NOVEL WEB Chapter 0203: The Second Drop of Blood
When Ye Luofeng and He Qiuyun's eyes met, the formless power of swordsmen collided.
That moment.
Their robes fluttered, and the clanging of swords echoed through the void. Flashes of lightning flickered, shaking one's soul.
"Sword Intent!?"
The numerous young geniuses present felt an illusion of being penetrated by an invisible sword qi, sending chills down their spines, causing them to exclaim involuntarily.
In the void.
That invisible clash of sword intents lasted for only a moment or two.
Then.
Ye Luofeng and He Qiuyun both staggered simultaneously.
Among them, Ye Luofeng swayed slightly, and a flush of crimson passed over her ice-jade-like features.
At her side, Chen Yu's face flickered with surprise.
"These two, both under the age of twenty, have actually both comprehended 'Sword Intent.'"
"Those who comprehend 'Sword Intent' before reaching the Guiyuan Realm are all exceptionally rare sword Dao geniuses."
"He Qiuyun is an elite student of Sky Sword Academy and is almost twenty. It's one thing for him to comprehend Sword Intent, but this Ye Luofeng is even younger, never heard of her before."
At the summit venue, a storm of astonishment arose.
Even the older generation of powerhouses from family clans were moved.
"The Fu Family is truly lucky to have found such a talent..."
In the Wu Family Pavilion, the balding middle-aged man known as Wu Tianxiao wore a look of gloom and envy.
In the pavilion of Prince Manor.
Suddenly, a voice rang out, clear and authoritative:
"Very good, very good! The quality of the geniuses in this 'Hunting Contest' surpasses the previous ones, raising expectations indeed."
Upon hearing this.
In several nearby pavilions, many spectators were jolted.
Unbeknownst when.
In the pavilion of Prince Manor, there appeared a handsome middle-aged man dressed in luxurious Yun robes.
This person had a deep and vast gaze, a faint smile, and an invisible aura of majesty about him.
"Greetings to Marquis Yunlai!"
A thunderous swell of voices rose from the field.
Whether it was the older generation of geniuses or the new disciples, they al rose to bow in salute.
Even the Fu Family Patriarch "Fu Yangzi" and Wu Tianxiao of the Wu Family stood and bowed slightly.
"This is 'Marquis Yunlai,' the ruler of a prefecture."
Chen Yu also bowed along with the crowd.
His heart's mysterious intuition sensed that this Marquis Yunlai might be the most formidable among all the strong figures he had seen.
"No need for such formalities."
Marquis Yunlai waved his hand gently, nodding to figures like Fu Yangzi and Wu Tianxiao among the Guiyuan Realm elders.
After an exchange of pleasantries.
"The 'Hunting Contest' now officially begins!"
In Marquis Yunlai's pavilion, a middle-aged man of Qi Transformation Innate stage announced in a resonant voice that reverberated through the mountains.
Then.
The rules were declared.
"Hunt the demon beasts and use their demon cores to calculate the hunting scores."
"The hunting area must not exceed the set range of three hundred leagues. On the boundary, every hundred paces, there will be prominent white Yun flags; crossing the boundary will disqualify one from the hunt.
...
"During the hunt, you may compete for the prey, but mortal combat is not allowed; the losing party must not stubbornly entangle."
"The title of Hunting King will belong to the team from a certain family clan. The individual Hunting King will be selected from the victorious team based on the highest personal score."
Soon, the rules were fully announced.
Chen Yu paid attention to the final rule.
The individual Hunting King must be selected from the team that wins the title of Hunting King for the group.
That is to say.
Even if your personal score ranks first, but your team's total score isn't first, then it's all in vain.
All in all.
The title of Hunting King not only showcases individual strength but also emphasizes teamwork.
"As for the Hunting King rewards!"
The Innate stage middle-aged man paused for a moment, silencing the crowd.
Some youths keen on winning the crown almost held their breath.
