Chapter 720: Zhang Xuan’s Loss?
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
"He was able to kill even a Perfect Harmonization realm spirit beast?"
Zhang Xuan was startled for an instant before it suddenly hit him.
He didn’t recall seeing any Beastscale Incense in the duo’s storage ring when searching through them, and this meant that there was a high chance that the artifact was still on them.
If that was the case, they would indeed stand a good chance at slaying a Perfect Harmonization realm spirit beast.
Despite the rarity, there were still a couple of Perfect Harmonization realm spirit beast roaming the mountain. If one were to comb the area thoroughly, one would surely be able to find a handful.
After Zhang Xuan took down the Byzantium Helios Beast, the spirit beasts lost their commander, and their coordination immediately broke down. Without anyone to rally and organize them, they ended scattering around the area individually. Under such circumstances, if one had an artifact like the Beastscale Incense in hand, one would surely be able to hunt down plenty of spirit beasts.
Just that, there was still one more matter that baffled Zhang Xuan... why were the two of them dressed in beastskin?
Did the aerial spirit beast strip them of their clothes as well?
Could it be that it had such inclinations?
Zhang Xuan shuddered at that thought.
Considering how the duo had their storage rings and weapons taken from them, it would be difficult for them to craft proper clothes. Most probably, they had barely put together their current wear by tearing the hide of the spirit beasts they had hunted.
’How pitiful!’
Upon this thought, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but sympathize with the duo.
To think that two talented master teachers would end up getting stripped clean by a spirit beast and tossed into a mountain valley! Just the thought of it would leave anyone feeling sorry for them.
While Zhang Xuan was staring at the duo in sympathy, Brother Yu was currently enjoying the loud cheers from the crowd. Placing his hands behind his back, he turned to Zhang Xuan and gazed down on him with a look of superiority. "Zhang shi, I have already taken out my inner cores. Where are yours?"
"Mine?"
Knowing what was at stake, Zhang Xuan chuckled lightly and flicked his wrist. Another pile of inner cores immediately appeared on the table.
The inner cores which he had obtained from the duo and the inner cores he had procured from slaying the spirit beasts on the way back down added up to a substantial sum. It was quite an astonishing sight to see them appear all in one place.
However, there weren’t any Perfect Harmonization realm inner cores within the pile.
"Luoyang Beast, Viridsmoke Beast, Seven Feeler Beast... Why do those inner cores look so familiar?"
Upon seeing the inner cores that Zhang Xuan had taken out, Brother Yu and Senior Feng glanced at one another in astonishment.
Somehow, the inner cores that Zhang shi took out seemed extremely similar to those they had procured in the morning.
"Perhaps there might be many of the same spirit beasts on the mountain!"
Eventually, they convinced themselves as such.
After all, their storage rings were stolen by an aerial spirit beast, so how could they possibly fall into Zhang shi’s hands? The only plausible reason was that they had simply managed to kill the same spirit beasts. Considering that they were hunting spirit beasts on the same mountain, as slim as the chances may seem to be, there was indeed such a possibility.
"Even though that fellow has quite a few inner cores, he seems to be a little lacking compared to us. That fellow... is bound to lose!"
After the initial shock, Brother Yu’s eyes lit up in agitation.
Honestly speaking, after knowing that the other party had defeated Senior Feng with a single finger and seeing how he had dared to put a high-tier spirit stone on the stake, doubts had begun sprouting in his mind, leaving him uneasy. However, upon seeing the quantity and quality of inner cores that the other party had taken out, Brother Yu immediately heaved a sigh of relief.
Chuckling confidently, Brother Yu turned to the invigilators and clasped his fist. "I hope that you can judge our scores!"
"Alright."
Seeing how the both parties of the bet had managed to procure so many inner cores, the seniors before the table were astonished. They hurriedly lowered their heads to tabulate the score of each pile.
A few moments later, a senior stood up, and gesturing to Brother Yu, he said, "This junior over here has a Perfect Harmonization realm inner core, 3 Cosmos Bridge realm inner cores, 26 Consonant Spirit realm inner cores, and 18 Clarifying Turbidity realm pinnacle inner cores. All in all, he has received a score of... 2658 points!"
