The following festivities return to the original program. The sect disciples challenge me per group. I easily handle them. At this point, I am long immune to the cheering. As I am a generous immortal, I gift them with pills even though they miserably fail in the challenge. They didn't even last one microsecond against me after the 10th minute.
After I deal with the sec disciples of the Beautiful Berserker Sect and Void Contentment Sect, I eye the leader of the Moon Heart Sect. Surely, she wants a treasure too right?
I am so confident that she will challenge me that I didn't even return to my throne. But expectations betray me. As she descends to the arena with serendipitous grace, she utters her word of challenge not even looking my way. "I challenge the King!"
Ok? I smell something fishy. I unhesitant leave the stage.
Bao Zeming explodes at this unexpected development. Even he thinks that the sect master of Moon Heart Sect will be challenging the treasure trove with the existence of the 'mysterious' immortal. "Challenger Cai Ting enters the arena! At rank 7th with a record of 9 minutes! Though she has a rather lower survival time compared to other top rankers, do not underestimate her! For she is among the most aggressive of the sect master contenders. In fact, she was the only cultivator in last King's Challenge to inflict the most injury to the King!"
I suspiciously eye Cai Ting. I wonder what her motive is. Does she have any relationship with the Templars or the Bones Devouring Sect?? If she can hurt an 8th-stage cultivator, she must have powerful backing, a special item, or a unique skill. I use my telepathy on her to read her mind.
"My King, I will definitely save you from that wicked bitch! I will take my rightful place on your side!"
I choke on my saliva. Only now did I notice sparks are flying in between Yin Hua, the queen, and Cai Ting, the challenger. I check Yin Hua's mind with my telepathy just to make sure.
"That fucking bitch! Why is she so persistent? She is gunning for someone who already has a wife!"
Ok?
This King's Challenge for a festivity is incredibly fun. There is not a moment that is boring around here. This entertainment is top-notch, and I love it!
Cai Ting declares with heat in her nostrils. "Your majesty, my desire to beat you will remain the same. From now, I want to confirm it and hear from your own mouth. In the past King's Challenge, there has been a rumor that says you will grant any wish to the person who beats you. Is this true?"
King Yin Wei visibly gulps in tension.
There is a reason why Cai Ting is the most aggressive out of the sect masters in this King's Challenge. For other sect masters, they focus on defending and learning to advance their cultivation, but Cai Ting treats it differently. Cai Ting treats it with deadly passionate love.
I use my telepathy to converse with Yin Wei.
"Is this true?"
"It was a rumor I purposefully made so that I can attract the sects' attention. I mean… can they really beat me? I am at the 8th stage and the limits of this realm is the 4th stage."
Yin Wei has his point. The secret to Yin Wei's strength lies in his meeting old Fu Shi to which the latter gifted some of his cultivation. For something like that, old Fu Shi must be thinking quite highly of Yin Wei.
I glance at Yin Hua who is hiding her real expression under her fan. She must be from a different realm if she has the cultivation she has now.
I whisper to Yin Wei through telepathy.
"Confirm it. Tell her that it is true. Anyone who wins against you will be granted a wish. As long as you can fulfill it, you will do it. It is so that the declaration of sect state will be much easier for us."
Yin Wei nods at me, but those who are looking at him interpret it differently. That nod looks like a nod of confirmation of the rumor for everyone. Yin Wei doesn't even need to tell anything as the crowd devolves into chaos.
"So there is a kind of reward for the King's Challenge!?"
"That's incredible! The King is truly a benevolent King!"
"I wish I am a cultivator too, maybe I can have a shot."
"Bah! I am a cultivator, but I don't even like to try!"
"The chances of defeating the King in combat seem impossible!"
"Our King's strength must also along with the level of the immortal sitting beside him!"
At this point, I erase all of my suspicions of Cai Ting.
With graceful steps, Yin Wei descends to the arena. "To whoever can match my might, and I find worthy shall become also the sect state of my Kingdom!"
Except for Ru Sying, Gao Heng, and Cai Ting who don't even have any ambition for becoming the sect state, all of the other sects and even the mortals go into an uproarious commotion. In all of the history of the King's Challenge, this must be the most chaotic age out of them all.
I facepalm at the back of my mind. Why do you have to announce it like that, Yin Wei? I realize Yin Wei is directing me with a smug look. This brat must really be wanting the attention. Don't blame me if you start regretting it later. I will make sure to give 'buffs' to Bi Yuan later before she challenges the King.
Cai Ting shifts her weight into a fighting stance as she summons a sword from her spiritual storage. Yin Wei with seriousness also draws his sword and it seems that he will be taking this very seriously as he had his lessons from the past.
For a 4th stage to actually hurt an 8th stage is big news. I frown as I cannot even imagine it being possible. But finally, the answers present themselves to me. Cai Ting swallows pills that are capable of boosting cultivation for a short period of time.
These kinds of pills are dangerous as it is harming to a person's cultivation, but Cai Ting eats them like nothing. Suddenly, the qi emanating from Cai Ting multiplies several folds until it stops at the 6th stage. After eating the pill, Cai Ting then stabs her palm with an interesting-looking knife. It possesses mystifying properties that even with my mortal constitution start sending signals to me.
