Chapter 50
Jiang Li lived up to everyone’s expectations. Only seconds after the elimination round began, a single attack from him swept every other cultivator out of the arena.
No one had even seen his movements clearly.
Compared with the people who had come especially from the Upper Realm to watch Jiang Li, the cultivators of the Middle Realm had exceedingly complicated feelings toward him.
They hated him, yet they also feared him.
This was supposed to be a stage for the cultivators of the Middle Realm. Achieving an excellent result in the Martial Tournament could have given them the chance to change their destiny forever.
But Jiang Li’s appearance crushed the Middle Realm cultivators beneath him and forcibly turned a Martial Tournament meant to inspire young cultivators into his personal show.
Almost everyone believed that Jiang Li would now be the ultimate victor of a competition whose outcome had once been uncertain.
An inescapable gloom settled over the cultivators of the Middle Realm.
Yu Tai keenly noticed the change and narrowed her eyes.
This was the moment when a hero should appear.
“Shu Li, if Jiang Li and I were to fight directly, what chance would I have of winning without exposing my identity?” Yu Tai asked after observing every movement Jiang Li had made.
Shu Li stood slightly in front of her and to one side. Hearing the question, he looked back and answered with almost no hesitation. “Fifty percent.”
Yu Tai raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The System had told her it was only ten percent.
Faced with Yu Tai’s doubtful gaze, Shu Li curled his lips in a soft smile. Even those ordinary features became attractive under its influence.
“Jiang Li is only Jiang Li, but Yu Tai has Shu Li.”
The almost tongue-twisting statement inexplicably stirred something in Yu Tai’s heart. Without revealing any reaction, she lifted her eyelids. “What do you want? As I’ve said before, freedom is impossible.”
Shu Li shook his head. “You have no need for the first-place prize. I hope you can exchange it for the second-place prize and obtain the supreme-grade Transformation Pill.”
Xia Mo immediately chirped in excitement.
A complicated look entered Yu Tai’s eyes.
She would have done so even if he had not asked.
The first-place prize was an Essence-Transformation Pill, which increased a cultivator’s chances of advancing to Golden Core or Nascent Soul.
Yu Tai, who was at peak Nascent Soul, truly had no need for it.
Shu Li had witnessed how she treated Xia Mo. Somehow, his request felt exactly the same as making no request at all, as if he sought nothing in return.
“Understood.”
Whatever. She just hoped he had not fallen for her.
“Don’t fall in love with me. It won’t end well,” Yu Tai added, just in case.
Their relationship was nothing more than a transaction between two bodies.
At Yu Tai’s seemingly random remark, amusement appeared in Shu Li’s gentle eyes. He nodded as though he did not care at all.
*Whether it ends well is for me to decide.*
Reassured by Shu Li’s promise, Yu Tai took the man and the panda and left without hesitation before Jiang Li even jumped down from the arena, returning directly to her cave dwelling.
She also sent Li Shijie a voice-transmission talisman on the way, asking her to check Yu Tai’s opponent and match order for three days later.
Jiang Li finally managed to shake off the troublesome female cultivators, only to discover in the blink of an eye that the person he wanted to find had vanished.
As a result, his expression was even colder than usual when Xiao Xin came looking for him.
“Jiang Li…” She had only just called his name when his gaze instantly swept toward her.
“What did the elder promise you?” Jiang Li suddenly asked.
That single question drained all color from Xiao Xin’s face.
“I… It wasn’t…” Pale-faced, Xiao Xin tried to say something, but Jiang Li had already lost patience with her. He immediately turned and left.
Xiao Xin clenched her fists and pressed her lips together, hatred filling her eyes.
*Do you care so much about a woman you’ve only met a few times that you would treat me, who grew up beside you, like this?*
After returning to the spectator stand, Xiao Xin sat down and murmured to the elder beside her, “Elder, I agree to that matter.”
…
“His right hand is injured?” Yu Tai asked in surprise.
Shu Li took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and nodded. “Although he attacked only once, judging from how he struck the formation before, his right wrist should be injured. It clearly hasn’t recovered well.”
Because of the pure-yang aura on Jiang Li that day, she had not observed his movements carefully. But thinking back, both times he attacked the formation, as well as when he seized her wrist, he seemed to have used his left hand.
Yet while fighting in the arena, he used his right hand, which proved that he was not left-handed.
He merely used his left hand instinctively in situations that did not require fighting, rather than choosing his right.
“But this is only our guess. Even setting aside whether that would be enough to defeat Jiang Li, the pure-yang aura surrounding him is another problem.”
At the mention of the pure-yang aura, Shu Li looked up and said pleasantly, “That’s easy to deal with.”
Yu Tai tilted her head. “Hm?”
“All you need is an aura more powerful than the pure-yang aura to suppress it.”
Yu Tai frowned slightly, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the teacup in her hand. “You make it sound easy. Where am I supposed to find-”
She abruptly raised her head and stared at Shu Li in realization.
What aura was more powerful than pure-yang energy?
What was the most powerful aura in this world?
Naturally, it was the righteous qi belonging to the male lead!
Meeting Yu Tai’s burning gaze, Shu Li-who had already restored his original appearance-looked away and asked softly, “Tonight… will you come to my room?”
Although his expression was composed and his tone natural, the tips of his fair ears had turned crimson.
Who could possibly resist that?!
The System: [Yu Tai.]
Yu Tai frowned, utterly unmoved by romance. “I even have to go to your room myself?”
She stood and looked down at him, her expression unaffected by the beauty before her. “Senior Brother, wash yourself thoroughly tonight and come find me.”
With that, she turned and left.
Her departing figure radiated the aura of an utter scumbag.
Watching Yu Tai go, Shu Li scratched Xia Mo, who lay nearby chewing bamboo, and smiled helplessly.
A woman this domineering was easy to recognize even if she changed bodies.
Night fell.
Aboard the Jade Sect’s cloudship-
He Tianba was sleeping with his eyes closed.
Meditating, you ask?
What kind of joke was that? As a demonic cultivator who had finally found some time alone, was he supposed to imitate those righteous cultivators and meditate earnestly?!
If life was going to be that exhausting, what was the point of being a demonic cultivator?
He Tianba suddenly opened his eyes. Without even looking, he wailed, sat up, and turned to kneel behind himself. “My Lord!”
A mass of Black Mist had appeared in the room at some point.
Before the Black Mist could say anything, He Tianba volunteered, “My Lord, those old bastards have agreed to find an opportunity during the Martial Tournament to have someone kill Yu Tai.”
The Black Mist showed no outward change, but inwardly they thought, *Everything is exactly as Yu Tai predicted.*
“Jiang Li?” they asked.
After spending a moment praising My Lord’s wisdom, He Tianba continued, “That was the original plan…” At this point, he glanced hesitantly at the Black Mist before adding-
“But Jiang Li refused.”