Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Event Ends, Choose Rewards

“`

“Stone, Stone Wall Technique.”

On the platform, Zhou Chun barely had the thought before a yellowish-brown stone wall rapidly rose two steps in front of him.

Boom!

As soon as the stone wall had risen, a crimson fireball struck it, bursting into an explosion on impact.

The powerful force of the explosion immediately shattered the stone wall into pieces, causing it to dissipate into specks of light.

Even Zhou Chun, who had raised the protective barrier behind, staggered from the slight shockwave of the blast.

But a smile appeared on his face.

Because this was the opponent’s last first-grade medium-quality talisman.

During the earlier battle, the opponent had already used up one first-grade high-quality talisman and three first-grade medium-quality talismans.

Now, with the “Blazing Flame Talisman” expended, the opponent no longer had any more trump cards to use.

And he had only used one first-grade medium-quality talisman, the “Vajra Shield”.

Next, under the combined attack of Zhou Chun and the Rock Earth Turtle, the opponent quickly had their protective barrier broken and had no choice but to step down from the platform to concede defeat.

“My He Family is known for our talisman-making skills. I can already craft most first-grade low-quality talismans by myself. If it weren’t for the restriction on the number of talisman uses, even with your spirit pet’s aid, I wouldn’t lose to you!”

Off the platform, He Chengfeng, the cultivator from the He Family who had been forced by Zhou Chun to concede defeat, shouted up at him with frustration on his face.

But the outcome was already determined, and whatever he said was of no consequence to Zhou Chun.

In a graceful and smiling manner, Zhou Chun replied, “Taoist Friend He speaks the truth, but these are the rules of magical combat on the platform. I appreciate your concession.”

Meanwhile, in the spectator’s stand, upon seeing Zhou Chun’s victory, Zhou Daoyi’s face also revealed a smile of joy.

In contrast, the Clan Leader of the He Family made a sour comment, “Three out of ten, Taoist Friend Zhou, it seems your Zhou Family is going to be the biggest winner this time!”

At this point, Zhou Daoyi, just like Zhou Chun, didn’t mind a few sour comments having gained the upper hand.

He modestly smiled and said, “You flatter us, Taoist Friend He. It’s just that the youngsters in this group have been particularly vigorous.”

Is it just the younger group who are doing well?

The clan leaders took a look toward the elite group and felt somewhat better.

Unlike the youth group, the elite group was open to participants up to sixty years old, which meant that cultivators from most families competed with a cultivation level around the eleventh or twelfth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.

The Zhou Family was different, though.

Because raising spirit pets could delay the cultivators’ progress in their own cultivation level, there were several people like Zhou Jiapeng in the Zhou Family who were at the tenth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.

Moreover, those cultivators from different families who had been in the latter stages of Qi Refinement for many years usually possessed two or more first-grade high-quality magic artifacts and had cultivated their spells to quite a pure level, with many also having mastered one or two secret techniques.

As a result, even with the help of spirit pets, Zhou Family cultivators found it hard to gain much of an advantage.

Having stepped down from the platform, Zhou Chun watched the ongoing battles from below, where Zhou Zhengyong immediately congratulated him with a pat on the shoulder, “Nicely done, thirteenth brother, you’ve really made our Zhou Family proud this time.”

Hearing this, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but laugh, “It was just good luck. The opponent wasn’t that strong. Brother Yong, you could have won as well.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengyong rolled his eyes and said, “Come on now, I know my own strength very well. Unless it’s a fight to the death, I am probably no match for that guy.”

In a fight to the death, he could command his spirit pet, the Red-Tailed Monkey, to go all out against the enemy, but obviously, that wouldn’t be allowable on the platform.

So, Zhou Chun didn’t play coy any longer and simply smiled without responding.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly asked in a low voice, “Now that the top ten is secured, do you plan to vie for the top three, thirteenth brother?”

In this Five-Family Magico-Martial Tournament, the top ten were awarded handsome prizes, but the best rewards went to the top three.

Zhou Zhengkang, from the Zhou Family, aimed for the top three or even the first place.

Now that Zhou Chun had made it into the top ten, Zhou Zhengyong was naturally curious about this matter.

Zhou Chun, upon hearing this, immediately waved his hand and said, “No need to compete anymore. My ability to enter the top ten already had elements of luck in it. The top three is completely out of the question.”

Whether placed fourth or tenth made no difference in rewards.

Zhou Chun had no interest in continuing to fight with others. He wasn’t a battle fanatic.

Zhou Zhengyong, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but show a look of disappointment and clicked his tongue, “Tsk, thirteenth brother, you’re still so prudent and steady. If it were up to me, I definitely would have given it a try.”

Next, the seven who failed would redraw lots, including the one who had a bye, to decide eighth, ninth, and tenth places through combat.

The seven who had successfully advanced, including Zhou Chun, were to compete for the top three places.

However, with Zhou Chun, Zhou Zhengtao, and another cultivator from the Mu Family forfeiting, only the final four were left to contend for the top three positions.

The highest cultivation level among these four was already the eleventh layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, and even the lowest was at the tenth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.

