Chapter 576: Eating is Important
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The entrance of Immortal Academy.
"Huh?" The Stygian Immortal who had just announced the rules was stunned as he looked towards the direction of the four people who disappeared in the mystic realm.
"What's wrong? Teacher Yan?" A person beside him asked.
He then turned back and said with a smile, "I just didn't expect that they were cultivator disciples amongst the academies that came to participate in the competition this time and they seemed to be extremely skilled in sword techniques." Seeing the two being so natural and smooth in their sword-riding, making it look so simple like they were walking, they must have mastered sword techniques to a certain extent to be able to do so. Also, he did not know if it was an illusion, but in that moment earlier, he somehow felt that the aura from the two people were a little too deep, even... much stronger than him?"
"There are so many academies in the world, it's not odd to have someone who specialized in sword cultivation." The person beside him said again, "The disciples from our academy is about to enter too."
"That makes sense." He did not think further, only taking it that he had seen wrongly and turned around to focus on watching the disciples of his own academy. "I wonder who would be able to clinch the first place in this league."
——————
Inside the mystic realm.
Lonemoon flew into the mystic realm, with a change in the scenery before his eyes, he arrived in a forest in the next second. It was lonesome all around him, there was only the sound of the water flowing in a small river. The disciples of the various academies who had entered with him had all disappeared, they were probably transported to different locations.
Lonemoon's heart sank as he instinctively turned and searched for the person who had a permanent spot on the lost peoples' list and heaved a sigh of relief in the next second, fortunately Shen Ying was still here. Not lost! It seems like people of the same team were all transported to the same location, it was indeed a team competition.
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However, it was evident that this were qualifiers selecting a hundred out of a thousand people, the chance of being eliminated was still quite high. He must admit that this competition indeed had some scheming behind it. Though it was said and looked to be a team competition, in reality, it was also an individual competition, after all there were only a hundred array flags, which meant that only a hundred people can pass. And there are four people in each team, it was impossible that all teams would be so lucky that all four members will be able to get an array flag.
Besides, they were given 10 days' time, this shows that finding the array flag wouldn't be difficult, the difficulty comes in being able to defend and keep it till the end. He could already foresee how terribly heated this competition would become in the last few days.
Besides the map of this mystic realm wasn't very big, they would somehow meet one another, it wouldn't be easy to hide away to survive till the end.
"Great Immortals, where shall we head towards first?" Seeing the three of them remain rooted to the same spot, Buggy could not help but ask.
"We're not moving!" Lonemoon answered.
"Huh? Huh!" What did he mean, were they not going to compete?
"The flat ground here by the riverside is not bad." Lonemoon lifted his head and looked at the sky, saying in all seriousness, "Let's have lunch before anything else!"
What the hell?
Buggy was taken aback, thinking that he was kidding, but he turned back to find that the people behind him had already turned and was starting to pull out pots and pans.
"..." What exactly are you all here for? Hello?
Buggy was dumbfounded, seeing that they had even brought out a table, it still went forward after some thought, unable to hold back and said, "Great Immortal, even if we're eating, let's go somewhere else, we can't stay by the river."
"Why?" Lonemoon asked subconsciously.
Buggy replied like it was only natural, "Because as long as it's by the river, demons, marines and all sorts of monster fish that feed on humans will definitely be around."
"Fish?" Lonemoon paused.
"Yes." Buggy said nervously, "Those fish demons aren't easy to deal with, we would need..."
Before he could finish, Lonemoon suddenly turned around and shouted over to Yi Qing, "Chef, there are fish in the river."
Yi Qing's eyes lit up, he immediately turned, picked up his spatula and headed towards the river.
Huh?
Hold on! Why were they still going there when it said not to.
"It's dangerous, don't go to the river..."
Midway through its sentence, he saw the person swing his spatula forcefully towards the river, alongside a loud explosion, a water curtain tens of meters tall instantly splashed up on the river surface. The river was lost half its water.
In the next second, he felt that there seemed to be an additional layer covering the ground, full of numerous shadows in all sizes, there were some even under his own feet and it was growing bigger. He looked up instinctively and saw that a sky full of fish demons were raining down.
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He tensed up at this sight, unable to dodge in time, a fish bigger than himself smashed onto it. His legs gave way and he fell to the ground. So heavy, he felt like his shell was about to break into pieces, being weighed down and unable to get up.
