The Immortal Master Was Broke Too; Accepting the Challenge

After his excitement passed, Zheng Siqi quickly calmed down. Realizing he had lost his composure, he recovered some of his immortal master's dignity and asked solemnly:

"Sima Han, what do you want me to do?"

Sima Han kept his eyes lowered, as if he hadn't seen Zheng Siqi lose his composure at all.

Still, Zheng Siqi's reaction made him realize that the system was a heaven-defying divine treasure even to an immortal master.

He no longer dared to make an excessive request.

"Immortal Master, the system already exists. That is a fact that cannot be changed," Sima Han said respectfully:

"I beg you to fight Liu Yi, the strongest of the system hosts. As long as you defeat him, you can overawe the other system hosts and keep them from running amok, preserving the Jin State's rule."

Zheng Siqi frowned deeply and fell into thought.

The sect had sent him to serve as the Jin State's guardian immortal master, charging him with maintaining its stability and selecting disciples with an aptitude for immortal cultivation for the sect.

Sima Han's request was not excessive; it did fall within his duties.

With a thought, he searched TikTok for information on Liu Yi:

Liu Yi was known as the foremost system host. He was the first expert in the Dao Seed Martial Dao Cultivation System to break through to the Dao Seed Realm, and he held a firm grip on first place in the Trial Tower's Dao Seed Realm Combat Power Ranking.

Judging from the video of him killing the bronze humanoid puppet, his strength was roughly at the Golden Core Realm level.

But Zheng Siqi was not afraid. He was already at the Middle Stage of the Golden Core Realm, and he cultivated an orthodox immortal Cultivation Method. Martial Dao could not compare with it.

Even the Dao Seed Martial Dao System reached no higher than the Dao Seed Realm; it simply could not compare with the Immortal Cultivation System.

Besides, he could now use the system to improve his strength. He was confident about this battle.

With that thought, Zheng Siqi nodded. "All right, I agree to your request. Set the time for three months from now, and the place at Fallen Leaf Plain, a hundred kilometers from the capital.

"I will defeat Liu Yi openly and honorably, and overawe every system host."

"Yes, Immortal Master. I will go and deliver the challenge to Liu Yi at once," Sima Han replied respectfully. He bowed, then turned and left.

After Sima Han left, Zheng Siqi immediately began studying the system.

When he saw how many Energy Points the various functions required, his brows drew together slightly, and he pondered for a moment.

He uploaded and sold every immortal Cultivation Method he knew to the System Store, except for the Heavenly Revelation Sect's inherited Cultivation Method, receiving 700,000 Energy Points in return.

Without the slightest hesitation, he first spent 100,000 Energy Points to unlock one cubic meter of Storage Space.

With a casual wave, he put the teacup on the table into the space, then took it out again in an instant.

"Hiss, it really is Storage Space. It's just too small. Expanding it by another cubic meter would cost a million Energy Points."

"I don't have enough Energy Points right now. I need to use them sparingly. I'll try the Dao Comprehension Space first."

He spent 100,000 Energy Points to enter the Dao Comprehension Space. As soon as he went in, his thoughts raced, and the questions that had puzzled him about his realm and Cultivation Method suddenly became clear.

But before he could examine the insights closely, his time was up.

Without hesitation, he poured all his remaining 500,000 Energy Points into the Dao Comprehension Space.

Fifty seconds later, Zheng Siqi emerged from the space and threw back his head, laughing. "Hahaha, so that's how it is! I'm confident I can break through to the Late Stage of the Golden Core within three months!"

"This system is simply divine! With its help, I'll definitely break through to the Nascent Soul Realm within twenty years!"

Once Zheng Siqi's excitement faded, he saw that his personal center showed zero Energy Points, and his brow furrowed at once.

"Broke. I'm far too broke!"

It was the first time in his life he had tasted what it meant to be "short of money."

No, I have to find a way to earn Energy Points! Being unable to use a heaven-defying function like the Dao Comprehension Space was sheer torture.

If he could stay immersed in it and cultivate, his cultivation would surely advance as fast as flying on a sword.

At present, there were only a few ways to acquire Energy Points.

First, he could convert Spirit Stones into Energy Points, but he needed the Spirit Stones for cultivation and couldn't use them lightly.

Second, he could create inventions, but he had no talent for that.

