On stage and off stage

Chapter 37 On stage and off stage

"Fellow Daoist Mu, you flatter me."

On the martial arts arena, Zhou Chun looked at his opponent, whose protective shield he had broken and who was now holding his sword to his heart. He smiled, bowed respectfully, and put away his magical weapon.

This was his second martial arts duel. His opponent was a cultivator at the eighth level of the Qi Refining stage from the Mu family of Biyun Mountain, who did not possess any first-grade high-quality magic weapons.

Therefore, his victory was relatively easy, unlike the intense match in the first game.

After winning this match, only thirteen out of the fifty participants in the youth group will remain after the second round of martial arts competition.

Therefore, if Zhou Chun wins just one more game, he will directly enter the top ten.

However, even after stepping down from the ring, Zhou Chun still couldn't relax when looking at the remaining contestants.

Because the cultivators who are qualified to compete for the top ten are either those with late-stage Qi Refining cultivation and a first-grade high-quality magic weapon, or those with mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation and a first-grade high-quality magic weapon, just like him.

They're all tough people to deal with.

When the second round of the competition was over, only four members of the Zhou family, including Zhou Chun, remained on the field in the youth group.

The other three are Zhou Zhengkang, Zhou Zhengtao, and Zhou Zhengyong.

This result surprised many of the Zhou family cultivators.

On the contrary, the clan chief Zhou Daoyi in the audience seemed to have expected this and was not surprised at all.

During the family selection competition, Zhou Chun did not use a first-grade high-quality magic weapon, so he knew what Zhou Chun was planning.

As for Zhou Zhengyong, after his spirit pet, the Red-tailed Monkey, advanced to a first-tier high-grade demon beast, his strength was no less than that of an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

In addition, they were lucky and didn't encounter any particularly strong opponents, so winning two games in a row is not surprising.

Both Zhou Zhengkang and Zhou Zhengtao are at the late stage of Qi Refining and possess first-grade high-quality magic weapons, so they can eliminate their opponents based on their strength alone.

The third round of drawing lots began soon.

This time, Zhou Chun drew the Ding Er Yin number, and his opponent will draw the Ding Er Yang number.

"Bad luck! I wish I had gotten number three!"

He looked at the wooden stick in his hand and couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

Since only fifteen people are competing for the top ten spots, the person who draws number three can wait until the fourteen people ahead of them have finished competing for the top seven spots, and then compete with the seven eliminated people for the remaining three spots.

This way, the opponent will definitely be in worse shape than you, who has been resting and recuperating, because they have fought an extra battle. You can also get a clear understanding of the opponent's methods through the previous seven battles.

However, since the draw has already taken place, there's no point in saying anything now; all we can do is wait patiently for our turn to play.

To Zhou Chun's surprise, the first match was an internal battle among the four cultivators of the Zhou family.

The two people who drew number one were none other than Zhou Zhengkang and Zhou Zhengyong from the Zhou family!

"Sigh, I never expected to be paired with you, Seventh Brother. Looks like this is my last chance!"

On the stage, Zhou Zhengyong looked at Zhou Zhengkang opposite him with a frustrated expression and sighed.

He was no match for Zhou Zhengkang, who was at the tenth level of the Qi Refining stage. Therefore, in order to avoid wasting Zhou Zhengkang's magic power, he had no choice but to admit defeat and leave the arena.

After stepping off the stage, Zhou Zhengyong went straight to Zhou Chun's side and cheered him on, saying, "Thirteenth brother, it's up to you now. You must make it into the top ten!"

Seeing that the gloomy look on his face had not yet dissipated, Zhou Chun couldn't help but comfort him, "Brother Yong, don't be discouraged. This time you took the initiative to back down for the sake of the overall situation. After you return to the family, the clan leader will most likely compensate you."

Unexpectedly, Zhou Zhengyong sighed after hearing this, "Ah, I don't care about those things, but I just told Miss Yu Jiao that I would definitely make it into the top ten. How am I supposed to face her now!"

Miss Yu Jiao?

Zhou Chun was slightly taken aback, then recalled the female cultivators he had talked with the day before, and soon the image of a big-eyed female cultivator wearing a pale yellow dress came to mind.

The other party seems to be from the Sun family of Jinfengling, and her name seems to be Sun Yujiao?

Who would have thought Zhou Zhengyong was so quick to act?

He couldn't help but smile and comfort her, "Brother Yong, don't worry. I think Miss Yu Jiao is a reasonable person. Your humility in yielding to your cousin for the sake of the bigger picture might earn you her even more appreciation. Besides, this also gives you another reason to get closer to her!"

"Yeah?"

Zhou Zhengyong paused slightly, then murmured to himself, half worried and half expectant, "Then I truly hope it's as you say, Thirteenth Brother!"