Just as he was about to shout for help, the weight above was lifted, the fish had been picked up. Before he could relax, he looked up and happened to see Shen Ying's face, his body trembled habitually, suddenly feeling like it would be better to continue being weighed down.
"Chef, let's eat this one today!" But Shen Ying had already turned around and was raising the fish in her hand in Yi Qing's direction, this one was the biggest!
"Yes, Master." Chef then walked over and took over the fish in Shen Ying's hands then turned around and picked up the others.
Buggy then noticed that the entire riverside was covered with all sorts of fish, the smallest was at least tens of kilograms heavy. Originally ferocious marines and demons were now laid out on the ground, like they were being sunned to make salted fish. Bits of a light hearted conversation between the others could also be heard.
"This one is suited to be braised, that one can be steamed, poaching sounds like a good idea for this one. Chef, why don't you cook a few more fish?"
"Yes Master, no problem Master!"
Buggy: "..." These were all monsters, not fish.
He suddenly felt like his common sense was being tested! He turned around to peep at a certain person who was still picking fish with his spatula in one hand, mm, that one definitely isn't an ordinary spatula, it must be some artifact, that's why he was able to capture so many demons with a light swing. Buggy felt like he had discovered the truth.
The two people who were done picking the fish had already returned to the table, mm, they'd managed to do a free top up of ingredients again.
Chef cooked very quickly, in less than half an hours' time, several dishes had already been served. Perhaps because the ingredients were monsters, the dishes were especially aromatic, at once, the aroma of food wafted around the riverside.
As a semi supplier who had informed them that there were fish in the river, Buggy was very honored to have a seat at the table. Of course, whether he was able to snatch any food for himself was another matter.
The few of them were about to start eating when a sudden gust of wind rose and four figures dressed in blue appeared, the three males and a female seemed to have come through wind-riding and were staring at the three people at the table in surprise.
Lonemoon's eyes narrowed as he turned to survey the four newcomers, judging by their clothes, they were probably from Immortal Spirit Academy.
"Excuse us for our disruption." A slighter taller man amongst the four stepped forward and said politely with his fists cupped, "May I ask if you had managed to capture the Red Scented Fish Monster?"
Lonemoon's hand tightened around his fan before he replied, "We did capture some fish monsters from the river earlier." As for exactly what kind of fish they were, he wouldn't know.
Yet the four people were all overjoyed, even slightly agitated, the man even asked anxiously, "Fellow Daoists, we have a presumptuous request, could we ask that you give us a fish monster, we can pay money, even if it's double the price."
Chapter 577: Someone is Finding Fault
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
From his tone, it seemed like he knew that they had more than one fish in their hands. Having a different idea, Lonemoon nodded with a smile and said, "That's negotiable!" With that, he swung his hand and instantly a fish as big as a tabletop appeared on the grassland by the side. "Is this the type of fish monster you are seeking?"
The eyes of the four brightened at once as they all stared fixedly at the fish on the ground and nodded fervently. "That's right, that's it, this is the Red Scented fish monster!"
"Then how much are you intending to pay to buy it?" Lonemoon smiled very kindly, looking at the expressions, he did not expect that an ingredient that Chef randomly found was so valuable.
The tall man stepped forward in delight while bringing out his money purse as he said, "The Red Scented Fish Monster used to be sold for 10 thousand void currency in Yang City, I... I..." He looked at his own purse and said carefully, "I have 23 thousand void currency now, would that be enough?" With that said, he directly handed the purse over.
Lonemoon took a look, was one fish already so expensive? He was considering whether to get Chef to stock up more and did not make any reply.
And the tall man grew restless, thinking that he was finding the money too little, he turned back anxiously towards the three others. "If you find it too little, we still have more here!" While speaking, the three all pulled out their money, roughly counted it and handed it over. "Here's a total of 40 thousand void currency, is that enough? If it's not, we'll make up for it after the competition, we'll sign a debt slip, we will definitely pay you the money."
The others also nodded, their gazes towards him were filled with some begging.
Lonemoon faltered, this was his first time meeting people who automatically increased the price on their own accord during a negotiation. What kind of new tyrant-style bargaining was this?
"You are overstating things, my friends." He replied with a small smile. "Since we have agreed to sell it, we naturally won't go back on our word. But I don't know why you are so anxious to get this fish monster."
