Chapter 62: Chapter 63: Six Continents Combat Competition, Head of the Ten Most Dangerous People

They had scouted most of the terrain in the morning, so the afternoon was spent visiting a few spots for some final explanations before concluding.

For example, how to use the terrain during combat: how to hide, how to escape, and how to set up an ambush.

Additionally, certain areas would randomly spawn Weapons, Talismans, Pills, Arrays, and other items. These were all factors that could influence the exam.

However,

Li Xiaoshuang also stated that the teachers from other schools would surely prepare targeted counter-strategies, so students needed to learn to adapt and not just rigidly stick to the plan.

As he was leaving, he reminded everyone that People’s Park would be gradually closed off to set up the exam grounds starting next Monday, so they shouldn’t come back. If they hadn’t memorized the terrain, they should exchange notes with each other or use the Map of All-Encompassing to search online and reinforce their impressions.

They could even search for past years’ competitions to get a feel for the atmosphere ahead of time.

After parting ways at the park, Chen Che went to a shopping mall to look at some Flying Swords.

Of course,

the combat competition, just like the high school entrance exams, prohibited students from bringing their own Weapons.

If it weren’t prohibited, the competition would be meaningless. They might as well just have the contestants show off their family backgrounds, compare whose resources were more profound and substantial, and then just give the prize to the one with the strongest backing.

Chen Che planned to buy one to take to Yunzhou for self-defense.

After all, the atmosphere there was a bit unpleasant.

In the end,

persuaded by a top salesman, he purchased a new competitive Flying Sword model from the Ouyi Subsidiary Company, designed to rival the Demon-Slaying Sword:

the Pure Jun Sword.

"I recommend you choose the Pure Jun Sword Plus. The Plus is 20 centimeters longer than the regular version, with a blade length of 1.4 meters. It’s powerful and heavy, better suited for close combat than the Demon-Slaying Sword."

"Although it’s slightly more expensive than the Demon-Slaying Sword, its performance is superior in every aspect. Plus, our company has a ’trade-in’ program. If you decide to buy a new Flying Sword from our company in the future, you can trade in your old one for a discount."

"If you purchase the Pure Jun Sword Plus, our company will also include a beautiful scabbard and seven different colored tassels. Our guests can choose a different color to wear each day depending on their mood."

One and a half million, equivalent to three Spirit Stones.

Chen Che bought it without a moment’s hesitation. Of course, the real reason he chose the Pure Jun Sword was that the Ouyi Subsidiary Company had excellent after-sales service: unconditional returns within seven days and a three-year warranty.

"So cheap."

Chen Che couldn’t help but sigh as he stroked the Pure Jun Sword.

If this sword were in Yunzhou, it would be worth at least three or four hundred Spirit Stones. The reason it was so cheap was, on one hand, that Low Tier items were already being mass-produced on assembly lines, and on the other hand, that the materials used were common, leading to a slight dip in quality.

However,

once Cultivation Items reached Tier Two, the price would skyrocket.

After all, the manufacturing difficulty increased accordingly.

Walking into a back alley, Chen Che happened to see an old man in his seventies and an elderly woman entering a narrow lane. He only faintly heard a request to "turn around, my dear," followed moments later by the faint sound of SPLASHING water and collisions.

Passing by the locksmith shop,

Wu Neng was sitting outside the shop eating fertilized duck eggs. Since Chen Che had often come to him to pick locks, the two had gotten to know each other over time. Wu Neng insisted he sit down for a bite, and they even drank several bottles of fruit wine together.

As Chen Che was leaving, Wu Neng congratulated him in advance, wishing him a good ranking in the combat competition.

"Dad, is he really good?"

the young girl at the locksmith shop asked after Chen Che left.

"This is a video a colleague of mine sent me today. His son is also in the competition."

Wu Neng took out his phone, tapped it a few times, and pulled up a video.

The video’s title was: [Immortal Sect Year 509, Six Continents Combat Competition, Top 10 Most Dangerous Individuals]

Tenth Place: Wu Xiaolong, Late-stage Fifth Layer, Sixth Middle School student.

Ninth Place: Xu Weida, Late-stage Fifth Layer, Fourth Middle School student.

...

With an intense, beat-synced BGM, each student was shown with a dazzling montage of fight scenes.

Second Place: Xiao Yang, Early-stage Sixth Layer, Seventh Middle School student.

First Place: Chen Che, Late-stage Fifth Layer, First Middle School student.

