Right after the burly expert declared the start of the duel, Bai Yuchen immediately rushed forward eagerly.

In contrast, Wei Ping moved to the side, attempting to circle around.

Bai Yuchen only smirked at the pathetic attempt to delay the inevitable and adjusted his course. His entire body began glowing as a layer of Qi enveloped him. Just as everyone thought he would take advantage of his ability to cloak himself in Qi and finish closing the distance, he suddenly punched out.

His fist hit only air, but a blast of Qi was instantly launched straight at the retreating Wei Ping. The short boy could only cross his arms to defend himself, as the attack had come too abruptly.

The Qi attack sent Wei Ping flying, landing on his back several feet away from the point of contact.

“You can still kowtow and call me grandfather if you prefer. Otherwise, prepare for some pain.” Bai Yuchen taunted as he closed in to finish the fight.

Wei Ping’s two friends debated stepping in and admitting defeat on behalf of their companion, but before they could speak up, the middle-aged man directed a pointed stare their way.

This gave Bai Yuchen the time to close the distance and complete his attack.

As his fist punched downward toward the struggling Wei Ping, the impact kicked up a cloud of dust.

“What?!” Bai Yuchen’s surprised voice could be heard, followed by a cry of pain.

Wei Ping had managed to evade the attack at the last second, allowing the punch to land on the ground. Taking advantage of his opponent’s assurance of his victory, Wei Ping executed a move he had once heard about.

He swiftly got up beside his assailant and unleashed a kick with all his might, aimed right between the legs of Bai Yuchen.

When the dust settled, the arrogant demonic cultivator was on the ground with both hands on his family jewels.

Seeing the scene, the spectators had different reactions.

Li Lang simply chuckled at having seen his friend replicate his own feat. Long Yi was struggling to contain his laughter. The burly expert simply shook his head in disappointment while the other disciples simply cried out in shock.

“The duel is over.” The burly man declared. “Young Master Bai, I hope you have learned a valuable lesson from this. We elders always tell you to keep up your defenses for a reason. Underestimating your opponent is the height of foolishness.”

The three boys nervously watched on as the expert went to pick up Bai Yuchen, who was still gasping for air. Thankfully, the older man didn’t spare them a glance as they began to walk away and was soon followed by the other disciples.

“Encounters like these were why I didn’t want to leave the city in the first place…” Long Yi muttered. “We were at that demonic cultivator’s mercy when we came out unprepared like this.”

“Running f-forever isn’t a s-solution. We n-need to take r-risks sometimes. Besides, b-boss had prepared s-some talismans in c-case of emergencies.” Wei Ping retorted.

“...You both have a point. While I’m more inclined to agree with the safer approach, there’s a limit to how safe we play it. Hopefully, we don’t have any more of these encounters, and if we do, then hope that the token that identifies us as part of The Orchid Covenant is enough to deter any malicious parties.” Li Lang added.

He had been right in that their tokens were what made the cultivators they had come across not take things too far. What they didn’t know was the exact reason. The tokens these organizations handed out could be tracked by senior members using secret techniques. This deterred many parties from scuffles when there wasn’t anything important at stake.

“But I got to say, you did pretty well. That attack was amazing!” Long Yi slapped Wei Ping’s back without restraint.

“I…I l-learned it from b-boss.”

Seeing the gaze from Long Yi, Li Lang shrugged as he kept moving.

“Whatever works, works.”

“Still, we need to train a lot harder to come up with other methods of fighting if we want to go far enough in the tournament to earn a spot in the pocket realm. As effective as that…attack is, I don’t think it’ll work after others have seen it being used. And not all cultivators are as careless as that last brat, directing all his Qi to attack.”

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“Directing all his Qi…While that may be foolish in the eyes of someone with talent like you, that actually might be something we should work on.” Li Lang said with a thoughtful look. “Wei Ping and I can’t output as much Qi quickly enough with our lower aptitude. I think it’s because of our lower amount of spiritual roots, but that’s a discussion for another time.”

“That may be true if you’re simply fighting your foes head-on without any techniques. There’s a reason why we’ve been studying various techniques. They’re better ways to break through an opponent’s defenses rather than just focusing all your Qi.”

If only I could test out all the different Qi arts and martial arts like I do with the pills and materials…Maybe I should try out some other measures of defense.

The conversation between the three boys was quickly cut short as they encountered another Stonesnout. They were still out in the open of an expanse area, so they couldn’t afford to let their guard down.

