Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

‘Big Brother Shou?’

It was not until the incident at the banquet that Su Qianqian started to take notice of her surroundings.

With a glance, she spotted a familiar figure.

Su Qianqian was caught off guard.

She was aware of Xu Xiaoshou’s background. He was neither a strong force in Tiansang City nor was he a member of other regions’ families, so how did he appear at the banquet?

Not only was he there, but he had also caused a ruckus.

‘Did he do that for me?’

If the opposing force was not the Qiu family, she would not have thought much about it.

The round of teasing and mockery was targeted at Elder Qiu, who was a known enemy of the Su family. He had publicly declared the Su family’s unfortunate state.

She could not believe that someone like him, along with his disciples, was booted out of the venue by Xu Xiaoshou.

However, Su Qianqian was not pleased by Xu Xiaoshou’s actions.

Instead, as she looked at Xu Xiaoshou from afar, her eyes filled with worry.

Her attendance at the banquet reflected her will to avoid humiliation for the sake of adding a handful more quota slots for her family.

Although the elders of the Su family were in a considerably desolate state, the younger generation did not falter.

On the contrary, hatred and vengefulness had become their motivating force to push on. Each of their fighting spirits was soaring and burning bright.

All of them wanted a chance to be in White Cave and boost their personal growth.

Her role in this process was only to take over the position of the elders in her family and attend the banquet in their place.

One person to resist was enough.

If Xu Xiaoshou wanted to help, even if he had succeeded the first time, he would not have been able to withstand all the attacks that would follow.

He was only at Origin Court Stage, so his intent to help her was already enough.

‘You’re a fool, Big Brother Shou.’

…

The Night Guardian smiled as he studied Xu Xiaoshou’s face full of shock. He knew the young man would be an unpredictable menace.

There were few of the young generation that stood out to him in this banquet.

Xu Xiaoshou was one of them.

The others had missed the precise details of what had occurred, but he was on constant high alert and had witnessed the entire conflict with his spiritual senses. Naturally, he knew that Xu Xiaoshou had brought the problem onto himself.

‘Only at the Master Stage, yet he could send an enemy who punched him flying.’

The Nigh Guardian was slightly taken aback.

It appeared that the Xu Xiaoshou Master Level skills were not as straightforward as he thought.

He did not care for Qiu Dejian. His condition was none of his worries.

On the other hand, as he had encountered Xu Xiaoshou before, he had a sense of attachment in his heart for him.

Therefore, his previous opinion of Xu Xiaoshou greatly influenced his partiality for him now.

‘This young man has potential. With a bit more training, he could become a notorious and powerful existence.’

As he was thinking to himself, his eyes suddenly caught Su Qianqian, who had been sitting with her head down, rising from her chair. Her eyes showed a hint of worry.

He was an old man with much knowledge of the world. He recalled the previous behavior of the Qiu family and gathered a gist of the situation.

‘Aren’t they being too hotheaded?’

He took a look at Fu Xing. The man’s expression was stormy.

He may have been Xu Xiaoshou, but his recklessness and lack of self-awareness would have made it difficult for anyone to carry on and hold their pride.

If Su Qianqian decided to join in now, there was a possibility that the two talents he had set his sights on would be kicked out of the venue.

Su Qianqian was another one that he had picked out from the crowd.

The young lady had stuck out like a sore thumb.

Though it might not have been apparent to others, to Night Guardian, the master swordsman energy that Su Qianqian emitted was overwhelming.

She had clearly broken through and passed the threshold of the Master Stage recently. That presence was difficult to conceal.

To have accomplished so much at such a young age, she had talent that rivaled that of Xu Xiaoshou.

It was hard to believe that there were these potentials of excellence in a small prefecture like Tiansang City.

He had arrived to pass on the news but he had walked away with many new talented individuals for the future.

The Night Guardian was unwilling to watch the two ruin their opportunities. He stood up and spoke before Su Qianqian could. “Nephew Fu, I sensed that the young men could barely contain themselves if they could not wait a minute more…”

“How about we skip the words and start fighting?”

His words carried a tone similar to that of Xu Xiaoshou’s words. The attendees listened speechlessly.

“What a coincidence. I was looking for young talents right now. I wonder if there are any hidden here in Tiansang Prefecture?” The Night Guardian smiled as he spoke.

Those very words had opened the floodgates and unleashed a tsunami of conversations into the banquet hall.

The elders of the respective families took a moment to recover from the words. When they did, their eyes were glowing with glee.

They wondered if the Red Coat had subtly hinted at his intention to take apprentices.

It would bring the highest honor and power to the family If any of the young disciples from their family were selected by the Holy Divine Palace.

“Elder Red Coat has a point. It is getting late. We should quickly settle the final quota for White Cave. I believe everyone here is itching with anticipation.”

