Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
They were on the trial grounds. As Wang Baole and Dugu Lin looked at each other, there were also people around them who had lost. However, compared to Zhou Chudao’s carefree back view as he left, Xu Ming, who was lying in the basin, was feeling a sense of bitterness and was laughing at himself for not daring to take on another battle.
Right now, it was also time for the teleportation to begin!
The loud boom arrived from all directions in the trial grounds, initially soft but quickly becoming as deafening as thunder. It was as if a humongous giant was screaming at the trial grounds.
The map in the night sky warped for the first time. The ground trembled, and the mountains shook!
The booms grew increasingly louder as if the heavens and earth were about to flip. The force of teleportation appeared from nothingness, and it was unleashed fully in the trial grounds in the short time of a few breaths!
That was the first teleportation, and it would take away a key from everyone. Those who didn’t hold any keys would be eliminated!
At that moment, the originally calm trial grounds were thrown into chaos. Numerous keyless participants who had lost their keys suddenly rose up, charging forward with all their effort towards those who possessed keys near them!
Even though some of them succeeded, most of them failed. As the glow from the teleportation shimmered between the heavens and earth, keys disappeared one after another, and the elimination took place.
It was as if there was a hurricane that only those who possessed keys could stand firmly against. Those without keys would be wiped of all the meaning they ever held in the trial grounds by the hurricane.
It was the case for both Xu Ming and Zhou Chudao. Wang Baole witnessed one of his keys being taken away in this wave of teleportation. Zhou Chudao, with his back facing Wang Baole a distance away, grew gradually blurry as if he was walking into nothingness. The moment before he completely disappeared, Zhou Chudao raised his right hand with his back facing Wang Baole, as if bidding him farewell.
He only managed to wave thrice before he disappeared entirely without a trace.
The teleportation came and went quickly. The entire process only took the time of a few breaths. When the heavens and earth returned to a state of calm, the teleportation ended. The warped map in the night sky became clear once again, but the number of keys on it had significantly decreased!
Looking at the map in the night sky, Wang Baole took a deep breath, and Zhao Yameng’s voice arrived by his ears.
“Every time the teleportation happens, it will wipe everything out, eliminating those keyless participants. At the same time, new keyless participants will appear. In addition, this is the only time every day where the tracks of the keyless participants would be exposed!”
“This is because, at every single location on the map where there is a key, there is bound to be a new keyless participant who appears there!” As Zhao Yameng spoke, she raised and waved her right hand. Instantly, the compass in her hand shone with a gentle glow, gathering before her and forming a map!
“I have indicated all the locations where a key was taken away previously. These positions right here are the locations of the keyless participants. According to this, we can estimate the coordinates of the keyless participant!” Zhao Yameng said while pointing her left hand at the compass. Immediately, numerous locations glowed on the map formed by light ray.
These glowing spots were the coordinates of the keyless participants present on the trial grounds, according to Zhao Yameng’s estimations. Right now, there were three such spots around them!
“How should we handle this?” Zhao Yameng looked towards Wang Baole, apparently asking what they should do with the keyless participants located at the three points near them.
“We don’t have to care about them… Hmm?” As Wang Baole spoke, he seemed to have noticed something. After taking a look at one of the spots, he raised and waved his right hand. Immediately, the tri-colored flying sword emerged, charging towards the other two positions.
As the tri-colored flying sword flew through the nothingness, cultivators leaped up from the two locations. The two cultivators escaped hurriedly without even turning around. However, their speed was no match for the flying sword. After a brief moment, painful screams emerged as the two of them tumbled to the ground one after another.
Wang Baole didn’t kill them, instead simply making them lose the ability to run far for the coming day, restricting them to this region.
The tri-colored flying sword returned after that. Wang Baole walked towards the location where the third glowing spot was at. When he neared, something wriggled within it, and a person emerged. The person didn’t run away. Instead, he sat there, laughing bitterly and incredulously while looking adrift at Wang Baole.
“Baole… You…”
Looking at the familiar face that was similar in size to him, a smile appeared on Wang Baole’s face.
“Senior Brother Yun Piaozi…”
That person was indeed Yun Piaozi. He had seen the battle between Wang Baole and Zhou Chudao. He was immensely shocked even now, as he couldn’t reconcile the image of Wang Baole in his mind with that before his eyes.
Wang Baole’s was so powerful that it completely exceeded his expectations. This made him feel somewhat distant towards Wang Baole.
“I have cleared all the keyless participants around here. Be careful after you leave this region.” Wang Baole had managed to understand what Yun Piaozi was thinking about, and also sensed the unfamiliarity that was revealed instinctively by him. Therefore, he only spoke after a moment of silence, and then he looked at Zhao Yameng.
Zhao Yameng understood Wang Baole’s intention. She took out a key and placed it before Yun Piaozi.
“Yun Piaozi, see you back at the sect. Bye.” Wang Baole cupped his fists at Yun Piaozi and then left with Zhao Yameng and Kong Dao, a smile on his face. As they left, Kong Dao looked curiously towards Yun Piaozi before turning back.
He naturally understood that Wang Baole didn’t have plans to deal with the two keyless participants initially and that he only did so because of Yun Piaozi.
It could be said that Wang Baole did so in order to give Yun Piaozi a key to ensure his safety. This made Kong Dao curious. After all, they were Federation disciples, and it was difficult for them to form a deep relationship with the Dao Palace disciples despite having shared some common experiences.
In reality, that was the truth. Even though Yun Piaozi was close to Wang Baole, it was mostly due to Wang Baole’s generosity, as well as the Spirit Boat gains. It was a one-sided relationship, and fundamentally, this relationship between them couldn’t weather major storms.
This made Yun Piaozi fall silent as he looked at the key before him. After a brief moment, he raised his head and looked at Wang Baole and company’s back view. He stood up silently and exclaimed loudly, “Baole!”
Wang Baole stopped his tracks in mid-air and turned to look at Yun Piaozi.
“Dugu Lin fought with Xu Ming previously. You… take care.”
Hearing that, Wang Baole thought about it briefly before waving his hand with a smile on his face, then, he turned to leave. When he disappeared before Yun Piaozi, Yun Piaozi lowered his head to look at the key, a tinge of respect appearing in his eyes.
His respect resulted not from the act of Wang Baole giving him a key. Instead, it was because he dealt with the two keyless participants for him specifically.
At the same time, he suddenly realized that the difference between him and Wang Baole wasn’t only their combat capabilities, but most importantly, their mindsets!
He doesn’t even care about the keys or the rules here. To him and the other personal disciples, these aren’t important. They didn’t need to follow the rules because they have their own rules!
That is… To eliminate all competitors other than themselves. It is enough that they are the ones remaining. Yun Piaozi looked at the key and managed to think through everything. When he raised his head, he sighed a long sigh of relief while laughing bitterly.
This bitter laugh was quickly replaced by a carefree attitude. He looked up, and instead of picking up the key, he turned and walked in another direction. He knew that it was meaningless to continue persevering in the trial grounds. What he needed was to find a place to meditate and leave when the second teleportation happened.
This isn’t a trial for ordinary people like us anymore. Yun Piaozi shook his head and walked further and further away. The key remained on the ground, shining brightly, but no one cared about it anymore.
In the air a distance away, Zhao Yameng was the first to realize what had happened amongst the trio. She looked at the night sky map, where the key stood unmoving. Even though she didn’t witness everything first hand, she had managed to guess what had happened. After thinking about it, she smiled and looked at Wang Baole.
“Baole, that friend of yours isn’t simple. He knows the appropriate time to part.”