Chapter 130: Next Round

Chapter 130: Next Round

Clicks of the tongue and regretful sighs rose and fell, and Elder Yanhu also clicked his tongue. "He hit the nail on the head."

"Ah!" Elder Juhu sighed with regret, as if scolding them. "You two! Couldn't you have been faster than him?! That young big-horned goat's hoof was already injured—what a perfect opportunity!"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

But taking advantage of someone's predicament would be shameful if you lost, and even if you won, it wouldn't be honorable—and besides, there were still two more rounds to go!

Who knew if the next opponent would take advantage of his plight?

The Black Abyss Clan, though they rushed in quickly and shamelessly, also took a risk.

If there was truly no hesitation, he couldn't believe there wasn't a single demon cultivator faster than the Black Abyss Clan.

The Black Abyss cultivator who stepped up had clearly planned his strategy before the match. The moment he mounted the stage, he went straight for the kill—

A massive serpent body coiled around the Rock Goat, using poison fire to burn through the Rock Goat's protective tree vines, while the Rock Goat's attacking vines were completely blocked by the serpent's shield.

That's right—he had a magical artifact!

Shang Yunduo: "Isn't it forbidden to use magical artifacts in a decisive round?"

Elder Yanhu: "Mmm... generally, yes, but his shield was made from scales he shed off himself."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Elder Yanhu: "That's how the Black Abyss Clan is—blind-eyed and black-hearted. Be on guard whenever you see them from now on."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

No wonder everyone was booing loudly!

But the situation on stage wasn't one-sided.

Though the Black Abyss demon's attack was fierce, the Rock Goat's counterattacks were tenacious. Several times, he nearly turned the tables, but unfortunately, he was too deeply poisoned in the end, and the purple poison fire burned through his protective tree vines and the thick fur on his body.

"He lost."

"Why doesn't he surrender?"

"No, he can't surrender—that Black Abyss brat wants to kill him!"

The poison fire was focused on the Rock Goat's head. As soon as he opened his mouth, the flames that could pierce through spiritual energy would shoot into his mouth.

Those purple fires carried severe poison. As they drifted to the areas around the caves, the various elders had to activate barriers to keep them out. The plants burned to ash carried an unnatural black tint, and Shang Yunduo watched with wide eyes as the purple flames corroded the spiritual energy of the barriers, even stunning him, someone with a single Fire Spirit Root.

Elder Yanhu: "In the future, you must also be careful of those blind-eyed fellows' poison fire."

Shang Yunduo nodded.

The Rock Goat couldn't open his mouth—once this poison fire entered his mouth, he would either die or be severely injured.

He missed his chance to surrender!

But this was a decisive round!

Shang Yunduo kept looking toward the Rock Goat clan's cave. "Someone, save him quickly!" he thought.

He already lost—who cares about rules or not?!

It was clearly the Black Abyss Clan who violated the rules first.

But the Rock Goat clan didn't move at all. Could it be they didn't have a clear view? Shang Yunduo couldn't help shouting directly at them, "He's about to die! Aren't you going to save him?!"

Yet, just as he finished shouting, the Rock Goat demon on the field suddenly opened his mouth wide. The poison fire shot into his mouth, but the hard vine that grew from his own mouth shot out like an arrow into the Black Abyss demon's throat.

It was the same tactic as the previous round—using a close-range surprise attack.

Even sharper, the strange wooden vine that was resistant to poison fire sprouted from within his flesh, piercing through the Black Abyss demon's tongue, into his throat, and down deeper into his abdomen.

Blood seeped into the vine from the wound, and the sharp vine spread rapidly inside the demon's body. Countless fine thorns burst out from within, piercing his unbreakable scale armor from the inside, as if his body were filled with thorns.

The Black Abyss demon tried to pull back quickly—if he could just break free from the Rock Goat's control, he could stop the swelling thorn plant. But this time, the giant goat bit down firmly on the giant serpent's lower lip, and the thorn plant took root, pinning the giant serpent firmly to the stone.

Poison fire versus poisonous thorns—who would triumph became uncertain again.

Shang Yunduo watched, goosebumps broke out all over his body.

In the end, the Black Abyss clan surrendered.

The fire and vines both subsided.

The victorious Rock Goat demon was in no better shape. The moment he won, his beast form nearly gave out, and he immediately collapsed to his knees on the stone pillar.

But he won.

Three wins in a row—he secured second place.

