Activities Concluded, Choosing the Rewards

"Stone, Stone Wall Technique."

On the arena stage, Zhou Chun gave the order in his heart, and a yellow-brown stone wall swiftly rose two steps in front of him.

Boom!

The instant the stone wall rose, a crimson fireball fell onto it and exploded with a thunderous roar.

The powerful blast instantly shattered the stone wall, turning it into scattered points of light.

Even Zhou Chun, who had raised a barrier behind it, staggered from the slight impact of the explosion.

But a smile appeared on his face.

That was because this was his opponent's last First-grade Mid-tier Talisman.

Earlier in the battle, his opponent had already used one First-grade High-tier Talisman and three First-grade Mid-tier Talismans in succession.

Now that this "Explosive Flame Talisman" had been used, his opponent had no more trump cards left.

Meanwhile, Zhou Chun had only used one First-grade Mid-tier Talisman, the "Adamantine Shield."

Next, under the combined attacks of Zhou Chun and the Rock Earth Turtle, his opponent's barrier was quickly broken, forcing him to leave the arena and admit defeat.

"My He Family is famous for its talisman-making skills. I can already make most First-grade Low-tier Talismans myself. If there were no limit on the number of talismans, then even with the aid of a Spirit Pet, I wouldn't have lost to you!"

Outside the arena, He Chengfeng, the He Family cultivator whom Zhou Chun had forced to admit defeat, gazed at him with a face full of unwillingness and shouted.

But the victor had already been decided, and Zhou Chun would not care about anything he said.

He merely smiled gracefully and said, "Fellow Daoist He is right, but the arena's rules are what they are. You were gracious enough to let me win."

In the spectator stands, Zhou Daoyi also revealed a delighted smile when he saw Zhou Chun emerge victorious.

By contrast, the He Family Head said sourly, "You've taken three of the ten spots. Fellow Daoist Zhou, it seems your Zhou Family is going to be the biggest winner this time!"

Zhou Daoyi, like Zhou Chun, was no longer bothered by a few sour remarks after gaining an advantage.

He immediately smiled modestly and said, "Fellow Daoist He exaggerates. It's merely that the juniors in the Youth Group have performed rather well."

Is the Youth Group really that impressive?

Several Family Heads looked over at the situation in the Elite Group, and their moods improved somewhat.

Unlike the Youth Group, the Elite Group had raised the age limit for participants to sixty, so most contestants from the other families were at Level 11 or Level 12 Qi Refining Stage.

Only the Zhou Family was different.

Because raising Spirit Pets delayed Zhou Family cultivators' advancement in their own cultivation, there were several people like Zhou Jiapeng who were only at Layer 10 Qi Refining.

Moreover, most of the cultivators from the various families who had remained in the late Qi Refining Stage for years possessed two or more First-grade High-tier magic tools. Their mastery of spells was also quite polished, and most had even cultivated one or two secret arts.

Thus, although the Zhou Family cultivators had the aid of Spirit Pets, it was still difficult for them to gain much of an advantage.

After Zhou Chun stepped down from the arena, Zhou Zhengyong, who had been watching from below, happily patted him on the shoulder and said, "You've really done us proud, Thirteenth Brother. This time, you've won honor for our Zhou Family."

Hearing this, Zhou Chun could not help smiling. "It was only because my luck was good. My opponent wasn't very strong. If it had been you, Brother Yong, you could have won too."

At his words, Zhou Zhengyong rolled his eyes. "Give me a break. I know exactly how capable I am. Unless it were a fight to the death, I probably wouldn't be that fellow's match."

In a fight to the death, he could have ordered his Spirit Pet, the Crimson Tail Monkey, to fight desperately. But that was certainly not allowed on the arena.

Thus, Zhou Chun stopped showing off. He merely smiled lightly and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly asked in a low voice, "Now that you've secured a place in the top ten, Thirteenth Brother, do you still plan to fight for a place in the top three?"

This Five Great Families Daoist martial arts competition offered substantial rewards for the top ten, but the best rewards still went to the top three.

Zhou Zhengkang of the Zhou Family, for example, was aiming for the top three, or even first place.

Now that Zhou Chun had entered the top ten, Zhou Zhengyong was naturally curious whether he had the same plans.

At this, Zhou Chun immediately waved his hand. "I'm not going to fight for it. My strength is only enough to place in the top ten because of some luck. As for the top three, I have no chance at all."

Whether he failed to enter the top three and placed fourth or tenth would not affect his reward.

Zhou Chun had no interest in continuing to fight others. He was not some battle maniac.

Hearing this, Zhou Zhengyong clicked his tongue regretfully. "Tsk, Thirteenth Brother, you're still as cautious and steady as ever. If it were me, I'd have to give it a try before I could be satisfied."

Next, the seven people who had lost, together with the person who had drawn a bye, had to draw lots again and fight to determine the remaining eighth, ninth, and tenth places.

As for the seven people like Zhou Chun who had advanced successfully, they could compete for the top three.

But after Zhou Chun, Zhou Zhengtao, and another Mu Family cultivator forfeited, only the final four people remained to contend for the top three.

Of the four, the highest cultivation was Level 11 Qi Refining Stage, while even the weakest was at Layer 10 Qi Refining.

Each of them would have had a chance to place in the top twenty even in the Elite Group.

