Chapter 200: Preparations for Battle

Wuhua Peak was in an uproar—the plan of the four Golden Core disciples to “know oneself and know the enemy” had failed.
Su Che could view this rationally. After all, it was he who would establish the Hundred Battles Arena and challenge them first; it was only natural for them to launch any form of counterattack to protect their dignity and interests.
There was no right or wrong in this—only the two simplest words in the arena: victory or defeat!
“Their plan failed, and my shopping plans can’t go ahead either.”
So, Su Che bowed several times in gratitude to everyone before taking off and leaving Wuhua Peak.
On the way back, no one was dull enough to follow him constantly. However, as he approached Xuanji Peak, a beam of golden light came toward him and stopped suddenly dozens of feet away.
A coldly arrogant young man, also at the early Golden Core stage and a true disciple as well.
“Jin Chong from Tianjian Peak. On the day of the Hundred Battles, I’ll meet you in the final match.”
He immediately introduced himself, his resounding voice carrying a strong metallic tone—befitting someone with a Golden Spirit Root, even their eyes were golden in color.
He added, “Of course, that’s if you can win the first ninety-nine matches.”
Su Che didn’t respond, but he thought to himself, “This guy’s opening remark seems a bit neurotic. Did he accidentally hit his own head while practicing swordsmanship?”
“Master, she’s a woman,” Lao He reminded him promptly.
“Impossible!” Su Che didn’t believe it at all.
Although he hadn’t known him before, everyone in Tianxuan Sect knew the name of Tianjian Peak’s eldest disciple, Jin Chong. Could the ‘eldest disciple’ be a woman? Were everyone on Tianjian Peak blind?
Besides, look at his facial features—sharp, chiseled lines. Where could one find any feminine traits?
“Anyway, she’s a woman. If Master doesn’t believe it, so be it,” Lao He muttered. “It’s not important anyway. The arena battle isn’t for marriage…”
Seeing that Su Che remained silent for a long time, Jin Chong’s golden eyes flashed, and he spoke sharply, “If you’re mute, you can use telepathy to respond.”
That was too harsh…
Su Che grew annoyed secretly and decided to trust Lao He instead. He bowed and said, “Xuanji Su Che, greeting Senior Jin Chong.”
“Huh?”
Jin Chong’s expression changed drastically. With a gasp, his golden pupils shrank suddenly. He was stunned for a while before suddenly turning around and running away.
Whoosh!
A beam of golden light vanished in an instant.

“Who are all these people? It’s so confusing…” Su Che mumbled.
“Master, it seems you’ve caused trouble again,” Old Hei sneered with a grin.
“Trouble? Nonsense!” Su Che shook his head and sped up, leaving Jin Chong behind. “In twenty days, at the Competition Peak, I’ll see just how many of the Tianxuan Sect’s true disciples are actually anomalies.”
“It seems, in their eyes, you’re the anomaly.”
Today, Old Hei was quite bold, daring to tease his master again and again…
Instead of returning to the cave on Mysterious Peak for now, Su Che went to the Spirit Herb Garden and appeared before Linglong.
“Ugh, so annoying!”
As soon as she saw Su Che, Linglong started complaining, “These past few days, you’ve driven me crazy!”
“What’s the problem?” Su Che was puzzled again. “I haven’t seen you these days—how could I have annoyed you?”
“So many people have come to me asking about you, forcing me to invent countless lies…” Linglong said angrily.
“Oh.” Su Che finally understood. Linglong was honest by nature, and asking her to lie was indeed difficult for her.
Inside the Tianxuan Sect, with its various factions and complex relationships, Linglong couldn’t reject everyone, nor could she reveal the truth about Su Che, so she had to make up vague answers to deal with them.
“I’ve received quite a lot of gifts,” Linglong said, patting her Qiankun Bag, her expression slightly easing. “I heard that the most valuable information about you has reached a price of ten thousand spirit stones. It’s a shame I know nothing about your real abilities either; otherwise, I would surely take this chance to make a fortune!”
Su Che nodded with a smile. Only his master, Yu Qing, the Supreme Patriarch, and the four Great Elders knew something about his abilities. Others couldn’t find any way to learn about them.
After a short while, Su Che asked, “Has Brother Yu Qing not returned yet?”
He came to see Linglong for this reason.
“No,” Linglong sighed slightly. “I don’t even know if he can make it back in time to see you go crazy at the Competition Peak.”
“Sister, don’t worry. Brother Yu Qing is blessed—nothing will happen to him.”
“I hope so,” Linglong said with a pout.
Su Che took out some materials useful for cultivation, put them into a Qiankun Bag, and placed it on the table. “Please give these to Nian’er for me.”

