More challenges? Longer Tourney Arc?

  All this made Bubai pucker his lips.

  If his life was a story, this was really stretching it.

  Alas, this wasn’t some fiction. There were no chapters to skim or arcs to skip over.

  This was a reality that demanded full participation. How... troublesome.

  "That lucky ducky had me thinking these peeps finally caught on and were gonna call it quits. But nope, guess I’m not off the hook just yet..."

  Stepping into the lounge, Bubai saw an acquaintance right ahead – the eunuch, Jia Gonggong.

  Seeing Bubai, Jia Gonggong plastered on his ever-pandering smile and led his three-person entourage over.

  It seems that someone else isn’t ready to let him off the hook either.

  Coming to a stop in front of Bubai, Jia Gonggong waved at the two eunuchs carrying the stretcher and crisply ordered, “You two, bring Little Lord Seventh back to the clan first.”

  “Yes, Jia Gonggong.”

  When the stretcher-bearers passed by, Bubai threw a glance at their cargo: the unconscious, bloodied baldie.

  Bloody Merlin, he’s still alive after that? Really tenacious.

  Gotta say, even he admired this lucky ducky’s tenacious will and ruthlessness.

  His personality wasn’t bad either.

  This was a suitable candidate to add to his friend list if he ever got the chance.

  Casting his eyes back at the eunuch, Bubai nodded politely. “Jia Gonggong. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Oh no, no. It is this little one who owes the pleasure of bothering Young Master Mo.”

  The eunuch’s smiling face was greased in honey with a hint of oil.

  But Bubai only gave him that “you know you’re bothering me, yet you’re still here” look.

  Reading the mood, the experienced Jia Gonggong leaked a squeaky laugh.

  “Yes, yes, this little one almost forgot Young Master Mo is a busy man. So this little one will keep this brief.”

  Clasping his hand together, the eunuch formally bowed.

  “This humble servant comes bearing an invitation to Young Lord Jia’s gathering tonight... a celebration for today’s victors.”

  “There will be many eager to make friends with a strong and talented man such as Young Master Mo. Young Lord Jia will be delighted if you can show your face.”

  The invitation made Bubai’s lips twitch.

  A party? To celebrate what victors?

  The brute he personally tied up and robbed in broad daylight?

  The baldie who came in vertical and went out horizontal?

  Or is the party host going to make him the “star of the show” again?

  Merlin’s beard. That party invitation’s got sticky written all over it and really doesn’t sound like a good thing!

  Even if it was…

  Once Bubai remembered the empty pocket in his Qi pool, he could only return an apologetic smile.

  “Ah... it’s unfortunate, but I’m afraid I will not be able to make it. If nothing goes wrong, I will likely need to spend all night recuperating. A pity, truly...”

  “Recuperating? Oh my, why so?!” Jia Gonggong clutched his heart, feigning shock.

  “Young Master Mo, you still look like you have enough horse power to wrestle three tigers! How can a little gathering pose any problem?”

  Bubai shook his head, adding a light cough for effect. “Jia Gonggong... overpraises me. My injuries aren’t light. I really need a good rest. Really sorry.”

  Observing the weak look and smelling the heavy scent of ointment, Jia Gonggong’s eyes flashed slyly like a fox catching a whiff of something just out of reach.

  But rather than pushing aggressively, the experienced eunuch backed down and pulled a retreat in order to advance.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Aiya, it seems tonight is truly inconvenient. Then… how about tomorrow? Young Lord Jia will be most delighted to see Young Master Mo at Box 11 again.”

  Go to the private box for another round of fun?

  What a tempting idea! But... tomorrow?

  Tomorrow was different from today.

  Today, indulgence carried little consequences. Stepping into social traps for a little fun was acceptable.

  But tomorrow was serious business that demanded discipline!

  No matter how rich and exotic the imagined spices were, Bubai could only politely reject.

  “Jia Gonggong, I’m afraid I must decline again. I already made a promise to visit another friend’s box tomorrow. Please convey my sincerest apologies to Brother Jia and tell him we’ll have our time together another day.”

  The eunuch sported a light frown at being rejected once more, but he still kept his manners and returned a light, courteous bow.

  “Then this humble servant will deliver Young Master Mo’s message word for word. May the sun be with you.”

  The eunuch breezed past Bubai, leaving him thinking about the next chess move on this ever-complicated board.

  The fishermen was really reeling the lines in hard.

  Will the fish outsmart the fisher and get off the hook? Who knows.

  Once the eunuch was out of earshot, the redhead in black standing to the side with arms crossed finally couldn’t help it.

  “Tsk. Acting all innocent and playing hard to get.”

  Bubai threw the thorny rose a sidelong glance. “What? Miss your Young Lord Jia already?”

  Miss Hong shot a glare back. “What if I do, what if I don’t? Will it change anything?”

  Nope. They both knew it in their hearts.