Once his words fell, a slightly desolate expressions appeared on all four of their faces together. He replied a moment later. "It's like this, one of our very good friends sustained some injuries a while back and isn't recovering even after a long period of treatment. Rumors say that the fish bone of the Red Scented Fish Monster can heal severed meridians and rebuild muscles, that's why we wanted to get one."
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"I see." Turns out it was to save someone.
"To be honest with you, we have already been searching for several months in Yang City, unfortunately we did not find anyone selling such fish monsters." He explained in a low voice, while his gaze shifted to the fish on the floor again. "This Red Scented Fish Monster comes with an exotic fragrance and always live in groups by the thousands. Without dozens of people, it would be impossible to capture them, so even businessmen who specialize in hunting monsters do not easily attempt to do so. That is why the supply does not meet the demand." Though he did not know how they managed to hunt so many with just four of them, they were already very surprised and delighted to be able to buy one.
"I see." Lonemoon nodded, no wonder they found the dishes that Chef made today especially aromatic, turns out it's because of the ingredients. They were so sure that they had other fish monsters earlier, probably because they had smelled the scent and knew that they had encountered the entire group of fish. With a sudden thought, he asked, "You only need the bones of this fish?"
The four faltered but still nodded. "Yes."
"Hold on!" He stood and turned to walk towards Chef's temporary stove, after searching around, he bent down and pulled out a rack of bone several meters long back with him. "This fish bone is bigger than that fish, why don't I sell this fish bone to you?"
The four of them fell into a momentary daze before their expressions became those of overjoy.
"Su... Such a huge fish bone, could it be... the Red Scented Fish King!"
"Definitely, such a big one, it must be the Fish King! Besides, judging by the color of this bone, it is at least 500 years old and older."
"My god! A 500 year old Fish King had yet to appear in Yang City."
"Brother Wen Xuan can be cured now, he will definitely recover."
The few of them became increasingly agitated as they spoke, their eyes brightening.
"Since you only want the fish bone, then I'll make it cheaper, just 20 thousand void currency will do!" As he said that, he reached out and took the purse from the man's hand while stuffing the fish bone into his hand. Then, he turned back and stored the fish that was on the ground away.
Fortunately Chef did not throw the bone away earlier on, he managed to earn 20 thousand void currency without even losing one fish, this was a good deal.
The four people was even more agitated now, carefully putting the fish bone away, they then looked to Lonemoon, full of gratitude as they said, "Thank you fellow Daoist, we certainly won't forget your kindness this time. When our friend has recovered, we will definitely visit you to offer our thanks!" As he spoke, he assumed the posture of going down on his knees.
"Not at all." Lonemoon quickly helped him up and smiled sincerely. "It's a small matter, no need to stand on ceremony!"
"No, we understand your intention." He said even more solemnly. "The Red Scented Fish Monster is difficult to get, and the Fish King is even rarer. We are considered to have taken huge advantage of you this time, we will definitely remember it. As for this money..." He pushed the few other purses over. "Please accept everything."
"How can I..."
"Please do not refuse."
"I... alright!"
Lonemoon then stuffed the remaining few bags of void currency into his own pocket, looking like he was being forced to do this difficult thing.
Shen Ying: "..."
Yi Qing: "..."
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Buggy: "..."
Shrewd businessman!
"We still don't know how to address you all?" The tall man looked extremely grateful as he went on to introduce himself. "I am Ling Hong, a disciple of Immortal Spirit Academy. These two are my good friends, An Hao, Meng Fan, this is my younger sister, Ling Fei."
Lonemoon was considering whether to take the chance to sell them some elixirs and whatnot and was about to speak when a male voice, filled with mockery sounded from midair. "I was wondering who had alarmed the Red Scented Fish group, turns out it's the famous good-for-nothings from Team three?"
Ling Hong's originally excited face paled, looking up at the four people that suddenly appeared in the air, a hint of timidity flashed across his eyes.
Lonemoon lifted his head for a glance and saw four male who were dressed in the same blue robes as Ling Hong's group stopping midair on their swords. They were looking down at the people below with mockery all over their faces.
"I heard that Ling Wen Xuan was bitten by a monster previously and is already crippled. I didn't expect that the few of you good-for-nothings still dared to come to participate in the competition." The man flying right at the front laughed coldly, his gaze becoming even more cynical. "Do you think that, just with the few of you level three good-for-nothing, you will be able to get the array flags?"
