Nine Star Burden

Chapter 261: Chang’an City and The Ancient Imperial Mausoleum

It was the 1st of May of the Lunar calendar.

At 1900hrs in an unknown food street in Chang’an City,

Xia Yan was holding a handful of barbecued meat skewers in her hand so blissfully that she was about to burst into tears. “Ooooh~ this is so delicious...”

Tears seemed to appear in her beautiful eyes. She chewed on the barbecued meat and raised her head to look at the stars in the sky, which left beautiful reflections in her eyes.

Due to the differences in culture, Jiang Xiao initially thought that Xia Yan was referring to Korean-style barbecued meat that was grilled on an iron plate and was eaten with chili sauce and lettuce when she first mentioned about it.

Jiang Xiao’s hometown was close to North and South Korea, and the ethnic North Koreans usually gathered in the three northern provinces. Hence, “barbecued meat” had become a proper term for teppanyaki.

When Xia Yan dashed straight to a barbecued skewer vendor, Jiang Xiao finally realized that she was referring to barbecued skewers.

The barbecued skewers were tiny and Xia Yan could hold them all in one hand. In the blink of an eye, she finished all the meat in one bite and only the iron skewers were left in her hands.

She stuffed her face with the barbecued meat, after which she finally had the time to raise her thumb at Hai Tianqing.

Xia Yan used to visit this ancient city for fun. Hence, ever since she settled in the hotel, she decided to bring her teammates to Huimin Street.

However, Hai Tianqing shook his head. As a superb tour guide, he gave a better suggestion: “It’s getting late, let’s find a random university close to the hotel and have some street food in the alley beside it.”

Xia Yan had yet to go to college, so she didn’t know much about that kind of culture. However, when she walked into the filthy alley, her first reaction was some slight disgust, followed by...

How fragrant!

Apart from eating and complimenting the food, there was no longer any other reaction from her. At this moment, she was already eating her way...

For some reason, Jiang Xiao suddenly felt particularly blissful when he saw how happy she was as she munched on the food in her glutton state.

Hai Tianqing smiled and gave them some tips based on experience. “No matter which city you go to, you’ll definitely be able to find university alleys like this. They might not be well-known or clean, but the food sold is absolutely affordable, authentic, and delicious.”

Getting diarrhea for the sake of food is no big deal.

Anyway, Xiaopi is here, so he can just give me a Blessing~

Xia Yan ate her way through the alley. For gluttons like her, all she could see were delicacies.

However, all Jiang Xiao saw were inns in the fork of the alley. He reckoned that he saw more than 20 of them along the way.

At this moment, a question emerged in Jiang Xiao’s head:

Question: What are the similarities between the night in this alley and that of the North Three Provinces during New Year’s Eve?

Answer: The smell of firecrackers is stronger.

Han Jiangxue acutely discovered that Jiang Xiao had been staring at the inn in the alley with a shifty gaze. He seemed to be thinking about some nonsensical things.

She held onto his arm and walked towards a vendor. She specially bought a glass of iced sour plum for him. However, she didn’t allow him to drink it immediately and instead, placed it against his forehead.

Jiang Xiao’s scalp felt rather numb because of the coldness.

However, he recovered from the shock. Although there was sour plum juice being pressed against his forehead, he was still thinking about the “Ice Peak” soda which he really wanted to try.

However, the roadside hawkers did not peddle any. The few of them walked past the stalls and entered a noodle restaurant by the street.

Jiang Xiao ordered a bottle of “Ice Peak” soda and a bowl of spicy noodles. The owner of the restaurant asked in a local accent, “Do you want flat noodles or pulled noodles?”

Jiang Xiao was immediately stunned and he wondered, What are you talking about?

Why don’t I understand what you’re saying? I’m just having some noodles. Is it necessary to ask such a professional and technical question?

On the following day, the photos of Jiang Xiao strolling in the alley were spread all over the Internet. After all, it was an alley near a university. Although it was not a Star Warriors University, the students were still very concerned about it and a lot of people managed to recognize Jiang Xiao and his team.

As the ancient capital of China’s thirteen dynasties, Chang’an City could be considered an outstanding place with hidden treasures.

That was especially true for Chang’an City in early May. Because the National League was held there, the various forces surged into the city, and the fact that the news was updated in real-time, it made everyone feel overwhelmed. The media platforms were all covering the news about the significant figures.

Hence, the appearance of Jiang Xiao’s team was just like a pebble thrown into the sea, creating no ripples or splashes at all.

On the 2nd of May, the organizers of the competition announced the venue of the competition—the Ancient Imperial Mausoleum!

When they received this piece of news, Jiang Xiao and the rest were having steamed dumplings in De Faxiang Restaurant in the square.

As soon as the piece of news was released, Jiang Xiao seemed to have heard the wailing voices of the participants.

He could see a shadow of the other contestants in Li Weiyi, seated across the table.

