Chapter 185: Nightmare's Kindness (1)
*Bang*
Spirit energy raged and a cruel glint appeared on Dai Taiyin's heterochromatic eyes. The eleven members aside, even Dai Mu fell back. She now also knew the reason why her white tiger martial soul was feeling a little suppressed, too, after her mother told her that Dai Taiyin was finally allowed to enter the Sage's Cave.
"He said what?" Dai Taiyin looked at the trembling ambassador. Outside, the ambassador would be well respected but facing the Crowned Prince of the Star Luo Empire, he couldn't help but shiver.
"My lord, Ka-ul arrogantly proclaimed that he will fight Star Luo Academy's team only if it is worth his time... he said something about the last time being barely satisfactory..."
Dai Taiyin breathed in deeply but before he could decide something in anger, Dai Mu signaled Zhu Ning as the woman hurriedly held Dai Taiyin's hand, and then she spoke up herself, "Brother... that Ka-ul is infuriating but he did save my and Brother Hao's life when we fell unconscious..."
"And I am supposed to bend over for that?" he inquired sharply.
"No, this means that Ka-ul meant what he said. He holds no other emotion against us except greed. If he really considered us enemies, he would have acted against me, too. So, instead of giving him the joy of being angry and brash about our actions... I think we should do as he says."
There was a twinkle in Dai Mu's eyes as her current maturity served to shake Dai Taiyin out of his strangely irritating thoughts.
---
"Wow, they know you well," Bibi Dong laughed rather openly as she saw Ja Sun's sour expression. It is not always that Ja Sun failed to bait his opponents, after all.
The ambassador of the White Tiger Clan had made it clear that the faction will fight but no bets will be placed. Instead, they are entirely focusing on the two spirit bones as the reward of the competition. Usually, Ja Sun would want to cover his bases by adding benefits to the hall before doing something crazy. This way, he had already formed a trusted reputation but with the White Tiger Clan backing off... making Ja Sun a bit annoyed at whoever thought so well, he had no monetary reasons to go crazy at the face value.
But Ja Sun also had to keep track of his trait.
"Still, I want to fight the white tiger clan alone," Ja Sun spoke up and as expected, doubt flickered in the eyes of his teammates since there was no financial gain of doing so.
"Why?" Bibi Dong questioned as Ja Sun thought for a moment.
He could set up a mission the same as always once again but he was positive that the benefits of fighting alone would be equal to, if not greater than the match against the clear sky clan. And this may be the last chance of forming an individual mission, too.
"I have personal benefits in line..." Ja Sun stated without specifying the actual source of his benefits but by now, others pretty much deserved to know a little about him.
"From who?" Xie Xan inquired curiously.
"Dai Taiyin, of course. Anyway, even if I battle alone, it's not like I won't be using my spirit abilities. I don't plan to lose since the two spirit bones mentioned are quite a bargaining chip for us even if it's not useable to our team."
"It's too risky..."
Bibi Dong looked unconvinced as Ja Sun rolled his eyes, "Come on. I can take you all out by myself alone so I can definitely take on a bunch of white and black cats."
"What? Together, we can easily crush you!" Hu Lana hissed.
"Shut up, fatso," Ja Sun snorted.
"I'm not fat! I'm pregnant you incompetent bastard! That's it, Little Yin, Sister dong, don't you guys sleep with him for a week!"
"W-what?" Other girls including Bibi Dong blushed while Ah Yin opened her eyes and looked at Hu Lana before speaking up, "You know... nobody asked you to get pregnant and then argue with Ka-ul..."
Hu Lana's expression froze and tears spilled out of her eyes before she jumped and hugged Ah Yin, "Oh, no! He took it too far... you're no longer my innocent little Yin!"
"Innocent?" Ja Sun gasped, "You don't know half the things--" He quickly sidestepped as a sharp blade of a blue silver goddess no different than a blue silver sword shot towards his crotch.
The group soon settled but facing a rather stubborn Ja Sun on the matter, Bibi Dong had to relent saying that since he was compromising the overall reward for personal goals, in the scenario of his loss, he will have to share two spirit bones useful to the members of the team. This wasn't something Ja Sun minded because additional pressure only worked well with him.
Today was the last day of the match and there were only three teams with a single loss record.
Clear Sky Clan.
Star Luo Academy.
And, Spirit Academy.
This was a testament to how backward the Heaven Dou Empire was really in strength and how much they benefitted from Spirit Hall's clever intervention.