"2658 points?"
"Th-this is too amazing!"
"I thought that it was already impressive that Senior Hu from Wanyu Empire achieved a score of 700 points, but to think that this fellow would be even more formidable! With 2000 points, he has probably already broken the record! It is no wonder he is so arrogant. With such strength and capability, it would be difficult for one not to be so!"
"I wonder how many points that master teacher who arrived at noon earned. Nevertheless, against a score of 2658, I doubt that he will be able to retain his throne..."
A commotion broke out in the surroundings.
There was quite a handful that wasn’t able to obtain even a single point, and yet this fellow actually received a hulking score of 2658. Just the thought of it was inconceivable in itself!
"What score do you think Zhang shi will get?"
After the wave of shock calmed down, the curious eyes of the crowd instinctively gathered on Zhang Xuan.
Considering how the master teachers dressed in beastskin were able to obtain such a high score, the person whom they were going against should be a formidable figure as well!
Another senior who had been tabulating Zhang Xuan’s score spoke up.
"Zhang shi has obtained 5 Cosmos Bridge realm pinnacle inner cores, 3 Cosmos Bridge realm primary stage inner cores, 13 Consonant Bridge realm... All in all, he has received a score of 2580!"
"2580? To lose by only 70 points, that is truly a pity!"
Upon hearing the score, a moment of silence drifted in the surroundings before a huge commotion exploded.
It was one thing for the gap between both parties to be huge, but given that they were both in the two thousand range, and the gap between them was less than a hundred, it was indeed a huge pity for the losing party.
"I lost?"
Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
He’d thought that it would be difficult for the duo to win against him after the aerial spirit beast had stolen the storage rings from them, but who could have known that in just a few hours they were actually able to make a comeback?
Incredible!
As expected of the top geniuses of a region, they were truly not to be underestimated!
’But do I really have to hand over a high-tier spirit stone to them...’
Due to his complacency, Zhang Xuan had never thought that he would actually lose. He was fine with losing to the other party, but giving a high-tier spirit stone away? His heart might just bleed dry!
’Should I... take out the Myriad Anthive Queen?’
The troubled Zhang Xuan contemplated for a moment before shaking his head.
As the personnel in charge of intelligence in the operation against the master teachers on Leiyuan Peak, the Myriad Anthive Queen played a pivotal role in the operation, working as a direct assistant to the Byzantium Helios Beast. If he were to bring it out, he might risk alarming the Otherworldly Demons, which might trigger them to conduct even more extreme actions once they realized that their identity might have already been exposed.
If so, he would risk putting many in danger, especially since he couldn’t warn the Master Teacher Pavilion of the matter due to his personal reasons.
But if not, was he really to hand over the high-tier spirit stone to the other party?
"Alright, the results are clear. Zhang shi, what else do you have to say?"
Upon achieving victory, Brother Yu clenched his fists tightly, and his eyes gleamed in excitement.
"What else do I have to say?"
Zhang Xuan shook his head. "This is your combined score; it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have won the bet against me."
"Indeed! How come their score is tabulated together as one?"
"Considering how the both of them hunted together, if the points were to be divided equally among them, Zhang shi would still be the winner..."
Upon realizing this fact, the crowd nodded in agreement.
The both of them had hunted together whereas Zhang shi had moved as an individual, but both sides still ended up achieving similar scores. No matter how one looked at it, it was clear that the latter was the winner!
As if expecting Zhang Xuan to speak those words, Senior Feng replied with a smile, "Elder Mo stated clearly in the rules that the allocation of points is up to the individual. Since that’s the case, I’ll just take 77 points and leave the rest to Brother Yu!"
"Shameless!"
"If that fellow only takes 77 points, that Yu fellow will have a total score of 2581 points, thus winning against Zhang shi by a margin of one point!"
"He is definitely doing it on purpose!"
"But this is indeed the rule Elder Mo has set. In that respect, there’s nothing wrong with what he is doing..."
