Heavenly Dao Engine

Chapter 24: Chapter 0024: Can’t Wait Anymore Chapter 24: Chapter 0024: Can’t Wait Anymore Please favourite, recommend, and click…

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“Thank you all for coming, if there’s a chance in the future, I would definitely invite you all to sit down. I have to leave for now as I have things to do.”

Qi Tian struggled to squeeze out of the crowd. He was afraid of people bothering him, so he infused True Essence into his legs, activating the Chasing Wind Step and ran away as if fleeing. However, much to his surprise, none of the individuals who had hung around to toast him or praise him made any attempt to chase after him.

Qi Tian felt slightly disappointed, but he understood. Outer sect disciples were considered the weakest members in the Imperial Master Mansion, like kindergarten children—no matter how seemingly impressive their achievements, they paled in comparison to the grandeur of the mansion.

The likes of Wu HuanChen were simply offering polite comments, they may have had some interest in forming a camaraderie with him, but they wouldn’t pester him unduly. They would rather invest that energy in inner sect disciples or higher level ones. In the outer sect, Qi Tian’s defeat of Huang Yaozu, who was just second on the Sparrow List, paled compared to the other hundred and ninety-nine above Huang Yaozu. Unless Qi Tian proved he had superior abilities, his worth in social interactions languished below that of the other one hundred and ninety-nine.

Seeing that no one was pursuing him, Qi Tian promptly halted the Chasing Wind Step. Using that ability to travel quickly drained his True Essence. Walking was more economical. In his current situation, he had to consider every use of his True Essence in case there was a sudden need for it.

There were several rounds of the Moon-duel left to be fought that would last till night if things went swiftly, and could drag on till late night if not. The mansion’s front square was still swarming with people, a livewire of activity. However, Qi Tian was not interested in watching the matches and get insights, increasing his personal strength was what he deemed crucial. He had not taken his eyes off the fact that the County Master selection battle was half a month away. Participating in it with his current strength seemed like a stretch, hence, leveling up his strength seemed to be a safer bet. Then again, prioritizing the enhancement of one’s abilities was always the right choice.

Qi Tian approached the gaming counter set up by Lucky Gambling House and spotted Zhang Mingming waiting there all along.

Upon seeing Qi Tian, Zhang Mingming rushed over and asked with concern, “Junior brother, weren’t you supposed to be dueling with senior brother Huang Yaozu? Why did you come out? This could affect the result.” She had found entering and exiting the crowd to be quite a challenge.

Qi Tian smiled subtly and replied, “Obviously, I’ve finished the duel.”

Given Qi Tian’s light-hearted demeanor, the duel must have gone well, which astonished Zhang Mingming. When she had gone against Qi Tian’s advice and placed bets on him, she checked the details and found that Qi Tian’s rank on the Sparrow List had nearly hit two thousand while that of Huang Yaozu, whom he was challenging, was at two hundred. The disparity between them was stark enough for her not to imagine her standing in Qi Tian’s position and mustering the courage to challenge Huang Yaozu, who held such a superior rank.

Zhang Mingming still wanted to confirm the outcome of the duel. To avoid wounding Qi Tian’s pride, she carefully asked, “Did you win or lose?”

Qi Tian chuckled and replied, “Huang Yaozu was too defensive. I burst his protective armor with one punch. Let’s go and claim our prize. Did you bet that I would win, Sister?”

Zhang Mingming nodded affirmatively. She had nearly staked twenty middle-grade Essence Qi Pills on Huang Yaozu thinking she would give Qi Tian the original amount along with the winnings once Huang won against Qi Tian to compensate him for his loss. Upon remembering that Qi Tian had desired the stake against him, she refrained from presuming too much.

Qi Tian arrived at the gaming counter of Lucky Gambling House and presented the betting agreement he had negotiated a while earlier.

The Lucky Gambling House had a well-organized information network and they had already received the news of Qi Tian’s victory. They swiftly took countermeasures for Qi Tian and Zhang Mingming. For them, investing in young cultivators who held promising futures like Qi Tian and Zhang Mingming was a worthwhile move. They wouldn’t back out over trivial matters. Besides, even after paying out the winnings, the Lucky Gambling House had managed to make substantial profits, there was no necessity to risk its reputation.

Not long after, Qi Tian and Zhang Mingming exited the betting counter. Qi Tian had placed bets equivalent three hundred tales of silver including six credits and over two hundred taels of silver. The match against Ling Mu coupled with the odd from the Lucky Gambling House was fifteen. For the duel against Huang Yaozu, the odds were one to fifteen. After two rounds, he had collected a total of forty-five thousand tales in silver notes.

