Chapter 360: This Brother Is Steady!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Vroomm!
Xu Que maneuvered through the third curve smoothly!
The Old Driver's skill was flawless!
His rank jumped instantly to third place, and he was now following closely behind Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie!
The two of them had originally wanted to try and drift like Xu Que, but they had seen what had happened to the other cultivator. They now hesitated.
As they were well-versed with divine chariots, they were able understand the reasons for what had happened!
The tires of their divine chariots were made of metal. If they tried to imitate what Xu Que did, it would be equivalent to going out for wool and coming home shorn!
Vroomm!
Finally, after drifting successfully for the five consecutive curves, Xu Que managed to overtake Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie on the last curve and sped off into the distance!
His speed had already been so fast during the curve—now that he was driving on a straight path, he got even faster!
His racing car broke through the limit of the car's speedometer as it sped forward fiercely!
The whole audience looked a little numb. They had not expected this result!
After being stalled by the Second Prince and wasting a lot of time, Xu Que had still been able to catch up. Not only was he able to take first place once again, but the distance between himself and the rest of the contestants had grown too!
His show of prowess was certainly terrifying!
"Seventh Sister, you really are right about Xu Que! I really should thank you for this!" The Third Prince looked towards the Seventh Princess as he expressed his gratitude!
From that very first night when he had seen Xu Que grilling chicken wings, he had had a poor impression of him. He had not expected his sister to insist that Xu Que was a capable man with extraordinary origins, someone who was definitely worth their efforts in trying to win over!
The Third Prince had run out of options as well. The other princes interested in fighting for the position of Crown Prince were already wooing very influential clans and sects. He had been forced to make a gamble and offend the Jade Sword Sect in order to ensure a peaceful time in the Imperial City for Xu Que!
Now, he had been proven right in doing so. It was now certain that Xu Que would win first place in the race!
As for the Eldest Prince and the Eighth Prince, they did not look that dissatisfied, although their faces were slightly moodier than usual.
Although first place had been snatched away, Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie would still be able to secure the places of first and second runners-up. To them, such results were acceptable.
However, this was not the case for the Second Prince! His team had originally been the hot favorite to win first place. But he had cast the barrier spell to obstruct Xu Que and in turn caused Zhang Lin's divine chariot to smash and fall out of the race!
The other elite cultivator he had invited was in third place, but as he had shouted for him to imitate Xu Que's drifting technique, the results had backfired and he had dropped out of the race!
Because of that, the Second Prince only had one team member left in the race. That cultivator was only barely managing to hold onto the tenth position!
That fact annoyed the Second Prince greatly and he was full of bitter acrimony!
The Second Prince had no other option now but to follow the Emperor's men to the foot of the mountain to receive his 100 strokes of the stick as punishment!
Although this was very embarrassing, the Second Prince dared not defy the orders. He could only bite the bullet. Wearing a sullen face, he received the punishment by lying on a bench whilst the guards started to hit his butt with a wooden rod!
Piak!
Piak!
Piak!
The sounds echoed throughout the Imperial Tombs!
The crowd looked on, sighing. They dared not discuss anything in front of the Second Prince. They could only laugh in their hearts!
At this point, Xu Que successfully reached the finish line, winning by a huge margin!
He picked up the glass of water, which had not spilled yet, and made sure to exit the car elegantly as well. Then he leaned on the car, lifted the glass high up in the air, and with a domineering look, asked casually, "is there anyone else?"
The crowd's lips twitched uncontrollably!
What kind of person is this? He has already won yet he is still flaunting!
The Metal Emperor was calm and observed Xu Que meaningfully.
In the distance, the Empress Dowager was still watching Xu Que silently!
"Second Fatty, does your butt hurt? Does your face hurt?"
Just then, Xu Que looked to the Second Prince, who was receiving the punishment at the foot of the mountain, and guffawed.
The Second Prince looked stiff and wore a murderous expression on his face. He continued to receive the punishment without saying a word…
Chariot King Zhang had already left the area, as there was no point staying to invite ridicule from others!
Shoosh!
At this moment, Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie reached the finishing line!
Qi Yun Fei won second place by a very small margin and Gao Qiao Jie took third place!
Now, both of them dared not look lightly on Xu Que again!
They had realised that even if they had used the same divine chariot as Xu Que, they did not possess such skilful driving techniques!
"How did you do it?" asked Qi Yun Fei as he walked out of his divine chariot.
Everyone's curiosity was piqued and they waited to hear Xu Que's reply.
They also wanted to know how Xu Que was able to drive so well and how he had mastered the skills of divine chariot driving!
"Heheh, it's only to be understood and not explained!"
Xu Que smiled and then glanced at Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie's divine chariots. "However, I just noticed something about both of your divine chariots!"
"What did you notice?" both Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie replied in unison.
"Every time you maneuvered through the curves, it was very unnatural. Although both your divine chariots have high horse-power, the head of your chariot is too heavy. Mount Akina… bleh, wrong, the mountain of the Imperial Tombs has many curves so you need to push the head every time you try to maneuver through the curves. This was especially evident during the last five consecutive curves as both of you were unable to move along the best path. Unless you can overcome this, both of you will never be able to win against me!"
"Huh?"
Not only were Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie confused, the crowd was also baffled by Xu Que's words!
What, 'the head of the chariot is too heavy'?
What, 'push the head every time when trying to maneuver through the curves'?
What do you mean?
"Your big brother is as steady as can be! Of course, for being able to win this race, firstly, I want to thank my Exploding Heavens Faction for producing this AE86. Oh, someone over there asked, what is the AE86? This question is very valid. AE86 is this divine chariot right beside me. Other than the AE86, we also produced the TAAK-001, PGD-820, MIGD-682… these were all made by our Teacher Hatano. Of course, there's also Teacher Aoi and Teacher Ohashi as well…"
Xu Que started to prattle!
Everyone was bewildered. They could not understand what he was saying.
As Xu Que continued to talk incessantly, one by one, all of the contestants finally arrived at the finishing line with their divine chariots!
By being champion of the race, Xu Que helped the Third Prince scored ten points, which took them far ahead of the rest of the contending princes.
"Young Hero Xu, we are sorry for just now, for underestimating your strength!"
"If we've offended you in anyway, please forgive us!"
"Young Hero Xu is so young and yet possesses such strength. You're the role model of our generation!"
"And, Young Hero Xu, since your Exploding Heavens Faction has so many products made by your teachers, if there's an opportunity in future; we must go and have a look…"
The Third Prince and the rest of the princes came over to Xu Que and talked with him enthusiastically.
The Seventh Princess revealed a smiling face behind her veil. She looked at Xu Que calmly and said gently, "Young Master Xu, thank you!"
Chapter 361: These Are The Ancient Armored Puppets?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Everyone, you're being too polite. This is what I should be doing. In the following rounds, I'll definitely get the top position too!" Xu Que promised the Third Prince with a pat on his chest.
He had decided that in the upcoming rounds, he wanted to continue to act tough as well!
This was because he had been very happy when he had seen that his Acting Tough Points had nearly exceeded the 25,000 mark, as shown in the System interface.
However, his words startled the Third Prince and his brothers!
You still want to be number one for the following rounds?
Brother, please don't joke about this alright? The next round is not something with which you are able to help!
"Young Hero Xu, the upcoming rounds are not about divine chariot racing. You can take a break and need not worry so much!" said the Third Prince quickly.
"It's alright," said Xu Que with a wave of his hands. "I know we're facing the ancient armored puppets the next round. Just watch me!"
The Seventh Princess had told him before that the divine chariot race had been just a qualifying round to gain entry to the Imperial Tombs. In the next round, he would be able to enter the Tombs for real!
The Imperial Tombs of the Metal Nation were not the same as those of Fire Country.
Or, one could say, they were not even on the same level.
The Imperial Tombs of Fire Country were traditional tombs that Xu Que knew a little about. They were made from earth and masonry.
The Imperial Tombs of the Metal Nation however, had been made from a wide variety of strange metals. They glittered under the sun and looked flashy to the eye.
However, they had one thing in common . Both Imperial Tombs had powerful restrictive enchantments.
The restrictive enchantment in the Imperial Tombs would prohibit all magical weapons and skill arts that would require a large amount of spiritual Qi to activate or execute. Therefore, it served as a good protection enchantment for the Imperial Tombs.
As his strong magical weapons and skill arts had been rendered useless, Xu Que had used the excavator to dig through the tombs back in Fire Country.
Unfortunately, as the Imperial Tombs in the Metal Nation had been made from a variety of powerful and strong metals, if Xu Que had not participated in the race to gain entry, it would have proven very difficult for Xu Que to dig through the tombs and enter with brute force.
...
Xu Que was following the group of people walking towards the entrance of the Imperial Tombs when suddenly there was something in front that delighted him and caught his eye!
The entrance to the Imperial Tombs was structured like a pair of Big Bermuda shorts.