  Somebody had to be the victim in front to block the bullet.

  Between this redhead and his loyal waifu, it wasn’t a hard choice.

  Still, it never hurts to reinforce some matters with a little honey.

  Bubai hooked the scarlet witch’s waist and yanked her up close.

  Holding her only a breath apart, he stared into those arrogant eyes, letting his other hand caress the hot thigh that her high-slit qipao didn’t bother to cover.

  “You know what I value. Give me what I want, and I won’t treat you badly.”

  The beauty turned her face to the side and clicked her tongue. “Tsk. All you men are the same.”

  Looking at that defenseless fair neck, Bubai smiled and leaned in, breathing up from the collarbone... all the way up to her delicate ear.

  “Remember our… deal. When the time comes to choose, I hope you know who you belong to.”

  The devil’s whisper made the beauty’s breath hitch, just faintly, but she stayed silent with lips pressing into a thin line.

  There was no clear answer, but this much left him satisfied.

  After all, the game between them was far from over.

  Smiling, Bubai let his prey go and turned to walk away. “Wait for me here. I’ll be right back.”

  The rosy lips of the troubled witch pursed, her annoyed, complicated eyes following after the leaving back until it disappeared into the corridor...

  Her gaze then turned sharper when it fell on the other men leering at her with heated gazes, and her spiritual pressure flared like a wildfire through dry grass.

  “What are you looking at?! Think any men is worthy to look at me like that? Take those filthy eyes off me or don’t blame me for digging them out!

  Hearing the feisty echos of the rose flaunting her thorns, Bubai chuckled quietly to himself and picked up his pace.

  Soon, the lounge and all distractions were left far behind. His focus tunnel-visioned to what was ahead.

  He originally planned to act the wounded lamb, but…

  Bubai combed a hand through his slightly grown-out hair.

  After that disappear and reset act, he was totally ready to give any careless challenger a nasty surprise.

  Stepping out from the darkness, the arena on the other side of the gate welcomed him back with honeyed glow of the late afternoon sun beaming down.

  The battlefield stretched out in his vision, and Bubai’s eyes immediately lit up when he noticed the broken iron armor shells still scattered across the field.

  “Holy heavens, so much scrap iron! Good stuff!”

  This was a totally unexpected windfall. It was almost unbelievable that no one had bothered to clean them up!

  In this era, all metals were a precious resource.

  The amount that went into forging an armor was anything but cheap!

  If it was affordable, even Bubai didn’t mind wearing an armor to battle like that lucky baldie.

  Too bad it was just too expensive to get his hands on a set.

  Here in the sect, there were no mass-produced armors, at least not for the common disciple.

  Most armor were a symbol of privilege. They were just as rare as contraband like spears and bows.

  It wasn’t too surprising that these prized tools of war were reserved for the upper echelons’ military in archaic dynasties like these.

  Being a cultivator hardly changed this fact.

  In the Sun Furnace Sect, most armor smiths are under the control of the Big Five or the Royal faction.

  For an outsider like him, he can only turn to the open market. But...

  Trying to find any decent armor in the market was like hunting for a needle in a haystack.

  As most cultivators would rather be paper tigers than wear bulky heavy armor, nobody cared enough to touch this risky niche that might offend both heaven and earth.

  The sect wasn’t magnanimous enough to turn a blind eye to everything.

  Even if a rare piece pops up in the market thanks to a daredevil, it was almost always heavily damaged or simply didn’t fit.

  After all, body shapes and sizes are different. Armors that fit all were stuff of legends.

  There was none of that nonsense here. Even if there were...

  Want to pick up leeks in any type of market? That was plot armor reserved for the protagonist.

  Unfortunately, Bubai had no such luck.

  The quickest and most straightforward solution was to simply go find a daredevil forger or blacksmith to customize a set.

  Not all dared to sell their service to outsiders, but there were always exceptions where money is involved.

  But their prices? Absolutely off the charts.

  Material fees, blueprint costs, labor fees, handling fees, appearance fees… the list goes on.

  Thanks to all the additional fees, a set of armor can actually costs more than all the custom metal boxes he recently ordered!

  Is that reasonable? Is there still royal law?

  The hearts of those daredevils really were as dark as they were brave!

  Sadly, in any world, all professions didn’t lack such black-hearted masters.

  These peeps didn’t mind ripping off customers till kingdom comes.

  Hence, practicality ruled out armor for Bubai.

  Rather than sinking a fortune for a bit of extra defense, it was more cost-effective to convert his spirit stones into life-saving dew that was basically a universal recovery elixir.

  Of course, practicality also meant he won’t let go of any freebies when he sees one.

  Even if he couldn’t find any other uses for those scrap metals, they can still be submitted for meltdown to offset costs, if he ever decides to go down that route.

  But… now was not the time to pick up scraps.

  No, it was time for something far more exciting.

  It was time to… d-d-d-du-du-duel!