Elder Yun, an esteemed member of Nightmoon Valley, stared at her counterpart from the Drenched Earth sect with a pleasant smile on her face.

“Elder Ji, I understand your concerns and how your Drenched Earth Sect may have gotten used to overseeing the pocket realm, but things have changed. The Great Trial of Water Crest is now under my valley’s control. We owe you nothing. Nevertheless, we have decided to continue sharing the benefits of the pocket realm with you. Please do not mistake our kindness for submissiveness.”

“I apologize,” the Drenched Earth Sect elder said. “I didn’t mean to come across as being ungrateful. It’s just that I’m particularly concerned about what’s good for the entire Luminescent Domain. You must understand that there are numerous diamonds in the rough hiding all around. Gui Tianzi from the Eroding March Pavillion is exactly one such case in recent times. I believe that allowing various organizations to station observers here can keep things transparent, preventing things like nepotism from festering.”

Elder Ji made no attempts to hide his scheme of inciting the crowd to be on his side. He wanted to stoke the fear of Nightmoon Valley monopolizing the pocket realm, and thus depriving them of benefits.

“You can say what you want, but our valley has already made a decision. If you want to protest that, then please head to Nightshade Valley to speak with our Valley Master.”

Hearing those words, Elder Ji didn’t react at all and simply looked on with a casual demeanor. The reason for that quickly unfolded as a young man appeared by Elder Ji’s side.

“If you esteemed seniors are done talking, then please allow me to indulge in a casual sparring session. I, Xin Dou, of the Drenched Earth Sect, would like to challenge Lady Sima Xue to a friendly duel!”

The abrupt change in topic caused the crowd to be taken aback. This was doubly so for Li Lang’s group, as the person who had been called out was standing right next to them.

“That brat dares to challenge us with force after failing to get their way?” Sima Xue cried out. “I’ll be happy to teach him a lesson.”

“Now, now, Junior Sister. You can hardly call him a brat. He’s a full generation older than you. Just let Elder Yun handle this.”

“Senior Jian, you’re the one that’s been saying a few years is no longer significant after having reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. This Xin Dou can hardly be regarded as my senior."

“That—”

Not able to find the words to stop his junior sister, Jian Beiyun watched on as Sima Xue flew over to answer the challenge. Despite there being many demerits for someone of her calibre to be seen fighting so publicly, it also had its upsides as well.

As one of the most famous cultivators within Nightmoon Valley, being able to display her power was good for both her and the organization overall. Cultivators only listened to those with strength. The less you exercised it, the easier it was for people to start getting ideas.

In the end, Jian Beiyun relented and chose not to intervene.

“Are you sure you’ll just let her go fight in the duel?” Li Lang asked. “Isn’t that just doing what they want?”

“Maybe, but this experience will allow my junior sister to receive some much-needed tempering. She is still too green when it comes to real combat. It’ll do her good to fight earnestly with someone in the same realm as her. Otherwise, things will only get harder for her when it comes time for the Dark Sea Arena.”

The young Nightmoon Valley prodigy soon arrived before Elder Yun and came face to face with her challenger.

Xin Dou grinned upon seeing her.

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“Thank you for accepting my challenge, Lady Sima. I’ve been wanting to fight you ever since I heard about your breakthrough. To think you’ve grown up so much since our last meeting.”

“I don’t remember you at all, nor am I interested in holding a conversation with you. You called me out to fight, not to talk, so let’s fight.”

“That’s unfortunate, but there’s no need to be in such a hurry, Lady Sima. What fun will it be if we just began like that?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“How about a wager to spice up the fight some more? If I win, I would like a few extra quotas for the pocket realm if that’s okay.”

“And if you lose?”

“I’ll give you all my belongings within my space ring. I happen to just have gotten some valuable Earth-grade and even some Saint-grade materials.”

Sima Xue never cared about the details of the bet. To her, it was a win that the duel was happening at all. It gave her an excuse to put the person antagonizing her organization in their place. That was all she needed.

“Hmph, very well, then. If you’re that eager to give me free things, I won’t stop you.”

With that, the two demonic cultivators flew higher to create enough space between their battle and the spectators.

The two stared at each other while hovering high in the skies. It was as if they were waiting for a signal to start the duel, but one would never come. Informal duels didn’t have referees or any arbiter, as it was no different from a life-and-death battle out in the wild. The only thing they needed were witnesses, and of that they had plenty. The fight had already begun the moment they acknowledged each other.

While their standoff seemed boring, all the experts in the crowd watched in amusement. It was during these brief moments during the beginning of duels that was especially telling about the cultivators.

The way they shifted their body, positioned their hands, or even how much distance they kept, all contributed toward painting the larger picture. To most cultivators, it was these details that they tried to perfect. It allowed them to start the fight in a more advantageous position or force it to progress in a certain way of their choosing. It could be compared to chess openings that chess players studied.

However, all these high-level combat concepts completely went over Li Lang’s head. As someone who wasn’t interested in combat, Li Lang wasn’t too mindful about these details. His priority of concerns went from surviving to possible retreat routes, and then to ways to make his opponent’s life harder. Only after that came ways to defeat his foes unless something related to his research was on the line.

He had none of the thirst to vanquish strong foes and prove himself powerful to anyone.

As he craned his neck up to spectate the battle, he couldn’t help but glance over toward the Crucible. He was excited to return after such a long time to visit the three artifact spirits. It was the perfect place to cultivate undisturbed, so he planned to challenge his breakthrough there. His students could all do the same. After all, people would sooner or later find out all his students had progressed at blazing speeds. Moving forward, they needed the protection and privacy of the pocket realm.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light drew his attention back to the duel. He glanced up to find Sima Xue had drawn her sword, and that sword was glowing brightly, like a star!

One moment, they were hovering in the air. The next moment, Sima Xue charged in with her bright sword drawn. Then, the surroundings seemed to have changed abruptly as the light vanished. A large chunk of space above the teahouse has been enveloped by a dome of darkness!

Before Li Lang could make sense of what happened, he heard Jian Beiyun sigh wistfully behind him.

“That girl. How can she be this inconsiderate with so many people here? She has forced Elder Yun’s hand,” the Nightmoon Valley disciple said, as he shook his head in disapproval.

“What do you mean?” Li Lang asked. “What’s happening up there?”

“Don’t worry. Our elder simply cast a Qi art to isolate them from the rest of us. “

“But then we won’t be able to see anything,” Li Lang said with a frown.

He was looking forward to spectating more fights at the Foundation Establishment Realm. He had too little information about combat at that level. While he had experienced such ordeals before, it became the exact reason he wanted to learn more about such high-level combat. It would prepare him for the future, so he wouldn’t have to struggle as much the next time.

“That’s the point. That girl went ahead and used one of the techniques our organization would rather not openly display, and it just happens there are numerous independent cultivators here. Once anything becomes known to them, who knows how far they’ll spread that information?”

“Well, many of them are travelers, I guess.”

“Forget about this silly fight. Let us go prepare for what is to come. Elder Yun and Little Xue can handle the rest.”

“Of course.”