Cheng Shi stood still, a successful smile at the corner of his mouth. That strike just now—he had not held back at all. It had landed squarely on Zhang Xiaohua’s hand. Judging from the expression on his face earlier, the injury must have been serious. Heh, both hands injured now—he wanted to see how Zhang Xiaohua would respond.

Thinking this, he turned around and swung his staff again, intending to press the attack. Unfortunately, Zhang Xiaohua merely stood there with his hands tucked in, smiling, not moving in the slightest. Cheng Shi was greatly puzzled. The staff was already mid-swing—was he really not afraid?

Just then, Elder Lei suddenly shouted, “Stop! Pill Division’s Cheng Shi has stepped out of bounds. This round goes to Ren Xiaoyao of the Herb Division!”

“What?” Cheng Shi was instantly dumbfounded. That was fifty taels of gold! Earlier, he should have paid Zhang Xiaohua fifty taels of gold already, but Wu Zhouxu, in order to cast a long line to catch a big fish, had taken out several bottles of pills and even a “Jade Restoration Pill” on his behalf. Originally, Wu Zhouxu had not planned to let him participate in this match at all, but man proposes, heaven disposes. During the drawing of lots for the first round, he had not been selected. As for the later rounds, Wu Zhouxu could not be certain which one would truly catch Zhang Xiaohua, and with the unanimous opposition of the Ten Great Vajras to his “competing with the masses for profit”, he gave up participating. Of course, the basic condition for Cheng Shi to take part in the wager was that the pills worth fifty taels of gold had to come out of his own pocket—the Pill Division would not cover even half a portion.

Thinking that he would have to pay out pills worth fifty taels of gold, and not even knowing how he had lost the match—he was clearly still far from the boundary line!—Cheng Shi could not help but become distracted. The staff in his hands did not stop because of Elder Lei’s shout, and it continued smashing straight toward Zhang Xiaohua’s face.

Zhang Xiaohua stood there with his hands tucked in, calmly watching him. Seeing that he did not withdraw his move and that the force in the staff remained full, Zhang Xiaohua could not help but frown slightly. At this moment, whether kicking him away or catching the staff with his hand would be effortless—but if he did that, all the acting from before would go to waste. So, Zhang Xiaohua exerted force with his feet and staggered backward several steps in quick succession. With an “accidental” misstep, his left foot tripped over his right, and he fell to the ground. Cheng Shi’s staff then slammed into the ground, smashing a patch of flowers and grass.

Cheng Shi looked pitifully at Wu Zhouxu, who wore an expression of “hating iron for not becoming steel,” and at the many fellow disciples of the Pill Division, whose faces were full of regret. He felt utterly wronged. Just as he was about to ask what had happened, he saw Wu Zhouxu point toward his feet, signaling him to look carefully.

So Cheng Shi shut his mouth and looked around. That glance was enough—his lungs nearly burst with anger. Not far in front of him was a thin line. Wasn’t that the boundary line of the arena? And the Herb Division disciples who should have been sitting beside that line were now seated far behind him, wearing solemn, upright expressions—yet in their eyes, they could not hide their suppressed laughter and mockery.

“This… you…” Cheng Shi looked at his feet, then pointed at Zhang Xiaohua, at a complete loss for words.

Zhang Xiaohua cupped his hands and said: “Senior Brother Cheng’s martial arts are truly formidable. This staff technique of yours is exceptionally profound—this junior is genuinely no match for you. I had no choice but to win through a bit of trickery; I hope Senior Brother can forgive me. Oh, right—what is the name of this staff technique? I’ve never seen it before. And with Senior Brother’s immense strength, using this technique is almost like a Vajra descending from the Ninth Heaven into the mortal world—it stirred in me a feeling of utter irresistibility from the depths of my heart…”

As Zhang Xiaohua spoke while walking, Cheng Shi felt immensely pleased inside. See? It’s not that my martial arts are lacking—everyone makes mistakes sometimes. This time, it’s just that this fellow’s crafty scheme succeeded. I’ll deal with him next time.

