THE MARTIAL KING - Season 8 Episode 36

Xiao’s face twisted when he heard the waves of curses from the audience. He thought, ‘If we don’t repair these enchanted barriers, then hundreds of people in the audience might be killed during the battles. When that happens, you’ll be cursing us again!’

Not long after, three people flew into the arena and bowed before Xiao.

They were the runic experts of the World Commercial Alliance. Their expertise was such that they could be considered as the top runic experts in the entire Central Region.

How did the World Commercial Alliance accumulate all these resources? Because they were rich and had the best weapon refiners, alchemists, and runic experts.

Masters of different professions and many independent cultivators were willing to join the World Commercial Alliance considering its reputation.

Although they would have a good future if they joined sects, they would receive more resources if they allied with the World Commercial Alliance.

This was one of the ways through which the World Commercial Alliance attracted talented people.

It was true that the three runic experts couldn’t compare to Arnold, the Son of Rune. But it was difficult to find a runic expert in the Central Region as equally skilled at rune drawing as these three men.

In Oracle City, almost all the runes from the Central Region had been collected in a place called the Runic Tower. Most runic experts would come here for further cultivation. Felix from Cloud Hall had been sent to the Runic Tower for further cultivation for several years.

These three runic experts were the rulers of the Runic Tower. In the runic world of the Central Region, their thoughts and ideas regarding runes were at the peak.

Hearing Xiao’s words, the three runic experts nodded and split up. They walked to the side of the arena and dug up the stone bricks. Under these bricks, there were many green colored stone tablets, and many complicated runes were drawn on these stone tablets.

However, at this moment, many of the runes on the stone tablets had been so badly burned that it looked as if they had been thrown into a big fire.

“The power burden was too great for these runes to withstand,” a runic expert said.

Another runic expert frowned and said, “These six enchanted barriers would support each other. How much power would it take to burn these runes? Can someone at the Internal Elixir Realm do this?”

“Unbelievable! A cultivator at the Internal Elixir Realm did not cause this damage,” another runic expert said as he shook his head.

Many cultivators in Oracle City would watch the Martial Arts Contest through Picture Slabs. And so they knew how the enchanted barriers had been damaged.

Although the three runic experts were cultivators at the Internal Elixir Realm, they had been obsessed with rune research their entire lives, and rarely paid attention to the outside world. Even if the World Commercial Alliance started a war with some race, they would not be distracted. They were certainly not interested in the Martial Arts Contest. So devoted were they that these runic experts would probably only leave the Runic Tower if Oracle City were destroyed.

Hearing the three runic experts speak, Xiao smiled helplessly and said, “Nate, these enchanted barriers weren’t broken by a cultivator at the Internal Elixir Realm.”

Among the three runic experts, Nate Nie was the oldest and had the richest knowledge of runes. He was also the owner of the Runic Tower.

“It can only be broken by a cultivator at the Virtual Tribulation Realm. Can a cultivator at the Virtual Tribulation Realm participate in the Martial Arts Contest?” Nate asked.

Hearing Nate’s question, Xiao laughed even more helplessly. “It was destroyed by a cultivator at the Illuminating Soul Realm.”

Nate raised his head at Xiao’s words and glared at him. “Xiao, are you joking with me?”

Although Nate was only a cultivator at the Internal Elixir Realm, he was still the owner of the Tunic Tower. His position was even higher than Xiao, an elder of the World Commercial Alliance.

Therefore, he didn’t have to show respect to Xiao.

“Do I look like I’m joking? The person who broke these enchanted barriers is still here,” Xiao said and pointed to the elevated platform for Cloud Hall.

Nate shook his head and said, “I’m not interested in knowing who broke the enchanted barriers. You can say they were broken by someone at the Illuminating Soul Realm, but I don’t believe you.” He looked at a few pieces of stone tablets and then shook his head again. “It’ll take three days to repair these runes.”

“What? Three days!” Xiao felt dizzy when he heard this. He had only paused the match for a moment, but the audience were already cursing. If the match were to be suspended for three days, then the audience might go berserk.

