Chapter 160 Farewell to Yi Ren
Have you paid for your monthly ticket? It's a rule to pay first and then take the bus. Have you paid for your monthly ticket today?
After several months of fighting, the duel's big show has finally come to an end! Undoubtedly, in this year's competition, I have gained both fame and wealth. The number one among the Four Greats of the Continent was taken by me, a person who is at the bottom in terms of background and age, which is really beyond the expectations of most people! The second biggest winner is naturally that cunning Seventh Princess! Except for her not-so-perfect performance at the last moment, she was almost the most eye-catching person in this grand event! Her noble and elegant demeanor, loyal and brave subordinates, as well as wisdom comparable to mine, made her an object of pursuit by many princes!
It's said that in this month, the number of nobles who dueled for her is not less than a hundred! And my battle with the Crown Prince was also included among them! Moreover, it was even ranked first and praised as the most outstanding duel! Alas! Although I have some good feelings towards this princess, but to say that I fought with others over her, seems to be framing me!
No matter what rumors are circulating outside, I have a deep premonition that there will definitely be some kind of story between me and this princess, and it's the kind that sparks fly!
Finally, the day of selecting the Holy Maiden has arrived! Early in the morning, before dawn, we were woken up by the bishops in charge. Since this is a very sacred ceremony, the church people are extremely serious about it, and every detail is meticulously taken care of! We each spent over an hour getting dressed and made up before being rushed to the mountain! They said it's to show our devotion on an empty stomach, but when have I ever been devout? My only devout wish is that one day I'll pluck their feathers and make a quilt out of them!
Mei'er and Keli, as well as Gai, all wanted me to bring them along. After all, it's a direct meeting with the Radiant God Tribe. Those bird people may not be good at anything else, but they're particularly skilled at detecting evil energy! I was afraid they would mess up later on, so I didn't let them come along! Fortunately, Mei'er is an understanding person and agreed to wait for me. The price was just 100 stories! Ugh! I even retold the adapted "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to her, but I really couldn't think of any more stories! Should I tell her about "Jin Ping Mei"? It's so depressing!
On the road, I saw that the entire Holy Mountain was bustling with people. Although it was still dark, the magical lanterns on the Holy Mountain actually illuminated the entire mountain, making everything visible! How much money must this cost?! I roughly estimated that just the consumption of magic crystals for the magical lanterns would be at least tens of thousands of gold coins per minute! It's really too extravagant! Seeing this makes me feel a pang in my heart. If this money were given to me, it would be enough for me to rebuild several legions. In the future, when plucking Bird People's feathers, I would have a few more chances of winning!
Thousands of dignitaries from various countries were invited to attend, and everyone was empty-handed, slowly making their way up the mountain road! Still, in order to show off their piety, not even a servant's help was allowed, and these guys who usually like to eat and be lazy were exhausted! Our king himself is fine, after all, he practiced when he was young, but Ishihara Kuma II was the most pitiful of them all. His body fat was so tired that it was dripping with oil, if not for the king's strong orders, I'm afraid this guy would have died from exhaustion and wouldn't be able to come up! It's just a pity for my father, who had his hands full of grease, steam, and a foul smell. The king and I kept our distance from them! My father was so disgusted that he couldn't help but curl his lips, I'm sure what he wants to do most right now is to chop off Ishihara Kuma II!
Finally, after much difficulty, we arrived at the Pope's Palace on the mountain top, and less than half of the people were still standing! And those who were as relaxed as I was were even fewer! Among the dignitaries from various countries, true experts are indeed rare! However, I was surprised to discover that the Seventh Princess seemed extremely relaxed, and she was even supporting her father, the king. Could it be that she's also an expert? She had been hiding it quite deeply; previously, I hadn't noticed at all!
Then we were separated to our respective viewing spots. As a major power on the mainland ranking among the top ten in comprehensive national strength, our Great Han Empire was finally arranged at a relatively good location where we could directly see the changes on the holy platform. This location was on a balcony of the Papal Palace.
The host pastor repeatedly warned not to run around, and then left. After he left, the king and Ishihara Kōji immediately sat down on the sofa and started panting. The father went to wash his hands first, and when he came back, he was still grumbling in dissatisfaction: "How can it be so smelly!"
Ishihara Koji was so embarrassed that he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into!
The poor Taoist smiled and began to observe the surrounding terrain! With my poor eyesight, this mountain top platform is very large, at least several hundred acres, and now the situation on top is invisible! But I want to see if Xianya is there or not! It's been many days since we last met, and I really miss her!
The poor Taoist turned back to the king and gave a sly smile! The smile made them shiver with fear! The king, possibly having been outsmarted by me many times before, had an ominous premonition and asked tremulously: "What do you want to do?"