A voice sounded off in agreement, and it was a truth all could believe. The patience of the men who were on the giant Competition Platform had begun to wear thin.

Fu Xing was unwilling to waste more energy on Xu Xiaoshou, so he took the opportunity given to him by the Night Guardian.

“Good, now that we have all been worked up, and the rules have more or less been announced…”

“From now on, I declare the official start of the White Cave quota competition!”

The young people were buzzing with excitement.

The tense atmosphere from Xu Xiaoshou’s antics ignited excitement once again.

“Look here, look here, it’s my turn to shine!”

“Ha-ha, the Qiu family should’ve had held back. It was good they moved early. We have one less enemy to bother with, and it gave us an upper hand too!”

“Otherwise, we would have spent even more time talking about the closing of White Cave when we could have saved this thought for later. What a waste of time…”

Fu Xing’s expression remained unchanged as he listened to the discussions.

If he was standing on the Competition Platform now, he would have been rather annoyed at the nagging and tacky crowd.

However, as they stood on different ground, he had to clarify certain rules beforehand.

“Let’s start. The first round will be a spiritual cultivation battle.”

“Aside from the Four Big Families decided by Tiansang City to remain until the last round, others can feel free to compete!”

Fu Xing reached within his robes and pulled out a command token. As he injected his spiritual source into it, the side of the competition stage began to tremble with loud hums.

The people on the stage parted. Three elevated platforms arose from the center. The platforms shimmered under the glow of the night pearl.

“The 25 White Cave quotas for Way of Spiritual Cultivation will be decided on these three elevated platforms.”

“The rules are simple. It will be a round-robin tournament.”

“Those who maintain their platform territory for 10 rounds of challenge will obtain a White Cave quota for their family. There are no other rules.”

The harsh rules left Xu Xiaoshou stunned.

Ten rounds of challenge.

Aside from him, who else would be able to withstand that?

It would have been impossible even if they had elixirs with them.

If one had been victorious in nine of the challenges, should they face any shortage of spiritual source in the middle of the battle, the nine victories would be for naught.

Ultimately, the winner would only obtain one White Cave quota after all the bloodshed and battle.

Moreover, as the masses had briefly observed, there were only 800 to 900 young men at the venue.

The tournament had extremely harsh rules.

“Ten battles in a round-robin…”

A few of the disciples from smaller families lost all the hope in their eyes.

There were around 800 to 900 of them, which was around the power of 200 to 300 families. To claim the 25 quota slots, they had to account for others who might obstruct them midway.

They feared they would become collateral damage in the battle and be used by the larger families as a means of meeting the numbers.

Some had despaired about the rules while others were buzzing with anticipation.

Many had spent years preparing for this moment. They were determined to give it their all and show off their might.

Ten rounds?

Ten rounds were nothing to them. If the rules had stated for them to fight one to 10, they would have participated in the competition anyway.

Fu Xing glanced over the men who were gearing up for the battle. He felt the spirit for battle build up within himself as well.

His battle had to be reserved for the finale, so he had to suppress his excitement.

“One more thing.”

Fu Xing turned to the three swordsmen who were brimming with fighting spirit. “Only Spiritual Array Casters can participate in the battle of Art of Spiritual Array. If your skills are that of ancient swordsmanship only, please refrain from participating.”

“The next round will be purely for the Way of the Sword and Sword Will.”

Gu Qingyi nodded in acknowledgment. With two kicks from each foot, he pulled his two brother disciples back down into their seats.

“Of course.”

Fu Xing smiled.

“Let’s begin the battle! Pick your challenge!”

With sounds of air being cut through, a few people had flown and landed on the elevated platform.

Xu Xiaoshou decided to return to his seat next to Mu Zixi. He had at least understood the dangers of rushing into a situation.

Moreover, he lacked knowledge about the powers of the younger generation in the Tiansang prefecture, so it was wise for him to sit back and observe.

Unsurprisingly, he could not identify any of the three men on the elevated platform.

The three men had glared at him with enough wrath in their eyes to cause an explosion.

“Xu Xiaoshou, come and accept your fate!”

“Move, I’m after his head! He’s mine!”

“Nonsense, I have an unsettled debt with him! You can wait and let me take him first!”

The three had started to quarrel on the platforms.

Xu Xiaoshou was flabbergasted.

“Since when did I have this many enemies? How come I don’t know any of them?”

Mu Zixi blinked.

“Why are you surprised? I thought this was rather normal.”

This was not normal at all.

Xu Xiaoshou opened his eyes bigger to take a closer look. The more he looked, the more these men did not resemble the people from his enemies’ families.

These men were clearly normal disciples from the families in the prefecture.

“Confused?”

A laugh came from behind him. As Xu Xiaoshou turned, he came face to face with Qiu Qing-er, who he had met earlier on.