“Three days is still quite short. We will need to work overtime. If you ask other runic experts to repair the runes, it will take… about a year or so,” Nate said indifferently.

Xiao was at a loss for words. “I can only give you six hours!”

The moment Xiao finished speaking, Nate threw the stone tablet on the ground and said to his companions, “Let’s go!” The three of them were prepared to leave.

“You!” Xiao’s face twitched in anger. He knew that these old fellows from the Runic Tower had terrible tempers, but he didn’t expect them to be this stubborn. He glanced helplessly at the three leaders of the World Commercial Alliance.

The three fatties looked at each other with bitter smiles on their faces.

The World Commercial Alliance was just an organization. It was different from sects, as they were bound together by benefits. Sometimes the members of the World Commercial Alliance did not care about the leaders’ opinions, especially the old fellows from the Runic Tower.

They were so arrogant that they were unwilling to listen to the leaders.

At this moment, the cultivators in the audience clamored again.

“Hurry up and fix the enchanted barriers for us!”

“I want to watch the match. Otherwise, return my supreme crystal! It took me a long time to save the money! I’ve spent a supreme life vitality crystal on the match, not this!”

“Refund, refund! Return the supreme crystals to us! This bunch of useless runic experts probably won’t be able to fix them!”

Nate glared at the noisy cultivators and sneered, “You can’t do anything to me if I don’t fix them. If you think you can do better, then try fixing them yourselves!” Upon hearing that, the cultivators became enraged.

“If I knew how to fix them, I wouldn’t need you, right? The Runic Tower is more in name than in capability!”

“These runic experts are trash.”

Xiao’s face was filled with bitterness. How did the Martial Arts Contest end up like this?

Seeing that the situation was getting troublesome, Dillon couldn’t sit still anymore. He decided to try to persuade them kindly. He walked to the side of the arena and said, “Nate, calm down. We’ll have to trouble you with fixing these runes.”

When Nate saw Dillon, his attitude eased up a bit. In the end, he gave in to the leader of the World Commercial Alliance. He said, “Three days. This is the best that we can offer.”

“Three days? Why don’t you die?” cursed many cultivators who had heard Nate’s estimate.

A troubled expression reflected on Dillon’s face. “Three days is too long. We can’t pause the Martial Arts Contest for that long.”

Nate’s eyes widened. “If you can find a person in the Central Region who can fix them in less than three days, I will call him Master.”

Dillon’s breath was caught in his throat at Nate’s words. He couldn’t think of any way to refute him. As the owner of the Runic Tower, Nate was known as the top-most runic expert in the Central Region. No one could match him in the runic field.

At this moment, a voice came from the elevated platform, “Master Shi, I can repair these runes in two hours. How much will the World Commercial Alliance pay me?”

The one who spoke was none other than Zen. He stood at the edge of the elevated platform with a smile.

Dillon Shi glanced at Zen and slapped his forehead. He didn’t remember Zen’s abilities while arguing with those runic experts. Zen was also a runic expert, and he had mastered the amazing Perfect Brushwork. Xiao’s eyes lit up. During the pre-qualifying match, Xiao had heard Michael mention Zen’s amazing skills of rune drawing.

“You… Are you sure?” Dillon hesitated. Zen had so many gifts, and that was why Dillon had forgotten about his talent in runes.

More importantly, Zen had mastered the Perfect Brushwork. It was a unique technique that could correctly activate the characteristics of the runic materials and increase the material utilization to the perfect state!

However, the runes were also graded. The runes that Michael had shown them were only one-star and two-star runes, so Dillon subconsciously felt that Zen could only draw one-star and two-star runes.

As for the three-star, four-star, and even five-star runes, it would need years of practice to draw them. Zen was only about 18 years old. Dillon didn’t think he could do that.

Before Zen could reply, Nate laughed disapprovingly. “I’ve heard people bragging before, but I’ve never heard of them boasting like this!”

“Haw-haw! What’s going on with young people these days? You are talking pure nonsense!” another runic expert taunted.

“Sometimes you have to pay a price for speaking carelessly,” said the third runic expert in a serious manner.