CH 116
Chapter 116 – Rise to Fame
Zhao Yueban’s point token flew from his body, turning ethereal, and funneled into the point token at Xu Disheng’s waist.
“You have obtained 2,090,000 points.”
Back in the Green Lotus Domain, on the huge screen up in the sky, Zhao Yueban had actually been 7th place on the ranking, even though he had gotten 8th place in the first round of the tournament.
But at that moment, the three characters of his name flickered and dimmed before disappearing altogether!
“Zhao Yueban, dead?!” an observant disciple exclaimed in utter shock, immediately noticing the change on the screen.
“Zhao Yueban straight up died, and wasn’t even able to crush his survival token? How is that even possible?!”
“Look, there’s a disciple whose name shot up the rankings, right below the 6th place Li Cangyun!”
“Xu Disheng, that early Sea of Qi stage disciple? How was he able to kill Zhao Yueban?!”
In the Green Lotus Domain, the tens of thousands of disciples present were thrown into an uproar.
Many gazes turned towards the circle of light belonging to Ghost Controlling Peak.
The Peak Master of Ghost Controlling Peak was the Ghost Dominion Spirit Master, Zhao Leshan. He wasn’t at the Green Lotus Domain at the moment. The one sitting on the seat of honor in the circle of light was an elder, whose expression changed dramatically. “Immediately send a message to Patriarch Ghost Dominion and tell him… that Zhao Yueban died in the Mirage Sea Realm.”
“Understood, Vice Peak Master.”
Clan-type Peaks were different from ordinary Peaks in that most of the core disciples were direct descendents of the clan. The expressions of all the Dao Foundation stage disciples of the Zhao Clan were unsightly, but their hands didn’t stop moving as they sent out one message jade slip after another.
“Vice Peak Master, Zhao Yueban died without even being able to crush his survival token. How was an early Sea of Qi stage disciple like Xu Disheng able to accomplish this? Did one of the top few disciples attack him with a Psychic Magic Treasure first?” a Dao Foundation stage disciple at the elder’s side asked, cutting straight to the most doubtful point of it all. His expression was slightly better than the rest, as he was able to keep his calm.
The Vice Peak Master shook his head and replied, “We don’t want to jump to any absurd conclusions. We will wait until Patriarch Ghost Dominion returns our message. But in the tournament, the genius disciples will all let each other live, so Zhao Yueban’s death is indeed exceedingly strange.”
Xu Disheng, 7th place, with over 2,800,000 points!
Back at Morning Dew Peak’s circle of light, Lu Changge and Bai Honghua and the others had complicated expressions as they looked at the huge screen of light, since they had just received a message jade slip from Ghost Controlling Peak. Using the influence of Ghost Dominion Spirit Master’s name, they were insisting that they disclose all of the detailed information they had on Xu Disheng to them.
Ghost Controlling Peak was ranked 9th in the Mingxin Mountain Range. Their Peak Master, the Ghost Dominion Spirit Master, Zhao Leshan, was at the Divine Core stage. His influence wasn’t something that the 45th ranked Morning Dew Peak could resist.
All they were asking for was detailed information, so Lu Changge didn’t hesitate. He instructed Bai Honghua to gather up the information they had on him, record it on a jade slip, and send it to Ghost Controlling Peak.
“How is this possible?!!” a disciple shrieked. He was staring at the huge screen and pointing at the name that suddenly shot up once more. “Xu Disheng, 4th place! 4,800,000 points!!”
“What?!”
“Zuo Yanran’s name is completely gone from the ranking!”
“Somehow, two geniuses died in the third round of this tournament!”
“Ke Yue was pushed down to 5th place, too!”
Countless people looked up at the huge screen in the sky above Green Lotus Domain.
“1st place, Yu Yangyao. 8,400,000 points.”
“2nd place, Jian Liangbi, 7,900,000 points.”
“3rd place, Bai Zhaoyun, 5,300,000 points.”
“4th place, Xu Disheng, 4,800,000 points.”
“5th place, Ke Yue. 4,700,000 points.”
“6th place, He Junyu, 4,500,000 points.”
“7th place, Li Cangyun, 3,800,000 points.”
