Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Initial Victory [Please Follow]

Ultimately, Zhou Chun himself had no intention of finding a double cultivation partner, so after chatting for a while, he became less active in the conversation to avoid giving the wrong signals to the girls.

Seeing that Zhou Chun was not very talkative, the female cultivators realized that he was truly just there to make friends, not to seek a cultivation partner.

As a result, they stopped asking him more personal questions.

Instead, it was Zhou Zhengyong who, now that Zhou Chun had started the conversation, gained the courage and began to make his presence felt in place of Zhou Chun.

To be honest, Zhou Zhengyong was not bad-looking; one could say he was fairly average.

With a face like his, coupled with the Zhou Family background and cultivation strength, finding a cultivation partner would definitely be easy if that was all he wanted.

After all, for many female loose cultivators, the dream is to marry a cultivator from a cultivation family and have a safe and secure home to practice cultivation, no longer living at someone else’s mercy.

But clearly, Zhou Zhengyong was not interested in marrying a female loose cultivator; he preferred to form a marriage alliance with a female cultivator from another cultivation family.

He naturally had his own reasons for this.

By taking a female loose cultivator as a double cultivation partner, he would gain nothing more than a partner.

However, marrying a female cultivator from a cultivation family would mean becoming a bridge between the two cultivation families, and neither side would treat them unfairly.

Moreover, compared to those female loose cultivators with complicated histories, female cultivators from cultivation families are clearly more trustworthy in terms of character and morality due to various restrictions.

As a result, as Zhou Zhengyong slowly put himself out there and revealed his “secret weapon,” he actually managed to pique the interest of several female cultivators.

It was only then that Zhou Chun learned that his “secret weapon” was a low-level Demon Beast called the Water Moon Rabbit, which had been born less than half a year ago.

The white rabbit, weighing less than five pounds, had charming sapphire-like eyes and very long ears that made people want to grab a handful.

Seeing the rabbit, the female cultivators took turns holding and petting it, unable to put it down.

Zhou Chun, witnessing this scene, instantly knew that Zhou Zhengyong must have had guidance from a “mastermind” behind the scenes.

Otherwise, with his impatient nature, he would never have thought of such a tactic.

In the two days that followed, the Qi Refinement Realm cultivators from the five major cultivation families gathered daily for various activities, seeking like-minded friends.

During these two days, Zhou Chun also met some cultivators from other families and made a point of remembering the appearance and names of cultivators from each family.

He was clear in his mind that, barring any surprises, these people would one day become the authority holders in their respective families.

Remembering their appearances and names now would serve as a conversation starter to foster relationships if ever they were to work together on something in the future.

On the third day, the clan leaders of the major families had discussed the related matters, and the spell and combat event officially began.

According to the rules, the elite and youth groups would compete simultaneously at two different arenas, with opponents determined by drawing lots.

In an open area deep in the Wang Family territory of Hongyao Valley, two combat platforms, each one hundred zhang in length and width for the spell competition, were already marked out.

The Clan Leaders of the five major cultivation families, along with some Foundation Establishment cultivators who came to watch, were seated outside the arenas, with some Qi Refinement Realm cultivators of the Wang Family standing around them without any assigned tasks.

At that moment, the fifty young cultivators of the youth group sat down in two rows outside the arenas, and a Wang Family Cultivator holding a box with lot numbers allowed them to draw wooden lots one by one.

When it was Zhou Chun’s turn, he looked at his lot number, Jia five Yang.

According to the rules, his opponent in the first round should be the person who drew the Jia five Yin number.

After everyone finished drawing lots, the Wang Family Foundation Establishment Elder serving as the referee immediately announced, “Well, now that the lots have been drawn, let us have the two friends who drew Jia one please come up to the platform for an exchange!”

Hearing him, the two young cultivators who drew Jia one got up and walked towards the platform.

Two young men in yellow and green robes ascended the arena and stood about thirty zhang apart as per the rules. They bowed to each other and announced their names.

“Golden Maple Ridge Sun Family, Sun Xuanhu.”

“Qingzhu Mountain He Family, He Chenggang.”

After the mutual greetings, with a command from the referee, they both launched probing attacks at each other with their magic artifacts.

Both individuals were at the middle stage of Qi Refinement, with the He Family individual even at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.

As such, their combat held little relevance for Zhou Chun as a learning experience.

After about a quarter of an hour of fighting, Sun Xuanhu of the Golden Maple Ridge Sun Family defeated his opponent and took the first victory.

Following the Jia lots, it was soon Zhou Chun’s turn to enter the arena.

And his opponent turned out to be a female cultivator in a white dress, also at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement.

“Jiufeng Ridge Zhou Family, Zhou Zhengchun.”

“Hongyao Valley Wang Family, Wang Zhenzhen.”

On the platform, Zhou Chun looked at the seemingly delicate and weak female cultivator opposite him, steadied his mind briefly, and quickly suppressed the strange feeling in his heart. He saluted the judge to indicate he was ready.

