Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 537: Encounter With a Loner

"It's starting, it's starting! The betting window is closing soon. If you don't place your bets now, you'll miss out!"

At the foot of the mountain, a betting stand had been set up by a reputable bookmaker[1] from Taotie City, specifically for the cultivators of the immortal sects.

A hundred wooden paddles were hung on the wall behind him, inscribed with the names and odds of the sects participating in the Competition of the Hundred Sects. The bets were on which teams would make it into the top ten.

At that moment, a young man with thick eyebrows and an aura filled with exuberant yang qi strolled over, glancing at the odds on the wall.

He exclaimed, "Wow! You've got the Penglai Supreme Sect at 30-to-1 and Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals at 10-to-1... but Mount Shu Sect is at 3-to-1? That's crazy! And Earthfire Sect is even worse at 1-to-1."

"Heheh, we base our odds on past performances and the current disciples' potential. The Mount Shu Sect hasn't made the top ten in four consecutive assemblies, and with so many strong competitors this time, their odds of winning are naturally lower," the bookmaker explained. "But if you believe in the Mount Shu Sect, you're welcome to place a bet for an upset!"

"Hmph." The young man grinned. "Of course, I will. I'm just worried you won't be able to pay up when the time comes."

"Don't worry. We've been running the Azure Dragon Betting Parlor for two hundred years. Our reputation is solid," the bookmaker assured. "We have a large establishment in Taotie City. If we can't pay, we'll give you the whole betting parlor."

"All right." The young man nodded and handed over a jade talisman. "I'll bet it all on the Mount Shu Sect."

The bookmaker was very experienced, yet when he held the jade talisman, he was so shocked that his gaze wavered. "This... this much?"

"Yep, that much. Do you dare take it?" the young man asked.

"Well... let me check," the bookmaker said, placing the jade talisman down.

He rushed to the back and used an enchanted tool to contact someone.

After a while, he ran back to the young man with a smile. "Our boss says we'll take any amount. If you win, we guarantee that you'll be paid in full."

The bookmaker then handed the young man a bamboo slip marked with a seal.

The young man turned and walked away. There were many eyes on him, curious about the identity of the young man who had surprised the bookmaker.

A beautiful female cultivator approached the young man and struck up a conversation. "Young hero, which sect are you from? That bet you placed really startled the bookmaker!"

"Heheheh," the young man laughed. "It's just a bit of pocket money. I'm just playing around."

"As for me..." he said, flipping his hair back, "I'm known in the martial world as the Mount Shu Sect's most romantic man—Lin Bei."

...

Whoosh.

When the summons of the Divine Mirror of the Eight Trigrams ended and the golden light dissipated, the four representatives from the Mount Shu Sect truly did find themselves on a lush, green hillside.

Recalling the landscape that had flashed in their minds earlier, they confirmed that this was indeed the hill in the rolling plains that Jiang Yuebai had chosen.

"Let's proceed according to the plan. I'll go scout the area," Chu Liang told his teammates. "You three follow me but keep a safe distance. Be ready to support me at any moment. We'll clear the area around this hill first."

"Got it," Jiang Yuebai replied with a nod. Gazing at Chu Liang, she said, "Be extra careful."

Chu Liang smiled. "Don't worry."

With that, he leaped into the air and darted off.

The four of them had trained many times in the Primordial Chaos Hidden Realm for situations like this. They had also sparred with senior disciples of their sect and learned many valuable lessons from them.

In the Competition of the Hundred Sects, it was crucial for the participants to gather information on their surroundings. A cultivator's divine sense had its limits, and the range of detection was roughly the same for cultivators at the same realm. Once someone spotted their opponent, it usually meant their opponent had spotted them too.

This was why experienced teams would send out a scout to act as the team's arrowhead, scouting ahead in every direction they intended to go. Doing that extended the team's range of detection. If the scout encountered strong enemies or unforeseen danger, they could relay the information back in time, allowing most of the group to avoid the crisis.

These insights had been passed down through generations of disciples. This was one of the advantages of being from an established immortal sect. New sects participating in the Assembly of Immortal Sects for the first time often suffered due to not having that advantage.

For instance, there was a team like that not far ahead of Chu Liang.

The Wandering Deities Temple was an ancient Daoist temple just outside the capital of Yu. A thousand years ago, this temple enjoyed a brilliant reputation and renown. However, the temple's reputation had since been in decline for a long time, with no powerful cultivators emerging in nearly a millennium.

This year's Assembly of Immortal Sects was different though. Ten years ago, one of the temple's disciples discovered a hidden realm behind a statue and unearthed the long-lost second volume of their sect's cultivation manual, the Wandering Deities Art. With the complete cultivation manual, the current generation of disciples made soaring progress in their cultivation and charged into the Competition of the Hundred Sects for the first time.

When the Wandering Deities Temple's team chose their landing spot, they had opted for safety and selected a hill in the plains—the same one Jiang Yuebai had chosen. It wasn't uncommon for multiple teams to choose the same landing spot.

The four Daoist monks from the Wandering Deities Temple had the same idea as the Mount Shu Sect team—to first clear the area around the hill first. However, unlike the Mount Shu Sect team, the four Daoist monks chose to move together.

Soon after, they detected a figure approaching them swiftly.

"Someone's all alone?" one of the younger Daoist monks chuckled. "That's practically a free soul crystal being delivered to us!"

"Do not underestimate the enemy," the team's leader cautioned. "Get into formation. We'll start things off with him!"

