transformed into his own Origin Power within his Dantian, building up his reserves.
Though the space within his Dantian was now extremely large, the Five Elements Mix Chaos Lotus was too mighty, and together with the Five Elements Heaven Grade Skill, absorbing and refining Spiritual Qi was done at an excessively rapid pace. Only one night had passed, yet he had managed to fill the colossal space within his Dantian completely.
Th
is also meant that in the future, if he battled to the point of exhaustion, he would require at least one night to recover to his prime condition if he did not take any alchemical pills to accelerate his recovery.
Although he had not slept at all the night before, Ling Han still felt very energetic. After reaching Element Gathering Tier, cultivation would be able to replace sleep to a limited extent. Moreover, he had only stayed awake for a single night, so it really wasn’t a big deal.
“Han’er, when do you plan to return to Gray Cloud Town?” Ling Dong Xing asked him when he arrived at the external rooms to eat.
Ling Han considered for a moment, and said, “There is quite a number of people who have asked me to share a meal with them, and I can’t really make excuses, so maybe after another three or four days.”
“Very well, then you stay here for a few more days while I return first and prepare a celebratory feast for you!” Ling Dong Xing said, filled with excitement. He couldn’t wait to let all the townspeople know that Ling Han had won the first place in this Da Yuan Tournament.
“All right, take care on your journey, Father,” Ling Han said with a smile.
Ling Dong Xing nodded. He did not worry about Ling Han, because his son’s prowess was already above his own, so even if he stayed behind, he couldn’t protect Ling Han anyways. Moreover, he was still the Clan Head, and after being absent for so long, he had to return as soon as possible to take charge of things back home.
After breakfast, Ling Dong Xing set out to return to Gray Cloud Town while Ling Han was dragged off by Qi Yong Ye and the others to enjoy a meal here and have fun there. Because these people had all thrown their matches appropriately for him in the tournament, this was a favor, so Ling Han naturally could not be ungrateful.
On the second day, Qi Yong Ye invited Ling Han to have fun at the Wrestling Ring.
What was so fun about the Wrestling Ring?
Ling Han didn’t understand, but could not resist Qi Yong Ye’s enthusiasm and so was dragged along by the latter there. It was also the place where the Da Yuan Tournament had been held a few days ago. At this moment, all the tournament stages had been dismantled, and there was only a single battle ongoing in such a wide area. Five wrestlers were currently being surrounded in an attack by thirteen demonic beasts. The battle was fierce and the scene was bloody, whereas the spectators that were watching kept releasing shouts of excitement.
“They are all prisoners awaiting their execution. Though the battles here are extremely dangerous, if they manage to win ten times in a row, they would be pardoned and regain their freedom,” Qi Yong Ye explained.
Ling Han nodded. Majority of empires had this kind of system. After prisoners were sentenced to death, they could choose to enter a battle to the death in the Wrestling Ring and win for themselves the chance to continue living. Of course, majority of them died in their battles. The number of people who managed to win their own freedom could be counted on the fingers of a single hand.
“Good!” All of the spectators shouted suddenly, because one of the prisoners had made a mistake and three demonic beasts had worked together and ripped off his arms. The agony caused him to continuously scream in pain, but his screams did not last too long, because soon after, his throat was torn out and his flesh was divided amongst the starving demonic beasts.
The spectators here have all come for this kind of death and this kind of bloody scenes. Seeing such a scene, some crazy woman even tore apart her shirt and shrieked in excitement, her breasts exposed and trembling in her emotional high.
The remaining four did not show any sign of panic. Obviously, they have experienced such a thing many times, so they continued to rely on each other and only concentrated on the enemies right in front of them.
“Gambling is allowed here. Is Brother Ling interested?” Qi Yong Ye turned to him and asked.
Ling Han shook his head in refusal. He had never had a liking for this kind of thing that used the lives of others for entertainment purposes.
“So Brother Ling does not like this kind of battles. To be honest, neither do I. But the battle after this would definitely be very exciting,” Qi Yong Ye said mysteriously. “An elite of Gushing Spring Tier who’s a rapist. Who knows how many women have been ruined by his hand? But he is indeed very powerful; he has not died no matter what was done to him. Today, it would be his thousandth battle, and if he wins it, that’d be a thousand wins for him. If he wins again, there would be no choice but to set him free.”
