Chapter 723: 723 Unexpected Discovery
Jiang Nanchao’s loud shout was heard by many, thus a hint of peculiarity surged in their hearts once again. Could that young boy’s Meridian Spirit possibly withstand the extreme poison of the three-pronged black venomous scorpion’s tail?
"Hmph, mere scorpion poison, how could it possibly bother me?"
Hearing Jiang Nanchao’s roar, Yun Xiao couldn’t help revealing a trace of cold smirk. He knew clearly that with the current strength of the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu, the poison of a Seventh Rank Intermediate poisonous scorpion couldn’t possibly pose the slightest threat.
Therefore, in the next moment, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Golden Snake Worm still shone brilliantly, as if there were no signs of poisoning at all, causing some confusion among the onlookers.
"Explode! Explode now!"
Moments later, seeing that the Golden Snake Worm remained utterly still, his hand gestures became much more exaggerated, and his roared words also contained a hint of ferocity.
The last bit of hope had quietly dissipated like this; how could Jiang Nanchao be reconciled? But no matter how he changed his hand movements, the Golden Snake Worm remained brightly golden, without even the slightest hint of any other color, let alone any change in its breath.
"That’s enough, stop with those tricks, they’re useless!"
A cold voice came from the arena, giving everyone a strange feeling, as if Jiang Nanchao really was just putting on a monkey show, with no response to his actions.
"Pfft!"
Yun Xiao’s mocking words finally caused Jiang Nanchao to lose control once again, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his eyes staring at the young boy opposite, burning with rage as if he would lose control and attack in the next moment.
Even if his Meridian Spirit was inferior to his opponent’s, Jiang Nanchao believed in his own strength at the Qi Seeking Realm Late Stage. If he were to take action personally, this young boy would definitely not be able to withstand his three moves—this is the crushing power of strength.
"Huff... Huff..."
Jiang Nanchao was panting heavily, while rich Meridian Qi swirled around him. Seeing this, many showed a surprised look on their faces. This old guy, he couldn’t really be unable to hold back from taking action, could he?
"At the Spirit Fighting Conference arena, personal combat is forbidden. You better think it through!"
Just as Jiang Nanchao’s eyes blazed with rage, wanting to go forward and directly kill that boy, a clear voice suddenly came from the high platform to the north, causing his whole body’s Meridian Qi to immediately retreat.
The speaker was naturally Xu Huang, the local Chairman of the Yuyang City branch of the Spirit Fighting Commerce. He and Jiang Nanchao had no friendship, and even though the Special Envoy beside him had no expression, at this moment, he had to step forward.
The Spirit Fighting Conference was different from ordinary arena battles; it was only a fight between Meridian Spirits. Anyone daring to use their true body to fight would be violating the rules of the Spirit Fighting Conference.
As the host, and in front of the Empire’s Special Envoy, Xu Huang would not allow anyone to arbitrarily break the rules of the Spirit Fighting Conference. If Jiang Nanchao really went against the rules, then he would not mind using this old guy to set an example.
The stern shout of a power from the Seeking Origin Realm caused Jiang Nanchao to shiver as he knew that even at his prime, he was probably no match for Xu Huang, let alone now with internal injuries from his Meridian Spirit being killed.
"Kid, this is far from over!"
With Xu Huang’s deterrence, even if Jiang Nanchao was given the courage, he wouldn’t dare to use his real body on this arena. Therefore, he could only drop a harsh word and quickly walked down from the arena, to avoid losing face on it.
"A sore loser, that old guy!"
Yun Xiao didn’t have that many thoughts, just a flicker of an idea crossed his mind, and under everyone’s attention, he also walked down from the arena. However, the look people gave him compared to when he first stepped onto the arena was now obviously very different.
At the beginning of this Qi Seeking number eight arena battle, who would have thought that the ultimate victor would turn out to be this mere seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy, a mere early-stage Qi Seeking Realm youngster?
Although most people found it incredible, a small portion of the crowd was stealthily scrutinizing Yun Xiao. The ardent light in their eyes seemingly revealed some greedy thoughts hidden in the depths of their hearts.
Because if one disregarded Yun Xiao’s own Meridian Qi Cultivation, the fact that his Meridian Spirit could defeat the three-pronged black venomous scorpion of Seventh Rank Intermediate-level, was already considered a miraculous battle.
Meridian Spirit combat, although bizarre and various, generally also requires the augmentation of their master’s Meridian Qi. This is the main reason why high-rank practitioners’ Meridian Spirits can easily defeat those of low-rank practitioners.
But now, Yun Xiao’s Meridian Spirit had actually defeated Jiang Nanchao’s. Everyone was clear in their hearts that this was not a crush by Meridian Qi; otherwise, the result would have been completely different.
This made Yun Xiao’s Golden Snake Worm Meridian Spirit somewhat extraordinary. Many people reached this conclusion, which was why they harbored fervent thoughts.
Particularly, some higher-ranked practitioners thought to themselves, if that golden snake worm could unleash such tremendous power in the hands of a young man in the early stage of the Qi Seeking Realm, how formidable would it be if refined into a Meridian Spirit by themselves?
