The Unparalleled Sword Emperor
Chapter 241 - 240: Rules of the Year-end Tail Sacrifice (Third Update)

Chapter 241: Chapter 240: Rules of the Year-end Tail Sacrifice (Third Update)

Lin Bai spent the afternoon talking with Bai Xiaoxiao, who mainly shared with Lin Bai the predicaments facing the royal family.

Perhaps it was because Bai Xiaoxiao truly didn’t know to whom she could pour out the bitterness in her heart. Once she met Lin Bai, she told him everything all at once.

It was not until late into the night that Bai Xiaoxiao stood up and left Qianlong Villa.

As he watched Bai Xiaoxiao leave, Lin Bai sighed softly, "I never imagined that the current situation of the royal family would be so difficult. The military is dominated by one family, the Qi Wangfu, while the imperial court is entirely controlled by the Xu family."

"The only support for the royal family is the still-living old Prime Minister, Bai Xiaoxiao’s imperial grandfather," Lin Bai continued.

"The Qi Wangfu and the Xu Family, they are probably all waiting for the old Prime Minister to die," he speculated.

"Once the old Prime Minister dies, I’m afraid the rule of the Shenwu Kingdom’s royal family will change hands," he predicted.

"Both the military and the imperial court are no longer under the control of the Bai family," he observed.

"This may seem like a desperate situation, but it’s not entirely hopeless."

Lin Bai murmured softly, "We can temporarily ignore the Xu family. Even though they dominate the imperial court, they are merely civilians. Civil officials tend to go with the flow."

"Once the Xu family falls, they will naturally return to the embrace of the imperial court."

"As for the Xu family, apart from being wealthy, their martial arts are not flourishing. They don’t pose much of a threat to the royal family yet."

"The biggest threat is from the military."

"To break this deadlock, the royal family first needs to regain control of the military."

"And the prickliest part of this is that Qi Wangfu has already amassed millions of troops, with nearly half of the princes and kings within the territory of the Shenwu Kingdom obeying their commands. In terms of martial arts masters, they have over a thousand at the ninth level of the Heaven Martial Realm."

"Now that, is the real challenge."

With these thoughts, Lin Bai came to understand the royal family’s predicament more clearly.

"If the Qi Wangfu could be eliminated, I suppose half of the royal family’s crisis would be resolved; if the royal family regains military control, however aggressive the Xu family is, they wouldn’t dare offend them easily," Lin Bai laughed softly.

"Never mind. It’s better not to worry about it. Let the royal family resolve their own issues."

Lin Bai shook his head slightly and stopped thinking about it.

The night passed without further incident.

Early the next morning, Chen Gong called Lin Bai to his room.

On reaching Chen Gong’s residence, Lin Bai found out that Lu Yuan and Zhang Lingdao had arrived earlier.

"Lin Bai, you’re here, good. I need to explain the rules of the Year-end Tail Sacrifice to you all." Chen Gong was anxious for Lin Bai and the others to arrive so he could explain the rules of the Year-end Tail Sacrifice.

Lin Bai, Lu Yuan, and Zhang Lingdao all listened intently.

Chen Gong said, "The Year-end Tail Sacrifice, held by the royal family, consists of three stages."

"The first stage is the Heavenly Sacrifice."

"During the Heavenly Sacrifice, the royal family will lead all civil and military officials and all members of the royal family to the Heavenly Altar for the Sacrifice, to offer sacrifices to the Shanhe Ding."

"The Shanhe Ding is the Shenwu Kingdom’s national treasure and the only seventh-grade spiritual tool within the Shenwu Kingdom."

"After each sacrifice, the Lingzhu honed within the Shanhe Ding will be released to reward the royal family’s sacrifice."

"So, before each sacrifice, the princes and princesses of the royal family choose their assistants to help them snatch the Spirit Pearl. If you are invited by the royal family during the Heavenly Sacrifice, consider it a great opportunity."

Chen Gong said lightly.

Upon hearing this, Lin Bai nodded quietly.

"The second stage is in the Imperial Hunting Garden."

"The Imperial Hunting Garden is located in the Qitian Mountain Range."

"The Qitian Mountain Range is one of the nine demon beast heavens within the territory of the Shenwu Kingdom. There are demon beasts with a strength surpassing the fifth layer of the Heaven Martial Realm, which are extremely terrifying."