Once he said that, the three behind him all started laughing.
Ling Hong and the others turned even paler as they fisted the hands by their sides. The only, Ling Fei could not hold back and took a step forward. "Ren Qing, we are all disciples of Immortal Spirit Academy, so what if we are from team three? Don't look down on others!"
"Heh! So what if I am looking down on you?" The person laughed even more arrogantly. "In the past, Ling Wen Xuan always hung out with you all, it's no wonder that he is a cripple now- just nice to form a pile with all of you."
Chapter 578: I Have The Array Flags
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"What nonsense are you spouting!" Ling Fei was enraged and was about to charge forward but was held back by Ling Hong.
"How have I spouted nonsense, Ling Wen Xuan is a crippled good-for-nothing right now, just like all of you. Oh no..." Something came to his mind and the malice in his eyes grew. "I heard the meridians in both his legs are completely severed, even walking is a problem, he's worse than a cripple now!"
"You..." Ling Fei was so infuriated that her tears had flowed out.
Yet the opposite party became even cockier. "Oh yes, I smelled the aroma of the Red Scented Fish Monster earlier, don't tell me that you are still hoping to be able to cure him?" He swept a glance at the four of them and sighed in relief when he did not find any traces of the fish monster on the ground. He continued, "It's truly wishful thinking, wanting to capture the Red Scented Fish Monster with just the few of you good-for-nothings. I think it's better that you all urge Ling Wen Xuan to give up earlier, after all he's already crippled, why not die earlier and reincarnate earlier."
"Ren Qing!" This time, not only Ling Fei, the two others had shouted out in infuriation, even pulling out their weapons.
"Why? Angry, want to fight?" The opposite part still maintained his manner of fearing nothing. Merely a few disciples from team three, dare to think of challenging us from team one, hahaha... what a joke! Sure, come on, strike if you have the capabilities? Strike at me huh... aiya!"
Before he could finish, a surge of pressure swept towards them, before they could react, their legs trembled and the few of them fell out of the air onto the ground, the kind where their faces landed first.
The few of them were shocked, quickly getting up and directly pulling out their weapons. "Who was that? Who blindsided me!" They examined the surroundings and finally noticed, the four people who were seated around a table and eating beside Ling Hong.
Mm, he asked to be beaten himself, it had nothing to do with them.
Ren Qing's expression darkened as he surveyed the four back and forth, he first looked at Yi Qing and Lonemoon, then shifted his vision away, finally setting his sight on Buggy. "It's you!"
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Buggy who did not even manage to get any soup: "..." Meow meow meow?
What has it got to do with Buggy? He hasn't done anything.
"You're from the insect race!" The opposite party looked as though he was facing a formidable enemy and looked right at Buggy. "What do you mean? Want to stand up for them?"
"Ah?" Buggy was confused, what standing up?
"I say little kid, don't be so heated." Lonemoon finally turned his head to glance at him, casually saying, "Can't you say whatever you have nicely? Why must you stand so high up there, though it does give you an imposing manner, but you even have to shout to converse, don't you feel tired?"
"..." Ren Qing felt suffocated at heart as his face flushed immediately. At the thought of it, he was indeed a little tired and thirsty. Hence he flew into a rage out of humiliation and said, "What has it got to do with you?" He just loved to stand high up in the air, was it wrong?
"Initially, it had nothing to with us..." Lonemoon was full, glancing at the foodie opposite him who was still going, his eyes curved as he placed his chopsticks down and said with a smile, "But you stood up there earlier on and kept blabbering in this direction, your saliva is everywhere, we're still eating down here. Don't you think it's very unhygienic?"
Once his words fell, the chopsticks in Shen Ying and Chef's hands froze at the same time. Instantly feeling like there was a thick layer of a certain person's saliva covering every dish.
Shen Ying: "..."
Yi Qing: "..."
Son of a b*tch! How were they supposed to eat now? Father Niu definitely did it intentionally!
Instead Buggy completely didn't mind and was even delighted, he could finally get some food now. The insect race had always lived roughly, they could eat anything and didn't mind it at all.