Despite everyone absolutely not believing Yun Xiao’s previous claim that it was a "dragon", now they no longer considered the golden snake worm Meridian Spirit to be an ordinary grass threadworm.
In fact, some people’s faces even showed a hint of embarrassment, knowing that those who had been most vocally ridiculing it as just a grass threadworm earlier were none other than they themselves.
"That thing is really somewhat peculiar!"
In the center of the North Words high platform, Special Envoy Xia Yong’s gaze had never left the coarse-clothed youth coming down from the arena, and the fleeting light in the depths of his eyes suggested that his fervor was no different from those openly displayed.
This Special Envoy from Douling Commerce’s headquarters possessed insights far superior to the onlooking cultivators, even far beyond what Xu Huang, the branch chairman at his side, could fathom.
Even so, none of the Meridian Spirits Xia Yong had seen at the headquarters seemed as peculiar as Yun Xiao’s golden snake worm, giving him an extremely special sensation.
A trace of greedy desire quietly took root in the depths of Special Envoy Xia Yong’s heart, becoming indelible and, before he knew it, potentially brewing into an uncontrollable seed, ready to burst forth at any moment.
......
"Big brother Yun Xiao, you are amazing!"
Seeing the coarse-clothed youth descending from the arena, Lin Xuanhao excitedly greeted him with words filled with extreme surprise. It seemed that he, like the other spectators, had not held much hope for Yun Xiao beforehand.
The events that had just unfolded on the arena were dazzling to Lin Xuanhao. After all, big brother Yun Xiao was still the same Yun Xiao, doing things in such an unconventional way that his previous worries seemed somewhat superfluous.
"It should be almost your turn now!"
Yun Xiao didn’t say much but glanced at the Entry Token Lin Xuanhao was holding. They had obtained their tokens together, and even though there were more participants in the Spirit Vein Realm group, it should be Lin Xuanhao’s turn soon.
"Participant number three hundred and eighty-seven, please come to Spirit Vein Platform number fifteen!"
Right after Yun Xiao’s words fell, a loud voice came from somewhere, causing the two to exchange glances, as the Entry Token in Lin Xuanhao’s hand was indeed number three hundred and eighty-seven.
"Big brother Yun Xiao, I’m up!"
Emboldened by Yun Xiao’s victorious momentum, Lin Xuanhao felt full of confidence for his own battle at this moment, sensing that his opponent seemed to only have cultivation in the middle stage of the Spirit Vein Realm.
It must be said that Lin Xuanhao was rather lucky, or perhaps it was Yun Xiao that had encountered some shenanigans, leading him to face Jiang Nanchao in the late stage of the Qi Seeking Realm in the first round. In the end, surprisingly, Lin Xuanhao won the fight of Meridian Spirits.
Only at this moment did Yun Xiao first glimpse Lin Xuanhao’s Meridian Spirit, which appeared to be a robust black bear, starkly contrasting his somewhat youthful appearance.
Ultimately, the black bear Meridian Spirit unleashed an incredibly strong force, tearing the opponent’s Meridian Spirit in half. Watching this, Yun Xiao couldn’t help but muse that Lin Xuanhao usually seemed gentle, but once he was in battle, there was a burst of ferocity in him.
"Congratulations!"
Seeing Lin Xuanhao, slightly breathless, descend from the arena triumphantly, Yun Xiao didn’t skimp on his congratulatory words. With this, their Spirit Fighting battles for the day had concluded.
The number of cultivators participating in the Spirit Fighting Conference from both groups was only about four to five thousand, and with a hundred battles at a time, it would all end after forty or fifty rounds. The second round of the Spirit Fighting battles would also wait until tomorrow, as there was indeed a need for some time to recover.
As night fell and the bustle of Yuyang City quieted down, the area outside the North Gate remained brightly lit. Some cultivators who came from other cities, keen to secure a good spot to watch the battles, were not willing to leave easily.
As for Yun Xiao and Lin Xuanhao, they did not linger here unnecessarily, returning to the Lin Family’s attic instead. Yun Xiao believed that at least during the Spirit Fighting Conference, potential dangers would not come easily.
In the room, Yun Xiao sat cross-legged, and at a certain moment, he suddenly extended his left hand, at which point an oddly translucent creature suddenly materialized before him.
"It’s quite funny; I actually forgot about this little guy!"
When he saw this creature, Yun Xiao couldn’t help but show a sheepish smile on his face because, strictly speaking, this crystalline toad-like creature was his first true Meridian Spirit.
Back in the Imperial City of the Xuanyue Empire, outside the Song Family, Second Elder Fu Du, who had defected from the Jade Pot Sect, jumped out, intending to use the Three-legged Ice Crystal Toad Meridian Spirit to kill Yun Xiao. Instead, Yun Xiao had captured his Meridian Spirit in a countermove.
In fact, Yun Xiao’s activation of the Ice Cold Ancestral Vein in his left arm relied on the extreme poison of the Three-legged Ice Crystal Toad. Yet, that Meridian Spirit of the toad entered his body and seemed to have merged with his Ancestor Vein, causing him, for a moment, to forget about it, thinking he had not refined a Meridian Spirit at all.