“`

Each of their strengths, placed among the elites over there, also had the hope of ranking among the top twenty.

After drawing lots, the first to take the stage was Zhou Zhengkang of the Zhou Family, and his opponent was a cultivator from the Wang Family named Wang Zhenhong.

Their cultivation levels were equal, both at the tenth layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.

At this moment, after the two exchanged courtesies and announced their backgrounds on the arena, they began their battle at the referee’s command.

Zhou Zhengkang reached for the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist and flung it, and out charged two Demon Wolf Spirit Pets with crimson fur, spitting fireballs and launching a fierce attack on his opponent.

These two Demon Wolf Spirit Pets were siblings born from a low-level Demon Beast called the Redflame Wolf, both cultivated to the superior grade of the first rank, each individually stronger than Zhou Zhengyong’s Red-Tailed Monkey.

While the two Demon Wolf Spirit Pets circled and attacked the opponent, Zhou Zhengkang himself also launched a red flying sword talisman towards the enemy, and used a cyan treasure bead that radiated protective blue light to shield himself.

Naturally, both magic artifacts were also of the superior grade of the first rank.

With such an array, even if his opponent also had two superior first-rank magic artifacts in hand, he was immediately put at a disadvantage.

“Having a Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator as a backer is indeed great! Not only are elixirs plentiful during one’s own cultivation, but Spirit Pets and magic artifacts can also be steadily improved as cultivation progresses!”

By Zhou Chun’s side, Zhou Zhengyong suddenly let out a sigh filled with envy.

As a cultivator of the Zhou Family, he couldn’t help but feel envy and jealousy towards Zhou Zhengkang, the most outstanding young cultivator of their generation.

Zhou Chun, upon hearing his words, remained silent.

Zhou Zhengkang’s situation was indeed something to be envied by other cultivators of the same generation from the Zhou Family.

Not only did he possess an excellent superior-grade Spirit Root Aptitude, but his great-grandfather was also the elder brother of Zhou Mingde, the current Supreme Elder of the Zhou Family.

This meant that from the time he was born, he was destined to lead an extraordinary life.

It wasn’t so much because of his identity that he received many more resources from the Zhou Family than an ordinary clan member would, even though he certainly did get a preferential allocation of resources.

The main reason was that, with his father and ancestors being cultivators of the Zhou Family, the resources Zhou Zhengkang could inherit and use were far more than those of someone like Zhou Chun, whose ancestors were all mortal cultivators.

To say nothing else, just any small thing given by Zhou Mingde, the Purple Mansion Phase great-grand-uncle, would be enough to feast upon.

Zhou Zhengyong might have experienced less of such situations, which is why he felt this way now.

But Zhou Chun, in his previous life, had seen too many of the carefree lives of those born with a golden key, and had long since accepted this social reality.

In layman’s terms, he had been worn down by reality.

At this moment, he merely sighed softly, “If he can win first place, it’s a good thing for the Zhou Family. Some things can’t be changed; one must try to accept them.”

Zhou Zhengyong, upon hearing this, did not know whether he understood, but he did not respond further.

After a battle on the stage that was not particularly hard-fought, Zhou Zhengkang successfully defeated his opponent and emerged victorious.

Four people competed for the top three positions, meaning that each had to face off against the other three once, with points determining their ranking.

After consecutive battles, the one who ultimately won first place was Zhou Zhengkang, a cultivator of the Zhou Family!

Those two superior first-rank Demon Wolf Spirit Pets were too much of an advantage, the pair working together to charge at foes left the opponents mostly preoccupied with facing the two Demon Wolves, with little energy left to defend against his subsequent attacks.

So much so that when the results came out, the cultivators of the other four families all looked at the Zhou Family cultivators angrily, with murmurs of “cheating” growing louder.

Meanwhile in the spectator seats, the Clan Leaders of the several families also had somewhat displeased expressions.

At this point, they even regretted having allowed the Zhou Family to participate in this event.

It wasn’t that they begrudged the reward, but rather the outcome of this martial competition, once spread, would no doubt be a blow to the reputation and morale of their families, a loss far greater than that of the rewards.

“Next time, we must ban the Zhou Family’s Spirit Pets from the competition!”

In a moment, this thought flashed through the minds of several Clan Leaders.

Compared to the youth group, the end time of the elite group was somewhat slower.

The cultivators in the elite group had higher cultivation levels and profound mana, so it was quite normal for battles to last over a quarter of an hour.

Thus, the time it took for them to finalize the results was about a third slower than the youth group’s.

When the results of the elite group were also out, the faces of Clan Leaders from the other families finally looked much better.

Within the top ten of the elite group, the Zhou Family only occupied two spots, and none made it into the top three.

That somewhat made up for the loss of face in the youth group.

“Fellow Taoists, now that the results have come out, let’s all go together to present the awards to the younger generation!”

In the spectator seats, Wang Zhixiong, the host, stood up with a smile and bowed to Zhou Daoyi and the other Clan Leaders, inviting them to join him in giving out the awards.

Seeing this, the Clan Leaders also stood up and politely bowed back to him, saying, “Please, Taoist Friend Wang.”

Then they followed Wang Zhixiong towards the two arenas.