NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18 - You Look Quite Like an Uncle!
Chapter 18: You Look Quite Like an Uncle!
The year 35,891 on the Tianfeng Continent, April 10th.
It was Li Ao’s fifth day since his rebirth.
The weather was clear.
At the Newcomer’s Trial Plaza.
The supervisory assistants summoned six huge Square Rock Combat Beasts, transforming them into solid rock arenas.
Each stone arena was one meter high and twenty meters in length and width.
The new recruits lined up according to their numbers.
They were grouped for competition.
Sixty groups in total.
Each group had five members competing.
Winning earned 3 points, a draw 1 point, and losing 0 points.
The top two scorers in each group would advance to the next round of eliminations.
Martial arts combat prohibited the use of war beasts, and the recruits were only allowed to use combat skills in the arena fights.
“Li Ao, it’s over for you! Your group includes Prince Jinxi, and the other three in your group all have combat power over one hundred,” Fuxi excitedly ran to check the group listings.
He discovered that number 244, Li Ao, was up against contestant number 1, Prince Jinxi, and couldn’t help but exclaim about the misfortune.
“It’s okay, maybe a miracle will happen!”
Li Ao comforted Fuxi in return.
“In your dreams!”
Fuxi did not believe in miracles.
Li Ao just shrugged his shoulders.
“Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll avenge you later.”
Fuxi slapped his chest, full of loyalty.
“How are you going to avenge me?”
Li Ao was curious.
Are you sure you won’t get instantly defeated by Prince Jinxi?
“There are no strong competitors in my group, the highest combat power is fifty below mine, so I’m sure to advance to the elimination round.”
Fuxi confidently assured Li Ao while patting his chest: “If I meet anyone from your group in the eliminations, I’ll knock them out for you, to regain some pride…”
“What about Prince Jinxi?”
Li Ao struggled to hold back a laugh.
“Nonsense, Prince Jinxi has a combat power of 1276, how could I possibly beat him? I hope I don’t run into him!”
Fuxi was aware of his own limits.
“I’ll fight him,” Tie Zheng, usually quiet and reserved, suddenly spoke up.
“As expected of Brother Tie Zheng, always so dominant!”
Fuxi exclaimed excitedly.
Chen Quan and Hei Zhu quickly echoed his sentiment, nodding repeatedly.
As underlings of the branch,
If they didn’t keep up with the future family head, what future did they have?
Dou Guang and Chang Chi, the supervisors, announced the start of the fifth newcomer’s trial: the martial skills combat test.
Unlike the tall and thin Dou Guang, who had high cheekbones, narrow eyes, and a somewhat sinister hooked nose, Chang Chi was short, stout, and muscular, always wearing a deceivingly friendly smile.
He had a flat nose and an unusually large mouth, his shoulders broad and his belly as round as a drum.
Chang Chi was accompanied by three assistant referees.
They were primarily in charge of overseeing the matches on the three arenas on Li Ao’s side.
“Each participant will receive a summon suppressor. Note that whether the suppressor is damaged due to attack or accident, the wearer’s score for this trial will be nullified. Likewise, any newcomer who deliberately targets a summon suppressor will also have their score cancelled. Be careful not to try any tricks in front of me!” the burly assistant referee handed out cards to the newcomers one by one.
Li Ao received his card, a deep purple in color, and casually infused it with some source energy.
Instantly,
The card lit up brilliantly,
Transforming into a black collar that locked around his neck.
The summon suppressor provided by the Trial Temple was able to suppress the summoning of war beasts below the golden level.
Unless a newcomer possessed a war beast of gold level or higher, the suppressor ensured a relatively fair competition environment where no one could summon war beasts or gain the abilities of their war beasts.
Like Li Ao,
His powers like the strength of a bear, stone body protection, and stone walking were suppressed, leaving him to rely solely on his combat skills in the arena.
However, some physical enhancements, such as the bodily improvements he gained from bonding with the Shadow Halberd, remained because they were assimilated enhancements and not affected by the summon suppressor.
