Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 370 - 363 Variables II

Chapter 370: Chapter 363 Variables II

Guan Mingyue pondered for a moment.

"Your Highness, you have indeed hit the mark. There are two main types of products from the Nether River. One type is the river water, wherein the Nether River water collected at different hours and under different celestial conditions exhibits subtly varied effects. Most of these are particularly nourishing for the cultivation practice of the yin-focused demonic arts of demons. That is one category."

"The second category is the by-products, which are also the things we value most and are key for the exchange of benefits with the three major Sects organized by the Divine Palace."

"Please enlighten me further," Lin Xin said, sitting upright attentively, knowing that the critical part was coming.

"These by-products vary, but the most abundant are Nether River crystals, which are the raw ore that can also create Spirit Jade. The Spirit Jade extracted from these has an extremely high purity—nearly two pieces of Nether River crystal can produce one piece of Spirit Jade. Moreover, the Nether River produces hundreds of thousands of these crystals annually—it’s truly a treasure trove!" Guan Mingyue explained in detail.

"Hundreds of thousands of pieces..." Lin Xin was slightly shaken, acknowledging the tremendous wealth. But he knew this was not the key point; if it were just so, the three major Sects would not hold it in such high regard.

Seeing his expression, the elder nodded. "You’re right, indeed, that is just the most abundant product, not the most precious. Throughout the entire Nether River, aside from the occasional rare treasures that might drift by, the most precious is still the projection of the Evil God."

"The projection of the Evil God?"

"Yes," Guan Mingyue took a gentle sip of his tea. "The projection of the Evil God appears from time to time, acting like a portal to ancient spaces, allowing short-term access to places like the ancient Evil God Cemetery or ancient battlefields. From there, one could acquire a variety of Divine Technique Manuals, or Demonic Weapon God Soldiers, and even the Evil God’s Embryo might be obtained!"

"The Evil God’s Embryo..." Lin Xin felt a chill and slowly repeated the words.

"You are aware? The main value of the Evil God’s Embryo isn’t merely its benefit in breaking through to Yuan Jing. Many still contain the sentient will of the evil god, possessing control over all sorts of cryptic secrets, wondrous treasures, and supreme divine arts. That is the true treasure."

Guan the elder sighed.

"Do you know why the Sand Time Divine Palace has suddenly emerged recently?"

"Could it be...?"

"Exactly, a Sect found the Evil God’s Embryo and used it to gain information about the Sand Time Divine Palace, leading to its opening. It wasn’t by chance."

Lin Xin was deeply stirred and fell into contemplation.

"The Great Princess of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect has also already gone there, competing for the potential emergence of the Sand Stone Divine Wheel. The battlefield there is beyond our ability to intervene," continued the elder.

Lin Xin slowly nodded.

He then realized that his prior agreement to accompany the green lady to the Sand Time Divine Palace in ten years might have been too hasty. The complexities and troubles there were far underestimated, both by him and the green lady.

Ding!! Ding!!! Ding!!!!

Suddenly, a series of crisp, piercing bell sounds came from outside.

Lin Xin and the elder exchanged glances.

"The first round, someone has come out!"

The two stood up together. As organizers, they naturally had to witness the rankings of the contest.

**************************

The venue buzzed with noise, with members of the Human Race, the Demon Race, demonic cultivators, and even some kind-hearted foreign tribes from the Outer Regions sitting in the audience seats, all looking towards the protective shield enclosing the white lantern.

The three major organizers had already appeared at the very front of their respective pavilion ships.

"Everyone, rest assured, inside the lantern, the spirit of Myriad Laws Hall guarantees fairness, there will be no bias," Hong Gui, the old man, stated from his pavilion ship’s tip, his voice booming clearly, showing none of the distress from being previously injured by the second green lady.

The second green lady glanced at him from afar, silent.

Lin Xin merely smiled at the Crown Princess from the green lady’s temple, and she smiled back at him.

The arena below suddenly stirred even more.

At the exit of the white lantern,

a white figure slowly stepped out, his physique robust, dressed in black trousers, his upper body adorned with many white ox horns.

It was none other than Ouyang Fuchang, previously ranked eighth.

He appeared composed, as if he had only entered less than ten minutes ago, casually walking out and standing at the lantern doorway, looking around.

"I should be the first one out, right?"

His voice, surprisingly, carried over the entire uproarious field, echoing through the arena.

"First place, Ouyang Fuchang," declared Hong Gui with a slight change in his expression, but he quickly masked his unease and loudly announced the outcome.

The seats reserved for Ouyang Fuchang’s relatives instantly erupted in cheers, populated mostly by women, most of whom were beauties.

Ouyang Fuchang’s gaze toward these women shifted from indifference to tenderness, clearly showing a man of deep sentiment.

"Please, Mr. Ouyang, wait here for a moment," Lin Xin’s voice was mild.

Ouyang Fuchang nodded at him and sat down in a designated seat at the side.

Soon after, the second contestant also came out.

