Dragon War God

Chapter 374 - Counting Fire Essences

Under the confused gazes of the crowd, the row of participants entered the Demon Pavilion. The grand entrance was tall and gigantic, but it could not fit so many disciples. As a result, only the disciples with higher cultivation levels managed to squeeze into the front. The weaker ones who were forced to the back started to panic. They could only see the inside of the hall when they jumped as hard as they could, and still, their field of vision was limited!

The disciples who squeezed to the front turned quickly and shouted, “Everyone, quiet down! When we get the news, we’ll tell you immediately!” They were more powerful, so they suppressed the disciples behind them. Most of the disciples were only fighting to be the first to hear the results. In fact, if they were all quiet, they would be able to hear the sounds from inside the hall!

Everyone else started to scold each other, making the rest simmer down. Soon, the whole crowd fell silent, trying their best to not make a sound or say a word in order to hear the conversations in the hall clearly.

Due to Long Chen, they were extra anxious to learn the results of the Pyro Passageways training exercise.

As everyone was finally silent, Zhao Qingyun took the elevated seat at the head of the room, looking down at the rest with a solemn expression. When he was serious, he looked very regal. The three Demon Elders sat down on his left and right, all their eyes fixed dead at the center of the hall. Long Chen and the ten other disciples were standing there. Long Chen looked nonchalant, while the rest occasionally shot venomous glares in his direction. From this small detail, the other elders and Enforcers had their guesses.

“Alright. We have finally come to the end of the Pyro Passageways training exercise. Our outstanding disciples now hold the results in their hands. I won’t waste any more time, so everyone, show us your Fire Essences according to your ranks. We’ll start from our tenth disciple, Ruan Cheng!”

The disciple whose name was called shuddered, then he walked up anxiously. The elders started to discuss amongst themselves when they saw him.

“Ruan Cheng is around as strong as Yang Jun! He has been at the Seventh River Stage for a year now and has entered the Pyro Passageways once before!”

“He came out with forty Fire Essences last time, I think. He should have more this time, maybe around seventy.”

The results were about to be announced, and the disciples outside were extremely excited, especially the Third Demon Elder’s disciples. Being one of the Third Demon Elder’s disciples, Ruan Cheng had a great reputation and status.

“Senior Ruan Cheng should have eighty this time! I asked him a few months ago, and he said he was confident!” said one of the disciples.

“Eighty? The top ten disciples are indeed extraordinary!”

The disciples outside the door all praised him, while the ones who were further strained their ears to listen.

With all eyes on him, Ruan Cheng looked a little timid. He knew that he had to show his results, so he decided to commit fully and shamelessly. He took out five Fire Essences from his Universe Pouch and said, “Palace Lord, I retrieved a total of five Fire Essences!”

Zhao Qingyun’s first reaction was to laugh, while the elders and Enforcers were stunned. When they saw that there were really only five Fire Essences in his hand, they looked at each other in disbelief.

“How could it just be five? Did someone rob him?” The crowd was puzzled.

“Ruan Cheng, how do you only have five? At your level, getting five is an extremely simple task! The Ember Beasts are only Category Six Earth-tier, so they are no match for you,” the elders who were more familiar with him asked.

Ruan Cheng hung his head without a word, though his face was red with shame.

When the disciples outside heard that Ruan Cheng had only obtained five Fire Essences, they erupted. Five was an embarrassing number! They were all confused at first, then upon confirmation, they started laughing one by one.

“Only five? Even I can get that! Haha ...”

“Five Fire Essences? That’s too embarrassing! I can’t believe we have the same master!”

“Silence!” Zhao Qingyun hurriedly suppressed the crowd when he saw that they had erupted in conversation. He scanned Ruan Cheng, then he said, “Ruan Cheng, Five Essences. Alright, you can go back. Next, Zhang Dongyang, ranked ninth!”

After seeing Ruan Cheng get laughed at, Zhang Dongyang was much calmer. He knew that everyone after him would also be laughed at, and he would only be one of many. Therefore, he strode forward. Long Chen had stabbed him in the thigh, but he had mostly recovered, though he still had a limp when he walked.

What’s up with his leg? Everyone was wondering the same. After they looked at Long Chen, they had a thought. Long Chen wasn’t the one who hurt him, was he?

