Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Since the City of Wolf was built to be a temporary shelter, it wasn’t scenic at all. Houses only differed in size, some having round roofs while others had rectangular ones. That was all, but it was a busy city.
The main streets were pretty crowded since the shops along the streets were all open. The shop owners were all practitioners who knew how to run a business.
The opening of the Realm of Beasts had brought eighty percent of the talented youngsters of the Fire Field there, so besides the fierce competition, there was also a potential business opportunity.
The city center, where there was a square, was where all of the streets met. In the middle of the square was a waterless fountain.
A cage was hanging over the fountain, inside which a tender girl was kept.
No one knew how long she had been kept there, but she looked terrible. The color of her clothes had faded due to exposure to the blazing sun and the elements over a long time.
Despite this, people could still see a good-looking face behind messy black hair.
There were always people watching, standing under the cage, but nobody helped her, because it was Mo Li, ranked seventh on the Prince List, who had imprisoned the girl there…
Right under the cage was a giant crimson snake. It was a machine-operated beast that could twist its body flexibly and flick its tongue.
“Poor girl. She’s only in the Gathering Yuan State. It’s unnecessary to torture her to this extent.”
“Yeah, such a tender beauty. I really feel sorry for her. How can Mo Li be so cruel?”
“Don’t you want to live any longer? How dare you say that!”
Two men were talking to each other. One of them didn’t have the heart to see the girl suffering and felt indignant, yet he was given a scare when his friend warned him. He hurried to look around, afraid somebody else had heard him.
To his surprise, he saw a guy walking towards them. He had a thin beard, thick eyebrows, and big eyes. His black hair was slightly curly.
The two were surprised and looked at each other. The Realm of Beasts was open for the preparation of the competition held by the Sacred Institute in six months, but according to the Sacred Institute’s requirement, the candidates had to be below 30.
This guy seemed older, but some people just looked older, so they didn’t think about it too much.
“My friends, who imprisoned her here? I just arrived in the City of Wolf. This girl doesn’t look like an evil person. Why is she receiving such inhumane treatment?” he asked.
The two looked at each other. The guy who had criticized Mo Li said, “Mo Li, ranked seventh on the Prince List, did it. It’s said that this girl is the friend of a guy he wants to kill. He imprisoned her here to force that guy to show up.”
“Just because of that? A guy on the Prince List would do such a cruel thing?” He looked surprised.
The guy who had criticized Mo Li agreed with him. He nodded and said, “Yeah, exactly, but the Prince List doesn’t care whether a person is good-hearted or not, only unique characters. Maybe the judges like Mo Li to be so cold-blooded and handsome.”
“Cut it out. Let’s go.” His companion tried to leave with him, afraid he would cause trouble.
But the other guy didn’t leave. He took a look at Shui Sheng, who was in the cage, and said to her via holy awareness, “I’ll get you out of here.”
Shui Sheng, who had been motionless, startled suddenly. She looked down but didn’t see the figure she was familiar with. She thought it was just her imagination, but the giant snake raised its head. It stared at the man, its eyes made of rubies.
“Hum.”
The man turned around and left. He felt a rage deep in his heart.
It was Jiang Chen!
He had disguised himself and hid his energy. It wasn’t a simple camouflage; it was a disguise that couldn’t be seen through even with holy awareness.
He wished he could see Mo Li and kill him immediately, but he couldn’t, not at this moment. Mo Li was powerful. Although his strength had improved, there was still a huge gap between them.
I have to at least achieve the completed preliminary stage. It’s not difficult. As for the martial arts techniques, I haven’t achieved the initial success of the Immortal Doctrine of Sword, and I need to enhance the creation of metal and the creation of wind.
But there were only ten-odd days until the Realm of Beasts closed. Jiang Chen didn’t have much time left.
“That’ll be the only way,” Jiang Chen thought.
It would be extremely difficult to gain achievements in both state and martial arts techniques in such a short time, but he had ways.
He left the city center and found an abandoned house.
He opened the golden seed there. A great heap of treasures were piled up on the ground. He kept most of them in the mustardseed ring, save for two breakthrough panaceas.
Breakthrough panaceas had specific uses.
For example, class-four breakthrough panaceas were used to purify. Since the Mental Wander State focused on strengthening flesh and soul, the stronger one’s body was, the more advantage one would have in practice.
Taking this panacea at the right time could remove impurities from a body system, strengthen energy, and purify blood.
Class-five breakthrough panaceas aimed at the holy soul. It helped practitioners experience the feeling of being an integral part of nature.
The feeling of being an integral part of nature was a state that allowed martial arts techniques to be performed at an incredible advantage.
Obviously, it wasn’t the best timing for Jiang Chen to take either of the two panaceas, but he couldn’t think too much. He took the class-five breakthrough panacea in one gulp and sat down, waiting for it to take effect, while at the same time, taking in the mixture of the spirit of universe and the primordial yuan from the Realm of Beasts.
He had been on adventures in the Realm of Beasts for a long time. This panacea helped him achieve the completed preliminary stage.
Then, he took the class-four panacea, thinking any progress would be good and his holy pulses could absorb it anyhow, but to his surprise, maybe due to the good foundation he had laid, the class-four panacea helped him more.
He felt heat as if he were in the Transdragon Pool. On the surface of his skin a layer of dirt was accumulating. It was extremely smelly, but Jiang Chen didn’t care. He was pleasantly surprised to see the panacea had recovered his fifth holy pulse!
Great. Fantastic!
It was beyond his expectations. This meant that he not only got stronger, but was also able to form two or three more holy points.
In the preliminary stage of the Mental Wander State, for each phase’s upgrade, practitioners could form two more holy points.
When they achieved the peak of the preliminary stage, they should have six holy points. This was basic.
Thanks to the holy pulses he had, Jiang Chen had formed four holy points when he was in the beginning of the preliminary stage. But then, his state was enhanced. Along with the holy pulses, he could form three more holy points, but he would need huge amounts of monster meat, blood and panaceas to supply his body in the process.
When I finish forming the holy points, there should still be seven or eight days left. I’ll deploy An Immortal Thought at that time to enhance my martial arts techniques.
He had seen people selling monster blood when he went into the city. There was even the blood of ghost-level monsters, and the price was thirty percent cheaper than other places.
Jiang Chen went shopping. When he was about to go back, he suddenly saw a sign hanging in a stall.
It said, “FIERCE BLACK METAL IN EXCHANGE FOR GENUINE FIRE OR ANYTHING HELPFUL TO THE CREATION OF FIRE.”
The owner of the stall was a youngster. His red hair was quite eye-catching. He was handsome and vigorous, although a bit aloof, with eyes half shut.
Fierce black metal.
It was very helpful to the creation of metal. He most likely got it from a seed too, like the genuine fire Jiang Chen had got. And similarly to Jiang Chen, he had found it wasn’t for him, so he wanted to exchange it for something better.
“Mo Li, who is ranked seventh on the Prince List, is in town. He specializes in killing. He must be willing to offer you a good price for this fierce black metal. Why are you selling it here?”
Jiang Chen behaved rudely, which matched his current appearance.
The youngster glanced at him and said indifferently, “He imprisoned a gentle girl. I won’t sell it to him.”
