Sweetness was all very well, but love alone could hardly fill an empty stomach. He had to think of something to shoulder his responsibilities as a man.
Who knew whom he took after? He was so poor, yet so concerned with face and self-respect that he had repeatedly refused Soul Crystals delivered right into his hands. After leaving Qing Mao's residence, Mu Bai walked along frowning in thought, his feet unconsciously carrying him to the combat grounds.
With the Spirit Taming Sect's tournament approaching, the combat grounds were bustling. Many outer and inner disciples came here to find sparring partners, both to hone their combat techniques and to sound out their opponents. Of course, some disciples harbored deep grudges and issued challenges to fight for their lives here. Their vicious exchanges often drew larger crowds than ordinary sparring matches.
Mu Bai, too, was drawn over.
The two engaged in a death match were both peak second-level cultivators, outstanding figures who surpassed the hundreds of thousands of outer disciples. Yet they had issued a challenge to the death to win a junior sister's favor. Such juicy gossip and fierce action naturally drew a crowd packed far more than three layers deep.
Only after considerable effort did Mu Bai squeeze into the crowd. The two men on the platform were already fighting in earnest. The Soul Cultivator wielded a sword, while the body cultivator used a spear. One darted and wheeled like a bluebird; the other stood firm and powerful as bedrock. They clashed fiercely, sword and spear ringing together like a sudden peal of spring thunder amid dazzling light. Seizing the instant when the Soul Cultivator's sword wavered, the body cultivator leaped up, bringing his spear howling down with mountain-cleaving force. Faced with this killing move, the Soul Cultivator was delighted rather than alarmed. He abruptly withdrew and, taking advantage of his opponent's exposed chest, sent his soul sword streaking like an arrow, like a meteor, toward the airborne body cultivator.
The body cultivator had nothing to brace against in midair. With the soul sword thrusting toward him and nowhere to dodge, he suddenly kicked both legs like a frog lunging for prey. As though pushing off empty space, he sprang forward in a spinning somersault, his spear tracing a great circle through the air without losing its cleaving momentum.
His strike missed, and another killing move bore down on him. The Soul Cultivator shed his carelessness, ducked, and rolled forward along the ground, stabbing backward at the body cultivator's back. Still airborne, the body cultivator saw his spear cleave empty air as a sword came at him from behind. He merely twisted his waist and thrust the spear shaft backward, meeting the sword's edge with a clang. The tremendous impact sent both men several steps forward before they could stop.
"Excellent! Fine skills, Senior Brother Chen!"
"Show him what us body cultivators can do!"
Through that exchange, the body cultivator had shown not only steady, powerful strength, but agility and reactions equal to the Soul Cultivator's. The watching body cultivators felt their blood boil and applauded him enthusiastically. A proud look appeared on his face, but his eyes turned toward a girl in yellow below the platform.
Following his gaze, Mu Bai knew that the girl in yellow must be the junior sister the two men were fighting over. She was indeed like a tender willow in early spring, her slender waist swaying gently in the breeze, her crimson lips set in a jade-like face-a beauty who truly stirred tender affection.
"Don't get cocky! Senior Brother Zhang hasn't used his signature move, Divine Fire Scorches the Prairie, yet. What can a body cultivator's brute strength do against divine fire burning his body?"
"Go, Senior Brother Zhang! How can Elder Jiang's daughter be handed over to a muscle-bound ox?"
Soul Cultivators made up the vast majority of the spectators below, and naturally would not let the body cultivators steal the limelight.
"You say body cultivators only have brute strength? Want to have a match?"
"Bring it on!"
"Fuck, let's show those soul cultivators what we can do! Those weak little chicks are only good at running their mouths!"
The two men continued their fierce battle onstage, while the spectators below argued until their faces and ears turned red. Just as a mass brawl seemed about to erupt, the body cultivator swept his spear low across the ground. The instant his opponent leaped into the air, he shouted and unleashed a heavy punch like a crimson dragon. The dragon raised its head with a roar and spat out a crimson sun, which exploded against the Soul Cultivator's chest with a boom. The barrier of Soul Power the Soul Cultivator hastily summoned held it off only briefly before dispersing like shattered mist, revealing his battered body and the glaring bloody hole in his chest.
"Excellent!"
"Senior Brother Chen is mighty!"
The wounded Soul Cultivator retreated, but when his gaze met the junior sister below, he gritted his teeth and turned ruthless. He slapped two pills into his mouth, then thrust both hands forward. A curtain of water surged ahead, instantly igniting into a blazing wall of fire. The body cultivator leaped into the air, only to face a rain of fire falling from above that ignited whatever it touched. He could only spin his spear with both hands, raising wind to keep the fiery rain away. Meanwhile, the Soul Cultivator instantly launched a sword attack, sending three sharp streaks of sword light slashing toward him. The body cultivator had no choice but to brave the fiery rain and swing his spear to block them. A figure flashed swiftly out through the wall of fire, leaving a deep sword furrow across the body cultivator's back.
Burned in several places and grievously wounded by the sword across his back, the body cultivator hurriedly swallowed pills as he staggered forward, striving to regain the strength to fight.
"Turn it around, Senior Brother Zhang!"
"Kill that brute!"
