Chapter 652: The Fourth King of Langya Kingdom (First update, requesting everything)

The next morning, Yecheng Arena!

Today is the day the National Tournament begins, and nearly two thousand contestants are sitting quite casually in the contestant seats.

Li Changsheng and Ning Bizhen are sitting near the front, with Miao Yinfeng and Shen Haofei sitting beside him.

Both of them are Fifth-tier Beastmasters, but their luck is very bad; if it were in the past, with their strength, they would have had a chance to compete for a spot in the final four of the National Tournament.

Unfortunately, there are five Pseudo-Kings in this year's competition; unless the sun rises from the west, they have absolutely no hope, and even reaching the top eight feels precarious.

Although it is only the opening ceremony of the National Tournament, Yecheng Arena is still packed with people, and many spectators who did not purchase tickets are still lingering outside the venue.

The composition of these spectators is quite complex; the Yecheng locals, who have the advantage of proximity, make up less than 1/4, while the rest are mostly spectators from all over the country, as well as a small number of foreigners.

At this moment, Li Changsheng suddenly transmits his voice to Shen Haofei: "Brother Shen, do you still want Nine-Headed Snake Bloodline?"

Shen Haofei is slightly startled, a look of surprise appearing in his eyes, and after reacting, he hurriedly replies to Li Changsheng: "I do. How much does Brother Li have this time?"

As long as his Eight-Headed Snake can evolve into a Nine-Headed Snake, his strength can increase by another notch, and if he is lucky, he might even be able to improve its quality.

The Eight-Headed Snake and the Nine-Headed Snake are two different concepts; although the racial gap between the two is not large, the Eight-Headed Snake is far inferior to the Nine-Headed Snake in recovery speed, falling short by more than one grade.

"Three jars!"

Last year, when Li Changsheng took down the Demon King-level Hei Long Ha Li Ku Qi, he incidentally took down a Nine-Headed Snake retainer and refined three jars of Nine-Headed Snake Bloodline from it.

"What does Brother Li need?"

While asking, Shen Haofei subconsciously thinks of the list of items Li Changsheng had shown him before.

"Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl, Wutu Essence, Three Lights Divine Water, Nether Moon Lotus..." As if reciting a book, Li Changsheng reads out the names of dozens of items.

The more Shen Haofei listens, the uglier his expression becomes; he really does not want to keep listening, but for the sake of the Nine-Headed Snake Bloodline, he cannot afford not to.

Good heavens, dozens of items that are all Heavenly Essence Grade treasures, among which nearly ten are Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure Grade.

Even if you sold me, I couldn't scrape together a few of them.

Shen Haofei says in a dilemma: "I only have one Heavenly Spirit Fruit!"

The Heavenly Spirit Fruit can open a Second Treasure Space; although it is relatively rare, its value is only around five thousand Soul Crystals, which is completely mismatched with three jars of Nine-Headed Snake Bloodline.

Li Changsheng does not speak, quietly waiting for Shen Haofei's follow-up.

Shen Haofei pauses, then bites the bullet and says: "However, my father does have a piece of Kunlun Heavenly Radiance Gold, but in terms of value..."

Even among Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure Grade ores, Kunlun Heavenly Radiance Gold is ranked at the top, and in terms of value, it even exceeds three jars of Nine-Headed Snake Bloodline.

This is also an item on Li Changsheng's list, mainly for repairing the Hunyuan Golden Lamp.

Because the Hunyuan Golden Lamp is quite severely damaged, according to Li Changsheng's plan, to better repair the Hunyuan Golden Lamp, besides the Kunlun Heavenly Radiance Gold, another treasure material called Hunyuan Five-Colored Stone is needed.

If that doesn't work, he can settle for the next best thing, but that is a last resort.

"I can add a Bloodline Potion that assists in breaking through to the Lord Rank; consider your Heavenly Spirit Fruit as a bonus."

