Chapter 12: Unexpected Qualifiers
There is still one month left before the Latia Martial Arts Tournament opens.
On the official road leading to the capital of the Kingdom of Latia, a massive, stable, and swiftly trundled carriage was chugging along. A trundling was a bipedal animal that resembled the ancient Tyrannosaurus Rex of Feinheim—though, of course, it was infinitely smaller, standing about two meters tall. Its legs and stamina were immense, and it could run several times faster than a horse.
Plus, jumping horses are rare, have bad tempers, and are difficult to tame. Using one of these animals as a mount is quite impressive, not to mention getting a few to pull a cart—that's like having "Come and rob me, come and rob me" written all over your face.
However, since the person sitting in the car was the Red Moon Knight, the former Governor of the Star Spirit Mines of the Heyang Kingdom, this kind of ostentation seemed slightly more reasonable.
Beichen stuck her head out of the car to look at the jumping horses running in front of the car. She seemed to be very interested in those small Tyrannosaurus Rex.
"As expected of the empire's most corrupt official, he brazenly uses such a conspicuous animal to pull a cart. Does he want to make us sitting ducks?"
In response to Su Jie's question, Darim—no, should I call him Yagad—shaked his head expressionlessly. Upon hearing this, Beichen also turned curiously to listen to their conversation.
"Of course not. We're in the early stages of the martial arts tournament, and the prizes are too tempting for humans. Along the way, there might be some ill-intentioned individuals who want to ambush the participating Spiritual Martial Division to reduce the number of competitors. Using a jumping horse to pull the cart at least tells them that our status and power are sufficient to avoid some harassment."
"That does make sense," Yaye said nonchalantly, crossing his legs. "Even if we really get robbed, it's not bad. It's a good way to relieve boredom and practice some skills."
"Besides, it's good to show off. This is more worthy of our identity as the Red Moon Priestess, right, little loach?"
"Don't insult me on purpose, Black Plague..."
"Compared to this, how are you feeling today, Master?"
Xiang Ying handed over a small piece of cut Tianfeng fruit with a little worry.
"Well, everything is fine, don't worry too much!"
Xiang Ying was talking about the poison in Beichen's body.
After the inexplicable collapse on the night of the star disaster, Yagard ran to a library to flip through some documents while giving her a blood test. After a while, he paced around the room as if trying hard to recall something.
It was not until the surrounding warriors were about to lose their patience and run wild that Yagard finally spoke.
The poison she was poisoned with was called "Tears of Gana".
This poison is very rare for a simple reason: it is quite expensive, costing over a million riyals per drop, and its effect is not particularly bad, so assassins rarely choose this poison to use against others.
On the other hand, if the goal isn't to kill someone, but to deeply hate them and want to torture them, this poison is quite effective. It's not fatal, but rather lurks within the body, recurring irregularly every now and then. When it strikes, like that day, the person becomes completely paralyzed and unable to move. Over time, the attacks become more frequent and last longer, until the person is completely paralyzed.
This is not the most terrifying thing about "Tears of Ghana". The truly creepy thing about it is its antidote.
The antidote is a hallucinogenic drug that can make people addicted after taking just a little bit. So even if the poison is cured, the life of the poisoned person is almost ruined by the antidote.
As soon as the information about the poison was announced, Heihuo and Sujie immediately jumped up in anger and cursed. Xiang Ying tried to comfort the frightened Beichen, but his own face was also very bad, and he kept asking Yagard if there was any other way to detoxify.
Fortunately, Yagad gave the answer "yes".
"That antidote must not be the real antidote, but another toxin that happens to suppress the toxin. I need to go to the headquarters' database to look up ancient documents to find the real antidote. I remember seeing the formula there many years ago."
When he said this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, instead of worrying about the poisoning, why not find out who poisoned her as soon as possible?"
Yaye narrowed his eyes dangerously and glanced at Ling Shuang inconspicuously.
Ling Shuang was looking at Beichen's face worriedly. Seeing that the expression on his face was very real and didn't seem fake, Yaye frowned in confusion.
──Isn’t it him?
