Chapter 500: You Forced My Hand

Atop the city wall…

After a detailed discussion with Chi Xingxun and the other two about the Nether Spring Illusion Array, Xiao Ru suddenly pointed to Lu Chao and asked coldly, “I can’t stand the sight of that brat. Tell me, what’s the feud between you all and him?”

At her words, a cold glint flashed in the eyes of Chi Xingxun and the others.

Lu Dingtian then began to speak—or rather, to fabricate a story. He wove a tale of Lu Chao’s supposed ingratitude and faithlessness.

He, of course, omitted any mention of the cruel things he himself had done to Lu Chao.

When Lu Dingtian finished, Xiao Ru snorted. “Very good. The Green Bone Palace has no use for such a disloyal, unrighteous, and unfilial traitor.”

Hearing this, Chi Xingxun and Lu Dingtian broke into smiles.

They had deceived Xiao Ru yet again, but they were confident the Green Bone Palace wouldn’t bother going all the way to the Azure Flame Domain to verify the details.

In the next moment, Xiao Ru produced a bottle of Elixir Pills with a smile. “I find the Qianjian Sect just as detestable. Take these pills to the Thunderbolt Sect. They should be enough to give two of their disciples a major boost. Just ensure they win one match.”

“And remember, don’t let the Thunderbolt Sect come to thank me for now. I don’t want to start any rumors.”

Chi Xingxun and the others solemnly accepted her command and departed with the Elixir Pills.

The whole reason Xiao Ru had brought the trio onto the wall was to ensure the Thunderbolt Sect’s victory. It would be a loss of face for her otherwise, and she knew full well that the Thunderbolt Sect was currently weaker than the Qianjian Sect, so naturally, she had to intervene.

…

「A quarter of an hour later.」

The Qianjian Sect concluded their discussion, having finalized the list of six disciples who would fight and their combat order.

Afterward, Qian Ya invited Lu Chao into her Beast Vehicle for a private conversation.

As soon as they were alone, Qian Ya thanked Lu Chao once again before adding, “Please don’t take my Second Junior Brother’s actions to heart, Young Master Lu. He’s just overly zealous about protecting the Qianjian Sect.”

With a faint smile and a placid expression, Lu Chao replied nonchalantly, “I won’t hold it against him. Now that I’ve reached the Creation Realm, I should be able to help you, Senior Sister Qian, recover at least eighty percent of your strength within half an hour.”

Previously, at the Peak Realm, he could only perform the treatment once a day. Now that he was in the Creation Realm, the effects were naturally enhanced.

“Unfortunately, even at full strength, I can only guarantee a single victory.”

A bitter look crossed Qian Ya’s face. Her match was only worth one hundred points. The rest depended on her junior brothers and sisters.

There was nothing Lu Chao could do about that, so he simply began Qian Ya’s treatment.

…

「Meanwhile.」

Second Senior Brother stared daggers at the Beast Vehicle holding Lu Chao and Qian Ya.

He gently caressed the cheek Qian Ya had just slapped. ‘Bitch,’ he thought coldly. ‘What a goddamn bitch.’

In truth, his earlier outburst wasn’t born from a desire to protect the Qianjian Sect, but from crazed jealousy and resentment.

For the past several days, Lu Chao and Qian Ya had been spending half an hour together daily. This had severely warped the mind of Second Senior Brother, who desired to conquer Qian Ya. He was convinced she had inexplicably hooked up with some country bumpkin.

He had confronted Qian Ya about it, but she had merely said they were discussing the Martial Dao.

‘Discussing the Martial Dao? My ass!’

‘How could some stray mutt who crawled out of a gutter be qualified to discuss the Martial Dao with the great Senior Sister Qianjian?’

‘Fine, fine… you forced my hand.’

「Another quarter of an hour passed.」

Second Senior Brother appeared in a small building outside Rising Moon City. The man standing before him was none other than Senior Brother Feng.

