Chapter 47 Arena Cannon Fodder VS Genius
"Ji Wuchou".
"What?"
"My name."
The girl sat by the window. The mist swirling outside Sanjiu Peak seemed to have a cold-attracting property. As soon as she approached the window, the room immediately became hazy, and her eyes, mouth, and even the words she spoke were shrouded in mist.
"Are you from the Ji family?" Feng Feng looked at her right eye.
"The Ji family of Puyang?" The descendants of Zhuanxu valued the divinely bestowed talisman more than their own lives. To become an unofficial official of the Ji family, the price was that the talisman had to be implanted in one of their eyes from the very beginning.
Ji Wuchou seemed to hesitate for a second, but finally nodded.
“I’m a martial arts practitioner. I saw your team application and wanted to give it a try.” As she said this, she raised her eyes, glancing back and forth between Xia Zhu and Feng Feng, before lowering her eyelashes again. “I wonder if you still need them?”
“Yes, we need one…” Feng Feng felt a little strange. Sun and Moon Mountain was the territory of the Ji family, so they shouldn’t lack teammates. She at least had her sisters and brothers. However, seeing Ji Wuchou’s tightly pursed lips, she still didn’t ask the question. “That’s right! We do need a martial arts position, but can you tell me why you chose this team, or do you have any other conditions?”
Feng Feng thought that perhaps Ji Wuchou's abilities weren't very strong, and she couldn't find any clansmen to team up with because of this, so she had to settle for their little-known team, which couldn't even afford to change their name.
"No reason," Ji Wuchou said calmly.
"but."
"I do have one condition."
She looked up again, as if the condition made it difficult for her to speak.
"What?!" Feng Feng was very excited. She felt that this was a testament to the value of the unnamed team 1.
"Can we...can we team up long-term? Not just during the Nine Heavens Tournament..."
"I mean, in the future." In the future, it will be used to exorcise evil spirits in dreams.
Feng Feng was stunned. Teaming up long-term was certainly a good thing, but she was too curious to know what secret Ji Wuchou had that made him choose them over his family members.
For example, the Feng family only had themselves and Feng Mian this year because there were too few unknown officials. But the descendants of Zhuanxu were different. Although the selection was strict, the number of unknown officials was among the top in the eight major sects.
Furthermore, the unidentified officials of the Ji family usually hold two positions: not only do they enter dreams to exorcise evil spirits, but they also act as law enforcement supervisors and cicada catchers. The team is large and very united.
However, none of that matters. Ji Wuchou is beautiful and her abilities are neither bad nor bad. She doesn't want to guess anymore. Feng Feng reaches out to her and raises a big smile.
"No problem! Welcome to our team! My name is Feng Feng, from the Feng family of Dongshan Chunhuang. This is... Azhu, my older sister. And the other two teammates, I'll introduce them to you later!"
Ji Wuchou hesitated for a moment as she looked at Feng Feng's outstretched hand before taking it.
The moment Feng Feng touched her skin, he was jolted by the cold.
It truly lives up to its reputation as an icy and frigid current!
Ji Wuchou extended her left hand, and the snow dust formed a small storm in her palm, eventually condensing into several delicate, small rhomboid ice crystals. She stretched her hand forward and presented it to everyone.
"A small gift for meeting someone, containing a few items, that you can carry with you."
"What!? Good stuff!" Feng Feng's eyes gleamed. The ice crystals in his palm emitted a gentle coldness, and the skin that touched them felt slightly itchy.
"There's not much I can store." Ji Wuchou was a little embarrassed. She avoided Feng Feng's enthusiastic gaze, as if afraid that she would melt away because of it.
"Hmm! Good stuff!" Xia Zhu agreed. She tried to bring the small sword close to the ice crystal, and unexpectedly it was successfully contained by a force. If she wanted to take it out again, she only needed to imagine the object she needed.
Until a suitable scabbard is found, the small sword can be temporarily stored in the ice crystal.
Xia Zhu bent down and caught Ji Wuchou's gaze as she was avoiding Feng Feng's.
"Thank you," he said, expressing his gratitude.
Ji Wuchou turned her head to one side again. She was not used to having a lot of people around her, even though Xia Zhu and the others did not make her feel uncomfortable.