Qu Qing-er continued with a smile, “Everyone here is trying to please their superiors. If they do it well, they might obtain some reward in return.”

As she spoke, she tilted her head and looked over to the direction where Fu Xing was standing.

The words were cruel and cold. Fortunately, she was only speaking telepathically.

If she had spoken out loud, she would have been challenged to go on the Competition Platform as well.

Xu Xiaoshou thought deeply about the situation.

Perhaps these men were unaware of his relationship with Fu Xing.

Although they were passive, he knew his previous antics had greatly affected Fu Xing’s image. Were these men attempting to knock him out of the venue for Fu Xing’s sake?

Were they doing so to please the City Lord Mansion all along?

“Interesting.”

Xu Xiaoshou stood up with a smile. “All of you are around the same. Your all easy. How do you expect me to choose?”

Easy?

The three men on stage were filled with resentment, but the elders in the audience were greatly amused.

They could not believe how brazen Xu Xiaoshou was. He was an Innate stage of Origin Court, yet he held himself up with such boldness.

How did he dare look down on three people at once?

The young man clearly had not experienced the cold hard realities of the world.

He had only sent away an Innate stage Sword Will, and he was still out of his depth.

Doubted, Passive Points, 411.

Ridiculed, Passive Points 1,266.

Watched, Passive Points, 1,420.

Xu Xiaoshou was intoxicated by the attention he had from the masses.

The Passive Points were rising at lightning speed.

All he had to do was talk. He barely had to move his hand and he had already earned more than 3,000 Passive Points.

He took off into the air. His eyes were full of disdain, and his expression portrayed something even worse. “I can’t make a decision. How about you three take turns?”

He turned to the first elevated platform.

“I’ll choose you instead.”

Xu Xiaoshou moved his head in the other direction.

“The other two can wait. It will only take a punch. Don’t choose anyone else.”

As he finished his sentence, he swept his robe sleeve to the side before filling himself up with his spiritual source. The energy bounced around him in a god-like manner.

Immediately, he circled his surroundings and continued with a provocative voice as he spoke casually, “If you want a piece of me, you’ll have to queue.”

The observers around the platforms were greatly ticked off by his comment.

“This guy needs to be put in his place!”

“I decided to not fight tonight, but I guess I can no longer hold back. I will be taking part in this round. Sorry, everyone!”

“Right, if I don’t leave him looking for his teeth on the ground, then I’m not part of the Zhu family anymore tonight.”

“I was worried he would have been greatly injured by Qiu Dejian’s attack. Who would’ve thought that he had Fu Xing fooled just now too?”

Suspected, Passive Points, 333.

Missed, Passive Points 1,410.

Satirized, Passive Points, 1,112.

Challenged, Passive Points, 121.

“…”

The values had brought a revelation to Xu Xiaoshou.

He assumed that if he had declared that he was a Sovereign to the crowd of 10,000, he would have collected a massive accumulation of Suspected Passive Points.

From the looks of it now, the numbers were far weaker than he had predicted.

It occurred to Xu Xiaoshou that the most lucrative method was to fan the flames of wrath among the crowd. In other words, he had to provoke and have the masses regard him in contempt.

He had to be as prideful as he could and gather as much disdain as he could.

If he could successfully invoke the emotions of every person and tap on all of their hatred toward him, he would have an abundance of Passive Points.

He would become a millionaire in Passive Points.

The debates carried on amongst the people. The scene was rapidly unfolding into chaos.

“What’s he called again? Xu Xiaoshou, right…”

Someone called out outrageously, “Wait and see Xu Xiaoshou! I will eliminate you when it’s my turn!”

Xu Xiaoshou smiled happily and faced the source of the voice with an elevated chin. “Listen here young man, your number is 404, remember that!” He added fuel to the fire.

“Heck!”

The words had sent all those in the venue into a frenzy.

He was too despicable.

The young man was full of arrogance and madness. To the masses, he was destined to be eliminated.

Loathed, Passive Points, 1,314.

Cursed, Passive Points, 1,211.

“…”

For the surrounding elders, they shared a common agreement that the youthful man deserved someone to put him in his place, but his boldness had fanned the flames of battle in their hearts.

“Ah, youth…”

However, the Night Guardian frowned.

He did not recall the young man to be an individual to provoke others so harshly. He wondered if he had misjudged the young man.

Su Qianqian watched Xu Xiaoshou as he suspended himself in the sky. His figure was as radiant as a glowing pearl. Her worry increased.

‘This is unnecessary, Big Brother Shou.’

‘This was the treatment that I expected. There’s no need for you to shoulder it for me…’

Mu Zixi observed as Xu Xiaoshou opened his eyes and flew toward the elevated platform labeled No. 1. Her body shivered slightly.

“Do you want to go?”

“This fella… What kind of disdainable person is he….”