"Team Hunting King: Each member of the squad will receive ten thousand genuine yuan stones as a reward, one Demon Soul Pill, and the opportunity to enter the Prince Manor's 'Secret Chamber' to select a secret technique."
The team Hunting King's rewards were announced to the crowd.
Whoa!
There was a buzz of excitement in the crowd, the young participants were exhilarated.
"Ten thousand genuine yuan stones, that's equivalent to a million lesser yuan stones!"
Chen Yu was slightly stunned.
For those in the Qi Transformation Realm, this was a massive amount of yuan stones.
Furthermore.
The other two rewards, the "Demon Soul Pill" and the Prince Manor's "Secret Chamber," were also very tempting for the young participants.
"That Demon Soul Pill is a secret pill personally refined by Marquis Yunlai, made from the essence blood and spirit of demon beasts; it can greatly increase the cultivation of those in Postnatal Qi Transformation and strengthen the physique and heart."
"Yes, typically those in Postnatal Qi Transformation who consume this pill have a chance to advance a minor stage."
Fu Hong and Fu Jing were both excited.
After hearing it, Chen Yu was also moved; the Demon Soul Pill deserved to be refined by "Marquis Yunlai," with extraordinary effects.
As for that Secret Chamber, it was said to house some famous and mysterious secret techniques, tempting enough for those in the Qi Transformation Innate and even the Guiyuan Realm.
And.
All of this was just the surface rewards.
The family clan that obtains the glory of the Hunting King will have priority in the distribution of some resources within Yunlai Prefecture for the next three years.
Furthermore.
The title of Hunting King would bring higher prestige to the family clan, attracting more talents and expanding the power of the clan.
It's indeed the best of both worlds!
"Individual 'Hunting King' title: Conferred as a Baron, granted the right of recommendation to Yun Zhao First Academy's Yunyang Imperial College. And has a chance to randomly select an item from Lord's 'Exquisite Hundred Treasure Box.'"
The middle-aged man announced loudly.
No sooner had the words fallen than there was another commotion in the crowd.
This time, even the strong figures like Fu Yangzi and Wu Tianxiao from the Guiyuan Realm were shocked.
"The title of Baron! It means becoming a noble of Yun Zhao Country, enjoying many privileges throughout the nation."
"That Yunyang Academy is founded by the original 'Yun Zhao Saint Emperor,' ranked first among the four academies, usually only the royal family, close royal relatives, and nobles from ancient clans qualify."
The eyes of the young participants blazed with fervor.
In the Chu Family pavilion.
"Heh, I am particularly tempted by the reward from Marquis Yunlai's 'Exquisite Hundred Treasure Box.'"
The strikingly handsome black-haired young man smiled.
"Brother Qiu Yun, everyone knows about Marquis Yunlai's 'Exquisite Hundred Treasure Box,' which has collected many rare and exotic treasures. Not a single item within is ordinary; all are deeply cherished by the prince," someone exclaimed.
"Who wouldn't be moved by it? Even those in the Guiyuan Realm find it hard to resist its temptation."
Several postnatal talents from the Chu Family couldn't help but sigh.
However,
most of the new talents had self-awareness; attaining that person's "Hunting King" title was almost impossible for them.
One could imagine,
only top-tier talents at the level of He Qiuyun, Luo Haochen, and Ye Luofeng could possibly compete for the position of Hunting King.
"The hunting competition will last for three days and nights, and will begin tomorrow morning."
An Innate middle-aged man by the side of the Yunlai King announced loudly.
...
The next morning,
hunting teams from dozens of family forces stood ready in front of poles flying cloud flags.
"All storage bags are to be checked to eliminate the presence of any 'Demon Cores.'"
Some Qi Transformation Innate from Prince Manor personally conducted the inspections.
All the youths took out their storage bags.
Among them, even the powerful spiritual sense of someone at the Guiyuan Realm swept across everyone.
Chen Yu, possessing the Light Silver Crystal Space, had never thought about cheating.
On one hand,
he was confident in his personal strength.
