A Little Short on Origin Stones! (Please Add to Favorites!)

"Come on, Old Niu! Don't let our First Squad down!"

"Gu Ran, all of Third Squad is rooting for you."

"Miao Ying, bring back first place!"

As people took their places on all five arenas, the five hundred veteran soldiers of the Xiantian Battalion immediately split up, gathering around the arenas assigned to their respective squads.

The newcomers gathered beneath their arena, too, watching Shangguan Yun, the first to step up.

"Brother, be careful not to get tangled up by the Vine Wood Puppet!" Shangguan Yu called out to her brother on the arena.

"Don't worry. Watch me chop that big hunk of wood to pieces!" Shangguan Yun boomed, holding his Giant Axe.

The moment Shangguan Yun stepped onto the arena, his expression changed. The axe head alone was nearly five feet across, and with its four-foot handle, the weapon stood almost as tall as the Vine Wood Puppet, which was nearly three meters high.

Shangguan Yun was a late Xiantian Body Refinement expert. His weapon was the Giant Axe, and his signature move was Tyrant Slash. He was known for his inborn strength and extraordinary courage.

The details Zhou Hao had learned about Shangguan Yun flashed through his mind as he watched the arena closely.

Earlier, when the seven late Xiantian newcomers had discussed the order, Shangguan Yu had suggested they go by how long each had been in the Xiantian Battalion, with the earliest recruit going first.

But Shangguan Yun couldn't wait. Before Shangguan Yu had finished speaking, he had already leaped onto the arena.

Seeing someone take the lead, the others naturally weren't in a hurry. Everyone would have to fight the Vine Wood Puppet anyway, so watching someone else first and learning what tricks it had would only help them.

"Brother Zhou Hao, you didn't go first?" Zhao Hu had appeared beside Zhou Hao at some point. "I thought you'd want to be the first to draw blood."

"It's all the same whether I go first or later," Zhou Hao said with a smile. "Why aren't you watching Miao Ying's match?"

"I've seen Old Miao use those same moves for years. I'm sick of them." Zhao Hu pursed his lips. "Not just Old Miao, either. The others are much the same. Everyone would rather watch you newcomers. At least you're something fresh."

That was true. Zhou Hao glanced around. Of the five arenas on the Drill Ground, the one for the newcomers was by far the liveliest, with the most Xiantian Lifeforms gathered to watch.

The only other arena drawing a comparable crowd was the First Squad's.

Suddenly—

"Die!"

With a furious shout, Shangguan Yun's body glowed with flowing yellow light. He charged the Vine Wood Puppet, Giant Axe in hand.

"It's starting." Zhao Hu's eyes lit up. He muttered, "Hang in there as long as you can. I bet ten catties of Thunder Gold that you'll last twenty breaths."

"You can bet on that?" Zhou Hao was stunned.

The match had only just begun, and the betting was already on?

You people really had a talent for this!

"As soon as the general announced the rules, Deputy General Ren Baili set himself up as the bookmaker and opened the betting.

"Last more than ten breaths, and the payout's one-and-a-half to one. More than twenty breaths, two to one. More than thirty, two-and-a-half to one. Defeat the Vine Wood Puppet, and it's five to one."

Zhao Hu replied casually.

Judging by how unsurprised he looked, this clearly wasn't the first time it had happened.

"What if you don't last ten breaths?" Zhou Hao asked curiously.

"If you can't even last ten breaths, the house takes everything," Zhao Hu said.

"Looks like Deputy General Ren Baili has a lot of confidence in the Vine Wood Puppet," Zhou Hao said with a shake of his head. "If nobody lasts ten breaths, doesn't the house win it all?"

"It's just for fun." Zhao Hu grinned. "Who's actually counting on this to get rich?"

"Get rich..." Zhou Hao's thoughts stirred. "Can I bet on myself?"

"Bet on yourself?" Zhao Hu turned to look at him. "Are you thinking of..."

