Ao Ba Pa

It had to be said that Yun Shenwei had brought far too many shocks this time. The young men and women below who had just completed their breakthroughs stepped onto the stage to receive their rewards. They were all delighted; at their age, they were especially susceptible to emotional swings.

Everyone hoped to become a genius, but in a world where strength reigned supreme, there would ultimately be distinctions between the strong and the weak. Wherever there were strong people, there would certainly be weak ones. That was the law of heaven and earth.

These young men and women had no way of becoming strong, and they were deeply saddened by it. Yet they all had hearts unwilling to settle for mediocrity. Are kings, lords, and generals a special breed?

But reality was cruel in the end. Many of them could not achieve their dreams through their own efforts.

But things were different now. Yun Shenwei had brought them hope!

"You don't need to thank me. I came here today to hand out rewards for free. To tell you the truth, I plan to do business here in the future, and I hope you'll all support me. If you perform well, I'll select some of you to become agents here, or shop assistants.

"I was once just like all of you. A very, very long time ago, I was merely an ordinary youth with no special abilities. But I understood that working hard on your own was not enough if you wanted to grow stronger. Sometimes, you needed help from others as well. And at this moment, I am the benefactor fate has sent you."

At that moment, Yun Shenwei could not help thinking of many things. Under the survival laws of this world, the weak had always been unwelcome, living at the very bottom and bearing the greatest pressure. But that did not mean those at the bottom did not work hard. In fact, they worked harder than anyone else. They simply lacked a little luck, and the talent they had been born with was insufficient.

What Yun Shenwei was doing now was, in truth, winning people over. He understood very clearly that he was merely offering a few small favors here today, yet the results would be entirely different. What those at the bottom needed most was often this sort of help, which the strong considered worthless.

"You swindler! How dare you deceive people here? Get the hell out of here! This is Wu Tan City's territory. How can we allow some wandering Taoist like you to run wild here?"

At that moment, an extremely discordant voice suddenly came from outside. Then, a burly young man could be seen barging in arrogantly with a large group of people, shoving aside all the surrounding spectators.

"Ao Ba Pa?"

When Jia Lie'ao saw who had arrived, he voiced his confusion. He did not understand why this fellow had come at such a time. By all rights, this guy should have been indulging in wine and women.

"Jia Lie'ao, why are you here? This guy is a swindler, understand? Don't be fooled by how powerful he looks. He's merely using a trick to deceive the eye. So let me tell you plainly: he isn't from the Yun Lan Sect at all!"

Ao Ba Pa did not bother with more nonsense. He turned his gaze directly toward Yun Shenwei. Clearly, he had come here intending to make a move.

"Oh? You say I'm a swindler. I don't know where you got that information, but do you have any evidence?"

Yun Shenwei stared coldly at the other man, a trace of anger in his voice.

He was, after all, the Yun Lan Sect's Head Disciple among the younger generation, yet he was being mocked so openly by someone from this desolate little city. What angered him most was that this person actually felt he was completely in the right.

"Does that even need to be said? How could a place as formidable as the Yun Lan Sect casually allow its Head Disciple to leave?

"Besides, my cousin-in-law is an Outer City Warden there. A few days ago, he told me that the Yun Lan Sect's Head Disciple had never left. He's currently in secluded cultivation within the sect!"

Ao Ba Pa sneered coldly. He had some basis for speaking so boldly.

"So, based solely on a single sentence from your cousin-in-law, you've decided that I'm not the Yun Lan Sect's Head Disciple?"

Yun Shenwei found it rather ridiculous. Was there something wrong with this man's brain? He had come looking for trouble the moment he appeared. It seemed he had come with ill intent; perhaps he had some other objective.

"Why waste words? I don't care whether you are or not. In any case, you're impersonating someone, and that alone is enough for me to arrest you. Besides, this is Wu Tan City. This is territory jointly governed by our major families. It's not a place for an outsider like you to run wild. And stop using your so-called low-grade tricks to deceive everyone."

Ao Ba Pa waved his hand, and his guards immediately raised their weapons, all on high alert.

"If I were a swindler, why would I go through all this trouble to hold an event?"

Yun Shenwei spoke again.

"Arrogant! Do you think there's any use in arguing now? Everyone, listen to me. The things this man gave you are actually highly poisonous food. Think about it carefully—if even the legendary alchemists cannot accomplish such things, why can he?

"That makes him extremely suspicious. I even suspect that what he used has drained all of your future potential. In other words, though you may have achieved breakthroughs now, you will never be able to advance another step in cultivation afterward. You may even be stuck at the Dou Zhe stage!

"Some time ago, we received word that a terrifying Evil Taoist Priest from the Chu Yun Empire had come to this area. He was skilled at transformations and often put on a mysterious act to deceive common people. Therefore, I suspect this fellow is that evil monk in disguise."

The more Ao Ba Pa spoke, the more agitated he became. In the end, he shouted, "That Evil Taoist Priest is roughly at the Dou Shi level!

"So this fellow is definitely the Evil Taoist Priest! Don't let him fool you! Come with me and capture him!"

The moment those words were spoken, everyone around them was stunned. Even the young men and women who had been so happy earlier turned pale. Some immediately stuck their fingers down their throats, trying to vomit up what they had eaten.

"An Evil Taoist Priest! I never imagined this guy would dare come to Wu Tan City and cause trouble."

"That's terrifying! No wonder the things he brought out were so strange—we'd never eaten any of them before. It looks like we've all been deceived. Hurry and throw up what you ate, or we'll be finished in the future."

"Those below the Dou Zhe level, fall back! Everyone at the Dou Zhe level, move up! All Dou Shi, follow!"

Many people had realized that something was wrong, so they raised their weapons and prepared to fight. The situation had become complicated.