<h4>Chapter 471: Meeting again at the Ancient Deste Tower</h4>


    “The Azure Dragon Martial Spirit has not been seen for a thousand years. It is very mysterious. However, this old man, coincidently, understands a little about it. If you, Little Friend, are willing to tell me the truth about it, this old man will definitely keep quiet about it.”


    Xiao Chen shook his head and said, “Senior is overthinking this. This so-called Dragon Qi is merely a special manifestation of my Martial Technique. I do not have the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit. If you do not believe me, you can check for yourself!”


    Luo Chen looked at Xiao Chen’s. Thetter’s calm expression stirred his heart. Could it be that he truly does not have the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit?


    Xiao Chen got up and said, “If there is nothing else I can help you with, I will take my leave first!”


    The Spirit Tea had not even cooled yet. Luo Chen watched Xiao Chen leave, deep in thought.


    Luo Chen genuinely did not have any bad intentions. If the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit truly appeared, it would throw the many powers of the continent into chaos.


    By then, the Thousand Sword Pavilion would not be able to avoid being dragged into the fight. If Luo Chen could end the rtionship with Xiao Chen in advance, when such a change urred, the Thousand Sword Pavilion would have a much easier time.


    However, judging by what had happened today, it seemed like Luo Chen had overthought this.


    How many secrets does the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit have exactly? Xiao Chen looked up to the sky after he exited the pavilion. His eyes filled with doubt.


    Sooner orter, this secret will be revealed. Never mind, I will deal with it when the timees. The most important thing now is to increase my strength.


    Xiao Chen took a deep breath and stopped thinking about this matter. Then, he went out with Xiao Rou and Xia Xiyan, who had waited for him for quite a while.


    The scenery of Deste City was very unique, so Xiao Chen followed the two girls to look around.


    Xiao Chen put down his emotional baggage and stopped thinking about everything. Hepletely rxed his body. Under Xiao Rou’s instigation, he even agreed to pay for the two.


    Thus, the two girls instantly started shopping happily, spending money like water. They immediately bought anything they found interesting.


    “How much is this hairpin? Three hundred Inferior Grade Spirit Stones? That is very cheap. Senior Sister, let’s get one each!”


    “The workmanship of this flowery skirt is very exquisite. How much is it? Five hundred Inferior Grade Spirit Stones? That’s very cheap. Give me two of each of the four colors.”


    When words like this came out of Xiao Rou’s mouth, the smile on Xiao Chen face started to turn stiff.


    “Sorry, I’m feeling a little stomach difort. You two continue shopping, I will go back first.” At this rate, no matter how many Spirit Stones Xiao Chen had, he would definitely go broke. He put on a pained expression and found an excuse to quickly flee.


    When Xia Xiyan saw the situation, she could not help butugh.


    She thought back to how his expression did not change when facing the outstanding talents of the various nations, and how he did not seem to be afraid of them. Unexpectedly, he was so scared of Xiao Rou that he had to pretend to have a stomach ache and flee.


    Xiao Rou felt suspicious and said, “Hey, why is your stomach hurting suddenly? I still have several things that I have not bought yet!”


    If Xiao Chen had not left and heard this, he would be frustrated to the point of vomiting blood if he heard this.


    ------


    Early the next morning, when the rays of the morning sun shined on the ground, Xia Xiyan and Xiao Chen went out together and headed for the Tianwu za in the city.


    When they arrived there, many cultivators had already gathered in the surroundings. However, because they were not contestants, they could not get in. They all looked in curiously.


    Xia Xiyan stopped walking and sighed, “What must havee, did eventuallye. Let’s meet again at the Ancient Deste Tower!”


    Xia Xiyan could not guarantee that she would get one of the twenty spots. When she said this, it was actually to encourage herself.


    Xiao Chen nodded and said, “See you at the Ancient Deste Tower!”


