Chapter 179: Chapter 178: Mockery
"The prizes for this competition are excellent." Zhu Tianhong nodded at Yi Tianyun. "The rewards for the top three are all fantastic. As long as you can secure a spot in the top three, whatever you win is yours. I won’t lay a finger on it."
Yi Tianyun nodded. This was one of his conditions, after all. ’If he’d refused, I wouldn’t have been so courteous.’
After a few moments of discussion among the crowd, Li Tianlong finally began to announce the details of the competition.
"Ahem, that’s enough about the rewards. I will now announce the first trial of the competition: Divine Rune strength!" Li Tianlong’s gaze swept across the numerous contestants as he declared in a deep voice, "Drawing Divine Patterns requires speed, precision, and power. You cannot be too slow, there can be no deviations, and the Spiritual Power you release must be forceful! Otherwise, you will fail."
"The first trial is a contest of this very strength. We will not consider the grade, only the strength of the Divine Rune. The greater its strength, the more impact it can withstand. I’m sure you all understand this. Typically, these Divine Runes are applied to armor to block attacks."
"Shortly, I will have Martial Artists of varying cultivation levels attack your work. The longer it holds, the higher your score. Do everything in your power to devise a Divine Rune for this purpose. Don’t worry about the grade; just make sure it can endure for as long as possible!"
Li Tianlong emphasized the concept of strength again. The goal was to engrave a Divine Pattern that would dramatically enhance a piece of armor—the stronger, the better.
"DING! Random chain quest triggered: ’Successfully Complete the First Trial.’ Reward: 500,000 experience points, 1,000 Divine Rune Mastery points."
Yi Tianyun’s eyes lit up. ’Interesting. I can even trigger a quest like this. And it increases my Divine Rune Mastery. Nice...’
Once everyone understood the rules, their faces brightened. This trial seemed quite fair.
Drawing a strength-focused Divine Pattern onto armor was a form of enhancement. Even a piece of iron, when reinforced by a powerful Divine Rune, wasn’t necessarily weaker than a Spiritual Artifact—it could even be stronger than a common one. This was the true power of Divine Runes; otherwise, Divine Rune Masters wouldn’t hold such a high status.
"The first trial is about strength, which involves extremely basic Divine Runes." Zhu Tianhong nodded, then turned to Yi Tianyun and asked, "This shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?"
"It won’t be a problem," Yi Tianyun replied with a calm smile, his level tone filled with confidence.
Zhu Tianhong nodded. ’Any Divine Rune Master would understand this type of Divine Rune; it is, after all, beginner-level stuff. If someone doesn’t even know this, they’re hopeless. However, simply being able to draw a first-grade defensive Divine Pattern is pointless; it would be impossible to get a high score with just that.’
’Although Li Tianlong said grade didn’t matter, is that really true? He only said there would be no bonus points for grade, but a high-grade Divine Rune is undoubtedly capable of withstanding more force.’
Soon, various pieces of defensive equipment were distributed—armor, shields, and the like. The items were passed out, and the contestants were allowed to choose freely. Most chose a shield, as it was a comparatively easier surface on which to engrave this kind of Divine Pattern.
Once everyone had their equipment, Li Tianlong gave a slight nod and announced, "You have all received your armor. The time limit is one hour. Anyone who fails to finish in time will be eliminated! I hope you all use your time wisely."
The moment he finished speaking, Li Tianlong gestured to a nearby attendant, who flipped over a large hourglass. The sand immediately began to fall. When it ran out, the time would be up, and anyone who hadn’t finished would be eliminated.
Although the trial used a scoring system, if you couldn’t even finish engraving a Divine Pattern, what right did you have to compete? So even engraving a garbage Divine Pattern was better than producing nothing. At least you wouldn’t be eliminated, which would be the ultimate disgrace.
Once the hourglass was flipped, all the contestants took out their most favored Divine Rune Pens and began to work, racing against the clock. Engraving Divine Patterns was no simple task. An hour might seem like a long time, but there was little room for error.
A contestant could afford to fail once at most. Failing twice in a row meant elimination, as there simply wasn’t enough time to attempt a third engraving.
Everyone immediately immersed themselves in the process of engraving their Divine Patterns, not daring to relax for a second. Time was simply too tight, leaving no room for anything else. Yi Tianyun’s gaze sharpened as he, too, began to work. ’I can’t lose here. I have to make it into the top three!’
The contestants had no time to spare, but the various families in the audience had plenty. They began to size up the participants, making pointed remarks.
"Patriarch Zhu, I wonder how many helpers you’ve invited this time?" Patriarch Wang, sitting nearby, could no longer contain himself. He leaned over and asked, "I seem to have heard you invited two rather skilled Divine Rune Masters?"
Patriarch Zhu replied in a low voice, "That’s right. We invited two helpers. Is there a problem?"
"No problem at all. It’s just, inviting two helpers, that’s quite impressive... A pity I could only afford to invite one. I’m at quite a disadvantage when it comes to numbers."
His tone held no trace of someone at a disadvantage. On the contrary, it was steeped in arrogance. His words were clearly loaded.
Sure enough, another Patriarch nearby chimed in, "Patriarch Wang, you’re not being fair. You may have only invited one person, but he’s from the Divine Rune Mansion, isn’t he? As for the two Patriarch Zhu invited, who knows where they were dredged up from. Are they as renowned as someone from the Divine Rune Mansion?"
"Oh, is that so? I thought Patriarch Zhu had also invited people from the Divine Rune Mansion. Take that boy, for instance. To be sent to compete at such a young age, surely he must be from the Divine Rune Mansion?" Patriarch Wang sneered. "If he isn’t, would you really dare have him compete for you?"
"Patriarch Wang, you can’t be serious!" the other Patriarch mocked. "I may not have visited the Divine Rune Mansion often, but I’ve never seen a disciple that young. I can say with certainty he’s not from the Divine Rune Mansion."
This back-and-forth caused Patriarch Zhu’s expression to darken. They were clearly ganging up on him. His family often clashed with the Wang Family, and the provocations had already begun.
"Patriarch Wang, do you think this year’s championship is already in the bag for you?" Patriarch Zhu was not one to be trifled with and let out a cold snort.
"I would never say such a thing. Our chances are just a bit higher, that’s all," Patriarch Wang said with a smile. His words were the very opposite of humble; they were smug to the core. "But what about you, Patriarch Zhu? What place do you feel you’ll secure?"
Saying their chances were "a bit higher" was as good as saying they could win the championship. Even if they didn’t take first, securing a spot in the top three would be no problem. With backing from the Divine Rune Mansion, the results were naturally going to be different.
"I don’t know what place we’ll get, but it certainly won’t be any worse than your Wang Family!" Patriarch Zhu had no real confidence, but he couldn’t possibly admit defeat here. He had to stand his ground no matter what.
"Oh? In that case, I shall wait and see!" Patriarch Wang sneered. He knew Patriarch Zhu wouldn’t back down. Neither of them would ever admit defeat until the final results were announced.
’It’s the same as always,’ Patriarch Wang thought. ’Patriarch Zhu will stubbornly hold his ground, and in the end, he’ll just end up in last place anyway.’
Yi Tianyun’s expression remained placid as he continued to focus on the trial. He had no idea what they were thinking, nor did he care. ’All I need to do is complete the quest and break into the top three!’
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