Volume 1, Chapter 52: No More Challengers

The setting sun dipped below the horizon.

For White Cloud City, today could only be described as thoroughly frantic.

The Heartless Valley had fallen.

Many people had lost their entire fortunes.

Conversely, others had made an absolute killing.

Needless to say, everyone knew who the latter referred to.

Clutching massive stacks of banknotes, Li Hanzhou finally felt a sliver of security.

Through Ye Yun and the people of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion selling high-priced tickets, combined with the flower basket tipping campaign, Li Hanzhou had raked in nearly a million taels.

At the casino, Li Hanzhou wagered one million taels on a single bet and multiplied his return fivefold.

By this point, Li Hanzhou's private treasury held six to seven million taels of silver.

To many sects and aristocratic families, this was an astronomical sum.

Take the Immortality Temple, for instance; it had never experienced such a lavish financial windfall.

In the past, they had lived hand-to-mouth, where even a single meal containing meat was an extreme luxury. Now, they were like emancipated serfs finally singing songs of triumph.

As for Ye Yun, who had placed his bets alongside Li Hanzhou, he successfully turned his one hundred thousand taels into half a million.

This windfall left the City Lord's son grinning from ear to ear.

Although he was never short of pocket money on ordinary days, who would ever complain about having too much money?

Besides, the ongoing urban development of White Cloud City required a certain amount of capital. Ever since Ye Qingbei had been ambushed by the dream demon, he had recruited several martial arts experts from the pugilistic world to secure White Cloud City.

Money was needed everywhere.

Ye Yun felt that earning this money would allow him to properly assist his family.

The Heartless Fairy had originally intended to leave the Immortality Temple and return to the Heartless Valley. However, Li Hanzhou's accounting had taken some time. By the time the dividends were distributed to the fairy, it was already growing late. Furthermore, the fairy's execution of her "Myriad Miles of Drifting Snow" technique earlier that day had completely depleted her true qi and triggered a certain backlash. Li Hanzhou was concerned that accidents might befall her on the journey back.

After all, only a few young female disciples had accompanied her from the Heartless Valley.

Since the Heartless Fairy was temporarily unable to use her martial arts, Li Hanzhou persuaded her to stay at the Immortality Temple for the time being, while dispatching a letter to the Heartless Valley asking them to send people to escort their group back.

Otherwise, if such a breathtaking beauty with depleted true qi were to encounter some depraved villain along the way, the consequences would be truly disastrous.

After a brief moment of reflection, the Heartless Fairy agreed.

Thus, she took up temporary residence within the Immortality Temple.

The temple possessed numerous chambers, and Shi Ming was instructed to tidy up several of them to accommodate the disciples of the Heartless Valley.

Shi Ming performed his duties meticulously, ensuring every corner of the rooms was spotless.

"The rooms are ready. They are a bit simple, but very clean." Shi Ming turned around to see the Heartless Fairy standing in the courtyard, and stepped forward to inform her.

"Thank you." With that brief reply, the Heartless Fairy walked into the room.

Upon inspection, she found it indeed immaculate.

Consequently, she produced a silver ingot and handed it to the collector, saying, "Keep this to buy yourself some treats."

Seeing the large chunk of silver, Shi Ming shook his head and replied, "I merely followed my martial uncle's instructions to help clean the room. I cannot accept your money. Please rest now, and I will bring your dinner over shortly."

Having said that, Shi Ming turned and walked away without looking back.

The Heartless Fairy felt a genuine sense of surprise when Shi Ming refused her money. She could tell that his cultivation realm was not high, nor did he appear to be wealthy.

An ingot of that size was enough to cover a family of three's living expenses for an entire month.

Yet this young man showed not even a shred of temptation.

Walking into the room, she sat down in a cross-legged position and began circulating her true qi to heal her internal injuries.

After an indeterminate amount of time, a knock sounded at the door.

"Enter."

