darknovel Chapter 304 Entrance
Chapter 304 Entrance
"Brother Du, you're joking. If someone like you can be eliminated in the first round of the competition, there's no need to hold the Sea and Sky Banquet. The Earthly Fiend Islands would have already invaded the Nine Provinces Continent." Silver Fox was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and after a while, he rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Fellow Daoist Silver Fox flatters me," Du Fan said noncommittally.
"Silver Fox is not my real name, but just a pseudonym in the story of returning to one's roots. My younger sister's surname is Xiao, and her given name is Yun."
"This is a Thousand-Mile Transmission Talisman. Brother Du, keep it safe. We'll use it to contact each other when the time comes." The woman in black suddenly flipped her wrist and immediately took out a peculiar talisman that emitted a purple-blue color, which she then tossed directly to Du Fan.
"So it's Fellow Daoist Xiao, a pleasure to meet you." Du Fan simply rolled up his sleeve and put away the Thousand-Mile Transmission Talisman.
"Judging by the time, your island should be setting off for the competition in two days. Now that our matter has been settled, Brother Du, you should also go back and make preparations. I wish you great success in the competition." Xiao Yun looked at Du Fan, smiled sweetly, and clasped her hands in greeting.
"Well, I'll take my leave now." Du Fan nodded and immediately turned to leave.
Long after Du Fan left, the woman in black withdrew her gaze, sighed softly, and then made a hand seal, her entire body turning into a wisp of black smoke, disappearing from the spot in an extremely eerie manner.
About an hour later, near a large tree, the void suddenly rippled, and the figure of a man in a green robe appeared. After the figure solidified completely, it was none other than Du Fan, who had returned for some unknown reason. At this moment, he was taking a ring off the index finger of his left hand.
Du Fan looked up at the mountain peak not far away and muttered to himself, "There are still about two days left. There's nothing major going on. Why don't we use the power of the demon core here to get through the stabilization period?"
……
Two days later, the Mo Ling Flying Boat took off from the villa where it was stationed on Crescent Island. After the giant boat's entire body suddenly shone with a great black light, it roared straight towards the distant horizon with a whooshing sound.
Three days later, a magnificent plaza covering tens of thousands of acres appeared on the ground a hundred miles ahead of the Mo Ling Flying Boat. In the center of the plaza was a thousand-acre arena with ten arenas.
Each arena is dozens of acres in size, with layers of colorful protective light shields around its edges, dazzling and enveloping each arena completely.
Outside the thousand-acre arena, there are rows of circular seats, numbering in the tens of thousands. The first few rows are for VIPs, while the back rows are for regular spectators. The height and orientation of each seat are cleverly designed so that no matter where you sit in the entire square, you can clearly see the situation of every arena.
At this moment, there were about two or three thousand cultivators sitting in the seats surrounding the arena. Almost all of them were sitting together in groups of about a hundred, representing one force, and there were very few scattered individuals.
A distance of a hundred miles was nothing to the Ink Spirit Flying Boat of Crescent Island. In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, it had already flown to the outer edge of the square. Under the control of the middle-aged man surnamed Liu, the giant boat landed steadily in an open space.
The four Golden Core protectors from Crescent Island flashed and appeared directly on the bluestone ground of the square. Following them were more than twenty Foundation Establishment Hall Masters, and finally nearly a hundred Qi Refining cultivators, who jumped down from the giant ship in an orderly manner.
The middle-aged man surnamed Liu's eyes flashed, and with a wave of his sleeve, he shrunk the hundreds-of-feet-long Ink Spirit Flying Boat and put it away.
"Haha, so it's Fellow Daoist Liu from Crescent Island. I, Xun, have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me." A hearty laugh suddenly rang out, echoing in all directions. An old man in a yellow robe walked over. He was a Golden Core cultivator, and behind him were seven or eight cultivators, all of whom were Foundation Establishment experts.
"Fellow Daoist Xun, it has been decades since we last met. I heard that you are preparing to break through to the Great Perfection of the Golden Core realm. Is that true?" The middle-aged man surnamed Liu greeted him with a smile, taking two steps forward and clasping his hands in greeting.
"I never expected that my little matter would reach Fellow Daoist Liu. I'm truly ashamed. It is indeed true that this matter has been discussed, but given my age and aptitude, I most likely will not succeed." The old man in the yellow robe waved his hand and said with a wry smile.
"Fellow Daoist Xun is too modest. If even your aptitude is insufficient, then there are very few cultivators in the world with good aptitude, haha." The middle-aged man surnamed Liu laughed and said.
"Fellow Daoist Liu is joking. My aptitude is indeed very ordinary and not worth mentioning."