    “Xiao Chen is here. Even Xie Ziwen was not his match. If we get him as our opponent, what should we do?”


    “Just admit defeat, what else can you do? We already know that we will lose against him. If we still fought, we might not even be able to fight the next match.”


    “Although there are twenty spots for the Ancient Deste Tower, in my opinion, it is actually just neen. This Xiao Chen is guaranteed a spot.”


    Under the Tianwu Emperor’s statue, the cultivators who had arrived earlier all sighed upon seeing Xiao Chen.


    To them, someone like Xiao Chen participating in the matches was a tragedy. They could only pray that they would not draw him as an opponent.


    Xiao Chen, however, did not bother with these people. After he wished Xia Xiyan good luck, he joined the crowd and quietly waited for Shi Hailong and the others.


    He did not have to wait for too long, as a group of cultivators wearing robes with the Heavenly Extermination Union’s logo embroidered on themnded on the tform. The one leading them was the one they had seen on the first day, Shi Hailong.


    Shi Hailong swept his gaze through the two hundred-odd cultivators and said to a person beside, “Go and count the number of people. If we are missing anyone, we will wait for fifteen minutes. If everyone is here, we will start immediately.


    That person immediately followed Shi Hailong’s order. He took out a name list and started taking the attendance. After he made sure that everyone was present, he flew back onto the tform and said, “All 276 people have arrived.”


    Shi Hailong nodded and said, “Very good. We shall start drawing the first round of lots!”


    Four ck boxes had been already prepared on the tform since long ago. The boxes all had a round hole, only big enough for an arm to enter.


    Under the directions of the Heavenly Extermination Union, Xiao Chen followed the crowd and stepped forward. He drew out a red wooden token from one of the wooden boxes. The number 18 was written on the wooden token with ck ink.


    After all the lots were drawn, Shi Hailong said in a deep voice, “Number 1 to 18, please go up the arena. Those with the red wooden token will go up first. After that, hang your token on the arena. The people with the blue token then have to find their corresponding number and the match will start.”


    The rules were very simple, and the opponent was decided by luck. Xiao Chen approved of such rules.


    Under such rules, fighting thirty matches in two days allowed them to fully disy their strength.


    Coincidentally, Xiao Chen was number 18. The moment Shi Hailong spoke, he immediately leaped onto an arena and hung his token.


    After a while, a Great Chu Nation cultivator with an extremely unsightly expression trudged up to Xiao Chen’s arena.


    “My luck is really bad. I actually ended up drawing this monster fas my first opponent,” that person muttered. He nced at Xiao Chen, but could not muster up any fighting spirit.


    The two went to their positions, bowed to each other and started preparing to fight.


    The two’s aura shed in the air. The Great Chu Nation cultivator looked at Xiao Chen’s calm expression and thought back to the rumors about him.


    He had seen Xiao Chen’s fight with Zuo Mo and Xie Ziwen for himself. Thus, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he was not a match for Xiao Chen at all. As Xiao Chen prepared to make a move, he sighed helplessly and said, “Let’s stop. I admit defeat!”


    All the two hundred-odd contestants here were outstanding talents from various ces, who had cleared the first round of selections—all of them were proud and arrogant.


    In other words, making them admit defeat before they even fought was very difficult. They would hesitate a lot and would feel bad for not putting up a fight.


    However, against someone as strong as Xiao Chen, they did not have any confidence of fighting. They were afraid of injuring their Essence and increasing the burden on themselves, which would be a great disadvantage in their next match.


    Thus, it was in their best interest, to just helplessly admit defeat. After all, getting a spot in the Ancient Deste Tower was more important.


    They had to put down their pride and avoid being put in a disadvantageous position for the next match.


    Xiao Chen helplessly shook his head and left the arena. He did not approve of his opponent giving up on the match.


    If it were Xiao Chen, no matter how strong the opponent was, he would at least give it a try. If he ran in fear and did not fight, it would have a great impact on the sharpness in his heart.


