Chapter 294 : The Old Man Has Been Waiting for a Long Time

Chapter 294: The Old Man Has Been Waiting for a Long Time

Ten Giant Hawks continued flying rapidly through the sky.

Nangong Yue began to float upward, distributing the participation tokens for this Grand Competition to every disciple of the Dao Gate.

Later, when they underwent inspection, this participation token would effectively serve as a temporary visa for people of the Mirror Country entering the Moon Country.

When Chu Huaixu’s right hand touched the participation token, a system notification sounded in his ear.

“【Ding! You have triggered the main quest—Eastern and Western Continents’ Grand Competition.】”

Hearing the notification, he immediately felt delighted.

“I knew it—why hadn’t this quest triggered yet?”

“So it turns out I hadn’t obtained the required item.”

Previously, when the Grand Competition was held within the Dao Gate, there was no need for such extra steps.

He quietly opened the mission interface and checked the rewards.

“Whoa! Not bad at all!”

“Winning the preliminary round gives 60,000 Experience Points?”

That was far higher than the First Realm Competition.

“Winning the second round gives 100,000 Experience Points.”

“The third round gives 100,000 Experience Points plus a Yellow-rank Technique Upgrade Voucher.”

At present, the main quest only had the first phase unlocked—that is, progressing from the preliminary round to the top 128.

From the top 128 to the top 32 would be the second phase.

The final phase would come afterward.

“As expected of a main quest—so generous right from the start.”

For something like the preliminary rounds, which felt like child’s play, the rewards were already quite substantial.

What delighted him the most, however, was that in the lower-right corner of the mission interface, the reward status displayed: 【Claimable】.

This had been Chu Huaixu’s biggest concern.

The reason was simple—he held the title of Xuanhuang Champion, which allowed him to directly advance to the top sixteen of this competition.

Previously, even Dead Fox had found it somewhat regrettable.

Although skipping directly to the top sixteen seemed effortless and prestigious, Chu Huaixu needed to complete quests.

Moreover, each sparring match opponent was essentially equivalent to a “red-named wild monster” to him—defeating them granted “monster-killing Experience Points.”

He had been worried that the system might not grant him the rewards for the earlier rounds.

“Fortunately, it seems I can still claim the rewards.”

“Direct advancement means I’ve already completed those tasks in advance.”

That instantly put his mind at ease.

Right now, he was practically impoverished in Experience Points—like a clever housewife with no rice to cook.

If he couldn’t even claim quest rewards, he would truly start cursing.

He might as well have his Xuanhuang Champion title revoked and start from the preliminary rounds.

After all, if everything went smoothly, his title as First Realm Xuanhuang Champion would soon be replaced by the Third Realm Xuanhuang Champion.

At this moment, as he looked at the mission interface, he thought:

“So that means I can actually claim all rewards from the first and second phases in one go.”

“Even the reward for advancing from the top 32 to the top 16 in the third phase—I can claim that too.”

“It’s just a pity the system has only unlocked the first phase for now.”

Still, Chu Huaixu didn’t mind.

He could claim those rewards sooner or later—it was only a matter of time.

There wasn’t much for him to do after arriving at the Imperial Capital anyway; his only scheduled activity was entering the Imperial Pool.

“Just going for a soak.”

As for the Emperor-level Divine Sense, it was neither here nor there for him.

He wasn’t even sure whether it could coexist peacefully with the Heart Sword in his Sea of Consciousness.

If the Heart Sword disliked it, it might simply be destroyed.

Chu Huaixu didn’t consider it particularly impressive.

After all, during the Champion’s Duel between the Eastern and Western Continents, Qin Xuanxiao had summoned the Founding Emperor’s divine sense, and the Heart Sword had driven it back with a single strike.

“Emperor-level Divine Sense? Sounds impressive, but when you round it up, it’s just a defeated opponent of my Heart Sword,” he thought smugly.

It had to be said—Cheng Yuyan was truly skilled at manipulating people’s hearts.

After listening to him, Chu Huaixu had indeed wavered slightly and developed a subtle resistance toward the divine sense.

However, he had a strong sense of self. Once inside the Imperial Pool, he would decide based on the situation.

For now, he decided to claim the first-phase rewards.

After claiming everything in one go, Chu Huaixu obtained a total of 1,200,000 Experience Points!

“Now that’s what I call getting rich!”

In addition, he obtained two Yellow-rank Treasure Chests and six Yellow-rank Technique Upgrade Vouchers.

“Yellow-rank Treasure Chests are decent—though the items aren’t high-tier, they’re diverse. Maybe something useful will pop out.”

