Heavenly Jewel Change

Chapter 237 – XuanTian Trials (3)

“If we use the original method of drawing lots to fight, not only will it take much longer, it can also be unfair due to the factor of luck in terms of drawing lots. This Elder would rather suffer a little to ensure the fairness of the XuanTian Trial. If anyone else dares question my decisions, you will be punished for being disrespectful to the XuanTian Palace.”

Er Chun’s voice was slightly overcast, filled with pressure. Towards the Heavenly Jewel Masters, this pressure was negligible, but to the common audience, it was more than enough. As soon as he finished speaking, the audience thought about it and felt he did make sense. Very soon, the discussion and dissent stopped naturally.

Er Chun motioned for the first participant to come before him, saying passively: “Later on, all of my testing will be the same. No matter what Skill you use, as long as you can receive a palm strike from me without falling off the stage, you will have passed the second round. If in the end, only three people succeed, then they will be the final three who will be selected. If more than three pass, then they will enter the third round.”

The ten participants all nodded to show they understood. Er Chun nodded towards the youth in front of him in a magnanimous fashion, indicating he should prepare himself.

Naturally, the youth did not dare to be careless. He was at the five-Jeweled stage, and he quickly released four pieces of Consolidated Equipment. As an independent cultivator, it was already not easy to get so many Consolidated Equipment. Once he had finished his preparation, he faced Er Chun, fully focused.

“Be careful.” Er Chun took an abrupt step forward, his Heavenly Jewels appearing around his wrists, nine of them glowing brightly. Without any further flourishes, he sent a straight punch flying towards the youth.

The youth quickly blocked, unleashing an ice shield instantly, circulating all of his Heavenly Energy in a mighty effort.

*PENG* A muffled thump, and the ice shield shattered. At the same time, the youth’s body flew back, landing directly on the ground outside of the stage.

On the side of the stage, Zhou Weiqing’s mouth curled in a smirk, almost laughing out loud.

Such minor trickery, perhaps it could fool commoners, but how could it escape his eyes, that of a skilled actor and con man himself? On the surface, this test might seem fair, but was it really?

This Er Chun’s power was not bad at all, at the Upper Level Zong Stage currently. However, with his nine-Jeweled power against a five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, could anyone really block a single blow from him? As for how much Heavenly Energy and strength he put behind the blow, wasn’t it all up to him?

Under such a circumstance, there was no true ‘fairness’ at all, not even a single bit. Sang De’s words previously, Zhou Weiqing totally believed it now. Of course, he had not expected that the XuanTian Palace would have become so corrupt and degenerate to such a degree. In comparison, the five Great Saint Lands of the Boundless Mainland would never allow such a thing to happen, and the situation was far better in that sense. At least, he had never personally heard of the five Great Saint Lands having such occurrences.

A single fist, a single punch. One after the other. In a matter of moments, four of the participants had already been knocked off the stage.

When it reached the fifth person, the situation changed abruptly. This was a youth that looked rather unassuming. As Er Chun punched out, he staggered back several steps, but in the end he managed to barely stabilize himself just a metre away before he fell off the stage.

A faint smile flashed across Er Chun’s face as he nodded, saying: “Not bad at all, a decent method of transforming and dissipating power. You have passed.”

Zhou Weiqing’s face twitched slightly. He almost couldn’t help himself to scold out “What a damn fake!” Luckily, he managed to restrain himself in time.

Sixth was that Sang De’s turn, while Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er were respectively placed in the eighth and seventh position.

As expected, Sang De also managed to ‘accept’ a fist without being sent flying, even performing better than the previous youth by a metre, gaining Er Chun’s “smile” before being allowed to stay on the stage.

At last, it was Shangguan Bing’er’s turn, and everyone’s gaze, audience and participants alike, fell upon Er Chun. At the side, Zhou Weiqing watched with a spurious smile on his face. He truly wanted to see how this old fox Er Chun would deal with the ‘problem’ of Shangguan Bing’er. After all, she had already displayed the power of her seven-Jeweled cultivation, and out of all the other participants besides her, there weren’t even any with six Jewels.

Er Chun looked at Shangguan Bing’er, and a sudden smile spread across his face as he said: “Lady Shangguan, being able to cultivate to the seven-Jeweled stage at such a young age, your talent must be extremely outstanding, and you definitely deserve a position. However, since Lady Shangguan’s cultivation has far surpassed all of the ordinary participants, thus this Elder has decided to make an exception for you to have an additional guaranteed spot. Please wait below the stage, you will not need to continue joining the further trials.”

Shangguan Bing’er started momentarily, and she couldn’t help but look towards Zhou Weiqing.

On the other hand, Zhou Weiqing smiled broadly. This Er Chun was no fool either! In front of so many people, he dared not make his acting too obvious.

Sure enough, once the crowd heard Er Chun’s words, even those who were harbouring feelings of dissatisfaction were not able to retort. Similarly, Shangguan Bing’er received a signal from Zhou Weiqing to follow Er Chun’s instructions and head off the stage.

It was time for the eighth participant, and naturally that was Zhou Weiqing, with the last two behind him.

Er Chun had seen the signals between Shangguan Bing’er and Zhou Weiqing, but his expression remained impassive.

“Are you ready?” Er Chun asked Zhou Weiqing emotionlessly.

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “I am ready, please go ahead.”

Er Chun looked at him with some surprise. That was because Zhou Weiqing had just casually replied him without even showing any signs of preparations at all. He had not even summoned a single piece of Consolidated Equipment.

Er Chun gave a cold smirk inwardly, but did not say anything. Similarly, he took a step forward, his fist careening towards Zhou Weiqing.

