Cutting In to Steal the Black Sha Lotus

"Is that all you've got? And you still dared to attack me?"

A fierce gale howled as a figure was swept into the sky by a whirlwind.

Picking up the fallen black Heaven-Mending Stone, Bai Yixin didn't even check whether the person carried off by the gale was still alive. He turned and left.

By Bai Yixin's estimate, around a hundred geniuses were taking the second trial. Including the one just now, he had already collected ten Heaven-Mending Stones.

He'd met the minimum requirement to pass, so Bai Yixin was ready to start scavenging the treasures in this area.

"I need to find a way to lure that Black Tiger away. Just looking at that Black Sha Lotus makes my mouth water!"

Deep in the mountains lay a place nearly devoid of vegetation, where baleful energy ran rampant and black mists billowed. It was obvious that a super ferocious beast lived there.

It was a huge Black Tiger Bai Yixin had seen before. It could easily smash a mountain peak with one paw, and was a beast he still couldn't hope to fight head-on. He'd have to outsmart it.

Beside the tiger's lair grew a Treasure Medicine, jet-black all over, as if carved from dark jade. It stood over a foot tall and looked like a lotus.

"This Treasure Medicine is top quality. Nourished by the Black Tiger's baleful energy, it might transform into a Sacred Medicine one day."

Sacred Medicine could bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bones. You could search the Great Wilderness for a million miles and still struggle to find a single stalk.

Even when Sacred Medicine could be found, it was all on the Primordial Divine Mountain. True Hous might prowl those places, and pure-blooded Golden-Winged Pengs might nest there. No one dared go near, for certain death awaited.

In all the world, and especially among humankind, it was rare to see even a few genuine Sacred Medicines.

Bai Yixin was weighing whether to pull off this job. If he succeeded, the people from the Heaven-Mending Pavilion might really fly into a rage. But if he didn't act, the more he thought about it, the more he felt he'd be losing out!

If he devoured this Treasure Medicine, Bai Yixin would surely break through to the sixth level of Foundation Establishment and open his sixth Heaven Cave.

Cultivating both systems made him powerful, but the resources it consumed were on another level. Double was only the bare minimum. Bai Yixin was aiming to be the strongest at every realm, so his resource consumption was several times greater than everyone else's.

"Hmm, it's a little unethical, but this treasure and I are fated to meet." Hidden in a crevice between two enormous rocks, Bai Yixin murmured to himself.

"Hey, someone else had the same idea as me."

The other person had clearly failed to notice Bai Yixin, who was concealing his presence. He furtively looked around, then his eyes lit up. Tiptoeing, he headed toward the Black Tiger's lair.

"Wait, could that be Little One?!"

But nearly ten years had passed since Bai Yixin had read Perfect World. The novel's descriptions hadn't been very detailed, but after beginning his cultivation, Bai Yixin could be said to have a photographic memory. Unless he'd deliberately forgotten something, he could usually retrieve it from the depths of his memory. How much he could recall, though, depended on the depth of his cultivation.

Still, there were things Bai Yixin just couldn't remember. He wasn't sure whether that was a side effect of his transmigration.

Though he remembered the story, Bai Yixin generally avoided looking at the "script" unless he had to. It was Little One's path, after all. He only used it as a reference, without studying everything Little One did: minor events could be skipped, while major ones deserved attention.

The fellow had a very round face, with cheeks so chubby he looked like a big apple. His eyes were squeezed nearly shut by all that baby fat.

"Whoa, is he really Little One? It's only been a year, and he's already gotten this fat?"

"Wait, it really is possible. With so many people looking for him, he'd have to change his appearance before coming to the selection."

Bai Yixin watched the fellow, who was as sly as a fox. After walking a few steps, he lost his nerve and backed away, retreating step by step until he quickly vanished into the forest.

"If I remember right, there's no doubt he's Little One."

Bai Yixin glanced at the Black Tiger, still resting in its lair, then followed the fellow's path and darted off into the mountains, hoping to catch up and see whether he was Little One.

"Oh? Is he planning to throw the whole trial ground into chaos?" Bai Yixin followed close behind, watching his every move. In the end, although he couldn't be certain, if his memory served him right, this was Little One.

Flood Dragon Beasts, Ancient Crocodiles, Three-Legged Dragon Birds, and several other overlords were successfully provoked into a frenzy by Little One. They rampaged through the mountains, hunting him down.

Several ran into each other and faced off, even clashing in fierce battles. The entire mountain range descended into chaos. All kinds of ferocious beasts fled in terror, scattering across the hills.

