Volume 1, Chapter 115 – Crystal Plaques

No matter why Yuan Shan had rushed onto the arena, he had broken the rules. Thunder Hall naturally had to hand down punishment; otherwise, if everyone started acting like Yuan Shan, they might as well not hold this martial meet at all.

Yuan Shan nodded his acceptance, resentment deepening in his heart, but he didn’t dare say more. Compared to Thunder Hall, Lingfeng City was hardly any bigger than an ant.

Shi Lan had only meant to teach Yuan Guanhai a lesson. She had never intended for things to escalate this far. But Yuan Shan’s blatant killing intent had made it clear he wanted her dead, so there was no reason for her to keep holding back.

Sweeping a glance over the crowd surrounding the arena, Shi Lan opened her system panel and began checking her reputation value.

Host: Shi Lan

Cultivation: seventh stage of the Innate Realm

Root Bone: 9 {Innate spiritual body, a once-in-a-millennium talent.}

Cultivation Arts: Yuqing Creation Art {first layer}, Vajra Divine Fist {mastery}, Jade Tempering Art {sixth layer}

Divine Ability: Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight {three stars}

Strength Evaluation: making some small achievements

Reputation: 7530 {name beginning to spread}

Shi Lan was a little surprised. The reputation she had gained from this match with Yuan Shan was unexpectedly high. It had shot up by more than two thousand, even more than what she had earned from fighting at the arena in Gufeng City all afternoon yesterday.

Closing the system panel, Shi Lan stepped down from the arena and walked over to Gu Rentong’s side. In Gu Rentong’s hand hung a small gray bundle from who knew where.

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Standing not far away, Chu Chen subconsciously backed up two steps when he saw Shi Lan coming over, looking somewhat nervous.

“Did I hit too hard? Did I cause you trouble?” Shi Lan did not look at Chu Chen, directing her question to Gu Rentong instead.

“You need not worry, young lady. Yuan Shan is of the same generation as my son and is only at the early stage of the Earth Fiend Realm. Someone of that level is nothing in the eyes of an old man like me.” Gu Rentong shook his head slightly as he spoke.

“Since I invited you to take part in this martial meet, I naturally came prepared. For the bouts that follow, just fight however you wish. Whatever happens, this old man will shoulder the consequences.”

Shi Lan nodded. That was naturally for the best.

The third round of matches moved along quickly. Although thousands were gathered around, most of them were there for the betting. There were only thirty-two fighters in the third round, and very soon martial artists were stepping onto the arena again to continue the matches.

Shi Lan found it a bit boring. By chance, her gaze landed on the small bundle hanging from Gu Rentong’s hand, and she asked casually, “City Lord Gu, what are you carrying there?”

Gu Rentong’s heart skipped a beat, though his expression did not change. He was just about to come up with some casual excuse when a familiar-sounding greeting suddenly came from the side.

“Brother Gu!”

An old man of about seventy, with white hair but a youthful face, walked up to Gu Rentong and patted him on the shoulder.

“What were you rushing off for just now, afraid I’d steal your spirit crystals?”

Gu Rentong gave a light cough and introduced him to Shi Lan. “This is Zhao Lingfeng, former city lord of Fumu City… an old friend of mine. And this is…”

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“No need to introduce her. Miss Shi Lan, this old fellow’s eyes aren’t failing yet. I saw everything just now. Brother Gu, where did you find this young lady who is so valiant… whose strength is so outstanding?”

Zhao Lingfeng had originally wanted to say “valiant and fearless,” but halfway through he felt that was not quite right and hurriedly switched to another wording.

“A chance encounter, a chance encounter.” Gu Rentong mumbled vaguely.

Shi Lan nodded and offered a brief greeting.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Gu Rentong, Zhao Lingfeng spoke with a hint of complaint and a touch of humor. “Brother Gu, that’s not very loyal of you. You had a chance to make a killing and didn’t bring me along. Looking at all those crystal plaques, you must have made at least a hundred thousand spirit crystals off this round of betting, right?”