"You..." Whereas Ren Qing looked even more upset, he did go to school, so he still knew what shame was. Yet he could not find any words to retort him, only standing with a red face, looking embarrassed and anxious. After a while, he then found his voice. "Hmph, where did you disciples of a small academy come from? Did you think that by having an insect in your team, you would be able to win?"
He gave Buggy a look full of malice, when he noticed the butterfly knot on his feeler, he stiffened again. As if having figured out what it was in a moment, his eyes lit up immediately and he pointed at him, saying, "I still thought you were some formidable insect, turns out you're merely an investigative bug?"
Buggy's expression darkened, instantly a little angered. What's wrong with investigative bugs? Why was he looking down on investigative bugs? He was the smartest one out of all the bugs!
Ren Qing was relieved and let out a maniacal laugh, looking towards Ling Hong with greater mockery. "Hahaha... Ling Hong, you guys just found such a backing." Investigative bugs were one of the weakest amongst the insect race, if it was another kind of bug, they might still fear them a little!
"Ren Qing, do not speak with a loose tongue." Ling Hong frowned. "I've just met these few people by chance earlier, they are not from our academy."
"So what if they're not from our academy?" Ren Qing was evidently doubtful as he smiled even more sarcastically. "To be able to hang out with you all, they're most probably the same kind of good-for-nothings."
"You..." Ling Hong was infuriated.
But Ling Fei on the other side voiced out, no longer able to hold back. "These few are people who could capture the Red Scented Fish Monster, if you call them good-for-nothings, then what are you? You can go catch a fish monster for us to see!"
"Little Fei!" Ling Hong was shocked, wanting to stop her but it was already too late.
Sure enough, Ren Qing's expression changed. "You all really caught the Red Scented Fish Monster?!" Turning and looking in Buggy's direction with a shocked expression, his expression changed again as he sneered, "Hmph, just with you few and an investigative bug, I don't believe it?"
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"Believe it or not, it's up to you!" Ling Fei replied directly.
Ren Qing's expression became graver. No one knew what came to his mind, but he glanced at Buggy again and laughed coldly. "If this bug is really so strong, then such a small thing as finding the array flags must be no problem, I wonder if you have found any? Bring it out and let us have a look!"
The people behind him also started kicking up a fuss, firmly believing that they were putting up a pretense.
"Yeah, bring it out! What's a fish monster, the array flags are the main point right?"
"That's right, this is a competition, if you have the array flags, we'll yield."
"Quickly take it out, can't be that you don't have it?"
They spoke one after another and even glanced towards Buggy as they did, their gazes filled with despise. Buggy was slightly alarmed, even Lonemoon was frowning, these few people were being extremely arrogant.
Instead Chef by the side, suddenly grabbed a bunch of something and threw them towards Buggy. They felt to the table with a clatter. "Here!" Several triangular small flags appeared on the table, they even had the two words, "Immortal Spirit" written on them, there were a good six of them, still faintly emanating a fishy smell.
Ren Qing: "..."
Ling Hong: "..."
Buggy: "..."
They really did have it, and it was still a big bunch!
Ren Qing turned purple, this entire being stiffened as he stared at the pile of array flags in disbelief. This was impossible! The mystic realm had just been activated for less than an hour, they'd already found six array flags!
Whereas Ling Hong was delighted and retorted, "Didn't you ask to see the array flags? How was it, have you gotten a clear look?"
Chapter 579: Team Three Made It
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ren Qing's face alternated between going purple with rage and paling, looking worse than he did before.
Ling Hong chuckled lightly and continued to say while looking at him, "Ren Qing, listen to my advice, don't be too merciless in whatever you do! So what if you are in Team one now? Can you guarantee that you will always stay up there, don't forget what was your previous position? Even if you have forgotten all of us remember it very clearly?"
"You..." His expression was becoming increasingly upset, as his gaze towards the four of them became even more venomous. "Sure, I'll wait and see, how all of you and this bug is going to safeguard these array flags?"
With that said, he sneered coldly and left with the four others on their swords.
Buggy was still staring at the flags on the table with a look of disbelief and subconsciously asked, "How... How did we get these?"
"I would like to know too." Lonemoon also turned his head and looked over, they'd just entered and did not even move locations, the more they did not specially search for the array flags.
Yet Chef said with a neutral expression. "Saw them in the stomachs when I was cutting and cleaning up the fish earlier."
Lonemoon: "..."
