Chapter 48: The Xuanwu City Prodigy Tournament (Part I)

Time passed quickly, and two months later.

In the Qianyuan Continent, the Grand Tournament of the Chosen, organized by the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, was officially announced to be held in Xuanwu City. Disciples from all sects and family forces were eligible to participate in this tournament, provided that their biological age did not exceed twenty years; otherwise, their results would be invalidated.

The major sects and family forces had long been aware of this rule, so no one was foolish enough to provoke the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Although the Myriad Treasures Pavilion was not affiliated with any faction, it was a superpower in its own right. It was rumored that its influence spanned the entire Saint Origin Great World, which was further divided into the Tianyuan Sacred Domain, Zhongyuan Sacred Domain, Yaoguang Sacred Domain, Tianji Sacred Domain, and Beimang Sacred Domain. The Qianyuan Continent was merely a tiny corner of the Tianyuan Sacred Domain, while the entire Tianyuan Sacred Domain itself was split into eight major continents, including Qianyuan, Kunyuan, Zhenyuan, Genyuan, Liyuan, Kanyuan, Duiyuan, and Xunyuan.

From this, it was evident that the Myriad Treasures Pavilion possessed a vast network of influence, making ordinary sects and family forces dare not provoke this colossal entity casually, lest the consequences be unimaginable. However, the tournament held by the Myriad Treasures Pavilion was not merely a ranking competition for the chosen ones across the continents; it was also a method to recruit exceptional talents into its ranks.

Liao Chen figured out the pavilion's intention with a single glance. It was an open conspiracy with no solution. Since things stood thus, Liao Chen decided to dispatch his five disciples, including Jiang Qian, to Xuanwu City. However, since Xuanwu City was located far away in the Dajing Dynasty, Liao Chen chose to travel there accompanied by Azure Dragon, Jiuling, and the others.

As the group entered Xuanwu City, the voice of the damned system suddenly echoed in Liao Chen's ears:

"Ding! The system has detected a Nine-Star Puppet Saint Body. Name: Duan Yiming. Cultivation base: Third Layer of the Primordial Dan Realm. Bone age: Seven years old. Please accept this disciple as soon as possible. Upon successful apprenticeship, you will be rewarded with an apprenticeship grand gift package. If you fail, the system will deduct all the host's cultivation base and rewards."

Liao Chen originally wanted to curse the damned system to high heaven, but considering the generous rewards promised, he followed the system's instructions and walked up to Duan Yiming. At that moment, Duan Yiming was tinkering with his puppets. Lacking resources and a powerful background, he could only use ordinary wood to craft puppets. Even so, he had managed to construct a few second-tier puppets, not to mention a larger number of first-tier ones. A second-tier puppet possessed combat strength comparable to the Primordial Dan Realm, and it was precisely these creations that provided Duan Yiming with a shred of self-preservation.

Seeing Liao Chen and his group approaching, Duan Yiming looked at them with guarded vigilance.

"What do you want?"

Liao Chen smiled slightly and asked, "Little fellow, these puppets of yours are quite decent. How much are you selling them for?"

Duan Yiming never expected these people to be here to buy puppets. He held up ten fingers and said, "Mister, the first-tier puppets are only ten low-grade spirit stones each, and the second-tier puppets are twenty low-grade spirit stones each."

Liao Chen took out a pouch of spirit stones and said, "Little fellow, I'll take all of these puppets!"

Duan Yiming was overjoyed. He never expected to encounter such a major client today, so he decided to offer Liao Chen a discount.

"Mister, I have thirty first-tier puppets and five second-tier puppets in total, which comes to four hundred low-grade spirit stones. Since you're buying so many, you can just give me three hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones!"

Liao Chen was surprised that such a young child knew how to do business, and he said, "You don't need to give me a discount. By the way, why don't you have any puppets made from other materials? If you do, I can offer you a much higher price."

Duan Yiming shook his head with a trace of helplessness. He certainly wanted to use metal to forge puppets, but he simply didn't have enough money to buy metal. Perceiving his predicament, Liao Chen said, "Little fellow, what if—and I mean *what if*—I provide the metal and ask you to help me forge puppets? How would you charge?"

Duan Yiming never imagined that someone would actually commission him to forge metal puppets without requiring him to supply the materials. Trembling slightly with excitement, he replied, "Mister, are you serious? If you provide the metal materials, the first-tier puppets will only cost five low-grade spirit stones each, and the second-tier puppets fifteen low-grade spirit stones each."

Liao Chen nodded and said, "No problem at all. However, we are not from Xuanwu City. How about this: you come with us for now. Once I purchase the metal materials, you can begin forging metal puppets. If there are no materials available, I will give you ten low-grade spirit stones every day as travel expenses."

