After Meng Jingzhou finished announcing the tournament rules, a dead silence fell over Luotian Forest. The crowd was like a pack of wolves in the dark of night, their gleaming green eyes fixed upon Lu Yang, who was tied to the chair.
Lu Yang's scalp tingled under their stares. Watching invitations drift into the Meng Family residence until they piled high across tables had been one thing, but having those invitations replaced by dense crowds of living, breathing people standing right in front of him was an entirely different story.
Master, just how many people did you offend in the Imperial City? You’re already in the Tribulation Transcendence stage—why haven't you rushed over to wipe out all these enemies yet?
In this perilous cultivation realm, only by striking decisively could one hope to preserve one's own life.
Perched in the treetop, Meng Jingyu had a platter to her left filled with fruit shipped from the East Sea and pastries from Tianxiang Restaurant, while to her right sat freshly squeezed juice made from fruit brought from the Demon Domain. All of this was her hard-earned payment for tying up Lu Yang, packing him into an exquisite box, and tossing him out at just the right moment.
Meng Jingyu watched the scene below with great relish. This was far more entertaining than cultivating or studying.
According to Brother, this will let me see how cultivators fight one another, which will be of great help to my future cultivation.
Even if Father asks, I can just say that practice yields true knowledge.
Thinking this, she happily continued watching. Doing something like this for the first time was thrilling.
"Lu Yang is right here, so why bother with some tournament? Everyone, charge together!" someone in the crowd shouted. He carried the hopes of his clan to wipe away their past humiliation, and had no patience for such dawdling.
"Lu Yang is my future elder brother! I dare anyone to lay a hand on him!" someone else shouted from the crowd. He, too, carried his clan's hopes—to take Lu Yang as his elder sworn brother and demote Daoist Buyu a generation below his own family.
"What kind of skill is swarming him all at once? That would be a hollow victory! Defeating Lu Yang in single combat is the only proper way!"
"Bullshit! You're in the Soul Formation stage—of course you have the nerve to talk about single combat! Why don't you suppress your cultivation to the Nascent Soul stage and try fighting Lu Yang then!"
"Quiet down, everyone quiet down." Meng Jingzhou had long anticipated this kind of chaos.
"If anyone dares to keep shouting, I will announce on behalf of the Meng Family that your clan is our best partner!"
With his hands clasped behind his back, Meng Jingzhou looked down at the crowd below the platform. Wherever his gaze landed, heads bowed in succession, no one daring to meet his eyes for fear of becoming a "partner" of the Meng Family.
"That's more like it. No more objections, right? If not, then get ready for the tournament."
In truth, the crowd was quite willing to have a tournament. The Imperial City was vast, and they rarely had an opportunity to gather together for one-on-one battles.
Those who dared to come challenge Lu Yang were confident in their own cultivation, not the type whose cultivation had been propped up entirely by jars of medicinal pills.
If they left the Imperial City and were placed into sects, they would be disciples on par with those from first-grade or even super-rank sects.
"Come, come, time to draw lots." Meng Jingzhou carried out a large box filled with numbered tags in pairs; those who drew matching tags would be opponents.
The box had also been treated to isolate divine sense, preventing any cheating through divine sense.
Following Meng Jingzhou's instructions, the young masters queued up obediently to draw lots, silently praying that they would draw a weaker opponent.
Some rejoiced while others fretted, and some possessed absolute confidence in their strength, sure they would not lose.
"Oh no, my opponent is Sun Chuanxian!" someone blanched, knowing full well it was impossible to defeat him.
Sun Chuanxian, son of the Minister of Works and one of the Four Young Masters of the Imperial City, was renowned for his martial prowess.
After taking his numbered tag, Sun Chuanxian did not even look at who his opponent was.
His entire cultivation had been achieved through diligent practice without the aid of pills. In terms of cultivation, few present were qualified to be his match. He firmly believed he would win until the very end and become Lu Yang's opponent!
"An Nan'er came too?"
Yet another unfortunate cultivator had drawn one of the select few with the strongest cultivation among their peers in the Imperial City.
An Nan'er was the granddaughter of the Duke of the Realm. Legend had it that an anomaly had manifested at her birth; had the Duke not intervened, the entire Imperial City might have been engulfed by the vision.
