Chapter 888: The Remarkable Battle
Mo Wen stood on the challenge ring as a message about the battle automatically entered his mind. He pondered for a moment then took out the jade pendant. With a flick of his fingers, the jade pendant flew up into the air and fell onto the stone pillar at the edge of the challenge ring.
There was a flash of light, and the screen at the center displayed 10000 next to the words Challenge Ring 49, meaning that the wager for the fixed-point battle was 10000 points.
Once the message appeared on the screen, it caught a lot of attention. Even at the death corner fighting ring, placing a wager of 10000 points on a single battle was rare. No one would wager 10000 points unless they were especially confident of themselves.
The person in tenth position on the leaderboard had only 50000 points.
Only criminals were able to take part in a challenge like this. If they won, they would win the points wagered, but if they lost, they would have to compensate 1.5 times the points wagered. After all, the risk was higher for the person who set up the challenge ring.
“What a generous amount.”
White Dust felt his eyelids twitch. For a person who had just arrived at the death corner fighting ring to place such a big wager took exceptional self-confidence. The 10000 points must be equivalent to about half his total point tally.
Even White Dust, who was familiar with the rules of the death corner fighting ring, would not dare to place a wager of 10000 points. He knew only too well that there were some pretty terrifying characters among the criminals. If they were to take on the challenge, the probability of being defeated by one of them would be quite high.
In two days, he had been able to earn 40000 points at the death corner fighting ring only by taking careful steps and advancing gradually. He had never tried wagering 10000 points on a single battle.
“This idiot is obviously seeking death!” Lord Merciless sneered. “Too bad I can’t take part in the challenge! It’s a freeload for the criminals.”
This challenge would definitely attract the strongest criminals. How would it be possible for Mo Wen to win with his current level of ability? There was nowhere to hide and no chance to escape on the challenge ring.
Lord Merciless had fought Mo Wen before and was aware of his caliber. To set up a battle on the challenge ring with a wager of 10000 points was no different from seeking death.
The Water Deity, who had been hiding in the mist, also looked at Challenge Ring 49 with a look of surprise on her face. “10000 points for a single battle!” she thought. “Is he trying to amaze the world with a single brilliant feat?” Regardless of the results, his wager of 10000 points on one battle was enough to catch the eye of many people. Currently, there were only three people who had dared to wager 10000 points or more on a battle at the death corner fighting ring.
They were Dark Hand who was in second place, Wine and Meat Monk who was in third place and herself in fourth place.
The person in first place remained a mystery because he had not yet taken on any challenges. Even now, she had no idea of the identity of the person who was currently at the top of the leaderboard.
However, with that impressive number of points, the person ranked first had no reason to take part in such a battle on the challenge ring. At the moment, no one could surpass the first position.
“This brother of mine is still as proud as before,” Gu Jingman said with a smile while gazing with interest at the challenge ring. She had not expected Mo Wen to show such generosity upon his arrival either.
At the same time, a group of people on the sky square also stared at Mo Wen in astonishment, wondering who was daring enough to set up a battle worth 10000 points.
…
Two days ago, there had been some changes in Dragon City. Huatian Palace announced the opening of the inner city, allowing everyone to enter and watch the battle.
The Heaven List Tournament for the top ten was a grand event that happened once every five years. The ultimate warriors came there from all over the world and had traveled a great distance in order to catch a glimpse of the top talents of Hua Xia.
At the moment, the outer city of Dragon City was almost empty as everyone had flooded into the inner city. The ultimate warriors who had been heading for the Dragon Desolate World to hunt also returned to the Dragon City. No one wished to miss the legendary battle which only happened once every five years.
The famous Divine Dragon Nest in the inner city was a huge, round area located to the left of the Goddess Square. The place did not look very big from the outside, but it could hold up to a million people.
There was no problem accommodating all the warriors who had come to the Dragon City.
The Divine Dragon Nest was bustling with people, leaving no empty seats. At the center was an empty ground covered by a semi-circular light shroud. Through the light shroud, one could see everything in the mechanized maze city. The amazing visual effect provided everyone in the Divine Dragon Nest with a 360-degree view of the death corner fighting ring.
One corner of the spectator seating area was filled with people from the Dafang Sect – Wang Yinru, Hu Tianfeng, Hu Qiongqi, Tan Qiyue, Grandmother Hui Ling, Yin Banshuang, Pavilion Leader Ye Rong, Bu Zhangkun…
Some of them belonged to the original Dafang Sect, while some came from the Green Ancient Mystery Dimension.
“It’s been two days! Why hasn’t he appeared yet?” Wang Yinru mumbled to herself while staring at the death corner fighting ring. She could not believe that Mo Wen could not even enter the Mechanized Maze City.
“Deputy Sect Leader Wang, the Heaven List Tournament this year is different from previous years. The competition is so intense it’s like a raging storm. Even if I were to take part, I’m afraid that I would not be able to perform well. Each age brings forth new geniuses on this noble land, and the future is in the hands of the youngsters.”