Fengmian placed the ice crystals in the sunlight, and the refracted rainbow light danced on the walls and ceiling of the room.
“We have five people now, so how about we go to the arena?” He just said it casually, but he didn’t expect it to arouse Feng Feng’s inexplicable fighting spirit. She exhaled hot air from her nostrils, made a clucking sound like a chick in battle mode, and clenched her fists.
"Well done, Fengmian! Your passion for battle is something even I can't match! The fact that you could successfully form a team with such a terrible name as Unnamed Team 1 proves that everything is under the guidance of the Supreme God!"
"Arena! Here I come!"
Ji Wuchou had just joined the team when the action-oriented Feng Feng dragged her to Qiongyin Peak, ostensibly to help the team gel, but in reality to sign up for today's arena.
Even in the desolate Yin region, people come and go. The area shrouded by the barrier is perpetually spring-like, with various exotic flowers and rare herbs shimmering with a magical light under the abundant spiritual energy, resembling a blessed land from ancient tales. Outside the barrier, however, remains a frozen wasteland, with barren rocks and snow.
However, the atmosphere here is quite different from that of Qingku Peak. It is more tense and the clash between people creates a subtle chemical reaction.
Feng Feng called it murderous intent.
"The people who come to participate in the arena must all be incredibly murderous!" She looked around at Xia Zhu, "Look, look, look, all the unknown officials from all the families are here!"
"These people are not only our opponents in the arena, but also our opponents in seizing the Natural Aspect Stone." Feng Mian made a brief summary, which made Xia Zhu instantly understand the significance of the arena's existence.
That is blatant settling personal scores under the guise of official business.
Feng Feng clenched his fists, making a grinding sound, and gritted his teeth as he searched for someone in the crowd.
"Ji Luochi, Ji Luochi, it's time to show you Lord Feng Feng's true strength!"
At the summit of Qiongyin Mountain, there is a relatively flat area with a soft meadow where a small Tang-style hall stands—undoubtedly the work of a capitalist. Its upturned eaves are nestled among ancient, welcoming pines.
Summer candles give the illusion of stepping into Journey to the West, with bells under the glazed tile eaves, creating a beautiful dream.
The square plaque bears the four large characters "星罗金戈" (Starry Sky and Golden Spears) written in a vigorous and elegant style.
The competition was held in this hall, whose architectural style resembled that of a sleeping mat, exuding an air of extravagant wealth. There was a registration area and a rest hall; successful registrants could wait here for the rankings to be announced. The number of people inside the hall was no less than those outside.
In addition to the large screen in the center displaying the list and rankings of the participants, there were four smaller screens located above the four gates of Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li, which were actually broadcasting the competition between the two teams inside the gates in real time.
"Hiss~" Feng Feng didn't expect the arena to be a public execution, but she still said, "The air conditioning is a bit too strong, haha."
The registration entrance is located directly below the large screen, facing the door. There are some food and drink stalls on both sides, but most people are gathered under the screen showing the live match, watching the game intently and making their own comments.
The thought of becoming the subject of gossip in other people's mouths made Feng Feng hesitate.
"Is it too late to back out now?" she asked softly.
"It's too late." Xia Zhu's voice came from beside her. She pointed to Ji Wuchou, who was submitting team information at the registration desk.
"This one is even more decisive..." Feng Feng felt that this was indeed the territory of the Puyang Ji family. She always felt a chill running from her tailbone straight to the top of her head.
After registering, Ji Wuchou walked over with a wooden sign that read "Unnamed Team 1" in her hand. She handed the sign to Xia Zhu, saying, "I registered for one match first, if..."
Halfway through his sentence, Feng Feng quickly stepped forward and grasped Ji Wuchou's hand.
"One game is enough, one game is enough, don't be greedy."
While waiting for the list to be announced, Ji Wuchou and Feng Mian found a spot to watch other teams' matches. Feng Mian claimed it was to gain experience, but in reality, he felt his participation would be useless to the team; he could only focus on information gathering. Feng Feng, on the other hand, said he was a little hungry and dragged Xia Zhu to browse the stalls, with Ying Ya, of course, activating auto-follow.
In fact, Xia Zhu could sense that she was nervous.
