Chapter 282: Imperial Martial Tournament – Part 1
Ma Clan Manor
Tang Fan was a special member of Ma Moxi's clansmen due to their friendship and brotherhood. He had his own courtyard in the Ma Clan's territory as Ma Moxi had designated a courtyard solely for him, so the former could forget about the previous incident in Xuan City and the loss of his family members.
Several custom-made gym equipments, such as barbells, dumbbells, fitness machines, and a treadmill had been arranged in the courtyard. Ma Moxi had made them for the Tang Fan's training.
The combination of Ma Moxi's training, medicinal baths, and the freedom exercise showed a bit of result. Tang Fan was no longer considered to be morbidly obese anymore. However, he still had a big belly to work with.
But now, Tang Fan had a guest. She stood in the middle of his courtyard, admiring the gym equipment. She thought of them as toys.
A few days before, after the brief sparring match between Ma Moxi and Miaomiao, Tang Fan managed to catch a glimpse of the city's goddesses for the first time.
At first, Tang Fan envied Miaomiao since the girls were stunning and sexy. He even drooled when he thought about their naked bodies.
However, Tang Fan's mood changed when he noticed a familiar face among the wives, whom he had never expected to meet again.
A few years ago, Tang Deming, Tang Fan's father, had sent his elder sister to Mountain Goose City to join a sect, but she never contacted them ever since.
Two years after she had left, Xu Xiuying sent them a letter, informing them that their family member had encountered an accident and passed away.
His elder sister was declared dead since then!
But now, the dead person appeared before him.
Tang Fan sat on a gym chair, gazing at his elder sister, Tang Ting.
"I almost didn't recognize you, sister. Care to tell me what had happened to you?"
Tang Ting still wore thick red eyeshades and retained her Egyptian hairstyle. This Cleopatra vampire wore a hoodie cloak, hiding her demonic beauty and her curvy body.
Yet, Tang Fan's colleagues were peeking, climbing the courtyard walls to eavesdrop on the conversation while they admired Tang Ting's graceful figure and her pretty face.
"Do I need to chase off my friend first?" Tang Fan looked at his naughty friends and shooed them with his hand. However, the gang booed and stayed there, spying on them in curiosity.
"It doesn't matter. They are just curious virgins. Leave them be."
"Your brother is also a virgin, though."
"HAHAHA! Well, sorry to hear that. I hope you won't woo your sister. I'm married, you know."
"Tsk! I'll never sink that low! Anyway, it's good to see you again. Everyone thought you were dead."
Tang Ting bitterly laughed, "They were right. I was… pretty much dead."
…
Tang Ting recounted the events when she had joined the Silver Phoenix Sect after she participated in the traditional examination at the Mountain Goose City several years ago.
Her future was bright when she was qualified to become an outer disciple of the Silver Phoenix Sect. Her cultivation base dramatically rose within a year, and she managed to pass the internal exam, becoming an inner disciple of Xu Xiuying.
Unfortunately, one day, Tang Ting suffered from an incurable disease. Her stomach was always in pain, and she always vomited water and food every time she ate them. She tried to use the Yin Qi to purify either the virus or the poison in her system, but she couldn't locate the source of the disease.
A month later, she suddenly lost control of her dantian. She collapsed from exhaustion and was taken to the sect's medical facility.
At first, many elders visited her to check her condition. They fed her strange medicine pallets and blood-like juice, saying that they would heal her.
Unfortunately, no medicine could heal her. The disease that she had suffered was a genetic mutation, which was the work of Xu Xiuying.
Three months later, her condition worsened. She could no longer walk.
Yao Lan and Xu Xiuying brought her to the underground prison and tossed her with the other "Failure Subjects". At that moment, Tang Ting gave up living as she was aware that the elders had left her to death.
Still, she didn't die. Strangely, she managed to survive by drinking the sewer rat's blood that her cellmates had caught for her. She managed to regain a bit of strength, but she couldn't expert her Qi.
Spending years in the dark prison cell and eating rats made her lose her sanity. She lied on the cold stone floor, spending countless days fantasizing about random stories with her as a heroine, waiting for her death.
Time passed slowly, her cellmates continued to die one by one, leaving her behind. Although new disciples were thrown into her cell, she no longer paid attention to them.