The door swung open, and Shi Ming walked in carrying a tray with several side dishes and a bowl of rice. He placed the meal on the table and said, "Just coarse tea and simple fare, Fairy. Please make do with this."

"Did you cook this?" The Heartless Fairy looked at the dishes, which boasted a vibrant color, rich aroma, and exquisite flavor, seemingly surpassing even the fare served in upscale restaurants outside.

"Mn," Shi Ming nodded.

"Your culinary skills are truly exceptional." Although the Heartless Fairy possessed a cold demeanor, it was reserved solely for those who harbored ulterior motives toward her. Since she detected not a trace of greed in Shi Ming's eyes—only utter clarity—she found herself willing to exchange a few more words with him.

"I recently learned from my martial uncle. His cooking is delicious."

"If you enjoy it, please eat your fill."

"I'll take my leave now."

Nodding slightly, Shi Ming turned and departed.

Over the next few days, the martial arts tournaments continued.

Liu Dongyue successively defeated several sects, allowing the Immortality Temple to acquire numerous precious treasures.

The Three Heroes of the Tang Sect came to issue a challenge. However, because they were one man short and failed to muster the required roster, Liu Dongyue ultimately refused to fight them. This left the members of the Tang Sect utterly exasperated. Later, they hurriedly recruited a random person to make up the numbers, resulting in all four of them getting severely beaten by Liu Dongyue on the combat stage.

Following that, Fang Beixian, the personal disciple of Luo Jinqi from Sacred Peak Mountain, challenged Liu Dongyue.

Fang Beixian possessed peerless sword techniques, practically embodying the blueprint of a future sword immortal.

Yet, in the end, he narrowly suffered defeat at the hands of Liu Dongyue.

None of them could have imagined that Liu Dongyue would genuinely maintain an undefeated streak across so many matches.

Their membership cards could no longer be refunded.

However, following Fang Beixian's defeat, only a handful of sects that had previously registered came to participate in challenges. Once the disciples of the Upper Pure Sect were also defeated, no further sects bothered to register.

No matter how alluring the Autumn Burial Saber might be, not a soul came forward.

Joking aside.

The Heartless Valley, Sacred Peak Mountain, and the Upper Pure Sect had all tasted defeat. Were disciples of other sects arrogant enough to believe they surpassed Fang Beixian and Song Yitao?

Those two could already be considered the absolute ceiling among the younger generation below the Transcendence realm.

Liu Dongyue's strength was simply inhuman.

"Martial Uncle, no one else is registering."

Returning from her post one day, Yun Qianzhu slumped despondently toward Li Hanzhou and said, "I ran the booth all day today, and not a single person came to sign up. It's as if these sects are terrified to challenge Second Senior Brother anymore."

Li Hanzhou remained unconcerned, as this outcome had long been within his expectations.

"Your Second Senior Brother is now the undisputed number one expert below the Transcendence realm. Who in their right mind would volunteer to get beaten up by him? Not only do they get thrashed, but they also have to hand over their sect's treasures," Li Hanzhou said with a smile.

"That makes sense."

Yun Qianzhu nodded in agreement.

Li Hanzhou lowered the talisman paper in his hand, looked up at Yun Qianzhu, and asked in surprise, "You've reached the sixth rank?"

"Mn."

Yun Qianzhu grinned brightly and said, "I had some free time today, so I just broke through."

Li Hanzhou: "..."

Comparisons could genuinely drive a person to despair.

Li Hanzhou had been diligently practicing cultivation lately as well, but after all these days, he only felt his cultivation at the second layer of Qi Condensation loosening slightly as it inched toward the third layer.

As for when he would actually break through, even Li Hanzhou could not say for sure.

"Martial Uncle, the Heartless Fairy is leaving."

At that moment, Shi Ming hurried over.

Noticing Shi Ming's slightly breathless state, Li Hanzhou asked with a puzzled expression, "They're leaving. Why are you so flustered?"