Chapter 149: Tongue Clicker

"Finally… It is my turn!"

Guanbei walked confidently towards the middle of the platform. He adjusted the red ring that was wrapped around his middle finger as he looked at the targets that surrounded him.

He has survived more than 10 dungeons, each time, fighting for his life. Hitting objects that don't hit you back? This will be as easy as breathing, he scoffed.

He then looked at the 3 dark-skinned women that went before him. The three of them had a weapon that was rewarded by the dungeon. Well, he too, received one and his weapon was far more superior, he laughed in his mind.

Behold!

Guanbei stretched his hand, pointing at a target. And as soon as the ring on his middle finger lit up, he flicked his finger.

A target exploded almost at the same time that he did so.

"Oooh!"

The audience started to show curiosity as they hummed. Guanbei did not even move from his spot, but a target suddenly exploded with only the flick of his finger.

Hearing the clamoring of the audience, Guanbei could not help but chuckle as he flicked his finger once more.

Guanbei soaked himself with the cheers of the people. They did not know how hard it was to control this artifact.

When he first received it from the dungeon, he was only able to do 3 before he fainted. But now, he can use it 30 times without even stopping.

"...Interesting", Sofia muttered as she stared at the glowing ring on Guanbei's finger. She couldn't feel mana from Guanbei, but as soon as he used the ring, she was able to feel it.

Could it be, he doesn't know how to utilize his mana, or qi, in this sense, on his own? But still, to be able to cast a spell without even a single second of preparation? Very interesting. How exactly are these dungeon artifacts made?

Sofia's curiosity grows even further as she continues to stare at Guanbei's ring. Come to think of it, the reward she received from the dungeon was some kind of concoction. She still has no idea what effect it has, or if it's even for drinking. She promised herself to experiment on it once this test was over.

It has not even been 15 seconds, but Guanbei has already destroyed 50 targets. But alas, his hand was already starting to shake as sweat started to fall from his face.

He was starting to feel his body weaken.

I guess this is my limit, he thought.

In the end, he was able to destroy 71 targets in the span of 30 seconds, the highest so far.

The audience once again started to holler and cheer. Guanbei released a deep breath as he wiped the sweat that filled his face. He then looked at the audience and smiled while waving his hand.

He allowed himself to drown with the cheers for a few seconds before returning to his spot, slowly of course, with a hint of obvious gloating.

He released a slight grin as he stared at the 3 dark-skinned women with a smug look on his face as if he was teasing them that he beat their record.

One of the cloaked women seems to have been irritated as she aggressively stepped out of her position, but she was stopped by her 2 companions before she could approach the gloating annoying man.

Guanbei also looked at the quiet handsome man covered in a white robe. As always, the man still had his eyes closed.

Guanbei could only click his tongue in irritation as the man did not even bother to look at him. His irritation, of course, was once again retargeted towards the golden-haired kid that was at the end of the line.

He looked at the golden-haired kid, Guanbei's eyebrows were lifted up as a wide smirk appeared on his face.

"That man seems to be interested in you", Sofia could not help but comment as she noticed Guanbei looking at Viel again.

"Which one?", Viel asked.

"The tongue clicker who just finished his test. He has been staring at you from the start"

"Hmm… Maybe he liked handsome men like me?", Viel shivered.

"That is quite the possibility, he has also been looking at the other male applicants", Sofia chuckled.

Guanbei's smirk grew wider, he noticed that the golden-haired kid and his beautiful female companion were talking. Obviously, they were talking about him, he thought. They must be awed by his performance, he thought.

The following applicants could not beat his score. The highest score that came after him was 40.

"Number 95!"

Finally, it was the turn of the handsome man, his white robes cracking as he walked silently towards the middle of the targets.

Guanbei focused his attention toward the man, but it was not only him, the few women that were taking the tests also stared at the handsome man.

Even Sofia.

"...Familiar mana", she whispered, "Could it be?"

With the start of his timer, the handsome man quickly raised his hand. The floor beneath him started to tremble as dozens of chunks of the floor started to float in the air. And as soon as he closed his fist, the chunks quickly formed into blades.

And with a wave of his hand, the blades made from the earth all flew at the same time.

60 targets. It hasn't even been 10 seconds and the handsome man already destroyed 60 targets.

"!!!"

Guanbei's eyes twitched as he gulped, "...W-what the…"

But after that, the handsome man no longer moved. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms- he remained like this until his time was up.

He then returned to his spot calmly, garnering the oohs and aahs of the female audience.

Guanbei's eyes, however, were still twitching. It only stopped moving uncontrollably when he convinced himself that the reason why the handsome man no longer proceeded to hit any targets was that he reached his limit.

Yes, that must be it, he thought as he released a sigh of relief.

The five that came after the handsome did not even try anymore. How were they even going to top that performance?

With 100 people already done with their tests, the audience started to disperse.

But then…

"Number 101!"

"101?"

"What?"

The noise started to circulate among the audience as they started whispering with each other.

"I thought it was over?"

"It… should be?"

The audience that were leaving quickly returned to their seats, afraid that someone would snatch it.

"They should only be accepting 100 applicants, right?"

"I saw Master Xing Cai earlier, I think she registered two of her companions?"

"Really!? This should be interesting…"

"Hmm… Special treatment just because they are friends with a high ranking Explorer, eh?"

"Well, she's not only a high ranking Explorer, but she is also one of the first people to even clear a dungeon, she might even be the first!"

"Even so, I think it's unfair for-"

"Ssshh, she might hear you!"

"She's here!?"

"Of course she's here. Right there! Right there!"

"What!? Where!?"

Guang Yan, who was seated beside Xing Cai, could not help but chuckle awkwardly as the rest of the audience started to stare at them.

"I thought you said there were slots left?", Guang Yan looked at Xing Cai.

"Don't dwell on the details, those are just formalities", Xing Cai calmly said as she stared at Sofia from the distance.

"I...I see", Guang Yan once again chuckled as she returned her attention towards the test.

All the audience watched in anticipation as a woman approached the middle of the platform.

"Another westerner?"

"Ooh, so beautiful"

"...As expected of Master Xing Cai"

"Not bad, not bad at all"

"Are they making a team of only beautiful women? Lady Diao Mei is also quite beautiful"

"If you remove the one using a bow, then maybe"

Guang Yan's eyes twitched as she scanned the audience to find the man who said that.

"Really? I think Ms. Guang Yan is also quite beautiful"

"You think so? Isn't she just-"

"Why… why is it so cold all of a sudden"

Vapor started appearing in front of the audience's mouth, and the second that they noticed the vapor, a loud cracking noise filled the hall.

The audience all breathed heavily as they turned their attention back to the test.

And there, almost half the platform was now filled with…

"...Ice?"

Sharp gigantic icicles filled the platform, hitting all of the targets, either pierced or completely frozen from the ice.

What was even more amazing was that even with all the chaos that the icicle held, not even a single blue target was hit.

"S… she hit it all!?"

"I didn't even realize her time already started!"

The audience screamed, a mixture of confusion and utter awe riding along with their voices.

"It would seem… this Sofia is quite strong", Guang Yan's jaw was wide open, "I wonder who is stronger, you or her?", Guang Yan said jokingly.

"Hmmm…", Xing Cai placed her hand on his chin as she squinted her eyes.

A valid question. Even Xing Cai herself does not know how strong she was compared to 7 years ago. If it is the her now, could she already be a match for their Matriarch?

It would seem she had to visit the Golden Pavilion sooner than expected.

"Y- you don't have to be all competitive all of a sudden", Guang Yan chuckled awkwardly,

"...I was just joking, you know"

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