Chapter 120: House Exhibition

The next day, Long Xuan rose early and walked toward the Long Family estate together with Long Ziyan. At this time, the Long Family estate was decked out with lanterns and colorful banners; everywhere echoed with the joyful clamor of children, making it extremely lively.

Stepping into the street, the first sight to greet the eyes was row upon row of exquisite small houses lining the roadside, each one utterly magnificent and more creative than the last.

Crowds gathered beside the most beautiful small houses, pointing and commenting, discussing animatedly among themselves amidst bursts of laughter, while occasionally someone would toss a wood token into the box placed beside a house.

This was a VoteBox; at the day's end, the small house with the most votes in its box would be the ultimate winner, earning a massive Contribution Value reward, with higher rankings granting greater Contribution rewards.

Within the Cultivation Clan, those of higher status held more votes; Long Xuan and Long Ziyan each held one hundred votes, which they could cast for anyone, except themselves.

A single glance told Long Xuan that there were simply too many small houses; many wide streets hosted exhibition spots, and since every member of the Tribe now possessed a Suo Gu, one could easily imagine just how numerous these small houses were.

Merely viewing all the small houses would likely take half a day.

Sharp-eyed, Long Xuan immediately spotted Long Ziyan's DragonSilkwormHouse, rushed over, and right before her face, threw all his votes into the box beside the DragonSilkwormHouse.

This DragonSilkwormHouse drew the largest crowd, and received the most votes; wood tokens were thrown into the box in endless waves, yet the box seemed like a bottomless pit, capable of swallowing everyone's tokens.

Long Xuan could not help but sigh that this method of deciding victory through a clan-wide vote seemed fair, yet somehow unfair.

Long Ziyan's DragonSilkwormHouse should have ranked first in practicality, but practicality was assessed by the Family Elders; how could ordinary clan members possess such discernment?

Thus, this voting round judged solely by aesthetics; honestly, Long Ziyan's DragonSilkwormHouse was not the most beautiful here, but since she herself was the most beautiful, votes rained into her VoteBox like droplets.

Although all small houses used anonymous labeling, so no one knew who owned each house.

Yet only one person in the entire Clan possessed Second-tier Dragon Silkworm Silk; anyone with working eyes knew exactly who owned this small house.

Given this, who would be the final winner of this house exhibition needed no saying? Long Ziyan already held victory in her grasp.

Seeing Long Xuan throw all his votes into her box, Long Ziyan's lips curved slightly into a smile; she walked over and said, "Just what kind of house did you use to pry open my IceFireHouse? Hurry and let me admire your masterpiece."

Long Xuan gave a dry laugh and replied, "I did not enter my house in the competition; someday I will take you to my home to see it."

His IceFireHouse was constructed entirely from branches of Earth-Rank Spirit Trees; not only was it breathtakingly beautiful, but its practicality also far surpassed Long Ziyan's by several levels.

To speak bluntly, his IceFireHouse was more than capable of securing both crowns.

However, the grade of his IceFireHouse was simply too high; unveiling it would cause a sensation, making it far too conspicuous and prone to certain risks.

Moreover, he cared little for that meager Contribution reward; whenever he lacked Contribution, he could casually concoct a Low-Grade Gu Formula to come and shear some wool, so he had no reason whatsoever to participate in such a tournament.

"What a pity! It seems I cannot cast these one hundred votes for you." Long Ziyan smiled faintly and walked deeper into the street to admire the houses of others.

Long Xuan quickly followed from behind.

It must be said that this newly devised festival was extraordinarily lively, far surpassing any traditional festival the Long Clan had ever held.

Every clan member, young and old alike, had come out to admire the various small houses; every street was packed to capacity, filled with laughter and joyous voices.

After spending the entire day strolling the streets with Long Ziyan, eating various snacks, and purchasing many exquisite small gifts, they finally reached the last segment of Suo Gu Day, by which time night had already fallen.

This newly established festival, Suo Gu Day, was also called LoveFestival, and those who preferred calling it LoveFestival were the most numerous.

