Time, A Priest Or Thief?

Yang Zhai was sitting on his bench, contemplating,

"As I had expected, this place is not far from the inheritance. So, they have found the inheritance."

The open field where the competition was taking place was near the inheritance. This competition had not happened in his previous life. It was because, in his previous life, Jun Nie had succeeded in killing his son. And just like that, after many weeks, the wars had broken.

However, this time, Yang Zhai had prevented the war from happening. And the inheritance was also opened during the war because a certain condition had been fulfilled. Before this, there was no competition or anything like this.

"And why did the Bai clan agree to such a competition? What were they thinking? It is clearly disadvantageous to them. I can't see any benefits in this kind of competition for them, even though it is beneficial to the Ma clan. Wait a moment, could it be…," 

The fight between Si Kim and Jun Haru was still taking place. Yang Zhai was watching the battle as well as contemplating the current events.

"Could it be that this condition was not put forward by the Ma clan, but by the Bai clan?" 

"It might be possible: after all, if the Ma clan had put forward this condition, even then, the Bai clan had to also agree for this competition to commence. And the Ma clan would definitely not make such futile attempts, knowing that the Bai clan would not agree to the conditions which were clearly disadvantageous to them. And even if the Ma clan did make such conditions, why did the Bai clan agree?"

"We also got attacked by the black cloaked men when traveling to the Bai clan, and it was arranged by the third elder to assassinate Jun Nie. Could the third elder have something to do with this competition? But, without the consent of the clan leader, such matters cannot be agreed upon by the other elders. Then, what am I missing?" 

"If I want to make preparations beforehand, I must know the purpose of the competition. There is a lot more to this than it simply seems"

These were all of the things Yang Zhai was thinking in his mind and did not say out loud.

Meanwhile,

Both Si Kim and Jun Haru were injured, and their clothes were torn from many places. They were panting heavily and looked like the fight was going to be over soon. 

"You…are really tough," Jun Haru praised Si Kim whilst trying to catch his breath.

"You too," Si Kim also praised Jun Haru back. 

Both of them were extremely tired and were trying to catch their breaths while talking to each other.

"It seems like the battle is over," Someone from the crowd said. 

"Seems so, they are too tired to fight anymore." 

"At least it was longer than the first fight, which ended just as it started." 

"Yeah, that kid Ke Xin might be feeling quite sad because of the two to three seconds fight." 

"Hey I have a present for you," Jun Haru said and threw a small rock toward Si Kim. 

" Here, catch this,"

" What's this?" Si Kim was almost out of strength and could not dodge the stone. 

Si Kim moved his right hand forward to defend himself. However, the stone blasted a few needles, around five to six shot out, and struck Si Kim's hand and arm. One of the few needles also passed his hand and struck his chest. These needles were sharp and were one to two inches in size. 

ARGH! AAA!! AAAAAAAA!!!!! 

Si Kim screamed because of the pain. Even though he was a cultivator, his body was still a mortal body and was not different from a mortal without cultivation. Even though rank 1 cultivators had a little more endurance because of the Essence water, their bodies were not at all different from the mortal bodies. 

He screamed and fell to the ground. 

Jun Haru after catching his breath, went closer to screaming Si Kim. After that, he slowly dragged Si Kim to the edge of the stage and threw him out of the arena and he himself fell on the stage, tired and injured. 

"The winner is Jun Haru and the first round goes to the Ma clan. With this, the first round ends. As for the second round, its date would be announced a month later. The bets for the first round are over and bets for the second round have begun. You can come and bet anything or with anyone, anytime, right here." Zing Ghe announced loudly after Jun Haru threw Si Kim out of the arena. 

After that, a few healing Cultivators came and began to heal Si Kim and Jun Haru. 

People began to gather around the bet counter and began to settle the bets they had made. 

Yang Zhai and the other Bai clan cultivators were standing with the academy leaders. The battles were over, and it was time to return back. However, the two disciples, Si Kim and Si Hao were healed first. 

"Sorry, I could not win. Everything was depending on me, and we lost because of me." Si Kim said with a lowered head to the academy leaders. 

"No worries, it happens. Now, let's go." Elder Yu Ene said this and everyone left for the Bai clan. Of course, not everyone, but only the Bai clan members. 

After one day of travel, the academy leaders and the disciples reached the Bai clan. 

On the way back to the Bai clan, they were not attacked. It was a smooth journey. It was to be expected. After all, the Bai clan had sent the academy leaders because they were confident in their skills, and the Ma clan also knew this. The Ma clan knew that there was no benefit in attacking the three disciples with the two academy leaders around. 

The eight disciples returned to their houses after returning. 

And elder Yu Ene and Yu Ane went to report to the clan leader. 

Yang Zhai was sitting in his room and was not worried about being attacked. He knew that the Bai clan would not leave the three disciples without anyone guarding them. He was pretty sure that there might be someone protecting them from the shadows. 

However, Yang Zhai still felt something strange, 

"I thought that the clan would make us stay in a safe place with many elders around to keep an eye on us. However, they did not do that. The Clan definitely wants us to be attacked by the Ma clan, but why?" 

Yang Zhai came to the window of his room and looked out. It was already night and the lamps were hanging in the streets outside, showing the clean roads made of white and black stones. The songs of the Nightingale could be heard. The moon could be seen clearly in the sky, with only a few fading clouds in front of it. It was a pretty peaceful night. 

"People might call time a great healer, but it is time that takes everything away. A living being loses everything from the day of their birth to the day of their death, even their personality." Yang Zhai muttered after seeing the peaceful, quiet streets. 

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