Despite what other people thought, Zhang Dongyang showed his haul. Eight Fire Essences. Just like Ruan Cheng, the crowd laughed at him. However, after the laughter died down, everyone was confused. These people definitely were capable enough to find more, so why did they have so few?

Unless... Had someone taken their Fire Essences?

When this question arose in their minds, the third person showed his Fire Essences. This one had even fewer, only four. The crowd did not laugh, because they knew that there would be someone with a surprisingly large haul.

The next few people had no more than ten Fire Essences. Since Long Chen had defeated Yang Jun, Yang Jun had to show his haul first.

The seven people before him had fewer than ten. Everyone wondered if his number would also be lower than ten. If that was the case, then it would be very interesting. That would mean something very interesting had happened in the Pyro Passageways that caused Yang Jun and the rest to be unable to search for Fire Essences. Or someone had taken theirs.

Yang Jun shot Long Chen a furious glare in front of everyone, then he walked up to the front.

Long Chen, Long Chen. You took the Frost Soul Essence and made me have to go through a scolding from my master and my martial uncles. However, I wonder how you’ll look when the Demon Seed Planting Technique that you wanted is given to me instead? Yang Jun imagined the rage and sorrow on Long Chen’s face when he saw his haul, making him very excited.

“Yang Jun, show us all the Fire Essences you’ve managed to gather. Let us see what the former third-strongest disciple of the Heavenly Demon Palace achieved. Will you, like the rest before you, show us something unbelievable?”

Zhao Qingyun’s words were filled with subtle insults, causing the other disciples to turn red with shame.

“Yes, Palace Lord!”

The Frost Soul Essence had been taken from him, but thankfully, the Demon Seed Planting Technique was still his. Yang Jun’s mood lifted. He had spent two days searching for the Frost Soul Essence, and on the day Long Chen took the map, his group had obtained more than a hundred Fire Essences, so they had a total of approximately five hundred of them!

When Yang Jun placed the hot Fire Essences on the ground, everyone’s anxious looks finally relaxed. They looked at each other and said, “Yang Jun is indeed extraordinarily talented. When everyone else could not even get ten Fire Essences, he managed to gather so many, even more than what I expected of him!”

“More than five hundred Fire Essences! That’s shocking.”

“Five hundred. That means he had to kill more than fifty Ember Beasts a day. Yang Jun is too powerful! The Demon Seed Planting Technique is definitely his!”

“Palace Lord, I have already counted them. I have a total of 522 Fire Essences.” It was finally Yang Jun’s turn to be proud. He glanced smugly at Long Chen, then he started to put away his Fire Essences. Although they had no direct use for cultivation, he could sell them for a good price somewhere else.

When the number spread through the crowd, the disciples at the door were all shocked. They all looked at Yang Jun, praising his talent!

Jaws also dropped when the other disciples, who could not see what was happening, heard that he had come out with 522 Fire Essences.

“Senior Yang Jun is definitely going to get the Demon Seed Planting Technique. Even the previous champion only had around four hundred Fire Essences, right? He probably took all the Fire Essences in the Pyro Passageways!”

“Yeah! When it’s our turn to go in, there might be no Ember Beasts and Fire Essences left!”

They all looked impressed.

Everyone changed their minds about Yang Jun, who had previously been defeated by Long Chen after he showed them so many Fire Essences. Everyone knew that after he received the Demon Seed Planting Technique, he would likely surpass Long Chen! When that happened, it would be uncertain who would win in a fight! Yang Jun was only a step away from the Eighth River Stage after all!

Even the three Demon Elders were extremely pleased with Yang Jun’s performance. This was the only thing they were relieved about. Long Chen had taken from the Frost Soul Essence, and if he also received the Demon Seed Planting Technique, the three of them would lose their cool.

“Alright, 522 Fire Essences! That’s not bad at all! Yang Jun, you have performed well. Continue working hard so you can reach the Eighth River Stage. Then you will be able to cultivate Traceless Demon Shadow!” Zhao Qingyun said. He glanced at Long Chen, but he was suspicious when he saw that Long Chen still looked very calm. How many Fire Essences did Long Chen have if he was this calm?

“Alright, Yang Jun. You may go back. Next, Long Chen. Show us your Fire Essences!” said Zhao Qingyun with a smile.

Everyone watched as Long Chen took a step forward and said, “Palace Lord, before I show my Fire Essences, I must say something!”