章 25: Chapter 25
After our win, everyone collected their winnings for the day, and except for Oscar and Rongrong, we all got a whopping thirty gold coins in that one sitting. In comparison, earning that big of a profit meant would take me the better part of a week to stockpile sellable goods while the actual selling off would happen gradually to accumulate high-value products or cash. On the other hand, Spirit Elders would receive their monthly stipends of a hundred gold every month—which I couldn't get because of how unique my ring configuration was and how closely tied it was to my identity if ever—and that was about thirty gold for ten days.
No wonder this Spirit Arena place was so full of spirit masters. Just from the money they made selling those tickets for one silver for the cheapest seats was already a lot compared to the more lucrative pair fights which costed five, and the team fights which went for ten. But the real clincher there was with how each fight had a cost to watch, and people usually purchased the one-day pass which costed one gold. And that was on a per person basis. Just thinking how many people there were in that jam-packed arena all paying one gold at most made me drool at the possibilities. Sure, after taking off costs, fifty-thousand or so gold would drop to a lot less than that, but for them to be this bustling means they surely earned more than just that.
Uncle walked with us outside of the arena with the other teachers while Flender caught up after we got to the hotel. He then ushered everyone in and showed us all the bags of gold he had with him—the money he earned from the eight to one odds we had against Boiling Storm. All in all, one-hundred and four thousand gold was laid out on the table, with me, San, and Flender raking in the most profits at sixteen thousand each. Everyone else was still reluctant at betting hard on our team from the start save for Rongrong and Xiao Wu who both gave a thousand versus us three's two.
As for the pair and individual fights, I was only able to get eight hundred and three hundred at most since Flender putting in any more money than he did would've tipped the odds to a lesser payout.
"Tsk tsk," I said, shaking my head. "Big brothers didn't have enough faith."
Mubai, Oscar, and Hongjun all looked at me with flat stares.
"My income isn't as absurd as what you have, little Jin," Mubai said with a sigh.
"And didn't you still owe me that sausage cart?" Oscar added.
"We haven't had the time," I said. "We've been up in the mountains since yesterday."
"I also spend most of my money on my uhh… evil fire," Hongjun said.
Which wasn't wrong per se, but I also knew he hadn't needed to do it as much as before since we've all been exhausting our spirit power so much until now. "Fine," I said. "But don't count on these good odds happening again anytime soon."
The next days after that went on like the first two phases of our training: excellence through mind-numbing repetition—with the added spice of facing a different opponent every day.
Individual fights were the bane of my existence, both as a person and as someone making money. Their payouts were the worst, and having only my Crown made things a lot harder. On the plus side, I was a lot more proficient now at the martial arts I've been practicing. But unfortunately, branching into the more advanced moves was stopped by my lack of knowledge on the better techniques.
So instead, I just polished up the basics as best as I could.
"Amber King versus Qiu Kong! Begin!"
I dashed forward while summoning my Crown, and Qiu Kong did the same. Behind him, two yellow and one purple ring shone, and his arms grew into a pair of grey wings after.
Well, fuck.
As he took to the skies, I stopped my run and just stood there, not really sure what to do. Flying types were the ones I hated the most, and that bet of mine for another two thousand coins was starting to sound like a horrible idea. The odds were so good at five to one and I just couldn't help it after Flender signaled me.
I sighed and crossed my arms, as Qiu Kong's other yellow ring shone. He waved his arms hard my way as feathers flew out in flurry of sharp grey light.
I expanded Devour in a cone in front of me and sapped the spirit power off those feathers as best as I could before dodging away, and still they stabbed into the ground. The damned things moved too fast.
The crowd was laughing now, and me running around doesn't really help my situation. So, I expanded Domain to cover the entire ring and sucked in from all directions with Devour. A war of attrition was the sort of thing I was best at, and that guy keeping up his flight while using his ranged attack was bound to run out of spirit power sooner or later while I could just cultivate here and now to keep myself fresh.
As I did so, the crowd started booing, and I flipped everyone there the bird. Fuck them all for wanting an exciting fight from something this stupid.
