For the first time, Lao Chen watched the fourth round of the Dragon Flight Gala in a private box alongside his new bestie, Yi Ming.

Once Wu Shan appeared on the battle grounds, Lao Chen smiled brightly. “That’s my son!”

Yi Ming gaped. “That’s your son? Well, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. He’s quite the contestant.”

Wu Shan stood there, but Lao Chen knew that he was extremely ready to fight. The Yin and Yang Qi in his Dao Pillar repelled each other, creating an ultra-fast cyclone which rushed through his veins without stopping.

The match ended surprisingly fast, with his complete and utter victory.

Lao Chen looked around the seats of the arena, spotting several people cloaked in runic outfits.

“Huh. Hey, Ming, those guys look sorta suspicious, don’t they?” Asked Lao Chen. Yi Ming shook his head.

“They’re talent scouts for the empire,” Yi Ming replied. Lao Chen kept looking around, but frowned after not finding that person.

“Hmm, are all the talent scouts present at the moment?”

Yi Ming shrugged. “Well, typically. To the best of my knowledge, they’re all present.”

Lao Chen furrowed his eyebrows. “Then he wasn’t here because of the Gala?”

“Who?” Asked Yi Ming.

“Well, this Core Formation cultivator that I met the other day. Said he was a servant of the Empire. Uhm, his name was Wang Chun,” Lao Chen reported, looking for any change in Yi Ming’s facial expression.

“Never heard of him,” Yi Ming sighed.

“Hmm… strange,” Lao Chen whistled. “Ehm, If you’ll excuse me, I feel a bit bored watching these fights after witnessing both Zhang He and Wu Shan fight with their opponents.”

“You don’t need my excuse, Junior Brother. Please, proceed as you wish,” Yi Ming chuckled. “You’re much too humble for someone of your calibre.”

Lao Chen didn’t waste any time exiting before appearing high above the arena grounds, floating weightlessly as he admired the spectacle. The spire was still towering above, a couple of li away.

Lao Chen flew there, surprising himself as he appeared there in a few breaths. The view at night was as breathtaking as during the day.

His spiritual sense, a skill he developed during Core Formation, had expanded exponentially since then. His sphere of sense stretched several dozen li, totalling at about 52 li.

“Hmm, Wang Chun is watching the matches in the arena, but he’s not an Imperial talent scout…? Well, not my business, really.” Lao Chen muttered.

“Hmm,” Lao Chen stroked his beard as he watched, far in the distance; a group of cultivators surrounded a single girl. “What a cliché,” Lao Chen sighed before smirking. “I’m much too old to act like anybody’s knight in shining armour. If only I could send Wu Shan, if only to see what would happen.”

Lao Chen moved closer to the scene, appearing a stone-throw away. It was in the middle of a rather thick boulevard. A group of about forty-something youths surrounded a single girl, a lithe woman with dead, unresponsive eyes.

“Do you realize what you’ve done, bitch?” Asked one of the youths.

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“You sullied all our reputations. Not only did you beat us thirty-two to one, you’re also a lady. I do hope you can understand the tough position this puts us in.”

“It’s only your fault that this is happening, bipolar princess.”

Lao Chen’s eyes widened. “Oh, she’s strong,” he muttered under his breath. “Well, then all I’ll have to do is watch.”

The moment the first boy came to deliver a punch to her gut, the lady just stood still, giving Lao Chen pause. The girl flew backwards several dozen feet, vomiting blood profusely.

“What?! She’s just a paper tiger?” One of them exclaimed. “You didn’t even have to bring so many people. Only that guy was enough, it seems!”

The boy who hit her frowned. “Don’t underestimate her. She’s a deceiver.”

The lady kept vomiting blood as her face ashened. Lao Chen frowned before inspecting her rigorously with his spiritual sense.

