“You want to rob me?”
Hua Chenglu’s frown deepened. The dark, moist jungle suddenly became lurking with killing intent. The twisted, gnarled roots and vines that draped down from above all sprung alive like snakes.
This was a wood element cultivator. He smiled. “Who knows whether you’re hiding medals or not!”
“I just came in here, so how am I supposed to have a second medal?” Hua Chenglu was furious, and she noticed that the situation was rather wrong. If he were a regular cultivator, he would not have badgered her anymore after obtaining her medal.
“I need to check just in case. If you refuse, I’ll have to take action. Of course, I’ll have to look through your body too.” The cultivator in black licked his lips and smiled with ill intention.
“Go die!” Hua Chenglu took out a scarlet talisman. It turned into a raging ball of fire and rushed towards the cultivator in black. The vines and roots hissed from the heat, all receding.
Boom! Fire rushed through the canopy of leaves. A flower of flames bloomed in the endless sea of trees.
……
After saying that, Si Qing directly waved his hand, and the images that displayed the situation inside the Dragon Arena vanished. The Dragon Arena had completely become a sealed-off black box.
“Your highness, how can you say that? Aren’t you basically asking for our cultivation community of the Ruyi commandery to kill one another?”
An old man in violet was surprised and furious on the Soaring Clouds terrace, questioning Si Qing loudly. The other Golden Core cultivators changed in expression as well, unable to understand what benefit Si Qing could derive from this.
Not only had the regular cultivators failed to anticipate that danger might have existed in the Dragon Arena, even these Golden Core cultivators had never expected it. A desperate battle like this would drastically diminish the strength of the cultivation community in the Ruyi commandery, and it would make Si Qing lose all of his prestige. He had to cough up tremendous amounts of resources too. There was basically only detriment.
Without the knowledge of how an Asura Field was refined, even the most clever people in the world could not guess Si Qing’s intentions, let alone imagine he would make a decision like this.
Originally, under the circumstances where they could spectate the situation in the Dragon Arena, the cultivators would definitely hold back a little when they fought inside. Otherwise, even if the rules permitted it, they would come off as overly vicious, and they could completely fall out with a certain aristocratic clan or sect if they were careless, leading to endless problems. The spectatorship of these people formed an invisible restraint, preventing the situation from spiralling out of control.
Once this surveillance was gone, the clashes and battles between cultivators could very easily turn into a bloody slaughter. Originally, this was something that no one wanted to see, but there was one exception.
Si Qing turned around slowly with a smile of amazement on his face. “What a bunch of trash!” Putting up with Northmoon had already worn away his patience long ago. Now that he had achieved his objective, he immediately revealed his vicious true colours.
Right from the very beginning, he never had any plans to properly administer the Ruyi commandery like Jiang Fu and treat it like family estate that he could pass down through the generations. Instead, he wanted to use all the resources that the Ruyi commandery could offer to increase his strength. He was even willing to kill the golden goose and leech everything the Ruyi commandery had, leaving it crippled.
In simpler terms, a cultivator’s world still referred to personal strength. So-called “power” and “influence” did possess their value, but absolute strength could completely overlook power and influence.
If killing all the Golden Core cultivators before him could guarantee Si Qing in undergoing the third heavenly tribulation and reach the realm of kings, he would definitely do so without batting an eye. And, as long as he succeeded, not only would the imperial clan leave him unpunished, but they would even find ways to cover this up for him.
“What did you say?!” To be able to reach Golden Core, none of the cultivators present were untalented. They had reached their current position under countless praise. The term “trash” was far too foreign and distant to them.
Si Qing waved his hand. “I’m helping you train your disciples, yet you spout so much indecisive nonsense! If you aren’t trash, then what are you?”
“Si Qing, you’re a proper prince. Do you still think you can continue with the position of marquis by insulting us like this?”
“Open the Dragon Arena and let out all of our disciples!”
The Golden Core cultivators finally responded, feeling fury from the depths of their heart. They began to glow, radiating with alarming auras that rushed into the clouds.
During the battle of Burial Mound Mountain, the Golden Core cultivators who fell in battle all belonged to the Academy of the Hundred Schools. The orthodox forces that belonged to the Great Xia empire had been heavily weakened. If it were not for Gu Yanying’s presence, the sects would have taken advantage of the situation and boldly expanded a long time ago.
As a result, most of the Golden Core cultivators who had been invited to the Soaring Clouds terrace belonged to sects. There were a few Golden Core cultivators that belonged to the academy. However, due to Si Qing’s identity as a prince, they had to remain silent. And, all they could do was stand on the side of the “Marquis of Ruyi” if they truly began fighting. They all looked at Gu Yanying for help.
These Golden Core cultivators from sects were not particularly worried about Si Qing’s identity, but they were rather fearful of Gu Yanying. Gu Yanying had spent many years in the Ruyi commandery. Her power and influence was much greater than the recently arrived Si Qing.
If she stood on Si Qing’s side, then Si Bao definitely would not simply watch on, and the Golden Core cultivators of the academy would be forced to follow her lead. Just like that, the difference between their strength would not be so great anymore, and they might have to accept this slap to the face.
To Si Qing, Gu Yanying’s attitude was extremely important too. For a moment, everyone’s gazes gathered on Gu Yanying.
“A’qing insists on taking it his own way, so how can I stop you!” Gu Yanying strolled over and arrived on the edge of the terrace, deciding to keep her nose out of this. Si Bao obviously followed over.
Although hearing her refer to him as A’qing caused Si Qing frown a little, her decision to not interfere made him ease up slightly. His largest problem had already been dealt with.
“The scenery here is quite nice! You’re all welcome to take a look!”
Gu Yanying turned around and called towards the Golden Core cultivators of the academy. They were all relieved. They bowed towards Si Qing indifferently and politely before arriving by Gu Yanying’s side. Although they were forced to acknowledge Si Qing’s identity, none of them recognised him from the bottom of their heart.
The cultivators from the sects all riled up with vigour. Sure enough, Gu Yanying was not with him. Given that, their enemy were only three people, but they did all come from the Dragon province. They could not be underestimated. Moreover, this prince’s identity was a little troublesome.
“Oi, why are the two of you still there?” Gu Yanying then said, referring to Jia Zhen and E Dan.
“As you wish, commander.” Jia Zhen waved his black feather fan as he smiled, leaving Si Qing behind and walking over. E Dan followed closely behind with his hands by his side, glancing back at the sect cultivators and grinning hideously.
Like that, only Si Qing remained to face these Golden Core cultivators. They all looked at one another with no idea what Si Qing was trying to do.
“Yanying truly be the one who knows me!” Si Qing praised her loudly. Then his face sank. “You’ve spent all these days eating and drinking, watching those boring matches. You must be tired of it already!”
“What are you trying to say? You want us to compete against you one by one? Don’t even think about it!” None of them were idiots. With Si Qing’s cultivation at peak Golden Core and his cultivation method from the imperial clan, probably no one present was his opponent in a one-against-one battle.
“I don’t have the time to take on trash one by one. Come at me together! Your opponent is only me! You fear Northmoon just because he defeated a group of Daemon Commanders. From today onwards, you will fear me too!”
Si Qing’s eyes blazed fervently. Watching duels could never surpass the delight that came from personally taking part.
On the Soaring Clouds terrace, a streak of black light shot into the sky. Over a dozen streaks of light, all varying in colour, followed closely behind.