"Not even gonna run?" Qiu Kong said from so high up. Unfortunately for him, there was an imposed limit to how far he can fly up to keep things as fair as possible within the ring. The total dimensions we could move around in for one-on-one fights was just a thirty by thirty by thirty-meter cube to keep things fast, while pair fights grew to a forty-meter cube, and team fights to a fifty-meter cube. My Domain's max range right now was just twenty meters, which meant he had another ten or so of upper volume to move around in.
His third ring will determine how the fight will go from here.
Qiu Kong only kept shooting out his feathers, and from so far away I had enough time to dodge to a safe distance. From how hard his feathers hit the ground though, I'd say he was at least one rank higher than me because of how hard it was to drain his feathers completely of spirit power, but also because they became brittle after hitting. I was able to counter him, but not by much.
The booing went on, and the guy just kept shooting.
From the last three individual and pair fights I'd been in, I'd already built up a bit of a reputation for being a close ranged fighter. Even if the little things I knew on karate, muay thai, and taekwondo were not as effective without Rongrong's super strength boost, the pro-wrestling and grappling were already quite a lot. Knowledge of martial arts was practically non-existent here, and once I'd latched onto someone, no one really knew what to do after except try and punch or kick or slam me into the ground.
Qiu Kong kept throwing feathers and insults my way but never really did anything besides that, and I just stood my ground.
One minute turned to two, then turned to three, and when the people finally got tired of cursing, Qiu Kong eventually conceded without even trying.
I won but didn't really feel it then, but the cash sure as fuck made my day.
But the pair fight after with Hongjun told me everything I needed to know.
"Fire Lord combination versus Double Dove! Begin!"
Lo and behold, there was Qiu Kong again, this time with an older dude who sorta looked like him called Qiu Gong. Brothers from the looks of it. The two's yellow rings shone as they took to the skies, but this time, both their purple rings shone and they started beating their wings hard as a cyclone started forming from thirty meters up in the air.
"So that's his third ring," I said.
"Little brother," Hongjun said, "my fire doesn't reach that high."
"I know."
"Now what?"
I shrugged. "We wait."
The cyclone kept getting larger and larger.
"That's a lot of spirit power," Hongjun said.
Then a thought occurred to me. "Brother, could you try setting fire to my third ability? We share the same source in spirit beast anyway, so there could be a reaction."
"That doesn't make sense," he said.
I shook my head. "Just try it."
"Fine."
His and my third ring's shone, and just as he let out his Phoenix Burst, I extended Corrode over to the two flying spirit masters.
They too released their ability and a great column of wind barreled forward to meet that smaller plume of flames following the golden light.
But the flames disappeared after five meters.
"Well, that's that then," I said.
"Dammit Jin!" Hongjun said as we scrambled away from the combined thousand-year abilities.
The wind chased after us, and Hongjun covered himself in Bathing Fire and released his Burst Fire at an angle while I extended Devour and Corrode over the whistling pillar.
We deflected it enough that he and I just barely managed to keep ourselves within the ring.
"I trusted you!" he screamed as we both pulled ourselves up.
"Lesson learned," I said, sticking my tongue out as I shrugged.
What we came back to however was a barrage of feathers—coming only from Qiu Gong
So, just like earlier, we both just kept dodging while the two kept flying and the last one kept shooting.
"You guys suck!" I said. "Just one pop and that's it? I've seen more gusto from a geriatric!" Which was true. Grandpa Shan had… well, visited the brothels before back when we still did those trips back and forth from Heaven Dou and Nuoding. He offered me a go as well, but at the time I couldn't even have an erection so I had to pass.
The two's faces went red, and the audience nearest to the front started laughing.
"You'll pay for that!" said Qiu Kong, and he started shooting feathers out himself. Running around wasn't really a problem anymore for me and Hongjun after those hell marathons uncle made us do, so on the laughing died and gave way to booing as those two dove masters kept trying without flair to try and hit us.
"You idiots couldn't even hit the ground if you fell!" I said, and the booing gave way to some laughs.
They kept shooting.
"I bet going to the toilet sucks for whoever comes after you!"
More laughs, more shooting.
