Chapter 557: Prelude to the Competition (3k)
“Brother Bai Ming, you mean it wasn’t the Third Princess who sent the Fourth Princess to her death, but the Second Elder who holds great power behind the scenes?”
Through the other party’s words, Su Jiu also refined some of her own thoughts, and even some surprising notions emerged.
“Hannah’s power isn’t actually that great. Even I am only respected because of my bloodline and was chosen as the Holy Empress.”
Bai Ming glanced at Su Jiu, only nodding slightly. The Holy Empress, who had become an Intermediate Battle King at some unknown time, had a look of helplessness on her face.
Seeing him nod, Su Jiu let out a breath, her eyes flashing with a hint of worry, and then asked, “Then you should understand why I asked student Li Yi to find you, right?”
Bai Ming’s affirmation brought all the clues together, pointing directly to one reality…
The Reformists were structured with the Grand Prince as the core and the elders as support, while the Third Princess’s side was led by the elders’ forces, with herself acting as a puppet.
No wonder in the original work, Su Jiu and the Third Princess Hannah’s departure from the Snow Demon Land to live elsewhere didn’t cause much of a stir. Everything made sense now.
“Of course, but even if I understand, it would still be difficult to implement, even without the obstruction of those four elders. These old-fashioned officials and people still wouldn’t agree to a temporary ceasefire and then a land division system.”
Bai Ming said with a helpless smile, clearly having worked hard on this matter.
Su Jiu also fell silent.
“It’s not that troublesome. While it seems difficult, it’s not really that hard. Although they are old-fashioned, they actually believe very much in the sacred position of the National Master.”
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit cold. Li Yi, standing beside them, smiled slightly and took out something like a business card from his pocket, scattering it on the table like poker cards:
“As long as we find the person most likely to be elected as the National Master, and curry favor with them, explaining the benefits, they won’t be foolish enough to refuse to speak for us.”
Looking at the cards on the table, Bai Ming showed no surprise, but instead smiled: “I guessed it would be this ronin.”
Following the photo, Su Jiu found that it was a person wearing a black stealth suit, hidden beneath their attire. Without a reference, she couldn’t tell the person’s height, but the styled hair gave the impression that it should be a woman.
“The ronin is hard to find, we can only find her during her competition.”
Li Yi glanced at the two, paused, then turned to Ah Hu and said softly, “The competition is this afternoon, right?”
“Yes, Young Master. It’s this afternoon. If the member from the Grand Prince’s faction doesn’t come soon, they will be disqualified. The first match is against the top contender from our Ancient Imperial Capital.” Ah Hu quickly replied.
“What a pity. The top contender here is quasi-War God level, above Demigod. It’s said that the Grand Prince’s contender can also fight against quasi-War God level. I originally wanted to see a peak battle of War God level, but now it’s a bit less interesting.”
Li Yi clicked his tongue, expressing his disappointment. He was naturally someone with a passionate desire for battle, but the life of the past year had taught him to restrain himself, yet his core still yearned for combat.
“Uh…”
Su Jiu was stunned by his words and suddenly realized that the person in the first match might be herself. Her mouth twitched slightly, and she reminded him, “Perhaps that contestant has already arrived.”
“Arrived? But her figure hasn’t appeared on the central martial arts stage…”
Li Yi looked puzzled, turned to the sun that had already reached noon, and paused again, saying regretfully,
“It’s almost noon now, and the personnel are already in place on the field. That person from the Grand Prince’s side is still nowhere to be seen. And registration was done by us. If they don’t come soon, it will be too late.”
Bai Ming also added appropriately: “Actually, it probably doesn’t make much difference whether she comes or not. The ronin hired by Hannah, according to the bone examination machine, is less than a hundred years old and has extremely rich combat experience. Her true strength is likely Intermediate War God level.”
“Um…”
Su Jiu touched her head, looking quite awkward, and interrupted their conversation, “Is it possible that I am that contestant?”
“…”
As soon as Su Jiu spoke, the scene became deathly silent. After a few seconds, the sound of swallowing could faintly be heard – it was Ah Hu. He stared blankly at Su Jiu and said in a daze, “Miss Su, is your strength now comparable to quasi-War God level?”
“Quasi-War God level? Brother-in-law, I remember you’re still a freshman. Are you joking…”
Li Yi and Bai Ming also came back to their senses. The latter looked at Su Jiu with a dazed expression. She was about the same age as them, yet her strength was already comparable to some principals of ordinary universities.
It should be known that most university principals in the Dragon Country were not just principals; many held positions in various organizations or were themselves middle to high-level government officials.
If that were true, it meant that Su Jiu’s current strength was already close to the middle to high-level officials of the Dragon Country.
“I haven’t reached the quasi-War God level, not even High-Rank Battle King. I just luckily killed a quasi-War God.”
Su Jiu waved her hand, saying with some helplessness. The widespread rumors were misleading. Even when she killed Kantu’er, it was by taking advantage of the opponent’s lack of attention and a pre-charged attack. It was not as simple as these people thought.
