Chapter 119: Chapter 117: A Bye, Spiritualized Talisman

"You created it yourself?" Fang Yao looked as if she’d been dealt a heavy blow.

’And here I thought your Soul Cultivation would be terrible. Back then, even Junior Brother Song completely crushed you.’ Fang Yao gave a self-deprecating smile.

’How terrifying. That new Junior Brother Song is a Fantasist, so his powerful Soul Path talent is one thing. But to think someone from the same cohort is this monstrous...’

’In truth, Fang Yao wanted to fight him using her Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation.’

’But her opponent possessed the Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body, a rarity achieved in recent years. Ordinary Magic would likely be useless against him.’

’Besides, she was an Alchemy Master, unskilled in combat and possessing no special Secret Techniques.’

...

"I was fortunate."

Su Qing had no idea what she was thinking; he only knew that she had been a powerful opponent.

She was strong enough to force him to use his Five Elements Tribulation Thunder Seal.

Su Qing had won the match.

Whispers erupted throughout the entire audience.

"Amazing! He actually passed the third round."

"I bet on him to pass the third round! Looks like I’m going to make a killing in Spirit Stones today."

"Su Qing! Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body! Su Qing!!!"

"AHHHH!"

Some Cultivators cheered with what seemed like irrational fervor. Su Qing didn’t understand why, but he knew it was time to leave the stage.

Tomorrow, two rounds of matches would begin.

Su Qing didn’t return to the private box, since Liu Linlin was no longer there.

He headed back by himself.

’Spirit Fruits. His entire purpose for fighting this time was to obtain Spirit Fruits.’

’The reward for tenth place is quite good—ten Spirit Fruits. It doesn’t matter if they’re the lowest grade. Adding the three I already have, that makes thirteen.’

’Then I can perform one synthesis. That will use up nine, leaving four. If I can just find four more after that, I can perform another synthesis.’

’If I can stack the Evolution effect twice, the resulting Spirit Fruit’s Spiritual Qi content will be incredibly high.’

Su Qing made up his mind. For tonight, however, he first rushed to the Marketplace to buy food.

He was going to make a sumptuous dinner.

—

—

"Mmm!!!"

"My disciple is quite something, wouldn’t you say, Junior Sister?" Ouyang Mingming beamed, flaunting her pride to You Yanhan, who sat beside her.

"He’s not bad. He is my martial nephew, after all," You Yanhan replied nonchalantly in the face of Ouyang Mingming’s boasting.

At the dinner table.

Su Qing brought up a request of his own.

"Master, if I manage to place in the top ten, and not just in tenth place..."

"...could I exchange the valuable Spirit Fruits I win for a larger number of lower-quality ones? The only condition is that there must be a lot of them."

"Hm? What are you planning?" Ouyang Mingming looked at Su Qing, puzzled.

"Besides, even if you have the strength of a Soul Cultivator at the Clarity Realm, so what? The top ten? Don’t even think about it."

"However, if you really do manage to enter the top ten with your current strength, then Master will help you trade your high-quality Spirit Fruits for low-quality ones. But you need to think it through. You might end up with a large quantity of extremely poor-quality Spirit Fruits."

"That’s fine. The more, the better. Thank you, Master," Su Qing said with a smile.

He then began picking up pieces of food and placing them on his master’s plate.

Ouyang Mingming sensed his unusual enthusiasm. ’It seems Su Qing can be quite the charmer when he’s asking for a favor,’ she thought.

’Isn’t he a bit too opportunistic, though?’

Ouyang Mingming mused to herself.

...

「The next day.」

Su Qing went to participate in the competition again.

Liu Linlin wasn’t there.

After her defeat, she had been taken out for training by her Martial Aunt, You Yanhan.

He still remembered what You Yanhan had said: "A disciple of me, You Yanhan, must at the very least become a Great Sword Immortal. I have to take you out to comprehend Sword Intent."

...

"Number 29?"

"..." Su Qing was speechless at his own luck.

He had gotten a bye.

Number 29 was the last possible number, but with only 57 people competing today...

As a result, Su Qing got a bye for the round.

He sat in his private box until noon.

Then it was time to draw lots again.

Now there were 29 people.

Which meant one person would still get a bye.

Su Qing drew again.

"Number 15?" A strange expression appeared on Su Qing’s face.

Another bye.