Then Hongjun slipped up and got hit by a feather in the shoulder. "Dammit Jin!"
The audience laughed some more.
"Did the lady have to hold it for you just so you could score?"
Even more laughs, and Hongjun got hit by another feather because he was too distracted. "Fuck me!"
And even more laughs sounded out.
"I don't think that'll work out! You'll probably have to do all the work yourself with these guys"
Even more laughs, and Hongjun started blushing while laughing.
"What did Kong say to Gong after he finished with the toilet?" A beat. "I'm sorry."
More laughs echoed about, and Hongjun had to pluck three feathers out of his back.
Then finally, the two snapped and charged for us and Hongjun unceremoniously blew one away with Phoenix Burst while I elbowed Qiu Kong in the face with a satisfying crunch. I was thrown off the ring myself, but that didn't matter since Hongjun stayed inside.
The team fight after was hell though.
"Shrek's Eight Devils versus Forest Keepers! Ready!"
We had the same standard three-two-three formation, while our opponents used an inverted triangle with a four-three-one. Two of the four layer had ideal configurations, with one's hands turning into a pair of enlarged Gauntlet like projections with a patch of green on each tip, and the other enlarged by a lot and his head grew a pair of thick, curved Horns that made him look like a really buff midget by comparison. The two next to them had the white-yellow-purple combination, with one equipped with a large round Shield, and the other surprisingly had a Hammer, though it looked plain compared to the Clear Sky Hammer's intricate patterns.
The layer of three had one white-yellow-yellow with a Bow spirit, then another with white-yellow-purple whose legs grew longer like Xiao Wu but with a faint sheen of green as her hair stood up into a Mohawk like Hongjun's but with a green to yellow to red coloration, and the last was a three yellow with a club whom I'd met before: Hao Long.
I waved at him and he just scowled my way.
The last had another ideal configuration and had a large Gong with him.
"Begin!"
Gong's three rings shone as he hit his gong and a wave of bronze light spread out and rippled through his team, who all started charging.
Tang San pulled the three attackers back and we shifted into a breakthrough formation with Mubai as the spear head, then San, me, and Hongjun behind him, and the four behind all of us. Mubai's yellow and purple rings shone together as red and gold lights infused him. In this formation, Rongrong's super boost was our life line, and Oscar's sole job was to make sure her spirit power never dropped.
Mubai grew a size larger as he met Gauntlet's thousand-year punch and Horns' thousand-year charge. Light Wave and Phoenix Burst thundered forward to meet them, and White Swords and Black Needles flew everywhere all under the intense light of Devour, Shock, and Corrode.
The first one that'd reach us was Horns, so all three's attacks concentrated on him. Mubai's light beam reached Horns first, and the guy spat out a mouthful of blood as Hongjun's fire blew him back with Tang San's Swords assaulting him from all directions.
Gauntlet's green glowing hand I then kicked away from reaching Mubai, who spun into a back fist to knock away the flying shield about to hit me while Hammer's downswing was blocked by Tang San's bare hands and diverted to the side as he stabbed him with a Sword in the gut and gave him a kick to the face.
Another Phoenix Burst blew forward into Hammer with a grand flurry of purple, and I looked just in time to see an arrow come at my face—that was deflected by a spinning blur of black and blue and red that crashed into Gauntlet with ear-piercing screeches as a hundred hellish scratches wore down on his armored hands. Hao Long's club was swinging to the side and crashed into Xiao Wu—who teleported behind him with her legs already clamped down on his head, her waist glowing pink while the rest of her body burned a bloody red.
I tackled Shield from behind the front line as Hao Long's head was literally planted into the ground.
Gong's gong sounded out again, and Shield pushed me off with a strong check, my body clearing him and the ground by a good foot. Then I took a page from Xiao Wu's book and clamped my feet onto his hips and recovered into a mount as red light pulsed through my veins. He summoned his shield back to him, but I squeezed him hard with my knees just above his hips, as I dug into a more stable position.
Green flashed from the corner of my eyes but a timely Light Wave saved my head from getting taken off Mohawk's glowing shin.
