Chapter 719: 719 Headquarters Special Envoy
Outside the North Gate of Yuyang City, it was already teeming with people, even the top of the city walls and the tips of the big trees were filled with people, who seemed unwilling to miss such a grand event.
Outside the North Gate was a vast open space, and on this space, one hundred fighting arenas had somehow been set up, presumably the Spirit Fighting Arenas.
The Spirit Fighting Arenas were divided into fifty each side, presumably to distinguish between the Spirit Vein Realm and Qi Seeking Realm participants. When Yun Xiao and his companion arrived here, many contestants had already been waiting here for quite a while.
Dang!
A melodious chime sounded, causing the noisy area outside the North Gate of Yuyang City to slowly quiet down, followed by several figures turning out from somewhere and appearing on a temporarily built high platform north of the hundred arenas.
"Spirit Fighting Commerce Branch Chairman: Xu Huang!"
As for one of the figures, many cultivators from Yuyang City did not find him too unfamiliar, as he was the Branch Chairman of the Spirit Fighting Commerce in Yuyang City.
Yet some keen observers only stopped on Xu Huang for a moment, then turned to another figure on his right, because it seemed that this figure’s position was even more prestigious than Xu Huang.
This made people somewhat puzzled and perplexed, as Xu Huang was already the Branch Chairman of the Spirit Fighting Commerce in Yuyang City, officially ruling over this region. Who else could be more noble than him?
"Ladies and gentlemen, Yuyang City’s triennial Spirit Fighting Conference is about to begin. On behalf of the Spirit Fighting Commerce, I welcome all of you!"
After placing that person in the center seat, Xu Huang then turned around, his voice resounding strongly, instantly igniting a wave of cheers in the arena. Undoubtedly, this was indeed a major event that happens once every three years in Yuyang City.
"Firstly, I want to introduce a distinguished guest. This person beside me comes from the headquarters of the Spirit Fighting Commerce; he is Xia Yong, the Special Envoy. His presence truly brings glory to our Yuyang City!"
After the first sentence, Xu Huang then introduced the identity of the person sitting in the center, and upon hearing the title of Special Envoy from the headquarters of the Spirit Fighting Commerce, the crowd instantly fell silent, followed by a burst of intense discussions.
"It’s actually a Special Envoy from the Spirit Fighting Headquarters, this is quite something!"
"I heard that Special Envoys from the Spirit Fighting Headquarters generally do not attend Spirit Fighting Conferences in remote cities like this. Could it be that this session has something special?"
"Hehe, if you could catch the Special Envoy’s eye, you might just soar to great heights!"
"Hey buddy, aren’t you thinking too much? Would the Special Envoy take notice of you?"
"Can’t I just think about it?"
"..."
Initially, the discussions revolved around the reasons for Xia Yong’s visit here, but it soon turned into fervent hopes of getting noticed by the Special Envoy and thus joining the Spirit Fighting Headquarters directly.
Listening to the surrounding discussions, Yun Xiao couldn’t help but think of the previous Hidden Dragon Meeting, where many talents from the Hidden Dragon Continent also desperately showcased themselves, hoping to gain the favor of influential figures from the Tenglong Continent.
Although Yun Xiao wasn’t sure of the exact identity of the Special Envoy Xia Yong from the headquarters of the Spirit Fighting Commerce, the title of Special Envoy alone was enough to drive these cultivators from the Tenglong Continent crazy, revealing a truly extraordinary status.
Compared to Yun Xiao, perhaps Xu Huan, the young master of the Yuyang City Spirit Fighting Branch, located somewhere else, had another thought entirely, since he was determined to win this time.
As a late-stage Qi Seeking Realm powerhouse, Xu Huan naturally would not miss this Spirit Fighting Conference, especially with the Special Envoy watching, which he saw as a tremendous opportunity.
If he performed well during this Spirit Fighting Conference and caught the eye of the Special Envoy from headquarters, soaring high would be within arm’s reach, possibly even surpassing his father Xu Huang.
Although many of the cultivators participating in the Spirit Fighting Conference were at the peak of the Qi Seeking Realm, the conference was different from typical arena battles; the strength of Meridian Qi Cultivation wasn’t the sole determinant of victory, everything also depended on the power of the Meridian Spirit.
If merely looking at one’s Meridian Qi Cultivation could decide who has a stronger Meridian Spirit, then what’s the point of holding the Spirit Fighting Conference? Simply comparing everyone’s Meridian Qi Cultivation would directly reveal the champions.
As for the flattery in Xu Huang’s tone, the Special Envoy named Xia Yong didn’t pay any attention, slightly opening and closing his eyes, and his relatively youthful-looking face showing no reaction.
Seeing this did not surprise Xu Huang anymore. Envoys from the headquarters always had some quirks. However, he still had not figured out why the headquarters was so interested in this particular session of the Yuyang City Spirit Fighting Conference.
Since he couldn’t figure it out, Xu Huang no longer dwelled on it. There must be a reason behind the actions of the headquarters. So, let this session of the Spirit Fighting Conference be the stepping stone for his son to enter the headquarters of the Commerce.
