If I upgrade, I can win prizes

Chapter 485 Spectators

High in the sky were suspended dense screens of light, all in the shape of perfect circles, some large and some small, displaying completely different scenes.

There were verdant forests, with dense trees constantly retreating; there were vast oceans, with sword qi sinking into the sea; there were human figures in different costumes, releasing various spells...

Next to each light curtain, there is a line of words formed by golden light, indicating the sect of the person being observed in the light curtain, as well as their names.

From time to time, a light curtain would suddenly turn white, pause for one or two seconds, and then suddenly go out and turn black. Then the light curtain disappeared, and other light curtains next to it began to grow larger and occupy its territory.

Hongluan was eating a bag of candied spiritual fruits while staring at a small light curtain in the sky.

The name "Xianlian Sect, Lu Mao" was displayed next to the light curtain. Inside was a young man with ordinary appearance, simple clothes, and who looked unremarkable at first glance. He was picking a few brown mushrooms from the roots of a big tree, carefully sealing them with a special jade box, and then putting them into a storage bag.

After picking for a while, a faint explosion sounded not far away, and a monk flashed past in the air within sight.

Lu Mao seemed to be very cautious. He decisively gave up the remaining mushrooms and sank into the ground in an instant. His vision instantly turned into a dark underground scene, fully demonstrating his outstanding ability to burrow underground.

Looking at the trial performance of her so-called "Taoist partner", Hongluan frowned, not knowing what to say. She simply could not understand his behavior these days.

Although he possesses an unparalleled handsome face, he deliberately becomes as ordinary as he is now. Although he possesses the strength of the Nascent Soul stage, he deliberately behaves like a newcomer who has just entered the Golden Core stage. He only picks some first- and second-level spiritual plants that have not yet turned into monsters, and he does not even touch the third-level spiritual plants.

Whenever he encountered trouble along the way, he would prioritize avoiding it, and would decisively dive into the ground at the slightest sign of trouble, highlighting his cowardice and fear of trouble, and his desire to just get a good ranking.

Before, he said he wanted to regain the title of the number one prodigy and placed such a huge bet. How could he possibly advance by relying on these first- and second-level things?
Due to his poor performance, the light curtain of his group of contestants was naturally the smallest among all the light curtains. If it weren't for the fact that all the cultivators had amazing eyesight and some were well-versed in pupil techniques, they wouldn't be able to see clearly the light curtain of this size.

In contrast, the light curtains of those popular Taoists were particularly large. Together, they covered most of the sky. Even mortals could probably see the scenes in the light curtains clearly.

Of course, the movements of Nascent Soul cultivators are so swift that mortals’ eyesight is absolutely incapable of keeping up. At most, they can only see some scenery and some messy lights.

As a person of Phoenix bloodline and possessing the gift of Phoenix eyes, Hongluan could see the fighting process of these Taoist geniuses very clearly.

For example, the number one ranked one, Li Laoyue of the Green Lotus Sword Sect, has the aura of a true peerless sword immortal. While reciting poems, he commands countless sword characters formed by ink that appear out of thin air, forming a mysterious sword formation. The sword energy soars into the sky, and even the spirit plants and monsters in the middle stage of the Spirit Transformation will be solved in a few breaths.

Even if it was those plants in the late stage of Return to Void, it would only take a little more time. Hongluan speculated that perhaps he might be able to fight against the spiritual plants and monsters in the Return to Void realm.

In addition, the Minglun of the Great Vajra Temple is also very impressive. It is said that it practices the Great Vajra Temple's secret martial art "Vajra Arhat Magic Skills". It can transform into a golden Arhat hundreds of feet tall in an instant, and can suppress the spiritual plants with one hand. Picking them is like picking firewood, which is indescribably easy and comfortable.

Dongfang Hao of the East Emperor Palace acted the most calm and composed. It seemed that those monsters had no intention of attacking or resisting him. He waved his hand and those monsters and spiritual plants twisted their bodies, transformed into their original forms, then quickly shrank and flew into his palms. People had no idea how he did it.

The other five Taoist geniuses also had outstanding performances, and their skills and techniques were all magical. However, in terms of actual combat performance and efficiency in subduing spiritual plants, they were still far behind the top three.

It is now the fifteenth day of the second round of trials, and in less than three days, this round of trials will be over.

However, the enthusiasm of the audience did not diminish in the slightest. Every street in the Golden Buddha City, every restaurant window, and every viewing platform were densely packed with people, all staring at the light curtain in the sky, watching the thrilling battle inside.

Of course, it is also necessary to form small circles to discuss and verify views with each other:
"Ah, two more are eliminated at once!"

"Shouldn't this kind of genius from a small family whose name no one has ever heard of be eliminated?"