To be honest, she was quite nervous herself. After all, this was the first time she had shown her face in front of so many unknown officials. She was afraid that she might accidentally expose her identity, such as being beaten to the ground by her opponent, but recovering from all her injuries in front of everyone.
Xia Zhu just hoped she wouldn't get beaten too badly, but she believed that Feng Feng would be the first to surrender if necessary. She considered being flexible and adaptable a form of wisdom.
The announcement of the next round's rankings came over the loudspeaker. Feng Feng pulled Xia Zhu and Ying Ya to the screen to meet up with the other two. Each of them had a cup of flower tea, supposedly made by soaking water in the ashes of Shence, which was said to have a lucky buff and divine blessing effect.
Feng Feng and Xia Zhu nervously held hands, while a crowd below the big screen looked up at them.
"Yo~" A familiar voice came from behind the front desk. Feng Feng lowered his head and met the gaze of those cunning eyes.
"It's you again!"
Ji Tao rested her chin on one hand and said lazily, "I'm on a new shift today, here to oversee the registration area." She raised her eyelids slightly and glanced at Ji Wuchou standing next to her. "This cold-faced beauty is your new teammate, right? Don't worry, I specially chose a very easy team for you."
Now that chill had completely seeped into his brain, Feng Feng was sweating profusely, and had a vague sense of foreboding.
"Ah, found it." Xia Zhu pointed to the screen, "Ganmen, unnamed team 1, battle, five martial arts teams."
"The name sounds ominous," Xia Zhu said.
"That's bad! That's 120 points bad! Five martial arts ranks, right? Going through the gate is a massacre! Ji Tao!!" Feng Feng scrambled onto the table and grabbed Ji Tao by the neck. "I forgot! You and Ji Luochi are from the same family!! Tell me! Did she ask you to deliberately mess with me!"
Ji Tao giggled as she dodged Feng Feng's clutches, her eyes glancing intentionally or unintentionally at Xia Zhu, who stood blankly to the side.
"That's not Luo Chi."
Her subtle attention was keenly noticed by Feng Mian, who was standing next to Xia Zhu. He sighed silently. That person was too clever. Although upon careful consideration, A-Zhu had not revealed anything. What was there that he hadn't noticed?
Xia Zhu, unaware of the seriousness of the problem, simply reached into her pocket for the ice crystals, where her small sword was temporarily stored.
"Five martial arts positions?" Xia Zhu prepared himself for a beating, focusing his energy in his dantian and trying to slow down the flow of internal energy.
After a brief discussion of tactics, the broadcast announced that the eight teams in this round should take their positions. Unnamed Team 1, with a do-or-die attitude, headed towards the main gate.
As they passed by, crowds made way for them, seemingly intimidated by their imposing presence. In reality, Ying Ya clearly heard whispers from the side, something like, "The five martial arts teams have won five matches in a row today."
He stole a glance at Feng Feng, who stood ahead with a death-defying air, her red hair curled up like a puffed-up kitten. He still didn't intend to tell her the news.
The so-called "Gate" is just a frame, while the central interior is a chaotic mess. It must be some kind of specially designed identification barrier, so the situation inside cannot be seen from the outside. All the competition information can only be obtained through the screen above.
There were two square grooves next to the door, which were now empty. Ji Wuchou stood by the door and gestured for Xia Zhu to insert the wooden plaque she had just given her into one of them.
The wooden plaque fit perfectly into the groove, and when you approached it gently, it was easily attracted to you like a magnet. As the gap closed, the chaos inside the door twisted like a vortex, emitting a warm, pale golden light.
"Let's go." Feng Mian took the lead, his figure disappearing into the vortex.
Xia Zhu walked at the back. Before entering the gate, she took out her small sword and held it in her hand. The warmth of the sword had a calming effect on her. She took a deep breath, and the comet on the hilt flashed a cold light invisibly. The cold light, like a wisp of light in the air, snaked through the crowd, around the beams, and flew towards a room on the second floor that few people knew about.
An entire wall of liquor cabinets was embedded in the shadows, with cool light strips shining precisely on the bottles like surgical lights. The Macallan 30-Year-Old Amber-colored liquor, Dom Pérignon Champagne, and Yamazaki Whisky were displayed like rows of carefully arranged specimens.
The man, who had been sitting on the brown leather sofa with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, his gray pupils contracting sharply.
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