Chapter 39: The Hunt Begins

Su Xin practiced swordsmanship alone."Shadowed!" "Dream fragments!" "Dawn breaks!" "Ephemeral bloom!" "Snowy expanse!" "Path to the underworld!"Each move follows seamlessly from the last."No, that's..."Purple Cloud Sect, Fairy Luo" Su Xin's heart skipped a beat.

He had heard of the Ziyun Sect, a faction with deep foundations within the Heavenly Flame Dynasty.

"Su Xin, you genius of Yunzhou, you've only arrived at the camp today" Duan Yunfeng looked over.

"Su Xin nodded."

"No wonder you don't even recognize Lu Xianzi," Duan Yunfeng smiled, "Besides the talented hunters in this camp, there are also some merchants who sell information about geniuses. They sell information that records details about some top-tier geniuses participating in this hunt.

"

You can wait here in the tavern for a little while, you should see those merchants arrive soon.

"What's the information" Su nodded knowingly.

Soon after, Su Xin saw a merchant and purchased some intelligence from him.

A thick notebook lay before Su Xin, who was flipping through it.

And the first page that came into view was a name—Xia Mang!

"Summer Mango"

Su Xin was looking at the detailed introduction about this summer mango below.

"The current first genius of the Heavenly Flame Royal Family, thirty-four years old. His cultivation has reached the peak of the Sea Transformation Realm, and he has cultivated the exclusive Emperor's Yuan Jue of the Heavenly Flame Royal Family. His spiritual power burst is even stronger than that of a general Void Breaking Realm early stage expert, and his comprehension of artistic conception has also reached the first level. The Dragon Spear Technique he cultivates has reached a state of great accomplishment, and his spear skills are domineering and fierce…"

"Among the nearly 100,000 prodigies in this hunting season, he's definitely among the top three!"

"This summer mango, so strong!" Su Xin couldn't help but exclaim.

“He’s very strong. Even Duan Yunfeng beside me nodded, “Although both of us have reached the peak of the Sea Transformation Realm, he cultivates the Imperial Yuan Jue, a unique inheritance technique of the Tianyan Royal Family. Its explosive power is extremely astonishing, even stronger than my cultivation technique. In terms of strength alone, he surpasses me by quite a bit. As for aspects like comprehension of intent and gunsmanship, he is not inferior to me at all.”

Facing him, I could only do my best, unleash my strongest ultimate move, and perhaps be able to fight him for a while longer.

Although Duanyunfeng was extremely confident in his own abilities, he was still very wary of this Xia Mang.

"It's said that Xia Mang got a special admission to Tianyan Palace long ago. However, as the son of royalty, he doesn't want outsiders to think that he got in because of his status. That's why he came to participate in this hunting competition," Duan Yunfeng continued.

"Of the nearly 100,000 talented participants in this hunt, Xia Mang stands out as the strongest and most formidable. He is considered absolutely capable of entering the top three in this hunt!"

As for the others, even I am only considered qualified to challenge the top ten.

Su Xin continued to look through the information of one genius after another. Sure enough, he saw Duan Yunfeng's information soon.

“The beggar boy Duan Yunfeng has a strange temper and a mysterious background. He has been wandering and challenging strong players in various states and counties of the Tianyan Imperial Dynasty for several years. His swordsmanship is extremely powerful, and his understanding of artistic conception is extraordinary. So far, no one has forced him to use his strongest power. He is considered qualified to challenge the top ten hunters…”

Upon seeing this intelligence report, Su Xin's expression grew rather strange.

He remembered two things: first, Duan Yunfeng's origins were mysterious.

So far, Duan Yunfeng has not yet shown his full strength.

"He hasn't even displayed his full strength yet, and he's already considered qualified to challenge the top ten. Plus, he has so much confidence in himself…" Su Xin sighed inwardly and continued reading downwards.

"Kill three"

Su Xin noticed another name.

Tu San, similarly a top-tier genius recognized as having the potential to break into the top ten, comparable to Duan Yunfeng, but Su Xin's reason for paying attention to him wasn't due to his strength, but... his background.

According to this information, Tu San, from the Qi Wangfu, stood out among a group of orphans adopted by the King of Qi.

"King Qi" Su Xin's eyes narrowed.

As far as he knew, this King Qi was the emperor's own younger brother. At some point in time, he had competed with the current emperor for the throne. Even though he had failed later, he still held a very high position of power within the Tianyan Dynasty. He had intricate connections with many powerful factions and prominent families within the Tianyan Dynasty.

The Si family was very closely related to this King Qi.

“Before the night raid on my Su family, there was already a squad of Yinglong Guards present. The Yinglong Guards are only accessible to members of the imperial family, and only those with immense power within the royal family are eligible to deploy them. This Prince Qi just happens to be one of those eligible to deploy a squad of Yinglong Guards,” Su Xin mused silently.

Of course, he only suspected it, but couldn't confirm it.

"Well, this is the information about the Luo Xianzi from earlier" Su Xin saw the information on the document again, and it was indeed the purple cloud sect's Luo Xianzi who had just passed by.

This Lu Fairy, although not as powerful as Duan Yunfeng or Tu San, is still quite strong and has the qualifications to break into the top twenty.

And this Luo Xianzi, she is actually a bloodline awakener who has awakened to a third-rank bloodline.

……

Su Xin quickly scanned the information of each genius.

Finally, Su Xin saw the name he wanted to see - Si Tu Family, Si Tu Yu!!

"This Si Tu Yu isn't that dazzling," Su Xin looked at the information on Si Tu Yu in the intelligence report.

This Situ Yu, even placed in the Tianyan Imperial Dynasty, would indeed be among the top talents, with the qualifications to enter the top twenty. However, his strength and achievements are clearly a significant step behind Duan Yunfeng and Tu San.