Third, he could promote the system. But as an immortal master, he couldn't bring himself to stoop to sales work.

Fourth, he could sell cultivation manuals or insights, but he had just sold them.

Then another thought occurred to him. The Jin State's imperial family had a sizable collection of ancient texts. Selling them to the System Store was bound to bring in Energy Points.

He also needed to have Sima Han help him purchase Energy Points.

Having made up his mind, Zheng Siqi headed out to find Sima Han.

Liu Yi drove out of Green Mountain Town and set off on his travels.

The car sped along the road as he reveled in the thrill of driving fast.

Little Yellow watched eagerly from the passenger seat, itching to try. "Master, you've been driving for a while. You must be tired. Let me drive, and you can rest in the back."

Liu Yi saw through Little Yellow's intentions at a glance and said with a smile, "All right, I know you want to speed. Fine, the rest of the drive is yours."

The novelty of speeding had just worn off for him, so he could take the chance to rest and find time to deduce the Great Dao Principle.

"Great! Leave the rest of the drive to me!" Little Yellow nodded excitedly.

Liu Yi brought the car to a stop, yielded the driver's seat, and turned to lie down on the bed in the back. "You said that yourself. I didn't force you."

As he spoke, he raised a finger, and an illusion enveloped Little Yellow.

After the light faded, anyone looking into the car from outside would see a person driving, not a dog.

After all, if people saw a dog driving, they would surely be frightened, causing unnecessary trouble.

Liu Yi closed his eyes, his consciousness instantly entering the system, and opened the forum to browse.

As soon as he entered the interface, he saw the top trending post: "The Jin State's guardian immortal master challenges Liu Yi."

He clicked on it at once. In the video, the Jin State's emperor, clad in dragon robes and wearing a solemn expression, issued him a challenge on behalf of the guardian immortal master, Zheng Siqi.

His heart stirred. He carefully checked through the system's backend and confirmed that the man in the video was indeed the Jin State's emperor himself.

It seemed the system's widespread distribution had thrown the Jin State's powerful and influential figures into disarray. Now they had even called upon the guardian immortal master.

The Jin State was within the Heavenly Revelation Sect's sphere of influence, so its guardian immortal master was naturally a disciple of the sect.

He recalled the information he had learned from the sect: the disciples sent to stand guard in the mortal world were all at the Golden Core Realm, equivalent to the Dao Seed Realm in the Dao Seed Martial Dao System.

He had yet to unleash his full strength since his breakthrough, so this was a good opportunity to test himself against a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

If he defeated the Jin State's guardian immortal master, he could not only shatter the will of the Jin State's powerful figures to resist.

He could also inspire confidence in everyone cultivating the Dao Seed Martial Dao System and prove it was stronger than the Immortal Cultivation System.

Unfortunately, he didn't know a clone Technique. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to go in person.

Uh!

It seemed a clone wouldn't help even if he had one. A clone couldn't go too far from the original body, and its strength was weak. It probably couldn't beat the Jin State's guardian immortal master.

Thinking this, Liu Yi opened the comments section and scrolled quickly through the messages one by one:

"Heavens! The Jin State's guardian immortal master actually challenged Liu Yi. I wouldn't have dared imagine that before!"

"The Jin State's emperor must be panicking. He wants to maintain his rule by defeating Liu Yi."

"That's an immortal master! I wonder if Liu Yi will dare accept?"

"Even if he accepts, it'll be hard to win. Immortal cultivators can fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth. How could a martial artist beat one?"

"The Dao Seed Martial Dao System is formidable, but it's still far inferior to the Immortal Cultivation System."

"If Liu Yi can last a few moves against the immortal master, he'll have done well!"

Liu Yi scanned the comments, his expression unchanged.

It was only natural that people didn't fancy his chances. For a long time, the image of immortal cultivators standing high above everyone else had been deeply ingrained in people's hearts.

In the eyes of the world, martial artists were mere brutes. Even if they cultivated to the peak, they couldn't fly through the heavens or burrow through the earth, and their lifespans were limited.

Such views would not change overnight.

Liu Yi ignored the comments questioning him and recorded and posted a video directly.

"Three months from now, Fallen Leaf Plain. We won't leave until we've fought."

The video was short and forceful, with no unnecessary words, yet it radiated a powerful will to fight.