His clansmen rushed up to pull him away. As they passed the Tiger Clan's cave, he glanced at Shang Yunduo, "I didn't die. I won."

But his mouth was full of black blood, his voice hoarse and slurred. It wasn't until he had passed that Shang Yunduo understood what he meant.

He didn't die. He won. But he was on the brink of death. If they didn't detoxify him quickly, he really would die!

After the second place match, the stage was empty. They had to scramble again for positions.

Once again, it was the Black Abyss Clan who didn't want to step up.

The demon cultivators who had been gloating over the Black Abyss Clan's big loss laughed with delight—then the laughter abruptly stopped.

Shang Yunduo turned his head left and right, as if he heard several voices muttering "bad luck."

Life-or-death round.

This time, the one stepping onto the stage was the Black Abyss Clan's strongest at the Yunling Stage.

To compete or not to compete became a new headache for everyone.

The slots were limited. At first, there were still many left, but by the third round, the competition had grown much fiercer.

Now only the Tiger Clan was still cheerful—they were the only ones who had secured a spot without a scratch. Their eagerness to watch the chaos was barely containable. Elder Yanhu gleefully urged the Blood Qilin Clan, "Brother Sha Feng, get moving! If you don't go now, you'll miss the top ten!"

Sha Feng ignored him, apparently discussing something with his own clansmen.

Elder Yanhu went to stir things up elsewhere, urging all of the top three from previous years to step up, getting a lot of eye rolls.

Seeing that no one actually went up, he got a bit annoyed.

If no one fights, doesn't that mean the Black Abyss Clan gets into the inner valley without a scratch too?

Then Hua Guan's advantage is gone!

Elder Yanhu couldn't help but complain, "What's the point of a life-and-death match..."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He even suspected that if it weren't for the life-or-death stakes, under the current circumstances, his elders would have urged him and Cui Peng to go up and fight a war of attrition. Fortunately, the elders weren't heartless enough to treat their lives like they didn't matter, so they went to urge others instead.

Shang Yunduo figured third place was a walkover, but unexpectedly, as time was running out, someone suddenly jumped up—a pretty unremarkable short guy.

For a normal person he'd be average height, but surrounded by those huge, burly demon cultivators, he looked small and kind of pathetic.

He was dressed all in black, wrapped tightly in black cloth, leaving only his eyes visible, which were dark and shiny. For some reason, looking at them felt like staring into a deep pool.

Which clan is this?

Shang Yunduo wanted to ask, but he was scared everyone else already knew and he'd look totally out of the loop.

Man, if only Pei Jie were here, he could ask whatever he wanted and say whatever he wanted. Now he could only beat around the bush: "Can he win?"

Cui Peng: "Tough to say... the Chaos Clan's always been weird. Either way, I don't want to meet 'em."

Even Hua Guan, who had already won, nodded and furrowed his brow a little, like he wasn't looking forward to fighting that guy either.

Shang Yunduo couldn't help but look at the stage. Even the Black Abyss demon cultivators, who'd been all chill before, seemed a little more serious now.

The Chaos Clan, huh?

"What's there to be scared of? You're scared 'cause your skills suck," Elder Juhu said dismissively, placing his heavy palm on Shang Yunduo's shoulder. "You don't need to be scared. Just set him on fire!"

As he spoke, his voice lowered, "You got many pills on you?"

Shang Yunduo wasn't sure if that counted as a lot. He hesitated, then secretly showed Elder Juhu his ten bottles of Baleful Blood Pills.

Elder Juhu: "That's enough. If he wins this round and he's still doing a life-or-death match next, then you go up."

Shang Yunduo: "???"

Huh?

What happened to waiting for the ninth or tenth spot to snag an easy win?

Elder Juhu: "Don't be afraid. The Chaos Clan's only trick is transformations, and they can scatter their bodies. Don't worry if he turns into wind, fog, or rain. Just find a spot where you're comfortable, sit down, and ignore him. As long as he wants to win, he'll have to get close to you. Once he gets close, burn him. Their clan is very poor, and their transformations consume more energy than others. Five bottles of pills is enough to wear him out!"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He was stunned. He tried to hold it back, but couldn't help shooting a look that said, "You're not just messing with me 'cause I'm dumb, are you?"

Elder Juhu: "What's with that face? Why you so chicken? Fire can counter him!"

Elder Yanhu also said in a low voice, "How are your spells? Can fire cover your entire body?"

Shang Yunduo hesitated and nodded.

