Chapter 39: The Wager Duel

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He opened the physical examination report for a quick review.

[Cao Chengyu]
Age: 14 years and 11 months
Cultivation: Late stage of Spirit Refinement (13%)
Technique: Yellow Court Sutra
Skills: Basic Alchemy Methods (First Tier), Basic Artifact Refining Methods (First Tier Artifacts)
Spells: Azure Flood Dragon Sleeve (Medium Grade 45%), Five Wheels of Departing Fire (Medium Grade 58%), Lightless Shield (Medium Grade 30%), Yellow Cloud Art (Medium Grade 76%), Rainfall and Drizzling Ice Sword (Medium Grade 18%), Mountain Lord’s Tremor Body Art (Medium Grade 9%)
Secret Methods: Venomous Eye (Medium Grade 80%), Burning Body Scorching Fire Formula (Incomplete 54%)
Divine Ability: Derivation Method (?)
[Assessment]: A child of the blazing sun, displaying evident talent, proud and self-assured, possessing the heart of a Cao, and actively pursuing his ambitions.

He had made progress in all areas.

Aside from some subconscious reactions that felt off, Cao Chengyu was quite satisfied with his cultivation progress.

He could condense thirteen blades of magical power. Once he reached a hundred, he could embark on the Hundred-Day Foundation, beginning the forging of the Five Organs Rotating Dao Body.

After exiting his cultivation state,

Cao Chengyu prepared to visit Spring Glory Pavilion to evolve the toxins of his Venomous Eye secret art.

Barely three hundred meters after turning right out the door, he was blocked by Ning Que and the second-generation disciples.

There were four of them and three servants. All three servants were early-stage Dao Body cultivators. This time, they'd learned their lesson—unable to win on their own, they brought reinforcements.

Ning Que’s face was still bruised and swollen, which struck Cao Chengyu as odd.

But Ning Que himself was oblivious, full of arrogance.

“Cao Chengyu! Let’s see how you run this time.”

“Oh? You dare lay hands on me in broad daylight, in the middle of the street?”

“If you attack a Monitor Tower Blue Guard in plain view, believe me, one shout from me and you’ll all spend a night in the holding cells.”

Cao Chengyu remained unfazed, calmly explaining the consequences to them.

Ning Que was unafraid, but his helpers weren’t so bold.

These three came from the Liang, Li, and Chen families, backed only by ancestral Purple Mansion cultivators, their confidence not especially strong.

Cao Chengyu’s intimidation made them falter.

They hesitated.

“Ning, perhaps we should wait for another time—find a dark, windy night to ambush him quietly.”

The speaker, Liang Wei, whispered softly.

Chen Jie, however, put on a brave front.

“Wei, you may be scared, but Jie is not.”

“……”

Their low murmurs escaped their notice, but at this distance, Cao Chengyu heard every word clearly.

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He regarded Chen Jie with a half-smile.

“You’re quite brave, aren’t you?”

“???”

The group hadn’t realized what was happening.

Cao Chengyu suddenly shouted,

“Murder! Someone’s attacking a Monitor Tower Blue Guard! Help, help, I’m dying!”

The Monitor Tower was only three hundred meters away. With his voice infused with magical power, it carried for at least a thousand meters, alerting everyone nearby.

The atmosphere changed in an instant.

A cultivator in the early Purple Mansion stage, stationed at the Monitor Tower gate, arrived riding a cloud.

He immediately recognized Ning Que as the leader among these second-generation wastrels.

Four Spirit Refinement cultivators and three Dao Body servants, ganging up on a Spirit Refinement Blue Guard—outrageous!

Anger surged in his heart.

He could overlook their bullying of ordinary people, but now they were causing trouble right at the Monitor Tower’s doorstep—utterly disrespectful.

“Hmph, insolent brats, do you think the Monitor Tower has no one to defend it?”

With a sweep of his hand, the three Dao Body servants had their limbs broken and their magical power sealed.

The four second-generation disciples were also bound, unable to move.

After dealing with the troublemakers, the Purple Mansion elder finally turned his attention to the one calling for help, his tone full of surprise.

“It’s you!”

Cao Chengyu looked toward the voice. The Purple Mansion Daoist was the elder who had once tested their spiritual power.

They hadn’t met for some time—now the elder was guarding the Monitor Tower entrance.

Cao Chengyu immediately offered a respectful salute.

“Greetings, Senior.”

“No harm done.”

The Purple Mansion elder descended from his cloud, sizing up Cao Chengyu, quickly grasping what had happened.

The boy’s clothes were unruffled—clearly he hadn’t even been struck, but had cried out in such a pitiful manner. A sly one, indeed.

He was about to offer a warning when his eyes suddenly widened.

“You… you’ve reached late-stage Spirit Refinement?”

“Yes.”

Cao Chengyu scratched the back of his head, feigning innocence, as if “harmless” was written across his face.

The elder, moved, grabbed his wrist and sensed carefully.

“Excellent constitution, abundant magical power, solid foundation.”

“Good! Truly a genius.”

“My surname is Yan, and my given name is Di. Would you be willing to become my disciple?”

This…

Cao Chengyu helplessly produced the token of Master Miao Dan.

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“Elder Yan, I’ve already become a disciple under Master Miao Dan. Though he hasn’t yet passed down any teachings, without my master’s permission, I can’t accept another.”

Yan Di frowned deeply. Within the tower’s three sects, he belonged to the lineage of the Monitor Tower’s master, holding some status. However, to snatch a disciple from Master Miao Dan—not worth the trouble.

“I was too forward. These troublemakers will be taken to the holding cells, and their families can come redeem them.”

With a surge of magical power, he led them away.

Ning Que, unwilling, shouted in fury,

“Cao Chengyu!”

“You despicable, shameless villain! Though the elder calls you a genius, if you have any courage, duel me! If I win, you must tell me what really happened last night!”

Cao Chengyu raised an eyebrow, countering,

“And if you lose?”

“Lose? Hmph, I won’t lose.”

As a core disciple of the Ning family, Ning Que had never lacked cultivation resources. Only seventeen, he had recently reached the peak of Spirit Refinement and was preparing for his Hundred-Day Foundation.

It was clear he’d enter the Dao Body stage before turning eighteen—a true prodigy.

He was one of the leading figures among the third generation of the Immortal Clan’s forces.

(The Immortal Clan considers three generations per cycle, selecting the best disciples for focused cultivation; Zhao Shengye was the leader of the previous cycle.)

“Don’t speak so definitively. Why should I agree if there’s nothing in it for me?”

Ning Que was taken aback, gritting his teeth.

“Name your terms. If I win, I want all the answers.”

“Agreed.”

The fool finally fell for it, and Cao Chengyu grinned, giving his conditions.

“If you lose, I won’t ask for anything excessive—five top-grade five-element spiritual items will suffice.”

“What!”

“That’s absurd, impossible!”

Cao Chengyu continued to provoke him.

“What’s wrong—already convinced you’ll lose before we even start? No pride in your genius? I, a prodigy from humble origins, intimidate you?”

Ning Que’s fury turned his face as red as a date skin.

“Fine, I accept! When I’m out, we’ll meet at the Immortal Arena a week from now at the hour of Si!”

A true genius values reputation above all. He couldn’t stand being taunted like this and, in a moment of heat, agreed.

He had cultivated the best methods since childhood, mastered the strongest spells and secret arts—why should he fear a self-taught prodigy without authentic instruction?

As for last night’s humiliation by the Five Wheels of Departing Fire, he chalked it up to carelessness and a surprise attack. In a fair fight, who would fear whom?