Chapter 191: Rainbow

"Follow me!"

Number 2 spoke in a cold voice, taking the lead as he dashed out of the village!

His entire body was wreathed in the phantom of a Green Vine Paper, and amidst the hazy rain, his speed became even faster!

The villagers on both sides, whether they were the attacking force or the defending force, had all drunk the well water.

Their skin, flesh, tendons, and bones had all been greatly strengthened in a short period of time!

However, most of them had never experienced life-and-death combat; they had only come to participate in the Saint Selection based on a surge of courage.

Only now, when truly facing a life-and-death struggle,

under the shroud of a murderous atmosphere,

did some villagers turn deathly pale, their legs trembling so much that they could no longer move.

Villager Number 2 was clearly a person of firm character; with an icy expression, he dashed in front of an opposing villager and threw a fierce punch!

Crack!

Surrounded by black Qi, with the Green Vine Paper phantom following, he hammered the opponent until bones snapped and tendons tore, sending them flying backward!

"I want to cultivate!"

"I will definitely make it to the end!"

Feeling intense pain in his fist and palm, Number 2 gritted his teeth hard, growling inwardly, and with a ruthless look in his eyes, he threw himself at the other villagers again!

Swish!

Every punch landed on flesh!

Fresh blood sprayed!

Every punch Number 2 threw carried the phantom of the Green Vine Paper!

Its power was immense, something ordinary people could not possibly withstand!

Those villagers who were hammered away all spat blood and collapsed to the ground with a thud; they were no match for him at all!

By the time the remaining defending villagers arrived here,

Number 2 had already eliminated half of the villagers all by himself!

Seeing the monster-like Number 2, the remaining attacking villagers had their expressions change drastically, and they retreated repeatedly!

They also had phantoms of God-Bestowed Weapons in their hands.

But their weapons were mostly Level 2 weapons.

Even the well water, they had only drunk a few sips.

These factors combined resulted in the attacking villagers' overall strength being extremely weak!

Whereas Number 2's Green Vine Paper phantom was bolstered by a Level 4 God-Bestowed Weapon!

"Spare me!"

Finally, a villager could no longer bear it, kneeling down and begging for mercy repeatedly.

Number 2's gaze was icy as he said, "Participating in the Saint Selection ceremony was your own choice!"

"If you want to fight for that chance to cultivate, how could there be no price to pay!"

"You actually don't understand this principle!"

As he spoke, he threw a punch with all his might!

"The Saint Palace is high above; for us to want to cultivate is as difficult as ascending to heaven!"

"The Saint Selection ceremony is one in ten thousand!"

"The rest must die!"

"You should be clear about these things!"

"Since you chose this path yourself and came to fight for this single-plank bridge, don't be afraid of death!"

Boom!

Green light roared between Number 2's fists and palms as he struck out with several palms in succession!

All the remaining attacking villagers died under his palms, their faces filled with despair and unwillingness, their blood and bones shattered!

All around, it gradually grew quiet.

The remaining defending villagers had just arrived and hadn't even made a move!

It was entirely Number 2 who had swept through all 10 villagers on the opposite side!

Number 2 ignored them, instead walking back to the well, showing respect as he knelt on one knee: "My lord Saint Selection!"

Jiang Jian nodded slightly without speaking.

A few seconds ago, he had already received a notification.

In this battle, as the defending camp, he had achieved victory!

A blinding white light tore through the firmament, descending from the great array above his head and hovering before Jiang Jian.

"Soul-Returning Pill."

Jiang Jian's gaze flickered; he opened the wooden box and indeed saw a purple-blue pill inside.

This purple-blue pill was brimming with spiritual energy and could restore a significant amount of it.

Jiang Jian put the pill away without consuming it.

His own well water was still sufficient.

Furthermore,

the next assigned battle would never be as easy as this one!

In the first battle, quite a few Saint Selections, like him, chose to invest a large amount of well water.

By piling up large amounts of well water and using high-level God-Bestowed Weapon phantoms, they aimed to secure a victory first.

