Chapter 87 85- It’s My Loss

After landing on the stage, Fang Chen glanced at the box in front of Xi Shen and then at the line thirty meters away from him. Afterwards, he looked towards the sitting Xi Shen and cupped his fist before he said, “Second prince, my name is Fang Chen. I would like to participate in your competition, and although I am not on the Inner Disciple Rankings, I wish you would give me this chance.”

Fang Chen said while bowing his head sincerely to Xi Shen. The crowd was slightly surprised to see the notorious Fang Chen like this. He seemed almost desperate as he requested Xi Shen to allow him to take on his challenge.

Xi Shen looked at Fang Chen and he could tell he was desperate as well. He guessed his desire for the Nine Revolutions Sea Expansion Pill was high.

Xi Shen then asked, “Fellow disciple Fang Chen, are you sure you wish to participate? You are aware of the outcome if you lose right?”

When Fang Che heard that, sudden confusion well up in his heart. He felt that Xi Shen’s words were strange somehow.

He hadn’t asked any other disciples this question before, and from the way he was talking, it sounded to Fang Chen that Xi Shen believed he had already won.

Fang Chen’s eyes narrowed into slits, and his caution towards Xi Shen suddenly increased.

‘Was it possible he was holding back all this while? Why else would he want to make sure I know the outcome if I lose as if he was assured he would win.’

However, despite thinking that, Fang Chen's desire for the Nine Revolutions Sea Expansion Pill hadn’t lessened. In fact, his determination to get it increased.

Unlike the others before him, he was confident in his willpower because this was a requirement to use his master’s Nine Swords of Slaughter sword formation technique. He had been tempering his mental fortitude and willpower ever since he started cultivating until now.

With a decisive voice that could sever nails and cut iron, Fang Chen responded, “Second prince, I am well informed on the outcome, as well as the fact that if I win that Nine Revolutions Sea Expansion pill will be mine.”

Hearing Fang Chen's confident voice, Xi Shen’s expectations of him increased even more.

Smiling, Xi Shen then said, “All right, I chose to have my participants start from the edge of the stage. If even a hair from your head can pass the line thirty meters in front of me, then it's my loss. If you stop anywhere before that for more than ten seconds it’s my win, and you’ll have to join my Faction.”

Hearing that Fang Chen’s eyes flickered, as his speculation was right, Xi Shen indeed was having thoughts of making him a member of his Faction.

The crowd below as well had picked up on the meaning of Xi Shen’s words, and they started to get excited about what was to come.

The betting booths in the area were swarmed by disciples as they wanted to get their bets in before it was too late.

“All right no more bets are being taken!! Counting the bets, 90% of you bet for senior brother Fang Chen to win and 10% for our second prince!”

As the disciple in charge of the betting yelled that, not many people were surprised by the number, but they suddenly started looking around with mocking eyes, trying to find the persons who had foolishly bet against their senior brother Fang Chen.

On the stage, Fang Chen stood motionlessly with his eyes closed for a moment before he open them. His eyes radiated extreme focus as he lifted his foot and took a step forward.

Unlike the disciples before, that would run and try to clear the sixty meters distance to the line with speed, Fang Chen was only taking confident and steady steps forward.

Seeing this Xi Shen’s eyes began to shine. He then lifted his hand and use his right index finger to pluck one of his zither strings.

The pitch was piercing, but it was precise and only focused on Fang Chen. Which caused the disciples below to hardly hear it. The sound waves filled with the properties of the Illusion Soul Art shot towards Fang Chen and entered his ears at the speed of, well, sound.

However, as the note reverberated in his ears trying to pull him into an illusion, Fang Chen's expression didn’t change in the slightest and he only continued to step forward.

The disciple in the crowd upon seeing this, burst out into exclamations of excitement as Fang Chen was the first to be able to withstand Xi Shen’s first Zither note.

Seeing that Fang Chen was unaffected, Xi Shen's eyes began to shine even more brightly.

Those below couldn’t sense it, but being on the stage with him Xi Shen could feel that Fang Chen was using his dense bloodlust to coat his senses including his eyes and ears. Along with his strong willpower, he had effectively created two layers of protection from Xi Shen’s Soul Attack.

‘Now I really want you in my Faction.’

Xi Shen placed his other hand on his zither and started playing his it. It was no song specifically, but one he was making up as he goes.

Each pluck of his zither would enter Fang Chen’s ears in waves, and each time Fang Chen continued to resist his Soul Attack, Xi Shen increased its power.

Xi Shen wasn’t going to immediately make Fang Chen lose, he wanted to see how long he could last and what limit his willpower was at as he increased the power bit by bit.

Fang Chen, who was receiving Xi Shen’s Soul Attack was the only other person who realize that the power of Xi Shen’s Soul Attack was increasing as he got closer to the thirty-meter line.

The crowd below, however, only saw Fang Chen’s steps continuing despite Xi Shen playing his zither. They thought that Feng Chen was effortlessly resisting Xi Shen's Soul Attacks.

Yells and cheering for Fang Chen echoed from various parts of the crowd as they watched.

Fang Chen had now reached twenty meters away from the line, but his once expressionless face was contorting into a struggling expression. Then all of a sudden his body paused and his eyes seemed to glaze over, his expression becoming blank similar to someone that was trapped in an illusion.

Seeing this, surprise exclamations came from the crowd, but before they could erupt into an uproar of disbelief, Fang Chen’s body suddenly release a dense amount of bloodlust along with his cultivation base, causing his blue robes to start flapping about uncontrollably.

The release of his bloodlust and cultivation base seemed to forcibly dispel the illusion he was in. As he came to, he looked at Xi Shen completely shocked.

For a split second, Fang Chen had relaxed a bit, but he had immediately been trapped in an illusion. This caused him to resort to his last line of defense for Xi Shen’s Soul Attacks.

Seeing that he was still twenty meters away from the line, Fang Chen gritted his teeth and growled out under his breath, “No”

Fang Chen then released his aura to the fullest, weakening the constant barrage of Soul Attacks, before he began to step forward even faster than before.

Xi Shen smiled as he saw that but he had already seen Fang Chen’s limit somewhat so it was time to end it here.

Xi Shen doubled his Soul Attack power, and with a hard pluck from his zither that force slammed into Fang Chen’s mind and broke all of the defenses he had put up.

The aura around him then went away with a poof, as Fang Chen’s body come to a complete stop. His expression told that he was in a deeper illusion than before.

But even then, Xi Shen could see that his expression would twitch ever so slightly.

‘Hmm, he must be really determined to get the Nine Revolutions Sea Expansion Pill. I wonder why that’s the case.’

The crowd below was silently waiting for Fang Chen to escape the illusion like before, but after he stood there for longer and longer, their expressions continued to change.

After ten seconds had passed, several disciples could be seen with bloodshot eyes.

Then, several tragic cries came from the crowd as well, while an uproar came from the disciples.

The disciples that had cried tragically and had bloodshot eyes were the ones who had bet nearly all of their Academy Points on Fang Chen winning. They thought that they could make a profit, but seeing that all their hard earn Academy Points had vanished into someone else's pocket, they felt like their hearts were bleeding.

They turned to search for the booth where they had bid, but only an empty clearing was there. That disciple had immediately scrambled away when he saw that Fang Chen had lost.

After ten seconds, Xi Shen released Fang Chen, and the latter came out of the illusion only to see a wide grin on Xi Shen’s face.

Seeing the line only eight meters away from him, Fang Chen let out a sigh in his heart as he came to realize he didn’t have a chance of winning in the first place.

Fang Chen cupped his fist towards Xi Shen, and then said, “It’s my loss.”

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Word Count: 1579