Fang Jueqian was shocked.
Although he was somewhat annoyed that Senior Brother He had dragged him into trouble for no good reason just to pet a crane, he had never wanted the man dead!
Fang Jueqian asked cautiously:
【Isn’t this a bit too violent?】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Is it?】
【A Happy Rice Cake: Yes, it is!】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Such a hassle.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Then just throw one talisman. I suspect old man Zhang gave his disciple a protective dharma treasure, so it will not kill him in a single hit. But after one talisman, he will need to recuperate for at least a few decades.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Hmph, I am letting him off easy.】
Fang Jueqian put down the communication jade talisman and rubbed his eyes.
When he picked the communication jade talisman back up again, ah, so it had not been his imagination after all.
【A Happy Rice Cake: Isn’t recuperating for decades a bit excessive too? There is not that much bad blood between us.】
Even if he lost the match, it would at most mean publicly apologizing for his previous harassment of the cranes and swearing never to do it again. He just felt it would be a bit humiliating to have to do that.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Are you showing mercy to your enemy?】
Huh?
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Have you ever thought about whether he would show mercy to you if I were not here?】
That seemed to make some sense. Wait! He was trying to persuade Qiu Haoqing, so how could he end up being persuaded instead?
Fang Jueqian splashed some water on his face and decided to try a different angle.
【A Happy Rice Cake: What you say is right, I should not sympathize with the enemy. But he is not using any talismans or dharma implements himself, whereas I would be using high-grade talismans to defeat him. It just feels a bit like winning an unfair fight.】
After a minute or two.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: That makes some sense.】
Fang Jueqian let out a sigh of relief, feeling that things had not been easy for him at all, and then asked:
【So are there any other methods?】
Just as he finished sending the message, Fang Jueqian belatedly realized that asking someone for help and then creating extra difficulties for them was rather like making unreasonable demands. He was just about to change his excuse.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: No big deal.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: You should have learned in school that water conducts electricity. Just go with that approach.】
Three days later, Fang Jueqian looked rather nervously at Senior Brother He standing on the other side of the arena.
His opponent had already suppressed his cultivation down to the first layer of Qi Refining and had handed over all the talismans and dharma implements he carried on him in advance. He had even handed over medicinal pills that had not been mentioned beforehand.
This was naked contempt!
The cultivators who had gathered around to watch the excitement cheered for Senior Brother He’s actions, loudly praising him as a hero and a fine fellow who was straightforward and broad-minded.
Fang Jueqian, who felt like the opposite of a hero, rubbed his reddening face. Compared to Senior Brother He, he could be considered armed to the teeth:
Not only was he loaded with a large pile of glowing dharma items and props of various colors, but he also clutched quite a few talismans in his hand, all borrowed from his desk mate, because he did not own anything of such a low grade himself.
Fang Jueqian recalled what Qiu Haoqing had told him three days ago:
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: If you want to win fair and square, you must act the part in the beginning.】
【A Happy Rice Cake: Act?】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Mmm. Even though so-and-so will also suppress his cultivation to the same level as yours, his first layer of Qi Refining and your first layer of Qi Refining are completely different.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: You stand zero chance meeting him head-on. You can only rely on acting to lower his guard.】
【A Happy Rice Cake: And then?】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Make him blow his top.】
The memory ended. Fang Jueqian touched his burning face and began to doubt himself:
Could he really pull off the acting? He was the type of person who would blush even when giving a public presentation.
Thinking of this, he grew even more nervous. With a clumsy slip of his hand, the talismans in his grip scattered all over the ground.
He flurriedly squatted down to scramble and pick them up everywhere, but several of them were still blown outside of the arena by the wind.
“Hahahaha.”
Bursts of laughter immediately sounded from beneath the arena. A female cultivator playfully pinched one of the talismans that had been blown down and waved it around:
“Little beauty, the ones that fell off do not count anymore. But if you give me your contact info, I can stuff them back in through the gaps in the arena.”
Fang Jueqian blushed, deeply regretting the declining moral standards of this place.
He turned around and, feeling both embarrassed and somewhat relieved, discovered that it seemed he did not even need to act, as Senior Brother He apparently did not take him seriously at all anymore.
He Chongtian was chatting idly with his classmates from Class A down below the arena, discussing where they should go celebrate after the match.
Their casual conversation had already locked in his victory beforehand.
Very well. Fang Jueqian decided to make him pay the price for his arrogance.
He wadded up the talismans and shoved them into his waistband, forming hand seals while not forgetting to throw out some harsh parting words:
“This is the only spell I have practiced in three days!”
Because he lacked confidence, even his harsh words lacked any real force, the tail end of his sentence drifting off as if it were about to vanish into thin air.
The people under the arena laughed again. Senior Brother He, standing on the other side, still wore a smile on his face, though his expression looked a little more serious.
Fang Jueqian successfully formed the hand seal, and a plump water sphere appeared in the air, slowly drifting toward Senior Brother He’s direction. Before it could fly very far, it wobbled unsteadily and collapsed halfway there, splashing water all over the floor.
The crowd below laughed again, shouting: “What a massive raindrop!”
Senior Brother He finally put his mind at ease and mocked him without mercy:
“You practiced for three days just to turn out like this? Back when I learned the Water Sphere Spell, it only took me half an hour to wield it as smoothly as my own fingers!”