“With my current strength, it wouldn't be difficult to defeat him!” Su Xin clenched his fists.

Of course, this is only the surface, already exposed.

But who knows, perhaps that Master Situ Yu has hidden strength

This hunt has gathered nearly a hundred thousand prodigies. Although most prodigies have already made their mark and displayed their abilities, some truly exceptional prodigies remain under the radar. They haven't been discovered yet but possess immense power.

For example, Su Xin himself... his strength improved too quickly, and the number of times he made a move was negligible.

Only a few people from the Dragon Blade who have fought him know his true strength, but when he battled them, he didn't even use his full power.

This report, of course, does not include his name.

“There are dozens, even if only considering those who could potentially break into the top twenty on this genius list. Several of them have awakened their bloodlines. And then there are the geniuses whose full potential remains hidden... There are simply too many,” Su Xin clenched his fists, feeling a twinge of pressure in his heart.

"However, that day the spots for disciples of the Yan Palace, I will surely get them!"

We'll see how far I can get!

……

Su Xin and Duan Yunfeng were drinking at a tavern, chatting casually about some geniuses they had read about in the intelligence reports.

"Someone is challenging Xiao Mo over there on the platform!"

"Xiao family's Xiao Mo The one who is qualified to break into the top twenty"

Hurry, go and have a look.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the tavern. Many geniuses rose to their feet and hurried toward the stage.

"Xiao Mo"

Su Xin quickly recalled information about Xiao Mo in her mind.

"Su Xin, shall we go take a look too" Duan Yunfeng said.

Hao Su nodded, and the two immediately set off.

Soon, the two arrived beside the ring and saw that on it, two figures were constantly flickering and clashing.

"Hm It's me, Yunzhou's prodigy, Su Xin. Eyebrow raised."

Yunzhou, as one of the Thirty-Six States, the talented individuals who came to participate in the hunt this year were not particularly outstanding. Although there were some who had passed the second level of the Dragon Seeking Tower, only two were truly qualified to challenge the top hundred and were recorded in that information on talent.

Now, facing off against Xiao Mo is one of them.

"We're going to lose," Duan Yunfeng said.

As soon as Xiao Mo made his move, dozens of icy rays seemed to appear on the stage simultaneously. The Cloud State genius at the center of these dozens of icy rays was directly defeated.

I yield.

After defeating his opponent, Xiao Mo let out a hearty laugh and immediately turned to leave. However, as he turned, his gaze fell upon Duan Yunfeng in the audience below the stage.

"Duan Yunfeng!!"

Xiao Mo's face twisted instantly, a trace of resentment flashed in his eyes, but he didn't do much. He snorted coldly and left.

"Duan Yunfeng, that Xiao Mo just looked at you, it seems, he has a grudge against you" Su Xin asked with interest.

"Hey, I just snatched his bride on his wedding day and beat him up a little. It's nothing big. This Xiao Mo, his heart is too narrow," Duan Yunfeng said nonchalantly.

"On his wedding day, someone snatched his bride" Su Xin couldn't help but be stunned.

His wife was forced into the marriage, and I couldn't stand his way of doing things, so I took action to discipline him, Duan Yunfeng.

You're ruthless.

Su Xinchang nodded in approval, looking at Duan Yunfeng. He understood why Xiao Mo just looked at him with such resentment.

Su Xin and Duan Yunfeng didn't chat much either, and soon returned to their respective residences to rest.

The next two days were still abuzz with activity at the camp.

Duan Yunfeng couldn't bear to sit idly by and often went onto the stage to spar with others, while Su Xin remained extremely unassuming.

Two days passed quickly, and the day of the hunt finally arrived.

……

In the morning, the sun rises in the east!

On the vast and boundless plains, nearly 100,000 talented individuals stood there densely packed.

Su Xin stood with ten other talented individuals from Yongning County, including Long Dao.

"Longdao Brother, what's the matter Why are your faces so grim" Su Xin asked.

He noticed that not only was Long Dao, but also Qiu Ze and Ling Yu beside him were all wearing gloomy expressions.

"Su Xin, these past few days at the camp, several of us went to the platform to spar with others, but the results..."

Upon hearing what Longdao had to say, Su Xin immediately understood.

They, the Dragon Blades, are nothing special. At best, they've only managed to clear the first level of the Dragon Searching Tower. Amongst all the talented participants in this hunt, they are simply too ordinary. They went to the platform to challenge others and ended up getting beaten.

On the stage, almost everyone who fought had passed the first level of the Dragon Searching Tower. There were also many talented powerhouses who had passed the second level. Over these past few days of fighting, they had mostly lost more than they won, and sometimes they were defeated quite miserably.

"There are too many geniuses here. We're just going through the motions. Just this first stage of the hunt is beyond our capabilities," Long Dao chuckled wryly, "Out of the ten geniuses selected from our Yongning County, I estimate that only you might be able to make it through the first stage of the hunt."

"Don't be discouraged, there are so many talented hunters participating in this stage. If you're lucky, you might be able to pass as well," Su Xin comforted.

They could only smile wryly, still listening.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! ~~

Abruptly, patches of emptiness collapsed all around.

In just a moment, dozens of spatial passages leading to the royal hunting grounds appeared before the eyes of many talented individuals.

Under the awe-inspiring sight of the crowd, a weathered elder leading the hunt waved his hand.

"Go!"

Immediately, nearly 100,000 talents surged into each spatial channel like a swarm of bees.

In just a moment, nearly ten thousand celestial beings all entered the hunting grounds.

The imperial hunt has officially begun!

……'s arrangement to marry into the Tianyan Imperial Family, everyone in the Su family thought it was your fault that our family fell…""But in reality, I am the true culprit of the Su family!!""It was I...