There were only 16 names remaining on the huge screen, shimmering in golden text. The other names already had their rankings decided and were dimmed out, or were gone all together, having lost their lives on Lightning Cloud Stone Island.
With the points Xu Disheng had accumulated, he had unexpectedly jumped three ranks, surpassing He Junyu and even the half-step Dao Foundation genius, Ke Yue!
The half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses ranked at the very top wouldn’t plunder points from other geniuses because their rankings from the first round of the tournament were more or less reflective of their real hierarchy in terms of strength. As a result, they would spare each other the face of fighting it out again.
But after Xu Disheng killed Zhao Yueban and Zuo Yanran in succession, he obtained more than 4 million points, immediately jumping to 4th place!
“Severing Meridian Spirit Master, this disciple is rising as a new force to be reckoned with. With this ghost Dao technique, do you think he’ll be able to stand his ground in the Eight Mountain Grand Tournament?” Yu Xingchao, the Killing Heart Spirit Master, asked. Hovering above his hand was a smaller screen, where he had clearly watched the entire process of Xu Disheng taking out Zhao Yueban.
Feng Simiao was cross-legged sitting atop the highest seat of honor, his eyes closed peacefully. Noticing the Spirit Masters all looking in his direction, he simply shook his head and responded, “His cultivation base is too lacking. That cultivation method does seem to have some redeeming qualities to it, however, seeing as it could actually break through the defenses of the Smoky Cloud Screen.”
The Killing Heart Spirit Master cupped his hands in understanding and put away the screen, retreating respectfully to the side.
The Spirit Masters of Mingxin Mountain Range on the imperial chariots atop the giant turtle were almost all mighty existences at the Divine Core stage. Feng Simiao, the Severing Meridian Spirit Master, was already at the half-step Primordial Spirit stage. If the two Mountain Masters weren’t present, he had full acting authority over Mingxin Mountain, able to decide any matter with a single word.
These peak Divine Core stage Spirit Masters didn’t have any idea about Xu Disheng’s Soul Song. At most, they only thought of the technique he used as somewhat commendable.
After all, every disciples had to have their own fortuitous encounters and secrets. If the Shangqing Sacred Sect wasn’t even tolerant of this much, how could they continue to be the dominant sect of the Shan Mountains in the Dong Territory throughout these countless years?
Even these peak Spirit Masters were unable to see that the technique Xu Disheng used wasn’t a secret technique from the ghost Dao, but a cultivation method that directly utilized his soul.
A black jade slip streaked across the sky from the horizon like a shooting star. Killing Heart Spirit Master waved his hand and the jade slip flew right into his grasp.
After a while Yu Xingchao looked up and spoke up once more. “Severing Meridian Spirit Master, that male disciple who died just now was the descendant of the great-great-grandson of Ghost Dominion Spirit Master. He wants an explanation from the Mountain Range.”
Yu Xingchao was usually regarded as having a monumental level of prestige, but he still had to defer to the Severing Meridian Spirit Master, Feng Simiao.
Ghost Dominion Spirit Master had been bestowed the title of Spirit Master, but he was just an ordinary Divine Core stage cultivator. As a result, he would at most venture to send Yu Xingchao a jade slip, but would never dare to directly come up to Feng Simiao to reason with him.
Severing Meridian Spirit Master slowly closed his eyes and said, “Ghost Dominion’s temperament has really been advancing in reverse. His descendant’s level of skill wasn’t sufficient and he met his death. How is it logical to try and get an explanation from the Mountain Range for this? But given he already sent you a jade slip, it wouldn’t be good to ignore it. Just have that disciple return their Zhao clan Magic Treasures back to them.”
“Understood.”
… …
Xu Disheng’s face was pale. After using Ghost Devourer four times in rapid succession, his Soul Force was practically exhausted, regardless of the fact that the black Soul Force flute had condensed into a corporeal state.
He put away the several Magic Treasures around him. But just when he was about to step out of the Hidden Dragon Sealing Array, he heard an explosion above him. The Hidden Dragon Sealing Array had been split open by someone else from the outside, and the sounds of roaring thunder from the lightning clouds in the sky outside reached his ears.