Zhang Mingming had staked only twenty middle-grade Essence Qi Pills. Having gained at fifteen to one odds, she walked away with three hundred middle-grade Essence Qi Pills. In Imperial Master Mansion, a middle-grade Essence Qi Pill was valued at a hundred tales of silver, so three hundred was worth thirty thousand tales. This was the first time she had seen that many middle-grade Essence Qi Pills.

As they left the betting station, chapter Mingming proffered all the middle-grade Essence Qi Pills to Qi Tian, saying, “Junior brother, had you not intervened when Yuan Dan and I were contesting, I surely would have lost, and my rank would have been unsecured. As a result, you assisted me but wound up being penalized, wagering that costly Human Grade middle-grade Flying Flame Meteor Hammer, and I’ve been meaning to make it up to you. Take these middle-grade Essence Qi Pills, you’ve earned them.”

Laughing, Qi Tian shook his head, responding, “It was a trifling matter. Don’t bring it up again. We’ll still split the profits as we initially agreed. You only need to give me one hundred and forty.”

“No, take them all. At most, I only need to reclaim my twenty middle-grade Essence Qi Pills,” Chapter Mingming firmly insisted, “As it stands, I feel somewhat guilty. I’ll find a way to buy another Flying Flame Meteor Hammer to replace the one you were fined.”

“Don’t worry about that. If it’s really troubling you, I’ll take two hundred, and you keep the remaining hundred. Like this, I’m still the one at an advantage. Don’t talk about buying another Flying Flame Meteor Hammer for me again, else I won’t consider us friends.”

“Are we friends then?” Mingming asked.

“Of course, if we’re not friends, then who are?” Qi Tian quipped, brimming with admiration for this strong-willed and ungreedy young lady, deeming her a worthwhile acquaintance.

A sweet smile spread across Mingming’s face. “Alright, we’re friends. As per your terms, you take two hundred and I’ll have one hundred. If you ever run short, you can ask me for more as I’ll keep them for you.”

“Just as it should be,” Qi Tian accepted two vials of middle-grade Essence Qi Pills from Mingming. He then bid her goodbye, saying, “Senior sister, I must hurry to cultivate. If anything comes up in the future, feel free to find me. Bye.”

“Bye,” Mingming subconsciously waved back to Qi Tian, pausing for a moment before asking, “Junior brother, what does ‘bye’ mean?”

By the time she asked, Qi Tian was long gone. He rushed to the Pill Hall without a moment’s delay, replete with a few remaining middle-grade Essence Qi Pills from his previous cultivation session and the gleaned two hundred gleaming additions. Therefore, his immediate purchase was elementary; he made up the total to three hundred middle-grade Essence Qi Pill. Qi Tian focused his attention on body refining pills.

To his disappointment, the Pill Hall at Imperial Master Mansion produced nearly no body refining pills. There was only Tempering Body Liquid of low and middle-grade that sold at an exorbitantly high price. A unit of low-grade Tempering Body Liquid cost one hundred tales, and middle-grade ones were even more pricey at three hundred tales per unit, limited to fifty units per purchase due to limited stocks.

With no alternatives, Qi Tian gritted his teeth, spending fifteen thousand tales to purchase all fifty units of the middle-grade Tempering Body Liquid. Afterward, he bought some other pills, such as the Grain Avoidance Pill.

When settling the bill, he was shocked to find he had spent twenty-five thousand tales. If he hadn’t just earned forty-five thousand tales, he would have been unable to afford it.

Qi Tian stored the Tempering Body Liquid and the middle-grade Essence Qi Pills in a medicinal box bought from the Pill Hall before leaving, clutching it like a briefcase. He then hurried towards the Martial Arts Arena.

The same senior brother was on duty. He was slightly taken aback to see Qi Tian, “Isn’t today the day for outer sect disciples’ Moon-duel? The Moon-duel should not have ended yet, right?”

“All of my contests have concluded, I am free now. I can’t wait till tomorrow, I want to secure a single cultivation room in advance. Senior brother, is there a solitary room available?” Qi Tian calmly explained.

“Can’t wait till tomorrow?” The senior brother took a second look at Qi Tian, “You only seem to be twelve or thirteen years old. Do you really need to be so determined? There is still plenty of time ahead of you.”

“Senior brother, a thousand years is too long, let me seize the day.” Qi Tian responded.

The senior brother stood utterly shocked, the words echoed in his ear, rendering his soul to shudder.

“Senior brother, senior brother, are you alright?” Seeing the senior brother zone out, Qi Tian became anxious, repeatedly and carefully calling out to him. It was not unusual for cultivators to suddenly face mishaps, like deviating into demonization or their spirit scattering. Such incidents happened a few times every year at the Imperial Master Mansion. If they didn’t, it would be quite awkward to call it a cultivators’ abode.