This was because all the small houses of the Suo Gu were interconnected, allowing a Suo Gu to run into another Suo Gu's small house.

Therefore, on this day, the men of the Long Clan would write a love letter and hand it to their Suo Gu, letting it deliver the letter to the woman of their affection.

Some already had a target in mind, while others used this method to leave things to fate, letting heaven decide their marital destiny.

The women of the Long Clan would also wait anxiously beside their small houses, looking forward eagerly; those who received more letters naturally drew envious glances, while those who received none were naturally teased, thus fostering a culture of comparison.

Because of this activity, the number of people in the Long Clan who found partners on this day was very high, and the birth rate increased significantly.

For a Cultivation Clan, this was naturally a good thing.

The Long Clan elders were very satisfied with this custom they had established, so this year they added another rule to LoveFestival: every single unmarried male Gu Cultivator in the entire Clan must participate in this activity, with no exceptions allowed.

This could be understood as a forced blind date arrangement, compelling many cultivation maniacs who cared nothing for romance to participate in this activity with flushed faces.

By now, many people had already handed envelopes to their Suo Gu; within the Void Realm, countless Suo Gu were darting back and forth, carrying letters in their mouths.

Not only was the outside world lively, but the Void Realm was equally bustling; many people, fearing the loss of face from failing to find a partner today, had sent out an unknown number of letters, nearly running their Suo Gu's legs off.

As the number one beauty of the Clan, Long Ziyan's small house was surprisingly quiet and deserted; she had not received a single letter.

This was not due to a lack of admirers; rather, her house was simply too advanced, and basically few Suo Gu could enter it.

This effectively filtered people by wealth and status; those who successfully found partners were generally well-matched, preventing any drama of a wealthy young lady falling in love with a poor boy.

Since this was a mandatory task, Long Xuan had no choice; just as the event was about to conclude, he wrote a love poem on a letter, handed it to the Suo Gu in his Insect Breeding Bag, and then found an excuse to leave.

Staying would only be awkward; if not now, then when should he depart?

Not long after he left, Long Ziyan's Insect Breeding Bag stirred; she reached inside and soon pulled out a slip of paper, on which was written:

"Having seen the vast ocean, other waters pale; apart from Wushan, no clouds compare."

"Passing through flowers, I rarely look back; half for cultivating the Dao, half for you."

……

The lively LoveFestival finally concluded; unsurprisingly, Long Ziyan once again secured both crowns, dominating the entire field.

Meanwhile, Long Qilin once again honorably became SecondPlace; although the Contribution reward for second place was also substantial, his face showed no joy. Rumor had it that he had also failed to find a partner, though the circumstances remained unknown.

After one night passed, the Long Family estate did not quiet down the next day, because immediately following came another traditional festival of the Long Clan: WashingEyeDay.

Although WashingEyeDay was still three days away, the venue needed to be arranged in advance, and many matters required preparation ahead of time.

WashingEyeDay was equally lively, its fervor matching that of Suo Gu Day, because the Gu Fighting segment of WashingEyeDay was simply too spectacular to watch.

In this world lacking entertainment, many people would attend such grand events to watch others engage in Gu Fighting, cheering from the sidelines with incessant shouts, while spectators gathered in mountainous seas.

Coordinating such a large crowd posed no small challenge, so the Family Elders had not even rested for half a day before busying themselves once again.

The previous Gu Fighting Tournament had become a special showcase for the Earth Masters; what should have been a proper Gu Fighting Tournament turned into a duel between Earth Masters and other Earth Masters.

The power of these creatures was simply too immense; the slightest movement would wreak havoc upon the Gu Pit, leaving it in ruins.

Thus, the previous Gu Fighting Tournament was completely botched, and it took an unknown number of days to finally complete the event.

This time, the Clan had finally learned its lesson and prepared to improve the Gu Pit, yet how to improve the Gu Pit had already turned the heads of the elders white with worry.