I heard from Heihuo and Sujie that the kid seemed to be trying his best to sign a contract with Beichen. I thought he would do something tricky, but it seems I was too suspicious.
That's right, since that guy likes her so much, he shouldn't be so cruel as to poison her.
As a result, the group kept suspecting but could not figure out who poisoned Beichen. Beichen did not even consider the possibility that someone around him poisoned him. In the end, he believed that he was poisoned by someone in the hotel who was bribed by the mayor when he was in Wilvis Town.
But although several warriors did not speak, they disagreed with her speculation in their hearts.
"So, given my current situation, how long will it take for me to have another attack?"
"Don't worry, I have some general anti-toxins here. While they can't completely eliminate the poison in your body, they should be able to suppress it for a month. I will definitely find a way to completely remove the poison from your body, so please leave it to me."
The knight handed over an exquisite little bottle. Beichen didn't say much and drank it directly. Then he patted his chest with a little fear and breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing how much she trusted him, a smile appeared on the knight's face.
Then he made up his mind: Even if he had to turn the whole country upside down, he had to find a medicine that could safely detoxify!
Beichen temporarily put aside his worries - because even though Yagard had an excessively dark history, Beichen still had great confidence in his ability to act - but Xiangying was different.
Half a month passed, and they entered the territory of the Kingdom of Latia. Every day, Xiang Ying would ask about Beichen's health. He wouldn't feel at ease until he heard a reassuring answer. Although Hei Huo and Su Jie mocked him for being nosy, every time Xiang Ying asked a question, their ears would immediately prick up, waiting intently for Beichen's answer. Even Ya Ye and Ling Shuang would glance over, intentionally or unintentionally.
Beichen was a bit amused and confused about this. Her physical condition had been normal these days, so why were these guys more nervous than her?
"By the way, what about those modified weapons?"
On the jumping horse carriage, Beichen took the Tianfeng Fruit handed to him by Xiangying and turned to ask Yagard, who immediately nodded.
"The decision to abandon the Sea of Trees base has been made. They will be relocated to the Latia headquarters. You can visit them at any time. I have connections with high-ranking officials in the Latia Kingdom, so the headquarters is safe, so don't worry."
“…”
Beichen twitched the corners of his mouth.
"Alright, you can collude as much as you want, but just don't do anything harmful to the Heyang Kingdom. The Third Prince Rui is a very important friend of mine."
"The Third Prince, Rui... He's someone worth befriending. His wisdom and strength should not be underestimated. Fighting him is a real headache. ...So, Miss Beichen, is it okay to do anything harmful to Latia?"
"Of course not! Before you do anything, consider the basic concepts of good and evil in this world! Even if you think that thing is useless to you, it is useful to me!"
"Okay, Miss Beichen."
Beichen felt like he was about to lose strength: "How is the Naga Dharma Group doing recently?"
"Because the solution to the Moon Poisoning Disease was made public, the true form of the Divine Group was quickly disintegrated."
Yagad said, stroking his chin.
"However, for reasons I don't understand, there are still some very stubborn remnants operating in secret under the banner of the Divine Group. They might disguise themselves as ordinary Spiritual Martial Divisions to participate in the competition, and then perhaps use the power of the Xia Blood to revive the Divine Group."
"It's normal that you don't understand."
Yaye interrupted:
"Heretical cult members who have been successfully brainwashed are completely insane and impossible to communicate with. It would be impossible to make them sober."
"This is so troublesome. In this case, don't we have to find out which contestant is from the Jafa Divine Group first?"
Heihuo smacked his lips impatiently. Just as Su Jie was about to speak in response, Ling Shuang suddenly looked out the window, then turned around and greeted everyone.
"Hey, something seems to have happened up ahead?"
There was a faint noise coming from the front. In the distance, many carriages of various kinds and people were gathered together. Further ahead, there seemed to be a large checkpoint fortress.
Upon hearing this, Yagard stopped the tram, nodded to everyone, jumped out to check the situation. After a few minutes, he opened the door and called everyone from Beichen down - but before getting off the car, to be on the safe side, she put on a wig and helmet to cover her true face.
"Miss Beichen, the preliminaries for the martial arts competition seem to have begun."
