"I'll pay immediately, right now." Gongsun Zheng replied quickly, as if bitten by a venomous snake.
Wu Binghuo waved his hand, and Gongsun Zheng immediately followed him towards the mountain gate. They could transfer money there using their tokens.
After taking just two steps, Gongsun Zheng ran back, and with a mournful face, said to Qian Duoduo, "No one has offended the Palace Lord's dignity. Please be lenient, Senior Brother."
"Have you investigated thoroughly?" Qian Duoduo felt a little soft-hearted when he saw Gongsun Zheng's back was soaked with sweat.
"Investigated thoroughly, it's been clear for a long time," Gongsun Zheng wiped his sweat.
He had wanted to twist the knife further, to say, "How about we invite Elder Bi to investigate again?" But the words turned in his mouth several times and were ultimately not spoken.
"Then forget it. I won't mention this to Zhangzuo Dajiu." Having forgiven him, Qian Duoduo also felt a little relieved, but he didn't know whether what he had done was right or wrong. Did forgiving an enemy bring peace to himself, or indulgence to the enemy?
A look of wild joy flashed across Gongsun Zheng's face. "Thank you, thank you." With that, he vanished from Qian Duoduo's sight as if fleeing for his life.
...
Gongsun Zheng's compensation only made Qian Duoduo happy for a moment.
After the joy came worry. Under the shadow of the venomous snake, Qian Duoduo worried about entering the top five in the small competition, which was much harder than building a thousand-acre manor.
A thousand-acre manor, as long as there was money and enough sweat, could definitely be built.
But entering the top five in the small competition was not like that; even with sweat and blood, and no matter how much money, it might not be achieved.
Qian Duoduo secretly glanced at Jin Buhuan in the Golden Toad, truly wondering how he had managed to take first place in the Outer Sect's small competition back then.
"I want to practice my sword, which of you two will accompany me?" After thinking it over, Qian Duoduo decided to practice with Huang Guiren and Wang Meiruo first to get a feel for it.
"Practice with you?" Wang Meiruo rolled her eyes in a not-so-pretty way. "What are you thinking? Do you want to show off how powerful you are?"
Qian Duoduo slapped his forehead. "That was too hasty. How can I wield a sword with a great beauty? Winning brings no fame, and losing would be utterly shameful."
Seeing Qian Duoduo's gaze drift over, Huang Guiren waved his hands repeatedly. "I've never fought anyone. When I encounter a training ground, I always walk around it."
"It's fine, I'll just stand here motionless. You can treat me as a stone and stab me with your sword." Qian Duoduo thought to himself, if you don't fight or contend, it's too difficult to make a living.
"If you two want to play, stay far away from the manor. If anyone scares the Spirit Chickens, I won't be polite; I'll make them pay for it." Wang Meiruo was like an old hen, protecting all the little Spirit Chickens in the manor. She shooed Qian Duoduo and Huang Guiren far away, more than two hundred zhang from the manor.
Qian Duoduo and Huang Guiren stood facing each other, about ten zhang apart, like in a training ground competition.
"You're at the fourth level, I'm at the fourth level, it's perfect for practicing swords. Come on, come on..." Qian Duoduo urged Huang Guiren.
Huang Guiren looked troubled and remained motionless.
"I've seen you use your Flying Sickle to cut grass, and you're quite good at it: fast, accurate, and ruthless, not missing a single one," Qian Duoduo encouraged. These past few days, they had both done a lot of grass-cutting and chicken-feeding, all using sickles as Flying Swords.
"You're not grass, you're a person."
"Just treat me as grass," Qian Duoduo persuaded repeatedly.
Huang Guiren finally took out his Flying Sword, which floated about a zhang in front of him. He used the standard Outer Sect wooden sword issued by the sect, a low-grade Mortal Weapon.
As soon as Qian Duoduo took out his Golden Rooster Sword, Huang Guiren exclaimed, "Why are you using a Golden Sword? Only Inner Sect Disciples can afford to use one."
"Is there a saying about that? Is a Golden Sword very remarkable?"
"It's not that Golden Swords are expensive, but that they are too heavy. Without reaching the Inner Sect level, with insufficient Spiritual Qi, it's very difficult to control them well."
Qian Duoduo felt pleased. If he hadn't Cultivated the Eternal Wealth and Nobility Art, he definitely wouldn't be able to control a Golden Sword. Unintentionally, he had done something remarkable.