The Earth Masters this time differed from those before; each Earth Master could now carry an Array Formation made of Cement into battle, releasing various powerful elemental attacks to bombard the venue indiscriminately, with destructive power far exceeding that of a year ago, making the Gu Pit suffer even more.

Ultimately, the newly appeared Cement resolved their urgent dilemma.

Carving a StrengtheningArray onto the Cement made defending against a Gu King unlikely, but serving as an arena for Gu Worm duels was perfectly feasible.

Even with cement carved with Array Formations, it might not be able to withstand the Earth Master's impact one hundred percent.

But since cement was cheap, no one would feel heartbroken even if it got destroyed.

Thus, a massive construction project began again; the atmosphere throughout the entire Long Family was thick with the feeling of an approaching festival, and having just celebrated for a day with spirits still high, no one expected another festival to arrive so soon.

Just like that, three days passed in a flash; figures moved constantly across the various peaks, and from time to time, a silhouette would dart out from a certain peak, converging toward the direction of the Cultivation Clan.

Long Xuan was very interested in the Holy Tree's Divine Dragon Wood of the Cultivation Clan, so naturally, he also intended to participate in this Gu Fighting Tournament.

However, he had no intention of seizing First Place; sending his Fire Clone to muddle through would suffice, aiming only to reach the Top Twenty.

As for his main body, he would simply disguise himself as a clone and watch from beneath the stage.

As for the Gu Worms for the Fire Clone to fight with, it was naturally impossible to lend him Top-Grade Gu Worms; lending him the Second Team Gu Worms would be enough, and if he lost, it would simply count as his lack of ability.

The Gu Fighting Tournament was held in an open space on the edge of the Cultivation Clan, divided into two Gu Fighting arenas: one arena where all participants were Spirit Gathering Stage Gu Cultivators, and another where all participants were Marrow Cleansing Stage Gu Cultivators; there were none above that, as Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivators did not participate in Gu Fighting.

At the same time, only the top twenty from the Marrow Cleansing Stage competition were qualified to wash their eyes, while Spirit Gathering Stage Gu Cultivators were excluded.

Although more than ninety percent of the Cultivation Clan's Gu Cultivators were at the Spirit Gathering Stage, basically everyone would go to watch the Gu Fighting between Marrow Cleansing Stage Gu Cultivators, for when watching Gu Fighting, naturally, the higher the level of the Gu Worms, the more thrilling it was to watch; moreover, Marrow Cleansing Stage Gu Cultivators possessed a greater number of Gu Worms, making the chaotic battlefield scenes of the Gu Worms far more spectacular.

Therefore, although the Gu Fighting Tournament was divided into two arenas, one arena was packed to capacity, while the other was extremely deserted.

Apart from the participants fighting, there were basically no spectators below in the Spirit Gathering Stage competition area.

However, this situation would improve by the second day; since there were few Marrow Cleansing Stage Gu Cultivators, the Marrow Cleansing Stage competition could conclude within a single day.

With many Spirit Gathering Stage Gu Cultivators, the Gu Fighting Tournament belonging to them would last for several days.

Once the high-level matches concluded, the spectators would naturally flow back to the lower-level matches.

Long Xuan walked directly toward the Gu Fighting arena designated for Marrow Cleansing Stage Gu Cultivators; upon arriving, he did not choose to watch from the closest distance, but instead leaped onto a tree far from the Gu Fighting Tournament grounds, using his Heavenly Mechanism Eye to observe from afar.

The first thing he saw was ten large pits in the center of the crowd, built from cement; these pits were circular, square, dodecagonal...

They came in various shapes, but their areas were roughly similar.

Their surfaces were covered with dense Array Patterns, mostly StrengtheningArrays, a type of formation that could make the cement even more solid.

Long Xuan knew that these were the Gu Pits of Legend.

Arenas were used for human duels, and arenas were convex.

Gu Pits were used for Gu duels, and Gu Pits were concave.

Once someone or something went out of bounds, it would be judged as a loss; the Rules were relatively similar.

The Gu Pit was considered a culture unique to this world; Long Xuan felt greatly intrigued and watched with keen interest.

(End of Chapter)