016. Xiong Er's Revenge Battle Against Qitian
The next day, Qitian faced a mandatory challenge from Xiong Da's younger brother. Each person had the right to issue one mandatory challenge per month, which the opponent could not refuse.
When Qitian arrived at the performance field, his opponent was already standing on the stage.
He focused his spirit and calmly sized up the opponent before him.
Xiong Er.
He had a medium build, a strong back and narrow waist. Though not as tall and burly as Xiong Da, his lean and fierce aura surpassed Xiong Da's.
"You little bastard, you killed my brother? Today, I'll make you accompany him in death!" Xiong Er's eyes were wide with fury, fixed tightly on Qitian, burning with the flames of hatred.
The two brothers, Xiong Da and Xiong Er, had depended on each other since childhood. Qitian having killed Xiong Da, Xiong Er hated Qitian intensely, wishing he could rush forward and kill him immediately.
This was a mid-sized performance arena. Nearly a hundred people stood outside, sparsely gathered. The vast majority came to see how Xiong Er would exact his revenge.
Xiong Er's aptitude was better than Xiong Da's since youth. His cultivation had reached Rank 3 initial stage, his strength surpassed Xiong Da's, and he had long since broken into the fourth inner city's performance field.
As for Qitian, although a newcomer with little reputation, the feat of killing Xiong Da in a single move had already garnered him considerable attention.
"This kid is so tactless, killing Xiong Da. Hehe, I'll sit back and watch how Xiong Er tortures this kid to death."
"Although Xiong Er has been famous for a long time, this kid isn't simple either. Being able to kill Xiong Da in one move, the outcome is hard to say."
The spectators discussed among themselves. Although some favored Qitian, they were in the minority; most still supported Xiong Er.
Regarding Xiong Er, Qitian had also gathered some information: Rank 3 initial stage cultivation, specializing in Transformation Path, currently prominent in the fourth inner city.
Clang!
A clear bell chime sounded; the performance officially began.
Bear Vigor Gu!
Xiong Er suddenly roared, his muscles visibly bulging all over his body, making him a size larger. He temporarily gained an additional bear's strength, adding to his original two bear strength for a total of three bear strength.
Bear Paw Gu!
A goose-yellow halo enveloped his palms and soles. After the light dissipated, his hands and feet had enlarged more than threefold, transforming into thick, massive bear paws.
Striding forward, like a savage bear, he charged straight towards Qitian.
Thump, thump, thump.
The ground rumbled under Xiong Er's feet.
Xiong Er's hands, now thick bear paws, swiped towards Qitian.
Qitian didn't hesitate either, activating his Gu worms to meet Xiong Er head-on.
The jade blade enveloped in blade qi clashed with the bear paw. The airflow vibrated, leaving only a shallow scratch on the bear paw, which healed back to normal in moments.
After several probing exchanges, both retreated a few steps.
'This Xiong Er is indeed much harder to deal with than Xiong Da. Although both unleashed three bear strength, he specializes in bear transformation. Bear strength excels at slapping attacks, allowing him to fully utilize this power. His prowess isn't comparable to Xiong Da's three bear strength. Although I replaced my boar and wolf strength with Biao Strength Gu to gain one full Biao strength, the power I can exert is far less than what a real Biao can unleash. In terms of strength, I can only match Xiong Er evenly. He also has healing Gu. Looks like I can't win without revealing some real strength.'
'This kid matches me evenly just on strength alone. To kill him, I'll have to use that killer move. This was my hidden trump card saved for breaking into the third inner city, but as long as I can avenge Big Brother, even suffering heavy injuries is worth it.'
Both had their own calculations in mind. They looked at each other, their battle intent surging.
"Savage Bear Transformation!" Xiong Er silently chanted in his mind. Bear fur rapidly grew all over his body, and within three breaths, he transformed into a savage bear.
"Qi Yuan Slash!" This time, Qitian fully activated Blade Qi Gu, Blade Intent Gu, Lock Qi Gu, and Qi Source Gu, continuously slashing out five streaks of blade qi.
The first blade qi streak was blocked by Xiong Er's bear paw. The second slashed his belly, only causing minor injury.
Qitian understood that normal blade qi alone would struggle to heavily injure Xiong Er. Not wanting to expose the Connected Qi Linked Branches Gu too early, he activated two other Gu worms – Qi Source Gu and Qi Explosion Gu.
The remaining three blade qi streaks exploded upon reaching Xiong Er, forcing him back repeatedly with the shockwaves.
"Kid, die!" Xiong Er, though covered in blood, paid it no mind and charged at Qitian again.
This time, Qitian didn't immediately rush forward but constantly moved around, occasionally launching blade qi to leave wounds on Xiong Er's weak spots.
'Not good! His hit-and-run tactics are clearly meant to wear me down! My Savage Bear Transformation has a time limit, and with accumulating injuries, I'll lose soon!'
Qitian attacked while retreating. Xiong Er wasn't without ranged methods, but compared to his close combat ability, they were far too weak and posed no threat to Qitian.
Xiong Er roared repeatedly in anger, cursing and taunting Qitian, prompting the surrounding spectators to join in with jeers.
But how could Qitian be easily provoked?