It was very similar to the building of China Central Television (CCTV) which people had nicknamed 'Big Pants' and 'Big Shorts' as well. But the Seventh Princess, who was beside him, told him that this was one of the Metal Nation's totems.
"I must say that your Metal Nation is really funny!" Xu Que laughed in amusement as he stared at the weird totem. "There are so many possible designs for a totem, yet your country had adopted the 'Big Bermudas' as your totem…"
"Young Master Xu! Don't look down on our Metal Nation's totem." The Seventh Princess pouted slightly. "According to my father, the totem of the Imperial Tombs can absorb the metal spiritual Qi that exists in the world. And it will supply this as energy to the ancient armored puppets within, as well as the traps and other hurdles inside the Imperial Tombs…"
"Yo! I didn't know that this pair of 'Big Bermudas' would have such a function? Maybe I should make one and leave it outside too…"
Xu Que pondered over that thought while he followed the rest of them. They arrived just outside the Imperial Tombs.
The round of the contest that would take place inside the Imperial Tombs would involve facing the ancient armored puppets!
As this round would subject contestants to the restrictive enchantment of the tombs, those who could enter needed to undergo a check on their level of cultivation as well as the grade of their magical weapon!
If the entrants were very strong or their magical weapons were of a very high grade, then the endless stream of tens of thousands of ancient armored puppets inside would become even stronger and even more frenzied!
During these past years of the Imperial Tombs Contest, the Metal Emperor had figured out that when Original Infant stage cultivators entered the tomb, the prowess of the puppets would also hover at the Original Infant stage, and the difficulty would not be too terrifying!
Moreover, the cultivators could not bring high-grade magical weapons with them into the tomb. This would actually allow them to better control the situation!
There had been one year where the Metal Emperor had sent over a hundred Original Infant stage cultivators into the tomb. In the end, the ancient armored puppets had tuned their cultivation level up to the Infant Transformation Stage and wiped out all the cultivators within a second!
Subsequently, the Metal Emperor had halved the number of Original Infant Stage cultivators to fifty, and had instead instructed them to bring high-grade magical weapons along with them. However, the puppets had also tuned their prowess to the Infant Transformation stage!
In the end, when fifty cultivators of the Original Infant stage had entered the tombs without any high-grade magical weapons, the puppets had tuned down their prowess to the Original Infant stage!
Later on, they had found a way to deal with the issue of magical weapons. They would bring the raw materials inside the tombs, and when the puppets had fixed their prowess at the Infant Transformation Stage, some of them would start to forge high-grade magical weapons right inside the tomb, whilst others were in charge of fending off the puppets!
Therefore, this round would be a showdown on magical weapon forging!
"Young Hero Xu, are you well-versed in weapon forging?" the Third Prince asked doubtfully.
Xu Que raised an eyebrow and replied, "of course, I'm a one-star weapon forging master!"
One-star?
When the few of them heard that, they nearly coughed out blood!
Brother, you're only a one-star weapon forging master and you have the nerve to say it out loud?
Moreover, you used such a confident tone to say that!
Stop teasing us, alright?
"Heheh, if it's only one-star, let's just forget about it!" a middle-aged man who was standing beside the Third Prince smiled faintly at Xu Que. "Since you've helped the Third Prince by winning the first round, you should help fend off the puppets so as to buy time for me to forge the magical weapon!"
"Yo, this is…"
"Young Master Xu, let me introduce you," said the Seventh Princess who hurriedly stepped forward. "This is our team's six-star weapon forging master, Zhou Lin Feng!"
Obviously, a six-star weapon forging master was at a high status!
It was easy to tell that from the attitudes of the Third Prince and the Seventh Princess.
"Young Hero Xu, do let Master Zhou handle this round," the Third Prince smiled pleasantly. "If this round is another success, I'll never forget the kindness of the two of you!"
After Xu Que had won first place for the first round, the Third Prince had become filled with hope for contending the position of Crown Prince. For now, he only hoped to pass this round smoothly!
Xu Que did not actually know how the ancient armored puppets would look. If only magical weapons could deal damage to them, he could always get a super-duper magical weapon from System or even release the Sword Spirit for a puppet massacre!
So, he decided not to say much; just gave a nod and uttered, "okay."
After all, his real aim for this trip was the Genesis Metal Herb in the Dragon Veins!
...
Very soon, everyone was ready. The teams of the contending princes as well as the participating cultivators from other sects and clans, gathered before the entrance of the Imperial Tombs!
The queue was very long as each and every one of them had to be inspected. They were not allowed to bring in any high-grade magical weapons!
Xu Que's stuff was all inside the system inventory so naturally, nobody would be able to detect them. After the inspection, he entered the Imperial Tomb.
The rest of the team carried various raw materials for weapon forging and walked into the tomb one by one.
The Third Prince and his brothers as well as the Seventh Princess wanted to participate in this round. Their responsibility would be to fend off the puppets and protect Zhou Lin Feng so as to buy him time to forge a high-grade magical weapon!
In no time, all the participants entered the Imperial Tombs. The old eunuch beside the Metal Emperor shouted an announcement!
"The second round of the contest starts now!"
...
Boooommm!
Immediately, a loud noise was heard!
The entire Imperial Tombs shook and the restrictive enchantment was activated. At the dim tunnel of the Imperial Tombs, there was a sudden outburst of muffled sounds!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
That was the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground in a steady rhythm. The sounds were coming towards the participants!
Xu Que narrowed his eyes and looked towards the source of the sounds. He could make out rows and rows of dark shadows and was instantly floored!
"F*ck! These are the ancient armored puppets huh?"
Chapter 362: Don't Be Too Arrogant!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xu Que was startled by the sight of the ancient armored puppets that were closing in. They were totally the smaller version of Iron Man!
No, that was not right. This group of ancient puppets were lower grade first generation versions of Iron Man, and looked ugly and crude!
More importantly, Xu Que also noticed the light emitting from the chests of these ancient armored puppets, which seemed to radiate fearful amounts of energy!
"Who made this thing? It's so ugly!" Xu Que couldn't resist the urge to complain about the appearance of the ancient puppets.
The Seventh Princess, the Third Prince and his team, on the other hand, seemed cautious and wore serious expressions.
The Third Prince took a small step forward. "Young Hero Xu, these ancient armored puppets may be unattractive to the eye but they are able to execute powerful attacks from their chests. If a cultivator of the same stage were to be hit two or three times, they would probably die!"
"Exactly! Young Master Xu, you must be careful. We can't afford to be reckless here!" The Seventh Princess nodded in agreement.
Xu Que's brows furrowed in a frown. "But they're really ugly! As a fan of Iron Man, I can't tolerate that!"
"Uh… let's go in first and find a favourable spot for Master Zhou, and help buy time for him as he creates high-grade weapons!"
The Third Prince could not understand the strange words that Xu Que had used. As he didn't want to waste more time, he had decided to change the topic.
However what he said was the right thing to do as well. It was imperative that they find a vantage spot, fast.
As soon as the other contending princes had entered, their own group had already headed to the corners of the first burial chamber inside the Imperial Tombs. That had been when the puppets had arrived!
The several teams were cooperating with tacit understanding, making a formation. One or two weapon forging masters were protected in the centre, with the other team members surrounding them!
The ones standing at the front of their formation were responsible for defending against the ancient armored puppets' attacks, whilst the weapon forging masters would race against time to quickly create strong magical weapons for their counterattack!
In no time, the passageway leading to the first burial chamber had become packed with the qualifying teams of cultivators, forming a line of defense!
Xu Que, along with the Third Prince and his group, were occupying a good spot next to the stone wall. Currently, there was no need to mount a defense against any attacks!
"Let's hope they can hold the attack longer," said the Third Prince solemnly. "Once there are casualties, we'll need to quickly fill up vacated spots, or else when the ancient armored puppets break the line of defense, death will be upon all of us!"
In this place, everybody had a role.
Everyone had to work together to resist the attacks of the ancient armored puppets. The weapon forging masters were their only hope!
Therefore, everyone worked together seamlessly. Some of the people had taken initiative by forming the first line of defense. If broken, the people behind would have to quickly fill up the gap. No one could shy away from their roles!
However, Xu Que was an exception.
That guy had been sulking ever since he had first seen the ancient armored puppets!
He had been thinking of exterminating these puppets the moment he set eyes on them!
Perhaps… maybe a real Iron Man would work!
"Looks like I need to do something!" Xu Que laughed. He prepared to call out the interface of the System Store to exchange for the Iron Man so he could act tough!
The princes beside him heard what he said and were taken aback!
"Young Hero Xu, don't be reckless!"
"These ancient armored puppets are practically immune against attacks! Our attacks can only stop them temporarily, only magical weapons can break them!"
"Yes, and if you use a really powerful attack on them, it might even cause a terrible counter effect and the puppets might become even stronger!" the princes hurriedly advised Xu Que.