As expected, it was Zhu Chihuai, the one with the strongest consistent ability, who had even been approached by the second green lady for recruitment!

He was covered in blood, and as soon as he stepped out, his fierce gaze locked onto Ouyang Fuchang sitting at the side.

"Don’t get cocky; there’s still another round."

Ouyang Fuchang glanced at him indifferently, seemingly too uninterested to converse.

Zhu Chihuai’s chest heaved even more violently.

"Second place, Zhu Chihuai, please take your designated seat and wait for the next contestant." This time, the attitude of the Elder Hong Gui had obviously improved, as Zhu Chihuai was likely their favored bet.

Zhu Chihuai seemed to barely acknowledge Hong Gui, not even glancing at him as he walked directly to the nearest seat on the other side and sat down without looking at the spot for second place.

After waiting a while, no one else seemed to follow. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the venue became somewhat uneasy. Some relatives in the family section started to stir, clearly worried about their ancestors.

"Announce the result now," Zhu Chihuai directly looked at the strongest second Qing woman, his gaze carrying traces of bloodlust.

"There are still other contestants we need to wait for..." Hong Gui hinted with a somewhat ingratiating tone.

"There won’t be anyone else." Zhu Chihuai cut him off, grinning with a creepy bloody smile. "Only the two of us are left."

Hong Gui’s forced smile momentarily stiffened, and the second Qing woman also furrowed her brows.

Lin Xin’s original smile also somewhat stiffened.

As for everyone else, whether they were the guards in silver and bronze armor or the numerous cultivator spectators.

At this moment, they were all silenced by his words.

Then, suddenly, the venue exploded like water dropping into boiling oil, instantly becoming noisy and chaotic.

"Impossible, my ancestor masters the Sect’s sacred technique with limitless transformations. How could he lose to this useless nobody, die a tragic death, and certainly not end up in such a state...!"

"You’re spouting nonsense! It must have been some trickery you used to set a trap!"

"This is the grand competition, not a life-or-death battle ring. How could someone possibly die!"

"Must be this man trying to deceive the organizers with his words to boost his own record. To let such vile people into the grand competition, where is the justice that the doctrines talk about!"

Many relatives of the other contestant cultivators stood up hurling various insults, and even some excited dialects and slang burst forth.

These eleven participants, most of them being family heads or sect leaders, are pillars of their factions. Should anything happen to them, these factions would likely disintegrate and collapse overnight.

Thus, many of them were literally screaming their lungs out, no longer caring about venue rules. They were genuinely afraid, terrified. Afraid that if their ancestors indeed didn’t return, the ultimate outcome...

The scene was verging on loss of control.

Yet Zhu Chihuai just sneered coldly, sitting in his seat with hands resting on his knees, his head hung low, his eyes unreadable.

While Ouyang Fuchang’s expression remained indifferent, even aloof, sitting steady in his seat as though he were on his sect master’s throne.

Following the rules, they waited for half an hour, but there was still no movement inside the white lantern.

Hong Gui’s mouth twitched slightly, extending his hand to gather up the lantern.

But down in the family section of the venue, relatives burst forth like an explosion, some even losing control and attempting to breach the protective shield.

"Wait." Lin Xin suddenly spoke out to stop them.

Hong Gui frowned and looked towards him.

"What? Does the Crown Prince have something to say?"

"There’s someone else."

Lin Xin’s gaze was sharp as a knife, sweeping over Hong Gui and landing on the exit of the white lantern.

Suddenly, the entire venue was jolted by his words and quickly quieted down.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the location of the white lantern’s exit.

Slap.

Suddenly, a bloody female arm stretched out from the exit, forcefully grabbing the ground outside.

"Oh?" Zhu Chihuai was a bit surprised, raising his head to glance at Ouyang Fuchang, his gaze locking onto that stretched-out arm.

The arm slowly crawled out, followed by the body, which shockingly was only half complete.

Only half a body!

From the appearance and clothing, it was evidently the three-headed beautiful Demon King, whom everyone remembered vividly!

But now, she was left with only the left side of her body; the right side seemed as if it had been sliced off by some blade, missing the right hand, right breast, and right leg.

The whole body had been cut from head to toe, from top to bottom into two parts.

Wow!!!

The moment her full appearance was seen, the entire venue erupted in uproar, with all spectators rising in outrage.

Lin Xin was even more shocked and exchanged glances with Elder Guan.

"Save her!"

At the command of the second Qing woman, immediately two streaks of green light shot out, heading straight for the Demon King.

Lin Xin also signaled his two medics to hurry towards the Demon King.

With things having reached this point, the grand competition naturally had to be interrupted.

With only two and a half contestants left, the notion of selecting nominees had turned into a joke. Inside that white lantern resided the spirit of the Myriad Laws Hall, which would have intervened had there been any breach of justice or fairness. But with the spirit not interfering, it clearly indicated that there was nothing wrong with the whole process.

This indeed complicated matters.