“Martial arts, alchemy, array arts, an expert in all arts. Does such a perfect person actually exist in this world?”
Lin Xiang Qin, meanwhile, was lovestruck. With her hands pressing down on her breast, she declared, “This man, I am definitely going to make him mine!”
Ling Han faced the Testing Stone Plaque. Preparation for the Mysterious Three Thousand was complete, and strike!
Xiu, xiu, xiu . Nine flashes of Sword Qi surged forth, and together with the blade itself, they altogether gave rise to a thousand sword flashes in an earth-shattering display that slashed towards the Testing Stone Plaque.
The letters on the fifth row immediately lit up. Instantly, there were eight, before gradullay lighting up, and merely stopped when eleven letters had lit up.
Eleven Stars of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier of battle prowess!
Hiss, everyone began to hiss in shock. That was because Ling Han was only in the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier! There had never been anyone in the ninth layer of Spiritual Ocean Tier that could manage to deliver an attack worth eleven Stars of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier; how many Stars had that surpassed?
Although they saw Hu Niu’s bite had the power of twenty Stars of the Flower Blossom Tier, but biting could still not be considered as an actual battle technique, could it?
Yet Ling Han shook his head. In terms of destructive power, 10000 Techniques Return to One far surpassed Mysterious Three Thousand. That technique was equivalent to fusing 10,000 sword flashes into a single flash, and its destructive power was a hundredfold, or perhaps even a thousandfold stronger!
Because if one punch had ten pounds of power behind it, then even a thousand punches would not kill a man. But what if one could actually deliver 10,000 pounds of power in a single punch?
Unfortunately, he had not yet managed to form Sword Ray, and was not able to use 10,000 Techniques Return to One yet. Even if he used it forcibly now, he would only be able to deliver a strike that was fused from ten plus slashes of his sword, and that was still inferior to Mysterious Three Thousand.
“P-Pass,” the staff member was stuttering again.
Ling Han thought for a while, then said, “Let me try again.” He abandoned the sword and withdrew the Little Tianyuan Spirit Snake Array. He walked to stand in front of the stone plaque and pressed his left hand down on it. Nobody saw when a variety of black-colored demonic patterns lit up on his palm.
This had come from refining the Demonic Qi and originated from the Asura Demon Emperor, who was an elite from the realm of gods. Ling Han merely knew that the demonic patterns possessed tremendous destructive power, but exactly how powerful it was, he did not have a clear idea.
This would be a good chance for him to give it a test.
He pressed down. Weng , the letters on the seventh row immediately lit up.
Ten, fiteen, twenty!
And no more after that. This Testing Stone Plaque only had a total of seven rows of letters, and the last three rows were already degraded. After all, it has been millenia, or even tens of millenia of time, so it was not complete any more.
What kind of concept was the seventh row?
Battle prowess of the Spiritual Infant Tier!
Twenty Stars of the Spiritual Infant Tier!
Er…
Everyone was once again frozen into stone. One could deliver a bite worth twenty Stars of Flower Blossoming Tier, which was already shocking enough to make one’s hair stand on end and feet grow cold. Yet a casual press of the hand from Ling Han was worth twenty Stars of the Spiritual Ocean Tier. What was going on here?
Had something gone wrong with the Testing Stone Plaque?
Ling Han withdrew his hand and could not help but shake his head, feeling slightly regretful. He still had not managed to test out the true destructive power of the demonic patterns. True, this belonged to an elite from the realm of the gods. It might be the most powerful killing move on this plane.
When he faced Asura Demon Emperor in future, he must definitely not allow the latter to clap a hand on him, or the results would be terrible. However, this should not have surpassed the limitation of a Level Ten Spirit Tool, because the Demon Birth Sword was obviously capable of resisting the might of the demonic pattern.
Its limit might perhaps be Heaven Tier or Deity Transformation Tier.
Or so Ling Han thought.
“S-Sir, p-p-please come here to r-register,” that staff member was completely weak.