Both men on the platform had unleashed their killing moves, fighting in a manner that would not end until one was dead. Without hesitation, they soon lunged at each other again, both already fighting like madmen.
Mu Bai's eyes flickered. He approached the junior sister in yellow. "Which of those two do you want to survive?"
The junior sister in yellow rolled her eyes at Mu Bai, then smiled. "What does it have to do with me who lives or dies? They're the ones fighting over me. I didn't tell them to fight!"
Such a beauty, yet with such a heart-she truly was a scourge. Risking one's life for a woman was not worth it. He watched the two men fight fiercely for hundreds of exchanges, until both were faltering and covered in wounds.
Choosing his moment, Mu Bai leaped onto the platform, unleashed flames with a palm strike, and stepped between them.
"Anyone fighting a death match on this platform bears responsibility for his own life! Where did this brat come from? Get down here! Don't break the rules!"
"Get the hell down! Don't interrupt our show!"
The crowd below erupted, directing their anger at Mu Bai. He chuckled. "Don't rush, everyone. I guarantee what comes next will be even more exciting!"
Mu Bai first walked over to the Soul Cultivator. "Little brother, tired? Running low on Soul Power? Out of pills? Don't worry, I have Soul-Returning Pills. Soul-Returning Pills-you know them. Just one will restore your Soul Power to its peak. For only a hundred and fifty Soul Crystals, you can buy one, defeat your opponent, and win your junior sister! How about it?"
"Get lost!" the Soul Cultivator snapped coldly, gritting his teeth and glaring. Then he hesitated slightly. "How many do you have?"
"I do have ten..."
"Here are two thousand Soul Crystals. Give me the Soul-Returning Pills, quickly!"
"Coming right up!"
One transaction, including the tip, earned Mu Bai roughly seven hundred Soul Crystals by his calculations. It really had all taken effort to obtain.
"He went up there to peddle pills?"
"Wow, badass! What a talent!"
The body cultivator's face turned ashen at once. He stared wide-eyed, wishing he could stab the man before him full of holes like a hornet's nest.
"What are you staring at, little brother? Dizzy from losing too much blood? Don't want to die here and hand your junior sister over to someone else? Don't worry, I have Healing Pills. Healing Pills-you know them, sacred pills for treating injuries. Just one will heal your wounds, and it's still only a hundred and fifty Soul Crystals apiece. Otherwise, what a pity it would be to die with Soul Crystals left over. How about it?"
"How many do you have?"
"I do have ten..."
"Two thousand Soul Crystals. Five Healing Pills and five Soul-Returning Pills!"
"Deal!"
Another simple transaction, including the tip, earned Mu Bai another seven hundred Soul Crystals out of thin air. It really had all taken effort to obtain.
Thoroughly satisfied, Mu Bai floated down from the platform. The two men swallowed their pills and hurled themselves at each other again, fighting fiercely.
"Wow, brother, you're incredible!"
"Heh, didn't I say it would get more exciting? Otherwise, at least one of them would be dead by now. What would there be to watch then?"
"Exactly! You're absolutely right, brother."
Sure enough, the battle on the platform grew even fiercer than before. Having fought this far and spent so many Soul Crystals, they would truly suffer a huge loss if they still failed to kill their opponent and win.
Unfortunately, after hundreds more exchanges back and forth, neither could get the better of the other. After one collision, both collapsed thunderously, their bodies unable to hold out, and struggled to rise and fight again.
In the past, faced with such a situation, the crowd below would surely have shouted encouragement. This time, however, they swarmed onto the platform.
"Want Soul-Returning Pills?"
"Spirit-Combining Pills! Spirit-Combining Pills! For a numb and weary mind, Spirit-Combining Pills are just what you need!"
"Healing Pills! A hundred and fifty Soul Crystals!"
The vast combat platform instantly filled with disciples scrambling to peddle pills. The two disciples who had been dueling to the death both showed faint, bitter smiles, merely closing their eyes and gasping for breath.
"What are you doing? Disrupting order in the combat grounds-you're all confined for three months!"
The chaos on the platform immediately drew disciples from the Enforcement Hall. Only after that shout did things gradually quiet down.
"Why didn't you do anything when he went up to sell pills?"
Someone pointed at Mu Bai, who smiled bashfully.
"Did he interfere with the duel?" the leading Enforcement Hall disciple demanded sternly. He flicked his hand, cracking a whip through the air. "He is an elder of the Pill Hall!"
"Heh..." Mu Bai walked over to the junior sister in yellow, raising his brows with a playful smile. "Remember to let me know next time they duel."
"You're shameless!"
"Am I shameless? Hurting people is shameless. In any case, I haven't hurt anyone..."
Thoroughly content, with no one daring to stop him, Mu Bai paid no further attention to the junior sister in yellow and walked straight out of the combat grounds, humming a little tune.
"Earning Soul Crystals while saving lives. Truly brilliant!"
Thus Mu Bai praised himself.
Still, earning Soul Crystals this way could only work once as a surprise. After all, the Enforcement Hall was no pushover. Fortunately, once a person's mind opened up, ways of solving problems naturally followed.
A spark of inspiration flashed, and Mu Bai had an idea. He went off to find Xi Bazì and Sweet Potato Boy.
Before you continue