Wang Yuan had no interest in lingering over hollow fame or fighting for it, nor could he be bothered to deal with everyone's adulation and probing.
The spar at Listening Rain Pavilion had merely been a spur-of-the-moment affair.
What truly weighed on his mind had always been Ji Mie Arhat's inexplicable gifts and the eerie arrangements of the Temple of Boundless Beings.
Those hidden undercurrents were ten thousand times more important than a contest among peers or a scrap of sect prestige.
After pausing briefly, Wang Yuan cupped his hands slightly toward the two women, his tone calm.
"Fairies, today's spar was purely coincidental. I have urgent business to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."
As soon as the words fell, he did not wait for their response.
He turned and left, his figure upright and decisive, without the slightest trace of hesitation.
Ignoring the gazes of the guests filling the hall and the two women's following eyes, he walked straight through the crowd and out of the bustling Listening Rain Pavilion.
The evening breeze outside was faintly cool, scattering the rich fragrance and stifling heat of the pavilion.
Once he had left the prosperous streets and slipped beyond everyone's sight, Wang Yuan abruptly quickened his pace.
The doubts in his heart continued to coil around him without dispersing.
Ji Mie Arhat was a Yin-Yang Grandmaster, one of Nether Province's foremost powers. Yet he had crossed provincial boundaries into Cloud Province for no reason at all, gifting Wang Yuan peerless techniques and precious pills.
It looked like a heaven-sent opportunity, but every step concealed calculations in the shadows.
He could not fathom the true depths behind this so-called support and arrangement.
Then there were the great struggles over Buddhist reincarnation and karmic cause and effect, each one far