Chapter 443: Divided into Four (First Update)

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"Who is this female benefactor? So arrogant?"

Huang Ming was clearly shocked that Feng Baobao dared to speak so boldly in front of so many elite disciples from various sects.

You have to understand, the little Taoist from Longhu Mountain had just mentioned that the first round would be a four-person free-for-all. Provoking others like this would surely turn it into a three-on-one situation.

"Judging by her uniform, she seems to be from the Everywhere Bureau. I didn't expect them to send someone to the Luo Tian Dajiao."

Normally, the Everywhere Bureau doesn't participate in such events. They're more of a law-and-order agency.

It's like a martial arts tournament held by various sects—of course the government would pay attention and send people to maintain order and ensure that no chaos spills over into the lives of ordinary citizens.

But they usually wouldn't send top-level experts like the Embroidered Uniform Guards or the Eastern Depot to openly compete.

Even if they did get involved, it would be by secretly supporting a particular sect for a specific purpose.

But times have changed, and the situation now is quite special. Since Zhang Chulan, one of the candidates for Heavenly Master, is from the Everywhere Bureau, it's not unreasonable for the Bureau to participate.

"Maybe she's just not too bright."

Looking at the red glass bead necklace around Feng Baobao's neck, George chuckled and shook his head.

Even without reading minds, his powerful psychic abilities and sixth sense allowed him to quickly judge a person.

Huang Ming, for example, was the straightforward type, with no malice in his heart.

When he said Feng Baobao wasn't bright, it wasn't sarcasm—he genuinely felt her mind and soul functioned differently from normal people.

Zhang Chulan, on the other hand, was clearly someone with a lot of schemes and calculations—George could tell that at a glance.

And considering the qi within Feng Baobao's body was on par with the old Heavenly Master, even if she didn't know any Taoist arts, just the physical enhancement from that energy alone would make her incredibly powerful.

So she wasn't bluffing—she truly had the strength to back it up.

"Hahaha, the youth are truly spirited!"

While the crowd was still in an uproar, the old Heavenly Master Zhang Zhiwei, along with several members of the Ten Elders, walked over from a distance.

"It's the old Heavenly Master and some of the Ten Elders!"

The crowd erupted in excitement.

These were truly the most powerful and authoritative figures in the domestic world of the gifted.

"A mere junior Taoist from Longhu Mountain with such strength?"

From the surrounding gossip, George quickly picked up on everyone's identities.

He had met the old Heavenly Master at the front mountain before, so he recognized him.

Standing to the old master's left was Lu Jin, one of the Ten Elders and the one who had brought out the Tongtian Talisman. Judging by his appearance, he was likely over a hundred years old.

As for his strength—just from sensing the energy in his body—it was clear he was a tier below the old Heavenly Master.

But that was only in comparison to the old master. Among the others present—excluding the anomaly that was Feng Baobao—he had the highest energy level.

To the old master's right was an elderly Taoist in a wheelchair, seemingly missing all his limbs. He was said to be the old master's junior brother.

Behind them stood two more elderly men: Lu Ci, head of the Lu family, and Wang Ai, head of the Wang family.

George wasn't particularly surprised by the strength of the Ten Elders. What did surprise him was the young Taoist pushing the wheelchair-bound elder.

He looked to be only about thirteen or fourteen, yet the strength of the energy within him was first-class—perhaps even exceeding that of Zhang Lingyu, Longhu Mountain's tournament participant.

Could he be a hidden genius from Longhu Mountain?

Zhang Lingyu was the old Heavenly Master's youngest disciple, widely acknowledged for both talent and power, and the only Longhu Mountain disciple participating in this Luo Tian Dajiao.

In other words, the contenders for the Heavenly Master title this time were either Zhang Lingyu or Zhang Chulan.

Even if someone else won the tournament, they'd only get the Tongtian Talisman, not the Heavenly Master's position.

But to George, this was only mildly surprising—he didn't really care.

Even the old Heavenly Master and the Ten Elders didn't worry him. No matter how skilled they were, the energy within them wasn't in the same league as his.

What did concern him, however, was whether this world—so rich in cultivation systems—also harbored higher-dimensional realms like Heaven, Hell, the Celestial Court, or the Great Thunderclap Temple.

In his previous life, he didn't understand this world, so he couldn't make that judgment.

"Since everyone's eager to test their skills, let's begin!"

After a brief opening speech, the old Heavenly Master had a young Taoist bring out a drawing box and began explaining the rules of the Luo Tian Dajiao.

To host the event, Longhu Mountain had prepared four arenas, with all matches occurring simultaneously.

Each draw slip featured a Heavenly Stem, which determined the match order, and an animal sign, which determined the group.

The first day was a four-person free-for-all—contestants with the same animal symbol were grouped together.

From the second to the seventh day, it would shift to one-on-one knockout matches in each arena, continuing until a champion was decided. If either Zhang Lingyu or Zhang Chulan won, they would inherit the Heavenly Master's position and receive the Tongtian Talisman.

If neither won, then the champion would receive the Talisman, and whichever of Zhang Lingyu or Zhang Chulan ranked higher would inherit the position.

"Lao Jin, what did you draw?"

As soon as the drawing was done, Huang Ming came over eagerly.

"Gui · Azure Dragon."

George opened his slip.

Huang Ming opened his own as well.

"I got Gui · Vermilion Bird. We're both in the last match, but we're not in the same arena or group.

That's good, though—we can watch more of the other matches and learn from them."

"Yeah, that's great."

George smiled.

It didn't matter to him—regardless of what he drew, even if all the gifted people on Longhu Mountain teamed up, they wouldn't be able to defeat him. The result was going to be the same.

"Everyone, please return to the venue. Boxed lunches have been prepared. The official matches will begin at 1:00 PM!"

Once the drawing was done, a young Taoist in charge of registration loudly announced to the crowd.

It was nearly noon, and there was no way they'd start the matches without having lunch first. Gifted ones are still human—they can't fight all afternoon on empty stomachs.

Of course, having Longhu Mountain treat this many people to a meal at a hotel was unrealistic.

So soon enough, George saw a peculiar sight—gifted ones dressed in Taoist robes, monk robes, suits, and Zhongshan suits all squatting together, eating boxed lunches.

People from all over the country, speaking in various regional dialects, sat together chatting while shoveling down their meals. It was a truly grounded and down-to-earth scene.

It also showed that, under normal circumstances, the gifted world in China was relatively harmonious.

At 1:00 PM sharp, the matches officially began.

"Psychic Projections!"

Before the first match, George split off three psychic projections, which turned invisible and flew to the other three arenas, while his main body went with Huang Ming to the first one.

Since the goal was to observe the various sects' techniques and spells, he needed to monitor all four arenas.

Fortunately, he could now produce more than one projection. Though the more he split off, the weaker each one became—

At a quarter of his full strength, each projection could still dominate the competition. And if danger arose, he could recall them immediately.

(End of Chapter)