Chapter 630 - 255: Your Opponent is Xiao Chen

Chapter 630: Chapter 255: Your Opponent is Xiao Chen

One had to admit, Chongzhen Temple’s move was truly effective.

At the very least, Xiao Chen was curious to see what the rewards were for winning the defensive challenges.

As it happened,

the Five Great Sects had each, surprisingly, put up a Dao Crystal of a different element, plus a corresponding Tier Four Spirit Fruit and a prize of one million Spirit Stones.

It was obvious they had planned this in advance.

Among all the items, the only ones that sparked Xiao Chen’s interest were the Wood Element Dao Crystal and the Hundred Cui Spirit Fruit put forward by the Mojie Sect.

Next on the list were two stalks of Cloud Patterned Purple Ginseng from the Clarity Sect, along with one million Spirit Stones.

The Cloud Patterned Purple Ginseng was the main ingredient for another kind of Rank-Breaking Spirit Pill, which was a decent item for an average Golden Core Cultivator.

For Xiao Chen, however, it was something he no longer needed.

Listed at the very bottom was the ultimate grand prize from Chongzhen Temple.

First were the Nascent Soul Manuals, each personally handwritten by True Monarch Ziyang and He Ming True Monarch.

Next was a gleaming golden small sword engraved with profound and complex runes. It was, surprisingly, a Fifth-Class Talisman Treasure.

Then, there was a Tier Four wondrous object inherited from Ancient Times that could aid a Cultivator’s Nascent Soul Formation—the Taiqing Infant Transformation Glaze Pearl.

Finally, as was customary, there was a cash prize of a whopping two million Spirit Stones.

Here, Chongzhen Temple had played a little trick.

They had deliberately listed the rewards for the two arenas under their charge together.

This way, at first glance, they would appear to be the most generous of the Seven Great Sects, offering the most Spirit Stones.

In reality, however, the prize money per arena was the same. This way, even if the other sects found out, they couldn’t accuse Chongzhen Temple of deliberately outbidding them to assert dominance.

At worst, they could just blame it on the incompetence of their junior disciples, claiming it was all a misunderstanding.

Of course, this subtle implication alone wasn’t particularly useful.

But if it was combined with their plan for Chongzhen Temple disciples to overwhelm the other Six Great Sects and seize all eight arena master titles,

this would become yet another piece of evidence proving Chongzhen Temple’s superiority over the other sects.

However, Xiao Chen wasn’t concerned with the prize money. His eyes were fixed on the other rewards.

The Nascent Soul Manual was self-explanatory. It contained the insights and reflections of those who had already achieved that realm.

It wasn’t exactly crucial, but it wasn’t entirely useless either. For a Golden Core Cultivator at the Great Perfection stage, it could offer some guidance on the path forward.

Considering the free lecture on the Dao at the end of the grand ceremony, the manual felt more like a small bonus, much like the Tier Four Spirit Fruits.

As for the Fifth-Class Talisman Treasure, its type wasn’t specified.

However, judging by its shape, it was most likely an Attack Type.

It would be quite a good item for other Golden Core Cultivators, something they could keep as a trump card.

To Xiao Chen, however, it was practically meaningless.

’He didn’t expect a Talisman Treasure to be enough to fight a Nascent Soul True Monarch, so he could dismiss this prize outright.’

’As for the last item, the Taiqing Infant Transformation Glaze Pearl, it was his first time hearing of it. He had no idea what this wondrous object from Ancient Times was for.’

Fortunately, Chongzhen Temple had anticipated this and included a description below.

This Glazed Pearl originated in Ancient Times, created by a prodigy of unparalleled talent.

Legend has it that at his birth, an auspicious, profound-yellow cloud descended from the heavens and entered his body, forming a Profound Yellow Spirit Body.

In just thirty short years, he attained the Nascent Soul realm.

However, the junior sister he grew up with was limited by her aptitude. She spent three hundred years but was still unable to reach the Nascent Soul realm.

Thus, to help his junior sister, the prodigy—who by then had already become a Divinity Transformation Venerable—made a point of traveling to borrow hundreds of different Nascent Soul Formation Secret Techniques from the world’s major powers.

A few minor ripples were inevitable during the process.

But in the end, he succeeded in obtaining the original texts of the various Major Sects’ Secret Techniques.

He then used the Taiqing Skill as the foundation, fusing it with the essence of the other Secret Techniques he had gathered.

He created a wondrous object that allowed a Golden Core Cultivator at the Great Perfection stage to personally experience the entire process of Nascent Soul Formation.

Furthermore, even if the process failed, the Cultivator would suffer no harm.

Although the method for creating it was unfortunately lost to time, some ancient powers still possessed a number of these items in their reserves.

That’s right. That wondrous object was none other than the Taiqing Infant Transformation Glaze Pearl!

’Personally experience?’

Xiao Chen’s eyes lit up as he read those two words.

’First of all, that prodigy sounded incredible. And the effect of the pearl sounded incredibly useful, too.’

’The way I see it, this is like a mock exam.’

’While it can’t directly guarantee a successful Nascent Soul Formation, it should help me accumulate experience and identify any weaknesses.’

’What a treasure!’

Xiao Chen’s interest was immediately piqued. He patiently reread the notice from the beginning to understand the rules of the tournament.

Since Chongzhen Temple hadn’t originally planned to include Loose Cultivators in the selection,

the rules they added at the last minute were consequently simple and blunt.

Over the next day, with the final deadline at 9 p.m. tomorrow, all Loose Cultivators could register to participate.

Then, the registered Loose Cultivators would be randomly drawn into pairs for the first round of matches.

This process of drawing lots would continue for the second round, third round, and so on.

This would continue until fewer than one hundred people remained. All the surviving Loose Cultivators would then advance to the official tournament challenges.

To motivate everyone, Chongzhen Temple also set aside an additional three million Spirit Stones.

Once the final selection round was over, every Loose Cultivator who advanced would receive a reward of twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

Those who were eliminated would receive ten thousand Spirit Stones as a consolation prize.

And don’t think that ten thousand Spirit Stones isn’t much.

After all, Loose Cultivators had no fixed source of income.

Even for those who had reached the Golden Core realm, ten thousand Spirit Stones was by no means a small sum.