"Now, I declare that the Yuyang City Spirit Fighting Conference officially begins!"
Turning his head to nod at Xia Yong, who had his eyes closed, Xu Huang loudly shouted, reigniting the enthusiasm of all cultivators at the North Gate of Yuyang City.
"Next, those with Entry Tokens numbered one to fifty, please step onto the arenas on either side!"
Xu Huang did not dilly-dally, shouted again, and then fifty cultivators with strong auras leaped onto the arenas on either side.
The left side’s fifty arenas were occupied by cultivators at the Spirit Vein Realm level; while the right side’s fifty arenas housed cultivators whose auras were much stronger, all of whom had reached the Qi Seeking Realm.
It is worth mentioning that among the arenas for both the Spirit Vein Realm and the Qi Seeking Realm, there were few cultivators at the early stage, especially on the Spirit Vein Realm side where even those in the Spirit Vein Realm Middle Stage were scarce.
As for the Qi Seeking Realm arenas, there were quite a few cultivators at the early and middle stages of the Qi Seeking Realm, but in the eyes of some powerhouses, these people’s Meridian Spirits were merely cannon fodder.
After nearly ten days, Yun Xiao had gained some understanding of the match arrangements of the Spirit Fighting Conference; although the opponents were random, the order of battles still followed the sequence of the Entry Tokens.
The fifty cultivators now on the arenas would be randomly paired with their opponents, and who they would pair with was completely random according to the rules of the Spirit Fighting Conference, with no underhanded manipulations.
Yun Xiao and Lin Xuanhao, both having numbers over three hundred, naturally were not among these first fifty, nor was it known whether they would soon be up on the arena for a Meridian Spirit battle.
Among the fifty people in the Qi Seeking Realm arena, Yun Xiao spotted a familiar figure, the young master of the Yuyang City Spirit Fighting Branch, Xu Huan.
As the host, Xu Huan’s Entry Token was quite early in the order. Many people were familiar with the big young master of the commerce branch, so most of their gazes were focused on him.
The first round of the Spirit Fighting Conference had no rules as such, and within moments, the opponents for the first fifty contestants were all selected.
It is worth mentioning that Xu Huan’s opponent in the first round was also a cultivator who had reached the late stage of the Qi Seeking Realm, a matchup that made the watching crowd sigh in relief, secretly noting that the Spirit Fighting Conference was indeed quite fair.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Swish swish swish!
Under the watchful eyes of the spectators, the cultivators with their respective opponents did not hesitate. With consecutive swings of their arms, various Meridian Spirits soared into the air, clashing together in battle on the arenas.
Once a cultivator reaches the Spirit Vein Realm, they can refine a Meridian Spirit for their own use, and unexpectedly deploying a Meridian Spirit during battle with an enemy can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
However, in this Spirit Fighting Conference, the cultivator’s body itself could not participate in combat. Such a mode of combat, if known by the cultivators of the Hidden Dragon Continent, might be considered quite novel.
The majority of the crowd’s attention was focused on Xu Huan’s arena, where Yun Xiao was finally able to clearly see what Xu Huan’s Meridian Spirit was.
"Is that... a Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon?"
With Yun Xiao’s extensive knowledge as the former Long Xiao Battle God, he recognized the details of Xu Huan’s Meridian Spirit at a glance, murmuring to himself that refining such a creature into a Meridian Spirit was probably not something Xu Huan could do on his own.
A Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon, a powerful Vein Demon with the body of a snake and the head of a tiger, and although it had a snake’s body, it also had four sharp claws and a pointed, singular horn on its tiger head, making it extremely bizarre and mysterious.
The reason why Yun Xiao had such thoughts was that a mature Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon could at least reach the Seventh Rank Advanced level, possibly even the Eighth Rank Low Level.
At the very least, with Xu Huan’s cultivation at the late stage of the Qi Seeking Realm, one-on-one, he likely couldn’t contend even with a Seventh Rank Advanced Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon, let alone refine its Spiritual Wisdom into a Meridian Spirit.
A powerful Vein Demon is usually very proud, preferring perhaps to die in battle rather than be refined into a Meridian Spirit by a human.
Thus, erasing a Meridian Spirit’s Spiritual Wisdom is sometimes much more difficult than killing them. Yun Xiao thought that Xu Huan must have utilized outside help to refine this Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon as his own Meridian Spirit.
Since this was an extremely powerful Meridian Spirit, when Yun Xiao saw the Meridian Spirit of Xu Huang’s opponent, he already knew the outcome of the battle.
Both being at the late stage of Qi Seeking Realm, it boiled down to the special abilities and combat strength of their Meridian Spirits, and at least a Meridian Spirit refined from a Seventh Rank Advanced Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon was nothing ordinary spirits could match.
Therefore, within just a few moves, Xu Huang’s Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon Meridian Spirit directly tore its opponent’s Meridian Spirit into shreds, demonstrating the might of the Tiger-Headed Snake-Dragon.