"Yes, we have dug up so many spiritual materials in these few days, which is considered a great bargain. If we just take out some and sell them, it may be enough to cover the expenses of their sect for ten years."

“I have to say that the Brahma Sect has really invested a lot this time. We gave them so many excellent spiritual plants for free.”

"I heard that if there are intelligent spirits and spirits, the effect of refining pills will be better. I don't know if it's true."

"I'm an alchemist! I know! This is true! But it's not without consequences. If you take too much of this kind of elixir, you may develop inner demons when you advance to a higher realm. The wronged spirits of these spirit plants and monsters will blame you and ruin your Tao heart."

"That's it? That's it? Aren't spiritual plants born for us to cultivate? You're still blaming me? You want to ruin my faith? This is so funny. Kill me if you can! If you can, turn me into a pill and eat it. I won't say a word!"

……

"Too amazing! Really too amazing! This Li Laoyue is truly the best swordsman of the younger generation in the world. This sword formation and this sword power are really amazing! He will definitely win the championship this time!"

"I think so too. This guy is obviously much better than the Taoist from the previous Haoran Academy. I have already bet 10,000 spirit stones on him!"

"I don't think so. There are no dark horses this time. The number one prodigy is most likely to be one of the three sects of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. This time it is held by the Brahma sect, so you never know if they will make some small moves."

"Will you put Dongfang Hao and Li Laoyue together in the third round and let them play one round first? That way the loser will be eliminated and the winner will be seriously injured, and there will be no threat to Ming Lun."

"That can't be said. This Minglun is still very powerful. The Arhat's golden body seems to be invulnerable. Li Laoyue's poetry sword may not be able to break his defense."

"This Dongfang Hao is not bad either. He has a wood-type Taoist body and is a disciple of Daoist Master Jianmu. He can comprehend the great way of wood at all times. Who knows what trump cards he might have."

"I admit that the three of them are really strong, but the others may also be able to surprise! Not to mention the others, Zhang Yunling from the Pure Yang Taoist Palace is a possibility! This is the rarest Yang Spiritual Root Taoist Body! Moreover, I heard from my master that this guy is only one step away from being promoted to the Divine Transformation Realm! Once he crosses that realm, his chances of winning will be hard to say."

"He's the only one who can break through? Which of the top eight isn't at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage? Anyone can potentially achieve the Divine Transformation from Nascent Soul!"

……

"I heard that the Godblood Clan had another commotion last night."

"Long-browed Bodhisattva didn't say that the investigation had found out that it was the Zhurong Young Clan Leader who was stupid enough to put the Pure Land Talisman and the Huhu Jade into the storage bag, so he was beaten to death? What's so funny about this?"

"Who told them to be barbarians? They just know how to make trouble and insist that there is something wrong and that the man surnamed Zhu from the Lihuo Sect should pay for their lives."

“You want to pay with your life? The Lihuo Sect is also a seventh-tier sect. They are of the same origin and have the support of seven other seventh-tier sects. How could they be afraid of the Shenxue Clan? What a joke!”

"Who said it wasn't true? I didn't even know the common sense of using magic weapons. I let the magic weapons be isolated by the void and killed myself. What's so strange about that?"

"In the final analysis, you still haven't fully entered the world of cultivation. You've been a savage for too long, and you haven't changed your habit of eating raw meat and drinking blood, but you still know how to act recklessly."

"I seem to have heard that the few remaining members of the Godblood Clan lost all the spiritual plants they had!"

"They can even lose this? I was wondering why they have been looking for people to snatch the spiritual plant these days. It turns out that the spiritual plant is gone!"

……

"Your senior brother is really amazing! He has snatched another team. Now everyone in the team can get four fifth-level spiritual plants, right?" "Of course, Senior Brother Xie is the direct disciple of our master! No one in the younger generation of the sect dares to disobey him!"

"Yes, it's not just your Five Thunder Sect. Look, which of the geniuses from other sects doesn't obey him?"

"Alas, it's a pity that Senior Brother Xie's spiritual roots are still a little lacking in talent. If he had a body of thunder like Senior Uncle Lu He from the previous session, he might be able to compete for the title of the number one prodigy in the world of cultivation."

"Haha, even if I can't compete this time, it's still possible to get into the top ten. Besides, I've gained something in the end. Brother Xie might lose in the ring, but in the love field..."

"What do you mean? What love scene?"

"You've been watching for so long, but you still haven't noticed that there's something wrong with the way Zhuang Miaomiao from Shuiyue Sect looks at your senior brother?"

"Ah? Don't tell me, don't tell me, there's something in that look, the affection is almost overflowing!"

