Chapter 66: Demon Hunt’s Secrets (II)
“The preliminary contest will select the top ten from each Temple to participate in the finals. Also, everyone who passes through the preliminaries will have the right to become a new participant of the Demon Hunts. During the final stage, your ranking will help determine both your groupings for upcoming Demon Hunts as well as your rewards.
60 people will participate in the final stage and lots will be drawn to decide the matchups. Thus, luck will be an important factor for the finals. For example, assassins drawing a mage opponent or knights drawing an assassin can be considered strokes of luck. The sixty people will be ranked at the end: the higher the ranking, the richer the rewards. The top three competitors can each select a teammate to be grouped with to precede the others during the next Demon Hunt roulette.”
Hearing that, Li Xin could not refrain herself from asking: “Teacher Feng, what is the Demon Hunt roulette?”
Feng Yangmu faintly smiled and gave his reply: “The Demon Hunt Selection, as its name implies, selects the youths that are the most suitable to join a Demon Hunt Squad. Each Demon Hunt Squad includes a powerhouse from each of the Six Great Temples, which is why 60 people are participating in the finals. How will they be divided? That is what the roulette selection of the Demon Hunt is here for; we let the Heavens decide how the teams will be formed. After all of the Demon Hunt Squads have been created, there will be another grand competition to ultimately determine and reward the best Demon Hunt Squad of the year.”
Long Hao Chen asked: “Teacher Feng, what is a Demon Hunt Squad’s task? The Demon Hunt Selection Competition organized by the Alliance is so grand, it must be extremely important, right?”
Feng Yangmu answered without the slightest hesitation: “Of course. The Demon Hunt Squads can be said to be our most important force against the demon race. The Temple Alliance will give them various missions, almost all of them related to demons. A powerful Demon Hunt Squad is a larger threat to the demon race than a magnificent army of thousands of men and horses; it can even kill a Demon God. At the present time, there are over a hundred active Demon Hunt Squads acting as the main force of the Alliance against the demons.
I won’t say anything concerning the kinds of tasks that are carried out by the Demon Squads, but if, by chance, you manage to become one of the chosen ones, you will naturally come to know everything. You can consider what I am going to reveal to you next as a kind of reward. Outside of the various abilities typically taught by the Six Great Temples, there are other ‘exclusive secret skills’. For example, the [Divine Obstruction] of the Knight Alliance.” At this point, he deliberately shot a glance at Long Hao Chen.
“These secret skills cannot be learned by ordinary members of the Temples. Even if they reach an incredible cultivation level, they will remain hidden to them. To learn these secret skills, one has two options. The first way is to receive an inheritance ring. Powerhouses that make incredible contributions to the Alliance can obtain the right to pass them on and teach these secret skills to their personal disciples. The second way is by exchanging contributions. When a Demon Hunt Squad completes missions, they can exchange their contributions for goods stored up by the Alliance. These goods include various formidable pieces of equipment, secret skills, and so forth.”
Long Hao Chen had a sudden thought, he looked at the black-colored ring that his father had left him. This must be an inheritance ring. No wonder father wasn’t worried about others questioning my ability to use skills like [Divine Obstruction]. It looks like all inheritance rings have the same appearance. The ring on his hand contained most of his secrets. More precisely, all of the Retribution Knight skills, including the various secret skills, and even skills created by Long Xing Yu himself, were sealed in this ring.
Long Hao Chen never slacked on his Retribution Knight training. In his capacity as a Guardian Knight, he functioned as the core of the team and had a big role in the fight against the Dark Green Dual Bladed Demon. Even if he did not have to conceal his ability as a Retribution Knight, and faced it directly with his two swords, he wouldn’t have much confidence in winning, even if he was fighting it alone. But thanks to the fact he had his companions by his side, it was possible for him to face this Dark Green Dual Bladed Demon, matching the opponent and giving it a hard time.
Looking at the five slack-jawed youths before him, Feng Yangmu calmly smiled and said: “Isn’t it a bit too early to think about the rewards for your future achievements? Now then, I am going to tell you another secret related to the Demon Hunt Selection. This secret should be enough to attract your attention. One of the larger rewards for the final stage of the competition will be three Spiritual Stoves.”
“AH!” Including Long Hao Chen, the five youths cried out in shock at the same time.
What did the words ‘Spiritual Stoves’ signify? Their power was clear just from looking at the way Long Hao Chen relied on his Saint Spiritual Stove to lead everyone safely. Even more astounding was that his Saint Spiritual Stove was only ranked 34th among the 36 kinds of Spiritual Stoves that knights could use. To any vocation, possessing a single spiritual stove is the equivalent of potentially becoming a major powerhouse. They were the most valuable treasures in nature, and one was enough to change the whole life of a single person!
Feng Yangmu felt all five children starting to breathe more heavily and smiled: “Every participant has equal chances, but you will have to do your best!”
His words of encouragement clearly had an effect, as the five youths before him seemed to have already cheered up; their expressions were full of spirit.
Feng Yangmu sighed to himself; ending up in the top 3 of the Selection Competition is easier said than done. Even though Long Hao Chen possessed, despite his rank, a Spiritual Stove and could use [Divine Obstruction], he still was not very likely to succeed. However, he should be able to at least enter the final stage of the competition. As for the others, I am afraid that…
“Teacher Feng, I have a question for you.” Long Hao Chen respectfully asked Feng Yangmu.
Feng Yangmu answered: “Please ask.”
Long Hao Chen said, “When we previously entered the territory of the demon race at night, we were extremely careful. Why could the demons still discover us? Even the mighty [Eagle’s Eyes] cannot not see more than 50 kilometers.”
Feng Yangmu smiled, “That is because you have never experienced a fight against the demons before. Among them is a kind of demon called Demonic Shadow. Their stealth capabilities are even higher than that of the Dyke clansmen. They can literally turn into a dark shadow. They are the demon’s scouts and only priests above the fourth step can detect them. I’m pretty sure that you were discovered by a Demonic Shadow, and that’s why you were raided by so many demons. It’s fortunate that you managed to adapt yourselves quickly enough to the changes.”
At this point, Feng Yangmu stood up and said, “Alright, please rest well. Tomorrow morning, we will start our journey and leave for the Temple Alliance to participate in the grand competition.”
After sending off Feng Yangmu, the five youths fell on the ground, completely exhausted; both Chen Si and Chen Chen were about to lie down and head off to dreamland but were pulled by Long Hao Chen.
“You cannot fall asleep, we have to meditate after the battle. We have to reflect on the new combat experience we just acquired while strengthening our body and cultivating our internal and external spiritual energy; this is the perfect occasion. To spend this time asleep is a waste of your life.”
Li Xin nodded, “Hao Chen is right. If he insists on training despite the fact he’s wounded, don’t tell me we cannot do the same?”
As a result, despite being quite tired, the five of them started resting in a meditative posture.
A silent night passed.
On the morning of the second day, Long Hao Chen gradually awoke from his meditative state, his internal organs still aching as before. The Dark Green Dual Bladed Demon from the previous day was really too powerful. His all-out attack had a power that definitely surpassed the 3,500th spiritual energy level. Despite the healing effect he received from the [Holy Mantle], his internal organs’ injuries were recovering very slowly. To rely purely on the healing effect of the light element magic was not enough, and this injury would affect his physical capability. It really was a significant loss.