Huang Shang held his brush, gazing at the mist swirling around him as he waited calmly.
As expected, another group of Reincarnators had taken him away.
This way, he had both helped Xu Feng and Xu Yue fend off an assassination attempt and escaped Xu Yue's constant surveillance.
Two birds with one stone.
There was still some risk, though.
The odds were tiny, but what if he ran into a lunatic? What if, upon meeting Huang Shang, they decided not to make a contract but to kill him instead? Then there would be nothing he could do.
Huang Shang knew that his true body was still beyond this world. If Huang Shang's identity died, his soul wouldn't be able to return, and he would truly be gone.
"When you're not strong enough, you're bound to be the butcher's knife while I'm the fish on the chopping board."
"Don't lose heart. This is only the beginning!"
Huang Shang quickly steadied himself.
This was already a pretty good outcome.
What sort of place was the Main God Temple?
The survival of the fittest!
Every Reincarnator had started out weak, never knowing whether they'd see the next day. Who hadn't been through something like this?
If Huang Shang were a Reincarnator, even if these star-ranked powerhouses were forbidden by the Main God Temple's rules from killing him directly, they'd still have plenty of ways to do it if they truly wanted him dead.
That would be when his life and death were truly out of his hands.
So he was very fortunate to have chosen this one-of-a-kind path.
If he was going to take risks either way, why not choose the one with greater rewards?
Sure enough, half an hour later, the mist suddenly quivered, and the sounds of fierce fighting rang out.
Then they grew clearer and clearer.
"Yang Tianbao and Gong Huang are putting on a show. Heh..."
Huang Shang felt reassured, knowing he was out of danger, and silently watched their performance.
Soon, a short figure appeared, charging toward him with a vicious expression.
A fierce wind struck his face. Huang Shang played along, and Zhuge Pen swiftly wrote two large characters.
Once again, it was thunder in the heavens: the Great Power Hexagram!
His path of Literary Qi was entirely self-taught. He couldn't swallow an elephant in one bite; he had to take things step by step.
Every technique took practice to master, and Huang Shang's talent was peerless. This time, he used all his Literary Qi to form the Great Power Hexagram. It seemed as if real thunder were rolling through the heavens, vast and magnificent.
"No way. How long has this guy even been cultivating?"
Tu Xingsun was the first to take the brunt of it, and couldn't help showing a hint of astonishment.
In the eyes of a star-ranked powerhouse like him, this power was nothing special. But just how long had they been in the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils?
Even if the Queen and the Prince had found Huang Shang on the very first day and taught him how to cultivate, he'd started as a scholar who couldn't even truss a chicken. At most, he'd been cultivating for two months!
If he could fight like this after only two months, how long would it take Huang Shang to become a master on par with a star-ranked Reincarnator?
Probably far less time than anyone expected!
An absurdly short time!
A grandmaster's talent combined with a high-level inheritance was truly terrifying!
"If I could make a contract with him..."
At that moment, Tu Xingsun couldn't help feeling a trace of yearning—and regret.
But he quickly cast the thought aside.
Compared to the other star-ranked powerhouses, Tu Xingsun had one great advantage.
It wasn't the ability to roam far and wide with his earth-traversing art, but his self-awareness.
Every Reincarnator knew how difficult it was to contract a Character Card.
Not one in ten succeeded.
But Reincarnators—especially accomplished star-ranked ones—were all brimming with confidence.
They all thought the same thing: "Others might not be able to do it, but I can!"
And if they didn't even dare to try, they were doomed to fail forever!
Success really did require that kind of confidence and courage.
But Tu Xingsun figured that rather than chasing after the faint hope of getting a Character Card, he might as well go for something practical.
Like Reincarnation Points.
Those were the most basic currency of the Main God Temple.
He preferred to keep his feet on the ground.
"Die!"
Thinking of the three thousand Reincarnation Points about to be his, Tu Xingsun composed himself, put on the standard villain's face, and barked. His fingers curled into claws as he slapped Zhuge Pen aside and lunged for Huang Shang's face.
