Chapter 52: Observing the Battle

The matches proceeded without suspense. Qiu Feng and his father-in-law advanced steadily, cutting down one opponent after another with their swords and easily entering the seventh round. Even his Sixth Uncle had surprisingly good luck; every opponent he faced was weaker than him, or he would simply have no opponent at all, allowing him to advance to the seventh round through the incredible arrangements of fate.

Since the second round involved head-to-head combat and there were five hundred participants, a lone contestant was inevitably left over starting from the third round. According to the rules, this lone contestant would automatically advance. It must be said that Sixth Uncle’s luck was extraordinarily good; he had managed to draw the "bye" card twice in a row, leaving him grinning from ear to ear.

Li Chengzhu would rather believe that someone had tampered with the draw than believe in the so-called workings of fate.

By the start of the seventh round, only sixteen out of the two thousand original participants remained. Every one of these sixteen was either the leader of a sect or a powerful individual in the cultivation world. They stood at the very pinnacle of the pyramid, just a step away from immortality.

Among the sixteen, only one was at the mid-stage of the Mahayana realm; the other fifteen were all at the late stage. It seemed that Qiu Feng’s remark—that without true strength, even having an immortal artifact in hand wouldn't allow one to display full power—was indeed correct.

During these past two months, aside from occasionally visiting Qiu Feng’s room to drink with him, boost his morale, and offer encouragement, Boss Li had spent his time hiding inside the Blood Jade Ring, practicing the absorption of elemental spiritual energy as suggested by Kebar.

If it were merely a matter of sensing the energy, Li Chengzhu might not have been so frustrated. When casting elemental spells, the corresponding spiritual energy would naturally gather around his body—for instance, when using a creation spell, wood-elemental energy would naturally converge. But what Li Chengzhu needed to do now was to sense the five-elemental spiritual energy already absorbed into his body and distinguish their differences.

It was like drinking a bowl of porridge and trying to distinguish which grains were Northeast rice and which were hybrid rice. This delicate work was driving Li Chengzhu mad.

On another note, when Gu Linglong and Xiao Ying discovered that the Blood Jade Ring could actually hold people, they were both dumbfounded and marveled at the wonder of it. Xiao Ying was even more eager to jump inside and take a look.

However, these requests were sternly refused by Li Chengzhu. There were two Nascent Souls inside; it might be fine if Xiao Ying saw them, but if Gu Linglong caught sight of them, Xia Mai and Kebar would surely be begging Boss Li to release them. Boss Li would never engage in a losing business deal. Therefore, even though his two wives sensed something suspicious in his words, they lacked the method to open the ring and had to let it be.

Entrusting the Blood Jade Ring to Gu Linglong was safer than leaving it with the little one, so Li Chengzhu kept his peace of mind while staying inside, conversing with Kebar and learning knowledge he had previously lacked.

The seventh round finally began, and Li Chengzhu exited the Blood Jade Ring.

According to his expectations, Qiu Feng should start encountering strong enemies from this round onwards. Not to mention his father-in-law, whose Hehuan Bell was a fifth-grade immortal artifact and the treasure of the Hehuan Sect, capable of enchanting others. The previous night, Li Chengzhu had dug the secrets of the bell out of Xiao Ying and presented this intelligence to Qiu Feng, effectively switching sides. Boss Li was still harboring a grudge against his father-in-law for using Xiao Ying and her unborn child to coerce him into sabotaging Qiu Feng earlier.

There were others, too; even his Sixth Uncle was no pushover. After all, he had constantly challenged his master back at the Illusion Sword Sect. Before the match began, a wicked thought crossed Boss Li’s mind: if Qiu Feng and his father-in-law were to clash, hehe, that would be truly amusing.

Since only sixteen people remained, there were eight pairs. The central arena finally revealed its immense scale. The area, spanning a hundred miles, was divided into eight zones, and the contestants stood in their designated areas.

To Li Chengzhu’s disappointment, the three people he knew did not end up facing each other; each had a different opponent. What excited him, however, was that his father-in-law’s opponent was a woman. Among the sixteen, only three were women, and his father-in-law had managed to draw one. Given the fame of the Hehuan Sect leader, taming a woman should be a simple matter.

Li Chengzhu looked left and right, cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, pinched his throat, and channeled his spiritual energy to amplify his voice: "Sect Leader Xiao, take her down! Use the Rain-Covering and Cloud-Turning Technique, the Lust-Fire Burning Body Art! Give us a live performance, we support you!"