“Oh?” Ling Han smiled, and said, “I just used a Spirit Tool just now, so it cannot be counted. Moreover, I have no plans to take part in the Prodigy Tournament. I’m only here to accompany this little girl to prevent her from causing trouble.”
So that was the might of a Spirit Tool.
All of them exhaled in relief. Whether that was true or not, they were willing to believe that it was the truth. Otherwise, if a young man in the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier had the battle prowess of twenty Stars of Spiritual Infant Tier, who would be able to accept that reality?
Still, if you’re not participating, why did you come here to give everyone a scare?
Some of them suddenly recalled that though the battle prowess of twenty Stars of the Spiritual Infant Tier was definitely not completely true, Ling Han’s previous strike did have the battle prowess of eleven Stars of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier. In case of one with cultivation at the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier, that kind of talent was practically logic-defying.
Once he broke through to the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, what other cultivator of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier could be on par with him? Even Yu Kun Lun would have to admit defeat, right?
When he heard the quiet murmurs of those around him, Yu Kun Lun’s expression looked a little ugly.
As for Diao Wen De, he was already shivering, and had completely lost all power of speech. All he wanted to do now was to dig a hole to bury himself in.
Ling Han walked over and picked Hu Niu up before filling in the information for the little girl.
“Name: Hu Niu, age: estimated six years old, birth place: not really sure.” Looking at that kind of information, the faces of the staff twitched uncontrollably. Were you picked up from somewhere? Why is that your name, age, and birthplace is all so weird?
“Niu was picked up, Ling Han picked up!” Hu Niu giggled, lying in Ling Han’s arms, absolutely carefree.
She was picked up and she was still so happy? They really admired her for her carefree nature!
However, everyone looked at Ling Han in envy. They, too, wanted to pick up a little monster like her and raise her.
Afterwards was naturally the test of age, to prevent the situation whereupon someone would deliberately use disguise techniques to make themselves look young. The fairness of this tournament had to be ensured.
Hu Niu naturally passed the test of age successfully. Actually, with her appearance, there was absolutely no need to test her age. No matter how one disguised themselves, there was absolutely no way they could disguise themselves to look like her, right?
And now, when this day was over, the strongest one hundred and forty-four people would, together with the remaining elite cutlivators on the Prodigy Roll, form a total of two hundred people before proceeding with a series of knockout battles.
For rookies, they were only a mere step away from victory. As long as they won the next day, they would successfully enter into the ranks of the Prodigy Roll, and could at least stay on the Roll for three years!
And there was another significance to entering into the Prodigy Roll, and that was the fact that there has never been anyone who was ranked on the Prodigy Roll that did not manage to break through to the Flower Blossom Tier.
Chapter 437
Chapter 437: Knockout Battles
Translator: DarkAngel_ Editor: Kurisu
Breaking through to the Flower Blossom Tier meant one would surpass one’s mortal limitations.
This was the dream of every martial artist, but how man
y would actually achieve the feat of breaking through to the Flower Blossom Tier in this world?
At night, Gu Feng Hua, Chi Hua Lan, Lin Xiang Qin and the others all came over. They had all successfully advanced into the actual tournament, which was naturally something to be happy about. They would of course have a nice celebration in honor of it, and when they came to the topic of Ling Han and Hu Niu’s daytime performance, they all inhaled sharply.
Too powerful.
“If I fight with Hu Niu in future, I definitely cannot allow her to bite me!” Gu Feng Hua declared with much distress.
“En, en, en!” All of them nodded their agreement. The ferocity and violence of the little girl was enrooted deep in their hearts.
“Niu doesn’t want to bite you all, smelly!” Hu Niu was eating with much fervor, yet the fact that she could still speak clearly could not help but impress all of them.
“Grandmaster Ling, when did you become an Array Master?” Lin Xiang Qin gazed at Ling Han seductively, which made Liu Yu Tong and Li Si Chan feel an uncontrollable despise for her.