"I know that I can't use my attacks," Xu Que said as he gave a laugh. "So I've decided to make a magical weapon that can specially counteract these ancient armored puppets!"
"Huh?"
The few of them were confused.
You want to create weapons again?
Don't do that, brother!
You are only a one-star weapon forging master. You can't be of much help!
...
"My Royal Highnesses, since Young Hero Xu wants to create, just let him do it," Zhou Lin Feng suddenly said, wearing a faint smile. "The line of defense now is stable anyway. It won't make much difference. There won't be any serious consequences!" He flashed a glance at Xu Que, a hint of disdain flashed past his face. "I would like to see what kind of magical weapon Young hero Xu will actually create!"
Everyone instantly understood that Master Zhou was actually annoyed!
Xu Que had been audacious enough by saying that he wanted to create a magical weapon that could specially counteract against the puppets in the presence of Master Zhou. That was practically boasting. By doing so, he had also slighted Master Zhou.
"Master Zhou, Young Master Xu was just joking, please don't mind him!" the Seventh Princess hurriedly chimed in to appease Master Zhou!
Nonetheless, Zhou Lin Feng did not want to let Xu Que off so easily. "Young people nowadays are too arrogant! Having good control of a divine chariot means that you have great Soul Strength, but that doesn't mean that you will be able to create a high-grade magical weapon. Young man, talk less and learn more!"
"Haha!" laughed Xu Que with sarcasm. His eyes narrowed and he continued, "Master Zhou, didn't anyone tell you not to be too arrogant? Our King of Lightning from Exploding Heavens Faction might send you in for electrotherapy treatment!"
"Hmph, are you provoking me?" Zhou Lin Feng gave a cold snort and gritted his teeth.
"Provoking you? You're not qualified enough!" sneered Xu Que.
The princes and the Seventh Princess quickly tried to appease the two of them to stop them from fighting!
"Master Zhou, please be appeased. Young Hero Xu, don't be rash!"
"We're a team!"
"This is not the time for internal conflict!"
"Young Hero Xu, since you want to create a magical weapon, please go ahead and do it. We have brought enough materials!"
"Yes, yes, yes, there's no need to quarrel over a small matter. Just do it if you want to!" The Third Prince smiled bitterly.
Xu Que had helped him by coming in first for the race; he felt that he should not make him unhappy over this.
Moreover, it was the second time that Xu Que had said that he wanted to create a magical weapon. It would not be appropriate to reject him time and time again, so he decided to agree.
From their point of view, Xu Que was just itching to try creating a magical weapon for fun.
It would not be worth enraging Master Zhou over this trivial matter, as he was the key person for this round and they were depending on him to forge a high-grade magical weapon!
The Seventh Princess pulled Xu Que aside and whispered, "Young Master Xu, I've some materials with me as well, you can take them to forge your magical weapon!"
"There's no need to, I have the materials too," waved Xu Que.
His eyes narrowed again as he took another glance at Zhou Lin Feng!
Zhou Lin Feng wore a look of disdain and scorn, as if he had scored a victory against Xu Que. Under the persuasion of the princes, he moved back to his original position and brought out a weapon forging furnace. He was ready to forge a magical weapon!
Xu Que couldn't be bothered to quarrel with a small potato like Zhou Lin Feng. Since he wanted to act tough, face-slapping would be a must!
He knew many ways to deal with small potatoes like Zhou Lin Feng!
Thus, he didn't say anything more and followed the Seventh Princess to one side. He called up the System Store, searching for the Iron Man!
However, Xu Que was shocked to see that the Iron Man was really expensive. Although the rental fee was 500 Acting Tough Points a day, each part had to be rented separately for this cost.
For example, to rent the Iron Man's arm, he would need to rent three individual parts to form an arm. With each part costing 500 Acting Tough Points, that meant an arm alone would cost 1,500 Acting Tough Points in total!
If Xu Que were to rent the complete Iron Man, he would need to spend more than 10,000 Acting Tough Points!
It was incredibly expensive!
This extortionist! System! I just knew it!
Xu Que was cursing in his head!
This was something that Xu Que had expected when he had received Bumblebee in the Act Tough King Gift Pack. There was no way that he would have ever been able to rent or get Bumblebee from the System Store before.
But now he was able to rent Iron Man. Xu Que was happily sniggering inside!
Hmph, so what if it's more than 10,000 Acting Tough Points? I have more than 20,000 Acting Tough Points. I can afford to rent it! See how I bash in your egotistical face!
Xu Que gave a snort and commanded System in his head.
"Come out, Iron Man!"
Chapter 363: Not The Same As The Contemptible Wretches
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xu Que really wanted to create something big this time!
One by one, he redeemed the necessary parts. His current pool of Acting Tough Points was deducted by 500, then another 500, and then another 500… He even accidentally redeemed a part twice as his hand got shaky. He nearly sat on the ground to cry his heart out!
But this time, Xu Que was redeeming the Iron Man not just for the purposes of acting tough. He wanted to clean up the whole group of these puppet obstacles!
This was because he now knew very well that this group of people inside the Imperial Tombs was completely incapable of breaking through this round!
Previously when he had gone for a drink with the Seventh Princess, she had told him in detail about this round of contest!
Nobody knew the exact numbers of the ancient armored puppets. They were after all the painstaking efforts of several generations of previous Emperors to guard and protect the Dragon Veins!
It was just that over time, the current Metal Emperor had become wiser and had begun to think differently to his ancestors. He had decided to excavate the Dragon Veins which could benefit the cultivators of the entire Metal Nation!
Hence, they needed not faith nor the fortune of the nation, they only wanted to be powerful and prosperous!
Xu Que agreed totally with the Metal Emperor with regards to this, for it was the right thing to do in his view.
Nevertheless, the restrictive enchantment on the Imperial Tombs was too strong. There would also be numerous traps inside as well. But just these puppets alone were enough to make the Metal Emperor rack his brains!
And that was how the Imperial Tombs Contest had come about!
For many years, all the Imperial Tombs Contests had ended at the round of the ancient armored puppets!
From the initial trials and experiments that had ended in failure to the rounds that had taken place in recent years, they had finally grasped the trend of the puppets' power and had devised a plan to deal with the puppets. These were the results of all the failures that the entire nation had experienced!
However, the method that they had come up with was still barely satisfactory!
Although they had come up with the plan of weapon forging in the Imperial Tombs to take advantage of the restrictive enchantment's loophole, they were still not able to destroy the tens of thousands of ancient armored puppets!
Every time they reached the seventh or eighth round, the magical weapons would have worn out and would no longer be able to withstand the never-ending stream of puppets. The participants would only be able to retreat!
Therefore, this round had practically been the last round of the Imperial Tombs Contest in every year previous, as no one had been able to get through the sea of armored puppets!
As for the contest this year, nobody had expected anyone to get through the puppets. Instead, they had pinned their hopes on more puppets being taken down!
The final rankings would be based on the number of puppets killed!
Outside the Imperial Tombs, the Metal Emperor and the crowd could see clearly what was happening inside the burial chamber via the Heaven and Earth Mirror which had the ability to give a live broadcast! Such mirrors had been installed inside the Imperial Tombs long ago, and there was one inside every burial chamber.
There were also individuals assigned to take the scores of the teams. Every puppet that the teams destroyed would be counted on the scoreboard. That meant the change in ranking would be immediate as well!
...
Of course, Xu Que was not bothered about all this!
Xu Que did not care who would become the Crown Prince. He was participating in this contest because he wanted the Genesis Metal Herb, and also the chance for acting tough!
So redeeming the Iron Man was therefore a must for him!
"Young Master Xu, worry not! Let me guard you while you're forging the magical weapon!" the Seventh Princess said softly to Xu Que as he stood there without moving.
She thought that Xu Que was worried about no one guarding him and had not started the weapon forging for this reason.
"There's no need to," smiled Xu Que as he came around after hearing her. "The weapon forging method from the Exploding Heavens Faction is totally different from the method of those contemptible wretches!"
"D*mn, who are you calling the contemptible wretches?"
Immediately, the weapon forging masters nearby became unhappy upon hearing Xu Que's words!
Many participants stared at Xu Que in annoyance!
"We've never even heard of the Exploding Heavens Faction. And you've got the cheek to come here and show off?"
"Our forging method is of the most orthodox amongst the five nations. By questioning us, you are questioning the prestigious forging masters who have been revered since ancient times!"
"This is really absurd! So what if you won first place for the race? You're getting incredibly arrogant!"
"Young man, don't be too presumptuous. The field of weapon forging is not as simple as you think!"
Many masters were shaking their heads in contempt. After several retorts and snorts, they continued to forge their magical weapons.
These masters were very swift and skilful with their hands. They were extremely familiar with forging magical weapons. They were the cream of the crop of weapon forging of the whole of Metal Nation.