As soon as he shouted this, the entire arena erupted in laughter. Xiao Changchuan stood on the platform, his face turning from blue to purple. He glared at the crowd below but couldn't find the culprit, looking thoroughly embarrassed. Even the woman on the platform blushed deeply, bowing her head.

Xiao Ying pinched Li Chengzhu’s waist while he kept his head low to avoid her father’s search, teeth gritted: "That’s my father."

Gu Linglong covered her mouth and chuckled: "He’s just like this, always afraid the world isn't chaotic enough."

Boss Li snickered underneath; seeing his father-in-law’s expression was truly refreshing, venting the frustration he had been holding in.

***

While he was still contemplating how to mess with his father-in-law, his neck tightened. A soft sensation enveloped the back of his neck as he was lifted into the air, accompanied by an intoxicating fragrance. It wasn't the scent of Gu Linglong or little Xiao Ying.

Boss Li turned his head immediately and met the smiling, beautiful eyes of his grand-uncle-master.

"Grand-uncle-master?" Boss Li forced a dry laugh. He was no longer a child, and being held like this was quite humiliating, but due to her seniority, he couldn't resist. He shot frantic glances at his two wives.

"Kid, you’ve got some nerve," the beautiful grand-uncle-master said with that same smile. "If your father-in-law knew you were mocking him like that, I imagine you’d be in for a rough time later."

"Just a joke, hehe," Boss Li felt completely uneasy.

"Greetings, Grand-uncle-master," Gu Linglong stood up, displaying the grace of a noblewoman. Yuan Mu and Yu Chun, standing nearby, also bowed slightly. However, Li Chengzhu noticed a hint of schadenfreude in Yuan Mu’s expression.

"Hmph," Xiao Ying, still holding a bad impression of this beautiful grand-uncle-master, snorted and turned away.

"Well, everyone sit down, don't block others' view," Wu smiled slightly, set Li Chengzhu on the ground, and patted his head as if he were a child. Boss Li’s face turned bright red. Xiao Ying pouted in jealousy; she hadn't even touched her husband’s head like that herself, and she secretly decided to touch it as much as she wanted when they went back.

"Grand-uncle-master, what brings you here..." Boss Li asked, looking puzzled.

"Watching Sixth Uncle’s match," Wu rolled her eyes, walked over to Xiao Ying, leaned down, and whispered, "Little girl, how about giving me a seat?"

Xiao Ying glared at her fiercely and was about to refuse when Gu Linglong, on the other side of Li Chengzhu, spoke up: "Grand-uncle-master, come sit here."

Xiao Ying smiled faintly: "Oh, it's alright, Sister. It’s my honor to give up my seat to Grand-uncle-master." She stood up.

Watching Xiao Ying’s gritted-teeth expression, Boss Li broke into a cold sweat, especially since she emphasized the word "Grand" with such intensity.

Wu didn't care at all. She patted Xiao Ying’s cheek playfully: "Thank you. Grand-uncle-master will buy you some candied hawthorns later."

Xiao Ying’s body shuddered, nearly fuming with rage. Boss Li watched the two of them engage in their subtle war with amusement.

"No need, my husband has plenty," Xiao Ying turned, plopped herself onto Li Chengzhu’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and cast a sidelong glance at Wu.

Li Chengzhu smiled bitterly and pulled a candied hawthorn from his ring. Xiao Ying had been craving sour things more and more lately—candied hawthorns, immortal oranges, bodhi fruits. Her greedy way of eating made Li Chengzhu’s stomach churn. He had bought a lot of sour snacks, and while Gu Linglong couldn't stand them after one bite, Xiao Ying ate them with gusto, occasionally making crunching sounds.

To break the awkwardness, Li Chengzhu tilted his head and asked Wu: "Where is Grandmaster? Why haven't I seen him today?"

Wu finally shifted her gaze from the platform. Her expression settled: "Your Grandmaster said Sixth Uncle has no hope, so he went off on a journey to cultivate on his own."

"Then why are you staying here?" Boss Li asked, just to keep the conversation going.

"Me..." Wu paused, then smiled, "Can't I stay here to watch over you? To keep you from ruining any more young girls?"

The hostility in Xiao Ying’s eyes grew even more intense. Boss Li gave an awkward laugh, touched his nose, and said nothing more.

Wu stared at Xiao Ying and continued smiling: "Little girl, don't curse me in your heart."

