Chapter 32: Collision Contest
Gui Gui explained, "The so-called Collision Contest is where contestants start thirty meters apart and charge toward each other simultaneously. Whoever is pushed back further by the collision loses. Demons are grouped based on their orders, usually from the third to the sixth. It's a celebration for the younger generation, basically. The limit is set to the sixth order because collisions between stronger beings of higher orders might cause unnecessary injuries or deaths. Also, those above the sixth order usually lose interest in games like this."
"This does sound interesting. But surely those of stronger-built species have an advantage, no?" Wang Yanfeng remarked with a smile.
Gui Gui replied, "I've watched it once, and there's definitely some skill involved. You know what, let's go after dinner. It should start right around then."
Tang San and Wang Yanfeng had spent over four hours on the round trip to the Wind Wolf ancestral home today. In addition to the time spent there, it was already afternoon when they returned.
Tang San was keen on watching the Collision Contest, especially since it involved demons from the third to the sixth order, which aligned well with his target range for bloodline devouring.
After meeting Mei Gongzi, Tang San's mind became more active, feeling an even stronger urge to become powerful.
Mei Gongzi's Milk Tea Shop was located in the core district of Kali City, where powerful demons of the eighth and ninth order were likely to be found. Now that he had finally found her, nothing was more important than ensuring her safety. To protect her, he needed to become stronger; his current fourth-order strength was clearly insufficient.
Over the years, Tang San had mostly figured out the relationship between his Mysterious Heaven Technique cultivation and the bloodline energy of the demons in this world. The Mysterious Heaven Technique allowed Tang San to devour and transform external energies into his strength, leaving bloodline imprints within his body. Through these imprints, he could reverse-transform and release similar abilities.
The stronger the imprint, the more powerful skills Tang San could unleash. Basically, the demonic bloodline imprints in his body acted like blueprints for various skills, and the more detailed the blueprint, the better. He needed to enhance his Mysterious Heaven Technique and elevate the levels of these imprints to wield greater power.
According to Tang San's research and experience, he would likely need to continue with this cultivation method until the ninth order of the Mysterious Heaven Technique.
The best way for him to rapidly enhance his abilities was to acquire more skills. In this world, humans inheriting demonic god transformation bloodlines could only have one ability. However, through the Mysterious Heaven Technique's devouring, he wasn't subject to this limitation and he could possess multiple abilities. The more abilities he had, and the better he combined them, the stronger he would become.
In the city's bustling areas, it would be easier for him to stealthily absorb some lower-order abilities, enhancing his strength and speeding up his cultivation. He needed more bloodline abilities to strengthen himself. At the same time, absorbing bloodline energy could be used to cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Technique, allowing him to reach the following order.
Today was perhaps the most proactive day for Tang San's cultivation since he had arrived in this world. The fourth order wasn't enough, nor was the fifth; he needed to reach the ninth order as soon as possible to be able to make use of his divine consciousness properly and rebuild his spiritual power to reach the God level. Awakening abilities from his past life that were unknown in this world was essential to truly protect Mei Gongzi.
After resting for a while and having dinner, Gui Gui put on some fancier clothes and led Wang Yanfeng and Tang San out.
Dressing up was necessary in this world where appearances mattered. As human vassals in a big city, they were not often antagonized as long as they didn't provoke others. After all, demons also needed vassals to serve them. Humans were known as the smartest among all vassal races; though not strong, they were adept at complex tasks.
The Collision Contest wasn't of a very high level, involving only demons of orders up to six, mostly young ones. The rewards were modest.
The first-place prize for the sixth order was five naturae coins. Although naturae coins had immense purchasing power from the perspective of a villager like Tang San, they weren't considered all that much for most wealthy demons.
The rewards decreased for lower orders: four coins for the fifth, three for the fourth, and only one for the third-order champions.
Second and third places received aetherhorn coins as rewards.
The highest order in the currency system was the amethystine florins, followed by empyreans, but neither was included in the rewards, indicating that this contest was more about fun than substantial prizes.
The contest was held in a town square surrounded by shops selling different items.
Before meeting Mei Gongzi, Tang San might have been more interested in these shops to learn about the demon races. His priorities had changed, however, and he now focused more on the Collision Contest.
The square was filled with thousands of demons. The central area, about fifty meters in diameter, was cordoned off by the Kali Guards, with members from various races.
Becoming a guard required at least fourth-order strength. In the demon races, military units were organized by each city separately, and each of the seven cities had their own guards. Naturally, guards with stronger cultivations were given better roles. The fourth order was just the entry level for the Kali Guards, reflecting the overall strength of this continent's demons and nymph races.
Among the crowd were many wearing the attire of vassals, most of them being human. Some were accompanying demons, obviously serving as followers.
The contest hadn't started yet, and it was getting dark, but giant poles around the square, topped with luminous ores, lit up the area.
The atmosphere was mixed due to the presence of many different demonic races, but the spiritual energy was rich.
Tang San, following Gui Gui and Wang Yanfeng, found a spot at the edge of the venue, occupied mainly by vassal races.
On one side of the area was a platform where the currency prize awaited.
It was the first time Tang San had seen naturae coins. The elemental naturae coins emitted a distinct glow, overshadowing the aetherhorn coins nearby. The aetherhorn coins, a dark silver, looked ancient and restrained, giving Tang San a strange feeling.
"The Collision Contest is about to begin!" a booming voice announced.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m