There were three fight clips in total. Besides the battle video that had been featured in the provincial newspaper, the other two were from that very afternoon in People’s Park, showing him taking down Xiao Yang.

Thanks to the editing, it looked incredibly clean and decisive.

There was also a note at the bottom:

If your child, or a friend’s child, is preparing for the combat competition, please be sure to save this video or forward it to them. Tell them that if they run into any of these people, they must run away. If they run into the last person, please surrender immediately!

...

Full from the food and drink, Chen Che returned home. He didn’t receive the book list from Li Xiaoshuang, but he did get a call from Ding Dawei.

It turned out Ding Dawei had heard about Chen Che unlocking his Divine Sense from the First Middle School teachers’ group chat and was calling specifically to ask if it was true. When Chen Che confirmed it, Ding Dawei was incredibly excited, saying it was fantastic news.

Chen Che deeply understood this point.

When a Qi Refining Cultivator performed Alchemy, they were separated by the Pill Furnace and could only sense the changes inside by using their True Essence, which was like stir-frying with your eyes closed.

It mostly came down to intuition.

But once Divine Sense was unlocked, one could clearly perceive the situation inside the Pill Furnace and react much more quickly to any problems that arose during Alchemy. The difficulty, it could be said, would plummet. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Then, their conversation shifted to the Alchemy competition.

Ding Dawei explained that the Alchemy competition wasn’t as flashy as the combat one; there was no need to scout the venue, as the exam location wasn’t much different from the school’s Alchemy Room. As for the content, it was similar to the high school exam: students were given a Pill Formula and asked to refine Pills.

Occasionally, they would be given some obscure formulas or be tasked with thematic Alchemy.

For example: Someone has been afflicted by a certain poison; what Pill should be refined to cure them.

For example: Someone cultivates a Cultivation Technique of a certain attribute; what kind of Pill would be most suitable for them.

It was essentially taking theoretical knowledge and applying it in practice.

The only difference was that the difficulty was greater than the high school exam.

All of this required students to have a broad enough base of knowledge. Scouting the exam venue a thousand times was less practical than reading a few more Pill Books, memorizing more Pill Formulas, and reviewing Alchemy Techniques.

Then,

Ding Dawei also offered some encouragement, telling him not to slack off on his Cultivation just because he had unlocked his Divine Sense; he needed to practice even harder.

The call lasted for several hours. After hanging up, Chen Che felt his throat was dry from talking. Looking at the "Past Years’ High School Exam Alchemy Questions" that Ding Dawei had sent him, he suddenly felt that having a teacher who valued him so much was a kind of blissful burden.

「After tidying up a bit, he headed to Yunzhou.」

「While it was 11 p.m. here, the sun was already high in the sky over in Yunzhou.」

The people in the village had long since gotten used to his extremely irregular schedule, at most just gossiping about him behind his back. As he passed his family’s field, he noticed some vegetable leaves at the edge. With a casual wave of his hand, he pulled up several thumb-sized radishes.

"What are you doing pulling up my family’s vegetables?"

His aunt, Mrs. Fang of the Chen Clan, shouted when she saw him.

"How did your family’s vegetables end up growing in my family’s field?" Chen Che retorted, glancing over.

Mrs. Fang of the Chen Clan argued, "Isn’t it because my family’s land is all planted? There’s no space left! I’m just borrowing a bit of your land. We’re all relatives, why squabble over every little thing?"

"Not lending it!"

he replied coldly, then proceeded to pull up all the radishes by their roots and toss them outside the field.

Mrs. Fang of the Chen Clan gritted her teeth in frustration, but there was nothing she could do.

The Upper Immortal that her son had been following had, for some unknown reason, suddenly dismissed his disciples and disappeared a few days ago.

Meanwhile, there were rumors in the village that Chen Che, who appeared and disappeared like a ghost, also seemed to be following an Upper Immortal for his Cultivation. Naturally, their family no longer dared to openly occupy the field, so they could only resort to such petty tricks.

"How could you still dare to provoke him?"

Chen Shan rushed over anxiously after hearing what had happened.

"Who do you think I’m doing this for, if not your son?"

Mrs. Fang of the Chen Clan couldn’t help but complain:

"This Spirit Valley is food for Immortals! We pay seventy percent in taxes, and the remaining thirty percent is barely enough for our own family’s expenses, let alone enough for Chen Jiang to consume! If we had his field, maybe it would be enough! Who knows, maybe in the future, our family could also produce an Upper Immortal!"

"Don’t tell me you don’t want to be a master among men!"