"That is possible, but can I pay on credit? After the National Tournament ends, I will give you the Kunlun Heavenly Radiance Gold; what do you think?"

Shen Haofei stares nervously at Li Changsheng, fearing that the other party will refuse.

If he obtains the three jars of Nine-Headed Snake Bloodline and the Bloodline Potion in advance, he believes his strength can advance further, and his hope of reaching the top eight will be greater.

Li Changsheng thinks for a moment and says: "That is fine, we will trade in a while."

He is not afraid of Shen Haofei going back on his word; after all, with his current strength, the Shen Family cannot stop him at all.

"Many thanks to Brother Li for your generosity!"

Shen Haofei is overjoyed, his face beaming with an irrepressible smile, which leaves Miao Yinfeng, who is on the side, puzzled.

Li Changsheng would also like to trade with Miao Yinfeng, but he truly has no suitable bargaining chips in his hands.

Dong, dong, dong~

When it reaches nine o'clock sharp, a vigorous bell chime rings out inside the venue.

Upon hearing the bell, the minds of everyone present seem to be smoothed over by a magical force; they subconsciously immerse themselves in this atmosphere, and the previously exceptionally noisy venue suddenly falls silent.

At the same time, Dou Zhangsheng, wearing a five-clawed golden dragon robe, arrives at the viewing platform.

Just like the Academy Exchange Tournament, the National Tournament is also presided over by the Emperor of Langya Kingdom, Dou Zhangsheng.

Only, compared to more than three months ago, Dou Zhangsheng is in high spirits, looks much younger, and his aura clearly exceeds the category of a Pseudo-King.

"An Emperor Rank!"

Li Changsheng's expression tightens; he knows that Dou Zhangsheng was only one step away from the Emperor Rank, but he did not expect him to become an Emperor Rank at this time.

This is definitely not a good thing for him!

The Imperial Family of Langya Kingdom has an unwritten rule: after the current emperor becomes an Emperor Rank, he must appoint a crown prince within three months and complete the transfer of power within one year.

Dou Zhangsheng's promotion to Emperor Rank disrupts Li Changsheng's plans; with such a thing happening, even if Li Changsheng publicly supports the First Prince, Dou Yuande, it will likely be difficult to suppress Dou Yuanbin.

There is no help for it; Dou Yuanbin himself is a Pseudo-King, and his strength, reputation, and influence far exceed those of the First Prince, not to mention that he has the support of the Langya Liu Clan, his maternal family, and a group of ministers behind him.

Unless the First Prince, Dou Yuande, becomes a Pseudo-King in the short term, there is really not much hope, but that would require consuming a large amount of precious resources.

To take a step back, even if Dou Yuande becomes a Pseudo-King, his hope of succeeding to the throne would be at most thirty percent.

"If there are no accidents, that aura from yesterday must have been caused by Dou Zhangsheng's breakthrough!"

Li Changsheng is cursing internally, but on the surface, he remains calm, pondering a strategy in his heart.

After becoming an Emperor Rank, Dou Zhangsheng's lifespan limit will break through the human limit, reaching over two hundred years.

At the same time, Dou Zhangsheng will also open up his own Secret Realm.

A Secret Realm can not only be used to raise Spirit Beasts, plant spiritual plants, and develop mineral resources, but it can also strengthen the combat power of Demon Pets, equivalent to a powerful buff; this is why the strength of an Emperor Rank is far superior to that of a Pseudo-King.

Li Changsheng thinks for a moment; for the current plan, he can only try his best to suppress Dou Yuanbin's momentum during the National Tournament.

At this time, Dou Zhangsheng exhales and speaks, his voice containing majesty as he begins an impassioned speech.

Dou Zhangsheng first reviews the history of the National Tournament and highlights several past champions; these champions all have one thing in common, which is that they all eventually became Emperor Ranks, including the 'Butterfly King' Luo Qingning and the 'Flame King' Qin Mingqing.

