Chapter 98 – Glyph Armor
“Since my two Seniors have already given you their rewards, I, as your teacher, will definitely not leave you disappointed. This is a Practitioner Weapon I used in the past. I will give it to you now; use it as a way to save your life in the future.” After watching them give their gifts, Martial Aunt Zhong revealed a satisfied expression. After taking a moment to think, she then produced a light yellow object from her sleeve and passed it to Liu Ming with a smile.
“Many thanks to teacher. Hm, this is…” Liu Ming accepted the item, and after examining it closely, he could not help but be somewhat amazed.
This so-called Practitioner Weapon, was actually a simple piece of inner armor made from strands of yellow bamboo with some type of unknown silver wire running through the whole body.
Every strand of the bamboo had a five-colored spirit inscription engraved on it. The color was very faint and blurred. If one did not examine it carefully, it would be impossible to discover.
“Junior, why did you take out that piece of Glyph Armor? That item saved your life countless times back in the day.” After seeing the inner armor clearly, Zhu Chi could not help but slightly change his expression.
Gui Ru Quan was also a little surprised.
“This item can only withstand attacks from Spirit Apostles, so it is no longer useful to me. To me now, you can say it has value but I am unable to use it. After all, this item has already been heavily damaged by people before; though it has been repaired, it can only withstand two or three attacks at most before completely breaking. Also, I don’t wear it normally, so it is better to give it to Cong Tian for protection.” Martial Aunt Zhong spoke with a carefree tone.
After hearing these words, Zhu Chi and Gui Ru Quan thought they were quite logical, so they did not continue to say anything.
Only now did Liu Ming understand the use of this armor clothes, and naturally gave great thanks before putting it away.
“Martial Nephew Bai, about the three Scarlet Flame Beads I gave you, each bead is equal to the full power attack from a low level totem, so you are not allowed to use them during the sect’s Large Competition. However, if you are able to enter the Life and Death Trials, since there will naturally be no control…” Gui Ru Quan thought of something, and gave him some words of instruction.
Liu Ming naturally understood and agreed with the nod of his head.
Martial Aunt Zhong and the other two then gave Liu Ming a few words of encouragement. Afterward, they let him return to rest properly for the battles of tomorrow.
Liu Ming bowed to the three before leaving the hall. He flew toward the bottom of the mountain on a cloud.
“Who would have thought, Cong Tian, that kid was actually able to enter into the top ten. Looks like this time our faction really has a good chance of changing our fortunes.” Gui Ru Quan waited for Liu Ming to leave the hall before softly sighing and revealing his thoughts.
“Yes, Martial Nephew Bai’s performance really did exceed our expectations. Before, we neglected him a little too much, but now that Junior Zhong has accepted him as a Direct Disciple and we have heavily rewarded him, any silent resentments he held should have been dissolved. This way, as long as he remains in the top ten in tomorrow’s battles, and if Martial Nephew Shi can also succeed in the challenges, our faction definitely can achieve a good result. We no longer will be at the bottom in the Large Competitions.” Zhu Chi spoke with a smile.
After hearing such words, Martial Aunt Zhong also smiled lightly but did not respond.
“Chuan Er, how have your preparations gone? Have you thought of who you want to challenge? Do you have confidence in getting into the top ten tomorrow?” Gui Ru Quan instead turned his head toward Shi Chuan, who was standing politely to the side and asked.
“Master, do not worry. Tomorrow, I am ready to challenge the eighth rank. I definitely will not have problems with my Flying Head and Demon-Subduing Chain.” Shi Chuan replied without hesitating.
“Very good, since you have such confidence, we three can relax. However, we don’t know if disciples with hidden strengths will appear. You definitely cannot be too careless.” Gui Ru Quan nodded and then instructed prudently.
Shi Chuan naturally agreed with his head nodding.
“Senior is a little too alert. Martial Nephew Shi’s original strength wasn’t weak. Yesterday, he didn’t even use his totem or the flying head, and he easily entered the top twenty. Tomorrow, getting into the top ten naturally is an easy matter.” Zhu Chi spoke with a light smile.
“I naturally understand this logic but it is just best to be prepared for the unexpected. Chuan Er, you should also return and rest properly.” Gui Ru Quan forced a smile, before instructing Shi Chuan.
Shi Chuan spoke a word of agreement before also leaving the hall.
“Now it is just us. What do you two think the competition will be like tomorrow? Don’t only speak of optimistic results, tell me what you really think. Although you two did not show up to the competition over the past two days, under the power of the formations, you should’ve seen enough.” Gui Ru Quan waited for Shi Chuan to leave, before becoming slightly gloomy.
“If we speak realistically, we cannot talk about it so easily. According to the strength of the disciples of the previous Large Competitions, Martial Nephew Bai and Martial Nephew Shi Chuan should have a very good chance of getting into the top ten. However, this time is somewhat different than the previous times. Not only did these talented disciples that would rarely be seen in the past appear: the Earth Spiritual Pulse, the Aphrodite Body and the Lightning Spiritual Pulse, but the strength of Yang Qian, Feng Chan and the other old disciples should have also had a surprising increase.” Hearing and answering his question caused Zhu Chi’s expression to also become serious.
“Not only is that true, according to my observations, there are also many strong disciples that haven’t entered the top ten. They are probably hiding their strength, ready to surprise the world tomorrow. Martial Nephew Shi Chuan can be said to be alright, he has the totem and the Flying Head to protect him, so getting into the top ten should not be too big of a problem. However, for Cong Tian, if he really only has the Wind Blade Technique at Perfection, perhaps tomorrow he will be unable to maintain his ranking.” Martial Aunt Zhong spoke while shaking her head.