"What?!" Beichen screamed, "Isn't there still a month left?!"
Yagad pointed to the checkpoint ahead.
"Because there are so many contestants, we've started pre-selection early. Those who aren't participating can go through the side door. Contestants must pass the test at the main entrance to receive the engraved spirit crystal that symbolizes their eligibility."
"So, if you don't pass the test, you can't even enter the suburbs of the capital city?"
Su Jie laughed with great fighting spirit.
"Interesting! Little Loach, come on, let's go sign up!"
"Wait, wait, I'm not mentally prepared yet—! By the way, Agard, are you participating? If you do, getting a place or something shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"If I participate, I have a 70% chance of winning. However, Miss Beichen, if I meet you during the competition, I will definitely admit defeat. Will this make you unhappy?"
"Of course..." Beichen nodded, "I know you're strong, but it's really not fair to go easy on others in the arena."
"Really? Then please allow me not to participate."
Yagard answered immediately and decisively. Beichen was upset, but he didn't force him. He just turned to look at Yaye.
"What about you, Yaye?"
"Ninety percent of the world's group activities prohibit the participation of the Dark Race. What do you think?"
Yaye shrugged and snorted with amusement.
"I'll be a spectator. Leave the off-site investigation of who is a member of the Jafa Cult to me."
Ling Shuang raised her hand:
"I'll be a spectator, but if we run into a problem of lacking mid-range weapons, I can be an outside helper."
"Okay, thank you, Lingshuang."
Beichen nodded, then looked at Xiangying a little uneasily.
"Master, don't worry. You are now a Holy Spirit Warrior."
As if understanding Beichen's worries, Xiang Ying smiled and patted her shoulder.
"It's just a preliminary selection. Master, you can definitely pass it with just a sneeze!"
"...Yeah, this is too exaggerated, Xiangying."
"Let's go!" Black Disaster stepped forward, grabbed Beichen's neck, and dragged her forward. "Those of you who aren't participating can just go to the side door and wait for us across from the checkpoint!"
"Stupid Ying is right. You may not believe in your own strength, but you have to at least believe in your own handsome warriors!" - Su Jie also came up and knocked her helmet hard.
After being disturbed by his own weapons, Beichen's nervousness about participating in a large-scale competition for the first time gradually faded away. He waved goodbye to several people who were not in the participating group, and then quickened his pace with the three weapons and walked towards the checkpoint where the crowd gathered.
People, people, people.
It doesn't seem like much from a distance, but when you get closer, the huge fortress, dozens of meters high, stands in front of you like a giant, and the dark mass brings an inexplicable sense of oppression.
The afternoon sun shone against the pass, casting large shadows on the ground, and in these shadows, all kinds of people were standing there.
The young ones were probably only thirteen or fourteen years old, some had gray beards, there were more men, but there were also quite a few women, people of all hair colors, skin colors, and eye colors could be found, and their clothing styles were also different, there were some in neat formal clothes, there were a few shirtless foreigners with totems, and there were also people with black hair and black eyes wearing oriental-style clothes that were very similar to Tang suits, it was like an exhibition of tribes from all over the world.
People gathered in groups and talked in low voices. Some were talking to their weapons, some were discussing something with their companions, and some were chatting up nearby travelers. The voices were mixed with the snorting of horses and the cries of vendors who took the opportunity to sell consumables such as water, snacks, and spirit crystals. The surroundings were as noisy as a large market.
Because Beichen was riding in a jumping horse carriage, as soon as she got off, she attracted the attention of many people at the pass from afar.
But when she came closer, many people used their star power to detect the level of her weapon, and immediately reduced her threat to a very low level in their minds. They turned their heads away and lost interest, and at most they took a few more glances at the face half covered by the helmet.
But there were also a few people who silently kept their gaze on her for a while longer.
One was a beautiful woman with strange long dark indigo hair. She squinted her eyes and smiled with interest at her. She poked a male warrior next to her with her elbow, then nodded in the direction of Beichen. After taking a look, the warrior lowered his head and whispered with the woman.
