Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

"The Nineteen Elders?" Looking down at the old man whose realm he couldn’t perceive in the slightest, Mu Chen asked curiously, "I thought the Ding Palace only had a few senior Elders?"

Cang Mei chuckled softly. "You jest, Saint Heir. The Ding Palace is the leader of the Nine Hidden Families. If it were only the seven of us, how could we possibly ensure the Palace’s safety?"

The hot-tempered Third Elder nodded. "That’s right. The Ding Palace has ninety-nine Elders in total. Thirty are Holy Mark Tripod Masters in the Venerable Realm, whose alchemy talents are outstanding but their Martial Arts Realms are somewhat lacking. The other sixty-nine have all reached the Saint Realm."

To be blunt, if he didn’t possess the White Dragon Cauldron and the Golden Dragon Scripture, none of the Elders present would have given Mu Chen the time of day. In their eyes, his Martial Arts Realm was completely unremarkable. Twenty years old, yet only a paltry Four-Ring Emperor Realm—by all accounts, he was a mediocre, low-level Martial Artist. They couldn’t fathom what had possessed the White Dragon Cauldron and Golden Dragon Scripture to choose such a person as their master.

"Sixty-nine!!"

Of course, Mu Chen was oblivious to the Third Elder’s petty thoughts. But even he couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing that number. He was finally beginning to understand what a Hidden Clan truly was. In a Hidden Clan, it seemed Venerable Realm experts were as common as Sect Realm Martial Artists in a Dynasty, Saint Realm experts were like Emperor Realm Martial Artists, and High-level Saint Realm experts were like Venerable Realm Martial Artists. Such numbers... no wonder it was said that any single family from the heart of the Central State had the power to annihilate an entire Dynasty. Hearing it now, it didn’t sound like an exaggeration at all!

"Since the Ding Palace’s primary focus is on Alchemy Skill, our Martial Arts Realms differ slightly from the other eight families, but not by much. We have also been concentrating on improving our Martial Arts Realms and practical combat experience these past few years," Cang Mei continued.

Like Wan Xianlin, he had lived longer than anyone else in the Ding Palace, and his ability to read people was second to none. The two of them had long seen that the others were merely putting on a polite front for Mu Chen while inwardly seething with resentment. But only they knew: how could a person acknowledged by both the White Dragon Cauldron and the Golden Dragon Scripture be some simpleton? This boy with the strange eyes had to be extraordinary in some way! They were certain that it wouldn’t be long before he revealed just how extraordinary he was.

He understood the implication behind Elder Cang Mei’s words, but he truly wasn’t interested in the internal affairs of the Ding Palace. He simply nodded and let the matter drop.

Below, the white-robed old man who called himself Elder An was still speaking.

"For this recruitment contest, we will not be testing your alchemy techniques or your Cauldron Master rank. The one thing the Ding Palace has in abundance is Cauldron Masters! What you must do is fight! Whoever is stronger, whoever is more capable of protecting our lady, will earn the right to be her partner! Of course, if our lady takes a fancy to any one of you, he will pass automatically without needing to compete! Do I make myself clear?!"

No one below spoke, but Elder An paid it no mind and continued, "Very good. Then I’ll get straight to the point. There are no restrictions in this competition, and no brackets. If you think you have what it takes, come on up! Someone will naturally challenge you. The loser is eliminated immediately. The winner steps down to rest, and the next pair takes the stage. We’ll continue this way—loser out, winner rests—until only one of you thirty-five remains."

At this, Elder An let out a disdainful sneer. "Hmph. And you’re probably thinking that this last person will get a bye, aren’t you?"

"Wrong!" Seeing the contestants exchanging confused glances, Elder An’s voice turned cold. "That last person is immediately disqualified! Because anyone who waits until the very end is one of two things: either you’re a weak-willed coward, too scared to step up, or you’re an arrogant poser, trying to make a scene with some grand, pretentious entrance! The Ding Palace does not welcome either type!"

"You want to act tough? Be my guest! Why not come up and fight a whole group at once?!" As he spoke, Elder An’s gaze swept over the crowd below, finally landing on the first red table. A cold smile touched his lips, its meaning clear. ’Yes, I’m talking to you.’

Seeing Elder An targeting them, both Zhang Lie and Tuoba Rui spat on the ground—only Yu Wen Tuo remained impassive. Zhang Lie’s reaction was particularly volatile; his sharp Primordial Power nearly erupted from his body.

Elder An merely scoffed and said dismissively, "Alright, you may begin. I’ll take a step back and see what kind of power you so-called ’geniuses’ actually possess."