“That’s right, that’s right. Are you planning to let anyone live? You’re already an alchemist, you have a terrifyingly high talent in martial arts, and now you’re an Array Master too.” Gu Feng Hua shared the same feelings and sighed. “Compared with you, I’m close to losing my my name as the biggest pervert.”
“Fine, I have absolutely zero interest in snatching this name from you, so please rest assured.” Ling Han laughed.
All of them were feasting on dishes made from the ingredients grown in the Black Tower, wolfing the food down voraciously. Even Chi Hua Lan and Lin Xiang Qin, two beauties that have been praised as deities, were no exception—they were fighting over the food extraordinarily fiercely, making everyone dumbstruck.
After a good night’s rest, the knockout battles finally began.
They all drew lots, and adhering to the principle that no one that is already on the Roll should encounter each other, formed a hundred battle pairs. And these hundred pairs were further divided into ten batches, with every battle having a time limit of an hour. If the victor was still undecided at the end of that hour, there would be an additional battle conducted after the battles for all ten batches were finished.
This was a knockout battle, so there was naturally no such thing as a tie.
Ling Han, Li Si Chan, and Guang Yuan were all seated on the spectator stands, which they had paid the entrance fee of one Origin Crystal for. This was really very expensive. Even an elite cultivator of the Spiritual Ocean Tier would have to spend a whole month to successfully refine one.
Even so, there was no empty seat in this Great Arena. Merely from the entrance fees alone, the Spirit Treasures Pavilion would be able to earn about 200,000 Origin Crystals. This ability of earning money was really enough to make one exclaim in shock.
Who allowed that this Prodigy Roll was organized by them? And it was also the neutrality and the powerful background of the Spirit Treasures Pavilion that ensured that the results of the tournament would be universally recognized by all martial artists. Otherwise, no matter which sect organized it, it would be inevitable that there would be doubts whether the tournament was more partial towards their own disciples.
Liu Yu Tong, Can Ye and Zhu Wu Jiu all drew good lots and successfully avoided those on the Prodigy Roll. They also managed to dodge the few recognized powerful characters among the rookies. Hu Niu, on the other hand, drew Ao Xing Lai as her opponent.
He was originally seventy-eighth on the Prodigy Roll, and now had also broken through to the Spiritual Pedestal Tier. His battle prowess was at least five Stars.
Ordinarily, if a rookie was matched with an elite cultivator on the Roll, they would definitely sigh at their own misfortune. The latter managed to be ranked on the Roll three years ago, and now that three years had passed, his skill would have definitely improved much. But now, everyone was filled with sympathy for Ao Xing Lai.
Looks like this character from the last tournament’s Roll would continue to wear the label of the “last Roll”. Who did not know about Hu Niu’s monstrosity now? One punch from her had twenty Stars of the Spiritual Ocean Tier, a claw had the might of two Stars of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, and a single bite was strong enough to reach the level of twenty Stars of the Flower Blossom Tier.
She was an absolute little monster!
Ao Xing Lai was indeed very strong, and also the strongest of the Seven Sons of the AO Clan, but now, no one was very optimistic about him.
His and Hu Niu’s battle was in the seventh batch and would only begin in the afternoon, but Ao Xing Lai’s expression did not look very pleasant. It was not that there was no previous example when an elite cultivator on the Roll was defeated by a rookie, but it was a very, very rare case. If this kind of thing happened to him, that would really be too humiliating.
“Please choose your weapon,” the host announced.
The battles for the first batch immediately began. After the twenty competitors chose their respective weapons, they began to fight at the signal.
Can Ye was in the first batch; his opponent was a skilled wielder of the spear. The latter was similarly in the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier and his tested battle prowess was fifteen Stars, which was at the same level as Can Ye. But the test for battle prowess was only a display of the strongest destructive pwer, and not actual battle prowess. The actual ability of a martial artist still needed to be shown through an actual battle.