Tan Qiyue let out a sigh. The degree of difficulty for the Heaven List Tournament this year was way beyond his expectations. Although he had already heard of it, seeing it with his own eyes struck him deeply. He was no match for many of the young contenders.
“Why have so many legendary strong practitioners emerged all of a sudden? And they’re all so young.”
Yin Banshuang was filled with complex emotions. She had been regarded as a genius and successor of the Five Beasts Sect, but she was nothing compared to the geniuses who had broken into the Mechanized Maze City. The disparity between them was as great as the distance between the sky and the land.
Across the Three Dimensions of Martial Arts, not to mention the tiny Green Ancient Mystery Dimension, it was not easy to find one strong practitioner even in the Inner worlds. Yet now, there were more than five strong practitioners from the Three Dimensions of Martial Arts in front of her, and all younger than fifty years old.
“What had happened to this world?” she thought. At this moment, she felt her perspective of the world overturned.
“The legendary Hidden martial arts strain has finally appeared.”
Tan Qiyue had conflicted feelings. With his status and experience, it was no wonder that he knew some secrets about the Hidden martial arts strain.
“Hidden martial arts strain… !”
Grandmother Hui Ling and Bu Zhangkun were shocked.
“Could it be that Mo Wen had failed to overcome even the first stage?” Wang Yinru was worried. She did not care if Mo Wen was able to outshine the competitors in the Heaven List Tournament. All she wished was that nothing had happened to him.
Tan Qiyue consoled her. “Deputy Sect Leader Wang, Palace Lord’s ability and potential are unfathomable. His potential is no less than those geniuses of the Hidden martial arts strain. He probably has other reasons for not appearing. With his ability, the chances of him getting into the Mechanized Maze City are quite high.”
Mo Wen was a genius. If not for his young age, he might have achieved even more than those of the Hidden martial arts strain. Even if it was not certain that he would surely win against them, logically it should not be a problem for him to get into the Mechanized Maze City.
On the other hand, Su Wan’er, together with Wang Qian and Tang Zhizhi, had come to the Divine Dragon Nest. For these few days, there was almost no one in the outer city of Dragon City. The store had no customers, and Mo Wen had told them that they could come to watch the match. Hence, the trio closed the shop early and came to check out the Heaven List Tournament. A few people from the Five Tigers Sect were with them.
After finding out that Su Wan’er and Wang Qian were working at the spiritual pills store and earning a high salary, the others were astounded. Usually, if they were short-handed at the store, the others would help out. Seeing that business in the store was increasing, and it was impossible for the few of them to manage, Tang Zhizhi hired the few people from Five Tigers Sect.
Being able to work in the store and earn a high salary excited them. It was way better than slaving away in the Dragon Desolate World.
“Sister Tang, Brother Mo has been gone for so long. Where is he? He did not even come to watch such an entertaining Heaven List Tournament.”
Su Wan’er looked at Tang Zhizhi. Since Brother Mo had passed the store over to them, he seemed to have vanished into thin air. They had not seen him for many days. He did not even appear at such a grand Martial Arts Circle Convention as this one.
“He is hard to predict.”
Raising the corners of her mouth slightly, Tang Zhizhi said helplessly, “Maybe you can see him in a few more days, or maybe you will see him soon, but it’s highly unlikely.”
She knew that Mo Wen was a member of the Martial Arts Grandmaster Palace Hall. Moreover, he was so young, so he must have gone to participate in the Heaven List Tournament.
However, the Mechanized Maze City had already been opened for two days, and there were still no signs of him. He might have been eliminated.
“Ah! Am I seeing things? I just saw Brother Mo! Why would he appear there? Can he watch the battle live on-site?”
Su Wan’er suddenly stood up and excitedly pointed to a semi-circular lighted screen below.
Mo Wen’s silhouette appeared on the lighted screen. He was standing at a corner of the challenge ring with his arms behind his back, his sleeves fluttering.
Startled, Tang Zhizhi also stood up. Mo Wen had finally appeared. Had he successfully overcome stage one?
Wang Qian and a few Grand Elders of the Five Tigers Sect also looked over in surprise.
“It’s the youngster!”
Yun Peng and Wang He felt a tremor as they both recalled seeing this youngster the day they went to a branch of the Huatian Palace to exchange items for the Dragon City Talisman. However, they had treated this youngster with disdain then.
“Who is he?” Xie Rengui looked at Yun Peng and Wang He curiously. Could it be that they both knew the youngster? Based on what Su Wan’er had said, he knew that the person was their boss, Mo Wen. He had been wondering about the identity of the person who could manage this spiritual pills store so adeptly, but he did not expect the person to be so young.
Yet, Wang He and Yun Peng seemed to know this person. What was going on?
Xie Rengui had never met Mo Wen, so he had no impression of him at all.
“I get it. I finally understand.”
The two of them exchanged glances, seemingly now understanding something about a matter they had always had doubts about. So, it was because of him – an exceptional character who could get into the Mechanized Maze City during the Heaven List Tournament. This explained everything. They had not been able to recognize such a great person all this time.