Right now, the Clear Sky Clan was sure to keep this record and the match to be truly looked forward to was between the Spirit Academy and the Star Luo Academy.
There were already rumors flying around that the Crowned Prince couldn't satisfy his wife and she thirsted for the genus Ka-ul. These scandalous pieces of news catch wind faster than fire and tend to spread greater than the stink of a silent fart.
Not only that, it was known that Ja Sun spent a few hours inside the Star Luo palace that somehow deeply offended the Imperial Clan which only made the commoners suspect a saucy action behind the scene.
The match between the two academies would be the finale of the day and the two teams sat on the opposite sides of the arena. Ja Sun's return made many individual's eyes shine in expectations since his bloody methods revealed a completely new side to the profession that is the Spirit cultivation and many were willing to know the true depths of his strength since everyone now recognized Ja Sun to be the wildest trump card as he simply never used his martial soul and spirit rings even once.
The matches began with the usual intensity. Many bets were placed but the three strongest teams were obviously left out from the last chance of taking resources from others. The team had also made quite a few personal enemies and they glared in Ja Sun and others' direction with gloomy expressions. The most prominent of these were the members of the Heaven Dou Academy, Clear Sky Clan, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Ja Sun and others silently observed the matches. The Clear Sky Clan's opponent gave up.
The thing to note was now aside from a small faction that hated Ja Sun's guts within the clan, everyone had come to appreciate his strength and resources. Even now, the Strenght and Speed Clan were trying to get the information they desired from Ja Sun as they saw their counterparts, the Defense and Attack Clan reinvigorated by the addition of two immortal herbs and new construction techniques in exchange for the core teachings of their professions.
Aside from the first prize sponsored by the Spirit Hall, the runner-ups would gain titles of nobility by the two Empires, too, so many vied for a luxurious life after the end of the competition.
Finally, after the passage of hours as the noon sun began to set, the final match was called for and the otherwise audience began to teem with excitement. It was here.
The White Tiger Clan had an open secret that they had refused to use even in front of the Clear Sky Clan to keep their relations from being damaged. After all, the two teams had already made the pact that any one of them need to win and the other will get their share of spirit bone.
Three members of the White Tiger Clan, three members of the Hell Civet Clan, and an auxiliary support spirit master groomed by the Royal Clan stepped up.
Out of the six members, two belonged to the main branches of their respective clans. These two were none other than Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning.
Ordinarily, Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning would have to compete against the branch members and then emerge victorious to have the chance in participating in the final competition but in light of the importance of the skull bone being presented, Dai Laohu allowed Dai Taiyin to have a chance at pulling in the branch members in his team and he succeeded.
Every faction knew of the spirit fusion technique between the White Tiger and Hell Civet martial soul. That is the reason why their status in the Star Luo Empire is unmovable. Now seeing three pairs of potential spirit fusion techniques stepping on the ring simultaneously, everyone's eyes glowed.
"Prince Dai Taiyin," Ja Sun cupped his fist, "Are you well? And Princess Zhu Ning, I see you have begun to give the prince some time to cultivate. Does he still crumble under pressure or not?"
Ah Yin rolled her eyes as she recalled how nervous they felt during their own first time.
"Shut your depraved hole!" Zhu Ning stated coldly. The expression of the other two black-haired women behind her didn't look too good either.
"Sigh, Prince Taiyin. How many times do I have to tell you that the princess will remain dissatisfied as long as you keep her as such," Ja Sun shook his head.
Meanwhile, he began creating missions. He pulled out all the stops this time. He continued to create restraints upon restraints on himself.
"Are these your last words before stepping down the stage?" Taiyin only questioned coldly as Ja Sun smiled.
"Now, why would I step down?"
"Prepare!"
The Referee shouted and a strange scene occurred. As the opposing team activated their spirit transformation, Ja Sun and his team didn't move at all. If possible, Ja Sun wanted to use his Vajra Gauntlets and also activate his spirit transformation however, even Qian Xunji wasn't willing to go out of his way to explain that Vajra Gauntlets weren't external but internal weapons. And the bandages on Ja Sun's hands would rip out of his limbs turned into talons, exposing his Evil Title.
[Objective: Defeat the Star Luo Academy alone and find an enclosed space personally to pump your fist.
Optional Objectives:
1) Do not use Vajra Gauntlets.
2) Do not use Three-Eyed Silver Lion
3) Do not use Evil Title.