Now that they were being mocked by Xu Que, it was only natural they would be peeved.
However, Xu Que did not care if they were masters or not!
If they were, that was even better. He could earn more Acting Tough Points when he stepped on them.
Master Zhou from the Third Prince's team glanced at Xu Que with a scathing look. "Your Royal Highness, although this man won first place for the race," said Master Zhou mockingly, "I have to say that he's young, too aggressive and too arrogant. You can't put this person in an important position in future!"
"Uhh…"
The Third Prince gave an awkward smile as he rubbed the tip of his nose. He did not say anything more!
Putting someone in an important position… he had his own thoughts about that. Others could hardly affect that decision.
If it weren't for the fact that the result for this round depended largely on Zhou Lin Feng, he would not have forced himself to behave so humbly in front of him!
Nonetheless, he was a prince. He could submit, endure or assert himself as the occasion required. This was to be expected of a prince!
The Third Prince took a glance at Xu Que, who was beside him once again. He started to ponder over Xu Que's actions:
This guy looks so confident. Maybe he can really create a formidable magical weapon? Then again, maybe this prince has thought too highly of him. How can there be such a versatile person in the world? More importantly, this guy is so young!
...
Xu Que saw the various expressions of the people before him. These sarcastic remarks were as common as his daily meals, he had never bothered himself with them!
"Seventh Princess." Xu Que turned to the princess. "I need your help to free up some space for me. I will be assembling a huge magical weapon later!"
He had completed redeeming all the Iron Man parts and they were now inside his system inventory. The only thing he needed to do now was assemble the parts!
The most crucial part of the Iron Man suit was its power source, the Arc Reactor!
This thing encompassed an energy source that was so devilish it belonged to the category of high-technology weapons. Even in the Cultivation World, it would be considered awesome!
After redeeming the Arc Reactor, System informed that it needed to be recharged as it was currently empty!
For every two hours of energy charged, Xu Que needed to spend 100 Acting Tough Points!
This was not the same as the real Arc Reactor. The real Iron Man's Arc Reactor did not work like this! But yet there was such a 'feature' available.
Xu Que felt that System wanted to extort more Acting Tough Points from him!
Although Xu Que felt heartache parting with the points, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue.
As the Arc Reactor needed time to recharge, Xu Que did not idle either. Both he and the Seventh Princess cleared some space to do the assembling work!
With the Seventh Princess helping him, he was able to secure an area of several square meters. He pulled out a big rectangular table with a length of slightly over two meters. Then, he took out the smaller components and laid them neatly on the table. With that, he began assembling the parts!
These Iron Man components were indeed extraordinary for the Cultivation World!
Looking at the material and the model design of the Iron Man, Xu Que felt comforted. He felt that it would all be worth it to redeem the Iron Man.
He was not interested in cheap goods!
He could not wait to see how everyone would react when he put all the parts together!
Chapter 364: This Will Overwhelm The Bumpkins!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The scene was bizarre!
In the first burial chamber of the majestic Imperial Tombs, a group of people had formed a line of defense against the closely-packed ancient armored puppets. Again and again, they attacked the puppets to drive them off!
At the rear of the line of defense was the weapon forging master, protected by team members who stood around them in a circle! The weapon forging master was working against time to quickly forge magical weapons!
Every weapon forging master had a fiery furnace beside them, making the whole burial chamber blazingly warm!
All the weapon forging masters were concentrating their Soul Strength on the rare materials that they were using to forge their magical weapons. They were melting and combining the materials under high temperatures, as well as inscribing runes onto them!
Only Xu Que sat cross-legged on his big table, assembling the parts with various screwdrivers!
He was very serious, focusing on his task like a scientist!
Not only that, but he had even given in to his whims and exchanged for a Tony Stark T-shirt with an Arc Reactor that emitted white light. His long hair was tied up in an ancient style which made him look odd and eccentric!
That was not all. As Xu Que worked on assembling the parts with the screwdriver, he was also mumbling on and on, using strange terms that they had never heard before.
He laid down the parts for the two strong arms of Iron Man first, before laying down all the parts of the Iron Man for an overview…
"Haha… this ratio is good! It's the golden ratio, tsk, tsk… no wonder it looks so domineering! Wow! The fists of the Iron Man are great! Look at the quality of the fingers, they totally look like the fingers of someone who has been single for a few decades. They will move like flashes of light… wait… what's going on? Why is this part protruding out? Could it be… that the Iron Man has a little brother too? Oh no, my bad! I need to press this down! Oh my God! The color of the Iron Man's back is dazzling and striking! This will surely stun and overwhelm all of those bumpkins!"
...
This scene left the crowd in bewilderment!
"What is he doing?"
"Wearing such peculiar looking clothes, assembling those small pieces of metal and muttering to himself so strangely. What is he trying to do?"
"Those pieces of metal have weird shapes and the materials are rather unusual!"
"I agree. Looking at his expression though, he doesn't seem like he's fooling around. He looks like he's actually serious about it!"
"Nah, don't bother about this fellow. He simply likes to use of weird stuff to get our attention and be in the spotlight!"
"Yes, that's right. Let's ignore him and leave him alone. Watch out for the puppets, don't let them break through our defense!"
...
As the crowd realised that they could not understand what Xu Que was doing, they began to lose interest.
The Third Prince and his team were focusing their attention on Zhou Lin Feng. They were very concerned about the magical weapon he was creating. It was almost ready!
The other contending princes were also concerned!
Only the Seventh Princess, with both hands cupping her face, peered curiously at Xu Que as he used the screwdriver to do up the screws in their respective places!
"Young Master Xu, is this the way members of the Exploding Heavens Faction forge their magical weapons? What novelty!" exclaimed the curious princess.
"Yes, my Exploding Heavens Faction actually prepares the parts in advance and we assemble them when required. That's what smart people do!"
"I see!" The Seventh Princess nodded her head, despite only having a hazy notion of what he was doing!
However, when the other weapon forging masters heard what Xu Que had said, they were quite offended!
What do you mean by 'that's what smart people do'?
So according to you, we, the weapon forging masters, are not smart?
Damn it, if this weren't such a critical time, this boy would get a good thrashing!
The weapon forging masters looked grim but they couldn't be bothered with Xu Que and continued to focus on weapon forging!
...
Meanwhile, outside the Imperial Tombs…
The Emperor of the Metal Nation, the Empress Dowager and everyone else present could clearly see what was happening inside the Imperial Tombs through the Heaven and Earth Mirror!
Even sound could be heard via the Mirror as well!
Everyone could see that Xu Que was sitting on the table, holding a strange looking iron rod and assembling pieces of weird-looking metal. While his hands were busy, his mouth was also busy boasting about the weapon forging techniques of the Exploding Heavens Faction.
"This fellow brags without shame!"
"And the bizarre outfit that he's wearing, it's so weird!"
"What he's doing does not seem to be related to weapon forging at all!"
"Precisely, he's just joining several pieces of metal together. That's too easy!"
"The Seventh Princess is too naïve. She actually believes that boy's words!"
"Hey, everyone look! Master Du from the Eldest Prince's team is about to complete the forging of their magical weapon!"
"Darn, it's true! Their high-grade magical weapon will be ready anytime now!"
"Master Du is really good! He's approaching the level of a seven-star weapon forging master, it's no wonder he is so fast!"
"That means the Eldest Prince is going to take the lead in destroying the ancient armored puppets!"
...
The crowd started to gasp as their attention shifted from Xu Que to the Eldest Prince!
It was the same for the people inside the burial chamber as well.
The Eldest Prince had invited Master Du, who was a very efficient weapon forger, to his team. In less than two hours, Master Du had almost completed a high-grade magical weapon.
After all, this was about the position of Crown Prince. Speed was definitely important!
The cultivators in the line of defense could only use a variety of skills to keep the puppets at bay, but they were unable to destroy them. So far, no one had managed to successfully take down an ancient armored puppet!
Hence, at the ranking charts outside the Imperial Tombs, no rankings were yet available!
But now that Master Du was almost done with the forging of his magical weapon, the Eldest Prince would soon be able to start destroying the ancient armored puppets!
The majority of the people were looking forward to it, but the rest of the contending princes had started to get anxious.
The team that started to take down the puppets first would have an advantage, and would likely win first place for this round. Everyone knew this inside their hearts!
The Eighth Prince looked tensely at his weapon forging master and asked, "Master Lin, how is it going?"
The weapon forging master looked solemn. "Soon!"
With that, he quickly popped a pill in his mouth which maximised his forging speed!
The Second Prince said, "Master Pang, is it possible to be faster?"
"I'm already at my fastest speed!" replied Master Pang.
"Try to be faster! There isn't much time left!" the Second Prince urged, plagued with anxiety.
He had been tenth place in the race, so he needed to nab first place for this round. Otherwise, he would no longer qualify to continue further and fight on for the position of Crown Prince!
