Bubai finally set his sights onto the challenger standing across the arena. “Hum? This is Wu Xiaowei?”

  It was a dirty-blonde youth in a green tunic that might have evoked a sense of heroism in some.

  But any heroic airs were ruined by that plain and ugly face that could give his own Ah Niu mask a run for its money in the competition for mediocrity.

  Bubai wasn’t typically one to judge books based on their covers, but...

  One look at that bandit-like face was enough to let most to know this guy wasn’t any good news.

  Knowing this swamp muck was one of the loudmouths sharing women like gossip in the lounge only reinforced this thought.

  All the more reason to not let his guard down, even after considering his profile.

  Wu Xiaowei. A genius with dual attributes of wood and water. A branch member of the Wu Clan.

  The most interesting point is that his big brother goes by the name Wu Dawei – the same foundation builder sponsoring the Flower Picking Gang.

  Aside from that, not much else stood out.

  Honestly, this Wu Xiaowei could check most of the boxes to be a simple cannon fodder in a novel.

  Sure, climbing into the top ten ranks of the Sun Snake List meant this Wu Xiaowei was no pushover.

  He definitely had some killer skills hidden up his sleeves, but…

  The gap in combat power wasn’t so easy to bridge, especially for cultivators of attributes like wood and water.

  These attributes tend to be very popular in life professions like farming or pill refining. But combat-wise?

  As far as Bubai knew, both water and wood attribute cultivators spells weren’t very lethal in the early stages.

  So what kind of gall did this guy grow to dare challenge him?

  It couldn’t be the “give me face” fruit, right? Cause that’s not going to save him.

  While Bubai was inspecting the challenger, Wu Xiaowei similarly let his sneaky eyes roam all over his marked target like a bandit.

  Seeing one arm hanging a bit stiffly and the rather unnatural hunch in posture, Wu Xiaowei smacked his lips as if believing this win was already in the bag.

  “Truly. What a wonderful constitution. I’m amazed you’re still standing here after working hard like that earlier.”

  Bubai awkwardly rubbed his nose. “Small problems like those won’t hold me back.”

  Wu Xiaowei licked his lips with the hunger of a wolf catching the scent of wounded prey.

  “Good, good… I’m glad it didn’t hold you back. Otherwise, I’d never get the chance to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

  Bubai’s smile thinned. “Confident, aren’t you?”

  “Wuhaha, I’m not foolish enough to underestimate an injured tiger. But since I am here...”

  Wu Xiaowei pulled out a wine gourd, lazily sloshing it in his hand. “It means the risk is... manageable. As for what I want? You should already know.”

  Seeing those greedy eyes jumping back and forth over his storage pouches, Bubai wasn’t too surprised.

  Every victory added weight to his net worth.

  A disciple under the main lineage of a major clan might care more about the perks of his status rather than the spirit stones and other loot he carried.

  But a branch member? That’s a different story.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  There’s a saying: greed blinds the fool’s mind.

  Once the benefits were enough, even a fool will take the risk.

  Of course, it’s still unknown if that’s really the case here.

  Is this just another confident fox wearing sheep skin in order to hunt a sheep?

  Or could this bandit be sent by a smarty pants with another hidden agenda?

  Hard to say. Never underestimate the intricate layouts of these noble clan disciples.

  Perhaps there were pits waiting for him at every step, but…

  The grim reaper never fears the inevitable.

  “Want my stuff? Then I hope you’re ready for what’s coming.”

  Wu Xiaowei returned an ugly smile that could sour milk. “Wuhaha, I hope you enjoyed that last meal of yours earlier. Because it’s time to be on your way!”

  After that jeer, Wu Xiaowei didn’t speak another word and simply raised his wine gourd to take a swig, chugging everything down in great gulps.

  Is that wine? Water? Something else? Bubai couldn’t tell.

  His best guess was that it was a medium used to assist spell-casting. Definitely something to be wary of.

  Whatever it was, just play it safe.

  “Begin!”

  Once the announcer’s war drum thundered down, Bubai didn’t hesitate to dash forward…

  Seeing the awfully sluggish advancement pace, a cunning light danced through Wu Xiaowei’s eyes like a fox spotting an opening.

  After tossing aside the now-empty gourd, both hands reached into the storage pouch tied to his belt and took out a rice wine pot.

