Chapter 401: Red-Eyed with Envy

"Boy, don't get ahead of yourself. Arrogance will get you nowhere!" Enraged by Chu Feng's retort, Xue Fengjian slammed his hand on the table, shot to his feet, and bellowed.

At that moment, the Seven Kills Sword Master spoke. "That's enough. Stop fighting, all of you. Sit down!"

As soon as the Seven Kills Sword Master spoke, everyone quieted down. Even those simmering with anger didn't dare make a peep.

"I've called you all here today because, as you know, the Martial Arts Grand Ceremony has reached its final stage. This is also the most dangerous phase, so you all need to be extra cautious. The rewards for this Martial Arts Grand Ceremony are incredibly generous—so much so that even I'm a little jealous."

"Now that we're at this stage, I can announce the final rewards. The champion will receive fifteen Martial Cultivation Spirit Stones, a fifteen-year Essence Enhancing Pill, and of course, the military rank from the armed forces, which you all already know about. In addition, they will receive two top-tier Cultivation Heart Methods and two secret manuals, the right to enter the Snow Mountain Pool to cultivate for two days, and be granted the title of 'Martial Arts Genius.' As for other worthless trinkets like gold… there's probably around three to five tons of it."

The crowd was stunned when they heard the rewards announced by the Seven Kills Sword Master.

In truth, every participating Martial Arts Sect and Martial Arts Clan was required to contribute resources, with the amount determined by the status of their respective organization.

Major Sects and powerful clans naturally contributed more, while the smaller ones gave less.

To put it bluntly, the entire Martial Arts Grand Ceremony was a system for pooling resources from all the Martial Arts Clans and Sects across the country, then selecting the strongest competitor to receive a portion of them.

Money was considered the least valuable of the rewards. After all, what a Martial Cultivator desired most was strength; wealth was not nearly as important.

"Second place will be awarded ten Martial Cultivation Spirit Stones, one day of cultivation in the Snow Mountain Pool, an eight-year Essence Enhancing Pill, a military rank, one Cultivation Heart Method, and one secret manual. As for the gold, that's about one or two tons. The rewards are more or less halved."

"Third place: five Martial Cultivation Spirit Stones, half a day of cultivation in the Snow Mountain Pool, a five-year Essence Enhancing Pill, one cultivation secret manual, a military rank, and half a ton of gold."

"Fourth to tenth place will each receive one Martial Cultivation Spirit Stone, one martial cultivation secret manual, and half a ton of gold."

As the Seven Kills Sword Master finished listing the rewards for the top ten, the crowd was visibly stunned.

"Sword Master, does the champion really get the chance to cultivate in the Snow Mountain Pool?"

"Of course. The champion gets two days," the Seven Kills Sword Master confirmed with a nod.

The Snow Mountain Pool was the greatest treasure of the entire Great Snow Mountain, a place equivalent to a Holy Land. It was located in the core region of the Seven Kills Sect, an absolutely exceptional place.

Legend had it that cultivating inside could rapidly advance one's Cultivation.

It was a place that not only ordinary Cultivators but even masters at the Human Martial Arts Peak Realm yearned to enter and cultivate in.

Once a year, it was opened to the various Sects of the Great Snow Mountain, but only for half a day.

"Fifteen Martial Cultivation Spirit Stones? Are they really giving away that many this time?" Xue Fengjian asked.

In reality, the rewards had already been jointly negotiated by many of the Sects.

But this year's prizes were indeed immense, enough to make anyone burn with envy.

"It's not that much. The finals begin tomorrow. All Four Major Regions will gather in the central area to compete. The format will still be arena matches, and the subsequent sparring exchanges will also take place here," the Seven Kills Sword Master said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the rewards were displayed in their entirety on the electronic screens outside the four Venerable Halls.

When the many Cultivators saw the rewards, they were utterly dumbfounded.

'What is going on?'

'Are the rewards really this generous? First place alone gets fifteen Martial Cultivation Spirit Stones! That's insane!'

After all, many Martial Arts Clans and Sects had been willing to slaughter the Chu Family over a single Martial Cultivation Spirit Stone.

And that was just one of the prizes. There were still so many others!

Top-tier Cultivation Techniques, Heart Methods, and the like—these were things that even the major Martial Arts Families would covet.

Obtaining a top-tier Cultivation Technique could elevate a family to the status of a Martial Arts Sect, making it stronger than many Martial Arts Families by more than just a single tier.

Across the Martial Arts Realm, Cultivation Techniques were generally classified from high to low as top-tier, first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate, the last of which were also called common Cultivation Techniques.

The Chu Family's Cultivation Techniques, for example, were basically all common techniques—nothing to write home about.

Considering all this, the crowd's shock was not without reason. Anyone in their position would have been utterly astonished.

"These rewards are so generous, it's making my mouth water! This is just… I'm so jealous! I wonder who will end up taking first place!" someone exclaimed, their face filled with envy.

"Cultivating in the Snow Mountain Pool, an Essence Enhancing Pill… This… this is just insane! The rewards are far, far more generous than in any previous Martial Arts Grand Ceremony," many Cultivators cried out repeatedly.

Many among them hadn't even made it into the top ten of their regions. Seeing these rewards now, it would have been a lie to say they weren't jealous.