Even the Steward Elder shot Su Qing a strange look.

’A bye for two consecutive rounds? Could this kid be using some Secret Technique I’m not aware of?’

"..."

However, there was nothing overtly suspicious.

So, Su Qing went home for the day.

The bye meant he would advance directly to the competition for the top ten. The losers of this round would now compete for the top thirty rewards.

"Why is Su Qing heading back?"

"Yeah, I didn’t see him fight in the last round either?"

"Did he get a bye?"

"He’s going back again this time... did he get another bye?"

"Whoa, what kind of insane luck is that? I regret it so much! I should’ve bet on him to pass five rounds."

"Ah! Doesn’t this mean Su Qing will be fighting for a spot in the top ten tomorrow?"

"Such insane luck!"

"..."

The crowd was abuzz with discussion, but it was no concern of Su Qing’s.

He had already left.

The more Su Qing thought about it, the more he felt something wasn’t right.

He made a trip to the Marketplace and bought nine Tier One Talismans.

He returned to his home on Cold Extremity Peak.

Su Qing placed the nine Tier One Talismans.

’Disable Evolution, disable Divinization.’

’Synthesize.’

[Synthesis successful: Spiritualization triggered]

[Ice Talisman: Tier One Top Grade. An attack Talisman that has developed a sliver of Spiritual Wisdom. It seems capable of automatically protecting its master.]

"..."

"Hmm..."

’Not bad at all. Looks like my luck is great today.’

Su Qing nodded.

’I’ll put it in my Storage Ring for now.’

He didn’t want this thing with its sliver of Spiritual Wisdom to activate on its own the moment he was attacked; the Talisman would be gone in an instant.

He also had a few Tier Two Talismans his master had given him.

Su Qing thought about using Evolution to synthesize this item even further.

It would cost him some assets. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

To create a powerful Talisman.

After all, it could protect its master.

Besides, powerful Talismans in the Immortal Cultivation Realm had a distinct characteristic.

Namely, it was difficult for Low Tier Cultivators to activate High Tier Talismans.

This was especially true for the most powerful ones.

While there were some life-saving Tier Two Talismans that Su Qing could use...

...he knew he couldn’t activate a single one of the offensive Talismans.

Because after a Talisman was activated, it needed to be controlled.

And control required True Essence.

Su Qing was not yet in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He could only trigger certain Talismans that didn’t require control.

’I’ll synthesize the Tier Two Talismans later. There’s no need right now. I’ll wait until after the competition tomorrow ends.’

The fight for the top ten.

Currently, the only other famous competitor in the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect was the one ranked second on the Celestial Pride List.

After a night of Cultivation.

Su Qing set off for the Sect Plaza.

There were even more people now.

Even Ouyang Mingming had come to watch.

She even gave Su Qing a smile.

Su Qing waved back at his master.

Drawing lots.

Number 5.

No bye this time.

Someone else got a bye.

However, there would be no byes in the next draw.

Soon.

It was Su Qing’s turn.

The one before him was clearly in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"The Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body? Su Qing?"

"Yes. Su Qing, True Disciple of Cold Extremity Peak," Su Qing said, cupping his hands in a salute.

"Cang Yantian, True Disciple of the Hundred Weapons Hall. I hope you’ll give me some business in the future."

Cang Yantian had a thick mane of jet-black hair. His pupils, however, were small and glowed a fiery red, giving him a somewhat unapproachable look. He stood over two meters tall and had a sturdy build. Though not classically handsome, he was ruggedly good-looking and had a very stylish air about him.

Su Qing was confused.

The next moment, Cang Yantian shouted:

"I surrender!"

The crowd below erupted in an uproar, everyone feeling as if the match was fixed.

"What?! My Spirit Stones! I bet on Cang Yantian!"

"There must be someone pulling the strings! Why would Cang Yantian surrender?!"

"My Spirit Stones! What in the world is going on?!"

"..."

Many people in the crowd began cursing under their breath, hoping to voice their dissatisfaction while hidden in the commotion.

"You don’t have to do this!" Su Qing’s brow furrowed. ’Is he looking down on me?’

"Any reward from this competition you want, I can give you, aside from the Holy Scripture Order," Cang Yantian said calmly. "I just want to befriend you!"

"With my status, strength, and my skills in Artifact Refining, I certainly have the qualifications to be your friend, don’t I?"

...