    If this continued over a long period, this sharpness wouldpletely disappear. This could lead to not being able to raise one’s cultivation orbat prowess in the future.


    Cultivators were not afraid of defeat—they were afraid of losing the sharpness in their heart.


    The first round of drawing lots ended and the second round began. However, it disappointed Xiao Chen once again—his opponent gave up without a fight again.


    This continued until the fifth round when Xiao Chen finally managed to draw someone willing to fight him.


    This person was none other than the Myriad Fiend Pce’s Jiang Zimo. He looked at Xiao Chen and said, “How unlucky, I ended up drawing you. Let’s just fight until victory is clear, there is no need to spoil our friendship over this!”


    Xiao Chen smiled slightly and said, “This is exactly what I hoped for. Please, make your move!”


    Jiang Zimo nodded and said, “Sorry for the offense!”


    “Hu chi!”


    Jiang Zimo pushed off the ground and sent an intense palm wind at Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen knew that his Cultivation Technique was very strange and that he would be attacking at full strength from the start.


    If Xiao Chen held back too much and gave him the momentum, it would be hard to recover from that. Thus, he drew the Lunar Shadow Saber at lightning-speed.


    “Bang!”


    The surging palm wind shed with the saber Qi. Their power exploded out, sending horrifying shockwaves into the surroundings.


    Jiang Zimo sent out three palm strikes, using his full power. He shattered all of Xiao Chen’s saber Qi and was even about to reach him.


    When someone who uses barehanded techniques fights a desman, they would be at a disadvantage.


    The length of the weapon gives the user a certain advantage. However, when a closebat master gets close, the weapon bes useless and the advantage shifts to the other party.


    Xiao Chen naturally understood this principle. He kept moving and brandished his saber continuously. He executed all sorts of Martial Techniques to prevent his opponent from getting close.


    The two figures moved around the arena quickly. They both executed exquisite Movement Techniques, and it was not long before they exchanged dozens of moves.


    They were very cautious as they attacked and retreated. The match slowly entered a stalemate.


    “Only Jiang Zimo would dare to not admit defeat when facing Xiao Chen.”


    “Just thinking about it makes me feel upset. After roaming the world for more than a decade, I have never admitted defeat to someone of the same generation. However, when I encountered Xiao Chen, I didn’t even have the courage to fight.”


    “I was the same as well. The moment I saw him, I thought of his fight with Xie Ziwen. You all know how strong Xie Ziwen is. In the end, Xiao Chen still defeated him. How could I dare fight him?”


    “Just pray that you do not draw Xiao Chen as an opponent. Even if I draw Zuo Mo, I will just take the initiative and admit defeat.”


    The crowd watched Xiao Chen and Jiang Zimo fight. They were amazed by Xiao Chen strength and full of respect for Jiang Zimo’s courage.


    Jiang Zimo clearly knew that he did not have much hope, but he still fought. Thus, when the spectators thought about themselves and how far from him they were, they could only sigh helplessly.


    The fight continued for about an hour. Xiao Chen slowly discovered some problems—he seemed to be falling for Jiang Zimo’s fighting method.


    From the very start, Xiao Chen had been fighting at full power. Although he had a lot of Essence, he did not have that strange Cultivation Technique of Jiang Zimo; he would not be able tost as long as Jiang Zimo could.


    If this went on, the one with thestugh would be Jiang Zimo. Xiao Chen was quick to reacted, so he rapidly started searching for a countermeasure.


    After another few dozen exchanges, Xiao Chen made a decision and gambled on it.


    He used an arclight to force his opponent back. Then, he stuck his saber into the ground. He circted his Vital Qi into his left arm, and an azure light started to gather around it. Then, he quickly dashed forward.


    Been getting a couple ofments about this. For those who are not aware, the blurred chapter titles can be revealed by hovering your mouse over it, clicking it, or tapping on it (for those on mobile).