4) Do not use your skull bone.
5) Do not use your left arm bone.
6) Do not use your right arm bone.
7) Do not use mental energy.
8) Do not get hurt by the opponents.
Mission Rank: A-B-S-C-S-S-S-S-S
Mission Rewards: 40000-year-old Saint Hell Tiger's Skull Bone— Tiger Claw Gloves— Bloodline Core of the Three-eyed Golden Lion— Evil Space Records— 70000-year-old Wishful Serpent Skull Bone— 80000-year-old Hell White Tiger Left Arm Bone— 80000-year-old Hell Black Tiger Right Arm Bone— Evil-Eyed Sage's Third Pupil— Emerald Swan Monarch Core.
Time Limit: 30/30/30/30/30/30/30/30/30 minutes.]
Ja Sn observed the rewards and began deciding which he could give up and which one he couldn't. The first two conditions couldn't be broken or he would lose the match so those two rewards were a given. The 40000-year-old Saint Hell Tiger's Skull Bone was also one of the two spirit bones as the reward of the competition. The third reward seemed to be useful to his martial soul which made Ja Sun sigh. His martial soul's requirements, despite being hollow and without a foundation, seemed a little too much but the Three-Eyed Silver Lion is the mutation of the Three-eyed Golden Lion fashioned out of a phoenix instead of a dragon. Ja Sun very much wanted this reward.
The fourth reward was tied to his Evil Title which he couldn't use anyway so its reward was a given, too. He also wanted the two arm bones again as the absorption of the two spirit bones might just push them to another level. After all, the two bones will have a total of 120000 years of accumulated energy and even if his spirit bones do not evolve, this much energy will propel his spirit rank!
The Emerald Swan is one of the rarest spirit beasts nowadays and its core was quite an enticement and since it was tied to the condition of not getting hurt, Ja Sun had an additional layer of motivation of keeping bloody means out of his methods.
Finally, the choice fell between the 70000-year-old Wishful Serpent Skull Bone and the Evil-Eyed Sage's Third Pupil. Technically speaking, his mental energy was more potent and the reward generated from not utilizing this aspect of himself would definitely be noteworthy. Not to mention the fact that he already had a 99999-year-old Nightmare's Fantasy Skull Bone so he was leaning on using the skull bone itself...
But what if the Evil-Eyed Sage's Third Pupil is not useful like Asura Sight Technique.
Thus, Ja Sun formed his priorities based on what he knew about the rewards, what can be accomplished, and what can be given up. The part of these missions being S-ranked included the hidden fact that all of them couldn't be completed at the same time. Ja Sun had tried it and the mission simply didn't form. But that didn't affect his thoughts too much.
In response to the spirit transformed White Tigers, Hell Civets, and the golden crystal sphere tool spirit, Ja Sun's hands only glowed strangely with white spirit energy letting out minor shock force.
---
"What is going on?" Tang Peng and Dai Laohu sat together and they glanced at Qian Xunji secretly only to see confusion in his gaze, too.
"Given how that little one operates... he must be thinking something extreme. He doesn't have the capacity to give others some face when it comes to benefit so... I do hope that they all strike at once."
"Yeah, Tang Min and others were stupid!" Tang Peng scowled. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he saw how his team couldn't even land a solid hit on Ja Sun.
At this time, the match began only for everyone except Ja Sun to step down instantly.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan instantly went through some traumatic flashbacks and Dai Laohu's gaze constricted. He did not like the direction of this fight from the very beginning.
---
"What are you doing?! Come back!" Dai Taiyin roared.
"Come now, are you this scared when Princess Zhu Ning corners you in your bedroom, too?" Ja Sun smiled. He didn't want to add any further motivation to destroy Star Luo Imperial Clan's reputation any more than he already had and make them a permanent enemy. His situation with Qian Xunji was merely ambiguous and even if he is teasing the group now, his voice was certainly soft and low enough.
Dai Taiyin gritted his teeth but even his own failure flashed in front of his eyes constantly.
The spirit pressure of a Spirit Sage exploded out but it was too savage to be properly contained and was mixed with wild bloodlust.
Ja Sun merely shrugged as he looked at Dai Taiyin. The man barely took two years to become a Spirit Sage from rank 62. Bibi Dong felt that Dai Taiyin somehow accepting a trial or an inheritance seemed more likely, just like Yu Xiaogang. After all, even with Immortal Herb, Bibi Dong only broke into rank 69 and used the subsequent momentum to enter rank 70 while Ah Yin was still stranded in this rank.
