Wagered Duel

Two days later.

Yun Ji sat cross-legged on his bed. He slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air.

Success!

He looked inward at his dantian. The bluish, semi-transparent Xiantian True Qi there had now turned milky white, thick as slurry, condensed several times over!

The total amount of True Qi seemed to have diminished greatly, and there were even signs that his realm had fallen. He had nearly dropped from mid-Xiantian back to the initial stage.

But Yun Ji knew that rather than declining, his strength had risen—and risen explosively!

This was true Xiantian True Qi!

Feeling the power within him, far purer and more abundant than before, Yun Ji was delighted, yet he did not wear his emotions on his sleeve like a young man would.

More than fifty years of life's storms had long taught him restraint.

This Wudang Xiantian Gong truly was profound!

Had the Ancestor not directly imprinted the cultivation method into his mind, he might not have even touched its threshold after another ten years of fumbling alone.

He rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. His entire body felt light, brimming with strength.

This feeling was fucking wonderful!

Nanshan Town, central square.

The square was livelier today than it had ever been before.

A wooden arena half a zhang high had somehow been erected in the middle of the square, standing there as abruptly as if it had sprung from the ground.

The area around the arena was already packed shoulder to shoulder, a sea of black heads, the clamor soaring into the sky.

"Have you heard? Lingyue Martial Arts School and Zhang Martial Arts School are going at it again!"

"Ha, doesn't this happen a few times every year? What's so unusual about it?"

"This time is different! Zhang Martial Arts School has a new savage named Ning Wuhui. They say he challenged every young expert in town, and not a single one lasted ten moves against him!"

"Really? That freakish?"

"I saw it with my own eyes! That kid fights viciously, every move aimed to kill. Those aren't methods someone his age should have!"

Amid the crowd, several well-dressed middle-aged men gathered together and murmured among themselves.

They were all prominent figures in Nanshan Town, and quite a few were Xiantian realm martial artists.

"Old Wang, what do you make of that Ning Wuhui? What's his background?" a man in brocade asked.

The gaunt elder called Old Wang stroked his goatee, his expression grave. "Hard to say. That boy conceals his aura well, but judging from the force in his attacks, I fear he has already... touched the threshold of Xiantian. He may even have already..."

He did not finish, but the expressions of everyone around him changed.

A Xiantian realm martial artist under twenty?

Such a thing had never been heard of in Nanshan Town!

"Hiss—where did Zhang Qiaoshan dig up such a monster?"

"Lingyue Martial Arts School is probably going to take a terrible fall this time!"

"Exactly. That old Li Pinghu will likely be so furious he spits blood."

The crowd buzzed with discussion. In their words, none of them held much hope for Lingyue Martial Arts School's prospects.

After all, Ning Wuhui's dazzling record stood right there like a great mountain, crushing the breath from everyone's chest.

Just then, a stir ran through the crowd.

"They're here! Lingyue Martial Arts School is here!"

Everyone looked in that direction and saw Li Pinghu leading a group of disciples through the crowd toward the arena.

Li Pinghu still looked as lazy as ever, but today, a faint sharpness glinted in his half-lidded eyes.

Close behind them, the people from Zhang Martial Arts School also arrived.

Leading them was none other than the school master, Zhang Qiaoshan, a haggard old man with sinister eyes.

At his side stood a tall young man with sword-like brows and starry eyes. His expression was arrogant. He was Ning Wuhui.

The moment Ning Wuhui appeared, the chatter below the arena grew louder.

"So that's Ning Wuhui? His presence really is extraordinary!"

"Tsk, tsk. Looking at this, Lingyue Martial Arts School is done for today!"

"School Master Li is afraid he'll lose a great deal of face this time."

All sorts of voices tangled together, filled with doubts about Lingyue Martial Arts School and amazement at Ning Wuhui.

Before the two sides beneath the arena had even begun to fight, their spittle had already clashed.

"Zhang, you old turtle's grandson, you're hopping around again? Didn't I beat you badly enough last time?"

Li Pinghu had not even arrived when his broken-gong voice began blaring. He shoved through the crowd and stormed into the center with his disciples.

At the words, Zhang Qiaoshan's face twitched. He forced a smile that was more skin than warmth onto his gaunt face.

