Chapter 475: Chapter 460: Generous Terms!
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, this time I’ve truly come with full sincerity. If you still don’t agree, I might be criticized to death by the fellow Daoists of several other sects!"
In the cave residence of Xiao Ying, as soon as Zhao Hao entered and sat down, he half-jokingly, half-seriously warned Zhouyang.
Despite coming to seek help, he opened by warning, evidencing the tremendous pressure he felt.
Zhouyang, seeing this, maintained his composure and replied, "That depends on how sincere Elder Zhao truly is!"
"Besides the conditions agreed upon earlier, I’ll add one treasure that enhances core formation success, the ’Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill’, and a Tier Five Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact suitable for your use!"
"But the prerequisite is that you must win three consecutive matches and secure victory in one death match!"
Zhao Hao gestured with his fingers, stating the new conditions solemnly.
Zhouyang automatically ignored the latter part of his words and asked, puzzled, "What kind of treasure is the ’Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill’? Could Elder Zhao elaborate on it?"
Given his Ninth-Layer of Purple Mansion cultivation, he had naturally inquired about various auxiliary spiritual objects for core formation but could find no mention of Zhao Hao’s ’Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill’.
"The ’Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill’ is a secret spirit pill exclusive to the Pure Essence Temple, clearly ranking as a Tier Five Lower Grade, yet only useful for cultivators below the Golden Core Stage. If you take one, it can purify your magical power by two to three levels. The advantages of this need no further explanation from me!"
Zhao Hao finished speaking, and with great emotion, he said, "You’re indeed fortunate. Originally, Pure Essence Temple planned to dispatch their sect leader’s only son. Upon hearing of your ability to secure three consecutive wins, their sect leader decided against opposition to offer a ’Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill’ as a reward for your involvement."
"Even though Pure Essence Temple possesses the refining method for the ’Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill’, due to the rarity of materials, they could only refine one batch every few hundred years. Previously, Nascent Soul Stage cultivators sought for their juniors to form their core at the cost of owing favors, requesting one from Pure Essence Temple!"
The fact that a favor from Nascent Soul Stage cultivators is needed to obtain such a spirit pill alone speaks to the value of the ’Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill’.
If Zhao Hao hadn’t exaggerated the pill’s effects, the treasure indeed justified the worth.
Having heard Zhao Hao’s words, Zhouyang, after a slight contemplation, nodded, "In that case, Zhouyang will risk his life and accompany Elder Zhao on this journey!"
Ah!
Upon hearing Zhouyang finally agree, Zhao Hao also sighed in great relief, then a rush of joy filled his heart.
This time, running for Zhouyang’s matter wasn’t solely for the sect but also largely for himself.
If Zhouyang could secure three wins and win a death match, the benefits he received wouldn’t fall short of Zhouyang’s gains.
He immediately applauded and exclaimed, "Great! Now that Fellow Daoist Zhou has decided, let’s head to the frontline. The Cyan Origin Sword Sect leader will personally sign a contract with you then!"
Given its importance, even if Zhao Hao hadn’t mentioned it, Zhouyang would have requested it.
Without a contract, if they repent after his victory, he’d have nowhere to cry.
Next, Zhouyang instructed his Dao Companion, Xiao Ying, handed over the hidden ’Spiritual Treasure Token’ by Xu Song, as well as several usual storage rings for her to care for, taking only one storage ring filled with artifacts, spirit talismans, and elixirs to the frontline.
While he was confident of victory, caution should always be exercised.
Should anything happen, Xiao Ying could return to the Zhou Family with his treasures, securing the family for centuries.
The battlefield front was half a million miles from Haoyang Immortal City, requiring ten days to half a month of travel on Zhouyang’s own.
But Zhao Hao, eager to finalize matters, flew them there, arriving in half the time.
They directly proceeded to the heart camp of the Anti-Light Alliance, a fortress city, harboring over fifty thousand cultivators from the Anti-Light Alliance.
Within the city alone, there were hundreds of Purple Mansion Stage cultivators, sixty to seventy Golden Core Stage cultivators, and seven or eight Nascent Soul Stage cultivators stationed.
Separated by a thousand miles was another Immortal City, established by the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, gathering cultivators of equal prowess as those of the Anti-Light Alliance.
As it happened, just as Zhouyang and his companions reached the outskirts of the city, more than two thousand Qi Cultivation Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, led by several Golden Core Stage Cultivators and over a dozen Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators, exited the city gates and boarded several large warships, flying towards the front lines of the battlefield.
"Before the deathmatch officially begins, the war continues, and it will be even fiercer than before. If even half of these two thousand people return in the end, it would be considered a victory!"
On the azure clouds, Zhao Hao, seeing Zhouyang’s eyes on those departing warships, explained the intricate details to him with a heavy tone.
Due to this war, their Cyan Origin Sword Sect had also sent a considerable number of low-to-middle tier cultivators to enlist, suffering quite significant losses.
In fact, in every war between the Anti-Light Alliance and the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, it is these middle-tier sects that suffer the most, because they not only have to send low-to-middle tier cultivators, but also high-tier cultivators to participate in deathmatches.