Shi Lan’s heart stirred. She instinctively glanced at the bundle in Gu Rentong’s hand. After thinking it over for a moment, she gave Gu Rentong a sidelong look but said nothing.

Gu Rentong sighed to himself. It was the first time his dearest old friend had ever made him feel so much of a headache. After a few more exchanges with Zhao Lingfeng, he finally managed, with much effort, to send him on his way.

Shi Lan watched Gu Rentong, quietly waiting for him to speak.

Gu Rentong untied the bundle, revealing a neat row of translucent strips that glimmered with violet light. There were exactly twenty of them, no more and no less.

“What are these?” Shi Lan asked in puzzlement after looking over the strips.

Gu Rentong had not expected Shi Lan not to recognize crystal plaques and was taken aback for a moment before explaining, “Crystal plaques are cut from high-grade spirit crystals. One crystal plaque is equivalent to a hundred mid-grade spirit crystals, which is ten thousand low-grade spirit crystals.”

Shi Lan nodded in sudden understanding, then said, “I want half.”

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Gu Rentong choked. He hadn’t expected Shi Lan to be so blunt, opening her mouth for a full hundred thousand spirit crystals.

But he really had no grounds to object. He nodded in agreement. This spirit crystal haul was a windfall to begin with and had been earned thanks to Shi Lan. He had originally planned to swallow it quietly on his own, but who would have thought that old fox Zhao Lingfeng would cost him half of it with a single sentence.

Gu Rentong immediately counted out ten crystal plaques and was about to hand them to Shi Lan when she refused.

“I’ll trouble City Lord Gu to keep betting for me.”

Shi Lan smiled faintly, a glint flashing in her eyes. As the martial meet went on, these hundred thousand spirit crystals would soon turn into two hundred thousand or even more. For a long time to come, she would no longer have to worry about spirit crystals.

Gu Rentong let out a soft sigh and wrapped the crystal plaques back up.

……

The thirty-two fighters in the third round quickly finished their matches, leaving sixteen to advance to the fourth round.

In the fourth round, Shi Lan was the first to take the stage. Her opponent was a man at the eighth stage of the Innate Realm named Tian Yu.

The betting pool opened as usual, but Shi Lan’s odds had already fallen to the lowest, “one to one-tenth.” A bet of ten thousand spirit crystals would only earn a profit of one thousand.

In front of the high platform where the betting was held, that same scholar from before, his face glowing with joy, once again pushed out a bundle several times larger than before.

“Begin the match.”

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“I concede.”

Elder Xin had barely finished speaking when Tian Yu, standing opposite Shi Lan, conceded straight away. He did not hesitate in the slightest; his decisiveness was astonishing.

“The victor, Shi Lan of Gufeng City.”

Elder Xin did not make things difficult for Tian Yu and announced the result directly. After seeing Yuan Guanhai’s fate earlier, it took tremendous courage to fight Shi Lan. Conceding was only human nature.

Just like that, Shi Lan advanced smoothly into the fifth round. Her reputation rose by another few hundred. It was not a small amount, but compared to before, it was far less.

Clearly, around this arena, her reputation was already close to being maxed out.

The fifth round began soon after, and once again Shi Lan’s opponent conceded. She steadily entered the final four on this arena, with her reputation increasing by only a bit over a hundred.

Since the other fighters who had advanced were all injured during their matches and needed time to recover, the battles between the final four had to be postponed.

Shi Lan followed Gu Rentong back to the low peak they were using as a base. Wasting no time, she found an open spot to sit down, took out the formation plate she had drawn earlier, activated the spirit-gathering formation within it, and began cultivating.

This spirit-gathering formation was something she had already set up in advance last night at the inn.

Over the course of this day, Gu Rentong once again looked at Shi Lan in a new light. She lacked much of the impulsiveness common to the young and remained calm whether favored or disgraced. This composure was truly rare.