“Junior Martial Brother Xu, why are you here?” He Junyu asked, surprised to see Xu Disheng in the Hidden Dragon Sealing Array.
Next to him was a man in white clothes, his face resembling an artwork gently sculpted from jade. However, his brows were deeply furrowed as he looked at the corpses of Zhao Yueban and Zuo Yanran.
He Junyu also noticed the two corpses at this moment, his expression shifting. “Zhao Yueban and Zuo Yanran… you killed them?”
Xu Disheng swallowed two Qi Boosting Pills and extracted some Soul Force from the Soul Suppressing Vestment to supplement the black Soul Force flute in his sea of consciousness before responding. “Yes, I did.”
The white-clothed man was none other than Jian Liangbi. He managed to pick up on the traces of an array placed here, so he came over with He Junyu. Sure enough, they found this sealing array, which was meant to cover the traces of any power fluctuations.
Immediately after splitting open the array, they found Xu Disheng and these two corpses within.
Jian Liangbi said coldly, “Weren’t you already told that you were not to take the lives of other geniuses?”
Xu Disheng looked over at Jian Liangbi. Even though Xu Disheng didn’t know about Psychic Magic Treasures, he could faintly perceive that even if he played all of his hidden trump cards against this white-clothed man, he still might not be his match.
“These two were scheming to ambush me. Am I not even allowed to resist if someone else wants to kill me?” Xu Disheng said, then gestured at the destroyed Hidden Dragon Sealing Array. “This array was their doing. They laid this array down and then lured me to this location. They said that its purpose was to hide any traces of power fluctuations.”
At this point when there were only a bit over a dozen people remaining, it was easy to tell from the change in points on the screen in the Green Lotus Domain who eliminated whom, or who killed whom.
But the disciples on Lightning Cloud Stone Island wouldn’t know who attacked whom. Even supposing that Xu Disheng really killed these two, the momentary concealment of the Hidden Dragon Sealing Array was enough to obscure the events that happened within.
After leaving the Mirage Sea Realm, the rules set by Yu Yangyao and the other half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses would no longer be in place. They would go back to being restricted by the rules of the sect. Even if others learned that Zuo Yanran and Zhao Yueban had set up this array, they likely wouldn’t care enough to do anything about it.
As if he hadn’t heard what Xu Disheng said, a multicolored radiance began to glow in Jian Liangbi’s eyes. The aura surrounding him became oppressive, as if he was about to attack.
“Senior Martial Brother Jian, those two were the ones who didn’t abide by the rules. They can only blame themselves for what happened. Let’s just let this matter go,” He Junyu said, standing at his side.
The multicolored light in Jian Liangbi’s eyes gradually faded away. Then, he turned around and flew away without another word.
He could have turned a deaf ear to Xu Disheng’s explanation, but he still had to give He Junyu some face.
Normally, the geniuses wouldn’t care who attacked first, and they would care even less about the reasoning behind it. They would only look at who was the one to violate their rules in the end.
If He Junyu didn’t speak up there to save him, although Xu Disheng wouldn’t have been killed, he would surely have been eliminated from the stage, inevitably losing his points.
Losing his points meant that his ranking would be fixed at 16th place, and his run in the tournament would reach its end.
Only the top 10 would enter the last round of the Internal Disciple Tournament.
“Thanks for your help, Senior Martial Brother He,” Xu Disheng said.
He Junyu casually waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and said, “Don’t worry about it. Come along with me then. We’ll go right to the central plaza and decide on the top 10 now.”
This was also part of the rules they had set. Now that there were only around a dozen people left, Yu Yangyao gathered all of the remaining disciples in the central plaza. The ten disciples with the most points would remain. The others, based on the number of points they had, would have to crush their survival tokens corresponding to that order and return to the Green Lotus Domain.
To those four half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses, there wasn’t much left to do on Lightning Cloud Stone Island. They were just itching to absorb their Divine Core stage mirage demon and get out of the Mirage Sea Realm.
What? Not satisfied with the rules set by the half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses? Then perhaps the taste of a Psychic Magic Treasure will teach you a lesson.
If you appreciate the translation or want to sponsor a chapter, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!