This means that the array flags of this competition were actually hidden in the bodies of these demons? Indeed, the foodie saves the world!
"With these array flags, we will be able to pass the first round of the competition." Buggy was surprised, of course, that's as long as they don't get snatched away in these 10 days. He quickly gathered the array flags on the table and handed them to Shen Ying beside him with a fawning expression. "Here you go, Great Immortal!"
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Shen Ying frowned in disdain, probably because it was in the fish's stomach, the flags had a fishy smell. Hence she turned towards Ling Hong and the others and asked, "Want them? Gift for you all."
"Ah? Ah!" Ling Hong was stunned, looking like he had heard things. "You want to give... give them to us?"
"That's right!"
"But... but these are array flags needed to pass the round!" He reminded.
"I know that." Shen Ying nodded, the smell was too strong, she didn't want them.
"But... but..." He went for a long time but never came up with the whys and wherefores and could only look towards Lonemoon.
"Take them!" Lonemoon also said uncaringly. "We have no lack of these array flags, take it us a bonus on top of the fishbone you bought earlier."
Ling Hong turned back and looked at the three others, feeling a warmth filling his chest and could no longer reject them, only feeling increasingly grateful towards these few people. He replied with cupped fists, "Then, we really thank you four fellow Daoists." As he spoke, he picked up the array flags on the table, conjured a spell to clean up the flags, then distributed four amongst themselves before returning the remaining two.
"We only have four people so just four is enough, as for these remaining two..." He spoke seriously, "Though you all are strong and powerful cultivators that we can barely match up to and you might not care for these two array flags, but it's still early in the competition, it's better to keep it with you just in case. Of course, if anything crops up later on, you can take back these four flags from us anytime."
He looked extremely sincere that Lonemoon raised his brows in slight surprise before taking the remaining two array flags back. "Alright!" Seems like the nature of these people were still good, at least they weren't greedy and knew gratitude and propriety. Initially, he'd sold the fish bone to them on the account that they were disciples of the Immortal Spirit Academy and thought that they might require their help with regard to the matter of the spirit seed.
"Oh yes." He seemed to have recalled something and turned back to glance at his sister Ling Fei before saying with a troubled and slightly guilty look, "Just now my sister Ling Fei's loose tongue revealed that you all had captured the Red Scented Fish Monster. That Ren Qing has always had an irreconcilable feud with us, he will definitely make sure that everyone knows about that. Adding to that the array flags that we have... it might attract many covetous eyes and bring trouble to you all."
He'd directly voiced out his worries, Ling Fei had also just thought about that, knowing that she had made a mistake, she paled instantly, looking at the few of them bewilderedly. "It's my... it's my fault!" She looked like she was about to break into tears anytime.
"No worries!" Lonemoon wasn't bothered, those fishes naturally came with an exotic fragrance, even if she hadn't said anything, those people would have thought of it after they left too. So it had nothing much to do with them, besides, they were really not too worried, especially after knowing that those array flags were placed within the monsters. "You don't have to blame yourselves, if others want to come seek trouble, by all means."
"No." Ling Hong said slightly agitatedly. "This matter started because of us, though our cultivation is lacking, we... we still ask that fellow Daoists allow us to join you. Even if we can only offer a little bit of help, it's still good!"
"Join us?" Lonemoon's eyes narrowed.
"Please do not misunderstand." Afraid that he thought that they wanted to cling onto them, Ling Hong brought out an item, adding, "Though our cultivation is lacking, but we're disciples of Immortal Spirit Academy, everyone in our academy has such a communication token. This can display the location of people from the same academy within 10 miles of our radius. Although we won't be able to guard against the disciples of the other academies, we can still help in avoiding disciples of Immortal Spirit Academy." In this mystic realm, a majority were disciples from Immortal Spirit Academy.
"Oh?" Lonemoon became slightly interested and took another look at the communication token in his hand. "You're saying that you can contact all the disciples from your academy?"
"That is the case!" He nodded.
"I see!" Lonemoon suddenly broke into a wide grin, looking Spring had come as warmth floated around him. His eyes squinted into a narrow slit. "Earlier on you said... that this Red Scented Fish Monster is very rare?"
Ling Hong faltered for a moment and nodded subconsciously. "Ye... Yeah." Why does his smile seem quite odd? Suddenly felt like he was about to lose something.
