War God Tower, sixth floor.
Chen Qingyu's fighting spirit blazed.
With a thought, he activated [Standing Upright Without a Shadow], and his entire figure vanished in an instant.
"Huh?!"
The hundred manifested warriors froze momentarily, looking around in bewilderment.
But the next moment:
Some of the quickest-reacting warriors had already unleashed various ranged weapons, bombarding every direction.
Throwing knives, plum blossom darts, meteor darts, flying guillotines, and wolf-fang arrows blanketed an area in a dense barrage, yet every last one missed.
A slight stir passed through the hundred warriors, but soon some began using all manner of detection methods, attempting to locate Chen Qingyu.
Though these people were simulations, they were not dull, rigid puppets. Every one of them was as responsive as a real person, with exceptionally quick minds.
However-
No matter what methods they used, they could not pick up any trace of Chen Qingyu.
It was as though Chen Qingyu had truly vanished from the world.
What a bunch of dumbasses.
Chen Qingyu laughed inwardly. Maintaining [Standing Upright Without a Shadow], he had already slipped out of their encirclement.
With his current Blood Sea Realm cultivation, the power of his [Standing Upright Without a Shadow] was far greater than it had been in the Aperture Opening Realm.
It was not just his figure-
His body heat, heartbeat, scent, and even every sound he made were completely concealed.
He had truly become a shadowless man.
For these Blood Sea Realm warriors to hope to find him was simply a fool's dream.
Die!
He chose a suitable angle and prepared to unleash the divine ability [Flying Sand and Moving Stones], severely wounding these warriors in one fell swoop.
But just then:
Someone is watching your current challenge! Current spectator count: two... seventeen... ninety-five...
Chen Qingyu froze for a moment.
A glance out of the corner of his eye revealed a number constantly soaring in the bottom right of his field of vision. In mere moments, it passed a thousand and was still growing rapidly.
This is...
He quickly realized what was happening, his eyes flashing:
Did my entry onto the War God Rankings of [Divine Capital Changluo] cause a sensation and draw a huge crowd of spectators?
This is good! This is absolutely fantastic!
He had learned from Chen Qingjie that whether one was fighting on the [Combat Victory Platform] or challenging the [War God Tower], one could charge a fee as long as there were spectators.
It was just like selling admission tickets.
However, ordinary prodigies struggled to attract large crowds even when they fought or undertook challenges. After all, there were far too many prodigies of every sort, leaving them without a competitive advantage.
As for him, he had probably attracted so many spectators because this was his first appearance on the rankings, and his rank was absurdly high.
In any case, this is a rare opportunity to rake in a massive haul of Great Void Points in one go. I can't miss it.
He quickly made his decision and said silently:
I want to charge spectators.
This time, that cold, mechanical voice sounded directly in his mind:
Spectator fee successfully set! Each spectator must pay one Great Void Point before they can watch your challenge! The maximum fee revenue for each of your challenges is one hundred thousand Great Void Points!
Hearing this, Chen Qingyu immediately felt reassured:
One hundred thousand? That limit is already ridiculously high.
At any given moment, the Supreme Void Dao Realm has at least a million people passing through.
As long as I keep adjusting and create an even bigger sensation, I can easily get a hundred thousand Great Void Points for free.
At this thought, Chen Qingyu could not help feeling a little joy.
And at that moment:
He also noticed something very interesting:
After failing to find any trace of him no matter what they tried, the hundred warriors became extremely cautious. Most gathered toward the center as though facing a formidable enemy, seemingly guarding against him ambushing them and picking them off one by one.
The rest spread out and roamed the perimeter, using wide-range attacks in an attempt to force him out.
They're really intelligent.
Chen Qingyu marveled.
With the situation unclear and the enemy's methods unknown, this was a very appropriate response.
Unfortunately-
They just had to run into him, who possessed an enormous area-of-effect offensive divine ability like [Flying Sand and Moving Stones]. Wasn't bunching up like this just offering him free kills?
Wait a little longer.
He quietly shifted his position, looking for a better angle:
Once enough of them have gathered, I'll send them all to the Western Paradise in one wave and secure victory.
War God Tower, sixth floor, at the outer edge of the space.
Figures appeared one after another, standing on an invisible barrier and watching the scene within as though through a pane of clear glass, pointing and discussing among themselves.
This was the spectator mode for [War God Tower] challenges.
In spectator mode, the audience occupied another layer of space around the perimeter. They could communicate with one another but could not affect the challenger.
"What's going on here?"
"Yeah? Where's Chen Shaojun? He's gone?"
"Is this an invisibility technique? There are martial techniques this wondrous in the Blood Sea Realm?"
"This Chen Shaojun is definitely a direct-line descendant! I've never even heard of a concealment art like this!"
Amid the clamor of discussion, someone cried out:
"Damn! Sure enough, there's another fee!"
A few complaints rose from the crowd, but not a single person left.
It was normal for the person being watched to enable fees. Besides, it was only one Great Void Point. Anyone could afford that.
"Uh..."
Listening to the Great Void Primal Spirit's notification, Chen Qingjie looked a little embarrassed:
"Cousin Qingquan, about this..."
Hearing him, the azure-robed youth looked torn between laughter and tears:
"All right, all right, I'll pay for you. You really are so broke you haven't got a penny to your name..."
Chen Qingjie breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said:
"I've made a fool of myself in front of you, cousin."
The azure-robed youth paid the spectator fees for both of them, then mingled with the crowd alongside Chen Qingjie, watching the scene at the center of the space.
After watching for a while, his eyes grew solemn:
"What an impressive technique."
"Cousin Qingjie, look. All those warriors have used no fewer than ten detection methods, yet none can find any trace of that Chen Shaojun."
"If such a formidable art of concealment were used for infiltration and assassination, it would simply be unmatched under heaven."
Hearing this, Chen Qingjie nodded with feeling:
"Indeed. The direct-line descendants truly are crouching tigers and hidden dragons."
The Chen Clan's main branch had tens of millions of members living throughout Divine Capital Changluo.
As for the Chen Clan's collateral branches scattered across the hundreds of millions of li of the Ancient Kingdom of Chenliu, their numbers were an astronomical figure that was even harder to tally.
Yet among such enormous numbers, the direct-line descendants of the Chen Clan's main branch numbered only a few tens of thousands.
As a result, every direct-line descendant was acknowledged as a true prodigy, usually far surpassing the collateral descendants;
Throughout history, almost all those who stunned the world with a single feat had been direct-line prodigies!
The two waited patiently a while longer, gradually growing puzzled.
Why hasn't this Chen Shaojun made a move yet?
It was not just the two of them. By now, tens of thousands of people had gathered in the space, and all were gradually growing impatient, clamoring:
"Where is he? Is he going to keep hiding his head like a turtle?"
"Yeah! Get in there! Fuck them up! He can't expect all hundred of them to just drop dead on their own, can he?"
"Why hasn't that Chen Shaojun attacked yet?"
"Concealment alone can only keep him hidden for a while. If he wants to clear the sixth floor, he'll have to fight a bloody battle head-on eventually."
"Right! We came to watch a fight, not to watch him play hide-and-seek..."
Countless voices mingled in a chaotic uproar.
And just then:
Under the gazes of tens of thousands-
Boom!
An earth-yellow sandstorm that blotted out the sky abruptly appeared somewhere in the space, fierce as a dragon, and roared thunderously toward the place where the hundred warriors had gathered.