In contrast, the situation at the Third Prince's area was rather peaceful. This was because he had obtained first place in the first round already, so there was no need to be overly impatient. Nevertheless, that did not mean that they should dally!
Before the Third Prince asked anything, Master Zhou smiled and said, "Your Royal Highness, it's going to be ready soon!"
"Good! You've worked hard, Master Zhou!" The Third Prince nodded his head, slightly excited at the news.
...
At this time, nobody was paying any attention on Xu Que.
Only the Seventh Princess watched as Xu Que assembled the metal pieces part by part. He finished assembling a steel arm. But before she could ask anything, Xu Que stored the arm into his system inventory!
The next moment, Xu Que took out another set of parts and continued to concentrate on assembling them. His speed also became faster.
The Seventh Princess dared not disturb him. She stood beside him and watched silently!
In no time, Xu Que completed another steel arm and stored it inside his system inventory again. Now, he started to work on assembling bigger parts of Iron Man!
Chapter 365: What Is He Trying To Do?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Unbeknownst to them, two hours had passed!
Booommm!
A loud muffled sound rang in everyone's ears, immediately followed by a burst of cheering from the Eldest Prince's team.
At that moment, something was flashing and blazing bright in the furnace!
"Haha, wonderful!"
"It's finally done! Master Du truly lives up to his name!"
"He created a six-star magical weapon in two hours' time!"
"Your Royal Highness, please allow me to use this six-star magical weapon to fight against the ancient armored puppets!" beseeched a strong Original Infant cultivator.
The Eldest Prince nodded his head, beaming with joy. "Good, your request is granted. Master Du, do rest for a while before you forge the next magical weapon!"
"No need, with my Soul Strength, I can forge another two magical weapons without resting!" replied Master Du. He picked up some raw materials and began to forge another magical weapon!
The cultivator, who volunteered to battle against the puppets, took the six-star magical weapon and rushed excitedly to fight against the puppets.
Baang!
Boooom!
Kabooom!
The cultivator fought fiercely against the puppets for over ten rounds.
And finally, with an explosion, he managed to smash an ancient armored puppet!
"Bravo!"
"Well done!"
"Nice!"
In the burial chamber, the members of the Eldest Prince's team were cheering loudly with high morale!
Outside the tombs, the audience watching the scene through the Heaven and Earth Mirror were excited as well.
"That's amazing!"
"Although six-star weapons are very strong, taking out a puppet in just over ten rounds also means that the elite fighting against the puppet is rather powerful too!"
"The Eldest Prince has earned one point now!"
"Look at the ranking charts, the name of the Eldest Prince has appeared and is currently in the lead now!"
"Eh, wait, look! The masters of the other princes' teams are completing their weapon forging as well!"
...
Inside the burial chamber, the weapon forging masters beside the Second Prince, Third Prince and the Eighth Prince had entered the final stage of the forging process!
Beads of perspiration formed on their foreheads as they pushed themselves to perform better and faster for the contest!
The process was smooth; every master successfully completed their first six-star magical weapon as the furnaces inside the burial chamber shone brightly for an instant!
The princes cheered in excitement simultaneously, and sent the strongest cultivator in their team to take on the puppets with the magical weapon!
In no time, the battle against the puppets became more intense!
With the powerful six-star weapons, the elites now possessed enough power to take down the puppets. Their speed also increased significantly!
In fact, the combat power of these puppets was not as strong as that of a cultivator. They were only strong because of their numbers; when they initiated a joint attack, it was as if their powers were stacked!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sounds of battling echoed about as the cultivators blasted their skill arts at the puppets. The situation seemed especially favorable so far!
The weapon forging masters did not rest either. After consuming a pill to replenish their energy, they continued to forge their second magical weapon!
Their aim was to forge as many magical weapons as possible in the shortest time before their Soul Strength was depleted!
Meanwhile, nobody had noticed that Xu Que had just finished assembling the most important parts of the Iron Man suit!
Ahhhh!
"It's finally done!"
Xu Que heaved a long sigh of relief after assembling the Iron Man helmet. He stored it in his system inventory.
"Eh? It's done?" asked a baffled Seventh Princess who had watched the whole assembling process but could still not comprehend what had happened.
"I only finished the initial steps," said Xu Que casually with a smile. "Still need to wait for a while!"
As this was the first time the Arc Reactor was charging, it required a good six hours to become fully charged. Only three hours had passed at that moment.
"What are we waiting for?" asked the princess curiously.
"Wait until this thing completely light up!"
Xu Que took out the Arc Reactor. It was about the size of a palm. He showed it to the princess.
As it was still charging, the Arc Reactor was emitting a faint halo of white light with a hint of blue. It was rather lovely!
The Seventh Princess was instantly absorbed by the Arc Reactor, as her eyes grew big and wide when she saw it. "Young Master Xu, what is this thing?" asked the curious princess.
"This treasure was created by Tony Stark from my Exploding Heavens Faction. It is called the Arc Reactor. It's a very powerful item for acting tough!"
Xu Que gave a laugh as he held the Arc Reactor in his palm, then jumped off the table!
The Seventh Princess could not understand what exactly an Arc Reactor was. She was like a clueless child, nodding her head and continuing to check out the Arc Reactor.
Outside the Imperial Tombs, many people frowned when they saw that scene.
"What is he trying to do?"
"What's that glowing thing in his hand?"
"I think I heard him say that it's called an Arc Reactor!"
"Heheh, it's so tiny, what can it do?"
"Exactly, just look at the mighty furnaces of the other masters! And look at his Arc whatever Reactor? It simply looks like a child's toy!"
"Oh no, our naïve Seventh Princess seems to have believed in his lies!"
"We should send in people to warn the Seventh Princess not to be taken in by that rascal. That boy is just fooling around!"
...
Many people started to get anxious. They couldn't bear to see the Seventh Princess getting scammed by Xu Que!
However, there were also people who were rather calm about this!
For example, the Metal Emperor, whose eyes were shining brightly, did not say a word!
The old eunuch beside him, on the contrary, felt somewhat disturbed with the comments made by the crowd. "Your Majesty..." The eunuch leaned over to the Emperor. "Should this old servant send someone in…?"
"No need for that!" the Metal Emperor shook his head, interrupting the old eunuch before he could finish.
Next, the Metal Emperor narrowed his eyes. "Since this is a contest," he said indifferently, "just leave them be!"
"But… this old servant is worried that Xu Que might spell trouble for the Seventh Princess!"
"It'll be fine. I've observed the thing that the young man is holding. It's very ordinary; it did not have the slightest flow of spiritual Qi so it should be safe. Lil' Seven is such a clever child. She's just curious, there's no need for worry!"
"Yes! This old servant understands now!" the old eunuch replied politely and returned to his original position.
The Metal Emperor fell silent with slightly hesitant look. His lips moved slightly as he looked towards a divine chariot not too far away. "Mother, I've closely watched the thing that the young man held, and did not find anything extraordinary about it. Did you find anything of concern?" The Emperor used his Soul Strength to communicate to the mind of the Empress Dowager.
"I did not notice anything special either," she replied indifferently. "This young man speaks with strange terms, has strange mannerisms and his behavior is pompous. That item might simply be something to impress people and get everyone's attention! But that's all there is to it."
"If that's the case… I'm relieved!" The words of the Empress Dowager set the Emperor's mind at rest.
Inside her divine chariot, after ending the short conversation with the Emperor, the Empress Dowager continued looking at Xu Que via the Heaven and Earth Mirror.
After a while, her lips curled up in contempt. "And I thought this young man was extraordinary. Seems like he's only good at controlling divine chariots. Alas, there's nothing more to him!"
Chapter 366: This Fellow Is Too Much of a Cheapskate!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At this time, Xu Que held the Arc Reactor in his hand and swaggered through the burial chamber as if he was going for a stroll.
He looked to his left and right, strolling around leisurely!
Again and again, he would cluck his tongue and shake his head!
The Seventh Princess followed him around. At this moment, she was like Xu Que's curious valet!
She was interested to know what Xu Que was up to.
Could it be that he wanted to perform an 'espionage mission'?
Or that he wanted to see how the weapon forging masters forged and refined their magical weapons?
Many people in the crowd outside the Imperial Tombs were not happy when they saw that. But the people inside the burial chamber were neither concerned nor bothered about this.
Most people had their attention fixated on the battle at the line of defense. The elite cultivators holding the six-star magical weapons were fighting against the ancient armored puppets!
Up till now, five ancient armored puppets had been killed already. This was considered rather impressive!
But so far, the team in first place was still the Eldest Prince's. The elite cultivator of his team had taken out two ancient armored puppets so far!
The teams of the Second Prince, Third Prince and Eighth Prince had taken out one ancient armored puppet each!
Xu Que flashed a glance at the battle and shook his head regretfully. "Too weak! Too weak! At this rate, even if the puppets stood still for you to destroy them, you wouldn't be able to finish killing them even if you had a month to do it!"