"Hahaha, it seems that Shuiyue Sect is not far from your Wulei Sect. I'm afraid that as soon as I go back this time, Shuiyue Sect will come to propose marriage!"

"Impossible! Impossible! Senior Brother clearly said that he..."

"say what?"

……

"I've counted. There are only 382 light screens left. The 64 people must be inside. If they are not, your bets can be voided."

"What gossip is there about this third round?"

"Didn't we say that we would be randomly divided into groups and fight each other in pairs? It's a pure competition of strength. What news do you want?"

"Hey, what I mean is, in the last fight with the Confucian School, they used the secret realm of the Jixia Academy, which can randomly produce completely different battle environments, but I have never heard that the Brahman School also has such a secret realm or magic weapon."

"Come to think of it, I haven't heard of it either. The towers in Brahma Gate are quite famous, but they don't fit in with a two-on-two duel."

"What's so difficult about this? These magic weapons for the ring are very easy to refine. Maybe I can refine a new one."

"If it's newly refined, it will be very easy to cheat. For example, if we give Dongfang Hao a lava arena and Li Laoyue a silent arena where he can't speak, then wouldn't the Brahma Sect definitely win?"

"This is unlikely. It's too embarrassing for the Brahma Sect to be so greedy. It's nothing more than a title of the number one genius. The Confucian Sect didn't get it last time, but it was still fine. With a large town, who dares to laugh at the Brahma Sect?"

"Yes, yes, yes, everyone should place your bets quickly. There are only two days left. Once the tournament starts, the betting will end!"

"I have five hundred middle-grade spirit stones here, bet on Li Laoyue!"

"Only five hundred? Only two to one? What's the point of winning? Um... bet two thousand on me, bet... on the paddle wheel!"

"The odds of 1 to 2.5 on Minglun are not that high."

"Who has the highest odds?"

"The weakest one currently is in the early stage of the Golden Core, Lu Mao from the Immortal Lotus Sect. The odds are 5,800 to 1, but this guy might be eliminated in the next two days, so you have to think carefully."

"Oh, never mind. I'll just bet on the paddle wheel."

……

After a cultivator reaches the Golden Core Stage, he basically does not need to sleep. Many times he chooses to sleep just to forget some worries and temporarily put aside some chaotic thoughts.

Hongluan now doesn't have much to worry about except for those tribesmen who are nowhere to be found. Since she got this cheap "Daoist partner", she has no shortage of various resources for cultivation, and the magic weapons on her are also powerful enough.

She was even confident that if she participated in this genius competition, she might be able to make it into the top 64 and become famous.

However, she was not the kind of person who was bloodthirsty, or seeking fame and fortune, or who wanted to get attention. She chose to buy some snacks and delicious vegetarian dishes like other spectators, and eat them while watching the fight in the sky.

Time passed quickly, and two days went by in a flash. As the end approached, the fight in the secret realm became more intense.

The vast majority of contestants have seen clearly that if they want to advance smoothly, they must obtain five fifth-level spiritual plants, and the quality and rank of the spiritual plants must be as high as possible.

Although the secret realm is large enough, the number of fifth-level spiritual plants inside is limited after all. Some of them are good at hiding and are deep underground, making them difficult to find. It becomes increasingly difficult to find more.

Everyone in turn turned their attention to the other participating geniuses. More and more people formed temporary teams, the fighting became more and more intense, and several people were eliminated almost every hour.

In just two days, there were only more than 120 light curtains left in the sky.

Moreover, except for a few powerful Daozi, most of the other geniuses with heavenly spiritual roots and earthly spiritual roots formed teams, with as few as seven or eight people and as many as more than ten people. They cooperated with each other and protected themselves, making it impossible for any team to easily defeat the other teams.

In the final moments, most people no longer looked for others to snatch the spiritual plants. Instead, they chose to hide and protect themselves until the end of this round of fighting.

Time passed little by little, and as Hongluan glanced over from time to time, a light curtain that had been dark until now suddenly lit up, revealing the scene on the surface.

In the light curtain named "Xianlian Sect, Lu Mao", this ordinary boy looked around in the woods and quickly found a spot of light not far away.

He quickly burrowed over and picked up the glowing bag.

He probed with magic power, and soon, seven or eight spiritual herbs and flowers filled with spiritual energy appeared in his hands. It was obvious at first glance that they were all extraordinary.

Not far away, a team of eight people seemed to have sensed something. After looking at each other, they rushed towards this side at full speed.

However, they were not fast enough.

The gentle yet majestic voice of the Long-Eyebrowed Bodhisattva has already sounded: "The second round of trials is over, everyone stop fighting!"

As he waved his hand, the light screens shattered and figures floated in the air.

(End of this chapter)