This time, the punch of his was filled with Heavenly Energy. Outwardly, it did not seem to have much power and presence behind it, but as the fist flew towards him, Zhou Weiqing could sense the powerful stress upon his chest, causing him to momentarily feel difficulty breathing.

Such an attack, let alone an ordinary five-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master… perhaps even one with a seven-Jeweled cultivation might be sent flying from this punch. The difference in Heavenly Energy was just too huge.

A faint smirk crossed Zhou Weiqing’s lips. Facing Er Chun’s fist, he replied with a single slap of his palm.

*PENG* A loud sound rang out, and a sight occurred that caused everyone to stare in shock, jaw agape. Accompanying the explosive sound was the sight of Zhou Weiqing standing there, unmoved. Er Chun’s fist had actually been slapped away by Zhou Weiqing’s palm strike.

“En?!” Er Chun was given a huge shock. Once again, he looked towards Zhou Weiqing just to reaffirm he was not imagining things. Five Jewels… It really was five Jewels! As he looked upon Zhou Weiqing’s wrist, he saw that it truly was five sets of Heavenly Jewels.

How could this be? He subconsciously wanted to punch out again, but Zhou Weiqing said: “Master, does that mean I have passed this round?”

Only then did Er Chun stop himself from punching out once more. With a curious look on his face, he asked Zhou Weiqing: “Young man, how did you manage to do that?” After all, that punch of his just now was not holding back like the others who had ‘passed’.

Zhou Weiqing gave him a wide smile as he said: “Master, my physical strength has always been larger than normal. In the past, my folks back home always said I was born with superhuman strength.”

Er Chun couldn’t help but scold inwardly, but he did not think much further about it. After all, Zhou Weiqing had come together with that genius girl Shangguan Bing’er, and it was not suspicious at all that he had some unique qualities of his own. Nodding to him, he did not continue speaking to Zhou Weiqing, instead continuing the exam.

This was only the second round after all, and Er Chun did not believe that this variable, Zhou Weiqing, could foil his plans.

For the last two participants, one was eliminated, while one remained. Without needing to think, Zhou Weiqing understood that besides himself, the three remaining participants should have been ‘fixed’ long ago.

Er Chun looked at the four remaining on the stage, especially giving Zhou Weiqing a deep meaningful look. At last, he said: “Since you four have passed the second round, we will have to go on to the third round. In the previous round, you have all succeeded in blocking this Elder’s single punch, but that doesn’t mean you will succeed a second time. This third round will be similar to the second round, with this Elder personally take charge of the exam.”

Once again, the first two participants smoothly accepted Er Chun’s ‘attack’, and it was Zhou Weiqing’s turn once more.

Zhou Weiqing smiled as he looked at this so-called Master. Facing Zhou Weiqing, Er Chun’s expression was normal, as if everything was going on in a fair manner. He even specially told Zhou Weiqing: “Young man, be careful now.”

“Master, please.” Zhou Weiqing smiled as he said.

A cold light flashed in Er Chun’s eyes as he took a step forward, punching forward with his right fist directly towards Zhou Weiqing’s chest. An icy cold aura burst forth from his fist, but strangely the cold was concentrated and focused, not spreading out at all. It was as if an invisible field of ice was surrounding his fist as he smashed hard towards Zhou Weiqing’s chest.

A Skill? This old fellow actually activated a Skill against me? To be able to hide it so well, damn, he is truly a talent in his own right! Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but think as he watched the incoming fist, the smile on his face unchanging. In an exact copy of his previous reaction, his palm slapped out once more.

*PENG*

Another massive explosion. This time, even Er Chun was totally stunned. That was because his fist was once again slapped away by Zhou Weiqing, who remained standing there as if nothing had happened, not even moving an inch.

“Thank you Master for being lenient.” Zhou Weiqing said cheerfully.

Er Chun looked at Zhou Weiqing. At last, he was finding it hard to tolerate as his face clearly turned cloudy. This young man was not simple at all, wasn’t that strength just too overbearing? That punch earlier, he had even used eighty percent of his might, and even though he had hidden his Skill, causing some of its power to be lost, he was confident that even a seven-Jeweled powerhouse would not be able to take that blow easily. This inborn superhuman strength… wasn’t it just too much?

In truth, Zhou Weiqing did not use much Heavenly Energy, keeping it at the five-Jeweled stage. However, do not forget that his physical strength had long since reached a terrifying level. His physique had always been far superior to any Heavenly Jewel Master, with the bloodlines of the Dark Demon God Tiger and the Dragons, the nine-Jeweled cultivation stage, Demonic Change State and having evolved several times due to the Saint Energy… all of these boosts added together had allowed his pure physical strength to reach a tyrannical level. As for the hidden Ice Attribute inherent in Er Chun’s attack, in front of Zhou Weiqing’s Saint Energy, what could it possibly do?

With a gloomy look on his face, Er Chun continued the exam on the fourth participant. Naturally, it was another pass.

Four participants. Surprisingly, there were still the same four remaining on the stage, yet there were only three selection spots. Two consecutive rounds, yet these four had still remained. At this point, even if the audience did not find anything strange about it, those Heavenly Jewel Masters below began to find something odd about it.

If one were to look on the surface appearance of things, the one which looked the most ‘fake’ was definitely Zhou Weiqing’s test. After all, both times he had not even moved a single step in receiving the attack. However, in the eyes of the perceptive, such an overly obvious fake instead looked to be the real one. After looking at the other three participants besides Zhou Weiqing, very quickly their identity and status were recognized.