"Oh dear, I have important matters to attend to at the moment and cannot have a long talk with Fellow Daoist Liu. How about this, I will send someone to escort you to the VIP area first, and I will find time to catch up with you later, is that alright?" The old man in the yellow robe said politely at first, then changed the subject and spoke apologetically.
"Fellow Daoist Xun, please make yourself at home. I'm afraid I'll be causing trouble on your island for a while. We'll have plenty of opportunities to meet again." The middle-aged man surnamed Liu nodded slightly and said nonchalantly.
"Alright, Fang Wei, take the fellow Daoists from Crescent Island to the VIP area. Do not neglect them!" The old man in the yellow robe smiled slightly, then turned and gave this order to a Foundation Establishment cultivator behind him.
"Yes, seniors, please follow me." A handsome young man in a short shirt immediately stepped forward and bowed to the four guardians of Crescent Island with utmost respect.
"Fellow Daoist Fang, please lead the way." The middle-aged man surnamed Liu nodded to the old man in the yellow robe, and then gave an order to the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Fang.
After Fang Wei responded, he led more than a hundred cultivators from Crescent Island straight to the VIP area.
Du Fan was at the very back of the crowd. He knew from high above that they were in a small square that was separated from the main square.
Although it is called a small square, it covers an area of several hundred acres, and there are more than a hundred squares of this size surrounding the main square.
Therefore, at this moment, apart from the cultivators from Crescent Island and Fallen Leaf Island, there were no other cultivators from other islands present in this small square.
About half an hour later, the Crescent Island group, led by Fang Wei, appeared on the VIP platform surrounding the main arena, where they could clearly see the ten large arenas in the center.
"Senior Liu, this area is the seating area for Crescent Island. If you are not satisfied, I can help you find another area," Fang Wei said respectfully, bowing deeply.
"No need, I'm very satisfied here. You can go about your business." The middle-aged man surnamed Liu glanced around and nodded with satisfaction.
"Yes, this junior will take his leave." Fang Wei bowed again and then turned to leave.
"The ten cultivators participating in the competition, please sit behind the four of us. The rest of you may also take your seats," the middle-aged man surnamed Liu said casually, glancing at the cultivators from Crescent Island.
Upon hearing this, the cultivators from Crescent Island naturally had no objections and immediately sat down as instructed by the middle-aged man surnamed Liu. Du Fan also reluctantly appeared in the second row of seats in this area, and in front of him were the four guardians of Crescent Island.
Chen Da's gaze was icy as he swept over the ten cultivators in the second row, and he said in a deep voice:
"The rules of this competition are somewhat special, and its intensity may surpass that of the past. We only learned about this a few days ago. As for the details, the people from Fallen Leaf Island will explain them in detail later, so there's no need to rush."
Therefore, in the first round of the competition later, you ten people do not need to hold back and must use all your skills. You can rest assured that even if you use the forbidden techniques of this island, we will not pursue the matter afterward.
Furthermore, among the ten of you, whoever passes the first round of the competition will receive an additional thousand spirit stones and five doses of Elixir-Refining Water, in addition to the previously promised benefits.
Upon hearing this, the ten cultivators participating in the competition did not show any great joy. Instead, they all frowned and their expressions became uncertain.
They weren't fools; there's no such thing as a free lunch. If there weren't significant risks involved, why would Protector Chen promise them such amazing benefits?
Other prizes aside, the island's higher-ups strictly control the use of the Elixir-Melting Water. Even the winner of the Crescent Moon Island competition only received three doses as a reward. This shows that this year's Sea and Sky Grand Competition is probably extraordinary.
"You need not worry too much. The rules of this competition are not specifically for our Crescent Island. The competition applies to all seventy-two islands of the Earthly Fiends, including the three main islands. The final results will depend on your strength."
The four guardians could easily discern the thoughts of the ten Qi Refining stage cultivators. After a wry smile, the white-haired old woman coughed and offered a comforting remark.
"We will do our utmost to bring glory to Crescent Island!" For the ten cultivators representing Crescent Island, there was no other words to say at this moment. The ten immediately stood up, bowed deeply to the four guardians, and spoke in unison.
"Very good, you can all sit down and adjust your breathing to prepare for the competition later." The middle-aged man surnamed Liu nodded slightly and gave this instruction.
With their own thoughts, the ten cultivators could only respectfully respond. They then closed their eyes, circulated their internal energy, and began to regulate their breathing.
As time went by, the number of cultivators on the stands gradually increased. Two hours later, most of the VIP seats in the first few rows of the stands were occupied by the forces from the seventy-two islands that came to participate in the competition. At this moment, the stands were almost full.
The cultivators seated in the ordinary seats at the back were mostly local cultivators from Fallen Leaf Island, primarily from various major forces on the island. They had obtained access tokens through special channels, which qualified them to come and watch the battle.