Although the six top sects also send cultivators, and in greater numbers, these top sects have vast resources, and losing a few people does not impact their foundations. In a harsher sense, they can even use the war to weed out and select those with true potential and talent.
Moreover, cultivators from major sects participating in the deathmatches have a much higher winning probability than those from middle-tier sects.
As for those in small sects or clans, although they also send cultivators to enlist, most of them are old, weak, or infirm, only adding numbers and not being the main forces in the war.
Zhouyang, having already seen the war reports given by Jin Qu, naturally knew about the losses of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, and upon hearing Zhao Hao’s words full of emotion, he was left speechless and could only respond with silence.
Fortunately, Zhao Hao was not a sentimental person; after a moment of emotion, he quickly led Zhouyang into the Immortal City.
After entering the Immortal City, the two first went to the Cyan Origin Sword Sect’s station to meet with the Cyan Origin Sword Sect’s sect leader stationed there.
The current sect leader of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect was named Han Xiao, possessing Eighth-Layer Golden Core cultivation. His strength ranked second in the sect, only after the Grand Elder with Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivation.
Since the Cyan Origin Sword Sect does not have any Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, and that Ninth-Layer Golden Core Grand Elder often travels seeking the opportunity for Nascent Soul Formation, Han Xiao is the true highest authority within the Cyan Origin Sword Sect.
"Are you Fellow Daoist Zhou, whom Junior Brother Zhao has highly praised? Was it truly you who killed Ba Yan’Er of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace? Are you really confident in winning consecutively three times to aid our Cyan Origin Sword Sect in achieving victory in a deathmatch?"
Inside the Cyan Origin Sword Sect’s station, upon seeing Zhouyang who had arrived with Zhao Hao, Sect Leader Han Xiao first scrutinized him with eyes full of divine light, then unabashedly posed a trio of questions.
The prowess of Zhouyang was something Han Xiao had heard from Zhao Hao’s mouth; however, without witnessing it himself, he remained skeptical.
After all, the notion of a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator cutting down a Golden Core Stage cultivator is quite sensational. Even an injured Golden Core Stage cultivator should not be easily slain by a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator.
At the very least, even if the Golden Core Stage Cultivator is defeated, they should be able to escape, shouldn’t they?
Facing his question, Zhouyang calmly replied without any change in expression, "It was indeed I who killed Ba Yan’Er. As for having the confidence to win three consecutive victories, Sect Leader Han, if you had a better choice, I suppose you wouldn’t have agreed with Elder Zhao to come to me, right?"
Han Xiao, hearing Zhouyang admit to killing Ba Yan’Er, showed a flash of surprise in his eyes, then exchanged glances with Zhao Hao who had yet to speak, and finally nodded slightly saying, "Of course, I trust Junior Brother Zhao, but this matter is of great importance, and it involves not only our Cyan Origin Sword Sect. Before officially letting Fellow Daoist Zhou go on stage, I would like to assess Fellow Daoist Zhou’s abilities; would Fellow Daoist Zhou be willing to accept?"
Zhouyang furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, then cupped his hands and asked, "And how does Sect Leader Han intend to assess this junior?"
This was exactly the question Han Xiao was waiting for. Upon hearing it, he promptly replied, "If I were to personally assess you, it might seem like bullying the junior. How about this, if you compete with one of the same-tier cultivators from our Cyan Origin Sword Sect, and defeat him within thirty moves, you will be deemed to have passed the assessment!"
"Is that all?"
A flash of surprise in Zhouyang’s eyes was soon followed by a carefree smile, "If that’s the case, please have that fellow Daoist come over."
The outcome, of course, bore no suspense. The Purple Mansion Stage cultivator from the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, brought over to test Zhouyang, was trapped in a sword array by Zhouyang before he could land a few strikes, and, after several failed attempts to break free, simply admitted defeat obediently.
Following this, Zhouyang and Han Xiao signed a "Nether Blood Contract" according to the agreed terms, after which Zhouyang accepted the magical combat treasures given by Han Xiao and patiently awaited the deathmatch within the station.
The treasures included an attack talisman treasure crafted from a Tier Five Top Grade Magical Artifact, two Tier Five Lower-Grade Attack Spirit Talismans, and a small blue-green sword treasure sealing the divine techniques of a late-stage Golden Core Cultivator, all of them aggressive treasures.
This clearly showed just how brutal the deathmatch mode was.
At this moment, Zhouyang felt extremely fortunate to have dedicated himself to refining the "Profound Turtle Shield," a Tier Five Middle-Grade Defense Spiritual Artifact with robust defensive power. Otherwise, with his previous defensive means, he would have had no confidence to withstand the enemy’s attacks using so many high-power offensive treasures.
Half a year lingered at the Cyan Origin Sword Sect’s station until the battle between the Great Brightness Immortal Palace and the Anti-Light Alliance, which lasted for nineteen years, finally paused. Only then was Zhouyang summoned from the station to follow Han Xiao and Zhao Hao, the two Golden Core Stage cultivators from the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, to the City Lord’s Mansion within the Immortal City for the final pre-battle rally with the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.