It took a long while to free himself from the clutches of evil, but Li Ao managed to survive in the end.

He also smacked the man who kicked his balls twice.

After resting for some time, he had a talk with Sun Jian and Qing Yan, where both of them pushed their creations onto him.

The argument was brief, and unable to dissuade them, Li Ao decided to bring up the matter with Fan Yueyin. For now, he accepted Golden Maw and Formation Base.

Of course, it was Sun Jian who named the shield.

After relegating both equipment to the Judge, who gathered everyone’s products to appraise them with the high seats, he spent an hour solidifying his state.

A false breakthrough was fatal for any normal cultivator. Even Heaven’s Children weren’t exempt from the rebounding power of the world. However, with his Fourth-Level Bronze Body, Li Ao could endure it enough to only drop a minor level.

Without his Physique, the best possibility was dropping four or five realms.

However, all was well for now.

After checking on the resting Bubbles, Li Ao left the treatment room.

He noticed a stream of people pouring into the audience seats. Some of them seemed familiar. Few had a rather high profile within the crowd. There were banners trailing them and headbands being distributed.

Confused, Li Ao approached an arena wall and asked a random old man.

The old man donned an ancient linen robe, with short white hair and fresh stubbles on his chin. His black eyes had a peculiar glint within them.

He looked like a total gambler.

‘’They are the betters, boy!’’ the old man laughed. ‘’Your senior brother attracted them right back in.’’

Li Ao glanced over the rising chatter. Even before the rounds began, he saw some of the beat-up betting organizers running around, gathering spirit stones and distributing slips.

‘’What are they betting on, though?’’

‘’On you.’’

‘’Huh?’’

The old man laughed again and took out a pouch of spirit stones. ‘’Why are you surprised? First segment, you messed up the serious air of the competition. Don’t you know how these things go? Always snorting and flicking sleeves, lots of bloodshed and feud-forming battles. It is only expected. After all, young ones have hot blood in them. They are eager to prove themselves...’’

The old man scratched his chin. ‘’...what was I getting at? Right! You messed things up!’’

Li Ao regarded the man with a peculiar gaze that said ‘What are you on about?’.

‘’In the second segment, your senior brother took the lead. Even then, you had a hand in creating further chaos. You are like a disaster magnet! So, now everyone is betting on whether you will mess things up again, or be a normal person.’’

‘’I am pretty normal—you people are the weird ones!’’

The old man nodded. ‘’Of course, of course.’’

His eyes going left and right, the old man put a hand around his cheek and whispered. ‘’Say, you want to help an old man now? Look how poor I am with these tattered robes. They are older than you, even!’’

‘’Are you going to cause trouble again? It is okay, you can tell me. I am an honest young man myself, don’t mind these wrinkles. Say, I’ll just bet a few thousand spirit stones. Pocket change! All for a bit of entertainment. You wouldn’t upset an old man, would you?’’

Li Ao’s face stiffened at the end.

‘...oh shit! My betting money!’

Li Ao ran back to the treatment room, made Master Jiao cough out his winnings, then sprinted back to the old man.

‘’Old man!’’ He whispered and put the pouch of two thousand mid-grade spirit stones in his hands. ‘’I will be perfectly normal!’’

‘’Bet these for me, will you?’’

The old man’s eyes glinted for a moment. Noticing it, Li Ao’s expression turned stern.

‘’I have ways to track you down—’’

‘’Hey, stop, stop with generic threats. I get it!’’ The old man cleared his throat. ’’I’ll consider it a favor owed, agreed?’’

‘’Sure!’’

Saying so, Li Ao rushed back to the rearranged stage a whole thirty minutes earlier, his stomach a bit unwell.

With a stomp he leaped up, smashed his feet at the center, and flicked his sleeve. Head high, eyes narrowed, a loud snort boomed out of his throat. With his improved voice cords, it battered against the ears of the chattering audience.

His abrupt action silenced the whole lot. All eyes turned to his heroic figure standing alone. Putting both hands behind him, Li Ao sighed. A wind picked up right then and ruffled his hair and robes.

