Chapter 232 – Interception (1/2)

Chapter 232 - Interception

After a few unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the palace’s walls with his will-force, Ye Wei gave up trying altogether. ‘There are some people over there, I should get my stone first and worry about the palace later!’

“So those are the golden puppets Qing Yao and Xue Er mentioned.” Ye Wei smiled, mumbling to himself while looking afar at the palace. “They are indeed below returned prime level, nothing I can’t handle.”

More than twenty initiates were fighting the puppets, none of them were above condensed prime level.

“So one of these return prime stones shoots out from the palace once you have defeated the puppet. That’s what she meant when she said everyone can only get the stone once...”

“That doesn’t look too hard!”

“Zoom!”

Ye Wei’s feet viciously propelled against the ground, riding a bow of starlike runic patterns as he sped towards the palace in the middle of the sea.

“It’s Ye Wei!”

“He is my hero! But what is he doing here?”

“He just got himself onto the Black Dragon List! We should go ask him for some cultivation tips!” Everyone was excited to see the person that saved them from being humiliated by the veterans.

After ten breaths’ time, Ye Wei landed in front of the palace, taking a closer look at the initiates. ‘Jian Chen isn’t here, but I recognize Hong Hai, I got him out of a beating from the veterans.’

“Ye Wei! You are here?” Hong Hai bowed respectfully at Ye Wei, “thanks again for the intervention, I would still be in a sick bed now if you didn’t help me.”

“Hi. I remember you.” Ye Wei smiled and nodded.

“I appreciate that!” Hong Hai replied while clenching his fists, excited to speak to Ye Wei. “You inspired me! I am here because of you. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with the veterans quicker after getting a stone. I gave myself a goal to become a returned prime Warrior within two to three months.”

As talented a cultivator as he was, Hong Hai’s pride and confidence were scarred by the experience of getting humiliated by Feng Shan. Luckily for him, he found motivation on the very same day from the person who avenged him.

“Ye Wei, you have to be careful. I heard that a lot of high-ranking Black Dragon listers are planning to challenge you during the tournament…” Hong Hai came closer to his idol and whispered.

“I know.” Ye Wei nodded indifferently. ‘And I’ve known for a while now. It’s normal that the veterans feel threatened considering the amount of attention I drew onto myself. They might think I am disrespectful.’

Ye Wei saw the challenges ahead more as positive obstacles he will have to eventually overcome than something that stressed him. However after getting defeated by Xue Er, breaking through had become a more urgent matter for Ye Wei as he realized who he would be fighting in the tournament were likely to be on the same level as Xue Er.

“Why are you lot just standing there?” Ye Wei looked towards the golden puppets and asked bewilderedly.

“These puppets are below returned prime level, but it takes more than an ordinary ten-star condensed prime Warrior to bring them down…” Hong Hai glanced at the puppets and said shamefully.

“We only have one chance, if we are defeated by the puppet, we won’t be able to get our hands on a stone later on. Everyone is playing it safe, we can’t afford to risk what might be our only chance to become a returned prime Warrior before we are too old to be recruited by powerful families.” Hong Hai’s eyes scanned across the group of initiates and explained slowly.

“I see…” Ye Wei nodded, “I am kind of in a hurry, you guys are welcome to watch and learn more about how these puppets fight.”

Ye Wei then casually walked through the initiates towards one of the golden puppets, mumbling as he was getting close. “Eight days, no room for mistakes.”

“Ye Wei is in a league of his own, he only just came here and he is just going to go in blind!? He might be stronger than all of us assume him to be!”

“What did you expect? He did beat the strongest three-star returned prime Warrior in the palace, he can surely handle a puppet.”

The initiates looked at Ye Wei with respect and admiration.

Confident about his four-star returned prime level body strength, Ye Wei walked up to one of the golden puppets and just after a brief look struck without much hesitation.

“Crack!”

Just before his fist was about to connect onto the puppet, a beam of blue light shot from afar and destroyed the puppet before Ye Wei’s eyes.

His fist flew through a screen of golden dust.

The runic array of the palace did not react to the puppet’s destruction.

‘Whoever did this had already gotten a stone in the past!’ Ye Wei frowned and looked towards the blue beam’s source.

His glare landed on Shi Kun, Qian Dao and Zhou Huan, the trio pridefully stared back at Ye Wei with disdainful smiles on their faces.