Chapter 194 - 190: Want to Become a Fierce Ghost in the Hundred Ghosts Banner?

After long preparations, the Holy Blood Sect’s Centennial Competition had finally begun.

Many cultivators, who were usually frustrated and unsuccessful, lacked the qualifications to compete for the position of True Inheritor due to being over the age limit or for other reasons.

But this Centennial Competition offered them a chance for a meteoric rise.

Whoever took first place would immediately become one of the three True Inheritors of this generation!

After the competition, the struggle for the True Inheritor positions would accelerate, reaching a fever pitch. It would be a bloodbath to determine the other two True Inheritors.

If the fight for the True Inheritor positions was a bloody feast for young geniuses...

Then the Sect’s Centennial Competition was a frenzy for everyone.

Aside from Bai Shaofeng, not a single True Successor Candidate would dare claim they had a guaranteed victory in the Centennial Competition.

Unfortunately, Bai Shaofeng was dead, and those who remained were all mediocre...

As if.

When Du Youqian burst onto the scene, advancing triumphantly and winning every battle, many people were astonished.

’This kid’s momentum is unstoppable. It looks like he has a real shot at having the last laugh!’

Someone specifically went to consult Master Chen, asking him to perform a divination and calculate Yu Fei’s chances of victory.

Master Chen puffed out his beard and glared. "I’ve already done the calculation, but why should I tell you? I know none of you believe me. You think my divinations are inaccurate. Hmph! The Dao of Divination is a subtle art, and its true mastery lies in intuition. What do you people know about divination? You must understand..."

After a long, rambling lecture, Master Chen, still not quite finished, added, "That Yu Fei kid? He’s quite good, it’s true. But unfortunately, his stars are misaligned this year. He’s just a bit lacking. Taking first place? He doesn’t have a prayer."

Master Chen truly lived up to his nickname: the Market-Crashing Master.

As soon as he said it, the odds on Du Youqian winning immediately dropped from 11-to-1 to 4-to-1.

He instantly shot up to become the top favorite.

As for why the odds were 4-to-1 instead of 1-to-1, it wasn’t because there were many people who refused to believe the superstition.

It was because the bookmaker, a True Inheritor from the previous generation who was now a Core Formation Master, had locked the betting pool, no longer allowing wagers on Yu Fei winning.

He complained to everyone he met that he was going to lose so much money he’d be coughing up blood.

But who would dare pressure a Core Formation Master?

They could only let him be.

Of course, the truth was that not many people had bet on Du Youqian before, so at most, this Master would only earn a little less. In reality, he was still making a profit.

Losing money?

From ancient times to the present, whoever heard of the house losing?

Meanwhile, Meng Xiao had received some friendly support from Du Youqian, cobbling together a full set of Top Grade Equipment by way of an interest-free loan.

He too was winning battle after battle, his momentum unstoppable.

The price, however, was that the money he owed Du Youqian would take him almost three hundred years to repay.

If he didn’t reach the Golden Core Realm, he’d never be able to clear his debt...

「One day.」

After winning another match, Meng Xiao ran over to Du Youqian’s place and carefully took back the Soul-Imbued Jade.

’In a battle, who knows what kind of tricks the opponent might have?’

He didn’t dare carry the fragile Xi Mengran with him, so he always left the Soul-Imbued Jade with Du Youqian before every match.

Du Youqian deliberately teased him. "You might as well refine her into the Hundred Ghosts Banner. With her talent, she could quickly become a Fierce Ghost at the peak of Foundation Establishment."

Meng Xiao said angrily, "Fellow Daoist Yu, what kind of joke is that!"

The Fierce Ghosts in a Hundred Ghosts Banner possessed a sliver of spiritual wisdom and the instinct to slaughter and devour living souls, but they had no emotions whatsoever.

Of course, even ordinary Ghost Cultivators had very few emotions.

The generation of emotions is heavily dependent on the various hormonal secretions of a physical body.

Ghost Cultivators don’t even have bodies, so what damn hormones could they secrete?

