Long Aotian slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness surfacing from the chaos.
An unfamiliar night sky greeted him. The ground beneath him was rough, and the back of his head still throbbed faintly-the lingering aftermath of hitting the wall after Lu Ren knocked him down with a single punch.
He pushed himself upright, dried scabs of blood flaking off his body as he moved.
Then he saw Du Busi standing nearby, an ambiguous smile on his baby-smooth, rosy face.
Facing his sect master, Long Aotian was so ashamed he wished he could bury his head inside his chest. "Sect Master!"
"Enough. Losing to this fellow is no big deal."
Du Busi waved a hand, not a trace of reproach in his voice.
"In a certain sense, he really is stronger than you."
After all, Lu Ren had run circles around Xuan Zi with nothing but Soul King cultivation. There was no shame in Long Aotian losing to someone like that.
Du Busi glanced sideways at Lu Ren, then at Long Aotian, who had just climbed off the ground, covered in dried blood. His smile deepened.
"No, that's not it. It's just-"
But Long Aotian shook his head. Ignoring his injuries, he repeated everything Lu Ren had told him earlier to Du Busi, word for word.
When he finished, he lowered his head, waiting for his sect master's wrath.
Unexpectedly, Du Busi showed no anger after hearing him out. Instead, he stroked his chin and looked thoughtfully at Lu Ren.
"I know about that. You made a bet with Xuan Zi. If you lead those Soul Engineers to victory, he gives you a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. If you lose, you join Shrek."
Du Busi looked at Lu Ren. The more he spoke, the more ingenious he found it, until