“Alright then, it’s not like I’m in a rush anyway.”
Li Tan gathered the teaware on the table and carried a stool to sit in front of Li Jiaying. “So, what did you come to find me for today?”
At this hour, it was unlikely to be a casual visit.
Li Jiaying replied sweetly, “Father sent me to find Brother for dinner.”
Speaking of dinner, Li Tan suddenly remembered that he was no longer at the cultivation stage he had been in his previous life and couldn’t practice abstention from food anymore. As if driven by subconsciousness, his stomach growled with hunger.
So Li Tan went to the dining hall with Li Jiaying. This seemed to be the first proper meal he’d had in two days. He chatted and laughed with Li Zhen and others, feeling as if he were in a dream, as though everything would vanish the moment he looked back.
Time flew, and soon it was dawn.
As the sky turned pale in the east, all the family members returned to the martial arts training ground. The referee stepped onto the stage and loudly announced the start of the second elimination round.
The only match Li Tan found remotely interesting in this elimination round, or rather martial contest, was Li Xiu’s. After all, Li Tan had spent an entire night training him, and witnessing Li Xiu’s struggle against a ferocious beast the previous night had significantly improved Li Tan’s impression of him.
At the time, Li Tan had nearly intervened several times, but each time, Li Xiu managed to turn the tide and escape danger.
It proved that Li Xiu’s talent and temperament were quite good. His only fatal flaw was his habitual sense of inferiority, which, as previously mentioned, would take time to overcome once they entered the Feiyu Sect.
Right now, Li Tan still needed to keep an eye on the movements of the black-robed figure and couldn’t be distracted.
Since Li Xiu wasn’t scheduled to fight anytime soon, Li Tan closed his eyes to meditate after sitting down. However, Li Jiaying, giggling, sat on his lap, making meditation impossible. Thus, he resigned himself to dozing off and spacing out instead.
The matches were Lin vs. Liu, Li vs. Liu, and Li vs. Lin.
After the screening in the afternoon of the previous day, most members from the smaller clans had already been eliminated, leaving mostly representatives from the three major clans. Most of these remaining competitors had cultivation levels above the early stage of Houtian. Those who had lost in the first elimination round were mostly at the early Houtian stage.
Therefore, compared to the previous day, the scene was much quieter today, with few challenges being issued.
However, there were still challengers, as many people clung to the hope of a miracle.
As for those being challenged, naturally, they were among the few early Houtian cultivators who had already qualified for the next round.
In other words, Li Xiu would certainly be challenged.
Li Tan had already foreseen this, but what he hadn’t expected was that the challenger would be him.
With a sinister gaze and an expressionless face.
The one challenging Li Xiu was Liu Zhengyi, who had been defeated in the first elimination round by Liu.
It must be known that losing in a duel was almost never due to bad luck—it was a clear sign of inferior skill.
Therefore, the act of daring to challenge the one who had defeated him the day before immediately livened up the otherwise dull atmosphere.
If Liu Zhengyi won, he would immediately become a celebrated figure in Linjiang.
Conversely, if he lost, he would become the laughingstock of the town.
And the probability of losing was much higher than winning, making this move seem unwise.
But it wasn’t hard to understand.
Liu Zhengyi was born from a concubine and had received little family resources. After finally getting a chance to turn his fate around, being eliminated in the preliminary round meant the end of his prospects. He would most likely be relegated to managing mundane family businesses in the mortal world.
“Bet on it one last time?”
Li Tan cast a glance at Liu Zhengyi, then turned his head away, uninterested, and began gazing at the drifting clouds in the sky.
If he had been slightly interested in Li Xiu’s match before, now he had absolutely no interest.
If it had been someone else, there might have been a chance of an unexpected reversal. But Li Xiu had been personally trained by Li Tan, even if only for one night, and he would never make a basic mistake.
So the outcome of the match was predetermined.
Uninteresting.
“Li Tan, aren’t you the least bit concerned about Li Xiu?”
Li Hantian’s cold voice rang out.
Li Tan continued watching the drifting clouds, unfazed. “What else should I do then?
Should I go encourage him with great concern?”
“Hmph, you sure seem confident. But have you considered that if Liu Zhengyi wants to advance, he could challenge someone else instead of taking such a big risk by challenging Li Xiu?”
“He’s just unwilling, unwilling.”
“Isn’t that explanation a bit too simplistic?”
“You’re saying that Liu Zhengyi has come prepared this time, right?”
“Exactly. If it were me, I would have made absolutely sure of victory before stepping onto the stage.”
“What kind of thorough preparation could you possibly make in such a short time?
Unless he’s taking pills, but pills are banned substances.”
“This martial contest is hosted by the Liu family. If they’re determined to win, it should be quite easy for them to cheat in the elimination rounds.”
Li Tan turned his head to look at Li Xiu.
Li Xiu was still sitting in the corner, showing no surprise, his eyes calm as ever.
This was a sign of confidence.
If Li Xiu himself was confident, how could Li Tan be shaken by mere words?
Li Tan’s lips curled slightly, and he said firmly, “What can drugs do? Unless they’ve switched him out for someone else entirely, there’s no way he can defeat Li Xiu.”
“You’re still as arrogant as ever. I hope you can still laugh about it later.”
Li Hantian, clearly displeased, flicked his sleeve and walked away to speak with other members of the Li family about the upcoming rematch.
Out of the ten Li family members who came, all except Li Jiaying had advanced.
Li Tan turned his gaze back and gently patted Li Jiaying’s head as she idly played with his clothes. “Do you feel any regret?”
“Me?”
Li Jiaying tilted her head, pointing at herself.
Li Tan nodded.
“No.”
“Really?”
Usually, people would feel at least a little reluctant. Li Tan didn’t want Li Jiaying to keep negative emotions bottled up inside, so he softly asked again, “Don’t you feel unhappy at all watching Xiu and the others compete on stage?”
Li Jiaying blinked her eyes cutely and answered without hesitation, “Of course not! Father has been smiling a lot these past two days. I’m too happy to feel sad at all!”
Li Tan was momentarily stunned. After a while, he let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“I see. I misunderstood, haha.”
He had always thought that Li Jiaying participated in the martial contest because she wanted to join the Feiyu Sect, which was the goal for most people.
Certainly, that was also Li Jiaying’s purpose, but not her ultimate one.
Compared to joining the Feiyu Sect, what Li Jiaying truly wanted was for Father Li Yang to be happy.
Or rather, participating in the martial contest and joining the Feiyu Sect were actions she took solely to make Li Yang happy.
In Li Tan’s memory, when Li Jiaying was little, she had always been the kind of child who schemed to skip training, sneaking out with him every few days to play outside the walls.
The reason she had changed so drastically was because of Li Yang.
After that incident, this little one had grown up without anyone noticing.
Li Tan felt a pang in his heart and gently hugged Li Jiaying.
“After all this is over, Brother will take you outside to play, okay?”
Li Jiaying lifted her little head and smiled, her expression as radiant as blooming flowers.
“Promise! No going back on your word!”
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