"Go out and have fun!" The poor Taoist pretended to be carefree!
"Don't!" The king, Ishihara Koji and my father shouted in unison! Unfortunately, it seemed a bit too late, as I had already slipped under the railing of the balcony and made a run for it!
"Good heavens!" The king asked his father in near despair: "Are you sure he won't smash the holy altar this time?"
"I don't know!" said the father gloomily. To comfort the king, he added uncertainly: "Probably not?"
"Approximately!" Ishihara Kuma also couldn't help but gasp, and angrily said: "This is a matter of the survival of our Great Han Empire! You're just going to use 'approximately' to deceive us?"
"It can't be that serious, right?" his father said with a lack of confidence.
"How could this be!" The king almost wailed: "This is the sacred maiden selection ceremony that happens once every ten years! That up there is the 'Gate of Heaven', the gods are right above us! Today is the day for a divine miracle to descend! If it's disrupted by that troublemaker from your household, that would be blaspheming against the gods and a grave sin!"
"I think he's not so disobedient!" The father hastened to comfort him!
"Does he know his place?" The king thundered: "He knows his place and yet dares to resist taxes, dares to kill my people! This time bringing him here was an absolute mistake, although we got some money out of it, but look at what he's done! For the sake of our enemy Carte, he thoroughly offended a great empire Meiguo! And destroyed half of the Pope's palace, my god! Did I owe him in my past life? Now he's playing hooky again during the ceremony for selecting the Holy Maiden? Is he trying to drive me mad? You actually say he knows his place, am I the one who doesn't know their place?"
The furious king launched a verbal attack on his father, who knew he was in the wrong and could only listen. The father secretly made up his mind that when the little brat returned, he would beat him up first and then talk to him, to hell with any rules!
Unfortunately, I was completely unaware of his tragic fate! At this time, the poor Taoist was lying on the roof of the Pope's palace, leisurely watching the busy crowd on the holy platform! After getting off the balcony, the poor Taoist used his agile body to avoid the patrolling troops and finally chose the high point of the Pope's palace! He climbed up with his unique skill 'Ladder Cloud Leap'! I was surprised to find that my skills could be further exerted, because I accidentally jumped more than two meters high, almost being seen by others! Without time to check the reason, the poor Taoist had to throw himself into battle first!
At a commanding height like this, there will always be someone on guard at formal and grand occasions, and this time is no exception! Two guardian knights are patrolling on the rooftop! And they're still far away, so I can only crouch down and wait for them to come together, then suddenly jump onto their heads, aiming at the back of their necks with a ruthless blow! Then hurry down to support them, otherwise the sound of their iron armor falling to the ground will surely alarm others!
After handling it properly, I sat down to introspect and see what changes had occurred in my body. How did my power suddenly increase so much? After a careful examination, I quickly found the reason! It turned out that the seal within me had loosened, as if the powerful magical barrier that blocked my internal energy flow had suddenly weakened significantly!
I've got it! It must have been that mysterious magical power flowing out of my body when I was incubating Mei Er! So that's the sealing power, no wonder I suddenly feel much lighter! Unfortunately, they were passively absorbed, so there aren't many, probably now I should be able to cast at least fifth-level magic! Hehe, it's better than nothing. If you add my martial arts foundation and endless strange moves, I'm absolutely confident that I can go head-to-head with Father, the Sword Saint! But what I didn't know was that Father also had the same idea right now!
At this time, the sky was already bright and hazy, with a white mist floating from the waist of the mountain, shrouding the holy mountain like a fairyland! And the people below gradually became fewer, and some high-ranking bishops wearing red robes began to appear! Then, music sounded, and the Pope led a group of big and small heads of the church onto the stage!
They came slowly to the altar under the escort of several hundred knights and bishops, followed by nearly 100 white-robed maidens! I saw Xianya among them too! Although they were dressed in the same attire, her slender figure and holy temperament made her stand out so much that she gave me the impression of a crane standing out from a flock of chickens!
The Pope turned around and faced those who came to watch in front of the Vatican Palace, unfolding a speech!
"Today! As humble servants of God, we will be honored to witness the appearance of miracles! Under God's omnipresent glory, it will cleanse our sinful hearts and uplift our spirits!"
I was not willing to listen to his nonsense, but just as I was about to doze off, he actually made a move on me! A deep and profound spiritual pressure, under his deliberate guidance, came rushing towards me like a ferocious beast with its mouth wide open, wanting to devour me, intending to plunge me into boundless terror!
He was at least a few hundred meters away from me, and yet he seemed to have discovered my whereabouts in an instant! How interesting. Let's see what kind of skills this so-called strongest person on the continent has got!
I implore you in the name of the Pope, hand over your monthly ticket to me!