After the four drew lots, the first to enter the arena was Zhou Zhengkang of the Zhou Family. His opponent was a Wang Family cultivator named Wang Zhenhong.

The two had comparable cultivation, both being at Layer 10 Qi Refining.

After the two exchanged greetings and announced their identities on the arena, they began fighting at the referee's command.

Zhou Zhengkang reached out, took the Spirit Beast Pouch from his waist, and flung it. Two crimson-haired Demon Wolf Spirit Pets charged out, spitting fireballs as they launched a fierce assault on their opponent.

These two Demon Wolf Spirit Pets were low-level demonic beasts called Crimson Flame Wolves, born of the same mother. Both had been raised to the First-grade High-tier, and either one alone was stronger than Zhou Zhengyong's Crimson Tail Monkey.

As the two Demon Wolf Spirit Pets surrounded and attacked their opponent, Zhou Zhengkang himself also summoned a crimson flying sword magic tool and sent it slashing toward the enemy. At the same time, he used a green treasure pearl that released a verdant radiance to protect himself.

These two magic tools were naturally both First-grade High-tier magic tools.

With such an array, even though his opponent possessed two First-grade High-tier magic tools, he instantly fell into a disadvantage.

"It's good to have a Violet Palace cultivator as your backer! Not only do you lack nothing in the way of medicinal pills while cultivating, even your Spirit Pets and magic tools can steadily improve along with your cultivation!"

Beside Zhou Chun, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly sighed in a low voice, his eyes filled with envy.

As a Zhou Family cultivator himself, he could not help feeling envy and jealousy toward Zhou Zhengkang, the most outstanding Zhou Family cultivator of the younger generation.

But Zhou Chun fell silent after hearing this.

Zhou Zhengkang's circumstances were indeed worthy of the envy of Zhou Family cultivators of the same generation and age.

Not only did he possess an excellent High-tier Spiritual Root aptitude, his great-grandfather was also the biological elder brother of Zhou Mingde, the Zhou Family's current Grand Elder.

That meant he had been destined to be extraordinary from birth.

It was not that his status had allowed him to obtain many resources from the Zhou Family that ordinary Zhou Family clansmen could not access, though he had certainly received some preferential allocation of resources.

The main reason was that, with both his father and grandfather being Zhou Family cultivators, Zhou Zhengkang could inherit and use far more resources than someone like Zhou Chun, whose ancestors had all been ordinary mortals.

Not to mention anything else, just a little something casually taken out by Zhou Mingde, his Violet Palace great-granduncle, would have been enough to satisfy him completely.

Zhou Zhengyong might have seen too little of such circumstances, which was why he was sighing like this now.

But Zhou Chun had seen far too many people in his previous life who lived carefree lives after being born with golden keys in their mouths. He had long since accepted this reality of society.

To put it plainly, reality had already worn down his sharp edges.

At this moment, he merely sighed softly and said, "If he can win first place, it will also be a good thing for the Zhou Family. Some things can't be changed, so try to accept them."

Zhou Zhengyong did not answer, whether he had taken those words to heart or not.

After a battle that was not particularly difficult, Zhou Zhengkang successfully defeated his opponent and claimed victory.

With four people competing for the top three, each person had to fight the other three once, and the rankings would be determined by victory points.

After round upon round of battles, the person who ultimately won first place was Zhou Zhengkang of the Zhou Family!

His two First-grade High-tier Demon Wolf Spirit Pets gave him too great an advantage. With the two wolves joining forces to pounce on their enemies, his opponents had to devote most of their attention to dealing with the pair, leaving them unable to spare any strength for the attacks Zhou Zhengkang launched afterward.

When the results were announced, the cultivators from the other four families all looked angrily toward the Zhou Family cultivators, and accusations of "cheating" rang out everywhere.

In the spectator stands, the Family Heads of the various families also looked rather unpleasant.

At that moment, they even regretted allowing the Zhou Family to participate in the event.

It was not that they cared about those few rewards. Rather, once the results of this Daoist martial arts competition spread, it would undoubtedly deal a blow to their families' reputations and morale. That loss would be far greater than the rewards themselves.

"Next time, the Zhou Family's Spirit Pets must be banned from the competition!"

For a time, this thought flashed through the minds of several Family Heads.

Compared with the Youth Group, the Elite Group took somewhat longer to finish.

The Elite Group participants had higher cultivation and deeper magic power, so it was perfectly normal for battles to last more than a quarter of an hour.

Thus, the time it took them to determine the final results was nearly one-third longer than in the Youth Group.

Once the Elite Group's results were announced as well, the expressions of the other families' Family Heads finally improved considerably.

Of the top ten in the Elite Group, the Zhou Family occupied only two spots, and none had entered the top three.

This finally recovered some of the face they had lost in the Youth Group.

"Fellow Daoists, now that the results have all been announced, why don't we go together and present the rewards to those juniors?"

In the spectator stands, host Wang Zhixiong rose to his feet. With a smile, he clasped his hands toward Zhou Daoyi and the other Family Heads, inviting them to go up and present the awards together.

Seeing this, the several Family Heads also rose and clasped their hands in courteous deference. "Fellow Daoist Wang, please."

Then, several of them followed Wang Zhixiong toward the two arena stages.