Putting on the air of a senior, Cheng Shi said: “Junior Brother Ren, wagering fights rely on real skill. Clever tricks might get you through once, but not forever. If you want to establish yourself here at Tianmu Peak, you can’t keep relying on petty cunning.”

Zhang Xiaohua bowed. “This junior has been instructed.”

Seizing the moment, Cheng Shi lowered his voice and said, “Then… about the stake of the wager…”

Zhang Xiaohua replied in a serious tone: “Didn’t Senior Brother just warn me not to rely on tricks? Since that’s the case, we absolutely must not break the rules of the wager. As for the stake, I’ll keep it for you. When you challenge me next time, you can win it back—how about that? If Senior Brother wins it back with your own true ability, wouldn’t that sit better with your conscience?”

Hearing this, Cheng Shi almost wanted to slap his own mouth. But thinking that he could win it back next time, he reluctantly accepted it. Pointing at Zhang Xiaohua, he said, “You said that yourself! In a few days, I’ll challenge you by name—you must accept!”

Zhang Xiaohua was already overjoyed inside, but he still put on a worried expression. “Of course, Senior Brother, rest assured. This junior will definitely bring out my true abilities—but you must show mercy.”

Cheng Shi snorted, waved his hand, and walked off, as if he were the true winner of this match!

Zhang Xiaohua watched him leave the arena with a smile, then headed back toward the Herb Division disciples. At this moment, Chen Fengxiao and Qiu Weicheng had already returned to their seats and had heard their entire exchange clearly. Both of them smiled and secretly gave Zhang Xiaohua a thumbs-up, thinking, This fellow truly… sigh, it’s hard to say whether he’s clever or cunning. He just won this round, and already, by winning its stake, he’s tricked the other party into setting up the next wager—setting his sights on the next round’s prize…

Leaving the two of them to rest, Elder Lei on the field opened the box again. For the seventh match, the Herb Division once more drew an excellent lot: the Second Arhat, Er Dumu, against the Pill Division’s Sixth Vajra, Zheng Xu. As mentioned earlier, the Arhats of the Herb Division were generally weaker than the Vajras of the Pill Division. However, those ranked at the top among the Arhats happened to be able to suppress those ranked lower among the Vajras. With Er Dumu facing Zheng Xu, victories would be more frequent than defeats.

During last night’s drinking, Wu Dalang of the Pill Division had repeatedly asked Chen Fengxiao, the head of the Herb Division, about today’s lineup and order of battle. Yet Chen Fengxiao had clenched his teeth and refused to say a word. Now, when Wu Zhouxu heard the names of the two fighters, he almost felt a surge of grievance against heaven itself. Losing a wager was one thing—but how could their luck be this bad? And to make matters worse, the stakes this time were unprecedentedly high!

Spitting blood, spitting blood…—that was the only premonition Wu Zhouxu had.

The match between Er Dumu and Zheng Xu was much like the previous ones—rather dull and lacking excitement. The two were thoroughly familiar with each other: their martial techniques, habits in making moves, and the depth of their inner energy were all well known to one another. Only for the sake of the fifty-tael-of-gold pills did they each bring out their hidden trump cards. They fought for nearly the time it takes three incense sticks to burn before finally determining a winner. Just as everyone had expected, Er Dumu of the Herb Division claimed the final victory.

At this point, not only was Er Dumu overjoyed at winning the stake worth fifty taels of gold, but Chen Fengxiao, Qiu Weicheng, and the other Herb Division disciples were also delighted. After the seventh match, the Herb Division had already secured five victories, while the Pill Division had only two. The Herb Division was now guaranteed not to have to take a large portion out of their already meager pill reserves to lose to the Pill Division.