"Come, tell me in detail..." Lonemoon's smile became brighter, he had some sort of prescience that stacks of cash bills were flocking towards him.
The master and disciple at a side...
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"Master, could it be that Father Niu is thinking of doing business here?"
"100%."
"Then has he forgotten, what we came here to do?"
"Huh? What did we come in here for?"
Yi Qing: "..."
Buggy: "..."
****
The stone tablet outside the mystic realm.
The name "Immortal Spirit Academy Three 23" that was at the bottom of the stone tablet suddenly lit up and rose all the way to the topmost spot, a number 'four' that was slightly smaller also lit up underneath and following behind it was the name "Invincible Academy", with 'two' written below it.
At this time, everyone outside the mystic realm were the teachers of the various academies. The changes on this stone tablet instantly caught everyone's attention and they were all shocked.
"Hmm? Four array flags!" A teacher smiled and said to the few people from Immortal Spirit Academy. "They've just entered the mystic realm less than an hour ago and they've already obtained four array flags, indeed proving themselves to be disciples from Immortal Spirit Academy."
"You're too kind, Teacher Li!" The Stygian Immortal from Immortal Spirit Academy took a look and was also stunned. "Perhaps it's just being lucky that they happened to see four array flags." He replied courteously with a smile, similarly amazed deep down. He did not expect that the first to get four array flags would be the disciples from team three.
Chapter 580: Harmonious Competition
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
it was not that the teachers of the academy looked down on those from the third group, but the groups for the competition this time were split according to capabilities. Moreover, it was split according to the four ranks – Heaven, Earth, Mystic and Yellow. It was only natural that the four groups would be of different capabilities. He would not have been so surprised if it were the Heaven group, but this was the third group they were talking about.
"I apologize, Teacher Yan. Who doesn't know how powerful the Immortal Academy is? It is said that you even have dragons and tigers hidden in your academy. I suppose the Immortal Academy will win the United Tournament this time."
The other teachers in the academy began to discuss among themselves. Their main aim in going there was to compare their respective relationships with the Immortal Academy. Thus, a fresh wave of business-boasting began.
"Eh? I'm not sure what kind of race the Invincible Academy houses? They've already gotten two array flags in such a short time," someone commented after noticing that Invincible Academy was lined up right behind the Immortal Academy. "Has anyone heard of this academy before?"
Nobody responded. Instead, everybody carried on with their conversations, not paying much attention to Invincible Academy. Their attention quickly shifted to the other academies. What took place over the next few days, however, made these teachers regret acting this way.
This was especially so for the crowd from the Immortal Academy. They thought that the people from the third group had only been lucky to win those four array flags. If their good luck continued, they would probably be able to stay in the mystic realm for ten days. Otherwise, they would likely be sent out of the mystic realm the moment someone else got a hold of the flags in their hands. In any face, they had been sure that the numbers would not change. After all, the disciples in the third group all seemed extremely overjoyed after realizing that they had captured the four array flags. They were so eager to hide themselves that it seemed almost impossible for them to grab hold of anymore flags.
Very quickly, however, those teachers were proven wrong. The numbers changed as quickly as the win. In just one day, the third group had obtained ten array flags! By the second day, they had 20, and by the third day, they had almost 30. By the fifth day, they already obtained about 40 flags.
40 array flags – that was almost half the entire number. By now, the crowd was no longer shocked. Instead, they were beginning to doubt the authenticity of the competition. Before half-time in the competition, this group had actually obtained 40 flags. This did not seem logical nor realistic. The key thing was the group that held the array flags were only as powerful as they were when the competition started. How could that be? The crowd was almost certain that the group had been cheating.
Suddenly, all the teachers present were suspicious. A few of the teachers were crying non-stop. They, too, were confused about what was happening. How did this third group suddenly come into the picture? Unless they were cheating, it was impossible that they would be this good. Although some of the disciples in the group were theirs, the teachers were nevertheless disappointed. After all, this was a competition jointly organized by the various academies. If they were really found to have been cheating, the damage to their reputation would be unthinkable.
What's more, the teachers weren't stupid. If the group really wanted to play dirty, they could have done it less obviously. It was clearly written on the stone board – they had 40 array flags. Wasn't it plain as day that they were cheating?