They didn’t hunt for that many more Qi beasts after the duel, as they wanted to ensure they were back in the city before night descended.

The trio soon settled into a routine where they would venture out once every week while they spent all the other time in the city to tend to their training and other matters.

Time flew by once they found their rhythm and soon, six months passed by quickly.

During this time, Li Lang continued to monitor their continuous use of the Cleansing Drug. As he had hoped, they were incurring fewer and fewer toxins when they cultivated for the same duration. It made him feel confident that his hypothesis of their spiritual roots strengthened with extended use to be correct! The only caveat was that the increase was slow, but it added up.

Besides the Cleansing Drug, Li Lang had also made use of the unique resources he found in his new place of residence. As Emberglow City was located underground, many types of minerals were available.

One particular material he found made him perform a quick experiment on its effectiveness in this world. From the floral samples he had taken in expansive zones, he found a few that were rich in sulfur compounds. Combined with sulfur in the markets, he was able to produce some hydrogen sulfide.

However, when he tested out the dangerous gas against Qi beasts, he found that they would instinctively protect themselves with a layer of Qi. He even attempted to test the hydrogen sulfide on himself and found he could flush it out of his systems by just coursing Qi through his body.

After several more experiments, he found that Qi protected against many mundane poisons and quickly shelved the idea for later. He believed he would need materials imbued with Qi in order to bypass this defense.

Directing his attention back to his cultivation and various techniques for the past half a year, it was finally time to show their results in the annual tournament held by The Orchid Covenant!

This organization owned a stadium just for this purpose. They sold out the tickets to this event very quickly and many businesses began setting up their stalls in and out of the premises as if it was a festival.

It was such a big event because it was one of the few that allowed anyone to spectate! While other official organizations would hold competitions for their disciples to keep them motivated, they wouldn’t allow outsiders to watch. It was the norm, as it would allow others to study their techniques and leak too much to potential nefarious parties.

The main reason The Orchid Covenant allowed this was because they didn’t have a set of cultivation techniques they needed to keep secret. Each faction or clique within the organization practiced its own techniques, sharing nothing in common. Combined with the fact their tournament only allowed for cultivators in the Energy Gathering realm, they turned the tournament into a public spectacle!

There were real benefits in doing so, as they also hosted the biggest gambling ring for the tournament. Not only did normal people bet on the event, but various members of every cultivator organization would often be seen betting as well.

As large crowds of people gathered at the stadium, Li Lang and his friends had just arrived in the waiting room for contestants. There weren’t only members of The Orchid Covenant here as the tournament was open to all. Normally, few members of other official cultivators attended, but numerous independent cultivators did.

However, this year, The Orchid Covenant had the opportunity to enter the famed pocket realm, The Great Trial of Water Crest as a prize. Many junior members of other organizations who weren’t confident in getting a quota in their own group even quit to join the event! This ballooned the number of independent cultivators participating.

Besides former members of other organizations, the other independent cultivators were all a threat as well. Many didn’t join organizations not because they were weak, but because they practiced strange techniques. They were unwilling to reveal their secret or simply had strange temperaments.

Thankfully, Li Lang’s group was participating in the youth section for people under the age of fifteen. The more eccentric cultivators were all older, and even if they had disciples, they wouldn’t be likely to have inherited their strange quirks.

“The first round of the annual Orchid tournament will be beginning. Please, all line up at the entrance and be prepared to have your bone age examined.” A loud voice declared as if it came from a loudspeaker.

“It’s starting…I’m getting a little nervous when there are this many people,” Long Yi muttered.

Wei Ping calmed and placed a hand on Long Yi’s shoulder.

“They s-should thin out a-after the first r-round.”

“How do you know?”

“Running a t-tournament with t-this many people isn’t e-easy. They’d w-would want to e-eliminate as m-many as they c-can in the f-first round.”

“Either way, we’ll all be aiming for the top sixteen. Let’s go,” Li Lang urged forth.

They soon made it onto a flat field in the middle of the stadium. It was much larger than anything Li Lang had seen in his previous life. The spectators’ stands were so tall and at such a sharp angle that it almost appeared to defy physics. However, Li Lang knew better than to believe in the rules of his old world with the wonders of cultivation present in this one. He knew that skilled Formation Masters were master architects who could easily create structures like these.

“First round, all of you will enter into the artifact space of Grand Elder Meng’s famed Ethereal Cauldron!”

Artifact space? …Just like Ruby?!