The ones standing near Xu Que heard what he said. Their mouths twitched uncontrollably!
Too weak?
Brother, this is already considered very strong, alright?
Why don't you try taking out the puppets then?
You didn't even help out. You're just holding a shiny thing and wandering around the place. Yet you still have the cheek to say such things?
Everyone felt that Xu Que should be ashamed of his behaviour!
But as the Seventh Princess and the Third Prince were siding with him, the others had to endure their displeasure and say little.
However, Xu Que really did have nothing better to do. The wait for the Arc Reactor to charge up was quite boring.
Moreover the fight against the puppets proved to be too boring to watch. The supposed elite cultivators were simply too weak in his eyes. There was nothing exciting about it.
Xu Que suddenly thought of the weapon forging masters who were busy forging the magical weapons, and turned to look at them.
He walked over leisurely to the Eldest Prince's side, where Master Du was busy forging. Xu Que behaved like a boss reviewing the work of his subordinates. He stared for a while and then started to shake his head.
"Aiya, your method is too crude! Right now that piece of high-quality iron still contains many impurities. You hadn't refined it enough before throwing it into the furnace. This is totally slip-shod work, like a poorly-built construction! And you call yourself a Master? Do you need me to dump some high school chemistry and physics textbooks on you so you can study this?"
"You…"
Master Du was infuriated. His eyes grew big and wide and he was about to flare up at any moment.
But the moment Xu Que finished criticising him, he turned right around and left, leaving Master Du to stare at his retreating back.
The Eldest Prince furrowed his brows. He had originally wanted to reprimand Xu Que as well. However, since he had left, both of them did not say anything more.
Xu Que continued strolling and came to the Eighth Prince's area. His eyes were on Master Lin. And sure enough, after looking at him for a while, he started to shake his head.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this is even worse. The sequence you use for refining the materials is wrong. This will cause the material to lose heat and in turn affects the toughness of the magical weapon. You're too reckless! The world has changed. Look at the degeneration of society's morals! This is pathetic!"
"You…"
Master Lin was enraged and was about to start cursing.
But Xu Que turned away again, making Master Lin unable to flare up at him!
The rest of the people present who had heard Xu Que's criticisms were at a loss for words.
What do you mean by 'cause the material to lose heat'? Where are all these unconventional terms coming from?
We have never heard them before!
What are you trying to do, saying things like 'the world has changed, look at the degeneration of society's morals'? If you don't understand these phrases, don't use them!
And you have the nerve to say Master Lin is reckless and pathetic?
The one who is reckless and pathetic is you, alright?
The masters are doing their best to forge the magical weapons, whereas you're wandering around with nothing better to do. Yet you have the cheek to criticise them?
Damn it! If it weren't for the sake of the Seventh Princess, we would have beaten you up by now!
...
Everyone was angry at Xu Que, but they all suppressed their rage as they did not want to talk to him!
However, Xu Que had no intention of stopping. He strolled over to the Second Prince's team.
The Second Prince knew jolly well what Xu Que wanted. He immediately stepped forward and glared at Xu Que.
But before the Second Prince could say a word, Xu Que said, "trash," in his face and walked away!
The Second Prince and Master Pang were so furious that they nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
F*ck, you didn't even take a look and you said 'trash'?
Are you asking for trouble?
This must be intentional. He wants to disturb the masters' states of mind and affect their forging speeds.
...
By now, the idle Xu Que had finally strolled back to the Third Prince's team.
The Third Prince felt that since Xu Que was part of the team, he wouldn't criticise him.
But when Xu Que flashed a glance at Zhou Lin Feng, although he didn't say a word, he wore an exasperated expression, as if Master Zhou had been unable to meet his expectations. Finally, Xu Que shook his head in contempt and left.
Master Zhou could not take that and started to complain to the Third Prince. "Your Royal Highness, look at his attitude! Don't stop me, I need to thrash him!"
"No, no, no! Don't be angry, Master Zhou. Young Hero Xu didn't mean anything!" The Third Prince hurriedly pacified Master Zhou, feeling anxious.
The Seventh Princess followed Xu Que with a bitter smile. She suggested, "Young Master Xu, why not find a place to sit down?"
"We can't, sitting for too long is harmful to our health. There are other teams who are forging magical weapons as well. Let's go over for a look." Xu Que said with great interest.
The Seventh Princess was instantly distressed. "Please don't! Young Master Xu, why don't we look at the ancient armored puppets?"
"Well… we'd better find a place to sit down then!"
...
Outside the Imperial Tombs, the crowd was speechless when they saw everything that Xu Que was doing through the Heaven and Earth Mirror.
This guy is obviously messing around!
Not only is he not bothering to help defend against the ancient armored puppets, but he is even going around and commenting on the work of the weapon forging masters! And saying that they are pathetic!
This is really infuriating!
The crowd even felt that they wanted to rush in to beat up Xu Que.
This guy is scum!
...
But soon, the crowd started to exclaim.
"Look! Master Du's second magical weapon is about to be completed!"
"He's so fast! They entered in less than six hours and their second magical weapon is about to be completed!"
"Looks like the Eldest Prince is going to secure first place this round!"
"Not necessarily. Look at the other princes, the speeds of their masters are increasing!"
"It's useless! The elite cultivator of the Eldest Prince's team is still leading by a puppet kill!"
"Indeed, this gap could prove to be difficult to catch up to!"
The crowd was busy giving their opinions. According to previous years, the first burial chamber was essentially the deciding round. Successfully taking the position of Crown Prince depended on being able to win this round.
Inside the burial chamber, the various masters were now at a critical time in their forging. They had taken several pills and finally, they managed to finish their second magical weapons.
With that, the various princes went up to the line of defense, using newly created magical weapons to battle against the puppets themselves.
The strength of the princes and their battle prowess were, without a doubt, extraordinary!
After about ten or so rounds, they managed to each take down an ancient armored puppet.
Both the people inside the burial chamber and the people in the crowd outside gave the princes a round of applause for their wonderful performances!
Chapter 367: Step Aside! Back Off! I'll Take Them On!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"The princes are so strong!"
"It is our country's blessing that the princes have such amazing power!"
"The Eldest Prince's skill art 'lashing the waves' is simply wonderful!"
"The Second Prince is not weak either, his skill art 'breaking through manifestations' totally destroyed the ancient armored puppet!"
"The Third Prince has the strongest power, look at his 'explosive hammer blast'!"
"The Eighth Prince should be the strongest. He's taking on two puppets at one time and has withstood three hits so far without shedding any blood!"
...
Many people scrambled to flatter the prince that they were supporting!
Booommm!
Suddenly, a deafening sound was heard that seemed to come from deeper inside the tombs. That sudden ruckus made everyone descend into silence!
Everyone stayed quiet. They were puzzled and looked at the passageway that led to the deeper tombs with uneasiness!
The noise had been very loud and it made a lot of people feel dismay and fear.
A magnificent aura could be felt from the depths of the tombs, followed by heavy, constant sounds of something knocking against the ground!
Stomp!
Stomp!
Stomp!
Every time the heavy sound was heard, it was as if a hammer was mercilessly dealing a blow to everyone's hearts.
Everyone was shocked; the several princes were appalled too. They quickly dealt a finishing blow to the puppets that they were engaging with and retreated to the back.
"What's that thing?"
"Could it be that new ancient armored puppets are coming out?"
"But it can't be. There has never been such an event in the previous contests!"
"This aura somehow doesn't feel right!"
"We are just dealing with the third wave of the ancient armored puppets. Come on, there shouldn't be anything new at this point?"
"Did someone accidentally activate a trap or something?"
Everyone was increasingly perplexed by the unforeseen situation.
Outside the Imperial Tombs, the Metal Emperor and the crowd were taken aback as well.
From the Heaven and Earth Mirror, they could clearly see and feel what was happening. They could also feel the reverberations of the sudden deafening sound and the mighty aura, as if they were also inside the burial chamber as well!
"This is bad, such aura, it's the golden puppet that appears every 100 years!" exclaimed the Metal Emperor who suddenly thought of something. He suddenly stood up with a flabbergasted expression. "Quick!" the Emperor shouted abruptly to the old eunuch. "End this contest and get them out of there!"
"Ah? Your Majesty, it's… it's too late now," the old eunuch replied in a terrified manner. "The restrictive enchantment has blocked all the entrances. Nothing can get inside now. We can only wait for them to come out!"
"This is abominable! The golden puppets only appear every 100 years. The last time they appeared was 30 years ago. Why did they appear again?"
The Empress Dowager inside her divine chariot spoke calmly, "do not worry, my son. The golden puppet moves slowly, so once they see them, they'll quickly retreat!"
...
The crowd started to create a commotion.
The golden puppet that the Emperor had spoken of… they had heard of it before.
That was the strongest obstacle in the Imperial Tombs and would only appear every 100 years!