Any emotions they felt were bland and faint.

Du Youqian smiled. "Wasn’t that a funny joke?"

Meng Xiao gritted his teeth. "Not funny at all!"

Xi Mengran emerged from the Soul-Imbued Jade, her upper body translucent like blue smoke, and looked at Du Youqian with curiosity and a hint of nervousness.

"What about you? Think it’s funny? Want to go become a Fierce Ghost in the Hundred Ghosts Banner?" Du Youqian asked her.

Xi Mengran shook her head. It was unclear whether it was out of fear or shyness, or if she simply didn’t understand, but she shrank back into the jade.

Her current strength was only equivalent to the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Cultivation, and her intelligence was that of an ordinary child.

She was incredibly fragile.

Du Youqian sighed inwardly.

’Meng Xiao has poured so many resources into her.’

’If those resources were invested in normal cultivators with Upper Grade Spirit Roots, forget about the elusive Core Formation Realm, he could have trained at least five or six cultivators to the peak of Foundation Establishment.’

’Investing in Xi Mengran always seemed like throwing money down the drain.’

But while Meng Xiao’s investment might be going down the drain, Du Youqian’s was paying off handsomely.

’You could spend resources to raise a cultivator to the peak of Foundation Establishment, but who could guarantee that person would be completely obedient and willing to go through hell and back for you?’

’You’d be lucky if they didn’t just stab you in the back.’

But Meng Xiao would obey Du Youqian’s every command.

That’s why Du Youqian felt his investment was very profitable.

Moreover, Meng Xiao’s chances of reaching Core Formation were not small.

His future was promising.

’Just imagine it, having a Core Formation slave in the future... The thought was just too beautiful.’

This was especially true after Meng Xiao defeated the fourth-ranked True Successor Candidate and successfully entered the top eight, just as he had hoped.

Along the way, he had genuinely helped Du Youqian eliminate some obstacles.

And Du Youqian himself had also smoothly advanced into the top eight.

He had fought his way here without even using his trump cards.

Although it couldn’t be said that he had won effortlessly, he had taken down every opponent cleanly and decisively.

He hadn’t even used the Blood Burning Art, the Reverse Blood Qi Transformation Technique, or the Red Blood Seven Transitions Technique.

By this point, he had finally made a great name for himself within the Holy Blood Sect.

Previously, while Du Youqian was seen as a formidable figure by those in the know, he had always stayed far from the center of power and thus hadn’t left a deep impression on most.

When he first entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, he had stunningly defeated Xi Mengran, but his Realm was too low at the time to attract much attention.

Later, the incident where he suppressed the Taihe Sect’s late-stage Foundation Establishment Guardian Envoy with just three sword strikes caused his name to circulate within the Sect for a while.

But since no one was constantly promoting him, he was soon overshadowed by other events.

After that came the time he killed the sixth-ranked True Successor Candidate, Liu Chixin, in "self-defense."

The contest for True Inheritor was always the center of attention in the Sect.

Liu Chixin’s ranking was not low, so Du Youqian’s ability to kill him naturally caught the eye of certain observant individuals, who regarded him as a powerful rival.

But following his subsequent decade of inactivity and his voluntary renunciation of his True Successor Candidate qualification, people slowly stopped paying attention to him.

Who would have thought that ten years later, Du Youqian would voluntarily participate in the Sect’s grand competition and blaze a trail through the ranks with a stunning display!

Thus, Du Youqian’s fame among the younger generation was, for the moment, unrivaled.

Du Youqian also gave orders for Gu Xiaofang, Meng Xiao, and Luo Jinyu to start spreading the word; he was planning to establish his own small faction.

Of course, he would only truly establish it after he became a True Inheritor.

Otherwise, it would be a pointless endeavor.

But by putting out feelers now, many people could begin to observe and make their choices.

Sure enough, once the news spread, respondents flocked to him. Many Outer Sect Disciples in the Qi Cultivation Realm eagerly signed up, wanting to become Du Youqian’s followers.