But likewise,

there were other Saint Selections who held a probing mindset and had not yet invested too many resources.

After all, the frequency of assigned battles was very high.

In a single day, there were as many as 24 matches!

Resource control was equally important.

Number 1, who was guarding the well, felt his strength fading away, yet he had no opportunity to use it, and felt resentful in his heart.

Toward Jiang Jian, he naturally dared not say much.

But toward Number 2, he made no attempt to hide his feelings, glaring at him viciously.

Number 2 sensed this, glanced at him indifferently, and ignored him.

This made Villager Number 1 feel even more enraged.

An hour passed quickly.

"Assignment starting!"

"Assignment successful!"

"Please have 10 villagers enter the Ladder Array, enter the enemy village, and find a way to touch their well!"

A Ladder Array descended from the firmament, transforming into a portal.

A few minutes earlier, Jiang Jian had already completed his resource allocation.

Whether it was the well water or the God-Bestowed Weapon phantoms, everything needed to be re-imbued.

These things all consumed spiritual energy.

But Jiang Jian had a Soul-Returning Pill in hand; compared to the consumption of spiritual energy, he valued the battle process and the battle result more!

After all, according to the rules,

if the battle process was clean and efficient, easily crushing the opponent,

there would also be a bonus in the assessment score!

The resources Number 1 received were still a ladle of black well water and the bolstering of the Hanging Xuan Shan Yin phantom.

For Number 2, it was two ladles of black well water and the phantom of the Calling Qingci!

The remaining villagers each received one ladle of black well water, with no changes.

As the 10 villagers entered the Ladder Array,

an array light screen appeared in front of the stone platform.

It clearly displayed the real-time situation of the enemy village!

The Saint Selection of this village was also sitting on a stone platform; he was a creature from Tier Jiangcheng.

His expression was sinister as he looked down at the aggressive Number 2 and the others, his heart sinking.

Just looking at their momentum, Number 2 and the other villagers were much stronger than his own!

"If I had known, I would have bolstered them with the Level 4 God-Bestowed Weapon phantom."

The Tier Jiangcheng creature sighed, feeling regret in his heart.

Activating a God-Bestowed Weapon phantom and merging it into the well required consuming a lot of spiritual energy!

The higher the grade, the more spiritual energy it consumed!

His first battle had been a narrow victory.

But he hadn't been able to bring himself to eat that Soul-Returning Pill.

"This is bad."

As soon as the villagers on both sides made contact, the Tier Jiangcheng creature's expression immediately turned ugly!

The opposing Villager Number 2 was simply as fierce as a tiger!

As he swung his fists with force, pitch-black light streams followed, and he was further bolstered by the Green Vine Paper light shadow.

Almost every heavy punch he threw would blast one of his own villagers to death!

"Use the killing move immediately!"

The Tier Jiangcheng creature stared at Villager Number 2 and spoke in a cold voice!

As the defending side, he had long since laid out a defensive trump card.

He just hadn't expected that it would be needed just as the battle began!

A plain-looking defending villager immediately took half a step back, looked at Villager Number 2, and sneered: "Spirit Sealing!"

Ancient patterns spread across his arm, and he roared as he struck out toward Villager Number 2!

Boom!

Villager Number 2's figure immediately froze, unable to move!

Spirit Sealing Art!

This was a Level 4 talent light orb, materialized through well water!

Swish!

Several defending villagers immediately stepped forward, raining down punches and kicks, shattering Villager Number 2's skull!

Villager Number 2's headless body collapsed to the ground with a thud!

"Good opportunity!"

Over at Villager Number 1's side, he was vicious-minded and had been hiding his true strength all along.

At this very moment, seeing Number 2 attract all the firepower, he immediately unleashed the Hanging Xuan Shan Yin phantom to its full potential!

Boom!

With the small bronze seal accompanying him, Number 1's body glowed with green light, as hard as steel!

He stepped forward, every punch landing on flesh, unleashing heavy blows in succession!