The moment he finished speaking, Elder An signaled for the maids behind him to withdraw. His figure flickered, and he reappeared at the edge of the stage, leaving it entirely to the participants of the recruitment contest.

While all the participants were raring to go after hearing Elder An’s speech, Wan Xian’Er’s heart ached as she stared at the empty grand avenue of the main hall. She murmured under her breath, ’You big idiot, have you forgotten me? You know who I am, so why won’t you come for me? Just show yourself, and I’ll give up everything to leave with you. Please, come out... If you don’t, you’re going to lose me for good.’

"Hmph! Wan Xian’Er is mine! None of you can take her from me!"

Zhang Lie shot to his feet with a flick of his sleeve. A golden light flashed from his arm, flowing and twisting until it solidified into a golden spear over two meters long. Oddly, it wasn’t a normal spear; it had three heads—one at the top and two partway down the shaft. A cold, sharp light glinted from their tips.

The instant the spear materialized, its tip locked onto the heavy blade strapped to Tuoba Rui’s back. The weapon’s shaft trembled violently, radiating an intense will to fight.

"A Sacred Artifact?" Tuoba Rui’s perception was incredibly sharp, and he reacted the moment the spear appeared—especially since the Nether Fire Man on his own back was also a Sacred Artifact and was now resonating with the same battle lust as the strange spear.

A flicker of fighting spirit ignited in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. Raising his wine cup, he took a small sip and smiled. "It seems City Lord Zhang really spared no expense for you. In that case, let me see just how powerful that Holy Spear of yours truly is!"

Zhang Lie chuckled darkly. "You’ll see."

With that, Zhang Lie vaulted into the air and landed softly in the center of the stage. He swept an arrogant gaze over the thirty-four other contestants below. Then, he suddenly pointed his spear, its target none other than Wan Xian’Or, and roared, "Wan Xian’Er! You are mine!"

"Heh..."

The boast had barely left Zhang Lie’s lips when Mu Chen, who was observing from above, let out a cold snort. The Elders around him—Wan Xianlin, Wan Xianzhong, and the others—suddenly felt a chill sweep over them. In the next instant, Mu Chen raised his right hand, brought his index and middle fingers together, and with a sharp flick, snapped.

SNAP! A burst of violet light exploded above, splintering into countless streaks of Purple Thunder that shot toward the stage. Then, with a mere thought from Mu Chen, the Profound Jade Box on his back sprang into the air, flipped over, and came to a stop, hovering vertically before him.

SNAP!

With another snap of his fingers, the nearly two-meter-long black case crackled with Purple Thunder and—FZZT—vanished from sight! In the next instant, a thunderous BOOM erupted from the center of the grand stage below! The entire sequence of events was so fluid that even the Ding Palace Elders, men who had witnessed countless wonders, stared in utter shock.

Zhang Lie, still arrogantly surveying the crowd, was caught completely off guard. The blast detonated right beside him, engulfing him in a powerful shockwave and a storm of shrapnel-like stone fragments. When the chaos subsided, he was left covered in dust and grime. Fortunately, he had instinctively thrown up a defense the moment the explosion occurred; otherwise, he would have been seriously injured.

Everyone in the Main Hall Square, whether seated or standing, was staring in utter bewilderment. Their confusion didn’t stem from the sudden explosion, nor from Zhang Lie’s pathetic appearance, but from the black object that now rested in the very center of the grand stage.

A massive black case, about half a meter wide and nearly three meters long!

"What... is that?"

"Is it a coffin?"

"It doesn’t look like one... Besides, this recruitment contest is supposed to be a joyous occasion. Why would a coffin show up?"

"No idea."

...

"That is..."

Wan Xian’Er’s beautiful eyes fell upon the massive black case on the stage, and her vision instantly blurred.

’He’s here...’

...

"BASTARD! ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!" While the crowd was still murmuring, the dust-covered Zhang Lie, his face ashen, let out a furious roar. "You cowardly rat! Hiding and pulling cheap tricks! Dare to show your face and fight me!" His eyes were tinged with red, a sign of burgeoning bloodlust, as he scanned the area for his attacker, but he found no one.

"As you wish."

High above, Mu Chen sneered and shook his head. He took a single step forward into a surge of thunder light and, with a WHOOSH, vanished from before the stunned Elders. An ethereal voice then descended from the heavens, seeming to echo throughout the entire Main Hall Square and making its source impossible to pinpoint. But everyone could be certain of one thing: this newcomer was not one of the thirty-five contestants.