The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were still watching from the sidelines. However, many had spoken privately with Gu Xiaofang and Meng Xiao, expressing their intention to pledge allegiance, either directly or indirectly. They were just dragging their feet, taking no further action, waiting for the dust of the competition to settle.

This was all to be expected.

Although this approach might attract a large number of opportunists,

Du Youqian wasn’t looking to cultivate more devotedly loyal subordinates anyway.

This time, he just planned to find a group of reasonably obedient and capable people to handle all sorts of mundane affairs for him, and occasionally, to help him keep up appearances.

Confidants like Meng Xiao, Gu Xiaofang, Luo Jinyu, and Fang Hua, to whom he could entrust his life, were truly a rare and precious find.

In the quarterfinals, Du Youqian’s opponent was the second-ranked True Successor Candidate, Nong Jiasong.

Years ago, he had only been ranked twelfth. But after making a deal with Du Youqian, he reported a mineral deposit to the Sect and received an extremely generous contribution reward.

Over the years, he had converted those resources into strength, and his ranking had risen dramatically.

Therefore, in his view, Du Youqian, who could slay the sixth-ranked True Successor Candidate back then, must have also improved over the years and could not be underestimated.

Du Youqian was unaware of these thoughts.

But standing on the Life and Death Arena, Du Youqian keenly sensed that Nong Jiasong was extremely wary of him, perhaps even... a little fearful. Seeing this, Du Youqian decisively launched the first attack.

His Flying Sword moved like an antelope hanging by its horns, leaving no trace. Each strike forced Nong Jiasong to use all his strength just to block, leaving him no opportunity to counterattack.

Throughout the competition, Du Youqian had consistently used his Flying Sword, displaying the flair of a Sword Cultivator who could break ten thousand techniques with a single blade.

But Du Youqian knew he wasn’t any Sword Cultivator.

’The sword was a tool to him, as was Magic, as were Spiritual Artifacts.’

’As long as he could win, he wouldn’t limit himself to any particular method.’

Of course, the Life and Death Arena had its own set of rules. The use of Talisman Treasures, Outer Pills, Talismans, and portable arrays was forbidden. Contestants were also prohibited from borrowing power from their elders, which included using their elders’ Top Grade Spiritual Artifacts or Treasures. These rules existed to prevent the magical combat from becoming a contest of wealth, which would make it difficult for talented but poorly connected disciples to get ahead.

As for Talisman Masters, Artifact Refiners, Array Masters, and the like, they had other opportunities to make a name for themselves; there was no need for them to compete for the top spot in the grand competition.

For Du Youqian, these rules were...

No restriction at all.

His Flying Sword moved without a trace, its Sword Intent appearing and disappearing like a phantom, suppressing Nong Jiasong so completely that he didn’t dare lift his head.

Meanwhile, Du Youqian strolled leisurely, circling Nong Jiasong twice.

Then, wind and fire suddenly erupted within the arena, and thunder rumbled overhead.

It was the Tier Two Array that Du Youqian had set up on the spot, now activated.

Nong Jiasong, of course, did not dare remain trapped in the array and used every trick he had to try and escape.

But no matter which direction he tried to break out from, the Flying Sword "Jinhuan" was waiting for him, exuding an edge that seemed sharp enough to cut through anything.

Nong Jiasong could see that Du Youqian still had energy to spare; while suppressing him, he was also tossing out materials to set up another array, though of what kind, he couldn’t tell.

Then, a Hundred Ghosts Banner appeared in Du Youqian’s hand.

A few breaths later, Nong Jiasong knew that if he didn’t want to take a trip into that Hundred Ghosts Banner, his only option was to cut his losses.

"I surrender! Brother Yu, you are too powerful. I willingly concede defeat!"

The Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Bright Law Hall announced without a trace of personal emotion, "Quarterfinals, Arena C. Yu Fei is the victor!"

Du Youqian extended a hand, recalling the Flying Sword "Jinhuan."

With a flick of his left sleeve, he retrieved all the Array Materials, then smiled as he accepted the pale-faced Nong Jiasong’s respectful concession.