Chapter 36

  Betting & Competing (I)

  The excitement is palpable, so much so, in fact, that even I am beginning to be swayed a bit.

  I quickly quell that crap down, however, and continue the descent.

  As we emerge from the mountain and toward the flattened areas, I notice hundreds upon hundreds of souls converge to the specific area--the central battle arena where all public competitions were held. It was the largest, the safest, and the one with the greatest number of seats.

  I was actually a bit worried since I didn't know where the tournament would be held (courtesy of Lu Qi never really giving a rat's ass about it), but even the blind would be able to follow the crowd to the destination.

  So, we simply joined the stream.

  I also noticed a few Elders leading the groups of disciples. Unlike me, who only had two, others had at least ten to fifteen kids behind them. Even if tempted to use Creator's Eyes, I held back.

  Actually, on my way to the library or when I was out buying supplies, I'd randomly use them on the kids to see if there were any more 'hidden' talents. The results were... well, boring for the most part. Talents of most kids peaked at Mortal, and I only stumbled upon one or two with a higher one. There had been no other cases like Long Tao or Dai Xiu (save for that one other disciple whose name I've already forgotten...).

  "Remember," I, too, remembered something I forgot to mention, so I quickly added it before we were to go our separate ways; while they'd join the queue of disciples, I'd go upstairs to the Elder seating. Even if I'm the lowest rung of one, I still am an Elder, after all. "Only use the martial art I taught you if your life is in danger! And if anyone asks..."

  "--it came to us in a dream," Long Tao interrupted, grabbing Dai Xiu's hand. "Yeah, yeah. Our ears will fall off listening to your warnings. Go and make some more bets with those old stooges; bleed them dry."

  "Oh," I did my best to prevent my lips from curling up into an evil grin... but failed. "I fully intend to."

  Right, about that defensive art I made--the creation points mostly came from Dai Xiu. She actually managed to completely master the First Form; now, I don't know whether it was actually hard or not (according to her it wasn't), I just went by the amount of Creation Points the Quest gave me--which was a whole 100.

  She did have Long Tao assisting her, and with that monster's comprehension abilities, perhaps it wasn't impossible...

  Anyway, I had over a hundred banked and spent 80 of them creating a low-tier Earth defensive art that I called 'Turtle's Dominion' because I thought it'd be funny.

  They didn't laugh.

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  The method itself, like most I create, it seems, relied on Spirit Stones; the more of a 'sacrifice' one made, the stronger of an attack they could block, peaking at, well, the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. It did take 50 mid-grade Spirit Stones each, so unless one had a bank behind them, it wasn't sustainable.

  But I couldn't set them out there without any trump cards; after all, this wasn't just your everyday 'kids fight and compete' event. A lot hinged on the outcome of today's events, both for disciples and also Elders.

  Having more resources to dedicate to the Peak meant rearing stronger kids, which meant gobbling up even more resources… It was a vicious cycle, and accidents always happened (well, Lu Qi heard about them happening; he'd never actually been to one of these things, if you could believe it).

  So, even if Long Tao is at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm and Dai Xiu is at the peak of the fourth stage, that didn't fully guarantee much. What if another insane Elder taught his kids some weird self-harming art that increased their strength? Or what if they gave the kids some weird pills or artifacts?

  My future, my life, my everything hinges on these kids. After all, without them, I won't get any quests or any Creation Points, which means I won't be able to purify this body, which means I will never cultivate past this. And though someone at the Spirit Manifestation Realm could live up 'till about 200 years of age if all the stars aligned, I don't know; it'd feel like such a waste if I just doubled the life expectancy in the world of immortals.

  No! I'm going for the full bout here--1,000 years at least!

  Separating from them, I followed the 'old stooges' to the backside of the arena, where there were sets of winding staircases leading up to the viewing area. As per usual, I was ignored; not even a glance my way, let alone a greeting.

  Though Lu Qi's reputation was hell, I must admit... there are benefits to it. For starters, this guy had no close friends--nobody really knew who he was past the boot-licking, tyrant-of-the-weaker shell they saw. He had no friends, no family, nothing.

  As such, I didn't really have to pretend much and gauge reactions of others, navigating this new identity. I could just be whoever the hell I wanted.

  Plus, peace and calm and being left wholly alone for six months while trying to accept the existential crisis that my life has become... it was nice. Really nice.

  Reaching the viewing area, I paused for a moment and eyed the three rows of wooden benches. For all the beauty of magic within this world, the comfort was rock bottom. No, it might even go below that; these didn't even look as comfortable as those park benches, and those were designed for a quick come-and-go so as to not let poor and broke have dreams and such.

  Nonetheless, if I was to introduce the concept of 'comfort', it wasn't going to be today; I immediately beelined to the top-left position and sat down. As the lowest-ranked Elder, it was my natural seating area.

  The seats alongside me as well as those below me slowly started filling up. Before long, two figures that caused everyone to alight from the bench appeared: Spirit Sage and Elder Qin.

  Though I have memories of Spirit Sage, this was my first time viewing the man as me. He was... shorter than I thought, perhaps five-five at best. He had a head full of white hair and piercing, somewhat purple eyes, as well as a wrinkled face to frame it. In human age, he looked to be around fifty-five, perhaps sixty, though, per Lu Qi's memories, the man was nearly four hundred years old.

  "Greetings, Sect Master!"

  "Greetings, Great Elder!"

  The Spirit Sage's eyes, as well as Elder Qin's, found me of all people, curious and faintly bewildered; a knot twisted in my intestines, being scrutinized by the pair. Honestly... I felt anxious. Even afraid. What if Spirit Sage could see through me?

  Luckily, whether he could or couldn't, I wouldn't find out right now. Their gazes left me quickly after as they sat to the front, where two chairs magically appeared--chairs with cushioned bottoms!

  I winced.

  These bastards!

  It's not that they didn't know comfort... it's that they freakin' locked it behind seniority!