Zhao Yueban’s point token flew from his body, turning ethereal, and funneled into the point token at Xu Disheng’s waist.
“You have obtained 2,090,000 points.”
Back in the Green Lotus Domain, on the huge screen up in the sky, Zhao Yueban had actually been 7th place on the ranking, even though he had gotten 8th place in the first round of the tournament.
But at that moment, the three characters of his name flickered and dimmed before disappearing altogether!
“Zhao Yueban, dead?!” an observant disciple exclaimed in utter shock, immediately noticing the change on the screen.
“Zhao Yueban straight up died, and wasn’t even able to crush his survival token? How is that even possible?!”
“Look, there’s a disciple whose name shot up the rankings, right below the 6th place Li Cangyun!”
“Xu Disheng, that early Sea of Qi stage disciple? How was he able to kill Zhao Yueban?!”
In the Green Lotus Domain, the tens of thousands of disciples present were thrown into an uproar.
Many gazes turned towards the circle of light belonging to Ghost Controlling Peak.
The Peak Master of Ghost Controlling Peak was the Ghost Dominion Spirit Master, Zhao Leshan. He wasn’t at the Green Lotus Domain at the moment. The one sitting on the seat of honor in the circle of light was an elder, whose expression changed dramatically. “Immediately send a message to Patriarch Ghost Dominion and tell him… that Zhao Yueban died in the Mirage Sea Realm.”
“Understood, Vice Peak Master.”
Clan-type Peaks were different from ordinary Peaks in that most of the core disciples were direct descendents of the clan. The expressions of all the Dao Foundation stage disciples of the Zhao Clan were unsightly, but their hands didn’t stop moving as they sent out one message jade slip after another.
“Vice Peak Master, Zhao Yueban died without even being able to crush his survival token. How was an early Sea of Qi stage disciple like Xu Disheng able to accomplish this? Did one of the top few disciples attack him with a Psychic Magic Treasure first?” a Dao Foundation stage disciple at the elder’s side asked, cutting straight to the most doubtful point of it all. His expression was slightly better than the rest, as he was able to keep his calm.
The Vice Peak Master shook his head and replied, “We don’t want to jump to any absurd conclusions. We will wait until Patriarch Ghost Dominion returns our message. But in the tournament, the genius disciples will all let each other live, so Zhao Yueban’s death is indeed exceedingly strange.”
Xu Disheng, 7th place, with over 2,800,000 points!
Back at Morning Dew Peak’s circle of light, Lu Changge and Bai Honghua and the others had complicated expressions as they looked at the huge screen of light, since they had just received a message jade slip from Ghost Controlling Peak. Using the influence of Ghost Dominion Spirit Master’s name, they were insisting that they disclose all of the detailed information they had on Xu Disheng to them.
Ghost Controlling Peak was ranked 9th in the Mingxin Mountain Range. Their Peak Master, the Ghost Dominion Spirit Master, Zhao Leshan, was at the Divine Core stage. His influence wasn’t something that the 45th ranked Morning Dew Peak could resist.
All they were asking for was detailed information, so Lu Changge didn’t hesitate. He instructed Bai Honghua to gather up the information they had on him, record it on a jade slip, and send it to Ghost Controlling Peak.
“How is this possible?!!” a disciple shrieked. He was staring at the huge screen and pointing at the name that suddenly shot up once more. “Xu Disheng, 4th place! 4,800,000 points!!”
“What?!”
“Zuo Yanran’s name is completely gone from the ranking!”
“Somehow, two geniuses died in the third round of this tournament!”
“Ke Yue was pushed down to 5th place, too!”
Countless people looked up at the huge screen in the sky above Green Lotus Domain.
“1st place, Yu Yangyao. 8,400,000 points.”
“2nd place, Jian Liangbi, 7,900,000 points.”
“3rd place, Bai Zhaoyun, 5,300,000 points.”
“4th place, Xu Disheng, 4,800,000 points.”
“5th place, Ke Yue. 4,700,000 points.”
“6th place, He Junyu, 4,500,000 points.”
“7th place, Li Cangyun, 3,800,000 points.”