Then, one day, when she had thought that it might be the day that she might finally die and leave this place, an elder showed up and brought her to somewhere bright.
Tang Ting couldn't remember much of what had happened that day, but she vaguely felt the warmth of a man's body. Strange fluid from him purified her dantian, bones, blood, and meridians.
Then, Tang Ting woke up to see her prince charming's face. She fell in love with him at the first sight.
…
"Sounds like a kid's fairy tale. So, that heretic sect mutated you into a half-demon and Mao Miaomiao rescued you by turning you into one of his wives? Are you sure that's what really happened?"
Tang Ting bared her teeth, revealing her sharp vampire fangs, "How about I bite you and convert you to a vampire to prove my story? Oh, you haven't seen my baby before, right? Should I bring him here to greet his uncle? He's an orc, though."
"N-No, thanks. Also, no babies here, please. I have my hands full dealing with that nasty cat."
"That nasty cat? You meant, one of the beasts? Oho? Do you have a werecat girlfriend, my boy?"
Tang Fan covered his mouth, but it was too late. His tongue slipped.
"H-He's definitely not my girlfriend!"
The eavesdropping friends laughed at Tang Fan.
"The sister is a misunderstanding! Transform and let your sister see it!"
"Show her your fabulous side!"
"That's right! You must show her how much you've grown!"
In the middle of the peepers, a pink hairy guy was there. Pao Luo also yelled, trying to shame a fellow MAGICAL GIRL, "SHOW HER YOUR TRUE INNER SELF!! DO IT!!"
"…"
Tang Ting stared at the crowd, wondering what kind of narcotic they had recently taken.
As the crowd was getting noisy, one of the werecat elders entered the courtyard and leaped onto Tang Fan's head.
The cat was one of the combatants that fought the Qiang Clan along with Mao Xueyan. He survived and followed the latter's instruction to migrate here along with other beasts. Although it was an elder beast, its cultivation base was measly 5th-stage.
He was a unique werecat with long ears, two tails, round red eyes, and a strange tattoo on its forehead. Had Miaomiao or Ma Moxi been here, they would have thought that it was one of the pokemon or a certain villain from a certain MAGICAL GIRL series.
The elder cat sat there and grinned at Tang Ting and spoke in a human's language.
"Hello, vampire sister. Would you like to form a contract with Kyuberotica and become a magical girl to save the world?"
…
Red Sun City
Jia Shan, Ma Ping, Ju Shoufen, Ma Moxi, Ku'er, and Miaomiao flew over the city as they couldn't stand the dirty streets. Since they had two nascent soul cultivators in the team, they ignored the "No Fly Zone" tradition.
Many local cultivators spotted them and were about to shoot them down. But when they noticed the cultivation base of the two elders, they lost their courage.
"T-T-Two nascent soul cultivators!?"
"They have the right to fly above the city. D-Don't mess with them!"
Even the most cliché arrogant young masters in the city kept their mouths shut. After all, their cultivation base was only 2nd-stage or 3rd-stage, which was not in the position to act domineering against the powerful group.
This was the perk of traveling with OP guardians or strong bodyguards that solo protagonists usually ignored. They could have avoided trouble and pointless provocation had they traveled with strong seniors.
As the party became the center of attention, imperial clansmen noticed their arrival and flew out to greet them.
Dong Zhongying, Li Wenyou, and several elites headed out to welcome the group themselves. They floated in mid-air and bowed 90 degrees toward the two nascent soul experts.
"Senior, sir, we didn't know that you will be gracing us with your presence! Please forgive us for the lack of courtesy!"
Dong Zhongying didn't even recognize Jia Shan and Ma Ping. He kept bowing his head, thinking that they had come here to find trouble with him because of his recent deeds.
Meanwhile, Ma Ping and Jia Shan didn't know about what Dong Zhongying did. As they had been looking for someone to clarify the tournament conditions, rules, and location, they were glad that someone with authority finally showed up.
Ma Ping approached them, "Good timing! We're looking for a guide."
"A guide, sir?"
Dong Zhongying slowly raised his head to look at the speaker as he had heard this voice from somewhere before.
When Dong Zhongying's eyes met with Ma Ping's eyes, the former couldn't believe what he saw. He turned toward the other cultivators behind Ma Ping by reflex.
Then, he saw Jia Shan.
"!!!"