The golden puppets were seven-star magical weapons. There were over a hundred of them and they were extremely sturdy. They were equivalent to Infant Transformation Stage cultivators.
The cultivators inside the burial chamber were all in the Original Infant stage. Even if they had their six-star magical weapons, they wouldn't stand a chance against the golden puppets!
"This is bad!"
"How did this happen?"
"Maybe something has happened to the restrictive enchantment and released the golden puppets?"
"Seems like this year's contest is going to end here!"
"The contest used to last for several days during the previous years. Looks like this year's contest won't even last for a day!"
"We have stronger contestants this year, and I thought they would proceed to the next round. Looks like our hopes have been dashed!"
"Ai, the Dragon Veins are being too well-protected! The forefathers of the Royal Family of Metal Nation were really strong!"
The crowd outside the Imperial Tombs shook their heads.
...
Inside the burial chamber, the group had not guessed that the commotion had been caused by the golden puppets. They stared at the tunnel watchfully as they continued to fend against the ancient armored puppets!
A short while later, they saw some golden rays coming from the tunnel.
Stomp!
Loud, uniform sounds were heard and the group suddenly saw several golden puppets moving in the tunnel.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the golden puppets. Their faces went ashen!
"Heavens, it's the golden puppets!"
"What's happening? It has not even been 100 years, why have the golden puppets come out?"
"Could someone have accidentally activated a trap or something?"
"No way, all of us stayed together in one place, there's no way anyone could have activated another restrictive enchantment!"
"Back off, retreat!"
"We can't continue with the contest!"
"It's such a pity! This year we had the best line-up so far but we encountered the golden puppets!"
"D*mn, why did this happen? I haven't even fought the puppets for the Eldest Prince yet!"
"Me too, I haven't fought the puppets for the Second Prince yet either!"
Many of them were bitter about the current situation. Besides being unable to perform, another main reason was that they were hopeful to go on to the next round of the contest. However, their hopes had now been dashed by the unexpected appearance of the golden puppets!
"Forget it, let's retreat! That's all we can do now!" announced the Eldest Prince.
He knew very well how terrifying the golden puppets were. Even if the whole group took on the golden puppets together, they would only be able to handle 10 golden puppets!
Not only that, but there were also thousands of smaller ancient armored puppets, and over a hundred golden puppets. It would be impossible to continue the contest.
"Huh?"
Xu Que raised an eyebrow and was somewhat dumbstruck by what he heard.
The golden puppets that only show up every 100 years have appeared earlier?
Something must be amiss. Maybe someone really activated a hidden restriction or trap?
Xu Que was pondering over this matter and suddenly he thought of something.
Nah!
Could this have been activated… by that f*cking dog?
Xu Que finally thought of Buttface. He had not seen Buttface since he had started participating in the contest.
With that dog's temperament, it was impossible for him not to show up.
Moreover, Xu Que knew that Buttface had previously dug a hole, but it had been turned into barracks for the guards.
Now that he thought about it, Buttface must have entered the Imperial Tombs before him.
And these golden puppets might have been activated by Buttface, who might have been reckless whilst exploring the area!
"Young Master Xu, things are looking bad. Now that the golden puppets have appeared, we need to leave this place!" the Seventh Princess hurriedly informed Xu Que as she slipped through the anxious crowd to get to him.
Master Zhou had stopped his weapon forging as well. The Third Prince and the rest of their team were now ready to retreat!
However, Xu Que shouted to everyone, waving his hand, "calm down, everyone! Aren't all of you the nobility and elites of the Metal Nation? All the more reason why we should be calm in such situations, right? As everyone here represents the future of the Metal Nation, you must believe in yourselves! Understand? Be more confident, yes! Be like me, keep your back straight, stick out your chest, tidy your hair and face the danger bravely…"
Everyone was startled and stopped in their tracks. They looked at Xu Que in astonishment.
"Furthermore, what's there to panic about?" Xu Que continued his speech with a domineering aura. "It's just the golden puppets. Just because they look nicer and they think they are so powerful? Hahaha… they're just trash to me! Step aside! Back off… I'll take them on!"
With that, he took a large stride forward.
Chapter 368: Iron Man Suit Up!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Confidence?
Stick out your chest?
Tidy your hair?
Golden puppets are trash?
Let you deal with it?
Everyone in there was stunned beyond words!
The golden puppets in the distance were fully activated now. One by one, they began to emit powerful auras to which common puppets would never have been able to hold a candle.
However, as the situation was precarious, Xu Que's shameless boasting was an attempt to make everyone feel more confident.
In everyone's opinion though, his were pure boasting and did not sit well with them.
"Oh my, this guy's crazy!"
"Does he know how horrifying the golden puppets are? How can he dare to boast like this?"
"The golden puppets' attacks are comparable to the attacks of cultivators in the Infant Transformation Stage. Moreover, there's no way we can take them out with our skill arts, how are we going to fight them?"
"Precisely! If we had an eight-star magical weapon, maybe we would be able take out four to five golden puppets… but that would be all we could handle!"
"If we had an inexhaustible amount of power and used brute force to take them out, we might have been able to succeed!"
"Unfortunately most cultivators nowadays pursue skill arts. There aren't as many people who cultivate in order to strengthen their bodies!"
"In the past, only one golden puppet being carelessly activated still caused great losses. And this time, there are so many golden puppets that have been activated… we'd better get them to retreat!"
Outside the Imperial Tombs, the crowd shook their heads and talked about Xu Que's behavior.
The Metal Emperor creased his brows as well. He seemed somewhat displeased with Xu Que's actions.
At this time, all the people inside needed to retreat as soon as they could to reduce the number of casualties!
But this guy was actually encouraging everyone to stay, telling them to be confident and saying that he would be battling against the puppets. This was tantamount to trying to get oneself killed!
In a divine chariot further away, the Empress Dowager was shaking her head lightly. A hint of mockery flashed in her eyes. She smiled and stayed silent!
...
Back inside the burial chamber in the Imperial Tombs, everyone was treating Xu Que's words as a joke!
"This rascal must have gone crazy!"
"There are so many golden puppets and he is actually saying that he's going to take them on!"
"Is he a psychopath?"
"Don't bother about him, we'd better hurry and run!"
Everybody started to retreat after dismissing Xu Que's words as jokes!
"This is an ignorant lad who wants to be in the limelight and use his flashy tactics!" Master Zhou, who was very unhappy with Xu Que, taunted him as this was a good opportunity to do so.
The Third Prince and the Seventh Princess also appeared slightly cross. They looked grim and their mouths twitched slightly.
They had tried to turn a blind eye when Xu Que had stepped out of line in the past. But this time, they found his words unacceptable!
There were so many golden puppets advancing slowly. Their attacks were at the level of cultivators in the Infant Transformation Stage. How could he be able to beat the puppets?
Even if you want to brag, you shouldn't brag like that!
They had thought that perhaps Xu Que had not known the actual prowess of the golden puppets. That could explain why he was still acting so bold.
"Young Master Xu, we'd better leave now. These golden puppets are not something that we can deal with now!"
"Yes, Young Hero Xu, we can come again next year!"
"There's no need to hurry!"
The Seventh Princess and the princes tried to persuade Xu Que to leave out of fear that he would mess up and throw his own life away.
Nevertheless, Xu Que just waved his hands indifferently. He was calm and composed. With a toss of his hair, he smiled. "No matter how strong the golden puppets are, they were still created by us, the humans. Man is the master of his own fate. Now you're scared of just a bunch of puppets? Okay, fine, alright! You're scared! But I'm not! The Exploding Heavens Faction fears nothing! Watch how I crush them! Iron Man, suit up!"
Boom!
With a wave of his hand, a terrifying, intense energy radiated from Xu Que's body!
Communicating with System, he activated all parts of Iron Man simultaneously!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
In an instant, all the parts appeared. As if they had an automatic sensor, they flew directly towards Xu Que.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Piece by piece, the metallic parts rapidly assembled themselves on Xu Que's body. Every part fit together mechanically.
"What… what's going on? These metallic materials do not have the slightest spiritual Qi. How is he doing it? How are the parts fitting with each other automatically and so perfectly? This… this is absolutely impossible!"
Master Zhou, who had been taunting Xu Que earlier, was now totally dumbstruck by the sight before him.
"Master Zhou! What is that? Which sect has such skilful weapon forging techniques? Look… the way the metal parts pieced together, it's so natural! Even during the process of assembling, fire was not required…"
Another weapon forging master who was on good terms with Master Zhou was so stunned that his jaws fell wide open.
"How would I know? If this is really a method of weapon forging… I'm afraid that this is the best weapon forging method in the world!"
After Master Zhou said that, he sat on the ground, dazed and seemingly drained of energy.
The metallic parts slowly assembling on Xu Que's body came together to form a suit of armor. As Master Zhou watched, his pride in his own abilities were being thoroughly crushed.