On the other hand,
during the hunting competition, there would be Innate period Flying Bird Knights from Prince Manor patrolling the skies in various places.
The entire venue would be under intense surveillance.
"Begin!"
A loud voice echoed throughout the area.
The hunting competition officially started.
At the same moment.
Buzz!
Around the three hundred li hunting grounds, poles with white cloud flags lit up collectively, flashing a hazy white brilliance.
These white cloud flags, placed every hundred zhang, were very conspicuous.
At this moment,
the many white cloud flags reflected off each other, emitting a mysterious and unpredictable array power that enveloped the entire hunting grounds.
"Peeping Sky Cloud Vein Formation!"
Fu Yangzi and Wu Tianxiao almost exclaimed in unison.
As soon as their words fell,
in the middle of the mountaintop venue, white curtains several dozen zhang wide were unfurled, each with a flag behind it flashing with cloud light.
Suddenly,
these white curtains lit up with colorful and dazzling images.
The images on the curtains each locked onto some family's hunting team.
Among them,
the hunting teams from forces such as Prince Manor, the Fu Family, the Chu Family, and the Wu Family were under constant major scrutiny.
"The Yunlai King's action is truly grand, setting up such an ancient array, even though it's an incomplete formation. Despite being on the mountaintop, it allows control over the situation of each hunting team."
"In this way, it also ensures the transparency of the hunting competition. Later, even if Prince Manor wins, no one will have doubts," some of the elders from the families remarked with emotion.
In less than a moment,
some hunting teams displayed on the white curtains were already clashing with ferocious beasts within Evil Demon Ridge.
A bloody slaughter had begun!
The various hunting teams,
when encountering some fierce beasts, all tried to avoid them as much as possible.
If they couldn't avoid them, they would quickly annihilate them.
Because,
killing ordinary beasts did not yield demon cores.
The grade and quantity of demon cores were the only metrics for hunting results.
"Look quick! Luo Haochen has found a demon beast!"
On the mountaintop venue, an image within one of the white curtains caught everyone's attention.
Swoosh!
Luo Haochen, as if aided by the gods, dashed toward a towering tree with lush branches in a flash.
Boom!
With a swing of his fist, a fierce white fist light, like a glittering dragon, struck a certain part of the towering tree.
Hiss!
A green snake suddenly sprang out from the tree, frantically trying to escape in terror.
"Die!"
Luo Haochen sneered coldly, his fierce and bright fist light, enveloped in intense heat, covered the green snake.
With a hiss, the body of the green snake, under the terrifying high temperature, turned into a charred corpse within moments.
The foe, a green snake close to the Postnatal Late Stage, couldn't withstand even one blow from Luo Haochen.
He annihilated it with a single punch!
Luo Haochen's team from Prince Manor had drawn the "first blood" of the hunting competition.
Soon,
Luo Haochen stepped forward to retrieve a demon core from the snake's corpse.
Not long after,
on another white curtain,
an exceptionally handsome black-haired youth sent out a dazzling, star-like, huge sword light from a distance, two or three zhang in length.
It was He Qiuyun, the leading figure from the Chu Family, the first beauty on the land ranking.
"Putt!"
A demon bear at the Postnatal Middle Stage was cut into two pieces by the sword light upon impact.
"Truly an elite from Sky Sword Academy."
"That Black Ridge Demon Bear is known for its thick skin and great defense; not even a Qi Transformation Innate could necessarily kill it in one strike."
In front of the white curtains, some of the elders from the families could not help but exclaim in amazement.
"It looks like He Qiuyun will be the second person to obtain a demon core."
The elder from the Chu Family smiled faintly.
"Eh! That's not right! It seems someone from the Fu Family has a slight edge over him."
Suddenly, a stir of surprise arose in the venue.
Looking,
on one of the white curtains, a youth dressed in beast-skin armor opened his palm.
Swoosh!
A bloodstained demon core landed in his hand.
"How is this possible! There are no demon beasts nearby!"
"Is he cheating!?"