Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform (First Update)
The magnitude of the task at hand must be considerable to warrant such generosity from the system, allowing Shi Xiaole to withdraw martial arts in advance without worrying about voiding.
Regarding why it wasn’t a three-star task, the three-star tasks correspond to first-rate martial arts. To give you an idea, even the Sect Masters of top-level sects in Qingxue State only practice martial arts of this caliber.
The difficulty of three-star tasks can be quite daunting.
Without hesitating further, Shi Xiaole accepted the task.
He needed to survive, thus he had to resolve the crisis anyway, regardless of the task. The only added pressure was the time constraint.
He returned to the inn at a moderate pace, closing the door and leaving the martial arts experts behind him outside. He then sat on his bed, immersing his mind into the system.
With a voice command of "withdraw", a square halo began to move around the second floor of the Martial God Hall.
Ding!
"Congratulations, host. You have drawn the lower-grade second-rate sword technique, Jie Fengge’s Moon Concealing Sword Technique."
Another lower-grade second-rate?
Although, given the crisis to be solved within two months, drawing an upper-grade second-rate martial arts would also be useless. After all, even with two months at his disposal, Shi Xiaole could not immediately defeat heavyweight figures like the Suzerain of Iron Bone Sect.
Still, he hoped to draw something of a higher grade.
Fortunately, he hadn’t been too hopeful to begin with and quickly calmed down.
The power of the Moon Concealing Sword Technique was actually quite considerable, at least stronger than Kou Zhong’s Blood Battle Ten Forms. Jie Fengge, known as the ’Scholar in White’, became the finest among the rising southern swordsmen with this sword technique.
However, Jie Fengge’s combat record has greatly influenced the rating of the sword technique.
Back then, he, along with Niu Lang, were grievously wounded by the early stage Xu Zilin, which had always been a great regret in his life.
You should know that at that time, Xu Zilin had absorbed the internal power of He’s Bi, but his martial arts skills were far from mature. Of course, the latter took advantage of a full-scale ambush.
But nonetheless, since that incident, Jie Fengge undoubtedly began to decline, eventually disappearing from the martial world of the Tang Dynasty.
"Maybe this sword technique will bring me a pleasant surprise."
Without immediately practicing the sword technique, Shi Xiaole exited the system space.
He took out a token from his bosom. It was the Revenge Token he obtained from Mingliu Villa.
If he shows the Revenge Token, he believes the Revenge Gathering will definitely intervene.
But the problem is, the opposition is one of the biggest forces in the Qingxue Alliance. To reject the Rivers and Lakes Assassination Order is akin to slapping one’s own face. Who knows whether they will settle accounts secretly after retrieving the Revenge Token.
After some thought, Shi Xiaole decided to delay. After all, he was not at the end of his rope yet.
The top priority now is to earn enough money to avoid being driven out of Dark Alley.
However, how should he proceed?
Shi Xiaole has a lot of valuable things on him, like the Qing and Lu beads, the Shattered Snow Blade and Qingfeng Sword, and dozens of martial arts techniques.
He doesn’t plan to sell the first one as his intuition tells him that the secrets hidden behind those two items are not simple.
He certainly won’t sell weapons either, as that would be a desecration of his Blade and Sword Method.
As for martial arts? Given the lessons learned from Elder Wu of the Iron Bone Sect, he dares not expose them either.
Pushing open the window and ignoring the tens of gazes that immediately fell on him, Shi Xiaole surveyed the nearly kilometer-long Dark Alley. Finally, his gaze fell on the end of Dark Alley.
There was a rather ordinary mansion gate. At the entrance stood two bronze lions, with figures from the martial world coming in and out from time to time.
"How could I have forgotten about this place? Maybe, the key to breaking the deadlock is right here."
Shi Xiaole’s eyes suddenly lit up. He swung open his room door and left the inn.
"This kid, clearly his end is near, but he’s out and about all day. How can he be so unflustered?"
"Hehe, he probably doesn’t care because he’s given up. It’s because of his despair that he indulges himself."
The masters behind him were filled with shame and anger.
These days, they had essentially become his tail, and yet they had no choice but to follow. Otherwise, if they missed the opportunity and this kid died at another’s hands, wouldn’t they suffer a great loss?
"You bastard, I’d like to see just how long you can drag this out."
With a cold smile on his face and murder in his eyes, Elder Ma stalked him.
He had already checked, if this kid doesn’t come up with money, he would be kicked out of Dark Alley by tonight. He was convinced that Shi Xiaole wouldn’t be able to escape the grasp of the Iron Bone Sect at that point.
Thinking about the Elephant Strength Fruit, Elder Ma felt a twinge of heartache.
Given his craftiness, he was almost certain that Yi Nanxiong had ulterior motives. If it weren’t for Shi Xiaole, perhaps he could have quietly split the Elephant Strength Fruit with him.
Everything was ruined by this bastard!
With fury in his eyes, Elder Ma found himself standing at the mansion gate at the end of Dark Alley, while Shi Xiaole had already walked in.
The mansion gate didn’t have a plaque or a couplet, but the color drained from many faces among the martial artists.
"The Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform!"
