"Look, that servant used a Water Prison Talisman to trap himself! Is there anyone as foolish as this? Is he here to entertain us?"
"Hahaha, this competition sure has surprises! Such a ridiculous joke is rare. After today, this little servant's name will surely spread throughout the entire sect."
Chen An's actions immediately caused an uproar among the disciples watching from below the stage. Everyone mocked him without mercy, thinking he didn't even deserve to stand on the stage.
Using a Water Prison Talisman to trap oneself was considered a mistake too basic to be believed. Even a fool wouldn't make such an error. What was wrong with Chen An's thinking?
However, unlike the mocking disciples, Yun Henqiu, who was overseeing the event, merely furrowed his brows. He showed no sign of disdain toward Chen An. Instead, he looked contemplative, his brows tightly knitted.
Even Elder Gu, who was silently observing from the shadows, had the same reaction.
In the eyes of the ordinary onlookers, it might seem like Chen An made a huge blunder by trapping himself with the Water Prison Talisman. But to those with discerning eyes, wasn't this a way of protecting himself?
It was common knowledge that breaking the Water Prison Talisman from within was much easier than doing so from the outside.
In a situation where Wu Zhanheng had superior strength, trapping him with the Water Prison Talisman was nearly impossible. But trapping himself? That changed the situation.
Chen An could comfortably stand in place, using the Water Prison Talisman to drain Wu Zhanheng's energy. With this tactic, Chen An's advantage would grow as time passed, possibly allowing him to win without even fighting!
To have such strategic depth, to come up with such a clever method to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses in an instant—if this was enough to make people laugh at him as a fool, then there were no more clever people in the world.
Unfortunately, there weren't many with such insight. Most of the disciples continued to mock Chen An.
But as time passed, the mocking laughter began to fade. They gradually realized that Wu Zhanheng couldn't break through Chen An's Water Prison.
It wasn't because the talisman itself was particularly special but because there were too many of them.
At this moment, there were already four or five layers of Water Prison covering Chen An, and each time Wu Zhanheng broke through two layers, Chen An would leisurely pull out another two talismans from his storage pouch.
To the disciples watching, it seemed like Chen An was flaunting his wealth by using spiritual stones to crush Wu Zhanheng. Although Water Prison Talismans weren't particularly expensive, this level of consumption was extravagant.
This led many to start wondering—how did a servant like Chen An get so many talismans?
Their doubts were soon answered.
Because Chen An had begun making talismans himself… right there in the water prison.
Calmly facing Wu Zhanheng, who was frantically hacking away at the Water Prison from outside, Chen An sat down cross-legged. He took out some talisman paper and red cinnabar from his storage pouch and began quietly crafting more talismans.
As Wu Zhanheng broke through a Water Prison, Chen An would draw and activate another, adding more layers of protection around himself.
To be able to sit there and craft talismans while in the middle of a battle, and at such speed that even Wu Zhanheng struggled to keep up—was this something a normal person could do?
"Brother, can you speed up? I'm getting quite bored over here."
As Wu Zhanheng's energy rapidly dwindled, his ability to break through the talismans slowed down from a few breaths per talisman to over ten breaths, and even a full tea's worth of time. Chen An found himself increasingly idle inside the Water Prison.
In the end, he had no choice but to rest his chin on his hand and watch Wu Zhanheng sweat and struggle outside the talisman layers.
Despite being in complete control, Chen An continued to taunt Wu Zhanheng, his words hitting sore spots every time.
Even Li Muchen, Chen An's good friend, felt that his teasing was a bit much. It seemed as though Chen An was bullying Wu Zhanheng—humiliating him even after securing victory.
Li Muchen couldn't help but wonder: would Wu Zhanheng even be able to continue as a cultivator after suffering such a blow? After this humiliation, his future path might become much more difficult.
Finally, this battle, both comical and completely unexpected, came to an end. Wu Zhanheng, enraged and exhausted, fainted in front of the seemingly endless Water Prisons he could never break.
Though Chen An had already won, he did not relax. He stayed inside the Water Prison for nearly another full incense stick's time.
The reason was simple: in Chen An's shoes, he would have faked exhaustion, pretended to collapse, and waited for his opponent to come out—only to launch a surprise attack at the last moment.
So, Chen An waited to be certain that Wu Zhanheng wasn't faking unconsciousness before stepping out of the Water Prison.
Perhaps Chen An was overthinking it—there weren't many as devious as him, who refused to play by the rules.
Satisfied that Wu Zhanheng was truly unconscious, Chen An dispelled the Water Prisons, grabbed Wu Zhanheng by his collar, and threw him off the stage.
His first battle—victory without a fight!
As Chen An stepped down from the stage, he noticed that everyone's gaze toward him was strange. It wasn't quite fear, nor was it hatred. Rather, it was a sense of… wariness.
Yes, wariness!
Watching Chen An defeat Wu Zhanheng in such a frustrating yet effortless way, everyone felt a deep sense of dread.
They realized that if they were in Wu Zhanheng's position, they wouldn't be able to break through this rogue style of fighting either. They would likely meet the same fate as Wu Zhanheng.
Failure in battle wasn't so terrifying, as long as there was another chance to try again. Many were willing to face that. But to be mocked while feeling utterly powerless—that was a situation no one wanted to experience.
More importantly, aside from using the Water Prison Talisman and demonstrating his talisman-making skills, Chen An did not reveal any of his other abilities throughout the fight.
No one knew what other tricks he had up his sleeve, and this made him even more fearsome.
"You are full of surprises, hiding this from me. I was worried for you for nothing!" Li Muchen greeted Chen An, warmly throwing an arm around his shoulders to congratulate him.
Though he had always known about Chen An's talent in talisman-making, he had never imagined it could be used in such a way. It was a little humorous but undeniably effective.
"I was just lucky. I don't know what I'll do when I face my next opponent."
Though Chen An had won his first battle, there was no trace of excitement on his face. From the beginning, he hadn't considered people like Wu Zhanheng to be his true competitors.
The only person he truly focused on was Yun Xiao.
His eyes scanned the surroundings until they found Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao had missed the first round of battles, but now he stood on the stage, facing his opponent—a new disciple named Bai Yu, who was equally outstanding, on par with Wu Zhanheng.