If she were to face a true War God level opponent, unless it was a weakened War God or a “crippled” War God who could only attack from a distance, she would likely be defeated.
“Lucked out and killed… a quasi-War God? No, brother-in-law, are you being humble?”
After receiving Su Jiu’s confirmation, Bai Ming almost looked foolish. He sighed several times and then picked up a metal registration form from the table and handed it to Su Jiu.
“You can register first. This is the registration form for the upcoming competition. Although there are only six people, we still need to register them for the elders to verify.”
Taking the metal registration form, Su Jiu pressed her fingernail on it. Inside, there were some texts and an input method. She discovered that it was actually an alchemical item similar to a tablet computer, but its operation and running speed were inferior to human tablets.
Soon, Su Jiu finished inputting the information and handed it back to Bai Ming. Then, she seemed to think of something and asked with a smile, “Qian Yu, where did she go? I can never properly contact her when I want to.”
“Qian Yu, it seems her father’s friend invited her to join an organization he formed, called the Sacred Hall—she’s been cultivating hard recently, so she doesn’t have time to check her phone.”
Bai Ming took the metal registration board, scanned it, and felt that there were no problems. Then he looked at Ah Hu and instructed, “Ah Hu, you need to escort my brother-in-law to the competition area to confirm their identities with the elders. We’ll be there later.”
“Miss Su, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Ah Hu quickly nodded, smiled innocently, and walked out first.
Watching Ah Hu’s retreating back, Bai Ming pondered for a moment and then said to Su Jiu, “Qian Yu is said to be cultivating near Sakura Island. If you have the chance, you can go and see.”
“Okay.”
Nodding to Bai Ming, Su Jiu glanced at the sky outside, did not linger, and turned to walk out of the room quickly.
“Miss Su, it’s about twenty kilometers to the competition venue. Let’s take a Thousand-Drive directly.”
Seeing Ah Hu standing on the street outside the door, he seemed to have transformed back into that strange appearance using an avatar. Beside him was a huge Thousand-Drive, larger than any Thousand-Drive Su Jiu had ever seen.
In ancient times, there were no means of transportation; they trained Thousand-Drives for travel. However, now that the human world had airplanes, they gradually abandoned the cultivation of Thousand-Drives, demons whose upper limit was Battle General.
“Let’s go, I’m also curious who those elders are.”
Su Jiu smiled, lightly tapped the ground with her toes, and gracefully leaped onto the back of the Thousand-Drive, landing steadily on it.
The Great Elder should still be waiting for her answer?
“Young Master, let’s go to the competition venue first.”
Ah Hu said to Li Yi, who had just walked out of the house, and then leaped onto the Thousand-Drive. The moment he got on, the Thousand-Drive, which had been crouching on the ground, flapped its wings, and its huge body began to spiral upwards.
Feeling the wind flow past, Su Jiu narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling a touch of relaxation. This National Master battle must be won, not only for the sake of war, but also related to bloodline…
The “special reward” from that phantom Maria would likely only be truly obtained after she became the National Master.
…
“Are we there yet?”
After about half an hour, the Thousand-Drive began to descend. Su Jiu, who had been meditating with her eyes closed, suddenly sensed something and opened her tightly shut eyes.
Looking into the distance, a stage even more massive than the Grand Prince’s appeared below. To be precise, it was a stadium-like plaza building.
It was circular in shape, and around the plaza, stone steps continuously extended upwards, serving as seating for the crowd. Everyone sitting around the plaza could clearly see the entire venue.
Even though the competition had not yet begun, people were already arriving one after another.
“Aren’t the elders there?”
After scanning the audience seats, Su Jiu’s gaze finally fell upon the judges’ seats, but she still couldn’t see the elders.
And at another entrance.
A gaunt old man, leaning on a cane and with a stern face, walked out from behind the crowd. Three people followed him.
They were a woman with a proud expression, a two-meter-tall strong man covered in rich fur, and a petite cloaked figure.
The woman held the metal registration form in her hand. Seeing that only five people were displayed on it, she suddenly said with a smile, “Elder Second, shouldn’t we announce that the other party isn’t coming? There’s also news that she might have died in the Frost Ghost’s revenge.”
Upon hearing this, the gaunt old man stopped and turned around, smiling as he said:
“If the person the Frost Sky Walker mentioned doesn’t arrive soon, I’ll have the Elder of the Tenth Clan cancel her qualification. Three days is already the longest extension. Any further delay would be considered disrespect to the gods.”
The petite cloaked figure remained indifferent, seemingly uninterested in this gossip.
Also holding a metal board, the strong man looked at the board and suddenly asked in surprise, “Are you talking about the third contestant from the Grand Prince’s side? Her information seems to have appeared on it.”
“Su Jiu?”
The aloof woman was slightly stunned, and she also looked over. Looking at the uncommonly familiar Chinese characters, she pronounced them with a strange accent.
“Su Jiu…”
Hearing the other person’s voice, the petite cloaked figure froze. A hint of confusion flashed in the eyes under her hood. Looking at the newly appeared competition information, she muttered to herself, her voice a little hoarse…
“Is it a coincidence?”