This isn't supposed to happen. Mortals cannot feel killing intent or qi, but I can artificially feel it through telepathy. The mystifying energy from the knife however can be felt in my mortal body from its every pore to my very bones.
Yin Hua notices my curious look and offers an explanation. "She ate a pill unique to her sect. It can temporarily increase the strength of any cultivator, in exchange for half their current cultivation. Because this realm's limit is the 4th stage, she can just use this pill again and again, and just recover her cultivation again and again. It is exhausting her lifespan though…"
"How about her knife?" I ask her through my telepathy causing her to yelp in surprise.
"Ah~ amazing sound transmission… Ah? The Knife? Forgive me Immortal, but I don't know. She always does that knife stabbing in her palm as some form of ritual. I thought it is a kind of insulting sect rite… maybe like telling me to fuck off? I didn't really pay any mind to it. What about it, sect master?"
"No, nothing…"
Hmmmm… I definitely plan on making the sects under my rule one day and turning them into my players, but since Sun's Scripture Sect, I just cannot… I recall not being able to convert the sect elder of Sun's Scripture Sect as my player. I wonder how I should solve this.
While I am troubling myself with the issues of player conversion, the battle in the arena develops into a violent exchange of skills.
"Crescent Moon Arc!" A sword aura that is akin to the shape of the crescent moon arcs on Yin Wei.
Yin Wei envelops himself with thick qi and projects a martial art of his own. "War Stance: Martial Guard!" Taking his superiority to other heights, Yin Wei lets his enormous qi rampage around. He angles his sword to his chest receiving the Crescent Moon Arc with a stoic face.
As a late-stage cancerous show-off, Yin Wei purposefully drags out the match letting Cai Ting get the opportunity to inflict sustainable damage. Yin Wei brushes it off too proud of his physique which was also personally modified by the late old Fu Shi.
I she perhaps old Fu Shi's illegitimate son? I am starting to doubt myself. Slowly, Yin Wei's wounds naturally heal. It is not perceptible to others, but I can see it through my system. The dude's HP bar that Cai Ting manages to lower is bit by bit recovering.
This must be where Yin Wei's pride comes from. He must have a secret recovery art. The King's Challenge ends with the gut-wrenching victory of Yin Wei. That was all just an illusion though as I am quite sure of Yin Wei's victory. This guy loves being sneaky and hiding his cultivation.
I feel bad for the sect masters under his rule.
The cultivators of Moon Heart Sect come at their fainted sect master's aid. They assist her and return her to their pedestal. Next, the sect disciples of the Moon Heart Sect challenge Yin Wei. The women cultivators are full of wrath and want to avenge their sect master.
The cultivators of the Moon Heart Sect have a fanatical love for their sect master which just invites disaster for Yin Wei. I enjoy listening to the women cultivators swearing at the king.
"How dare you hurt our beloved sect master's skin?" Yeah, you deserve that, Yin Wei.
"You ugly mofo! You are not worthy of our sect master's love!" Even if you say it so openly, Yin Wei won't understand it because he is a dense bastard.
"You fucking ugly kingly handsome masculine punk!" Are you really insulting him or praising him?
"—Uwaaagh… Hik… hik… Seeeect maaaaaster!" That one was just bawling her eyes out as she hurls her impressively scary sword stabs.
Despite the ferocity of the cultivators of the Moon Heart Sect, they still lost. I see Yin Wei basking in his victory. I compare him to Yin Hua who is on the verge of joining the King's Challenge and helping her husband pummel the women cultivators.
It seems that Yin Wei didn't even hear the insults, or maybe because of how dense he is to the trivial stuff, he must be misinterpreting the insults as friendly jabs… For a cultivator, he might even go as low as it was a brilliant strategy of the Moon Heart Sect to disturb his state of mind.
I read Yin Wei's mind all too curious to see what is there.
"They love me!"
That was another level of narcissism, I think… Nah, not a narcissist… He is just being an attention whore. The King's Challenge peacefully continues. The challengers divide themselves into those who are practical and greedy.
The practical chooses to fight me in hopes to get something, and like they were expecting, I didn't disappoint them as I gift them pills as consolation gifts even though they miserably fail on challenging me.
Meanwhile, those who are greedy are cultivators who wish to become the sect state of the Biron Kingdom. Yin Wei enjoys their volunteerism with great pleasure.
Finally, the Flowing Blade Sect presents itself on the arena stage. As they had no past records and it is their first time participating, then obviously they will be the last to compete.
A little white fluff comes to the arena making kyu-kyu sounds. Representing the 'sect master' of Flowing Blade Sect, she brandishes her 'fork' and creates an aura blade as a demonstration of strength. It was an enormous white arc that splits into three directions in the middle of its flight. Three trenches present themselves to the arena.
"Kyu~ kyu! KYUUU~"
The crowd just cannot help themselves but turn their awe to "AWWWWWWW!" The cuteness is destructive, and the bunny's awesomeness is just as destructive.
"Kyu~ I want da weward!"
Wait, Bi Yuan can talk now?
I feel my heart stopping. Damn. Kids these days grow so fast.