"Not bad. Then the next step is probably to lure the tiger away!" Bai Yixin quickly figured out the plan.

Reasoning that people didn't act without purpose, he concluded that Little One had made all this commotion to pluck the Black Sha Lotus.

"Then, heh heh. Little One, don't blame your big brother! I was racking my brains trying to think of a surprise for you, and you went and solved that problem for me. Today, I'll teach you a lesson: what it means to be the fisherman who profits!"

Bai Yixin grinned mischievously. He wanted to see the look on Little One's face when he discovered that someone else had taken the prize he'd worked so hard to claim.

Keeping to the shadows, Bai Yixin soon returned to the depths of the mountains and hid near the tiger's lair.

"Roar..."

At the very heart of the mountains, a tiger's roar shook the heavens. The Beast King was furious. It had only just returned to its lair and fallen asleep when it was disturbed again, leaving it exceptionally irritable.

At once, a black whirlwind rose in the depths of the mountains. A massive shadow was engulfed within it as it charged out, roaring up at the sky without pause.

"Now's my chance!"

Bai Yixin figured that the strongest tiger in the mountains had probably been subdued by the Heaven-Mending Pavilion and assigned to maintain order during the trial. That was why it had rushed out as soon as Little One caused a disturbance.

Bai Yixin leaped to the mouth of the cave. Black Mist billowed around him, and only a single Black Sha Lotus glimmered with faint light.

Though the Black Sha Lotus looked like a lotus, it didn't grow in water. It sprouted from soil stained black by the Black Tiger's baleful energy.

A flash of sword light, and Bai Yixin plucked the Black Sha Lotus, leaving the root behind. Then he turned and fled without lingering for even a moment, lest he run into Little One or the returning Black Tiger Beast King.

His figure vanished, seeming to merge with the mountainside. With a few swift bounds, Bai Yixin crossed several ridges and sped away from the area.

Not long after Bai Yixin had left, a streak of light shot in from afar. It was Little One, his body covered in Runes.

"Ah?! Which despicable bastard cut in and stole my prize!" Little One stared at the Black Sha Lotus, with only its root left behind, and cursed. His chubby little face twisted with rage.

But he'd come all this way. He couldn't just leave empty-handed, could he? Otherwise, he'd have taken the blame for someone else for nothing.

Dirt and stones flew as Little One dug out even the root of the Black Sha Lotus and swallowed it in one gulp. Then he sped off, putting as much distance between himself and the place as possible.

Before long, the beast tide subsided and the Black Tiger returned to its lair. But the moment it drew near, it sensed something was wrong. It roared at the sky, and the endless mountains rumbled and shook.

It was so furious that black patterns appeared across its body, forming a Tornado that ripped apart the nearby peaks. Ancient trees shot into the sky, then exploded.

The sight was terrifying. Enraged, the Beast King charged out of the mountains in search of the medicine thief. Its eyes turned into two blood-red moons in the sky, a horrifying sight.

The mountain forest, which had only just settled down, boiled over again. This time, the Beast King itself led the rampage. One swipe of its paw shattered a mountain, sending rocks soaring through the air.

As for the two who'd profited, Bai Yixin and Little One, they had long since fled into the distance without leaving a trace.

Meanwhile, Bai Yixin had already found a perfect place to hide. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, preparing to break through.

In truth, Bai Yixin could have broken through long ago. He might even have opened seven or eight Heaven Caves at once.

He was simply afraid that advancing too quickly would leave his foundation unstable. He wanted to lay the firmest foundation possible.

Bai Yixin wasn't especially short on this Black Sha Lotus. A Spirit Medicine of this quality could be bought in the shop for around three or four hundred thousand.

One reason he'd cut in and taken Little One's prize was simple mischief. Besides, it belonged to the Heaven-Mending Pavilion, not Little One. There was nothing wrong with a little fair competition.

(Heaven-Mending Pavilion: That's too much! Way too much!)

The other reason was that even a tiny mosquito was still meat. The Black Sha Lotus was worth a pretty penny, and Bai Yixin would probably spend his days scavenging everything he could and selling it to the shop for the resources he needed. Since he had the chance to take it, why yield just because his opponent was Little One?

Cultivation meant fighting heaven, earth, and other people. To prove the Dao was to fight for the Dao. Without a heart set on contending for the Dao, you could forget about reaching the pinnacle.

So even when his opponent was his close friend Little One, Bai Yixin had still acted to teach him what it meant to "profit as the fisherman."

That said, Bai Yixin would still give Little One some compensation.

"As compensation, I'll share some good news about his parents with Little One. For example, he's already become a big brother (∩❛ڡ❛∩)"