A prisoner of Body Refining Tier would be set free after winning ten times in a row. For Element Gathering Tier, the condition was a hundred wins, while for Gushing Spring Tier, the condition was a thousand wins.
A spark of killing intent involuntarily flashed through Ling Han’s eyes. Out of the types of people he hated the most, depraved lechers were in the top three. Such scum should be directly killed without hesitation. There was no need to give them any sliver of a chance.
“Today, many of the spectators have come to watch this depraved lecher receive his just punishment!” Qi Yong Ye said, “And for this reason, our Royal House of the Da Yuan King has even assigned an elite to battle with him. There is absolutely no way we would allow him to avoid getting his just deserts!”
While they had been speaking, the battle had neared its conclusion. Surrounded and attacked by more than ten demonic beasts, after seven demonic beasts died, the four prisoners were mauled to death by the remaining beasts one by one, causing the spectators watching to cheer.
“Everyone, before the climax event on our agenda today, we would like to invite all of you to enjoy a little program!” A host entered into the ring, raised his hand and two iron fences on either side of the ring were raised. From behind both iron fences, an iron cage was respectively pushed out. One of the cages contained an extremely strong-looking mature wild wolf, while the other cage actually contained a little girl that could only be five or six years old at most!
Ling Han suddenly stood, flames of rage bursting into life within him.
Chapter 78
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
“Everyone, a team of martial artists entered the Seven Wind Mountains on a hunt a few days ago, and in the den of a fierce tiger, discovered this little girl. The strangest thing was, this little girl not only was not devoured by the fierce tiger, but had even been living with it for quite a few years. She should have been abandoned as an infant in the wild, and was brought back by the tiger to its den,” the host introduced the little girl’s background, pointing at her.
“She might look small, but she is exceptionally strong. She’s also very violent, does not know how to speak, and nor does she know how to walk on two legs. Her behavior is every bit like that of a wild beast. And now, let us all watch her performance in a battle with this wild wolf!”
All the spectators turned their attention to the little girl. The girl had a head of unkempt hair and her whole body was filthy, covered with dust and dirt. Overall, she had a very bedraggled appearance and a very thin figure. Compared against that wild wolf… it was practically like comparing an infant with an adult.
How was she supposed to battle against an opponent like that? The only end result would be being killed without mercy.
“Heng!” Qi Yong Ye had also risen to his feet, a displeased expression on his face. This was too much… to actually use such a small child to entertain the audience! They were completely without any conscience!
“Xiu,” Ling Han jumped into the Wrestling Ring, and said, “Release this child!”
“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t you know the rules? This is the property of the Da Yuan King, how dare you come here to make trouble?” The host was at first stunned, before becoming extremely angry. But soon after, he was again stunned, and pointing at Ling Han, he exclaimed, “Yi, you’re the champion of this year’s Da Yuan Tournament!”
After he managed to recognize Ling Han, he dared not be too rash and explained, “Young Master Ling, this is the r
ule of the Wrestling Ring. Those who enter the Wrestling Ring can only battle. There is no difference between male or female, old or young!”
“Then let me ask you, has she willingly entered the battles in the Wrestling Ring? Or, what crime has she committed that she has no choice but to battle?” Ling Han asked.
“This…” the host was instantly lost for words.
In this world where only the strong would be respected, a “wild girl” would of course not engender anyone’s attention. So what if she was sent to battle in the Wrestling Ring, who would care? Who would mind?
With this question from Ling Han, the host had no idea how he was supposed to answer.
“Set her free!” Qi Yong Ye had also leaped into the ring, and coldly commanded the host.
“Yes, Fourth Prince!” The host hurriedly assented. This was a man who may very possibly inherit the position of the Da Yuan King. Naturally, no one would dare to disregard the words of Qi Yong Ye.
Of course, he dared not release any prisoners even if it was the command of the Fourth Prince. However, even if she was released, this wild girl would at most not have any identification papers, and could be taken by anyone as a slave. Even if she was released, it wasn’t a big deal.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 47