  Hoisting it over his head, it took only seconds for him to hurl it out, right into Bubai’s rush hour path!

  That pot flying over set off a wave of nostalgia in Bubai.

  Blond hair. Green tunic. Pot throwing… Link, is that you?!

  Oh wait, no green hat.

  But didn’t he hear rumors somewhere about that Wu Dawei’s hobby of putting green hats on others?

  His little brother should be no exception to that blessing, right? Figures.

  Ahem. Anyways…

  Bubai didn’t know what’s inside those pots, but he’s absolutely sure it won’t be rupees popping out.

  Hence, he’s not silly enough to run into the unknown head-on. After all, what if it’s a trap?

  Even with his purposefully slowed speed, Bubai had no trouble veering out of the way, watching the pot sail past…

  Crash! The clay pot shattered open, letting an entire pot of water splash out!

  “Just water? As if.” Bubai wisely steered clear of the splash effect, not letting even a single drop get on his pants.

  Sure, that looked like plain water. But is it really just harmless water?

  How believable was that in a duel between cultivators like this? Please.

  This time, it really isn’t just his paranoia acting up.

  It’s true that water wasn’t too lethal on its own.

  Without advanced techniques like shape manipulation, nature change, or the incorporation of other energy like sword Qi to enhance its lethality, how useful was a splash of water?

  Not very useful, obviously.

  In the Qi refinement realm, most water spells had almost no hope of leaving a scratch against the tough skin of any cultivator owning a tempered body like himself.

  But was water really useless? Nope.

  To outright dismiss water as harmless would be a rookie mistake.

  Water is a devilishly versatile part of nature that can dissolve, dilute, and blend countless other substances.

  The most obvious? Poison.

  Hence, that water looked as innocent as a mountain spring, but he can’t rule out colorless poison being mixed in!

  The real kicker?

  A layman in the field of poison like himself had no surefire way to judge whether there is poison or not, at least not while on the run.

  Heck, even if his foe kindly gave him time to stop and poison-test the water, there was no guarantee he’d figure out what was in it.

  For all he knew, there could be nothing in this puddle, but that didn’t mean there won’t be in others!

  That’s right. There wasn’t just one pot of greed!

  After throwing out the first, another was already thrown out, followed by another...

  Crash! Crash! Crash!

  Pot after pot smashed all around...

  The closer he got, the faster they arrived, forcing Bubai to zigzag back and forth to dodge them all.

  Better safe than soaked.

  Alas, this really cut down on his rushing momentum and let the battle tempo slip into the other’s hands.

  This was far from Bubai’s liking. To dance to someone else’s tune was a bitter pill to swallow.

  No. Enough of this nonsense. He must take the initiative back into his own hands!

  The straightforward way is to just rush forward.

  With his overpowered recovery cheats backing him up, Bubai wasn’t afraid of becoming a bulldozer and smashing through them all.

  But there was no need for such risky brute tactics when there are better alternatives.

  A hand dipped into his pouch and his finger hooked up a kunai.

  Spinning it once in his hand, Bubai sent it shooting out at another pot that just left the other’s hands...

  Crack! The pot was intercepted mid-flight and shattered into pieces mid-air!

  Not a single drop of water even got close to splashing on him.

  Skipping over the puddle formed, Bubai didn’t have to look back to know there were many similar puddles and broken ceramic littered behind.

  If Bubai didn’t know better, he would’ve thought this Wu Xiaowei was trying to change the battlefield to a field of water.

  But with how big this arena is…

  Even if this guy keeps chucking pots for a full hour, Bubai didn’t believe he can flood the entire arena with these puddles.

  Not that he will give this guy anywhere close to that kind of time.

  Crash! Another pot smashed.

  But the next pot never got the chance to be thrown out because… the gap between them was finally closed!

  Hello melee range. Perfect time to end this.

  Shua! Seeing Bubai launching forward like a desperado trying to end the fight as quickly as possible, Wu Xiaowei’s eyes flashed with a mocking light.

  Gotcha.

  His opening mouth was synonymous to the gospel of danger…

  The long-brewing spell pumped up and a wave of fog plagued in black gushed out from his mouth, spreading out like a gulf that left the desperado no room to dodge!