“Yes, I see the same thing when I look at the situation. However, out of the current disciples in our faction, other than the two of them, nobody else has the strength to enter the top ten Core Disciples. Although Xiao Feng also gained a placement on the Lunar Monument, he will still need a few more years of practice before being able to gain a better rank.” Gui Ru Quan gave a light sigh again.
“Senior, you are unsettled. What we can do has already been done, as for the results, let them take their course. These other matters cannot be changed with our anxiety.” Zhu Chi gave a light sigh as he replied.
Hearing this, Martial Aunt Zhong revealed an expression of agreement.
“What Junior Zhu Chi has said is right, we will know everything tomorrow. However, for Cong Tian to reach the Late Spirit Apostle stage as a Three Spiritual Pulse disciple, is really a rarely seen matter. A Three Spiritual Pulse disciple reaching Late Spirit Apostle is clearly possible, but a Three Spiritual Pulse disciple being able to reach the realm of a Spirit Master, the last time that happened was around five to six hundred years ago.” Gui Ru Quan smiled before returning the matter back to Liu Ming.
“A Three Spiritual Pulse disciple becoming a Spirit Master is indeed something that is close to impossible. It is such a pity with Martial Nephew Bai’s talent in techniques.” Zhu Chi also became a little disappointed.
“This is not necessarily true. Since it has happened before, nobody can say that our disciple has no chance at becoming a Spirit Master. Certainly it will be more difficult compared to other people. However, if he is able to compete in the Life and Death Trials and come back alive, the resources rewarded by the sect are astonishing. He has a chance to try.” Martial Aunt Zhong had a slightly different opinion.
“By using large amounts of resources to break through to Spirit Master, perhaps Martial Nephew Bai has a shred of a chance. However, he must first maintain his ranking tomorrow for this to be possible.” Gui Ru Quan’s eyes flashed a little as he spoke.
“In the end, everything really does depend on the results of the competition tomorrow!” Zhu Chi mumbled.
After saying these words, the three of them all had a solemn expression and there was no sound in the entire hall for a while.
At the same moment, Liu Ming, who had returned to his training quarters, was admiring the yellow inner armor he had just received.
The bamboo strands that made up the Practitioner Armor gave off a slight cold feeling, and as Liu Ming stroked the surface with his hand, he realized the surface was not very hard. It instead gave people an abnormal feeling of something supple yet strong.
After Liu Ming channeled some Fa Li into it, the inscriptions on the surface of the bamboo strands suddenly emitted faint light, illuminating the armor with fantastic beauty.
After seeing this, Liu Ming could not help but become increasingly happy.
Practitioner Weapons were not rare in large sects and markets, but a Glyph Armor Practitioner Weapon on the other hand was very rarely seen. At least when he visited the Wei Zhou market, he only saw a few and all of them had a price close to the steep price of totems.
Because this piece of Practitioner Armor had already been damaged in the past, it could only withstand another two or three Spirit Apostle level attacks before completely breaking. However, to Liu Ming, this was infact an invaluable treasure that could save his life in desperate moments.
Liu Ming looked over the piece of armor again. After confirming that there were no problems, he immediately put it on. It fit snugly to his inner clothes, allowing him to wear a green long robe overtop.
This way, it was impossible to tell that there were any abnormalities from the outside.
Afterward, he pulled out the metal box that held the Scarlet Flame Beads and the jade bottle of Blood Marrow Pills. He then opened them individually to have a look.
The Scarlet Flame Beads, surprisingly, were three dark, round beads the size of broad beans. They did not seem remarkable at all.
The Blood Marrow Pills were ten or so bean-sized, blood-colored pills. When placed under his nose, there was a hint of a fresh and sweet smell.
Although these Blood Marrow Pills were not enough to strengthen all the Blood Essence in Liu Ming’s body, they could at least cleanse the Essence Blood of some impurities which would let his life force be a bit more vigorous.
Since Liu Ming still needed to compete tomorrow, now was naturally not the time to take these Blood Marrow Pills and cultivate his Essence Blood.
Therefore, Liu Ming put the Scarlet Flame Beads and Blood Marrow Pills away again, before beginning to breath and regulate his Fa Li with ease.
To him, tomorrow was a day where he could not accept defeat.
Liu Ming thought plainly like this. His heart slowly stabilized, forgetting about the outside world.
On the morning of the third day, several thousand Barbarian Ghost Sect disciples once again rushed up the stone mountain.
This time, all the disciples crowded around the stone platform with the greatest surface area on the mountain peak. The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader with the other Spirit Masters were all on the jade platform. They floated above the stone stage at an altitude of a little over one thousand feet.
“You all should already know the exact rules of the second round of challenges, so I won’t say any more. Sect Leader announces right now that the second round of challenges in the Large Competition has officially started.” After flying from the jade platform, the Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader announced the opening plainly, before flying back.
At this time, a fat elder flew down from the jade platform, and firmly landed on the stone stage. After scanning around, he said while smiling.
“Who am I? I believe the number of Martial Nephews who don’t know me is very low. The second round of the competition will be hosted by me!”
That fat elder, surprisingly, was the “Martial Uncle Yuan” who was responsible for the Scripture Pavilion before!