Now, he was a matchless expert, alone for eternity to mediocre competition.

‘’Today, I will have a flawless win against my peers! Come and compete if you dare!’’

Or just a lunatic.

The crowd began to churn with comments and faint excitement.

‘’What is he doing there?’’

‘’Isn’t he a certified retard by this point? I think he is going to make a scene beforehand to scare his opponents!’’

‘’That must be it!’’ A young woman nodded. However, she had a strange look while speaking. ‘’But why does his hair fly around? I don’t feel any wind.’’

The old man that spoke with Li Ao was also in the center of the crowd. Eyes glinting, he pointed at Li Ao. ‘’Look at his back!’’

Looking behind him, everyone saw Li Ao make a small hand seal to control the ambient Qi. Weird expressions sprang up here and there, then grew larger until another uproar exploded.

‘’Where are the scammers!? Find them quick!’’

‘’We need to learn the rates!’’

‘’The better is there!’’

With shouts, the audience began to grow ever larger. The betters flailed their arms around the crowd, protecting themselves against the furious horde. A small stampede seemed to be on the horizon.

‘’PIPE DOWN!’’

An overbearing aura crashed onto the arena. Everyone froze where they stood, stiff, and beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.

‘’Xu Liao! Get your ass off the stage right fucking now!’’

Hearing Fan Yueyin’s shout, Li Ao dashed out and escaped into the treatment room. The door squeaked behind him, and the aura disappeared.

Upon the high seats, Fan Yueyin let out a soft cough. Ignoring the weird gazes on her, she raised Ren Shuren’s dark spear and nodded.

‘’Fourth-grade Earth Quality. The balance is exquisite, and its body is well-adjusted for an average man.’’

Her eyes lit up as she caressed the spear head. ’’He must have someone close in the military—his consideration shows within the design. It can be made into a mould for the Northern Military Resource Company to use.’’

With a flick of her sleeve, the spear lit up with designs of stars, emanating a holy aura. ’’If he is willing to show the drawing design and process, then make adjustments for female soldiers’ body type, I suggest the Imperial Family to buy it at an appropriate price.’’

The Imperial Ancestor nodded. He seemed pleased as well. ‘’Verdict?’’

She put down the spear and crossed her arms. ‘’Second place is his.’’

Qin Tangshou frowned. ‘’Jingpei’s longsword is not inferior to his spear. It can also be used by men and women without any adjustments. Furthermore, the five-color aura is toxic to both beasts and demons.’’

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Another forging master shook his head. At this stage, no one was afraid of giving their opinions for fairness’ sake.

At this moment, it was not about whose junior was better than the others’, nor was it about blood feuds formed between these people.

As pillars of their own forces, these old men and women wouldn’t hesitate to put aside everything in the face of survival.

‘’Grandmaster Qin, you need to understand that your disciple’s sword is too flashy. The rainbow-color is no different from a fire at night on the frontlines.’’

‘’I have to agree.’’ Sun Zhongyan shook his fan. ‘’Jingpei’s sword might even be a grade higher in quality.’’

Saying so, with a hand seal Su Jingpei’s sword appeared under his palm, revolving in bright colors.

‘’However, it can only be a luxury item or a personal sword. Men and women can indeed use the sword without adjustments; but it doesn’t mean it is suited for warfare. Shuren’s work is much more suitable to reproduce and distribute.’’

‘’Its hidden power is also effective on demons.’’ The Imperial Ancestor added. His eyes turned cloudy. ‘’I am of the mind to make it second place.’’

The discussion continued for another twenty minutes and the rankings were decided. For these masters of forging and warfare, the secrets of these juniors wasn’t anything grand.

The judge went off to return the equipment to their respective owners and began preparations of the third segment.

Of course, no one knew the current rankings. It would be announced in a week, where the Imperial Ancestor would welcome everyone in a banquet within his palace.