One was a man with long black hair wearing a Tang suit (?). Like Beichen, he also had something covering his face - an iron ghost mask, so his expression could not be seen. The ghost mask only stayed in the direction of Beichen for a while, and then a small girl warrior came to his side and chuckled in the direction of his sight.
One was a young man with hair color very similar to Beichen's wig, but bronze skin. He sat in an inconspicuous corner in the shadow of the city wall. There seemed to be a magical shield around him. No one approached him within five meters. There was a big man who was lying not far away, groaning strangely, with a broken sword next to him.
He was wearing a bold alien outfit that was open-chested and bare-chested, revealing his well-defined muscles. From his neck to his chest, there was a bold and beautiful totem-like pattern tattooed on his neck. On one ear was an earring with a gemstone. The color of the gemstone was very strange, like white but not white, and the color was somewhat similar to that of Protoss Ore.
──He had an expressionless face, and stared at Beichen with his phoenix eyes for more than ten seconds without blinking before looking away. At this moment, a puppy that looked like a Shiba Inu came close to him, waging its tail and trying to get his attention, but he kicked it aside without mercy.
The curious female Lingwu Si who was watching the fun on the side frowned at this scene.
But to her surprise, the puppy rolled on the ground and then stuck to her again, panting. The young man seemed a little sleepy, yawned and kicked it again, but the puppy rolled in the air vigorously to avoid the kick, and successfully fell into the young man's arms and curled up into a ball.
The young man picked up the puppy and threw it to the side, closed his eyes and began to doze off. The puppy rolled around and then came closer cautiously and persistently, and finally sat down quietly at the edge of the young man's trouser leg, holding his trouser leg in its mouth.
──This master-pet relationship is too weird!
Ling Wu Si, the female onlooker, had a drop of cold sweat on her face, but considering that she had just broken the weapon of the troublemaker with her bare hands and kicked him so hard that he vomited his leftover food - she decided to pretend that she saw nothing and not express any opinion.
Beichen didn't notice this scene. She walked straight past the strange open space where the young man was sitting and taking a nap, and walked towards the gate in the middle of the pass.
There was a huge notice posted on the wall next to the gate.
The content of the preliminaries is determined by the referees in charge of each level.
The qualifying round starts at 9:00 am and ends at 8:00 pm, and lasts until the official start of the competition. Those who fail can challenge repeatedly, but the challenge interval must be more than one day.
Those who have passed the qualifiers are not allowed to participate in the competition repeatedly and will be disqualified if found.
Each registered player can only bring up to six weapons, and the twin weapons count as one.
Anyone who attacks the referee will be disqualified from the competition, those who fall into darkness are not allowed to participate, and the engraved spirit crystals representing the eligibility for the competition cannot be modified or transferred at will.
The qualified candidates for the day will be announced at 9 pm every day. The number of qualified candidates is not fixed and is determined by the referee.
Each match is open to 200 players and begins as soon as the match is full. The duration is one tir (hour). Those who wish to register should go to the city gate to receive an armband.
"Hmm... I almost understand. Let's go sign up."
Beichen called out to the three warriors, then walked to the registration point at the city gate.
A man in a light blue uniform handed Beichen a form to fill in the competition information - but Beichen could only understand Senagadian, so writing was more difficult for her. In the end, she could only ask Xiang Ying to fill in the information for her under the staff's slightly contemptuous eyes - naturally using the identity "Yaxiu Tuling" that Rui had forged for her.
The staff handed her a crudely made armband, which seemed to have the number: 14751.
...That means that more than 14,000 people have participated in this level alone so far. This number is really exaggerated.
"That's strange. I didn't expect the number of contestants in the martial arts tournament to be so ridiculous. No wonder the preliminaries started so early."
She muttered as she walked back, while Xiang Ying beside her laughed.
"Master, the prize for this competition is a one-month contract with Xiaxue."
"But it's only been a month, how can it attract so many people?"
"You don't know that, little loach."
Heihuo lowered his voice and pulled Beichen aside.
"You don't know about the Seven-Day War, do you? We're in the Northern Continent. There's a very powerful country in the Southern Continent, whose territory covers almost the entire northern part of the continent. That country's name is Youyu. Decades ago, the king of that country took a weapon and pacified the country's separatist situation in seven days, which led to the current Youyu Kingdom."