"In the Qitian Mountain Range, the time for hunting demon beasts is one day. For the demon beasts that are hunted, different points are awarded based on the strength of the demon beast."

"For example, a demon beast at the First Level of the Earth Martial Realm would give you one thousand points. A demon beast at the Second Level of the Earth Martial Realm would give you two thousand points. So on and so forth, with a demon beast of the Ninth Level of Earth Martial Realm giving nine thousand points."

"But Heaven Martial Realm is different. A demon beast at the Heaven Martial Realm First Layer gives ten thousand points. Continuing in this way, a demon beast at the Heaven Martial Realm Ninth Layer gives ninety thousand points."

"Earn these points, and you can exchange them for anything from the reward pool of the Year-end Tail Sacrifice."

"This Qitian Mountain Range is also where your first battle will take place. Be careful, not only of the demon beasts within the Qitian Mountain range, but also of the warriors from the Four Major Sects who are participating in the hunt, especially those from the Canghai Yuntai Palace and the Fire Palace."

"In the past few years, most of the warriors from the Spirit Sword Sects who came to participate in the Year-end Tail Sacrifice were ambushed and killed within the Qitian Mountain range by a combined force from the Warriors of the Canghai Sky Palace and the Fire Palace."

When Elder Chen Gong got to this point.

Lin Bai cut in: "Elder, what is there exactly in the reward pool?"

Lin Bai came to the Year-end Tail Sacrifice for the Beacon Fire and City Flowers. Once he gets them, Lin Bai can form the Fire Spirit Vortex.

Once the Fire Spirit Vortex formed, Lin Bai’s combat power would rise again.

Chen Gong took a jade slip from his chest and handed it to Lin Bai, saying, "This is a list of the prize pool."

Lin Bai took the jade slip and unfolded it for a look.

The jade slip was densely packed with names of over nine hundred rare treasures.

"Fifth-grade Spiritual Tools, the Destroying Army Spear, exchangeable for seventy thousand points."

"Cloud Sea Pill for use in the Heaven Martial Realm, five thousand points each."

"Spirit Pearls of the Shanhe Ding, one hundred thousand points each."

"..."

Lin Bai looked over the over nine hundred rare treasures listed on the jade slip carefully with his piercing eyes.

Finally, Lin Bai saw a treasure on the jade slip that caught his attention.

"Thousands of Years Spirit Medicine, Beacon Fire and City Flowers, exchangeable for one million points."

Lin Bai put away the jade slip and handed it to Zhang Lingdao and Lu Yuan to take a look.

However, Lin Bai was thinking about the Beacon Fire and City Flowers in his mind: "It actually requires one million points. Killing one demon beast at the Heaven Martial Realm First Layer would only give me ten thousand points."

"This means I would need to kill a hundred of them."

"Killing a hundred demon beasts at the Heaven Martial Realm First Layer won’t be difficult for me."

"But will there be enough time? The Imperial Hunting Garden is only open for one day...To kill a hundred demon beasts on the Heaven Martial Realm First Layer in one day might be a bit of a challenge."

Lin Bai was murmuring to himself.

Both Lu Yuan and Zhang Lingdao were dazzled by the rare treasures listed on the jade slip.

After they finished looking, they gave the jade slip back to Chen Gong.

Chen Gong continued: "The third part of the Year-end Tail Sacrifice is the Imperial Banquet Martial Arts Competition!"

"After coming out of the Imperial Hunting Garden, the Martial Arts Competition will begin. At that time, all warriors can challenge their opponents on the stage."

"Once you defeat your opponent, the points held by the opponent will be yours."

"You need to be careful. In the past few years, although the disciples of the Spirit Sword Sect managed to skip the second round of killings, many disciples were wasted during the third round of competition by the warriors of the Canghai Yuntai Palace and the Fire Palace."

"In the Martial Arts Competition, you can’t kill people, but you can incapacitate them."

"After the competition ends, the royals will then start allowing warriors to exchange for treasures."

"Then, the Year-end Tail Sacrifice will be over."

Chen Gong slowly explained.

"So, you can seize the opponent’s points. It seems that you need to try your best to keep up with the final martial arts competition." Lin Bai said firmly in his heart.

Chen Gong said: "Well, those are the rules. The date of the Year-end Tail Sacrifice has been set. It is happening in three days. You’d better prepare yourself."

"Yes." The three of them responded and then left Chen Gong’s residence.