Chapter 1436: Dark Horses in Unison |
"No, the Starlit Legend wasn't the one who shattered the virtual realm. It was his opponent."
"What? That nameless opponent?"
"Are you joking?"
"I'm not. That nameless opponent wielded the stone of counteracting fate!"
Everyone was astounded.
"What? A fight between the Starlit Legend and the stone of counteracting fate? Mirroring that fight of legends?"
"I should have gotten a ticket to the Cup this year..."
"Hold on, wasn't the stone of counteracting fate destroyed in that ancient battle?"
Many were naturally aware of that famous galactic legend.
"What a lucky cultivator..."
"The Starlit Legend was incomplete too, wasn't he?"
"He had only attuned to a single stone of starlit fate."
"It looks like this nameless challenger does possess some measure of skill, at least. How else could he have defeated a Starlit Legend with Starlit Horns, Starlit Wings, and divine armor bearing just a single shard of the stone of counteracting fate?"
"What do you mean?"
"The stone of counteracting fate can neutralize the stone of starlit fate to some extent, but a shard alone could hardly stand up against a Starlit Legend with Starlit Horns, Starlit Wings, and divine armor. This unknown challenger has to make up the deficit with his own skill."
"That unknown challenger was really strong! He managed to combine a number of arcane forces in an attack of overwhelming strength. The only one I could discern among them was spacetime."
"He'll be the dark horse of this year's Cup, won't he?"
"There are a lot of dark horses this year..."
"Allegedly, this unknown challenger is one of the stellar hunters."
"That's incredible. I've been wondering just what race the stellar hunters are from. How could there be so many top-tier challengers among them?"
"One defeated the invincible Solarvine; another, the crazed successor of Heaven; a third, the child of Divinity Qinglian; now a fourth, a Starlit Legend! How could this race have been nameless for so long?"
"I can't believe they came out of nowhere."
"Have the supreme forces still not found anything about them?"
"They've uncovered a bit."
"Any race that has appeared in the galaxy must have left some traces behind. I'm sure the supreme forces know more than they're letting on."
Back in the dimensional world,
Zhang Lie and the other hunters emerged from their apparatus.
Zhang Lie gave Fang Yi a thumbs up. "Well done."
Fang Yi smiled.
Sun Xiaowu rapped Fang Yi on the chest.
"You're incredible! To think you've hidden a secret like this from us for so long."
Zhang Lie asked, "Where did you get this stone of counteracting fate? By the looks of it, it's a tremendous treasure."
Fang Yi chuckled wryly. "Would you believe me if I told you I just realized it myself?"
"What do you mean?"
"This is a reward from the trials."
Everyone turned to Bu Wentian.
"When the orb in the trial chamber asked me what sort of reward I wanted, I knew what my problem was," Fang Yi began.
Fang Yi's ultimate techniques were so powerful that they were difficult to control and consumed an incredible amount of energy, which would drain Fang Yi's reserves quickly.
"That's why I asked the orb in the trial chamber to give me something that would allow me to keep going. Elder Bu Wentian gave me a shard of a stone. I didn't know what it was, only that I would be able to keep fighting by attuning to it."
Bu Wentian shrugged. "I gave out a prize corresponding to his needs. What's weird about that?"
Zhang Lie asked, "How did you come across such a shard, Elder?"
Bu Wentian replied, "I picked it up when I was young. It's only a shard. It might be rare, but not particularly so."
"It looks like you were a powerful figure in your prime," Zhang Lie began, hoping that Bu Wentian would reveal more information.
"I was simply lucky."
The hunters knew that they wouldn't be able to pick up too much from conversing with Bu Wentian, so they didn't press the point.
Zhang Lie turned to Yang Ze. "You're the only one left. Are you confident?"
Yang Ze smiled. "Don't you have any confidence in me, Captain?"
Sun Xiaowu stepped forward and punched Yang Ze on the back in a friendly manner. "Deal with your opponent quickly and don't waste time. We'll enter the official tournament together!"
Yang Ze nodded. "Very well. Don't worry, as a member of Team Zenith, I won't lose to any of you!"
Meanwhile, countless Stargods stood around Xing Yu. His body had been placed under concentrated starlight, and it had taken a huge investment of resources from the Stargods to bring him out of his coma.
"I apologize for making everyone worry."
The Stargod elder patted Xing Yu on his head. "Silly child! You're the most promising Stargod in a millennium. This is nothing in comparison to your worth."
Another Stargod elder shook his head. "Genetic expansion would allow you to improve your strength, but it's not so impressive as to be worth putting your life on the line.
To have burned your own soul as fuel for a pittance like this Cup—if we revived you any later, your future might really have been destroyed."
Another elder cried out, "Do you know how close you came to losing everything?"
Xing Yu replied seriously, "But the fate of the Stargods rests on me. I couldn't allow myself to lose in the qualifiers! Everyone was watching me."
The elders chided him. "Ridiculous! You should hardly have to shoulder this burden. Leave it to us old men."
Another Stargod elder said, "You are indeed the most promising Stargod talent of a millennium, but you are yet too young to take on such a heavy burden. Focus simply on getting strong. We will take care of the race as a whole."
"You may be able to shoulder this burden in the future, but not yet."
"But I lost."
The Stargod elder replied, "Losing isn't necessarily a bad thing. Learn from the experience."
Another Stargod elder added, "The younger generation has been growing too cocky as of late, thinking that the Starlit Legends of the past will reappear in the modern day. They've grown even more enamored with your mythos ever since you attuned to the stone of starlit fate. We'll take advantage of this failure to teach them that there's always someone stronger."
Xing Yu's eyes glowed with starlight. "Elders, I'd like to attune to more stones of starlit fate."
The Stargod elder replied, "As I said, losing this Cup means nothing."
Another elder added, "You've just suffered serious mental and spiritual damage. don't think about cultivation or the tournament for the time being. Rest up instead."
Xing Yu replied, "I'm not part of the tournament anymore. By attuning to more stones of starlit fate, I'll be able to grow stronger. I'm not going to lose the next encounter!"