...

As the scout, Chu Liang naturally detected the presence of the four Daoist monks within the range of his divine sense. Nevertheless, instead of alerting his teammates, he decided to face them alone.

The Wandering Deities Temple served the Day and Night Wandering Deities. Their cultivation art, the Wandering Deities Art, allowed their monks to call upon the power of those deities, giving them vastly different abilities during the day and night.

During the day, they invoked the Day Wandering Deity. They would become monstrously ferocious and immensely strong and muscular. At night, they invoked the Night Wandering Deity. They would gain heightened senses and the ability to move stealthily without a trace.

Since it was currently daytime, they received a boost in combat power from the Day Wandering Deity.

Yet, Chu Liang showed no fear. He flew straight toward them. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before the four Daoist monks.

I've waited so long for this day. It's finally here. I'll start this Competition of the Hundred Sects with you! Chu Liang thought.

Boom!

Seeing Chu Liang charge at them alone, the Daoist monks from the Wandering Deities Temple were surprised. They assumed he was merely bait and that his teammates would spring out once he got close. As a precaution, two of the Daoist monks positioned themselves on the sides to guard against an ambush.

However, Chu Liang simply charged over, landing right in front of the two Daoist monks in the middle with a resounding crash.

Chu Liang was shrouded in blazing qi flames. It was clear that he was running his Qi-Circulation Technique at full force; his foundational qi was circulating at the maximum circulation speed!

"How bold!"

The two young Daoist monks in front of Chu Liang furrowed their eyebrows and activated the hand seals they had prepared in advance.

Thud, crack.

Thunderous sounds rang out from them as they transformed into incarnates of the Day Wandering Deity, growing taller and larger. They each thrust a hand toward Chu Liang in unison, attacking with a palm strike—Two Spirits Strike the Gate!

Blood flames and whistling winds curled around theirs. If their strikes were to land, even a small mountain would tremble from the massive force they contained.

Yet, Chu Liang didn't dodge at all.

So, you think you're strong? Let's see who's stronger.

He threw his fists forward, meeting the Daoist monks' palm strikes head-on. Chu Liang was taking the two monks on alone!

Boom! Boom!

The hill they stood on did indeed tremble, and the ground cracked beneath them. Chu Liang's fists slammed against the iron palms of the two Day Wandering Deity incarnates, yet he didn't take a single step back.

On the other hand, a tremor ran up from the hands of the two Day Wandering Deity incarnates to their shoulders, accompanied by the cracking sound of shattering bone. They lost.

Over the past few months, Chu Liang had made further progress in the White Dragon's cultivation legacy, advancing to the third realm. His strength had now reached a level that no physical cultivator at the same realm could ever reach.

The Day Wandering Deity incarnates were extremely strong, but they could not subdue this humanoid True Dragon!

Whoosh.

With just one strike, Chu Liang severely injured the two incarnates of the Day Wandering Deity.

As the other two Daoist monks closed in, crimson-gold flames suddenly ignited all over the two injured Day Wandering Deity incarnates. This was Divine Dragon Fire!

It turned out that when Chu Liang punched their palms earlier, his fists had been enveloped in flames.

He had learned this move from Di Nufeng. It was a combination of divine fire and overwhelming strength. If the punches were not enough to kill the opponent, the fire would. If the fire didn't work, then the punches surely would in the end...

At this point, Chu Liang's fighting style was like the poor man's version of Di Nufeng's fighting style.

Many cultivators might use their foundational qi to defend themselves against the divine fire. However, the impact of a heavy strike would often disperse the foundational qi and allow the fire to burn the cultivators even more quickly, crippling their combat abilities.

As the two injured Day Wandering Deity incarnates cried out in pain from the Divine Dragon Fire, Chu Liang followed up with another punch, sending them crashing to the ground.

By the time the remaining two Daoist monks arrived, their companions had already burned to death and disappeared.

Chu Liang was once again facing two opponents alone, but no one would think he was at a disadvantage.

He roared as he swung his right fist at the Day Wandering Deity incarnate on the left. The punch caused the Daoist monk to explode in midair, dying the grass red.

Seeing that Chu Liang had his back turned, the Day Wandering Deity incarnate on the right thought it was his chance to attack. He raised his iron fist, wrapped in blazing blood flames, and swung it at Chu Liang.

But in the next moment, Chu Liang vanished.

Instead, a figure that was like the god of devils appeared behind the young Daoist monk. The terrifying heat and pressure at his back made him realize what had happened.

It's Dimension Compression.

That's quite shameless.

Weren't we competing with our strength and trading punches? Why did you suddenly use an immortal art?

This isn't very fair.

As that thought crossed the young Daoist monk's mind, a deafening explosion rang out. He did not get to hear it though.

The Wandering Deities Temple team was eliminated. The four Daoist monks hadn't even lasted a quarter of an hour in the Competition of the Hundred Sects.

Chu Liang had wiped them out alone. They were swift and clean kills. There were no bodies left on the ground, just four gleaming purple soul crystals.

Chu Liang withdrew his Divine Dragon Fire and shook his hands.

My teacher's methods are simple, crude, and brutal, but they are undeniably effective.

Right then, Chu Liang received a message on the United Hearts Jade. His teammates had likely sensed the commotion on his end.

[Jiang Yuebai]: "Is everything okay? Need any help?"

[Chu Liang]: "No need. I ran into four guys out here alone. I've already taken care of them."

1. A person who determines odds and receives and pays off bets ☜