“The match begins.”

With the judge’s command, Zhou Chun immediately brought out a dark iron shield to protect himself and then took a Spirit Beast Pouch from his waist and released the Rock Earth Turtle.

Wang Zhenzhen across from him chose a similar tactic, first bringing out a silver-white handkerchief Magic Artifact that spun endlessly above her head, and then she brought out a silver long sword Magic Artifact to attack him.

Zhou Chun’s mind stirred, and the dark iron shield intercepted the silver long sword.

Next, he slapped his Storage Pouch and consecutively took out two Magic Artifacts, the Silver Short Sword Magic Artifact and a bronze gourd Magic Artifact.

Under the drive of his mana, the Silver Short Sword Magic Artifact shot towards Wang Zhenzhen rapidly.

At the same time, he tossed the bronze gourd Magic Artifact into the air, and from its mouth, it began to spout out seven or eight fist-sized fireballs with burst of muffled sounds.

Seeing these developments, Wang Zhenzhen’s pretty face turned pale as she hurriedly slapped her Storage Pouch to take out a Talisman and slapped it onto herself.

A surge of golden light instantly formed a dazzling set of armor on her body—it was a premium first-grade Defensive Talisman, the “Golden Armor Talisman”!

According to the rules of the martial arts competition, each participant was only allowed to bring one premium first-grade Talisman, but not every cultivator would truly be willing to use it.

Now that Wang Zhenzhen had used a Talisman right from the start, and it was such a valuable Talisman as the “Golden Armor Talisman,” it immediately made Zhou Chun realize that he was facing a rich second-generation cultivator.

The direct relative of this Wang Zhenzhen, even if not a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wang Family, was probably a core clan member who doted on her a great deal.

Back on the battlefield, as soon as Zhou Chun’s Silver Short Sword Magic Artifact reached Wang Zhenzhen, it was wrapped in the silver-white light released from the handkerchief above her head. It failed to harm her at all and was restrained itself.

It was only after the subsequent fireballs flying towards her exploded one after another that the silver-white light was blasted apart, allowing the Silver Short Sword Magic Artifact to regain control.

But with the “Golden Armor Talisman” for protection, Wang Zhenzhen naturally wouldn’t sustain any damage from the fireball explosions.

Seeing how effective the “Golden Armor Talisman” was, her confidence was boosted, and her complexion returned to normal.

She immediately slapped her Storage Pouch again and took out a fiery-red copper ball Magic Artifact.

“Go!”

With a delicate shout, she threw the fiery-red copper ball Magic Artifact towards Zhou Chun.

As soon as the object left Wang Zhenzhen’s palm, it rapidly produced red flames under her mana’s influence, quickly turning into a scorching three-foot-tall red mini-sun in mid-air.

“A first-grade premium Magic Artifact!”

Zhou Chun’s face changed, and he inwardly groaned with dismay.

He had originally wanted to play dumb, keeping the [Moon Blade Meteor Wheel] hidden until the battle for the top ten later on.

But now it seemed his plan had been thwarted.

All he could do now was to slap his Storage Pouch and bring out the [Moon Blade Meteor Wheel].

Silver light flashed and the silver-black circular Magic Artifact collided with the flying red mini-sun like a silver meteor, creating a loud clash.

Immediately, silver and red lights scattered in all directions. The two Magic Artifacts were evenly matched and neither could overcome the other, each eventually running out of power and being retrieved by their owners.

Since Zhou Chun had already used his trump card, he didn’t waste any more time probing.

At his command, the Rock Earth Turtle started striking with its flippers, unleashing the Chain Earth Spike Technique to attack Wang Zhenzhen, while it also began moving towards her.

In this kind of confined arena competition, cultivators like Zhou Chun, who brought a Spirit Pet, undoubtedly had a great advantage.

At the very least, even the slow-moving Rock Earth Turtle had the chance to move in for close combat.

Wang Zhenzhen on the other side wasn’t foolish, seeing the Rock Earth Turtle charging towards her, she quickly diverted her silver long sword Magic Artifact to attack the Rock Earth Turtle.

However, not only was the Rock Earth Turtle’s shell extremely defensive, it had also mastered defensive Spells like “Stone Skin Spell” and “Earth Spirit Cover.”

Unless she used a premium first-grade Magic Artifact to attack, she wouldn’t stand a chance at breaking through its defenses.

But with Zhou Chun watching, how could she get the opportunity?

So, after about a quarter of an hour of combat, her protective “Golden Armor Talisman” finally ran out of energy and shattered, leaving her no choice but to admit defeat.

Zhou Chun, who had won this bout, had no smile on his face.

After the judge announced the result, he hurried back to his original spot to sit down and begin The recovery of his mana.

This battle had cost him a significant amount of mana, and he still had to win at least two more matches to secure his place in the top ten, so he couldn’t afford to waste any precious recovery time.