"I'm a little short on High-Grade Origin Stones," Zhou Hao said with a smile.

Damn!

Who wasn't short on High-Grade Origin Stones?

I was, too!

Zhao Hu forgot all about watching Shangguan Yun's fight and pressed him for details. "How do you want to bet?"

"Take a look at these for me first. See how many High-Grade Origin Stones I can get for them." As he spoke, Zhou Hao handed Zhao Hu a Storage Bracelet.

He had gotten it after killing Ye Feng, Motai Xiao's eldest disciple.

He hadn't been able to refine it since he'd never practiced qi cultivation. Only after breaking through to Xiantian and gaining Xiantian True Essence the previous night had he been able to refine it and obtain what was inside.

The bracelet now held all sorts of miscellaneous items from the storage spaces of Motai Jie, Ye Feng, and Yuan Lie. Among them was Ye Feng's unranked magic treasure, the Red Spider Sword.

"So much?" Zhao Hu took the bracelet, refined it, and probed inside with his consciousness. He couldn't help being surprised.

"I got it by killing two Xiantian experts and a young lord of a tribe," Zhou Hao said with a grin. "First see what it's all worth, then exchange everything for High-Grade Origin Stones."

He couldn't help it. He'd nearly used up the Blue Flower Water Vapor he'd condensed the day before during a single night of cultivation.

After experiencing how much Blue Flower Water Vapor helped him comprehend the Dao, Zhou Hao naturally wanted to get his hands on more High-Grade Origin Stones, so the Blue Flower Boss could produce more vapor.

"Sure. I'll find Shen Nan." Zhao Hu nodded. "That guy runs a business in East City. Whenever we have spoils, we usually take them to him.

"There may be a lot here, but not much of it is worth anything. And since you're in a hurry to sell, I reckon he'll try to drive the price down."

"Doesn't matter. Just sell everything," Zhou Hao said with a smile.

After Zhao Hu hurried off and squeezed into the crowd in front of the First Squad's arena, Zhou Hao turned his attention to the arena before him.

When experts clashed, victory or defeat often came in an instant.

Even though the first round only tested how long they could last against the Vine Wood Puppet, Ren Baili had offered those odds because, in his view, most of the twenty-seven late Xiantian soldiers wouldn't last ten breaths.

If Zhou Hao wanted to earn a pile of High-Grade Origin Stones through the betting and offer them to the Blue Flower Boss, then he had to make sure his match was a sure win.

"Let's see just how strong this Vine Wood Puppet is, if it's made a Purple Mansion Cultivator this confident."

... On the arena.

Shangguan Yun had now been fighting the Vine Wood Puppet for nearly eight breaths.

Of the five arenas, only he and Miao Ying had yet to be knocked off by their Vine Wood Puppets.

Six vines as thick as a child's thigh extended from the puppet's back, lashing and whipping through the air over the arena.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The six vines lashed about at tremendous speed, as if six peak Xiantian qi cultivators were simultaneously using magic treasures to attack.

The arena was only twenty zhang long and wide, but the vines could reach every corner.

Holding his axe in both hands, Shangguan Yun spun it in a flurry of blows, forming a continuous curtain of axe shadows around himself.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

He bore the blows of all six vines in succession. The tremendous force within them rivaled that of a peak Xiantian Body Refinement expert. Even Shangguan Yun, strong as he was by nature, couldn't help stumbling back several steps. His hands went numb.

"What the hell is this thing? Why is it so hard to deal with?" Shangguan Yun glared at the Vine Wood Puppet in the distance. When he saw that his axe had left only a few gashes several inches long in the six vines, his pupils shrank.

"I'll risk it!"

Boom! The rocks beneath Shangguan Yun's feet burst apart. His figure flashed, and he soared into the air.

As he rose, his whole body seemed to swell, while the Giant Axe in his raised hands blazed with a dense, earthy-yellow light.

Tyrant Slash!

Ssshh—

A streak of yellow light tore through the sky, cleaving downward toward the Vine Wood Puppet.