This also relieved the judge and the Imperial Ancestor from the burden of wrapping up the loose ends. With the amount of madness they saw within the first two rounds, the duo didn’t dare to underestimate Li Ao anymore.

Yet, to their surprise, the formation segment went...peaceful.

Too peaceful.

Li Ao, who acted high and mighty, seemed mute as he went on about constructing an illusion formation. Face still, sitting cross-legged, he kept drawing lines and placing formation flags around his assigned area.

It seemed to be a modified one—where he added certain portions of the Image Preserving Formation to the usual Illusion Formation to make himself disappear.

Even Sun Zhongyan couldn’t see through it without focusing his Divine Sense on his precise location, which spoke volumes about its potency.

The other twenty-some youths, as well as the three heaven’s children couldn’t compete with such mastery. They could only accept their defeat.

The audience couldn’t.

Wasn’t this guy so overbearing before they began?

It didn’t make sense for this fella to suddenly be obedient!

There had to be a reason—and indeed, those who had venom for blood managed to deduce the reason in a few minutes.

Another brawl broke out to beat up the betters who ‘rigged’ the competition, and the judge forced Li Ao out of the arena, foaming at the mouth.

Li Ao could only sigh and shake his head at this sight.

Even without acting, he could reduce the competition to chaos...

He waited an hour for the arena to be arranged and others to ascend for the Alchemy Competition. Then, hiding himself in a cloak, Li Ao ascended the stairs to the seats and approached the old man from before.

‘’Kiddo, you are incredible!’’ The old man shook his shoulders left and right. Li Ao found himself unable to resist his strong grip.

‘’Old man, calm down! Hush! Do you want to get beaten to death?’’

‘’Who is an old man!? You are the old man!’’ The old man snorted.

‘’Young man, just give me my money!’’

Snorting, the old man took out a small pouch and scratched his stubble. ‘’Check it.’’

‘’What is up with this size, you’re trying to...scam me?’’

It was not a normal pouch, but a spatial pouch.

Sweeping inside with his divine sense, Li Ao saw several hills of mid-grade spirit stones. Spiritual Qi swirled as a mist around these hills in sky blue color.

‘’Three, four, eight...ten thousand?’’

Li Ao gulped.

‘’Hehe, what do you think?’’

‘’Old master, let me worship you!’’

Li Ao was about to bow when a thought struck.

Wasn’t it his money that he bet? Why was he so thankful to this old man?

Rising up, Li Ao frowned. His stomach felt as if it pulled his entire body down. It was a gut feeling he was very much familiar with.

Hiding his expression, Li Ao waved his hand. The pouch disappeared into his spatial ring. ‘’Okay, old man. I’ll be taking my leave.’’

‘’Don’t forget about your favor!’’

‘’Of course, of course.’’ If they could ever meet again, of course Li Ao wouldn’t mind returning the favor.

Brushing shoulder and thigh while he made his way, Li Ao heard a few fellows beating their thighs.

Every few steps there was one of them, cursing or lamenting. Then there and here rose shouts, laughs, empty banal talk, or anything else one might wish or wish not to hear.

All of these conversations mixed into a mess of a net that was hard to pick apart.

But, Li Ao’s improved hearing picked up most of them. A particular one caught his attention.

‘’Fifty times the gain! Who bet on that retard acting normal?’’

‘’I am telling you, it was rigged from the start! That fellow must have been acting to get our money!’’

‘’Were the betters aware of it?’’

‘’How can they not be? Those scammers always profit the most.’’

‘’If you look in another way, it isn’t sane for them to suffer a beating every turn...’’

Though the people kept talking, Li Ao’s heart had already frozen. Eyes and cheeks twitching, he made a sharp turn and dashed through the crowd towards the old man.

‘’Fuck, where are you, you scammer!’’

His body a blur, he shot like lightning around the seats.

He rounded the crowd twice, stepped on people’s heads and crawled under the seats. Yet, the old man was nowhere to be seen.

‘Fifty times...’

‘’Fifty fucking times!’

‘My money!’