Dong Zhongying internally screamed while he widened his eyes to the point that they almost slipped out of the sockets.
"S-S-Senior Ma Ping!? Senior Jia Shan!? Y-Y-Y-You… Have you recovered your strength!?"
Jia Shan and Ma Ping looked at each other. Then, they burst into laughter.
"Surprise?"
"O-Of course! We heard that both of you were… crippled."
"We were indeed CRIPPLED!" Both elders laughed again, "Anyway, we're interested in your little tournament. Our disciples want to play as well. Where do we register?"
"T-This way, senior! Please follow us!"
Dong Zhongying and his men led Jia Shan, Ma Ping, Ma Moxi, Miaomiao, and Ju Shoufen to the inner city, where imperial officials resided. No commoner or local cultivator without permission could enter this area.
The group passed through the registration area, where young cultivators had been queuing to take part in the tournament.
Miaomiao looked at them in curiosity.
The participants were teenagers and young adults, who came here with their guardians. However, all their bodyguards, followers, guardians, or friends were chased away.
"Why are you chasing their people away? Is there something wrong with this tournament?"
Miaomiao asked Dong Zhongying directly as this question had been plaguing his mind for a long time.
The elders also had the same doubt. They stared at Dong Zhongying, expecting a proper answer.
Dong Zhongying sweated bullets. He glanced at the thin late-middle-aged aide, Li Wenyou.
Li Wenyou coughed to attract their attention, "The imperial palace is a restricted area. If we allow commoners or random cultivators inside, the palace defense can be compromised if spies from evil cults mix in the crowd. We're sorry for the inconvenience."
Hearing the excuse, Jia Shan and others had the urge to retort, "You allow Poison Pavillion to come and go as they pleased, but you are afraid of spies from heretic sects? Are your brain a mush?"
Still, Ma Ping and others withheld their comments. Instead, Jia Shan teased Li Wenyou, "What about us? Can we spectate the tournament?"
"O-Of course! You can! The procedure is for commoners and no-name cultivators. It's our honor to have you as our guests!"
Jia Shan and Ma Ping snorted, dismissing Li Wenyou's flattering.
Though they had grudge against the imperial family, they pretended to be friendly for now to gather information.
…
Among the crowd of tournament candidates and their followers who were queuing to register into the tournament, an elderly man and a girl stared at Miaomiao's party and Dong Zhongying's men in the sky. Both of them frowned while they adjusted their skin masks and hid their cultivation base.
"This is troublesome. I thought we could have won this tournament and return to our Pylon Tower. How the hell can I defeat two 6th-stage girls on the stage!? They're fucking monsters!"
Liu Bian grumbled as he paid attention to Miaomiao, Ma Moxi, and Ju Shoufen. He thought that those three would join the tournament and become his obstacles.
Currently, Liu Bian had been disguising herself as a young girl. His long twin tail hairstyle, short stature, youthful face, and childish voice made it possible for him to cross-dress and pretended to be a girl.
For the sake of reentering the Pylon Tower and reclaiming the items inside, Liu Bian returned here in a hurry when he had learned that Dong Zhongying had found a secret chamber under the imperial palace.
Liu Bian's assistant and his loyal subordinate, Wang Yun, also disguised himself. He appeared as a 70-year-old Asian scholar without a cultivation base. Yet, he kept several custom-made pistols inside his grey robes.
"You're overthinking, young miss. Those little girls over there can't join the tournament."
Wang Yun's voice was hoarse and weak. He acted as if he could die at any moment, and he pretended to be Liu Bian's grandfather.
"Huh?" Liu Bian didn't believe in Wang Yun. He turned to the elder in disguise, "Those girls aren't a participant? How?"
"Their bone age is above the tournament restriction."
"They… what?"
"Please relax, young miss. Although you might not win this tournament, you can still enter THAT PLACE if you follow my lead."
"…"
"By the way," Wang Yun leaned over and whispered to Liu Bian's ear. "Are you sure you want to use that name as your alias? I have a bad feeling about this."
"Why not?" Liu Bian chuckled, "If you're using the famous historical people's name, I can use one, too!"
"What if Lu Bu descends and finds you? Won't you become his wife?"
"Ha! As if! I'll turn Lu Bu into an undead soldier if he really appears!"
"… Suit yourself."
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