"Don't tell me that weapon is Xiaxue?"
"That's right." Su Jie nodded, leaning against the wall. "With a weapon of Xiaxue's caliber, a month is enough to turn the world upside down."
"Oh my god, this guy is so powerful──"
Beichen recalled their encounter—who on earth could have injured such a powerful weapon? Could it be a bear-like giant with muscles even more exaggerated than Darim's, no, Yagad's, with a shaved head, chains wrapped around his body, and two huge swords gleaming with oil and blood in his hands?
The west wind in the faraway Heyang Kingdom sneezed inexplicably.
Just as Beichen was daydreaming, there was a commotion at the city gate. The tightly closed door opened with a bang, and many scarred and listless Lingwusi came out - they must be the people who failed in the preliminaries.
A tall, thin man wearing glasses and also wearing a blue uniform, but of a more advanced style, followed the others out. He took a deep breath toward the open space and shouted in a steady voice:
"Numbers 14500 to 14700, please gather for the next round. The next round will begin in ten minutes, so please be prepared. The maximum number of weapons you can bring into this competition is three. Please do not bring any more into the arena."
Beichen looked at his armband, 14751.
It seems that we are stuck outside this batch and we have to wait for another hour - Su Jie shamelessly took out a sofa from the storage space, and under the strange gazes of the people around them, he and Hei Huo occupied one side of the sofa, and patted his thigh at Beichen with an expression that said "If you want to sit, sit on my lap."
Seeing veins appearing on Beichen's face, Xiang Ying hurriedly tried to smooth things over:
"Well, otherwise, I'll sit on Brother Su Jie's lap, and you can sit on mine, Master..."
"How on earth did you come up with such a bizarre suggestion, you idiot Ying?"
Su Jie got goosebumps all over his body and jumped up from the sofa. As a result, Beichen took the opportunity to rush over and sit down, and even laughed at Su Jie.
──Hmm, it turns out that being agile does have its advantages.
Su Jie looked dissatisfied: "Little Loach has been getting bolder and bolder recently, brother, shouldn't we take some action?"
Black Disaster, on the other hand, was sitting on the sofa, looking at Beichen with a sinister smile on his face. "That's right, you even dared to steal our official sofa, the 'POKOPOKO'. Little Loach, you're quite aware of this."
"Wait! Why does a sofa have a name?! And what is Pokopoko?!"
"Brother Su Jie, please don't be angry, otherwise you will also..."
"Shut up, stupid Shadow!"
Beichen and the three warriors were arguing with each other. People started to enter the venue one after another. The long-haired woman and the ghost-faced man who had noticed Beichen earlier also walked in. A few people looked at the dozing blond young man with trepidation. When they found that he did not enter, they breathed a sigh of relief and started talking in low voices:
"Great, that guy is not from the same group as us..."
"Yeah, this is such bad luck! Why is that 'Mad Dog' here...? Aren't the Tuling tribe supposed to be so reclusive? Why are they suddenly participating in such a large-scale competition?"
"We're in the same level as Rabid Dog. We're in great danger..."
"Stop being such a jinx!"
Several people walked into the gate of the checkpoint while talking. Not long after, the gate of the checkpoint was completely closed with a heavy muffled sound.
"It's starting..."
Beichen looked at the gate of the checkpoint and whispered, and at that moment, a figure suddenly rushed past Beichen and ran straight to the gate and then! ! ! kicked the gate in the air! !
Almost everyone was stunned by this scene. The staff was stunned for a long time before running over to ask what was going on. As a result, a furry thing was suddenly thrown at them and hit them in the face. They were so scared that they were in a panic!
This person was none other than the blond young man who had dozed off just now ─ and the thing he threw out as a weapon was the little Shiba Inu.
The city gate suddenly fell silent. The gate opened, and the referee poked his head out to ask what was going on. In this silent environment, the man spoke word for word without changing his expression or heartbeat:
"Anyone who disturbs my sleep will die, even if it's a door."
“…”
“…”
“…”
The whole place became even quieter.
Beichen was no exception. Like everyone else present, he slumped on Su Jie's sofa.
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