Heaving, exhausted from almost twenty hours of exertion, Li Ao collapsed on an empty seat. Sweat trickled down his nape, and his gut finally relaxed.

A vendor extended some water and crackers to him. After paying for them, Li Ao let out a sigh. His mind started to work again.

‘He is at least peak-Foundation Establishment.’

Though tired, Li Ao wasn’t so weak that any foundation establishment cultivator could shake him back and forth with ease.

As he munched and thought and watched his senior disciples concoct pills, Li Ao smiled.

A moment later, his eyes widened.

‘...did he toy with my cognition?’

Why was it that he felt grateful to that old man? Why did he entrust him with that huge amount of money in the first place?

What made him able to remember his existence, but not his face?

‘Did my instinct recognize the interference?’ That could be it, or that what it recognized wasn’t the interference, but the danger the old man presented.

If rational thought was a cultivator’s weapon, instinct was their shield. As such, many people considered Physique cultivators terrifying in most situations. So long as one held a malicious thought about them, Great Cultivators of Physique could sense it within a few dozen kilometers.

Their cultivation would boost that instinct, making it almost on par with a cultivator’s sixth sense. This kind of instinct didn’t help in divining the future or understanding the changes in the heavens.

It was purely geared for survival.

Li Ao also benefited from this fact, and understanding so, knew that the old man was a too dangerous opponent.

‘Who is he?’

He knew no clan within the Bai Dynasty capable of practicing mind arts.

By reasoning, no one should have the capacity to practice mind arts in this lesser world.

They didn’t have the required foundation to improve upon them. After all, Mind and Soul were domains of demons.

He didn’t question why this man approached him. He had no knowledge, after all, of his motives. Perhaps it was some rogue cultivator, or someone out of Bai Dynasty’s lands, wanting to make a downfall.

Though endless demons roamed outside Bai, wreaking havoc, the human spirit was enduring. There were always lights of civilization.

That could explain his mind arts as well.

Still, nothing was evident.

‘Troublesome.’ Gulping down the cup of water, Li Ao put it beside the seat and stood up. ‘And I owe him a favor.’

‘When will I learn my lesson?’

When he reached the stairs to the audience, Fan Yueyin sent a Qi Transmission.

Li Ao took a sudden turn and began ascending towards the higher seats. After a few minutes of climbing, he reached the large plaza where many nobles and masters sat next to each other.

He walked to the forefront, bowed to Fan Yueyin, then took a seat next to her.

One cheek resting on her fist, she cast a curious glance at him. ‘’Why were you running around the arena?’’

‘’...I got scammed.’’

‘’Serves you.’’ She smiled. ‘’How?’’

‘’...the guy messed with my cognition.’’

Frowning, Fan Yueyin placed her palm on his forehead. His eyes closed, a warmth spreading out of her hand, Li Ao yawned. His back settled onto the seat with a plop.

Fan Yueyin retracted her palm. ‘’There is nothing wrong.’’

‘’Is that so...’’

Li Ao hummed, then fell to sleep. His chest heaved back and forth. The pulsing of his heart boomed like a drum around him.

Frowning, Elder Wu spoke up then.‘’...will you not reconsider?’’

Fan Yueyin’s ring flashed with light as she shook her head. ‘’It is his fortune. He needs to make the choice.’’

Qin Tangshou barked with laughter. ‘’As his master, do you not even have a say on him, miss?’’

‘’I said my piece, old fogey. If you want to trade with his Divine Arts, then you need to pay something equal to it!’’ Here she cast a glare at Elder Wu. ‘’Do you think there is a world where people give away Divine arts for an insulting price!?’’

‘’If you wish to negotiate with my disciple, then bring your own Divine arts onto the table! Not some protection guarantee or shitty pills!’’

‘And it is a family art—’ Fan Yueyin thought. ‘Heavens know if he is qualified to trade it with anything.’

Still, it was better to make these unrelated parties run in circles for some time.

Closing her eyes, she turned her finger to the stage again. The orange gem began to flicker with white light.