The two immediately engaged in a fierce battle. Can Ye was absolutely merciless. Seven flashes of Saber Qi danced forth, one ferocious slash after another, and repeatedly attacked forcefully. In a single go, he shot out eighty-one slashes, and his opponent had not even managed to hold up his spear properly to parry when the area between his thumb and forefinger was ripped. He was left with no choice by to admit defeat.
Ling Han nodded. Can Ye had also found his own path of martial arts and possessed his own powerful style, which was to advance bravely, and would rather be broken than veer off his path. It was either his saber would slash his foes apart, or he would shatter himself; there was no third possibility.
It could be called the Dominating Saber.
An hour later, the battles for the first batch were all finished, and there were no unexpected results. All the elite cultivators on the Roll emerged victorious.
The second round began, and there were a considerable number of well-known challengers in this batch.
Lu Yang, ninth on the Prodigy Roll, and also the one with the highest ranking on the Roll presently. The top eight were naturally disqualified due to their age. Qu Xiu Zhu, whose battle prowess reached as high as twenty Stars of Spiritual Ocean Tier. Hua Ying Han, Yu Kun Lun’s junior sister disciple, a new entry into the Spiritual Pedestal Tier.
Ling Han was primarily focused on Lu Yang. He was an excellent disciple of the Beast Emperor Sect and had a pet beast, a Frost Clouded Leopard. Due the the special nature ot this Sect, he was allowed to battle with his pet beast. He was similar to the Thousand Corpse Sect—without the pet, his battle prowess would at least drop drastically by about ninety percent.
However, Lu Yang’s opponent was really too weak. He was only in the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier, and because Lu Yang managed to win with a casual strike, he did not make use of his pet at all.
“Sixth layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier,” Ling Han said quietly. This was possibly the highest cultivation level in this Prodigy Tournament.
Qu Xiu Zhu and Hua Ying Han successfully advanced too, and were ranked as new members on the Prodigy Roll.
The battles continued. Finally, an unexpected result emerged. Lo Da, ranked forty-two on the Prodigy Roll, actually lost to a mysterious character. That person only revealed the battle prowess of a Star of Spiritual Pedestal Tier during the test, yet easily defeated Lo Da.
“He concealed his ability.”
“Indeed, that person is in the Spiritual Pedestal Tier in t
he first place, and as long as he displayed the battle prowess of a single Battle Star, it would be enough for him to make it to the actual tournament.”
“He struck so calmly just now, so that obviously is not his true ability, either.”
“This could be another dark horse that can charge into the top ten.”
This person’s name was Yang Jun Hao, and there was pitifully little information on him. It was only known that he is twenty-three years old; the test of age also confirmed that. But when Ling Han’s eyes swept over him, he was astonished because this guy was shockingly in the ninth layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier.
In the north region, with that kind of young age to stand at such a high cultivation level, he could be claimed a genius among geniuses.
The third and fourth batch finished, and in the fifth batch, Zhu Wu Jiu appeared. After a hard battle for an hour, he finally defeated his opponent and became another member of the Prodigy Roll. This meant that he had close to a hundred percent chance of breaking through to the Flower Blossom Tier in the future, which made him extremely overjoyed. If he ever returned to Rain County, that would be the undeniably strongest level of battle prowess.
In the sixth round, Ling Han saw Yue Kai Yu, his cousin. After this guy obtained the Return Spirit Pill, he strengthened his foundations and had already broken through to the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, possessing exceptional battle prowess. He very easily defeated an elite cultivator from the Prodigy Roll.
This was the fourth case of a rookie defeating a senior member of the Prodigy Roll in battle.
Chapter 438
Chapter 438: End of the Ranking Battles
Translator: DarkAngel_ Editor: Kurisu
In the seventh batch, the most attention-grabbing battle was of course the one between Hu Niu and Ao Xing Lai.
They had all witnessed the illogical destructive power that Hu Niu possessed. No matter how strong an elite of the Flower Blossom Tier was, they would be unable to stand against her teeth. However, destructive power was destructive power, and did not represent one’s battle prowess. They all wanted to see Hu Niu really fight.
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