"Big Head Li, your shitty martial arts school hasn't gone bankrupt yet? Look at those disciples of yours—crooked melons and cracked dates, every last one of them. What the hell have you been teaching?"

"Whatever I teach is better than what you do!" Li Pinghu shot back without yielding an inch, pointing at Zhang Qiaoshan's nose as he cursed. "Other than taking in wild brats of unknown origin, what else can your school do? All you produce is lowlife trash!"

The onlookers had already exploded into uproar.

"Tsk, tsk, they're tearing into each other again. These two schools really are enemies meeting on a narrow road!"

"Exactly. It's like this every year. But I heard that Ning Wuhui from Zhang Martial Arts School is truly formidable this time. He has fought his way through the younger generation in town, and barely anyone can stand against him!"

"I heard their original wager was that the losing school couldn't recruit new disciples for a year and had to publicly admit that it was no good at teaching disciples!"

A sharp-faced man lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously.

"Heh, that would be a massive loss of face! Whoever loses won't be able to hold their head up in Nanshan Town afterward!"

Zhang Qiaoshan gave a sinister smile. Rather than getting angry, he took a long brocade case from a disciple behind him.

"Big Head Li, all talk and no action is a fake stance. Let's play for something bigger today. Dare to?"

With a snap, he opened the brocade case. Inside lay a gleaming precious sword. Its blade was sleek, with a faint azure radiance flowing across it. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary weapon.

"This sword, Chasing Wind, was forged from hundred-refined steel. It cuts iron like mud and is worth at least a thousand taels of silver!" Zhang Qiaoshan held up the sword smugly. "If I lose, it's yours. Can you afford to lose?"

His gaze was provocative, his voice steeped in contempt, and he drew out the final note.

The surrounding crowd immediately sucked in a collective breath.

"Good heavens, a precious sword worth a thousand taels of silver!"

"Old Zhang has really staked everything this time! He's trying to crush Lingyue Martial Arts School to death!"

Li Pinghu's face went red, then white, like a dye shop had opened on it. Damn it, this old bastard was serious!

Lingyue Martial Arts School had some reserves, but producing something worth a thousand taels all at once would hurt like carving flesh from his body.

But with so many people watching, could he back down?

If he backed down, how would Lingyue Martial Arts School ever gain a foothold in Nanshan Town again?

"As if I'm afraid of you!" Li Pinghu thrust out his neck and pulled an exquisite jade bottle from his robes. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I have a True Essence Pill here. If you lose, leave Chasing Wind behind. If you win, the True Essence Pill is yours!"

True Essence Pills were priceless and scarce. The two True Essence Pills Li Pinghu had treasured were both meant for his daughter and son-in-law.

But he had nothing else worthy of putting up now. If he lost, his son-in-law would just have to suffer for it.

A True Essence Pill!

The crowd erupted once more, even more excited than when they had seen the precious sword.

"A True Essence Pill? That's a treasure money can't buy! It can help a Body Tempering Realm martial artist at the peak break through to Xiantian, and it can also greatly improve a Xiantian martial artist's cultivation!"

"School Master Li has gone all out too! Now this will be a show!"

A glint of satisfaction flashed through Zhang Qiaoshan's eyes, and the smile of a scheme succeeding vanished in an instant. Yet he said, "Good! It's a deal! Today, I'll make you lose so completely that you'll have nowhere to cry!"

Just then, a modest commotion arose at the edge of the crowd.

"Make way, please! Sorry for the trouble, make way!"

Yun Ji led Yun Long, Yun Hu, and Yun He as they finally squeezed their way inside.

They had just collected newly forged swords from the Shi Family Smithy in the east of town. Yun Hu held three longswords carefully wrapped in coarse cloth in his arms. He craned his neck curiously, wanting to see what excitement was taking place ahead.

Yun He, meanwhile, quietly followed behind her father and brothers, taking in her surroundings.

Yun Ji's brows, however, drew together slightly as he stopped walking.

His eyes were sharp. As his gaze swept the area, he noticed that several yamen runners in official uniforms had appeared at the square's main entrances at some point.

Each of those runners wore a saber at his waist, his face solemn and his eyes keen as he watched the arena. Faintly, they had encircled the square.

What was happening today was likely more than a simple dispute between martial arts schools.

Yun Ji muttered to himself. This display did not look like an ordinary martial arts exchange.

Even the authorities had gotten involved?

What were they trying to do?