Duan Yiming saw no downside to this arrangement and nodded, "We'll do as you say, mister!"

Just as he was about to stand up, a group of ruffians swaggered over. The leader was a man named Scarface Tiger, followed by eight thugs who looked like ruthless characters at first glance. Seeing that Duan Yiming had made some money, Scarface Tiger laughed heartily and said, "Yo, business is pretty good today, Duan Yiming! How much did you make? It's time to pay this month's protection fee."

Duan Yiming muttered quietly, "Tiger, I haven't closed many deals this month. I only made this much—four hundred in total. Here is the protection fee you asked for!"

Seeing that Duan Yiming had made four hundred low-grade spirit stones and was only offering ten, Scarface Tiger grew irritated. He snapped, "Brat, are you trying to brush off a beggar? According to the rules of the street, it's a ten percent cut. Since you made four hundred, you should give me at least forty, or you're not going to have a good day today!"

Clutching his storage pouch tightly, Duan Yiming refused outright, "I can't give you this money! My parents are waiting for it to buy medicine. If you try to rob me, I'll fight you to the death!"

Hearing this, the thugs burst into raucous laughter. Without missing a beat, Scarface Tiger landed a heavy slap across Duan Yiming's face, roaring, "Brat, I've given you too much face! Who gave you the courage to speak to me like that? If you weren't still somewhat useful, we would have butchered you and your parents long ago! Hand that money over to me right now!"

Seeing his storage pouch snatched away, Duan Yiming completely broke down. He screamed at the top of his lungs, "You stole my money! I'll fight you to the death!"

With that, Duan Yiming charged blindly at Scarface Tiger like a madman. However, Scarface Tiger couldn't even be bothered to look at him, simply waving his hand at his subordinates and ordering, "This brat wants to die. Teach him a lesson, but don't beat him to death."

The thugs nodded and immediately set upon the charging Duan Yiming with a barrage of kicks and punches, instantly leaving him bloody and bruised. Fortunately, they held back just enough not to take his life, though Duan Yiming was battered half to death. Liao Chen and his group watched from the sidelines without the slightest intention of intervening.

Once the beating stopped, Duan Yiming regained a shred of clarity. Hatred burned fiercely in his heart toward Scarface Tiger and his thugs, yet he was utterly powerless against them. Noticing that Liao Chen and his companions were still standing nearby, he used his divine sense to probe their cultivation levels, only to find them completely unfathomable. Struggling to speak, he wheezed, "Mister... can I ask for your help? If you can help me, I am willing to help you forge puppets for free."

Liao Chen shook his head and replied, "No! We are complete strangers. Even if you promised to help us forge metal puppets earlier, it's not enough reason for us to step in and punish those people for you. But I have a condition: if you are willing to take me as your master, you will become my disciple, and perhaps then I can help you kill them."

Duan Yiming never expected that the price of their assistance would be kowtowing in apprenticeship. He hesitated and asked, "Mister, are you certain that if I become your disciple, you will help me kill them?"

Liao Chen nodded. "Naturally. Otherwise, why would I help you? Killing people is no trivial matter, after all. What if those thugs have powerful backers? I would have to face the forces standing behind them."

Without overthinking it any further, Duan Yiming made his decision on the spot and declared, "Disciple Duan Yiming is willing to take you as my master!"

The system chimed: "Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully accepting a disciple. Rewards distributed: ten million experience points, one thousand supreme-grade spirit swords known as 'Jinghong Swords', one million third-tier supreme-grade Peiyuan Pills, one million supreme-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills, one copy of the divine-grade cultivation technique *Heavenly Dao Puppet Arts*, one million tons of each of the Five Elements Crystals, one hundred million tons of red copper ore, one hundred million tons of red iron ore, one hundred million tons of refined iron ore, one hundred million tons of extraterrestrial meteorite iron ore, one million portions of first-tier puppet souls, one million portions of second-tier puppet souls, one million portions of third-tier puppet souls, one million portions of fourth-tier puppet souls, and one Sect Mission Pagoda. The rewards have been issued; please check and claim them, host."

Liao Chen never expected the damned system to bestow so many rewards for a single disciple. Beaming at Duan Yiming, he said, "Good, very good! Since you have already taken me as your master, your master will certainly fulfill the promise made to you earlier."

He motioned to Jiang Qian and said, "Qian'er, go drag those ruffians back here for your master."

Jiang Qian smiled faintly and sprang into action. Within moments, all the fleeing thugs were effortlessly rounded up and dragged back.