Time passed; both sides' primeval essence continuously decreased.
More importantly, Xiong Er's Savage Bear Transformation had exceeded its time limit, and the backlash had begun to manifest.
Finally, Xiong Er couldn't hold on anymore and was about to concede. However, Qitian didn't give him the chance; just as he intended to surrender, Qitian suddenly burst forward and killed him.
"Unexpectedly, Xiong Er from the fourth inner city died just like that."
"Xiong Er was famous for a long time, hiding a killer move is understandable, but unexpectedly this kid, so young, already possesses such a powerful killer move."
"This kid is definitely not someone ordinary. It won't be long before he advances to the fourth inner city's performance field."
Winner takes all, loser is condemned. The crowd outside focused more of their attention on Qitian.
Thus, Qitian achieved his second victory. Similarly, because Qitian's final burst was too sudden, Xiong Er didn't have time to self-destruct his Gu worms.
Except for the destroyed Bear Skin Gu and his vital Gu, the Bear Vigor Gu which died with him, the other few Gu worms were all obtained by Qitian. Among them, the most valuable was a Bear Heart Gu, the core Gu of Xiong Er's killer move. Because he hadn't possessed it for long, it hadn't yet been switched to his vital Gu and was thus preserved.
After this battle, Qitian became famous overnight in the fifth inner city. Coupled with the fact that Qitian had killed his opponents in both battles, opponents in the following days often surrendered directly.
A month passed in the blink of an eye. Qitian also achieved thirty victories, with thirty net wins, smoothly advancing to the fourth inner city.
No one was surprised by this result; after all, Qitian's fierce reputation was plain for all to see.
His departure brought a sigh of relief to the Gu Masters in the fifth inner city performance field.
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Three days later, the large-scale auction.
"Everyone, what you see is a Chase Qi Gu. Rank 3 Gu worm, capable of tracking the aura of Gu Masters or wild beasts. It is a rare Qi Path Gu worm, a scouting Gu with wondrous effects and strong practicality. Base price twelve thousand primeval stones!" On a round stage, the hosting Gu Master activated a sound amplification Gu and announced.
"Thirteen thousand."
"Fifteen thousand."
"Eighteen thousand!"
After a round of fierce bidding, the Chase Qi Gu was acquired by Qitian for the price of twenty-two thousand primeval stones.
This Chase Qi Gu was quite valuable to Qitian. As a Qi Path quasi-Grandmaster, Qitian was proficient in using Qi Path Gu worms, often able to turn the rotten into the miraculous, fully unleashing the effects of Qi Path Gu worms.
Adding this Gu worm into his killer move could allow attacks to track enemies. Of course, ordinary Gu Masters lacked this ability and only used it as a scouting Gu worm.
Naturally, some recipe masters also acquired it, aiming to use it to research the mysterious Qi Path.
"Please look, this is a Snow Heart Gu, shaped like a heart-shaped snowflake. After a Gu Master refines it, it resides in the heart. As everyone knows, it enhances the attack power of ice and snow type Gu worms. Rank 3 Snow Heart Gu, starting bid thirty thousand primeval stones!" the Gu Master on stage shouted loudly.
As soon as his voice fell, someone immediately bid: "Thirty-five thousand!" Raising the price by five thousand primeval stones at once showed considerable momentum.
But this couldn't deter the enthusiasm of interested parties.
"Thirty-six thousand!"
"Thirty-eight thousand."
"Forty thousand..."
The price finally settled at forty-four thousand.
'As expected, these mainstream Gu worms are the most attractive. Although Qi Path Gu worms are rare and often fetch high prices, the competition is much smaller.'
Trade in Shang Clan City was frequent. Such large-scale auctions were held periodically. This was the first large-scale auction Qitian attended after entering Shang Clan City.
At large-scale auctions, all items were rare treasures, at least Rank 3 or above; items below Rank 3 were almost non-existent.
Besides Gu worms, there were also rare Gu feeding materials, precious and uncommon supplementary refinement materials, Gu refinement recipes, information about certain inheritances, stubborn stones of extremely fine quality, as well as female slaves, male slaves, captured live beast kings, and so on.
Items like the Chase Qi Gu and Snow Heart Gu, selling for tens of thousands, could only be considered low-priced compared to other auction items.
Soon, Qitian saw a Rank 4 Gu sell for a price of three hundred and fifty thousand primeval stones.
Rank 4 Mountain Crumble Gu. It could cause the surface layer of mountains within a certain range around the Gu Master to collapse, creating an attack similar to a landslide. Placed in a mountainous region like Southern Border, it was definitely a killing weapon.
Ordinary Rank 4 Gu typically cost between ten thousand and one hundred thousand. The price of the Rank 4 Mountain Crumble Gu was already equivalent to the price of a typical Rank 5 Gu.
Although Qitian had been accumulating for a long time, the one million four hundred thousand primeval stones he currently held were truly not much in this auction house, only equivalent to the price of a few Rank 4 Gu worms.
One Heart Three Uses Gu, a rare Rank 3 Gu. Qitian successfully bid for it at eighty thousand primeval stones.
Subsequently, Qitian spent another two hundred thousand primeval stones to buy some Gu worms for accumulating soul foundation.