Chapter 1236: Anticipated Victors
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As Mu Chen and Luo Li arrived at the Western Kingdom War City, it was already packed with people. A shocking scene was happening in the middle of the city.
Occasionally, a magnificent rush of spiritual energy would launch into the sky. By the looks of it, that spiritual energy had reached the level of an Earth Sovereign.
“This is truly the place where heroes come together.” Mu Chen sighed as he witnessed the scene before him. A grand occasion like this was just as impressive as the opening ceremony of the Ancient Celestial Palace in the Tianluo Continent.
“Well, this is the competition to determined who will be the Child of the Continent. Nowadays, in The Great Thousand World, they call it the ‘Ticket to Heaven Sovereign.’ That’s not a temptation that any Earthly Sovereign could resist. If it wasn’t for the fact that each force could only hold one title, I’d try my luck at nabbing it too.” Luo Tianshen chuckled.
The Luo God Clan may have just been stabilized, but Luo Tianshen had taken it upon himself to personally escort Mu Chen and Luo Li all the way to the Western Kingdom War City. Due to their receiving orders from the War Emperor, quite a number of grand forces now rejected Mu Chen. So, just to be on the safe side, he had decided to tag along in case something happened.
“With your strength, even if you participated in the battlefield of the Upper Earthly Sovereigns, I’m afraid that you wouldn’t win a title.” Luo Li laughed gently as she heard her grandfather’s wishful thinking. As she spoke, her clear eyes twinkled.
Luo Li was wearing a court dress that accentuated her slender figure, making her appear impeccably alluring. But, her exquisite face was covered by a thin veil.
As she had been practicing the Luo God Celestial Body, her already stunning face had undergone a certain enhancing transformation. The beauty that she now carried would sometimes leave even Mu Chen staring at her, his mouth agape.
To avoid situations like that, she carefully hid her face behind a veil in public. Little did she know that her vaguely delicate features were now emitting some sort of hazy enchantment, attracting even more unwanted attention to her!
Upon hearing his granddaughter’s statement, Luo Tianshen puffed out his cheeks and said angrily, “Well, Mu Chen is joining the battlefield of the Upper Earthly Sovereigns with just a capability of an Lower Earthly Sovereign. Why don’t you say something about that?”
“If the Flame Emperor has faith in him, how can I question the Master’s beliefs?” Luo Li said laughingly.
“What a sharp-tongued girl!” Luo Tianshen rolled his eyes and glared at the innocent Mu Chen, then proceeded toward the Western Kingdom War City in a huff.
Mu Chen could only shrug, while Luo Li gave him a cheeky wink with her big eyes. That little flirtatious movement made his heart skip a beat. He then smiled widely at her and reached out his hand to hold her delicate, small hand.
Luo Li tried to shake him off but failed, so she had no choice but to give in shyly. Then, the both of them followed Luo Tianshen’s footsteps before the countless gazes of admiration that were coming at them from the onlookers.
The trio entered the city. After asking for directions, they charged toward a tower in the southwest area that was seemingly the assembly point for all of the competitors. Here, most of the top powers were already gathered.
Once they arrived, they were slightly taken aback. Within the pavillion, they sensed that there were several hundred powerful spiritual energy fluctuations within the space, all of which were either communicating or colliding with each other.
That is to say, there were no less than a hundred Earthly Sovereigns that had gathered in the pavillion. This meant that seven out of ten Earthly Sovereigns from the Western Kingdom Continent were present.
The three of them entered the pavillion feeling rather astounded. The interior was extraordinarily spacious and bright.
After scanning the area, the trio stopped to looked at a spot where a stone tablet had been erected. The stone tablet had spiritual light shining out of it and a crowd was gathered around it.
“What is that thing?” Luo Li was curious.
“It’s the current Anticipated Victors Ranking for the Child of the Continent.” Luo Tianshen took a close look at the plate, then glanced at Mu Chen mockingly.
Mu Chen got slightly interested upon hearing that, so the trio moved closer. As they scanned the plate, the first thing they saw was the Popular Victor Rankings of the Lower Earthly Sovereigns battlefield. In fact, Mu Chen couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw the name that was in first place. The first place belonged to Luo Li!
A flickering number of spiritual lights were displayed next to her name. If one were to look closely, the number was 230 million, the unit of measurement being Sovereign Spiritual Liquid.
“That means that there are a total of 230 million worth of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid that people bet on Luo Li’s being the victor in the next Lower Earthly Sovereign battle!” Luo Tianshen said happily.
Mu Chen nodded and looked at the next name. It had a bet worth 200 million, following closely behind Luo Li. The name in second place was Ling Feizi.
Ling Feizi of the Four Holy Children? Mu Chen nodded inwardly. No wonder it was a tight race between the two, as she is no ordinary individual!
Mu Chen then transferred his gaze to the Upper Earthly Sovereigns battlefield list. At first sight, he instantly felt the deadly tension. The competition was much fiercer than it was in the Lower Earthly Sovereigns battlefield.