The six vines coiled toward him, but before they could touch his axe, the rich True Essence within it sent them scattering.

"Will it work?"

At that moment, who knew how many people held their breath, watching Shangguan Yun's peerlessly fierce axe descend toward the Vine Wood Puppet's head.

Zhou Hao watched closely, too.

He hoped the hearty, forthright man would win, but this was a puppet released by a Myriad Phenomena True Person. And Ren Baili, a Purple Mansion Cultivator, was so confident in it. It couldn't be that simple.

Sure enough, after the six vines failed to stop Shangguan Yun's resolute strike, the Vine Wood Puppet changed its tactics. Until then, it had stood motionless from beginning to end, attacking with vines and nothing else.

Whoosh—

The six vines converged in midair, merging into a single thick vine, about as wide as an adult's waist. It was more like a pillar of vines.

Then the pillar seemed to ignore the distance between them, sweeping through the air like a gigantic staff and smashing straight into Shangguan Yun's axe.

"Bang!" Shangguan Yun flew backward, spitting out blood before he even hit the ground.

The Vine Wood Puppet paid little for the attack. The pillar formed from the six vines had merely split open in one place. A flash of green light passed over it, and the damage healed.

Boom!

Shangguan Yun crashed hard onto the Drill Ground beneath the arena.

"Brother!" Shangguan Yu hurried over and helped Shangguan Yun to his feet.

Shangguan Yun of the Fifth Arena had lasted ten breaths. He had failed.

"Ah, if Shangguan Yun had held on just a little longer, he would've made it to ten breaths."

"No point. Miao Ying relied on his movement technique to keep dodging and only lasted nine breaths. At the tenth, that vine pillar swept him right off the arena."

"How are we supposed to compete like this? All five in the first round failed to last ten breaths. Lord Baili must've planned this from the start."

Hearing the discussions around him, Zhou Hao nodded slightly.

He believed it had been planned from the start, too.

And from the first five fights, he could tell the Vine Wood Puppets revealed stronger techniques as time went on.

They began with six vines. After ten breaths, they used a single vine pillar. What would happen after twenty breaths? Thirty?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The matches on the arenas continued.

Another five Xiantian Lifeforms went up. Some lasted eight breaths, others six. The best did as well as Miao Ying and Shangguan Yu, lasting until the tenth breath.

After two rounds, not one person had lasted more than ten breaths. Some of the soldiers who had placed bets began muttering to themselves.

Could Lord Baili really take the whole pot today?

... On the viewing platform.

"Taking the whole pot would be great!" Ren Baili roared with laughter. "A bunch of fools can't even last ten breaths, and they still want to compete for the position of commander."

The silver-haired old man laughed, too. "Baili, looks like you're going to earn quite a bit today."

After laughing, he thought for a moment, then spoke to True Person Muxuan, who had been calmly watching the arena below. "General, is the Vine Wood Puppet too strong? The situation won't be peaceful from now on. If this hurts the soldiers' morale, it may not be a good thing."

Although True Person Muxuan had suppressed the Vine Wood Puppet's maximum strength and limited it to the peak Xiantian level, it was still a puppet at the Purple Mansion level. Its body of vines was exceptionally tough, and the attacks of ordinary late Xiantian experts could barely damage it.

And as time passed, if the Vine Wood Puppet had the strength of an ordinary peak Xiantian expert at first, after ten breaths, it came close to the level of the other four commanders.

After twenty breaths, its strength was comparable to that of commanders like Cao Rong when they used their signature moves.

After thirty breaths, the Vine Wood Puppet could match the monstrous talents among the Xiantian Lifeforms. It was no weaker than an ordinary Purple Mansion cultivator.

Of the four commanders, only the strongest—the cold, aloof young man Li Zhan—was sure he could beat a Vine Wood Puppet this powerful. The others still fell short.

"It's fine," True Person Muxuan said calmly. "If they can't take this much of a setback, how can we expect them to fight and kill?