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Logically speaking though, the rapidly increasing numbers would undoubtedly draw suspicion and wild guesses. Yet, as hard as they tried, the teachers could not track what was happening inside the mystic realm. The Immortal Academy had no choice but to bite their tongues and inspect the disciples who had been eliminated preliminarily. Although this would not do much to resolve the suspicions of others, they did have to try to act justly. In this regard, they were especially strict toward their own disciples.
However, they did not find anything out of the ordinary. The disciples who had been eliminated preliminarily explained that they themselves did not know, were not sure, and could not understand the reason why this was so... How could this be? Why were they giving answers like that? The disciples from the other sects gave even stranger answers. Not only did they not see any disciples from the Immortal Academy who were in the third group, they also did not notice anything out of the ordinary inside the mystic realm.
The teachers were unsure if they were imagining things, but for some reason, the disciples who had been eliminated preliminarily all did not sound in the least bit regretful. Instead, they sounded a bit... excited?
This round of investigations were not telling at all. The Immortal Academy Group Three 23's numbers continued to increase. By the eighth day, they already had 68 flags. The remaining flags were split among the other groups.
Everyone: "..."
This was horribly strange!
At that moment, inside the mystic realm, a huge thing happened. It was a huge thing that caused the entire mystic realm to go crazy. What happened was that a foreign yet oddly exciting voice began to speak from the tokens of the disciples from the Immortal Academy.
[Attention! Attention! There will be a sale – 50% off all beasts. Originally, one million or two million void currencies were required for each beast. Now, they're going at 500,000! 500,000! That's right! You're not hearing things – it's 500,000! You won't incur a loss, and this is not a scam. For 500,000 void currencies, you can get red fragrant fishes, single-horned wind beasts, and nine-pointed rouge beasts. Anything that you want to buy, we will sell to you. There are many different types of beasts, and even pure-bred ones! Today, our shop will be open for just two hours. First come first served, while stocks last! The first buyer will be eligible for double the discounts – discounts on top of discounts! This is a rare opportunity – quick, come to the side of the little river in the east of the mystic realm!]
When they first heard the announcement, everyone in the mystic realm cursed the announcer under their breaths. That's crazy! How could this person even think of advertising in the middle of the competition? But some people in the mystic realm at the time were so bored that they decided to go and take a look. Once they arrived, they really gave in and bought the beasts that they needed.
Those were rare beasts after all. Every single part of their bodies was valuable – their meridians, their bones, their flesh, their blood. Each part had many different uses. They were utterly invaluable in this world. Moreover, the beasts were fierce and extremely dangerous. Normally, one would have to risk their lives to capture these beasts. Who would have guessed that there would be an open sale like this in the mystic realm, much less that the beasts would be sold at such a good price? Truly, they would be fools to let this opportunity pass them by.
At the start, only the disciples from the Immortal Academy knew about this sale. They attempted to keep the information to themselves so that they would be able to benefit more from the goods on sale. They bought as much as they could. However, they had entered to win the competition after all. Naturally, they did not have much cash on them. As much as they wanted to buy, therefore, they had insufficient cash on hand. For those who had friends within the mystic realm, they had no choice but to borrow money. Obviously, they could not borrow money from their fellow disciples from the Immortal Academy – they wanted to buy as many beasts as they could as well. Therefore, they had no choice but to borrow money from disciples outside the Immortal Academy. The more they borrowed, the wider the news spread. Now, the entire mystic realm was going crazy!
There was a long line by the side of the river. Everybody could not wait to get their hands on the beasts.
Screw the freaking competition – the rare beasts were much more important!
Ling Hong and his three other companions that Lonemoon had made use of were now so busy that they could barely talk. At first, they were hesitant about selling the beasts. As more people bought the beasts, their hearts began to hurt because of the low price at which they were being sold. However, as time went by, they became used to making sales. In fact, they even began to push for more sales.
"Fellow Daoist, this is a fire-elemental rare beast. I have a couple more – do you want to buy more of them?"
"Fellow Daoist, our rare beasts come with the beast elixirs as well. They're a package deal and there will be no bargaining. If you don't want them, they will be gone by tomorrow."
"Fellow Daoist, do you need to see the live one? What do you mean you have no spirit beast bag? Don't worry – you can buy one from us!"
"Fellow Daoist, you know how to train beasts? Do you want a cub or an un-incubated egg then? Do you want to find out more?"