She was completely mortal. The Qi in her body was so muddied with impurities, it’s a wonder she didn’t die from that one punch alone. Even her dantian had not a single Dao Pillar. In fact-

“What the-“ Lao Chen held his mouth, raising his eyes in abject surprise. “A dragon inside her dantian?”

The youths closed in on her. “Well, since we’ve already defeated you, I guess there’s one thing left to do with you.”

Lao Chen rolled his eyes before appearing before the crowd. “That won’t happen. Go away, children, before you do something you come to regret.”

The youths started upon seeing him. “Do you know who I am?” Asked one. “I’m the scion of-”

“Do you know who I am, child?” Lao Chen asked as his face bent into a rictus of prideful wrath. “I am the benefactor of the Village of Heaven and Earth! They call me the Yin-Yang Sect Patriarch! Why, I even own a dragon!”

The young master paused as his face began to turn pale. Without any more protest, he turned around and ran off, along with the rest.

Lao Chen hummed as he turned around, bent over and laid the girl flat on her back.

“Wow… This seems… really serious,” Lao Chen stuttered. “The… the bone, that’s on your back… yeah, it’s pulverized. And… and the place where your food goes… it’s just gore, now… Like, I really can’t help you,” Lao Chen sighed. “But I know someone who can.”

Lao Chen gestured, and in the blink of an eye, they appeared in Yi Ming’s private room, much to his wide-eyed surprise.

“Junior Brother, who is she?” He asked as he stood up quickly.

“She was accosted by a group of young masters… since your Dao is that of Life, I hoped that you could do something to save hers…”

Yi Ming hummed, but complied nonetheless. The man before him had helped him immensely. Healing some random victim wouldn’t put a dent in his debt to him, anyways.

Yi Ming waved his hand, clearing the room of food and furniture, and waved his hand again, summoning a longer table.

“Do you just keep those things in your ring?”

“You should always be prepared for every eventuality. Like a surprise surgery, for example.”

With a wave of his hand, the girl floated onto the table. Yi Ming stabbed his finger-nail into her skin. “Well… this is horrible. A few more minutes and she would have been dead. How does a mortal even- wait, is that a dragon in her Dantian?”

“I know, right?” Lao Chen rubbed his bald head. “Isn’t that amazing?”

“She has the Cloud Dragon Physique. I know who this lady is. Shao Lei, also known as the ‘Bipolar Princess’, and the only other person who gave Wu Shan a good fight.”

“B-but she’s mortal,” Lao Chen stuttered. “How could she fight anyone in this state?”

“Well, the dragon might have had something to do with it.”

Yi Ming began to gesture several times, and suddenly, a projection of Shao Lei’s skeletal structure burst out of her body. “Hmm… seems that all her lumbar vertebrae as well as her thoracic vertebrae was shattered, severing her entire nervous system from her body shoulders-down. Her ribs also seem to have shattered.”

With an upward flick of his finger, a projection of her inner organs shot up. “Hmm… her liver, kidneys, small intestine, large intestine, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder, practically all her viscera has ruptured into meatpaste.”

With another flick of his finger, her muscles appeared. “Her abdominal muscles, obliques and back muscles were torn into shreds.”

“Uhm, can she be saved?” Asked Lao Chen. Yi Ming smiled.

“Junior Brother, even when you come to ask me for a favour, you still give me something to develop myself with. You are truly an angel sent from Heaven. She will be saved, and I will gather meaningful data in the process to further my Dao.”

“You said she’d die in a few minutes… is that still true?”

“Well,” Yi Ming chuckled. “Now that she’s under my care, her vitals have been frozen for the time being. I may be ready with her within a few hours, and don’t get surprised if I have cleared another Heavenly Meridian in the process!”

“Very well,” Lao Chen chuckled. “I suppose I’ll watch. then. And I've been thinking. Because of your boundless knowledge on anatomy, you should really write that book you were bragging about. You could consolidate your Dao and help people in the process."

Yi Ming nodded. "I suppose that's a fair thing to do."