Chapter 294: The Paid Challenger Appears

The sound of the second bell slowly faded.

DOOOONG!

The enormous festival grounds finally became quiet. Thousands of eyes turned toward the central arena.

A silver-robed elder from the Valeria Family stepped onto the stage first.

Beside him stood another elder wearing the white-gold robes of the Valehart Family.

The Valeria elder raised one hand. "Welcome, honored guests, fellow cultivators, merchants, and friends who have traveled from across the region to attend this year’s festival."

His voice carried throughout the entire area with the help of a formation.

A wave of applause immediately followed.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Damian watched from the private platform beside Esmeralda, and the elder continued with the usual opening words.

Damian listened for several minutes before quietly rubbing his chin.

"Yeah, yeah. Your families love each other. Everyone is talented. We fucking get it."

Eventually, the speeches ended.

The real exhibition finally began.

Several younger cultivators from allied clans entered the arena first.

A spear cultivator demonstrated a Profound Grade spear art.

Another young man displayed a powerful earth-element body technique.

A female cultivator from a merchant family demonstrated surprisingly refined water Qi control.

The crowd reacted enthusiastically to each performance.

Damian watched with mild interest. "They’re decent."

Esmeralda glanced toward him. "Only decent?"

Damian shrugged. "I’ve seen crazier."

Considering the people he had encountered recently, that was hardly arrogance.

Soon, several more invited geniuses finished their demonstrations. Yet it was obvious that none of them were the true focus of today’s event.

The atmosphere immediately changed when the elder announced, "Next, the younger generation of the Valeria Family!"

The Valeria section erupted with cheers.

ROAR!

Several young cultivators wearing silver-black robes stepped forward.

Damian immediately noticed the difference.

Even the weakest among them carried themselves with far more confidence than most of the previous participants.

One young man drew his sword.

SHING!

Metal Qi exploded around the blade.

With a single slash, several reinforced stone targets were cut cleanly apart.

SLASH!

The crowd erupted again.

Damian nodded slightly. "Not bad."

Cassian Valeria’s expression visibly brightened from nearby.

More Valeria juniors followed, displaying fast sword arts, aggressive Metal Qi techniques, and coordinated sword formations.

Then came the Valehart Family.

Their style was completely different.

The first Valehart genius stepped onto the arena dressed in white-gold robes.

The moment his sword left its sheath, brilliant Radiant Sword Qi illuminated half the stage.

WHOOOM!

Several spectators immediately gasped.

A second cultivator followed with an elegant movement art that left golden afterimages behind him.

Another demonstrated a defensive sword formation capable of forming a radiant barrier around several people at once.

Damian quietly watched.

"So these are the main stars."

Compared to the earlier participants, the difference was obvious.

The festival might welcome everyone...

But today was ultimately a stage created by the Valeria and Valehart Families to display their own younger generation.

Just as the final Valehart junior finished demonstrating his sword technique, the crowd erupted into another wave of applause.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

The young cultivator calmly sheathed his sword and prepared to leave the arena.

However, before he could step down... "Wait!"

A loud voice suddenly rang out from among the spectators.

The entire crowd immediately became quieter.

Damian’s eyebrows rose slightly.

A broad-shouldered young man wearing dark brown robes suddenly jumped over the railing and landed directly in the arena.

BOOM!

Several guards immediately became tense.

The young man ignored them and pointed toward the Valehart disciple. "I’ve heard for years that the younger generation of the Valeria and Valehart Families are among the strongest in this region."

His lips curled into a challenging smile. "But demonstrations against stone targets don’t prove anything."

Murmurs immediately spread through the crowd.

The young cultivator raised his weapon. "So how about proving it against an actual opponent?"

The crowd suddenly became excited. Several spectators immediately began shouting.

"Fight!"

"Accept it!"

"Show him the strength of the Valehart Family!"

Damian stared down at the arena for several seconds. Then his lips slowly curled into a knowing smirk.

"Oh, come the fuck on."

He glanced toward Cassian and Aldren.

Neither patriarch looked remotely surprised. In fact, Aldren’s expression was almost too calm.

Damian immediately understood.

"Paid actor."

There was no fucking way some random cultivator had casually jumped into the arena of two powerful families during their own festival without anyone stopping him.

This was part of the show. A convenient challenger would appear.

One of the family geniuses would defeat him beautifully.

The crowd would become impressed.

Wealthy merchants and smaller factions would see how powerful the younger generation was.

And afterward... Investments, alliances, recruitment, and business offers would become much easier.

Damian almost laughed.

"These old bastards really know how to advertise."

He leaned slightly toward Esmeralda. "What do you think?"

Esmeralda glanced at him. "About what?"

Damian gestured toward the arena. "Their younger generation."

Esmeralda casually flipped one hand. "Not bad."

Damian waited for a while, and just like he expected, she wasn’t done yet.

She added calmly, "But not particularly impressive either."

Damian’s grin widened. "That harsh?"

Esmeralda shrugged elegantly. "I’ve seen better."

Her gaze moved across the Valeria and Valehart juniors. "They’re certainly talented compared to ordinary cultivators, but if these are supposed to be the greatest geniuses of both families..."

She paused. "Then I expected more."

Damian nearly laughed.

"Damn. She didn’t even bother being polite."

Fortunately, the two patriarchs were focused on the arena and apparently hadn’t heard her quiet evaluation.

Below, the Valehart genius finally stepped forward. His radiant sword slowly left its sheath.

SHING!

He pointed the blade toward the challenger. "Very well. If you want to test the strength of the Valehart Family..."

Golden sword Qi erupted around him. "Then I’ll oblige."

The spectators erupted again.

Damian leaned comfortably against the railing.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face. "Now this is more entertaining."

Esmeralda glanced toward him. "You already know who’s going to win, don’t you?"

Damian smirked. "Of course."

His eyes flicked briefly toward Aldren Valehart. "The script would be pretty fucking embarrassing otherwise."