Chapter 509: "Their Mutual Understanding"
The members of the Xuan Kingdom's team were all enraged by the treatment, It's bad enough we lost a member, now they want to directly remove us from the roster? Aren't they too overbearing!
"If you don't follow the rules then I won't let a single one of you off then."
Before that Elder Wang's grunting sound could even come to a finish, a heavy mass of air equivalent to a hurricane had swept over from below the cliffs.
Anyone could tell things are not looking right. Unfortunately for this team from the Xuan Kingdom, it was already too late when they tried to control the alchemic beast to flee.
Tearing apart the paper contraption, leaving nothing but scraps in its wake, the hurricane then swept across the unlucky individuals like fluttering leaves and blowing them off into the jagged cliffs where only death awaits them.
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In an instant, silence grips the remaining participants like a collective agreement. They all saw the outcome of what comes to those who defied the strange senior that never once cast a glance their way. It's not pretty, to go like that, so far away from home and without a corpse for their families to retrieve.
For a time none dared to offer to go next.
"Everyone, I've said it very clearly earlier already. Each team must send a representative to take part in the lot. These jade carvings are no ordinary objects, they each carry differing levels of spirit force in them. As you all saw the outcome. If you pick one that's beyond your own reach then only death awaits. For the one to three numbered jades, they are infused with enough power that only alchemists of the nine cauldron or higher could hope to contain them, meaning a senior alchemist like the lord of the Dan Palace Chen Hong Ru. Likewise, the corresponding four to six numbered jade requires only a user with the spirit force equivalent to a seven to eight cauldron alchemist. As for the rest of the numbers, I will leave it to your own imaginations. Regardless of what your choice is, I advise the representative of each team to choose according to their own ability. After all, the opportunity to gain rewards isn't just once." The Sacred Maiden's explanation definitely helped to ease the tense mood in the atmosphere.
In other words, so long as the team manages to make it to the end of their route then its possible to gain access to the other channels as well. They've already witnessed the consequences of messing with one of the first three jades, they aren't going to follow in that footstep again.
Like everyone else, Ling Yue also showed a frown on that face. She hasn't even made it into the Star Cave yet and a heavy dilemma was already presented before her.
Nowadays her current control over the spirit force lies in the seven cauldron level. Let's say she does increase it to another rank by tapping into her spirit smoke for support, that's only enough to barely break into the eight cauldron level. That limits her choice to the middle range of four to six on the jade tablets.
Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be an issue at all so long as she's able to get in, but she has a mission here today. Chen Hong Ru mentioned the solution to the black fog lies in the Spatial Piercing Bow hidden within this cave, there's no way such a profound artifact would be in those lower tiered routes. That meant her objective lies in scoring one of the top six jades to have a chance.
"Your Grace, pardon me but I, Wen Xu, would like a try." Coming forward next was a nine cauldron alchemist and leader of the North Qing team. From how polite the man's voice was towards Xue Pian Ran, it's blatantly obvious he too was a member of the Dan Palace as well.
There were no hesitation on what came next. Grasping for the number 'three' engraved jade, Wen Xu firmly holds onto the thing while he vied for control over the force attempting to take his life like what occurred minutes ago. Eventually, a whole fifteen minutes had taken place before the contest subsided, the winner shown by the brilliant shot of light imprinting the number three onto the alchemist's hand.
Though he's succeeded, it couldn't have come easy. Wen Xu's complexion paled in an unhealthy white as he exhaled a sigh of relief, evident of the extreme efforts he took.
But instead of heading on inside right after his achievement, the person only returned to his original position. Apparently he intends to wait until all the results are shown to give him a better picture of the competition.
Now that there's a first, there's going to be a second. One after the other, the various representatives of the other nations and sects also went forward. However, a sense of wariness now hangs over their heads when making the choice, after all, the small warning from Wen Xu has been made.
Since most of the teams are only at the level of a seven to eight cauldron alchemist, the final numbers usually ended up hovering between six to eight here. Of course, there are exceptions among the crowd. Take Da Xia's team for example, they had the former head of the Royal Hospital Manager Chou in their ranks. An eight cauldron alchemist snatching up the number four jade tablet went without a flaw, making them one of the more outstanding teams today. Then there's the Sky Armor Sect as well. With Zhu Ge Yi's ability, he too managed to take the fourth jade tablet for his team.
Finally, the number of teams remaining are starting to dwindle, mainly Ling Yue's team and the Kai Jiang Manor's.
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"Ling Yue, we could take a jade between the number five, six or seven here if you aren't sure. Steadiness wins the race, we can through with it using this method." Lan Caier suggests, knowing full well the little sister might push herself beyond the limits in light of having a trump card.
Based on how much of a snarling look the North Qing team and Sky Armor Sect team was making at Ling Yue, it's not difficult to tell they aren't looking well at them right now.
"Feng Shen, why don't you guys choose the six to seven jade tablets?" Making the same suggestion, Cong Lu steps over to offer his goodwill.
"No, I think we already have the answer." The Phoenix Lord exchanges a glancing look at his future wife, their eyes conveying the same mutual understanding.
Getting all playful with that smile, "Why don't you write down the answer on a paper first before I go up. We can see if your choice is the same as mine." Ling Yue's the only alchemist among her team so the job obviously fell upon her shoulders.
While the boy went ahead to play the game by writing his choice down, the girl on the other hand didn't rush the process. Using that rejuvenated and refreshed fingers of hers, she innocently hovers it around the number 'three' tablet to everyone's shocking horror.
Is this woman crazy?! Why would she go for such a high number, she's asking for death!