Seeing his anxious and uncertain expression, Zhou Chun was surprisingly understanding.

As far as he knew, this was Zhou Zhengyong's first love, although it seemed that it might be unrequited love at the moment.

Soon after, Zhou Zhengtao, the eighth member of the "Zheng" generation in the Zhou family, also took the stage.

After a hard-fought battle, Zhou Zhengtao successfully defeated his opponent and advanced to the top ten.

In this way, even if Zhou Chun fails, the Zhou family will still have two people in the top ten of the youth group, so they won't be ranked last among the five major cultivation families.

Therefore, Zhou Daoyi, the clan chief in the audience, also smiled and completely relaxed.

After waiting for about an hour, until the previous six rounds of combat were over, Zhou Chun finally took to the stage.

"He Chengfeng of the He family in Qingzhushan."

"Zhou Zhengchun of the Zhou family of Jiufengling."

On the stage, Zhou Chun and his opponent introduced themselves and then looked at each other with serious expressions, waiting for the referee to announce the start.

Meanwhile, in the audience, as the final match of the top seven in the youth group began, Wang Zhixiong, the patriarch of the Wang family, suddenly narrowed his small eyes and looked at Zhou Daoyi and the patriarch of the He family beside him, saying, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, Fellow Daoist He, who do you think will win this match?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoyi immediately raised his eyelids, glanced at him, and then said calmly, "It's normal for anyone to win or lose. Does Fellow Daoist Wang have some brilliant insight?"

"I wouldn't call it a brilliant insight, but I feel that the one who will ultimately win is that young Daoist from the Zhou family."

Wang Zhixiong's eyes darted around, and he quietly voiced his opinion.

As soon as he said this, the He family patriarch became somewhat displeased and said, "Fellow Daoist Wang, what makes you so sure? My Cheng Feng is clearly more powerful and also possesses a high-grade first-tier magic weapon. How can you be so certain that he will lose to that young fellow Daoist from the Zhou family?"

Upon seeing this, Wang Zhixiong waved his hand and said, "Fellow Daoist He, please don't be upset. I was just expressing my opinion."

After saying that, he continued, "The reason why I think this way is, of course, because of the spirit pet of that young fellow Daoist from the Zhou family. It is a rock tortoise spirit pet with the same cultivation level as him. In addition, it is this kind of arena battle. The impact of this on the outcome of the battle is much greater than that of a mere first level of cultivation."

Upon hearing this, the He family patriarch did not immediately refute it.

Meanwhile, the Sun family patriarch, who was watching the spectacle from the sidelines, echoed, "Fellow Daoist Wang is right. This kind of arena competition has a huge advantage for cultivators who tame spirit pets."

At this point, he looked at Zhou Daoyi, half-jokingly and half-seriously, and said, "It seems that for the next similar event, in order to prevent our fellow Daoists from stealing the spotlight, we'll have to change the rules of the martial arts competition!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoyi immediately waved his hand with a serious expression and said, "Fellow Daoist Sun, I disagree with what you say. Why are the cultivators of my Zhou family generally lagging behind those of your families in terms of cultivation? Isn't it all because we've invested a lot of resources in raising spirit pets? If you don't allow my Zhou family cultivators to bring spirit pets into battle, wouldn't that be like tying their own hands?"

After speaking, he glanced at the clan leaders and said, "Besides, taming spirit pets isn't a skill unique to the Zhou family. If you fellow cultivators feel that bringing spirit pets is an advantage, then you can let your younger generations tame spirit pets and bring them into battle!"

These words left Wang Zhixiong and the others looking at each other in bewilderment, unsure how to respond.

In theory, Zhou Daoyi's statement is certainly correct.

However, there are significant problems in actual operation.

Let's not even talk about how they managed to equip every member of their family with a spirit pet.

Even if they are equipped with them, as Zhou Daoyi said, it will still take a lot of resources for a spirit pet to quickly develop combat power and catch up with its master in terms of cultivation.

Instead, not every cultivator is willing to spend their spirit coins on spirit pets.

After a moment of silence, Wang Zhixiong chuckled and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhou has quite the plan!"

He looked at Zhou Daoyi with a smile and said in a joking tone, "If every family really let their members raise spirit pets, I'm afraid the Zhou family's spirit pet growth pills would sell out!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoyi chuckled and said, "Hehehe, Fellow Daoist Wang is joking. If that were the case, the Wang family would be making a profit no matter what, since the medicinal herbs for alchemy still need to be supplied by your Wang family!"

Amidst their lighthearted banter, the group tacitly moved past the earlier topic of restricting spirit pets from participating in battles.

Meanwhile, on the arena, Zhou Chun's battle with his opponent had reached a critical moment.

(End of this chapter)