Like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, he easily slaughtered all the remaining defending villagers!

The Tier Jiangcheng creature's expression was dark as he sat on the stone platform, looking down at Number 1, watching helplessly as he touched the well.

At the same time, a notification of failure reached his ears.

"Two Level 4 God-Bestowed Weapons; how much spiritual energy must that consume?"

The Tier Jiangcheng creature sighed, but deep in his heart, his fighting spirit was reignited!

"Fortunately, I had a plan early on and only catalyzed a little well water."

"Even if I fail, it's equivalent to no penalty."

He revealed a sinister smile, sitting in place, quietly waiting for the replenishment of villagers.

Before this,

he had only catalyzed as much well water as he needed.

At this moment, only a thin layer of water remained in the well.

Even if half were deducted, it made absolutely no difference compared to not deducting it.

To him, it didn't matter at all.

At the same time,

Number 1 walked out of the Ladder Array and returned to the village, his expression excited: "My lord Saint Selection!"

Jiang Jian's gaze was icy as he asked, "Who told you to hide your strength?"

Hearing this,

Number 1 felt as if cold water had been poured over his head; his whole body trembled, and he immediately calmed down, lowering his head: "My lord Saint Selection, I was thinking that the opponent might have a trump card, so I didn't unleash it immediately."

Jiang Jian looked at him and said nothing more.

According to the rules, he could not attack the villagers.

But Number 1's vicious behavior had caused him to lose a decent villager.

Even if villagers would be replenished later,

the new villagers, if they hadn't experienced battle, would definitely not be able to compare to Number 2 in terms of experience in life-and-death combat.

A few seconds later,

the Ladder Array descended.

Two new villagers were replenished.

In the previous offensive battle,

Jiang Jian had lost Number 2 and Number 9, two villagers.

"Greetings, Saint Selection!"

"Greetings, my lord Saint Selection!"

The two new villagers' eyes revealed longing, their hearts and minds filled with a yearning for cultivation.

"Whether it is an offensive battle or a defensive battle, I will not command you."

Jiang Jian said coldly, "I will allocate resources to you, and you will rely on your instincts to fight the opponent."

A Saint Selection could change deployments and command villagers at any time.

But Jiang Jian did not intend to do so.

Everyone's fighting style was different.

What Jiang Jian needed to do was provide them with suitable resources so they could rely on their instincts to exert maximum combat power.

If he were to command them separately, it would be troublesome instead.

"Number 1, two ladles of well water, Hanging Xuan Shan Yin phantom."

Before the battle began, Jiang Jian looked down at the well and allocated resources based on the results of the previous battle.

"Number 7."

Speaking of this, Jiang Jian's gaze paused.

Number 7 was a thin, dry-looking young girl.

In the previous offensive and defensive battle, Number 7 had only drunk one ladle of well water, yet she had killed two villagers all by herself!

"Two ladles of well water, Rainbow After Rain talent."

Jiang Jian flicked his robe sleeve, and a surge of spiritual energy condensed.

In mid-air, it transformed into seven-colored spiritual light and merged into the well!

Above the well, a seven-colored rainbow phantom immediately appeared!

The young girl Number 7's body trembled; she lowered her head, her voice hoarse: "Thank you, my lord Saint Selection!"

Jiang Jian was expressionless as he said, "This was earned by your battle record."

The young girl Number 7 gritted her teeth and drank two ladles of black well water.

Around her body, seven-colored rainbow light immediately emerged!

Although this Rainbow After Rain was only a weakened materialized version,

for early-stage offensive and defensive battles, having seven-colored light rainbows to kill with between fists and palms, and being able to accelerate movement speed, was already an incredible power!

She felt her strength surging and looked up, gazing at the beautiful young man in gold and white robes above the stone platform.

Deep in her heart, for the first time, there was a tremor.

"Saint Selection ceremony."

"I must survive to the end!"

"I want to cultivate and avenge my mother."

The young girl closed her eyes and opened them again.

Within them, the killing intent was icy and bone-chilling.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 192 =====