Li Weiyi had already put down his chopsticks. It was not that the steamed dumplings were not delicious, but rather, he was really depressed.

The Ancient Imperial Mausoleum was a horrendous place!

You want this bunch of kids in the Nebula Stage to go there? This is a competition too?

The ancient soldiers appear in groups there! They’re much stronger than the female Archers and swordsmen in the Arsenal, and their Star Techniques are much more powerful too.

If the soldiers are singled out, they probably won’t be terrifying. However, when they form teams, they will be really dangerous.

The most terrifying thing is the Boss-level creatures of Gold Quality. There’s a high chance they will appear in teams!

Of course, Li Weiyi wouldn’t try to escape or retreat, because he knew that he had achieved everything because of his team.

However, he was extremely stressed. He had clearly already been admitted to a key military academy, and yet, he still had to risk his life in the Ancient Imperial Mausoleum.

Hai Tianqing put his mobile phone down with a sullen face. He knew that his team would be busy for the next few days.

Han Jiangxue paused while holding the steamed dumplings with not many changes in expression. She continued to place the steamed dumplings on the small dish in front of Xia Yan.

The foodie Xia Yan grinned widely from ear to ear in immense bliss as she watched Han Jiangxue give her food.

Han Jiangxue said, “Xiaopi, what’s in the Ancient Imperial Mausoleum?”

Jiang Xiao found that question to be rather familiar. Before they entered the Arsenal back then, she also tested him in the same way.

While eating the steamed dumplings, Jiang Xiao said in a muffled voice, “They’re a bunch of weird humanoid creatures that are half-skeleton and half-meat.”

“Tell me their type, their Star Techniques, and their stage,” Han Jiangxue questioned.

“This...” Jiang Xiao looked a little embarrassed. “That’s a bit too much, isn’t it? You want me to tell you everything?”

Han Jiangxue glanced at Xia Yan and said, “Say it, make her nervous.”

Xia Yan paused in her actions and smiled awkwardly.

Jiang Xiao thought about it for a while. He had done his research, so he answered, “Ancient Warrior Fire Bow: Silver Quality. Star Techniques: Flame Arrow (Brass Quality), Explosive Arrow (Silver Quality).

“Ancient Warrior Ice Bow: Silver Quality. Star Techniques: Freezing Arrow (Brass Quality), Quick-freezing Arrow (Silver Quality).

“Ancient Warrior Poisonous Bow: Silver Quality. Star Techniques: Poisonous Arrow (Brass Quality), Arrow Of Plague (Silver Quality).

“Ancient Warrior Tomahawk, Ancient Warrior Warhammer: Silver Quality. Star Techniques: Massive Strike (Silver Quality), Frenzy (Frenzy is not Raging Storm, Effects of Star Technique: Accelerate physical exertion, increases one’s speed slightly, Silver Quality).

“Ancient Warrior Battle Spear: Silver Quality. Star Techniques: Stab (Condenses Star Power, Slight Concentration allows one’s strike to be more penetrative, Silver Quality), Burst (Uses a special method to induce Star Power into the weapon, causes attack to be more harmful and destructive, but the weapon will be damaged faster as well, Silver Quality).”

“Not bad.” Han Jiangxue nodded in satisfaction. After the insignificant figure finished speaking, it was time for the climax of the show.

Even the small fry could remember it clearly, let alone the big boss.

Jiang Xiao had been coveting the Boss-level Star Technique for a long time. If he could have two more Star Techniques, he would probably be able to deal with the boss-level Ancient Warriors.

“Ancient General: Gold Quality. Star Techniques: Massive Strike (Silver Quality), Frenzy (Silver Quality), Stab (Silver Quality), Burst (Silver Quality).

“Ancient Warrior Archer General: Gold Quality. Star Techniques: Explosive Arrow (Silver Quality), Quick-freezing Arrow (Silver Quality), Arrow Of Plague (Silver Quality), Memorial Arrow (Silver Quality).”

At the mention of this, Jiang Xiao paused and finally talked about the last species.

“Soul of the Ancient Warrior: Gold Quality. Star Techniques: Skeleton (Speeds up the growth of the bones of the Ancient Warriors, Silver Quality), Bone Shield (Condenses Star Power, gathers the surrounding corpses and debris to form a Bone Shield, Silver Quality), Bone Wall (Condenses Star Power, gathers the surrounding corpses and debris to form a barrier made of bones, Silver Quality), Bone Prison (Condenses Star Power, builds a prison made of corpses, Silver Quality.)”

“Hey~ this kid is not bad!” a young man said from far behind.

Jiang Xiao turned his head and looked over, only to see a smiling young man seated two tables away from them in the noisy restaurant. He nodded at Jiang Xiao in a seemingly rather friendly manner.

Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows. The young man belonged to a group of five, and the other four people were about the same age as Jiang Xiao. The other one was a middle-aged woman. They were obviously a participating team. Is that a teacher with four students?