“But these Yellow-rank Technique Upgrade Vouchers…”

“For me right now, they’re completely useless.”

“No—not just useless. Pure trash!”

Chu Huaixu had already studied the Three Thousand Scrolls of the Sword Dao.

His skill bar was overflowing—just reading through his skill list could take an entire day.

In such a situation, why would he learn any Yellow-rank techniques?

“Still, I could fuse them.”

“In games, you always have items that fall behind the version.”

“In those cases, you just fuse them.”

“Ten Yellow-rank vouchers can be fused into one Mystic-rank voucher.”

“Similarly, ten Mystic-rank can become one Earth-rank.”

These vouchers essentially replaced Experience Points for upgrading skills.

From a value standpoint, needing ten to fuse into one wasn’t cost-effective.

But if something was outdated, it was basically worthless anyway.

“Besides, games always have a gambling aspect.”

“You don’t have to use ten—you can use nine for a 90% success rate, and so on.”

“But at least five are required to attempt a fusion.”

Chu Huaixu checked his Backpack.

From previous rewards, he already had eight Yellow-rank Technique Upgrade Vouchers.

“Might as well fuse them all.”

“I’ll do it twice—seven each time.”

“Whatever happens, happens!”

With that mindset, he began fusing them—and both attempts succeeded.

Next, Chu Huaixu opened the two Yellow-rank Treasure Chests.

“【Ding! You have obtained Clear Mind Tokens ×2.】”

His mouth twitched—more trash.

Clear Mind Tokens removed one negative effect at the level of Divine Sense.

But since they were only Yellow-rank, their effectiveness was limited.

Stronger negative effects couldn’t be fully removed.

Chu Huaixu had the Heart Sword in his Sea of Consciousness and 【Southward Sunlight】 in his left palm—both far superior.

Looking at his Backpack again, he felt it was filled with junk system rewards.

“I’ve got six Mystic-rank Technique Upgrade Vouchers now.”

His fingers itched.

What player didn’t get that urge?

Everyone wanted to gamble—to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.

Even wealthy players often didn’t play it safe.

Many would stockpile vouchers and fuse them with six or seven at a time.

With enough quantity, a few failures didn’t matter—it was all about the thrill.

If the result was worth it—great.

If not—it was just being reckless.

Back when Chu Huaixu worked as a play companion, he had even done this for a female boss.

It was like sitting at a gambling table, opening cards on her behalf.

“Alright, let’s try once.”

He had a feeling his luck was good today.

Chu Huaixu placed six Mystic-rank Technique Upgrade Vouchers into the Fusion Furnace.

The furnace spun rapidly before slowly opening.

“It worked!” he rejoiced.

He hadn’t expected such luck—succeeding with a 60% success rate to obtain an Earth-rank Technique Upgrade Voucher.

Without hesitation, he used it immediately.

The target was naturally the already Major Mastery-level 【Six Formations of the Broken Array】.

This technique suited him perfectly.

What he found most unbearable was that his dishwashing underling, Little Xu, had already cultivated it to Perfection with his monstrous talent.

“If I’m still at Major Mastery, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if Little Xu saw me?”

At that thought, he glanced at Xu Ziqing, who had placed the massive Sword Case beside him.

Once upgraded to Perfection, the destructive power of 【Six Formations of the Broken Array】 was terrifying.

Of course, the backlash it inflicted on the user also increased.

“If my body strength can’t keep up, the compatibility of this skill will drop.”

“With my level of output… I really don’t know how these Moon Country cultivators are supposed to beat me.”

—He simply couldn’t imagine losing!

At this moment, the Giant Hawks flew forward for a while longer.

Then they stopped.

Two major cultivators of the Moon Country stood midair, blocking the path and conducting a routine pre-entry inspection.

The Dao Gate was one of the Four Great Sects, so they were treated as honored guests—it was merely a formality.

After passing the inspection, the Giant Hawks flew for another full day and night, finally arriving at the Imperial Capital of Moon Country.

Before entering, there was a second inspection.

This one was handled by two peak Sixth Realm major cultivators.

Not far away, above the Imperial Capital, a gray-robed figure stood suspended in the air.

He stood just within the airspace of the Imperial Capital, while Jiang Zhi and the others remained outside.

When Jiang Zhi saw him, his expression immediately darkened.

The man had shriveled skin, a thin frame, and lifeless, hollow eyes.

—the Moon Country’s Old State Preceptor, Ming Xuanji!

Ming Xuanji cupped his hands slightly toward Jiang Zhi and said:

“Daoist Jiang, it has been many years.”

“This old man has been waiting here for quite some time.”