Besides them, there was Luo Wushuang, son of the Minister of War, hailed as peerless and unmatched, accomplished in both civil and martial spheres; and Zhong Yi, son of the Secretariat Director, a man of meticulous scheming who, it was said, had never failed to get anything he desired.
Sun Chuanxian's match concluded swiftly. Condensing a dragon of frost, Sun Chuanxian exhaled a blast of dragon breath that froze his opponent into a solid block of ice, then tossed him right out of the arena.
Ning Fan, son of the Censor-in-Chief, watched Sun Chuanxian fight so cleanly and decisively, then looked up toward the sky. At this rate, he doubted he could make it to the end.
Leaving aside the grand prize of Lu Yang, Sun Chuanxian had bullied him several times in the past relying on his superior combat skills. Ning Fan dearly wanted to defeat Sun Chuanxian, but alas, his strength did not permit it.
"Ning Fan, want to win?" Meng Jingzhou quietly slipped up beside Ning Fan, smiling broadly.
"What guidance do you have, Eldest Young Master Meng?"
"I wouldn't dare call it guidance, but I have a little trinket here that might just help."
"What kind of trinket?"
Meng Jingzhou produced a small wooden puppet from behind his back. It was three inches tall, unpolished, and lacked even a painted face, looking exceedingly crude.
"I just plucked this puppet from a tree.
"In your upcoming match against Sun Chuanxian, you won't need to lift a finger. Just toss this puppet out, and it'll fight on your behalf. It can display cultivation comparable to your own, and it doesn't break any rules. Well? Interested?"
"There's something this good?" Ning Fan was overjoyed.
"Five hundred thousand spirit stones for a single rental."
"That expensive?" Ning Fan was taken aback. Unlike Li Zhuo, his upbringing was exceptionally strict, and he did not possess that many spirit stones.
"Then that's perfect—we also offer lending services." This was the Meng Family's bread and butter. Meng Jingzhou practicedly produced a pouch full of storage rings packed with high-grade spirit stones, along with a loan contract.
"For old times' sake, the annual interest is only ten percent. Not much, right?"
"This..."
"Come on, you're right on the verge of breaking through to the Soul Formation stage. Once you reach Soul Formation, how could you possibly lack five hundred thousand?" Meng Jingzhou was not scamming him; upon reaching the Soul Formation stage, their families would always bestow rewards, at least five hundred thousand.
"Deal!" Ning Fan gritted his teeth, borrowed five hundred thousand from Meng Jingzhou, and handed the five hundred thousand right back to Meng Jingzhou to rent the wooden puppet.
"Can this thing really fight?" Ning Fan held up the little wooden puppet and looked at it suspiciously, not sensing anything extraordinary about it.
"What are you saying? My reputation might not be great, but I, Meng Jingzhou, have never sold fake goods."
Ning Fan thought back. That was actually true.
Soon, the first round concluded, and it was time for Ning Fan's match against Sun Chuanxian.
Knowing how formidable Sun Chuanxian was, none in the audience held any hope for Ning Fan.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the match began, Ning Fan did not cast any spell for offense or defense. Instead, he tossed out a small wooden puppet.
The three-inch wooden puppet brandished a wooden sword, uttering "hei hei ha ha" shouts as if trying to intimidate Sun Chuanxian.
Sun Chuanxian burst out laughing at the sight, thoroughly dismissive.
Suddenly, the little wooden puppet slashed out a terrifying streak of sword qi. Alarmed, Sun Chuanxian leapt backward while raising an ice dragon to block, narrowly avoiding injury.
Now facing a formidable foe, Sun Chuanxian assumed a battle stance, no longer daring to underestimate the little wooden puppet.
On the platform, Lu Yang was earnestly controlling the little wooden puppet in battle against Sun Chuanxian.
This little wooden puppet was something Lu Yang had created using a wood clone combined with Shrinking the Earth to Inches. Lu Yang figured that as such a grand prize, making a little extra cash on the side wasn't out of line, so he had schemed with Meng Jingzhou to pull off this stunt.
Sun Chuanxian got his wish to fight him.
Ning Fan could defeat Sun Chuanxian.
Lu Yang earned five hundred thousand spirit stones by renting himself out.
Meng Jingzhou gained a promissory note for five hundred thousand.
It was a quadruple win.
Chapter 910