"A fine treasure indeed."
After hearing Lin Chen’s description of the Qiankun Escape Talisman, Xia Wanxin’s eyes blazed with eagerness, naturally wanting to trade with Lin Chen.
However, the Seven-Colored Ganoderma was nothing less than a treasure of a very high level, possessing the power of the Five Elements and being extremely rare; Xia Wanxin had just one such treasure.
Xia Wanxin too wanted to trade, but unfortunately, she no longer had any Five Elements Treasure on her.
After explaining her situation to Lin Chen, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
In front of Xia Wanxin, he touted the exceptional Qiankun Evasion Technique, feigned poverty, and mentioned the favor he had done by saving Xia Wanxin and the purple-robed maiden— all to get Xia Wanxin to offer a Five Elements Treasure in exchange, not knowing that she no longer possessed any.
All the effort Lin Chen spent talking his head off appeared to have been a waste of breath.
Nevertheless, Xia Wanxin recognized the importance of the Five Elements Treasure to Lin Chen and claimed that her father, the emperor, would have someone send some over.
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen nodded in agreement, since the Five Elements Treasure was not only superb for cultivating the Scorching Sun Divine Fist but also as a top-quality material for alchemy and setting up formations.
Although Xia Wanxin no longer had any Five Elements Treasures, she did have an alternative item: a segment of willow wood, containing the Wood Attribute from the power of the Five Elements.
While not as extraordinary as the Seven-Colored Ganoderma, it was still a suitable substitute.
Lin Chen wasted no time and directly traded one Qiankun Escape Talisman for it.
In fact, crafting the Qiankun Escape Talisman was very troublesome and required the consumption of many heavenly and earthly treasures. If Lin Chen hadn’t been so urgently in need of Five Elements Treasures, the value of this talisman would have been comparable to that of the willow wood.
Subsequently, Lin Chen found other martial artists to trade with, exchanging treasures he had for those with the power of the Five Elements or simply purchasing them with spirit stones.
After a series of trades, Lin Chen had acquired four types. Fortunately, he already possessed a Water Attribute treasure, and with that, he had all the Five Elements Treasures he needed. He immediately began refining and cultivating the Scorching Sun Divine Fist.
After refining the Five Elements Treasures, Lin Chen’s cultivation of the Scorching Sun Divine Fist advanced to the peak of the Fifth Layer.
With a strong grip, Lin Chen crushed a piece of incredibly hard cold iron stone in his hand, purely with his physical strength and without using any spiritual power.
This cold iron stone, refined and free of impurities, is essential for crafting magic artifacts, but Lin Chen could now crush it with his bare hands without a trace of spiritual power.
"With my current strength, I could battle most martial artists. But facing heavenly prides like Chang Bai and Deng Yu would still be somewhat tricky."
Lin Chen pondered in his room, but as the ranking competition was to start the next day, he had no extra time to enhance his strength.
The following day, a thousand martial artists began drawing lots to determine their opponents.
Lin Chen was lucky in the first round, drawing a martial artist at the Eighth Layer of the Heaven-reaching Realm.
His opponent, seeing that Lin Chen’s cultivation was only at the First Layer of the Heaven-reaching Realm, immediately became confident.
However, as soon as Lin Chen stated his name, his opponent lost his nerve.
Lin Chen knew he couldn’t reveal his full strength too early, even though he had already fought with Chang Bai.
Other martial artists still didn’t know his techniques, and if he exposed his true capabilities too soon, he wouldn’t be able to surprise them in later fights.
In the battles, Lin Chen used only his golden bow and arrow as his weapon.
The Blazing Flame Divine Bow was of Earth-Level Mid-Grade, not exceeding the tournament’s restrictions.
The Thunder Chasing Strike was a magic treasure refined by Lin Chen, with tremendous power. Even a martial artist at the Eighth Layer of the Heaven-reaching Realm was defeated by a single arrow.
Lin Chen thus emerged victorious and entered the top five hundred.
The following evaluation was to take place within the Inner Sect. The five hundred who had failed could only compete within the Outer Sect no matter what.
The competition was not entirely fair, as some martial artists drew heavenly prides like Chang Bai and Qin Kaifeng in the first round. Though their strength might have allowed them to break into the top five hundred, the unlucky draw led to their defeat.
Therefore, the defeated five hundred still drew lots within the Outer Sect to determine their rankings.
After entering the Inner Sect, the Formation Sect sifted out several martial artists whose cultivation was too strong, allowing them to battle in the final contest.
This alleviated some pressure for other competitors.
Lin Chen fought another two battles, still using the Blazing Flame Divine Bow, defeating his opponents with a single arrow each time.
Three fights later, he made it into the top one hundred and temporarily received the first-tier reward.
But in the fourth fight, Lin Chen encountered someone familiar. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⚑fire.net
"Kid, I finally found you. Our boss specifically asked me to give you a warm welcome. I hope you don’t disappoint me and fall before I’ve had my fun," said his next opponent.
In the fourth fight, Lin Chen’s opponent was Sun Fengyu, a henchman of Deng Yu. Although his cultivation was at the Eighth Layer of the Heaven-reaching Realm, his combat strength was exceptional.
Sun Fengyu’s weapon was a golden staff, which he wielded with immense power, swinging it furiously towards Lin Chen.
In Sun Fengyu’s eyes, Lin Chen was destined to fall to his staff.
Not to mention Lin Chen’s mere First Layer cultivation of the Heaven-reaching Realm, even martial artists at the Ninth Layer would hesitate to confront his golden staff head-on.