The long-overdue referee finally arrived on the scene. Senior Brother He casually stretched his limbs and then flipped his palm over, a wisp of electric light appearing in the center of his hand.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: You are so smart! How did you know he would ignore the water sphere right beside him?】
Qiu Haoqing seemed busy and did not reply immediately.
Under the moonlight, Fang Jueqian put down the communication jade talisman, lay back comfortably in the hot spring, and counted the sweet osmanthus flowers blooming overhead.
He had really made a name for himself today. No one had expected that Senior Brother He, who had clearly held a huge advantage in the early stage, would end up losing to him in the end.
When the man gave him an apology with a livid, ashen face later on, even the instructors and senior brothers and sisters from Class Wu had come over to watch.
The more Fang Jueqian thought about it, the happier he became, and as he counted, he broke into a smile.
“One hundred and twenty-seventh osmanthus flower, one hundred and twenty-eighth osmanthus flower.”
The communication jade talisman finally lit up.
Fang Jueqian flailed about to grab the communication jade talisman that had drifted far away.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Because there are quite a few fools around here.】
Oh?
Such a sharp-tongued skill.
Fang Jueqian clicked his tongue in wonder.
He recalled that he had met Qiu Haoqing twice before, but at the time he had never imagined that such an aggressive inner nature could be hidden beneath his gentle and courteous exterior.
However, the man had done him a massive favor, so he really should not be complaining about his benefactor.
Thinking of this, Fang Jueqian reined in his thoughts just in time and solemnly expressed his thanks.
Although he could not find an opportunity to repay the favor right now, a person’s vision had to be long-term; there would always be a chance in the future.
Qiu Haoqing’s reaction to this was very indifferent.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Leave it at that. What do you plan to do next?】
Next?
Fang Jueqian felt this question was a bit strange.
【A Happy Rice Cake: Is it not just continuing to go to school? Are there other things?】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Today when you won, was so-and-so not very unconvinced?】
This guy was practically divine! It was as if he had been right there watching the scene in person!
Fang Jueqian sat up abruptly, leaning against the wall of the hot spring pool, which had been lined with soft jade not long ago to make it comfortable for him to lean back against, and carefully recalled the events of the daytime.
【A Happy Rice Cake: How did you know? Were you there too? But I did not see you, eh.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: I did not have to go. Anyone with a bit of a brain could guess it.】
Is that so?
Fang Jueqian made a wry face, not really wanting to admit that he seemed to have been caught in the crossfire of that insult.
【A Happy Rice Cake: Even if you guessed it, so what? I won, after all.】
Since he had already won, there was nothing the other party could do even if they remained unconvinced, right?
After all, as the victor, pursuing the matter further would make it look like he lacked breadth of mind.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Exterminate the evil down to the roots.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: With a person like that, if you simply beat him once, he will not be convinced. He will occasionally come looking for trouble with you again in the future, so you have to cut the weeds and dig up the roots to eliminate the threat completely.】
Fang Jueqian drew in a sharp breath.
Qiu Haoqing on the other end was still dropping shocking remarks:
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: In a few days, invite him to the arena again. Take out the talismans you did not use before and slap them across his face.】
【A Happy Rice Cake: Ah? Wait, that is going to cost lives!】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Hmph.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: So you finally decided to tell the real reason? If you had read a bit more during your spare time, you would know that talismans of Grade 3 or above can be used multiple times, and their power will decrease correspondingly.】
Fang Jueqian’s face flushed a deep red.
【A Happy Rice Cake: Oh, so you knew. Then why did you still…】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Because what you said earlier was indeed somewhat reasonable. Winning is very simple, but what matters is how you win. Whether you win by relying on objects or by relying on your brain, people’s perceptions of you will be completely different. If you want others to submit to you, you must walk the harder path.】
Fang Jueqian asked weakly:
【Um, how did it become my turn to make others submit to you?】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Since you have started cultivating, you should know that in this world, if you are not above people, you can only be beneath them. If your own foundation is unsteady, you will invite plenty of unprovoked disasters just like this one.】
Fang Jueqian was dumbfounded.
【A Happy Rice Cake: But even if I beat him with talismans one more time, it will not do much good, right? According to your logic, Senior Brother He will not be easily convinced. Even if he gets defeated by me again, he will just hold an even deeper grudge against me in the future.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Did I say I only wanted you to beat him one more time?】
Huh?
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: Defeating him with talismans is just the beginning. Every time your cultivation level increases in the future, you must use him as a sparring partner to practice on, until the moment he sees you and trembles in fear, never daring to show his face in front of you again, and letting everyone know the consequences of daring to provoke you. That way, you will truly establish a firm foothold in the academy, and this kind of thing will not happen again within the academy’s grounds.】
Fang Jueqian fell into a long silence.
He felt as though the thoughts inside his head were fighting one another.
What Qiu Haoqing said seemed to make a lot of sense, but why did it feel so much like twisted logic?
If he really went about it that way, no! He snapped back to his senses, as there was a loophole in Qiu Haoqing’s argument.
【A Happy Rice Cake: But is it not usually the case that when you beat the younger one, the older ones come out? That is what all the books say. Doing it this way will only make you endless enemies.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: They will not.】
【A Happy Rice Cake: You are not going to tell me that because it is a match between juniors, the seniors and elders will not interfere, right? Is there really such a rule in the Guiyuan Immortal Sect?】
Even if there was, someone would find a way around the rules anyway.
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: There is no such rule.】
Then why?
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: You have me backing you up.】
【As Open-Minded as a Valley: So, do not be afraid.】