Someone whispered in a low voice.
The Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform is not a place to showcase precious metals and jewels. Instead, it can be said without opposition that it is the most peculiar and dangerous place in the Dark Alley.
Dark Alley prohibits fighting, but on the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform, it is allowed.
Because it is a challenge stage that any martial artist can enter.
The copper-level challenge stage is for warriors below the Qi Absorption Seventh Level.
The jade-level challenge stage is for warriors above the Qi Absorption Seventh Level but below the Xuanqi Realm.
The silver-level challenge stage is for masters of the Xuanqi Realm.
As for the gold-level challenge stage, such does not exist in the Dark Alley of the Floating River Area.
Because the Floating River Area does not have mastery of that level, and there’s no need to set up a gold-level stage.
It can be said that the martial artists who emerge from the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform not only gain the respect of the Dark Alley but also recognition from the entire Martial World.
It’s well-known that those who dare to step onto the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform are those who are battle-hardened and have struggled through life and death.
These individuals are blessed with abundant knowledge from the Martial World, possessing advanced martial arts skills, and often fare far better in combat experiences than others.
Most powerful martial artists and family warriors, when matched against those of similar realms, are essentially doomed to defeat on the platform.
While the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform does not permit killing, anything short of this rule is generally permissible, thus, it’s rare for the defeated party to emerge physically intact.
Broken limbs, shattered nerves, and even disrupted centers of internal power frequently occur on the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform.
Thus, the mere mention of these five words often would unsettle the martial artists.
"It’s rumored that for every win on the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform, you’ll gain a substantial fortune. It seems that the kid is desperate and willing to take risks," someone said, breaking into a sinister laugh.
Out of respect for Yi Nanxiong, the Iron Bone Sect did not announce the details of his battle with Shi Xiaole, who was rumored to have some strange Qi Absorption technique.
Thus, while most people acknowledged Shi Xiaole’s ingenuity, they doubted his chances on the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform.
In fact, not many would bet on Yi Nanxiong winning either.
Unless you’ve stepped onto the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform, you never know how powerful the masters within it are.
Some challengers are incredibly talented and are always increasing their prowess.
Others, feeling hopeless about advancing, dedicate their time to mastering various techniques and special moves, incrementally increasing their combat power to unimaginable heights.
Still others take unconventional routes to martial arts mastery, leaving you defenseless against their obscure combat styles.
In the past, many arrogant martial artists climbed onto the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform, but few managed to win even five fights in a row.
"Rumor has it that if you win fifty consecutive fights on the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform, you will become the tenth master and earn the right to challenge the nine masters of the Dark Alley. And if you defeat the nine masters, you’ll get a command flag. Perhaps the kid wants to become the Copper Banner Master of the Floating River Area and make a comeback," a one-eyed man commented in a tone full of mocking laughter.
"A Copper Banner Master? He’s ambitious. It’s been sixty years since the Floating River Area last saw a Copper Banner Master. Even Wei Renhao, the brightest star from the Red Sword Pavilion, only managed forty-six consecutive wins, which shocked the entire Martial World," another elderly man with grey hair added nonchalantly, stroking his short beard.
"Gentlemen, let’s stop the unnecessary talk and go watch the contest. If the kid really intends to get on the stage, it’s an opportunity for all of us," Elder Ma suddenly suggested.
That’s true. If the kid enters the challenge stage, they can enroll as well, presenting themselves as Dark Alley warriors.
If they manage to defeat the kid onstage, their names will surely be mentioned when the annals of the third Rivers and Lakes Assassination Order is written.
Elder Ma sees their expressions, chuckles to himself, and leads a group of people into the arena.
The Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform is grand in scale, large enough to accommodate several football fields.
Upon entering, Shi Xiaole sees a sunken stone platform in the middle, tens of meters deep.
The stone platform is a hundred meters long and wide. On each side, there are stone steps dividing the audience stands into four parts. Shi Xiaole estimates each part could hold at least ten thousand people.
At this moment, two fighters are engaged in fierce combat on the stone platform, while sporadic spectators from the Martial World occupy the stands.
"Song Yuan has already won three matches, he should be able to win this one."
"That’s not certain."
Song Yuan is a swordsman, and his opponent is a muscular man with heavy fist technique and firm lower body stance. Both are at the late stages of Qi Absorption Level Six, but their strength exceeds that of many martial artists.
Tens of moves in, Song Yuan suddenly lets out a cold laugh. His sword casts three shadows, and with a scream, the brawny man’s right arm is cut off at the joint.
With another swift attack, he damages the brawny man’s internal energy center. Defeated, the man lays on the ground, lifeless.
The spectators from the Martial World remain unperturbed, clearly accustomed to such brutal scenes.
"Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform, it’s indeed a savage place," Shi Xiaole mutters to himself.
Just as Elder Ma and the others predicted, he came here aspiring to become the Copper Banner Master.
The reach of Dark Alley’s influence is unclear, but it exists in every major city of the Flying Horse Dynasty.
If he becomes the Copper Banner Master, he can request the intervention of the Dark Alley to counter the Rivers and Lakes Assassination Order issued by Qingxue State. It would be nothing more than a joke.