With three matches remaining, even winning just one would earn them twenty percent of the five hundred taels of gold in total stakes. If they won all three—heh—wouldn’t that be sixty percent? That would be pills worth three hundred taels of gold! Just thinking about it made Chen Fengxiao feel the urge to pinch his own thigh.

On the opposite side, however, Wu Zhouxu felt nothing but bitterness. The Pill Division still had the Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth Vajras yet to fight, while the Herb Division still had the Third Arhat and Zhang Xiaohua remaining. Judging from how Zhang Xiaohua had just defeated Cheng Shi, the Seventh and Eighth Vajras were most likely not his match. In other words, among the remaining bouts, the Fifth Vajra might win one at best, and the other two would likely be losses. Calculating it out, the Herb Division would probably take away pills worth two hundred taels of gold!

Bitter—bitter beyond even the taste of bitter melon.

The eighth match officially began under Elder Lei’s booming voice. However, Wu Zhouxu’s attention was no longer on the arena. For this round, he had arranged for the Eighth Vajra, Yue Yi, to fight, and he was most likely no match for Zhang Xiaohua either.

But when he heard that the Herb Division had sent out the Third Arhat, Qian Zibi, a trace of hope could not help but rise again from the depths of his heart.

Of course, Yue Yi was no match for Qian Zibi—this was certain. His martial skill was a level below Qian Zibi’s, and even in past records, he had always been completely defeated. But for the remaining two matches, there was still something to be said.

First, Zhang Xiaohua would have to fight two consecutive rounds—his stamina might not hold. Second, Wu Zhouxu knew clearly in his heart that for the ninth match, he would send out the Fifth Vajra, Ye Chengliao, who should be able to steadily defeat Zhang Xiaohua. And after Zhang Xiaohua fought Ye Chengliao, he would go straight into the tenth match. Even though the opponent would be the Seventh Vajra, Qi Yuntian, by then Zhang Xiaohua would likely be exhausted—so it wasn’t impossible for them to win. If calculated this way, the Pill Division would only lose one match, taking just twenty percent of the stakes—that is, one hundred taels of gold. Hmm, that was still acceptable. It could be treated as if the gains from previous years had all been returned to the Herb Division.

Sure enough, the eighth match ended very quickly. Under normal circumstances, Qian Zibi might have let Yue Yi exchange a few moves, putting on a friendly display for the surrounding disciples. But today involved a stake worth fifty taels of gold, and Qian Zibi feared an upset. After just over ten exchanges, he deliberately revealed an opening, seized Yue Yi’s acupoint in one move, and threw him to the ground.

As the two stepped down from the arena, Zhang Xiaohua did not even wait for Elder Lei to call his name before standing up and heading toward the field. Seeing this, Chen Fengxiao grabbed his sleeve and said softly, “Little brother, we’ve already secured one more win—one hundred taels of gold are in hand. That already makes up for the pills we’ve lost to the Pill Division over the past few years. You don’t need to feel any pressure. You’ve already won one match earlier—losing one now would even things out. Even if you lose both remaining matches, we can just return those pills to the Pill Division. Of course, our Herb Division can also cover that portion for you, so you don’t need to worry.”

Then Chen Fengxiao glanced toward Wu Zhouxu across the way, hesitated, and said in a low voice, “Besides, if we win too much, Wu Dalang of the Pill Division…”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled. “The head has arranged my last two matches together—I already understand what’s going on. Don’t worry.”

Author P.S. Seeing everyone’s encouragement, I feel very moved. I thought that after quietly writing for a year, my mindset had already become calm, but when I saw posts expressing dissatisfaction, I still felt guilty. If the novel doesn’t make everyone feel satisfied, that is truly my responsibility. However, seeing your encouragement has filled me with motivation again—truly. Ah, people still need praise, whether adults or children. What Xingchen Haitun said is right—this book really needs to be savored, not skimmed. Perhaps if you read carefully, you’ll notice interesting details hidden between the lines.