There were only 16 names remaining on the huge screen, shimmering in golden text. The other names already had their rankings decided and were dimmed out, or were gone all together, having lost their lives on Lightning Cloud Stone Island.
With the points Xu Disheng had accumulated, he had unexpectedly jumped three ranks, surpassing He Junyu and even the half-step Dao Foundation genius, Ke Yue!
The half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses ranked at the very top wouldn’t plunder points from other geniuses because their rankings from the first round of the tournament were more or less reflective of their real hierarchy in terms of strength. As a result, they would spare each other the face of fighting it out again.
But after Xu Disheng killed Zhao Yueban and Zuo Yanran in succession, he obtained more than 4 million points, immediately jumping to 4th place!
“Severing Meridian Spirit Master, this disciple is rising as a new force to be reckoned with. With this ghost Dao technique, do you think he’ll be able to stand his ground in the Eight Mountain Grand Tournament?” Yu Xingchao, the Killing Heart Spirit Master, asked. Hovering above his hand was a smaller screen, where he had clearly watched the entire process of Xu Disheng taking out Zhao Yueban.
Feng Simiao was cross-legged sitting atop the highest seat of honor, his eyes closed peacefully. Noticing the Spirit Masters all looking in his direction, he simply shook his head and responded, “His cultivation base is too lacking. That cultivation method does seem to have some redeeming qualities to it, however, seeing as it could actually break through the defenses of the Smoky Cloud Screen.”
The Killing Heart Spirit Master cupped his hands in understanding and put away the screen, retreating respectfully to the side.
The Spirit Masters of Mingxin Mountain Range on the imperial chariots atop the giant turtle were almost all mighty existences at the Divine Core stage. Feng Simiao, the Severing Meridian Spirit Master, was already at the half-step Primordial Spirit stage. If the two Mountain Masters weren’t present, he had full acting authority over Mingxin Mountain, able to decide any matter with a single word.
These peak Divine Core stage Spirit Masters didn’t have any idea about Xu Disheng’s Soul Song. At most, they only thought of the technique he used as somewhat commendable.
After all, every disciples had to have their own fortuitous encounters and secrets. If the Shangqing Sacred Sect wasn’t even tolerant of this much, how could they continue to be the dominant sect of the Shan Mountains in the Dong Territory throughout these countless years?
Even these peak Spirit Masters were unable to see that the technique Xu Disheng used wasn’t a secret technique from the ghost Dao, but a cultivation method that directly utilized his soul.
A black jade slip streaked across the sky from the horizon like a shooting star. Killing Heart Spirit Master waved his hand and the jade slip flew right into his grasp.
After a while Yu Xingchao looked up and spoke up once more. “Severing Meridian Spirit Master, that male disciple who died just now was the descendant of the great-great-grandson of Ghost Dominion Spirit Master. He wants an explanation from the Mountain Range.”
Yu Xingchao was usually regarded as having a monumental level of prestige, but he still had to defer to the Severing Meridian Spirit Master, Feng Simiao.
Ghost Dominion Spirit Master had been bestowed the title of Spirit Master, but he was just an ordinary Divine Core stage cultivator. As a result, he would at most venture to send Yu Xingchao a jade slip, but would never dare to directly come up to Feng Simiao to reason with him.
Severing Meridian Spirit Master slowly closed his eyes and said, “Ghost Dominion’s temperament has really been advancing in reverse. His descendant’s level of skill wasn’t sufficient and he met his death. How is it logical to try and get an explanation from the Mountain Range for this? But given he already sent you a jade slip, it wouldn’t be good to ignore it. Just have that disciple return their Zhao clan Magic Treasures back to them.”
“Understood.”
… …
Xu Disheng’s face was pale. After using Ghost Devourer four times in rapid succession, his Soul Force was practically exhausted, regardless of the fact that the black Soul Force flute had condensed into a corporeal state.
He put away the several Magic Treasures around him. But just when he was about to step out of the Hidden Dragon Sealing Array, he heard an explosion above him. The Hidden Dragon Sealing Array had been split open by someone else from the outside, and the sounds of roaring thunder from the lightning clouds in the sky outside reached his ears.
