noffsinger Chapter 653 Naren! Begin!
Chapter 653 Naren! Begin!
"Who are you?" The little girl tilted her head and looked at Chen Fan, showing no fear whatsoever. She held a handful of unknown wildflowers in her hand, their petals a pale purple rarely seen on the grassland, swaying gently in the morning breeze.
Chen Fan looked at her but did not answer.
Without waiting for his reply, the little girl climbed up the mound and sat down three feet away from him.
After placing the wildflowers on her lap, she swung her legs, gazing at the sun that had just risen in the distance, and suddenly said, "You're from the city, aren't you? My father said a lot of outsiders have come to the city these past few days, and they're all fierce-looking, covered in bugs. You don't have any bugs on you, and you don't look fierce at all."
Chen Fan tilted his head slightly and glanced at her.
Upon closer inspection, the cuffs of her sheepskin coat were worn white, and there were several small cracks on her palms, clearly marks left from years of helping with household chores.
She had no spiritual power, no spiritual roots; she was just an ordinary child born and raised on the grasslands.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" Chen Fan asked, his voice still calm, but his tone lacked the usual coldness.
"What are you afraid of?" The little girl turned to look at him, her clear eyes filled with confusion. "You won't eat people. My father said that only wolves on the grasslands eat people, people don't eat people. Besides, you don't look like a wolf."
Chen Fan didn't reply, but simply shook his head slightly.
The little girl thought he didn't believe her, so she added earnestly, "It's true! I've seen many wolves. In winter, they come out of the sheepfold and howl. Their eyes are a deep green. Your eyes aren't green; they're black, as black as stone."
"Where do you live?" Chen Fan asked, his tone still calm, but unusually patient.
The little girl pointed deep into the grassland: "Over there, just over two hills and you'll reach it. My family raises many sheep and three camels. My mother said the grass isn't growing well this year, and the sheep aren't fat enough. We might have to slaughter two camels in the winter to have enough to eat. I don't like killing camels. Camels have such big, big eyes, and when they look at you, it looks like they're crying."
She gestured wildly as she spoke, the purple wildflowers in her hand fluttering up and down with her movements, a few petals falling onto her knees, but she was completely unaware.
"What's your name?" Chen Fan asked again.
"My name is Naren." The little girl grinned, revealing a gap in her recently lost front tooth. "My father said this name comes from the grassland language and means 'sun.' Because when I was born, the sun was rising from behind the mountains."
After saying this, she tilted her head and looked Chen Fan up and down a few times, her gaze lingering for a moment on his clean-shaven face, before asking curiously, "What's your name?"
"Chen Fan".
"Chen Fan..." Naren chewed on the name, then said with a grin, "What a strange name. There's no one with that name on the grasslands. Where are you from?"
"From a very far place." Chen Fan gazed at the distant horizon, his eyes slightly unfocused, "a place much farther than the grasslands."
Naren gave a vague "oh" and didn't ask any further questions. She held the bunch of wildflowers to her nose and smelled them, then stood up and picked out the most vibrant purple wildflower, handing it to Chen Fan: "This is for you. My mother says that flowers on the grassland bring good luck, and you won't get lost wherever you go."
Chen Fan looked at the wildflower.
It was a very ordinary wildflower on the grassland, with morning dew still clinging to its petals, and its stem slightly wrinkled from being gripped by Naren's hands.
He reached out and took it, then tucked it into his sleeve.
"When you're not talking, you actually look quite lonely." Naren patted the grass clippings off her bottom, jumped down from the mound, turned around and waved to him. "My mother said that lonely people all have a very, very far place in their hearts, and they won't be lonely when they get there. I hope you can get to that place soon."
Chen Fan watched the small figure skip and hop away along the path they had come from, her two braids swaying in the morning light, until she quickly disappeared into the depths of the grassy sea.
He stood up, shook his head inwardly, glanced at the sun that had risen halfway into the sky, then turned and walked towards Wan Gu City...
……
When they returned to Wan Gu City, the sun was already high in the sky.
The arena in the Gu Fighting Square has been rearranged.
The ten semi-circular arenas are arranged in a ring. The protective light screen around each arena is thicker than that used in the Gu worm battle, and the Gu patterns flowing on the light screen are also more complex.
The cultivation arena allows participants to go all out, no longer limited to battles between Gu worms, so the restrictions naturally need to be strengthened accordingly.
On the high platform to the north, the Gu woman still sat upright in the main seat, her insect staff gently tapping the ground.
Several Gu cultivator elders at the Nascent Soul stage appeared beside her, each dressed in dark green leather robes with solemn expressions.
The leaders of each faction had already taken their seats in the stands. Qin Zhan sat on the east side, Wang Zhenyue on the west side, and Song Tianren and Duan Wuliang in the seating area for the demonic cultivators of the Boundless Sea.
As soon as Chen Fan stepped into the waiting area, he felt a cold gaze coming from the west stands. He didn't turn around, but he knew it was Wang Zhenyue.
"The cultivation arena is open to all, regardless of magical treasures, cultivation techniques, or methods." The Gu cultivator in charge of hosting the event stood before the northern high platform and loudly proclaimed the rules: "Participants will draw lots to determine their opponents. The winners will advance, and the losers will be eliminated. Life and death are irrelevant on the arena, but if a participant concedes defeat, their opponent may not continue to attack. Violators will be disqualified and expelled from Ten Thousand Gu City."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire arena, and added in a deep voice, "The cultivation arena will consist of five rounds, with the final rankings determined by points. Each win earns ten points, a draw earns five points each, and a loss earns zero points. The first two rounds will be elimination, and the last three rounds will be a round-robin. Now, the draw will begin."
Chen Fan stood in line and casually took a jade slip from the divination tube. The slip was engraved with the words "Jia San" (甲三). He looked up and saw that his opponent, who was supposed to be on the Jia San stage, had already arrived.
He was a burly, middle-aged Gu cultivator, dressed in a blood-red leather robe, with more than a dozen blood-red Gu patterns etched on his face, and possessed the cultivation level of the early Nascent Soul stage.
He stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the arena, his body surrounded by swirling blood mist that emitted a pungent, sweet-smelling odor. A fist-sized, blood-red insect cage hung at his waist, from which faint hissing sounds could be heard.
A Nascent Soul cultivator from the Blood Gu Clan.
"Blood Gu Clan, Wu Chi." The Gu cultivator announced his name, his gaze sweeping over Chen Fan. A smirk of undisguised contempt curled at the corner of his mouth. "Chen Fan, your luck has run out. In the Gu Insect Battle, you relied on your worm to cheat, and in the Gu Array Battle, you relied on your array skills to get first place. But the cultivation arena is about real skill, not something you can get by raising worms and setting up array flags. I have roamed the grasslands for hundreds of years, and I have killed no fewer than ten Nascent Soul cultivators. You, a mere Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivator, dare to boast about all three? Today, I will show you that the gap between Nascent Soul and Nascent Soul cannot be crossed by luck."