Even without considering the strength of the armor, just the fact that they could automatically assemble was extraordinary. Master Zhou knew that there was no way that he could catch up to such forging techniques!
In no time, Xu Que was entirely covered in the metallic parts!
The graceful lines of the armor… the bright red and gold paint… it was totally Iron Man!
At that moment, everything was silent!
People inside the burial chamber and outside the Imperial Tombs reacted in the same way—their eyes opened wide with disbelief and astonishment!
No one had thought that the small metal pieces could be combined to form an impressive suit of gallant armor that covered the whole body!
When compared to the puppets in the Imperial Tombs, Xu Que's armor won hands-down in terms of appearance. It belonged to the category of the super powerful!
The gold and red color combination bedazzled everyone!
And the luminous object that Xu Que had been holding all this time was now placed inside the chest. It glowed brightly and a strange energy seemed to radiate from it, making people feel both wary and fearful!
"This… what the hell is this?"
"This is amazing! I thought he was just fooling around earlier… I didn't think that he could really create a magical weapon!"
"But it doesn't seem right. This doesn't feel like a magical weapon as there isn't any spiritual Qi emitting from it, but instead, a strange energy force!"
"Well the materials are not indestructible," Master Zhou said confidently. "If I were battling against it, I would still have confidence in my ability to destroy it in a single stroke!"
Clang!
At this time, another metallic sound was heard as the last piece of Iron Man's helmet clicked into place.
After the two metallic eyes lit up, the transformation was complete!
At the same time, system notifications started to ring in Xu Que's head!
Ding! "Congratulations to host 'Xu Que' for successfully acting tough. The reward is 280 Acting Tough Points!"
Ding! "Congratulations to host 'Xu Que' for successfully acting tough. The reward is 310 Acting Tough Points!"
Ding! "The host is now wearing the Iron Man suit. This suit has 20 different Iron Man styles, and the host is free to switch around between each of them."
Chapter 369: Open Your Eyes & Have A Good Look
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xu Que was amazed when he heard the special notification!
Twenty different styles for Iron Man?
In the movies, the Iron Man usually had one style throughout. But this suit rented from the System could actually alternate between twenty styles. That was a really cool feature!
"Heheh, an item that requires more than 10,000 Acting Tough Points to rent is indeed cool as hell!" Xu Que was overjoyed!
He used his Soul Strength to control the suit and turned to face the group of ancient armored puppets before him.
Under everyone's perplexed gazes, Xu Que lifted up the metallic arm, facing the tunnel. A white light appeared in his palm. "Come on, you pieces of trash! When you stand before the Iron Man, all of you are nothing but a pile of scrap metal!"
Omm!
With a faint mechanical sound, the white light in the Iron Man's palm suddenly glowed radiantly. In an instant, a white beam of light burst out! Swoosh!
Boommm!
The white beam of light landed on a puppet and it instantly exploded into numerous pieces of metal that scattered on the ground!
...
At that moment, the whole group froze in their positions with dazed looks!
Just one blast?
He took out a puppet with just one blast?
But… how is this possible?
The elite cultivators who were holding six-star magical weapons had needed at least ten rounds to take out an ancient armored puppet.
But this guy has actually taken out one puppet with just one blast?
Is this a dream?
Everyone was overwhelmed and in a state of bewilderment. The prowess that Xu Que had just displayed was unprecedented!
However, this was just the beginning for Xu Que!
The blast from his palm was just an ordinary attack for the Iron Man. Xu Que was simply testing its power!
Booomm!
Xu Que activated the power on the suit's legs and two beams of light appeared. Xu Que rocketed into the air and dashed towards the tunnel, stretching his two metallic arms forward!
Swoosh! Booomm!
Another two attack beams blasted several ancient armored puppets into pieces of broken metal!
Tsk!
The group of participants gasped and wore glazed expressions.
Is this a f*cking dream?
When did these puppets become so weak?
Swoosh!
Another two beams of light shot out from Xu Que's palms!
Booomm!
With that explosion, another small group of puppets was blasted into pieces!
At this time, several other puppets that had moved very close to Xu Que. Before they could attack, however, Xu Que lifted his metallic arm and swung down hard!
Clang!
A puppet was smashed, and a huge dent appeared on its head!
Xu Que immediately shot out another beam of white light and the puppet exploded!
The saying 'four hands is better than two fists' was not applicable to Xu Que!
Everyone was still dumbfounded and in shock!
Both the people inside the burial chamber and the crowd outside the tombs were now all as quiet as mice!
Swoosh!
Boom!
Explosions were repeatedly heard coming from the tunnel!
Groups of ancient armored puppets were turned into scrap metal by Xu Que's relentless attacks!
Everyone started to feel numb and their hearts began to feel cold!
As time went by, piles and piles of scrap metal from the exploded puppets were left lying near Xu Que's feet!
The originally countless numbers of ancient armored puppets had been reduced to only a few hundred!
By now, the over a hundred golden puppets had gotten closer to Xu Que!
"Hmph! A bunch of weaklings!" snorted Xu Que in dissatisfaction. "I killed so many of you but I didn't even get a single Experience Point. I might as well destroy all of you now!"
System had not awarded him any Experience Points for taking out these puppets. He felt that he should protest vehemently to the System for discriminating against the puppets. The puppets could easily be classified as a type of monster. How could System refuse to award him any Experience Points? That was unreasonable and definitely unfair! Does the law even apply to me anymore? he thought gloomily.
With a click, two long, thin missiles appeared and ejected from Xu Que's metallic arm.
Swoosh!
The two thin missiles flew straight towards the ancient armored puppets. Clink! Both missiles knocked onto two ancient armored puppets, like an arrow rather than a missile!
And then, nothing happened?
The two puppets continued to walk towards Xu Que!
Xu Que did not bother with them. He turned away from them and walked out of the tunnel!
Everyone was puzzled by Xu Que's actions:
Are the two weird-looking 'arrow' things similar to a sneak attack? They didn't work out?
Why did he come out of the tunnel? Can't he win against the puppets?
Kabooomm!
Before the crowd could figure out what was happening, a deafening explosion was heard in the tunnel!
It was an explosion made by the two missiles. Flames blasted through the entire tunnel; the entirety of the Imperial Tombs shook from the impact!
Everyone stared with their eyes big and wide. They saw hundreds of puppets explode and get destroyed in the tunnel. Clink! Clink! The puppets shattered into numerous pieces of broken metal and fell to the ground.
In just an instant, so many ancient armored puppets of unmatched numbers had been destroyed so easily by Xu Que!
The whole tunnel was filled with countless broken metal pieces, and seemed to have transformed into ruins.
Many golden puppets had not been spared either. Those that had gathered closer to Xu Que had also been destroyed in the explosion.
The broken pieces of golden metal lying in the debris shone and looked very distinctive!
Gulp!
All those who witnessed the scene could not help but gulp. Their mouths felt dry. They could not believe what they had just witnessed!
"No… no way? Even the golden puppets… were also destroyed by just a single blast?"
"This is incredible! Totally unbelievable! A golden puppet is equivalent to a cultivator of the Infant Transformation Stage!"
"What exactly did Xu Que create? After he wore the suit, despite only having a cultivation level at the Original Infant Stage, he was actually able to take out so many golden puppets in one go..."
"This is a supreme treasure! Xu Que's magical armor suit is absolutely the top-ranked treasure among the supreme treasures!"
"It didn't even use any spiritual Qi yet it had such a tremendous amount of power! This is just so unbelievable…"
...
All the princes and their men, who had planned to evacuate quickly from the Imperial Tombs, were now completely stunned beyond words.
This was totally different to what they had expected!
Even though Xu Que had taken out large numbers of the ancient armored puppets, they still firmly believed that the over a hundred golden puppets would have been a nightmare!
But now, the golden puppets had also proved to be just as fragile. They could not withstand a single blast from Xu Que. He had become the nightmare of the puppets instead, an outright nightmare…
Shoosh!
At that time, Xu Que flew out from the tunnel swiftly!
Clunk!
He landed on the ground steadily, appearing before everyone.
Ding! Congratulations to host 'Xu Que' for successfully acting tough. The reward is 300 Acting Tough Points!"
Ding! Congratulations to host 'Xu Que' for successfully acting tough. The reward is 320 Acting Tough Points!"
Ding! Congratulations to host 'Xu Que' for successfully acting tough. The reward is 350 Acting Tough Points!"
...
System notifications kept ringing in his head continuously.
He did not bother much about them. Instead, he turned slowly to look at the heaps of scrap metal lying around the tunnel. "Hmph, it's so f*cking meaningless!" complained Xu Que with a sneer. "It's as if I used a butcher's knife to kill a chicken! It's all because of you silly idiots for bragging that the golden puppets were really life-threatening. So see what has happened? Open your eyes and have a good look… Not even one of them could stand up to a single blast!"