Hearing Senior Feng’s words, everyone fell speechless.
Elder Mo did say that examinees were allowed to freely allocate the points obtained from a hunt. If that fellow really took only 77 points from the hunt, Brother Yu would be left with 2581 points, thus putting him a single point higher than Zhang shi... What a shameless action this was!
Ignoring the furious criticism from the crowd, Senior Feng clasped his fist politely and asked, "Seniors, may I know if this is allowed?"
"This..."
After a moment of hesitation, one of the seniors nodded. "Yes, this is permitted."
Since this was a rule set by Elder Mo, there was no way they could go against it.
"Thank you... Zhang shi, what else do you have to say now? Even after taking away 77 points, Brother Yu is still one point above you. In the end, you still lost!"
The edges of Senior Feng’s lips crept up.
After the numerous traumas he had suffered from this fellow, he finally managed to return the favor. Exhilaration surged in his heart with every thump, and he felt as if he could float into the skies in euphoria.
On the other hand, Zhang Xuan kneaded his glabella in frustration.
The other party was right. Under the current state of affairs, he would still lose to Brother Yu.
Shaking his head, he turned to the seniors before him and asked, "Seniors, may I ask if the examination is over yet?"
"The examination?"
Hearing the question, the seniors turned their heads and glanced backward. Not too far away, an incense was placed on top of a stone pedestal. Beneath the coiling smoke trails, one could see that the incense was nearing its end.
The duration of the trial was a day. While most examinees used the movement of the sun to gauge the timing, an incense was still prepared to keep track of time precisely. At this moment, the sun had already set in the west, indicating the end of the day. But as long as the incense hadn’t burned out yet, the examination couldn’t be said to have ended.
The senior did a rough estimation and replied, "There are roughly ten minutes left..."
"Ten minutes?"
"That’s right."
The senior nodded.
"Why? Are you still intending to dive back into the forest to hunt? Do you think that you can make it back within ten minutes?"
Realizing what Zhang Xuan was up to, Brother Yu burst into laughter.
The spirit beasts nearing the reporting venue had already been cleanly cleared away by the examinees descending from the mountains. It would be difficult to travel to the depths of the mountain in just ten minutes, but to find a spirit beast and return in that time period as well... How naive could one get?
His eyes were open, but he was clearly dreaming!
"There is indeed not much time left..."
Gazing at the incense above the stone pedestal, the other master teachers also nodded in agreement.
To find and hunt down a spirit beast from the mountain within ten minutes...
Unless one could fly, that would be impossible.
"Just admit defeat. Even if there are ten minutes left, you know that it’s impossible for you to succeed. Besides, even though I chose to take 77 points, I can always give more points to Brother Yu if required. In other words, the only way for you to win against us is to kill one Cosmos Bridge realm or two Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle spirit beasts. Do you think that you can do it within ten minutes?" Senior Feng sneered coldly.
There was a disparity of 78 points between the both parties at the moment. If Senior Feng were to claim only a single point, Zhang Xuan would require 78 points to defeat Brother Yu.
The inner core of a Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle spirit beast was worth 40 points, so Zhang Xuan would have to kill two of them. Alternatively, he could also choose to hunt down a Cosmos Bridge realm spirit beast.
However, despite roaming the forest for an entire day, they’d barely found a handful of Cosmos Bridge realm spirit beasts. To find and hunt one down and bring back its inner core within ten minutes, the other party was clearly deluding himself.
"You’re right... If it were just me, it would be difficult."
Ignoring the doubts from the crowd and Senior Feng’s sneer, Zhang Xuan pinched his glabella and said, "But I don’t want to lose, so I can only give it a try."
With those words, he raised his head and whistled sharply.
Wuuuuuu!
The next moment, a massive Great Violetwing Beast suddenly swooped across the air, swiftly disappearing into the depths of the mountains.
"That is... your half 9-dan tamed beast? But it can only be used once throughout the examination... You haven’t used it yet?"
Senior Feng and Brother Yu’s faces suddenly turned ghastly pale.