The first place belonged to none other than Ling Zhanzi, the leader of the Four Holy Children from the Western Kingdom War Temple. An impressive amount of 400 million had been placed as a bet, which was a scale so large that even Mu Chen bit his tongue.
Back in the Tianluo Continent, it was already almost impossible when Lin Jing had extorted the Crown Prince of the Great Xia Dynasty out of 100 in million Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. Now, at a scale of 400 million in Sovereign Spiritual Liquid, it seemed that, even if some top powers here were to be completely extracted, there still wouldn’t be enough to cover such a bet!
Following Ling Zhanzi were the two other Holy Children, Ling Jianzi and Ling Longzi. Adding up their bets totaled more than 500 million!
“The Holy Children of the Western Kingdom War Temple have very high reputations indeed.” Mu Chen exclaimed as he saw that the first three place were taken by all three of the Holy Children.
The names that were below the three Holy Children were more familiar. They were the three top grand forces that Luo Li had reminded him about, the heir of the Star Descent Pavillion, Liu Xingchen, Langya Sword Deity Su Mu and Ba Dao Chu Men.
The total bets on their Sovereign Spiritual Liquid combined was just below those of Ling Jianzi and Ling Longzi. It was obvious that quite some people believed that they were qualified to go against the three Holy Children of the Western Kingdom War Temple.
After these figures, the bets went down drastically. It was clear that most of the bets were focused on these six individuals.
“Well, have you seen your name yet?” As Mu Chen exclaimed at the vast scale of the bettings, Luo Tianshen gave him a demeaning smile and asked.
As Mu Chen looked at him, the corners of his mouth started to twitch. He saw his name at the end of the stone plate, and sadly, the number next to his name was a mere pathetic 500,000 in Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. When compared to the hundreds of millions of bettings that had been beside the previous names, it was astoundingly miserable.
Luo Li smiled wryly as she saw it, then quickly defended him. “These people are blind, aren’t they?”
Mu Chen scratched his nose and replied in a carefree manner, “I guess anyone who still had a functioning brain would never bet on a Lower Earthly Sovereign to win.”
“Hey, it looks like you know yourself after all.” Just as Mu Chen had finished his self-deprecating comment, a cold, old voice was heard.
Mu chen, Luo Li, and Luo Tianshen frowned as their gazes followed the source of the voice. Somehow, Xue Lingzi had appeared out of nowhere, was was now facing them.
“I was wondering who it was, and it turned out to be just a homeless cur!” Luo Tianshen’s expression turned frosty. It was acceptable when he ridiculed Mu Chen, but when an outsider like Xue Lingzi added to the mockery, it was unacceptable!
Xue Lingzi’s face immediately went grim, then he smirked as he looked at the crowd behind him. “Hehe, Brother Xiong Ba, didn’t you say that you found Mu Chen interesting? Here… This is him!”
“But, this little prick doesn’t know his place. Just because the Flame Emperor backs him, he thinks that he can get away with having no respect for all of the Upper Earthly Sovereigns in the Western Kingdom Continent. To think that he can join our battles as a lower class! What a joke.” Xue Lingzi spoke loudly,l his voice spreading throughout the pavillion.
Upon hearing his words, the noisy pavillion was silenced for a moment. Then, all sorts of judgemental looks were projected toward Mu Chen.
“So that’s the Mu Chen that everyone has been talking about?”
“He’s so young! That’s impressive. But, he’s dreaming too big. The Upper Sovereign Battlefield is not for him yet.”
“Hehe, it’s nice having a strong backing. He even got the slot to vie for the battle of our Child of the Continent right here in the Western Kingdom Continent.”
Murmurs started to spread throughout the crowd, the majority of which were filled with slight dissatisfaction. The people were slightly begrudging that an outsider like Mu Chen was interfering and had nabbed the precious Child of the Continent competitor slot.
Among the murmurs, a heavily built man with a ferocious glare stood behind Xue Lingzi. He then glanced at Mu Chen and said, “That little bast*rd! What a waste of a precious slot!”
His voice was disgruntled and was filled with rage, as he was an Upper Earthly Sovereign himself. However, he’d been under the command of the Western Kingdom War Temple for only for a short period, which is why he hadn’t been given the slot.
Meanwhile, Mu Chen was the outsider, who barely had any roots within the Western Kingdom War Temple. Yet, he got a slot! Naturally, he was pissed off about this!
“Hey kiddo, if you dare to fight me and lose, you should give up your slot. Otherwise, entering the battlefield like this, you might not only lose face, but it could mean the end of your insignificant life.” The heavily built Xiong Ba sneered at Mu Chen.
Yet, in the face of his provocation, Mu Chen merely raised an eyebrow, his expression remaining calm. But, the words that he spat out silenced the whole pavillion…
“Who the hell do you think you are, trying to get your hands on my slot?”