***

Xiao Ying’s body trembled. Li Chengzhu suddenly remembered that the beautiful grand-uncle-master possessed the ability to read minds. He quickly whispered something into Xiao Ying’s ear. Xiao Ying glared at Wu fiercely, then turned to discuss something with Gu Linglong.

Wu smiled faintly and turned her gaze back to the platform, her eyes filled with a unique tenderness and helplessness.

On the platform, the eight pairs of contestants were ready. Qiu Feng’s cool demeanor and the immense strength he displayed drew much attention. After all, he was in the top three of the previous competition—though there was some luck involved back then—but after a hundred years of cultivation and the aid of an immortal artifact, he was highly likely to take first place this time.

Bored, Li Chengzhu asked the beautiful grand-uncle-master: "Grand-uncle-master, I always feel this competition is very unfair."

"What’s unfair about it?" Wu smiled lightly without looking away from the platform.

"For example, if someone had a full set of defensive immortal artifacts, like the protective shield of the Blood Jade Ring, that would automatically defend against danger without needing the user’s spiritual energy—who could defeat them?" Li Chengzhu weighed his words.

Wu frowned slightly, a faint red flush appearing on her face. Without turning, she replied: "Not to mention whether a cultivator could even possess so many defensive immortal artifacts, even if they did, they would still be defeated if they lacked true strength. You would just need to break through their defensive artifacts. Take you and me, for instance; even if you wore dozens of defensive artifacts, you wouldn't be able to stop my attacks."

Li Chengzhu touched his nose awkwardly, thinking to himself that the immortal he killed last time probably wouldn't have had much of a chance against her either, but he said aloud: "That’s the unfair part. Even so, cultivators with strong backing or connections still have a huge advantage; those defensive artifacts can drain an opponent’s strength."

"Hehe." The beautiful grand-uncle-master’s face turned even redder. Staring fixedly at the platform, she said: "Quality over quantity. Besides, this competition only allows contestants to use fewer than three immortal artifacts. The situation you described cannot happen on the stage."

"There’s such a rule?" Li Chengzhu was stunned.

"Yes," Wu nodded. "When registering, the Immortal Realm listed the immortal artifacts each contestant would use. Using any additional artifacts would result in disqualification."

"I see." Li Chengzhu nodded. Qiu Feng probably only had two immortal artifacts—a sword and the Nine Heavens Great Luo Cauldron—though he had never seen him use the sword.

Li Chengzhu suddenly thought of another possibility: in the wild, if one encountered enemies with plenty of defensive or offensive immortal artifacts, the situation would be completely uncontrollable. Cold sweat broke out on his back—if the people sent to intercept the Rainbow City combat team had carried a large number of immortal artifacts, they would have been reduced to nothing by now.

Fortunately, immortal artifacts were not easy to refine. Even with the strength, without a good refining technique, one couldn't produce high-grade immortal artifacts.

The breathing of Xiao Ying in his arms grew heavier. Li Chengzhu lifted his head in slight confusion; Xiao Ying was already bright red, biting tightly onto the candied hawthorn without chewing, her eyes closed, leaning against his shoulder.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Boss Li asked suspiciously.

Xiao Ying shook her head.

Wu was also bright red at this moment, secretly cursing this grand-nephew for being just like his master. She reminded him: "Take your big hand away and she will be fine."

"Huh?" Li Chengzhu was startled, then realized his hand had somehow slipped into Xiao Ying’s dress, kneading those two large mounds. Boss Li’s face turned red, and he awkwardly withdrew his hand, laughing it off: "Habit, hehe."

Only then did Wu turn to glare at him.

Li Chengzhu gave a dry laugh, thinking to himself that fortunately, Xiao Ying was sitting on his lap facing him, and his large white robes covered everything; no one else could see. Only the beautiful grand-uncle-master sitting close by could see. No wonder her face had been flushed since a moment ago—she had been peeking into Xiao Ying’s mind the whole time!

Looking at Xiao Ying again, she had a playful smile on her face, looking like a conspirator. Li Chengzhu suddenly realized: Xiao Ying had definitely done this on purpose. Even if he had kneaded her like this before, she wouldn't have been this excited. She must have known the grand-uncle-master was peeking and decided to fill her head with messy, chaotic thoughts to "pollute" the grand-uncle-master’s mind.

Women! Li Chengzhu sighed. As long as Xiao Ying didn't imagine him naked and have the grand-uncle-master see it, it would be fine.