A Sword burst from the ground and tipped away Shield's shield long enough for me to hit him hard in the ribs with a big hook.
He recalled his shield again as his purple ring shone and I flew away from him, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he did the same. I recovered into a roll in time to see Hongjun tackle Horns while covered in intense flames and to give the guy another face full of Phoenix Burst.
I got up and ran towards Bow, as I saw Gauntlet hit Mubai with a punch that exploded—only for the boss to come back with a punch of his own despite the injuries he sustained. My shadow grew a touch darker as I noticed Zhuqing running beside me, while Xiao Wu teleported next to Hammer.
Horns and Hao Long were already down for the count. The next step then was to take out their ranged and auxiliary supports.
Bow's white ring shone as a faint sheen covered the length of his grey bow, and he swung his weapon straight at me, but Zhuqing stopped him with both hands as I headbutted the guy and mounted him as well while she continued forward for Mohawk.
I then quickly repositioned myself to keep punching Bow in the ribs, and the moment he raised a shoulder I slid over to his back and fought him tooth and nail to get into a sleeper choke as all three of my lights bore down on him.
Bow tried slashing at my arms but he could only scratch them and I stuck through the pain.
Gauntlet was continuously getting pelted with Swords while Mubai met him punch for punch, and Hongjun kept Shield distracted enough for Xiao Wu to pick up an Eight-link. I turned to see Zhuqing stabbing for Mohawk, and Bow finally stopped struggling by then.
I waited for another three seconds before running straight for Gong.
Zhuqing was thrown back by Mohawk's thousand-year ring kick, and I shifted gears to come to her side. Mohawk then fell back to Gong's position as Zhuqing got up herself. We then charged together for the two.
Gong's three rings shone again, and he struck his spirit as all the light that rippled out was absorbed by Mohawk. Her legs grew more muscular, and her spirit power became visible from the concentration, but onwards me and Zhuqing still went.
White Swords then spread out from behind us and assaulted Mohawk's downward crashing axe-like right leg.
I then moved forward with Zhuqing right behind me, and dodged her kick that dispelled all of San's support, and her purple ring shone again as she kicked with another right roundhouse this time while hopping back.
The two of us then sidestepped away from her kick to the far left and caught her off-guard long enough for Zhuqing to go after Gong, while I hugged her from the side and bent back with a snap into a side suplex and we crashed into the ground with her shoulders and neck-first. She pushed me off just like Bow, and I hopped away from her and saw Gong already unconscious by the side, and Zhuqing smiling just the tiniest bit.
Mohawk then fell after Zhuqing hit her in the back of the head, and we moved back to join the already ending fight with Gauntlet on the ropes, Hammer's head planted into the ground just like Hao Long, and Shield having just flown out of the ring.
By then, Gauntlet finally threw in the towel.
This was the fastest fight we'd ever won, but also the one where I was injured the most. The odds weren't as good back with Boiling Storm, with a five to one, and my two-thousand coins only inflated to ten-thousand, which was already a lot by all respects. I then took a quick trip to the forests with teacher Zhao to take in some life force directly from the surrounding plants, and was delighted after finding out Zhuqing and Rongrong finally broke through the thirtieth rank when I got back.
We then paused the third stage training to get the two their dues—since they wouldn't be able to compete in the Spirit Grandmaster tier anymore, and they'd need the extra ring to make sure they could at least contend with the fighter of the next level up.
This time, all the teachers went with us to the forest, with Flender leading the charge together with uncle in his arms.
We arrived a lot faster in Star Dou Forest than last time since we didn't need to take as many breaks, and when we did, no one even needed to take a breather so we just directly went to look for suitable spirit beasts. Xiao Wu already brokered a peace treaty with Da Ming and Er Ming on our behalf, though only I and uncle Hao were aware. Well, it wasn't really a peace treaty but more of a restraining order—turns out her big brother missed her so much he didn't think twice about rushing towards his little sister who was in the middle of all that human presence. Granted he was also worried about the distinct power he sensed at the time, though we were lucky that grandpa Meng didn't see through sister Wu, or at least I hope he didn't.
"I wonder what sort of insect we'll see this time," Tang San said while chuckling.