Those whose bodies were integrated with, or enhanced by, their war beasts would naturally have an advantage in physical combat.
Why was Tie Zheng confident enough to challenge Prince Jinxi?
The reason lay in his innate talent of metallic bone,
Backed by powerful abilities,
He had a significant advantage in combat when neither could summon their war beasts.
“Hahaha!”
Fuxi suddenly ran back, wrapping his arms around Li Ao in a mighty hug, his unprotected ribs creaking under the pressure.
“Boss, if you don’t let go, you won’t have this little brother anymore!”
Li Ao gently reminded him not to get too excited.
“Sorry, Li Ao, are you alright?”
Fuxi quickly let go.
“I’m fine, what’s got you so excited?”
Li Ao knew he had to ask to keep the conversation going.
“I automatically advanced,” Fuxi said, bending his arm to flex his muscles, his expression full of regret, “I really wanted to compete seriously and was ready to get on the stage for a good fight, but they were so afraid of my ‘Strength of Nine Bulls’ talent that they just pleaded for mercy and decided among themselves who would get the remaining spot. Li Ao, you know, I have no faults except being too kind!”
“Not bad,” Li Ao responded, having only listened to the first part of Fuxi’s spiel and automatically tuning out the rest.
“I’m here to support you, you have to try hard,” Fuxi hoped his presence would boost his younger cousin’s confidence.
“Aren’t you going to watch the beautiful ladies compete?”
Li Ao wondered.
“I can multitask without any problem, it won’t affect my support for you…”
Fuxi said, while his eyes kept drifting to the competitors by the No. 2 arena, particularly a fiery beauty named Huo Mei.
“Alright then!”
Li Ao knew it would end up like this.
It didn’t matter; he hadn’t planned on taking a low-key approach anyway.
Beforehand, he had only been quiet to create the perfect opportunity to publicly thrash Prince Jinxi.
At the signal of the supervising judges, the fifth event of the newcomer’s trial, the combat skill fight, officially began.
The newcomers ascended the stage.
They exchanged bows.
Then the assistant referee explained the rules.
Falling unconscious, admitting defeat, or falling off the stage all counted as a loss.
If no winner emerged within five minutes, the match would be a draw.
The rules were simple.
At the command of the assistant referee, the participants on all six stages began their matches.
Although Fuxi was there to support Li Ao, his focus was continuously shifting to the attractive competitors on the nearby stages, busy to the point of distraction.
Half an hour later.
The assistant referee responsible for Arena 1 loudly called out Li Ao’s number: “244!”
“It’s my turn,” Li Ao said to Fuxi before heading out.
“So soon? Fight well, I’m fully supporting you!”
Fuxi’s eyes may have been on Huo Mei’s fiery dance on the adjacent stage, but his words were accurately directed at Li Ao, showcasing his multitasking skills.
Before Li Ao got on the stage.
Ling Long, having finished her match, playfully pulled the timid Yue Sha over to watch the excitement and cheekily made an encouraging gesture to Li Ao’s muscular opponent, adding a bit of challenge for Li Ao.
The nearly two-meter-tall hulk, excited to see Ling Long cheering for him, nearly had a nosebleed.
Claiming to be sixteen.
The deep furrows on his forehead and his rough, sun-darkened skin gave off a bizarre vibe of an old man falsely claiming his age to participate in the trials.
“From the Iron Clan Family of Silverlight City, Li Ao,” Li Ao introduced himself according to the rules.
The muscle-brained opponent casually returned the gesture and then provocatively said, “Kid, remember your elder’s name well. I’m Wild, from the Break-Earth Family of Dragon City!”
“You do look quite a bit like an elder,” Li Ao noted, seeing a face that seemed to have aged forty years too soon, a premature sign of age unique among the newcomers, though his pride in it seemed misplaced.
“Pfft!”
Ling Long couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Wild, infuriated by the laughter, hated nothing more than being joked about his face.
This is maturity!
A forehead with lines is a sign of a man’s maturity, understand, kid?