Elder Yanhu: "Then it's settled! If it weren't for Cui Peng not knowing any spells, since he would be at a disadvantage against the Chaos Clan, I'd have let him go up. Look, look..."

On the field, the Black Abyss Clan cultivator deviated from his companion's fighting style—instead of transforming into a beast form, he found a spot with the best view, sat cross-legged, materialized his fire, and wrapped himself entirely in serpent-like purple flames. Meanwhile, the demon cultivator from the Chaos Clan simply vanished.

His spiritual energy could still be sensed within the arena, but the man himself was gone.

Elder Juhu: "See? What did I tell you?"

Elder Yanhu: "Perfect, let that blind kid exhaust him for you."

Shang Yunduo couldn't help stealing a glance at the arena—the Chaos Clan demon cultivator truly had disappeared!

It wasn't invisibility, nor shrinking like the Silverwing Butterfly; rather, he had split his body into countless tiny pieces, each piece so small that they truly seemed like wind, mist, or rain!

What kind of skill was this?

Was it a kind of clone technique?

What was the relationship between each miniature clone and the main body?

Shang Yunduo watched more intently. As the spiritual energy dispersed with the body, even the tiny specks within his body scattered as well.

Dense and evenly distributed, giving him the odd impression that this wasn't one person releasing countless clones, but countless tiny insects pieced together to form a person.

Yet when he first stepped onto the platform, he was clearly a whole being, no different from an ordinary demon cultivator.

Shang Yunduo was genuinely interested in facing him, but then thought—wait, that's not right. He lowered his voice: "Since one can wear the opponent down by burning them with fire, isn't that exactly what's happening on the field now? How could it be my turn?"

"No, no, no—the Black Abyss Clan's fire isn't that durable," Elder Yanhu chuckled. "Their fire carries poison; if they use it too long, they have to take an antidote."

Shang Yunduo: "???"

He was stunned, thinking—couldn't they just take the antidote then?

Elder Yanhu continued: "Besides, the cost of using their poison fire is just as high as the Chaos Clan's. If they drag it out, it comes down to who has more spiritual energy and pills."

"Exactly, let them fight it out. Whichever one dies is good for us. If the Chaos Clan wins, you go up immediately—he can't possibly have enough pills for two matches. If that blind kid..."

Elder Shenlin, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke: "After one round of exhaustion, the Blood Qilin Clan won't let such an opportunity slip by."

Elder Yanhu and Elder Juhu began to snicker. "Heh heh, heh heh heh."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

So even they weren't certain that the Chaos Clan would win.

Still, from how things look, the Chaos Clan did have a higher chance of winning—since the opponent couldn't locate the main body, they could only defend passively. If the spiritual energy consumption became too great, the Black Abyss Clan might be the first to collapse.

What a war of attrition...

No wonder the straightforward demon clans all looked frustrated when they see the Chaos Clan.

But aside from this defensive attrition style, did the Chaos Clan have no other options?

No, not necessarily.

At least the Black Abyss cultivator on the field wasn't being that passive.

Elder Yanhu: "Oh, heh, did you see that?"

Shang Yunduo nodded absentmindedly.

No matter how fragmented the Chaos Clan’s bodies were, as long as they intended to launch an attack—any effective attack—they had to concentrate their spiritual energy. Thus, as long as one could detect the fluctuations of that spiritual energy, one could track them down!

On the stage, a fire serpent lunged toward a single spot.

Only after the violet flames incinerated a patch of scattered black smoke did Hua Guan and Cui Peng nod in acknowledgment.

“See? I told you both to practice your Spiritual Perception more often,” Elder Yanhu said, rapping each of them lightly on the head. “If the Chaos Clan ambushed you two, you’d deserve to be left in the dark! Red… White…? With red hair, how can you possibly be called ‘Bai Yun’ (White Cloud)?”

“Ahh!” Shang Yunduo also covered his head.

Elder Yanhu added, “Watch closely how that blind youth burns them. When it’s your turn—if you get the chance—strike swiftly!”

Author’s Note:

Cloud: If you’re not satisfied with my name, feel free to call me by my nickname! What’s the nickname? *(scanning the comments)* It’s “Handsome Guy!”

Also, by the way—we’re already at Chapter 130. *(whispering)* Everyone realizes that “Shang Yunduo” (duo) is a homophone for “Shang Yun Duo” (Yun Duo meaning “cloud”), right? No one’s been misreading it as “Shang Yundu,” right? [Dog face]