“Junior Martial Brother Xu, why are you here?” He Junyu asked, surprised to see Xu Disheng in the Hidden Dragon Sealing Array.
Next to him was a man in white clothes, his face resembling an artwork gently sculpted from jade. However, his brows were deeply furrowed as he looked at the corpses of Zhao Yueban and Zuo Yanran.
He Junyu also noticed the two corpses at this moment, his expression shifting. “Zhao Yueban and Zuo Yanran… you killed them?”
Xu Disheng swallowed two Qi Boosting Pills and extracted some Soul Force from the Soul Suppressing Vestment to supplement the black Soul Force flute in his sea of consciousness before responding. “Yes, I did.”
The white-clothed man was none other than Jian Liangbi. He managed to pick up on the traces of an array placed here, so he came over with He Junyu. Sure enough, they found this sealing array, which was meant to cover the traces of any power fluctuations.
Immediately after splitting open the array, they found Xu Disheng and these two corpses within.
Jian Liangbi said coldly, “Weren’t you already told that you were not to take the lives of other geniuses?”
Xu Disheng looked over at Jian Liangbi. Even though Xu Disheng didn’t know about Psychic Magic Treasures, he could faintly perceive that even if he played all of his hidden trump cards against this white-clothed man, he still might not be his match.
“These two were scheming to ambush me. Am I not even allowed to resist if someone else wants to kill me?” Xu Disheng said, then gestured at the destroyed Hidden Dragon Sealing Array. “This array was their doing. They laid this array down and then lured me to this location. They said that its purpose was to hide any traces of power fluctuations.”
At this point when there were only a bit over a dozen people remaining, it was easy to tell from the change in points on the screen in the Green Lotus Domain who eliminated whom, or who killed whom.
But the disciples on Lightning Cloud Stone Island wouldn’t know who attacked whom. Even supposing that Xu Disheng really killed these two, the momentary concealment of the Hidden Dragon Sealing Array was enough to obscure the events that happened within.
After leaving the Mirage Sea Realm, the rules set by Yu Yangyao and the other half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses would no longer be in place. They would go back to being restricted by the rules of the sect. Even if others learned that Zuo Yanran and Zhao Yueban had set up this array, they likely wouldn’t care enough to do anything about it.
As if he hadn’t heard what Xu Disheng said, a multicolored radiance began to glow in Jian Liangbi’s eyes. The aura surrounding him became oppressive, as if he was about to attack.
“Senior Martial Brother Jian, those two were the ones who didn’t abide by the rules. They can only blame themselves for what happened. Let’s just let this matter go,” He Junyu said, standing at his side.
The multicolored light in Jian Liangbi’s eyes gradually faded away. Then, he turned around and flew away without another word.
He could have turned a deaf ear to Xu Disheng’s explanation, but he still had to give He Junyu some face.
Normally, the geniuses wouldn’t care who attacked first, and they would care even less about the reasoning behind it. They would only look at who was the one to violate their rules in the end.
If He Junyu didn’t speak up there to save him, although Xu Disheng wouldn’t have been killed, he would surely have been eliminated from the stage, inevitably losing his points.
Losing his points meant that his ranking would be fixed at 16th place, and his run in the tournament would reach its end.
Only the top 10 would enter the last round of the Internal Disciple Tournament.
“Thanks for your help, Senior Martial Brother He,” Xu Disheng said.
He Junyu casually waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and said, “Don’t worry about it. Come along with me then. We’ll go right to the central plaza and decide on the top 10 now.”
This was also part of the rules they had set. Now that there were only around a dozen people left, Yu Yangyao gathered all of the remaining disciples in the central plaza. The ten disciples with the most points would remain. The others, based on the number of points they had, would have to crush their survival tokens corresponding to that order and return to the Green Lotus Domain.
To those four half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses, there wasn’t much left to do on Lightning Cloud Stone Island. They were just itching to absorb their Divine Core stage mirage demon and get out of the Mirage Sea Realm.
What? Not satisfied with the rules set by the half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses? Then perhaps the taste of a Psychic Magic Treasure will teach you a lesson.
If you appreciate the translation or want to sponsor a chapter, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!
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