Dou Zhangsheng does not waste words, taking only a few minutes before announcing the official start of the National Tournament.

Most of the contestants do not leave the contestant seats, because the next segment is the Qualification Tournament.

The Qualification Tournament is also known as a gauntlet match; after finishing the first round, there is little interval before entering the second round, the third round, and so on, repeating until the knockout stage is reached.

The knockout stage has a total of sixty-four spots, and because there are as many as forty-four Fifth-tier Beastmasters who advanced directly to the knockout stage this year, nearly two thousand contestants can only compete for the remaining twenty knockout spots.

Even if one keeps winning, one must win at least six consecutive matches, which can be said to be a quite cruel tournament format.

Unless one is an extremely lucky person, those who can pass the Qualification Tournament to advance to the knockout stage are undoubtedly the elite of the elite, often possessing the ability to challenge across ranks.

Unfortunately, even if they can challenge across ranks, they can only contend with Fifth-tier Beastmasters; they pose no threat whatsoever to Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen.

Consequently, neither of them had any intention of watching the Qualification Tournament and prepared to return to the Player Village.

Not far away, Dou Yuanbin and Liu Xuguang were staying together.

Liu Xuguang could not help but ask: "Brother Dou, how did that matter go?"

"You can rest assured when I handle things; he will be in the same group as me!"

Dou Yuanbin revealed a ferocious smile, staring viciously at the backs of Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen as they were about to disappear.

More than three months ago, Liu Xuguang gave him two suggestions: the first was to acquire Star Fruit and Star Essence to prevent Li Zhangsheng from advancing to the Sixth Rank or even becoming a Pseudo-King.

The second was to use backroom dealings to place Li Zhangsheng and Dou Yuanbin or Liu Xuguang in the same group, not giving him a chance to advance to the final four.

To achieve this goal, Dou Yuanbin truly spent a significant price and even cashed in favors.

"However, even if he is still Fifth Rank, he still possesses the strength to threaten us, so I hope Brother Dou can be cautious when the time comes."

Regarding Liu Xuguang's reminder, Dou Yuanbin did not treat it as wind past his ears; there was no helping it, Li Zhangsheng was too monstrous, as he was able to defeat Dou Yuanhua across ranks more than three months ago, and even if he hadn't advanced now, his strength was definitely even greater.

Unfortunately, what the two did not know was that Li Zhangsheng had already become a Pseudo-King more than three months ago; Dou Yuanbin doing this was not only meaningless, but he had instead dug a hole and buried himself.

This really was a very flashy move!

After returning to the small courtyard in the Player Village, Li Zhangsheng summoned Kailan and the Crowned Blazing Bird.

In his hands were two Heavenly Spirit Fruits; one was Shen Haofei's, and the other was an item just brought to him by the subordinates of the First Prince, Dou Yuande.

Regarding the list of items Li Zhangsheng handed to him, Dou Yuande could truly be said to have spared no effort, and during this period, he had indeed collected quite a lot for him.

Very quickly, Kailan and the Crowned Blazing Bird each absorbed a Heavenly Spirit Fruit and opened their Second Treasure Space.

Li Zhangsheng had the Crowned Blazing Bird carry the Semi-Artifact Fire Phoenix Jar and Red Dragon's Fury, while Kailan carried the Crown of Thorns and the Jumang Bracer.

Jumang Bracer: Top-tier Wood-type Treasure Accessory, made from Jumang feathers combined with dozens of auxiliary materials, can increase the power of Wood Element skills by sixty percent, and comes with an absorption effect.

The absorption effect can automatically absorb life energy within a certain range, and every short interval, it will automatically restore a certain amount of injuries and stamina.

In this way, Li Zhangsheng's strength had once again seen a certain improvement, and he could be said to be full of confidence for the upcoming National Tournament.

Today's goal: Three, pigs, proof!

(End of this chapter)