"Our enemies in the future will be far stronger than a clumsy Vine Wood Puppet."

"Elder Ji, you think too much." Ren Baili didn't care. "Hurt their morale? If it really drops, we'll drag them out and give them a proper beating. Let them see some blood, and their morale will be back.

"Besides, it'd be good for those brats to lose a little more. Best if they lose everything. Then they'll be more motivated to take missions and earn military merit."

The silver-haired old man was startled, then nodded.

That was true, too.

Men would die for wealth, and birds for food.

Making sure the soldiers had empty pockets might not be such a bad thing.

"Look, it's that kid Hu Yong's turn!" Ren Baili suddenly pointed toward the first arena.

A lean, short-haired man leaped onto the arena.

"That kid's got some nerve. He bet ten High-Grade Origin Stones that he could last thirty breaths." Ren Baili watched with interest as Hu Yong wielded a single-edged saber and dodged the vines thrashing through the air.

"Out of the twenty-seven challengers, Hu Yong is probably the strongest," the silver-haired old man said, keeping his eyes on the first arena as well.

"If he wins, those ten Origin Stones will turn into twenty-five High-Grade Origin Stones. Even after becoming a commander, he'd have to serve two years to earn that much in military pay."

Ren Baili chuckled. "Let's see if the kid can actually win it from me."

Ten breaths passed quickly. Hu Yong's ghostlike footwork and storm-like saber techniques had managed to suppress the Vine Wood Puppet for a time.

But the puppet's Purple Mansion body was incredibly tough. Wood-type puppets were known for their vitality and rapid recovery.

After trying several times to use his signature moves to destroy the Vine Wood Puppet without success—and nearly getting struck by its unpredictable vines—Hu Yong changed tactics. He relied on his footwork and saber techniques to keep the puppet at bay.

As time passed and twenty breaths drew near, everyone on the viewing platform grew solemn.

Of the twenty-seven late Xiantian experts competing for the commander's position, he was the first to last this long.

Boom!

As soon as twenty breaths passed, the Vine Wood Puppet suddenly erupted in dazzling green light. Five more vine pillars burst from within the light.

Six vine pillars in all. They became a boundless storm of staff shadows across the arena, enveloping Hu Yong almost instantly.

"It's over."

Nearly everyone watching the First Arena had the same thought.

But in the next moment, Hu Yong erupted, too.

"That's..." Zhou Hao's eyes lit up. "The True Meaning of Wind? Hu Yong has also grasped a trace of the True Meaning of Wind?"

After a night of cultivation, Zhou Hao had comprehended two techniques from the Chaotic Cloak Staff Technique and grasped a trace of the True Meaning of Gale.

Watching Hu Yong, whose figure drifted like willow catkins in the wind, Zhou Hao could clearly sense the profound rhythm in his footwork. Hu Yong had reached the same level of comprehending the True Meaning of the Dao.

"What a pity. His movement technique is strong, but he hasn't perfectly woven that sliver of true meaning into his saber techniques. Now we'll see how long he can hold out against the Vine Wood Puppet."

Zhou Hao was certain Hu Yong had comprehended the True Meaning of Wind through his movement technique. Otherwise, the power of his saber techniques would have risen another level. He wouldn't have been unable to leave even a decent wound on the Vine Wood Puppet.

"Brother Zhou Hao."

Zhao Hu, who had been gone for quite some time, finally returned.

My wife has had a fever for several days in a row. We gave her shots for two days, which only kept it down for a while. It still hasn't improved.

Suifeng's been looking after the older child and the little one these past few days, and he's completely run out of energy.

I'll post one chapter today. I'm taking leave to send the kids back to their hometown for a couple of days, then I'll take my wife to the hospital for another checkup. If she's no better, she'll have to be admitted.

The outpatient clinic can only prescribe three kinds of medicine, and there are limits to the treatment they can give. If she needs more medication, she'll have to be hospitalized...

Xiu'er! You're amazing!