Chapter 46: Who’s The Apprentice Champion?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“There are a total of 13,000 points. Technically, 1,300 people should pass, but in reality, it’s impossible to have so many people passing.”
The Azure Dragon Hall guidance elder added, “I’m sure that some point-worthy metal pieces will remain unfound, and while some people get higher points, some might not even have ten points. So, I’ll consider five hundred passes a decent amount.”
“I estimate around 500 people passing too.” Xie Kuang nodded.
“It’s always been around this number according to my experience. I’m curious though. Who’ll be the Apprentice Champion this year?” the Onyx Tortoise Hall guidance elder asked.
“Heh heh! Duanmu Jue, our Duanmu genius, of course!” Duanmu Jin replied smugly.
“You’re in over your head, Duanmu Jin. Our Huang Yu’s exceptionally talented with an awakened Fifth Level blood meridian and Fourth Grade Master Realm cultivation level! He’s just as good as Duanmu Jue, so I think he’s gonna be the Apprentice Champion,” the Azure Dragon Hall guidance elder rebutted.
“Our Xie Hong may be a girl, but she’s on par with your geniuses in terms of blood meridians and cultivation too, so she just might win this!” the Onyx Tortoise Hall guidance elder boasted.
“That might not be the case since our Yin Kai’s one of the very best too. The Vermillion Bird Hall will emerge as champion this year!” Xie Kuang chirped.
Duanmu Jin patted his pot belly as he scorned, “Huang Yu and the rest of them might be kinda good, but Duanmu Jue’s still better. Besides, Xie Kuang, the Vermillion Bird Hall hasn’t won the past eight years, so this year is just as impossible for you. Stop daydreaming.”
Xie Kuang’s face sank as he barked, “What’s the meaning of this, Fatty Duanmu? Are you looking down on us Vermillion Bird Hall?”
“Yes, so what if I’m looking down on you? You actually expect your bunch of trash to be the Apprentice Champion? Impossible! If you remain unconvinced, let’s bet on it!” Duanmu Jin scoffed.
“Damn it, I’m not afraid of you. Let’s bet on it, Fatty Duanmu! Name your wager,” Xie Kuang replied.
Duanmu Jin’s eyes flashed with excitement as he stated, “I bet 30 spiritual crystals on the White Tiger Hall winning. How’s that for a bet?”
“What?! 30 spiritual crystals?” Xie Kuang yelled in surprise.
Spiritual crystals were formed by the condensation of highly concentrated spiritual energy. It was extremely precious and only martial artists beyond the Grandmaster Realm could use it to cultivate.
The market price for a single spiritual crystal was 10,000 taels of silver, so 30 spiritual crystals were equivalent to 300,000 taels of silver.
It was an extremely expensive bet.
“What’s wrong, Xie Kuang? Chickened out? Too expensive for you?” Duanmu Jin jeered.
‘Damn it!’ Xie Kuang gritted his teeth and snapped, “Bet’s on, Duanmu Jin! Don’t act dumb and forget about our bet later.”
“I should be more afraid of you bailing out on me!” Duanmu Jin smiled coldly.
“The apprentices are coming out now,” the Azure Dragon Hall guidance elder interrupted.
A few youths exited the Midnight Hills.
“They’re from the Vermillion Bird Hall. They came out so quickly, huh? I wonder how many points they have,” Duanmu Jin mocked.
Xie Kuang’s face darkened as he asked the apprentices, “How many points do you have? Bring them all out and have them counted.”
“N-not much!” Flustered, a young man took out two one-point metal pieces while the others had none. That was all they had.
“Hahaha, only two points for the entire bunch. What a huge harvest!” Duanmu Jin guffawed.
The other two guidance elders had mocking smiles on their faces.
The competition was fierce among the four halls, so the worse the other hall was, the better it was for them.
Xie Kuang’s face darkened venomously.
More apprentices exited the Midnight Hills, but the passing rate was at a low of ten to one.
Those that failed hung their head in disappointment while those who passed skipped with delight.
Naturally, the White Tiger Hall had the most number of passes out of the four halls for now. The Azure Dragon Hall came in second whereas the Onyx Tortoise Hall came in third. The Vermillion Bird Hall came in last like how it had been for the past years.
While Duanmu Jin beamed, Xie Kuang fumed.
A voice rang out clearly. “Xie Hong’s out!”
Xie Hong, the Onyx Tortoise Hall’s number one expert exited the Midnight Hills with a gloomy expression.
“Heh heh, looks like Xie Hong’s results aren’t as good as expected, huh?” Duanmu Jin gloated as the face of the Onyx Tortoise Hall guidance elder darkened by a shade.
Xie Hong accumulated up to 509 points.
“It’s not too bad, but without the 500-point metal piece, it’s hard to win with this amount,” the Azure Dragon Hall guidance elder commented.
“Well, if the 500-point metal piece remains untouched, Hong’er could win with 509 points,” the Onyx Tortoise Hall guidance elder added forcefully.
“Someone has taken the 500-point metal piece,” Xie Hong said abruptly.
“What?! Who has it?” all four guidance elders blurted out. Whoever had the 500-point metal piece could win, hence their concern.
Xie Hong shook her head quietly.
Initially, Lu Ming had it, but Duanmu Jue, Yin Kai, Huang Yu, and the rest of them hunted and chased after him. A few days had passed and Xie Hong really had no idea who held the 500-point metal piece now.
The eyes of all four guidance elders flickered as they debated on who the possible Apprentice Champion was.
“Yin Kai’s out.”
“Huang Yu too.”
Xie Kuang’s heart skipped a beat as he hurried towards the apprentices. Both Yin Kai and Huang Yu exited Midnight Hills with their troops.
“Go ahead, Yin Kai, have your points counted first,” Huang Yu said to Yin Kai.
Yin Kai waved his hands with a stormy expression as a pile of point-worthy metal pieces appeared out of thin air. As expensive as storage rings were, geniuses like the likes of him could still afford them.
496 points.
Yin Kai had a total of 496 points which was lesser than Xie Hong.
“Haha, it looks like I’ll be 30 spiritual crystals richer now, Xie Kuang! Yin Kai has less points than Xie Hong, so it’s impossible for him to get first place now!” Duanmu Jin chuckled.
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Duanmu Jin! Even if Yin Kai has lost, Duanmu Jue still might not win,” Xie Kuang refuted.
“Oh really? It doesn’t matter anyway since I’m still unbeatable as of now. Even if Duanmu Jue doesn’t win, I’m not the one losing,” Duanmu Jin jeered.
At the same time, Yin Kai’s face twisted in rage as he roared in his heart, ‘Lu Ming, I hope Duanmu Jue took the 500-point metal piece away from you.’
He would rather lose to Duanmu Jue than have Lu Ming win first prize.
At that moment, Lu Ming and Feng Wu exited the Midnight Hills.