"Please don't even start," I said.
"We had three out of four insects for those rings we all obtained last time," Hongjun said. "Meeting some more doesn't seem as unlikely since you're around."
"Insects are all very powerful beasts on their own right," uncle added. "And you were really lucky for getting such suitable rings from them."
I didn't choose them though.
Zhuqing walked up to me. "Little brother, do with me the same you did for fatty and sausage uncle," she said all serious.
Mubai looked at me intently and swallowed hard.
The others also looked at all of us, and Rongrong spoke up as well, "You already gave me a spirit bone, why not do the same as well?" She winked at that.
I wanted to get some help from Tang San to help repress the energies with the Clear Sky aura, or at least have him supercharge me with that strange spirit power of his. "Could you help me with the spirit power?'
"You have your teachers here," Flender said. "I believe our spirit power should suffice?"
Tang San shook his head. "Sorry dean, but Jin needs someone with a gently spirit power nature, and my Blue Silver Grass is something he's already so familiar with. I should be the one to do this." He then turned to the two girls. "But are you really sure you wish to take this risk?
The two nodded, and teacher Zhao laughed with a hearty bellow. "These two are the only ones left to exceed their limits, and Mubai should be due his fourth ring soon, I doubt he won't request that you allow him the honor as well?"
I met Mubai's eyes who nodded with firm resolution.
"At this rate, I should probably start charging people for my services," I said with a shrug.
"I'm willing to pay the price," Zhuqing said, stepping up.
"Err, I was kidding."
Rongrong narrowed her eyes at me.
"I swear I was kidding."
After that it took us the better part of two days of beating back haughty spirit beasts from attacking our camp and it felt so damn good to be using my Hammer again. With the forest so dense with foliage, I could keep Devour on at its maximum output and keep using Mantle to reinforce myself with each attack. Perhaps after I increase my spirit power some more, I could finally sustain Mantle indefinitely just through Devour. I was nowhere near close yet, but in time it should be possible.
We found Rongrong's ring first.
Uncle pointed it out when we reached a small stream pool a short walk away from the sole river that ran through the forest—knowledge care of Xiao Wu. She threatened me again with a live grilling if I ever revealed her secret ahead of time.
The plant type spirit was called a Clear Water Hyacinth, and we picked out the one with just the two colors of dull pink and purple since those were the ones with cultivation just slightly above two-thousand years. I then helped Rongrong absorb it using the Clear Sky aura to suppress any excess energies while Tang San boosted my spirit power with his, but it seems her torso bone already took care of any problems before they even popped up.
It only took her a short seven hours to finish, and the ability she got was a spirit power boost—just exactly what we needed for the coming fights, and not to mention her boosts now brought everyone up to forty-percent on her own, and sixty with Oscar's help.
Moving on, Zhuqing's beast found us instead.
Xiao Wu had a bitter expression when she looked that Yaksha Assassin bug in the eyes. They were sinister and cowardly existences that liked to ambush the weak and unsuspecting according to her, sometimes just for the heck of it since their cultivation rose faster the more they slaughtered. Uncle said its sinister nature suited Zhuqing's spirit so she immediately agreed. Xiao Wu also helped me identify its cultivation age to just above two thousand, again without anyone knowing, and I was able to give Zhuqing my guarantee, so she killed it there and then.
The absorption process was a lot harsher than Rongrong's but it wasn't as hard as Hongjun or Oscar's since Tang San was with me. Its sinister energy kept trying to lash out, but Zhuqing's own spirit didn't reject the ring one bit, so even if I had to keep it suppressed with both the Clear Sky aura and some of Devour to feed off the spikes of energy, things still went better than the fountains of blood I had to deal with on my own.
We took twelve hours to finish the absorption, and unfortunately, we didn't really get any spirit bones from the ordeal, though Zhuqing was surprised to find herself already at the thirty-second rank versus Rongrong's still thirty-first. And her new was called the Life Cleaving Slash that allowed her to steal life force directly with a successful attack that drew blood.
Satisfied, we all then returned to Suotuo that same day, though Xiao Wu looked a bit down.
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