"Then my sword won't move; you use your sword to attack it." With that, Qian Duoduo poured all his Spiritual Qi into the Golden Rooster Sword. After his Spiritual Veins were dyed light green by the Eternal Wealth and Nobility Art, the Spiritual Qi Qian Duoduo controlled was more than double what it used to be.
"Good." Because he wasn't directly attacking a person, Huang Guiren readily agreed. He formed a hand seal and pointed, and the wooden sword shot straight over like a white light, colliding with the Golden Rooster Sword in mid-air.
"Bang." A loud crash echoed in the air, startling both Qian Duoduo and Huang Guiren.
Upon closer inspection, the Golden Rooster Sword retreated three feet, while the wooden sword actually split into three pieces and fell from the air.
Qian Duoduo retrieved the Golden Rooster Sword; there wasn't a single mark on it.
Huang Guiren picked up the fragments and murmured, "I said not to compete, but you insisted."
"This is for you." Qian Duoduo was extremely happy, like a thousand little Spirit Chickens poking their heads out of their eggs. The Spiritual Qi absorbed by the Eternal Wealth and Nobility Art from his money was truly not wasted.
Qian Duoduo took out his own wooden sword and handed it to Huang Guiren, stuffing it into his hand. "Anyway, I don't need it."
Seeing that it was still early, Qian Duoduo hesitated for a moment, then said to Huang Guiren, "You go back to the manor first, I have something to do outside."
Without waiting for his reply, Qian Duoduo had already run far away.
The competition with Huang Guiren gave Qian Duoduo confidence. At the fourth level against another fourth level, he basically wouldn't lose.
Since he wouldn't lose, he decided to go to the training ground and meet the Senior Brothers of the Outer Sect. In Jail, his fights with Yan Qi and Ren Rong were purely instinctive, for survival. But now, it was purely for Cultivating his ability to control Magic Treasures.
The Mengyuan Mountain training ground was still crowded with Cultivators.
"Bang," a grey-robed Disciple on the stage was kicked off the high platform. "Wah," a mouthful of fresh blood splattered onto the ground.
Violence, too much violence! Qian Duoduo muttered to himself.
However, when he thought of the cute venomous snakes in Little Dragon Valley, he immediately felt that getting kicked and spitting blood was nothing.
He squeezed to the ranking area below the stage; there were only three numbers left: ninety-eight, ninety-nine, and one hundred. Qian Duoduo quickly grabbed number ninety-eight.
After grabbing the number, Qian Duoduo suddenly remembered that two people fight on stage, so where would he find his opponent?
Others would first arrange a fight, then take a number. He took a number first, then arranged a fight.
Who should he fight? Qian Duoduo began to search the entire venue for someone.
Face after face of strangers, none as pleasant to look at as the spiritual plants in the manor. Most importantly, he couldn't find the word 'hatred' on any of these faces.
Qian Duoduo held his number slip, half-squatting in front of the stage, his feet feeling a little numb.
Just then, another match began on stage. "Number eighty-three!" someone shouted. As soon as the voice fell, a pair of Blue-Robed Disciples jumped onto the stage. Soon after, they started arguing and cursing at each other, followed by the fluttering of robes and the breaking of air by Flying Swords.
Fortunately, there were still fifteen matches before him. Qian Duoduo comforted himself, he still had some time to search.
After observing for a long time, Qian Duoduo noticed that the Disciples closest to the stage were all sitting on the ground in pairs, separated by their number slips.
These pairs were all the Disciples who were about to go on stage before Qian Duoduo.
"One, two, three..." Qian Duoduo counted them one by one. When he counted to the tenth pair, he suddenly saw that this pair only had one person.
The spot opposite this Blue-Robed Disciple was empty. It was as if a ball of fire was under his butt; he kept looking back and glancing around from time to time.
"Haha, could it be that his opponent hasn't arrived?" Qian Duoduo suppressed his laughter and quietly walked up to this Disciple. "Senior Brother, your opponent hasn't arrived?"
The Blue-Robed Disciple sized up Qian Duoduo. "He's here."
"Where is he?" Qian Duoduo looked at his number slip, eighty-six. There were only three matches left before he was on, but his opponent wasn't there, no wonder he was anxious.
"He had an urgent need. He went to the restroom." The Blue-Robed Disciple pretended to be calm.
"Oh." Qian Duoduo showed him his own number slip. "Number ninety-eight, my opponent also went to the restroom. These people, they have to empty their bowels and bladders just to have a fight. I guess we'll just beat the shit and piss out of them."
Taking advantage of the conversation, Qian Duoduo sat down next to the Blue-Robed Disciple, thinking to himself, if your person still hasn't arrived in a bit, what will you do?