Huang Shang couldn't dodge. At the very last moment, Wu Que and Nightingale descended like divine soldiers, one on either side, each unleashing their most graceful and impressive techniques to strike Tu Xingsun in the back.
Tu Xingsun spat out a huge mouthful of blood with a wail, then abruptly burrowed into the ground. Before leaving, he didn't forget to deliver the classic line: "I'll be back!"
"You should've spun through the air, turned into a speck of light on the horizon, and then said that..."
Huang Shang silently mocked him, only to see Wu Que and Nightingale sprint toward him as if they were racing.
By rights, Wu Que was on the ancient martial arts path while Nightingale was a mage, so the former should have had the advantage.
But Nightingale used some trick, and Wu Que was overtaken all the same. She rushed toward Huang Shang in a fragrant breeze.
Huang Shang stayed in character, his face turning slightly red as he took half a step back.
Nightingale stopped prettily before him and giggled. "Were you serious about taking half a step back?"
Huang Shang put on a bewildered expression, barely managing not to laugh.
He wasn't afraid of someone like Xu Feng, who spoke to him in half-fluent Mandarin. It was people like this, who never did things the usual way, that worried him.
Actors could crack up too, you know!
Nightingale took off her Cloak, as if she'd broken a seal. Her Earth-era goofball personality instantly returned. Only after the words left her mouth did she realize the man before her was from ancient times and wouldn't understand the Western style of casually acting familiar. She hurriedly folded her hands and adopted a demure pose. "This young lady was discourteous. That man just now was a Western Xia spy, hiding in Worry-Free Cave. Luckily, you were so brave, Young Master, and drew him out. You weren't hurt, were you?"
Western Xia: ???
Why was everyone a Western Xia spy?
Never mind that the Reincarnators were blaming Western Xia for everything. As Nightingale looked at Huang Shang's handsome, capable appearance, her heart grew happier and happier.
With a grandmaster like him, her spellcasting would be much safer from now on. One physical fighter and one mage, a powerful combination—their strength would more than double!
And he was easy on the eyes, too!
As for how to make a contract with him?
She was a cute girl!
Cute girls could do whatever they wanted!
Huang Shang was young, not a monk who'd emptied himself of worldly desires. He'd surely be easy to charm with a beautiful woman.
As it happened, monks got married these days too.
At the Great Xiangguo Temple, quite a few monks had beautiful wives.
Bald-Headed Wanderer had wives and concubines like the Tathagata.
The pairing of "Master Who Lingers Among Beauty" and "Brahma's Sister-in-Law" was described in detail in Records of the Strange and Extraordinary.
Abbot Xuan Ci of Shaolin Temple had an affair with Ye Erniang. Perhaps he'd envied how good the monks in the capital had it.
"If only you knew!"
But Wu Que watched from the side with cool detachment, in no hurry.
Nightingale had offered to split the three thousand Reincarnation Points with him, and after thinking it over, he'd agreed.
For one thing, three thousand Reincarnation Points really was too steep for him to bear alone. The two of them could share the risk.
For another, he was confident that no matter how petite and adorable Nightingale was, she didn't understand the temperament of the ancients as well as he did.
This was the Song dynasty!
Huang Shang was a Confucian!
Even if women in the Northern Song weren't as conservative as people later imagined, Huang Shang could never accept Nightingale's open, Western ways.
Besides, Wu Que had another trump card.
Hidden in his sleeve was a manual, and he stroked it with lingering affection.
Whenever he touched this Bright Jade Art, he remembered running away under that sunset. Those had been the days of his lost youth.
He used to be frustrated that he couldn't sell this manual. But now it seemed that fate had its own plans; this had all been arranged!
"Farewell, Bright Jade Art. Trading you for a grandmaster is a bargain!"
"My future will be protected by Huang Shang!"
Thanks to the book friends "Brother Tutu←True," "Heavenly Crystal Chaos Heaven Treasure Mirror," "Manager Tiao Pi," "Magical Toad," "Book Friend 161215212016249," "Goal Is To Watch Stars," "Baby Rain Butterfly," "Yangyang Xiaoxian Da," "Grip of the Lonely Ghost," and "Dao Resident" for the rewards.
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