THE MARTIAL KING - Season 7 Episode 81

It was quite a busy day at Oracle City. All the restaurants, hotels, and teahouses were filled with tourists, martial artists, and cultivators of different levels.

The Martial Arts Contest had surely piqued the interest of almost half of the martial artists from the Central Region. But not all of them were qualified to take part in the contests. Still, these martial artists went all the way here just to watch the battles between the great masters of different sects. It was going to be a worthwhile trip if they could learn a new fighting technique from these masters.

Some of these practitioners were even hoping to get an epiphany from watching the fights. Though there wasn’t any assurance to it, it was worth a try.

Zen was asking around for the Martial Arts Contest registration booth, but no one seemed to really take him seriously.

After several attempts, someone had finally pointed him in the right direction.
Although the contest was open to all practitioners in the Central Region, there were limited available slots. Hence, some pre-qualifying matches were designed to identify the qualified participants to the Martial Arts Contest.
But the pre-qualifying matches were intended only for the practitioners from unknown sects who at least reached the Illuminating Soul Realm. And only after passing these matches could they move on to the Martial Arts Contest.

While for the famous sects, they each could get three to ten reserved slots in the Martial Arts Contest. This meant that participants from Cloud Hall, Bloodwood Cliff, Ethereal Spirit Sect, and other top sects could get into the Martial Arts Contest without going through the pre-qualifying matches. Some top individual warriors could also get a reserved slot to participate in the Martial Arts Contest.

The Cloud Hall had five reserved slots and the list had already been sent to the World Commercial Alliance which held the Martial Arts Contest.

Despite being a top disciple of Cloud Hall, Zen didn’t get a spot. So, in order to take part in the Martial Arts Contest, he needed to go through the pre-qualifying matches.

When Zen arrived at the registration booth, it was crowded with practitioners who wanted to sign up for the pre-qualifying matches. Every now and then, Zen could hear applause and cheering coming from the big crowd.

Despite being physically strong, he couldn’t get his way into the crowd that easily. He pushed them away, braved through the thick crowds until finally making his way to the registration booth.

He found an old man with a mustache sitting at the center, guarded by four strong and tall men without shirts on.

They appeared to be practitioners at the ultimate level of the Illuminating Soul Realm, giving off a more terrifying vibe. It seemed that they were assigned to sign up the practitioners.

As Zen looked around, he realized that these practitioners were just bystanders with no intention of signing up for the contest.

Zen was figuring out how to sign up for the test. He kept on looking around, waiting for someone to sign up so he could see. Suddenly, a practitioner walked up to the old man and said loudly, “I want to sign up.” The practitioner took out a supreme life vitality crystal from his pocket and threw it on the desk in front of the old man.

The old man then said, “Well, then. Try your luck, kid. Punch this stone as hard as you can.”

He was pointing at a square, human-sized, pale green stone. There was nothing special about this stone on the surface, and nothing unusual would seem to come out of it.

Zen sensed something weird about the stone, so he tried to scan it with his mental powers. But to his surprise, it totally blocked his soul and therefore, he couldn’t tell what was in that stone despite scanning it thoroughly.

Without another word, the practitioner urged the bystanders to back off as he made his way towards the stone.

When the crowd stepped back and made room for him, the practitioner then stood back a little. The life vitality inside his body frantically fluctuated. He gave off a fierce and powerful aura as if he had been practicing a tough cultivation method.

“Ha!” the practitioner roared. His feet moved smoothly like there was water on the floor as he threw his fist towards the pale green stone.

The practitioner seemed to have reached the eighth stage of the Illuminating Soul Realm. If it was indeed an ordinary stone, it would instantly break into pieces once the practitioner hit it. Zen was observing the practitioner quietly. Everything he would learn from here could be quite useful for him. Zen took a deep breath when the practitioner was about to hit the stone. The practitioner threw his fist at the stone… but it didn’t move or even shake a bit.

Only a dull thud was heard. The punch was strong and powerful, but it wasn’t enough to even scratch the stone.

The old man casually glanced at the green stone. He then wrote something on his note and finally declared, “Failed! Next, please!”

The practitioner was stunned to hear the results, but he couldn’t do anything. He left with a broken heart, shaking his head as he moved away from the registration booth.

‘What a waste of supreme life vitality crystal! He didn’t even get a second chance! Darn it!’ Zen thought to himself, feeling pity for the practitioner. This was how the World Commercial Alliance made money. It was unfair, but nothing was indeed fair in this world.

Now Zen understood why only a few practitioners would sign up for the contest. A supreme life vitality crystal was not cheap; it was equal to more than a million low-grade life vitality crystals.

For the second and third grade sects, and numerous famous families in the Central Region, supreme life vitality crystals were nothing; but not for any ordinary practitioners. Even most of the practitioners at the Illuminating Soul Realm could not afford to spend a supreme life vitality crystal.