Rank 50 to rank 60 is a great bottleneck because... in the later stages, this much difficulty is the norm.
Seeing all of their opponents step down except for Ja Sun whose bandaged hands flickered with the familiar milky white glow that he has been revealing ever since his reappearance in the competition, the expression of other branch members turned worse.
Ja Sun and Dai Taiyin looked at each other.
Anger and bloodlust were the first to flash.
Then helplessness.
And as Dai Taiyin was still comprehending his state of understanding, Ja Sun accelerated to the extreme and revealed a speed befitting an agility-type spirit king and closed in on the group in front of him.
"Protect Zhu Man," Dai Taiyin referred to the healing-type support member as a pair of Hell Civet and White Tiger remained back and four of them rushed forward.
"You better use your martial soul," Dai Taiyin spat coldly.
As his body buffed up instantly while his third spirit ring shone greatly. Similar to him, the other blonde youth also activated the White Tiger Vajra Transformation, and his body buffed up further.
"It's not about the size but how you wield it, right, Princess?" Ja Sun smiled kindly however Zhu Ning simply dispersed into Ja Sun's stretching shadow while her fifth spirit ring glowed. The other girl with the Hell Civet enhancement shot straight at Ja Sun silently with afterimages left behind and her claws had turned long and sharp with the activation of her first spirit ring.
His spirit energy instantly covered his body. It was barely any protection but he still did it fully knowing the situation and the milky white light spread out from his body before constructing over an empty space with a spark of shock energy that seemed to attract the woman's momentum. Meanwhile, Ja Sun stomped and he jumped high, leaving circles of white light. He purposely had his shadow stretch out of the bounds from the area closest to him and Zhu Ning instantly shot out before she, too, was sent out of the bounds.
"Do you guys want to see a trick?"
By now, the expressions of everyone related to the Clear Sky Clan were somewhat shocked.
As Ja Sun began to fall, his spirit energy exploded slightly below him and made him 'bob' in the air once again.
"That's the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes!" Tang Min growled and the expression of other members was strange. There was only confusion in their minds. For two reasons... if it was their Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, how did Ja Sun get it? And how can he wield a technique specifically made for the explosive attribute of the Clear Sky Hammer?
Gentle Tactics was Ja Sun's simply go-to technique with extreme high proficiency and it was all about the applications of shock energy. Comprehending the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes and applying it to his technique was merely a D-rank mission at this point which spoke a lot about how similar the two techniques already were. While Ja Sun focused on the internal effects of the shock energy, the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes focused on the external ones.
On the other hand, the girl who had wanted to stab Ja Sun was made to stab at the point where all the momentum was forcefully converged in front of her and right now, the situation fell to a standstill.
"Come on, use your Spirit Fusion already," Ja Sun offered.
Hesitation flickered in the eyes of the branch members as Ja Sun chortled, "Or Prince Dai, have you gotten a new Spirit Bone? If so, why not use that one, too? You know you don't like keeping secrets from me--"
Ja Sun's entire left side let out a short explosion of spirit energy that forced him to the right while a pitch-black cat passed through the location where he jumped around in the air.
{A/N: Like a perpetual bakugo motion.}
The black cat followed a straight path ahead while Ja Sun gazed at Zhu Ning with narrowed eyes. Her left leg was currently encased with a black crystal-like guard with a totem of a cat imprinted on its surface: A Spirit Bone.
But a simple one.
'However... what a poor choice of acting,' Ja Sun added internally. Nobody in their right mind would ever reveal their spirit bone abilities so easily. Even Dai Taiyin had to be forced to reveal his abilities so it was clear that a conspiracy was afoot.
Ja Sun looked around and finally smiled at the shaken healing spirit master. His grin was bright and he instantly shot forward with explosive rings of Spirit Energy left behind. The greater control he revealed of the applications of shock energy the worse Tang Peng's expression grew. Even Tang Hao and Xiao couldn't help but feel complicated on this matter.
The only reason Tang Hao went out of his way to speak well about Ja Sun and his team wasn't because of his admiration but because Yuehua was part of the team and he wanted the clan to be moderate about their views on Ja Sun. After all, his reputation was really at an all-time low until Tang Hao began to take more responsibilities.
'He is going there!' Dai Taiyin's gaze twinkled.
***
Shout-out to Eddy Yeung, Risen Wane, Luciano, Achearon, Littlewhite!
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