Beyond the long pavilion, amid the crowds, a thousand night-market lanterns lit Yinglong.
Paying to drive traffic had worked. No one knew how much of True Immortal Beiwǔ's promotional spending would turn into actual returns, but at least this was the liveliest spot in all of All-Heavens City.
From morning to night, around the clock, blood flowed like rivers across the competition grounds. One round followed another, with a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools contending.
"What are the odds on Donghuang Taiyi of the Yin-Yang School? All right, I'll bet on the one opposite him, the guy called Zhongli." Su Lin tucked away a stack of lottery tickets and came to the edge of the arena, to a VIP Spectator seat in one of the phase spaces.
"Brother Su, isn't that guy over there you from another timeline?" Li Huowang exclaimed. "You look exactly alike."
"Once your college entrance exams are over this year, you're going back to repeat the year. And don't ask Stark to help you cheat." Su Lin pushed Li Huowang's head aside, revealing a windowlike gap through which they could watch the outside.
A man and a woman walked ahead. Behind them, Luo Xiaoying looked around in open curiosity, peering here and there. She stood in stark contrast to the two elderly souls in front of her, both nearly as worn down in spirit as in body, their faces perfectly calm.
"You know, Huowang, you've got to handle relationships at home properly. Take you and Bai Lingmiao, Little Na, and your other sisters-in-law, for example."
Speaking with the authority of someone who had been through it, Su Lin warned him, "Look at that guy's face. His romantic troubles have already reached the point where spilled water can't be gathered back up."
"Brother Su, I