“Why not deliver it to her in person?” Linglong asked curiously. “Her residence isn’t far away; it’s just a few more steps. Besides, the little girl has missed you greatly these days and often comes to me to talk about you…”
“No need. I’m in a hurry to return to cultivate and gain insights,” Su Che lied helplessly.
Su Che felt immense guilt toward Su Nian’er, as the disaster befalling the Su family was entirely his fault. He currently had no ability to save them, and who knew what would happen in the future.
The fate of over 200 people in the Su family, old and young alike, was truly unpredictable.
If anything went wrong, the debt he owed would be enormous…
The days passed quickly. Many people continued to search for news related to Su Che, while he himself made further preparations.
The little dragon had advanced.
After devouring dozens of second-grade demon pills over several months, it finally stepped forward, reaching the middle stage of level two, which corresponded to the middle stage of human cultivation’s Foundation Establishment phase.
The snake woman had consumed even more demon pills and was now at the peak of the later stage of Foundation Establishment. To achieve perfection with these pills and advance to a third-grade demon race would not be easy—rumor had it, it was even harder than human cultivators forming their Golden Core.
After all, humans had various auxiliary methods to increase their chances of success, while demon races could only rely on their own efforts and luck. It wasn’t enough to simply chew on a top-quality spiritual herb.
With two days left until the day of a hundred battles, Su Che visited the Treasure Shop on Wuhua Peak once again to inquire about the results of exchanging for ghostly weapons.
“Senior Su, time is too tight. We only managed to exchange for six ghostly weapons…”
Lei Chuang apologetically took out six ghostly weapons with a cold aura and placed them one by one in front of Su Che.
There were two long, curved knives, two swords, one short spear, and one long spear.
At first glance, these six ghostly weapons appeared as translucent gray, giving an illusory feel as if they had no solid form. Yet once held in hand, their solid texture could be felt, though they were very light—even a three-year-old child could lift them.
“The power of these ghostly weapons is only equivalent to mid-grade spiritual weapons, yet two high-grade spiritual weapons were required to exchange for them,” Lei Chuang sighed, shaking his head. “It’s really not cost-effective!”
“Rarity makes things valuable. When you need them, you have to buy them no matter how expensive.”
Su Che put away the ghostly weapons and took out ten defensive treasures at the level of high-grade spiritual weapons. “Keep exchanging. The more, the better. But from now on, there’s no need to rush. Take your time.”
“Okay,” Lei Chuang said with a smile, securing another big deal.

Su Che thought that at least a dozen ghostly weapons would be necessary—ten for the ghost servants, one each, with a few more as backups. After all, they were only of medium-grade spiritual weapon quality and could easily be damaged in future battles. Such magical artifacts, once damaged, were beyond repair. Moreover, spirits had no physical form, giving them great versatility, but the downside was that they couldn’t be equipped with defensive artifacts. As a result, most ghostly weapons had purely offensive attributes. With everything prepared, Su Che completely relaxed in the last two days. He stopped practicing and stopped overthinking, simply spending time on the peak of Mysterious Secrets Peak drinking tea, chatting, and playing chess with his master. They were like father and son, yet also like close friends who could talk about anything. “Che, I always feel that you seem to have found your own path. That’s why your cultivation progress is so fast—it’s not just due to good fortune.” “I don’t know, Master. I still don’t understand what a path is.” “Perhaps you already do, but you’re just not aware of it yet.” Hearing his master say this, Su Che thought to himself, “One day, when I reach the pinnacle and look down upon all beings, they will all fall into my prison. One day, when I reach the pinnacle and remain indifferent to life, they will all fall into my prison…” Anything the world doesn’t need or shouldn’t exist can be sent to my immortal prison… …The Day of a Hundred Battles! On this day, the Competitive Peak was packed with people. Nearly two-thirds of the Tianxuan Sect’s disciples gathered there, filling the circular stands almost to capacity. The remaining one-third weren’t uninterested but were bound by duty and couldn’t leave their posts. Who wouldn’t want to witness the once-in-a-hundred-years Hundred Battles Arena? At the peak, the thirty-six competition platforms that made up the Tian Gang Formation had all been lowered to the ground, as they weren’t needed today. The central arena, which used to be there, had disappeared, replaced by a circular platform thirty zhang high and a hundred zhang in diameter. This was because one of the supreme elders had used great magic to move the entire hall elsewhere, clearing this central space to set up the Hundred Battles Arena. This had always been the custom. On the arena, five mats were placed in a pentagonal arrangement, said to be the seats of the sect leader and the four supreme elders. Today, the five Yuan Ying ancestors of the Tianxuan Sect would be present, serving as judges and guardians of life on the arena.

To achieve invincibility in a hundred battles means defeating a hundred true disciples. During fierce fights, it’s inevitable to lose control, leading to uncontrollable casualties. Therefore, the five Yuan Ying ancestors personally oversee the situation, stepping in to rescue those who are nearest in times of crisis. In other words, in this hundred-battles arena, there is only victory or defeat—no deaths. Every true disciple is a treasure to the sect, and they wouldn’t bear to see them kill each other needlessly.