“Brother Ren Tang, thank you for the location of the Qian Ya Squad in the Nether Spring Mountain Range.”

Ren Tang. That was the name of Qianjian Sect’s Second Senior Brother.

If anyone from the Qianjian Sect had heard Senior Brother Feng’s words, they would have gone mad.

The reason Qian Ya had been ambushed and injured was that Second Senior Brother had sold out her location. Her attackers were, indeed, from the Shengting Sect.

In response, Ren Tang replied coldly…

“We’re just using each other. I didn’t originally intend to sell out the Qianjian Sect so completely.”

“Feng Xianyin, I told you.”

“Even with all the benefits and promises you offered, I was still going to do my best to help Qianjian Sect maintain its standing… but now, I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to teach that bitch Qian Ya a lesson.”

“I’ll show her what happens when she looks down on me.”

“And don’t get too happy. I know you have designs on Qian Ya, too. But for the past few days, she’s been cooped up alone with that damn Lu Chao—that so-called Miracle of the Nether Spring.”

“That bitch actually fell for a piece of trash like him.”

As Ren Tang spoke, a cold glint flashed in Feng Xianyin’s eyes, and his killing intent flared.

Just as Ren Tang had said, Feng Xianyin also had designs on Qian Ya. His goal in crushing the Qianjian Sect was to make her submit to him completely.

He wanted to make Qian Ya his woman, but now she’d taken a liking to that Lu Chao?

“That Lu fellow has already grievously offended Xiao Ru. He’s a dead man,” Feng Xianyin said, his voice frigid.

After a brief pause, Feng Xianyin continued, “Let’s get down to business.”

At those words, Ren Tang gently wrote six names in the dirt. “This is the combat order for my Qianjian Sect’s disciples,” he said. “I can’t afford to lose, and no one can suspect me. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

With that, Ren Tang vanished.

He had sold out the Qianjian Sect’s combat roster. Staring at the six names, Feng Xianyin couldn’t help but laugh.

With these six names and their order, he could guarantee at least one victory for the Thunderbolt Sect.

‘One win is all it takes. With this roster, it’ll be a piece of cake.’

With that thought, Feng Xianyin gently erased the six names from the ground and vanished as well.

「A short time later.」

From the walls of Rising Moon City, Xiao Ru announced, “Time is up. Qianjian Sect versus Thunderbolt Sect, the first disciple match will now begin.”

Below Rising Moon City, the fourteen sects remained where they were.

A temporary arena had been marked out in the open space between them. The Qianjian Sect and the Thunderbolt Sect stood on opposite sides, their disciples glaring at each other.

Xiao Ru and the other members of Biyue Hall remained standing atop the city wall.

Amidst the incredibly tense atmosphere…

Xiao Ru’s voice rang out again. “On my command, the disciples for the first match will take one step forward. Once you have stepped out, there can be no changes.”

This was to ensure that neither side knew their opponent in advance, preventing any targeted strategies. It was a test to see if either side could correctly guess the other’s roster and lineup.

At Xiao Ru’s command, a disciple from the Thunderbolt Sect and one from the Qianjian Sect each took a heavy step forward at the same time.

The one to step forward for the Qianjian Sect was Second Senior Brother Ren Tang.

But when the members of the Qianjian Sect saw which disciple from the Thunderbolt Sect had stepped forward, their faces fell.

Beside Lu Chao, Master Tian murmured, “We guessed wrong. The Thunderbolt Sect isn’t going all out in the first match. That’s the weakest of their six chosen disciples.”

Of course, they had no idea that their combat roster was already in the hands of the Shengting Sect and the Thunderbolt Sect.

Since Ren Tang had to win, he was naturally pitted against the weakest possible opponent.

As the two disciples stepped into the temporary arena, Master Tian’s face paled slightly. “The Thunderbolt Sect… this isn’t what we expected,” he said. “We assumed they would try to build momentum in the first match.”