Of course, for some people, it was quite the terrifying interlude.
Sitting next to Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong thumped his chest and said, “You’ve really got a lot of guts, insulting Heng Wudi like that.”
“What’s so impressive about that?” Tang Jie chuckled. “Aren’t I still perfectly fine?”
“That’s because Master Ming protected you,” Shi Meng replied. “But since you publicly humiliated Heng Wudi, the Beast Refining Gate will definitely hate you, and they won’t be polite if you run into them again.”
Tang Jie countered, “So you’re saying that if I didn’t insult him, the Beast Refining Gate would let me go in the future?”
“That’s not very possible, since we’re mortal foes with the Beast Refining Gate,” Shi Meng said, scratching his head. The gruesome scene playing out on the stage told him that there was basically no chance of coexistence between the two sides.
Tang Jie shrugged. “That’s it, then, right? Since we’re mortal enemies anyway, what’s the difference between hating me a lot and hating me a little? Are they going to kill me one hundred times? That being the case, why not use the Beast Refining Gate as a stepping stone to raise my status in the sect?”
“As expected.” Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng shared a look.
They just knew that Tang Jie hadn’t done this for no reason. It now seemed that the more the Beast Refining Gate loathed him, the more the Basking Moon Sect would value him. And no matter how much the Beast Refining Gate hated him, nothing could be worse than killing him. Without any stronger form of retaliation to fear, Tang Jie truly didn’t need to care about what the Beast Refining Gate thought and could solely focus on raising his status in the Basking Moon Sect.
It was a profitable transaction that came at no cost!
Of course, while this was theoretically sound, insulting an existence like Heng Wudi was like an ant challenging a dragon, and most others would have been trembling in fear. Perhaps only Tang Jie could ignore this man’s intimidating aura.
His courage alone was enough to make the Basking Moon Sect regard him highly.
“That was really impressive,” Ye Tianshang said, giving Tang Jie a thumbs-up.
Tang Jie chuckled. He was just about to say something when he suddenly stood up and shouted at the stage, “Retreat!”
The Basking Moon student fighting in the ring, Zhu Fengdao, heard Tang Jie’s voice and backed away without even thinking. On the other end, a refined beast of the Beast Refining Gate student he was fighting detonated in a powerful explosion.
Tang Jie’s shout had come a little late, and Zhu Fengdao was still caught up in the blast. But he had managed to retreat far enough that he was able to use the explosion to fly out of the stage, preventing his opponent from dealing the finishing blow. Though he was heavily injured, he managed to survive.
Several Basking Moon students carried Zhu Fengdao back, and as they passed Tang Jie, Zhu Fengdao gratefully said, “Junior Brother, thank you for saving me. If you didn’t warn me, I would have fallen into that scoundrel’s traps. I really didn’t expect him to be hiding a move like that.”
Tang Jie patted him. “I was still a little late, but at least you’re still alive.”
Ye Tianshang stood up. “It’s my turn now.”
Zhu Fengdao quickly said, “You should be careful. That Geng Tianzhao is ranked third in the Beast Refining Gate and won’t be easy to deal with.”
Ye Tianshang replied, “With Tang Jie around, I’m confident I can win.”
In almost all of the eight battles so far, Tang Jie had given advice. Although he was a student, his grasp of the battlefield situation and tactical ability had won the admiration of the Basking Moon Sect students. He was like an instructor, giving careful instructions to each student going onto the stage, giving different advice depending on the student, telling them to do everything for the victory or else do their best to stay alive.
It was because of him that no one from the Basking Moon Sect had died yet, and there were even miracles like Cai Junyang drawing with Helian Hu.
Ye Tianshang and the Beast Refining Gate’s Geng Tianzhao were both ranked third on their respective sides, and their levels of strength were similar. But with Tang Jie around, Ye Tianshang was confident that he could win.
At some point, Tang Jie had become the lynchpin—a status that couldn’t have been gained just by winning matches personally, no matter how many.
Tang Jie chuckled at Ye Tianshang’s words. “Brother Ye is too polite. This junior brother is only doing everything he can. Geng Tianzhao is a very composed person. He has a Frostmoon Wolf for attack and a Blackwater Turtle for defense, so he doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses. But he also doesn’t have any particular strong points. Since you can’t target his weaknesses, just use your advantages. Senior Brother Ye’s offensive abilities are peerless, so if you set the tempo of the battle, you’ll force Geng Tianzhao into a defensive position, gaining an extremely high chance of winning. Finally, you have to watch out for his Ambush Sword, and remember that Geng Tianzhao is tenacious, so don’t try to seek a swift battle. Even if you use a swift sword, you have to be ready for a long battle.”
“Understood.” Ye Tianshang laughed and jumped into the ring.
Following Tang Jie’s instructions, he used the Galefury Sword and managed to suppress Geng Tianzhao. But as this was a genius of the Beast Refining Gate, he managed to hold out against Ye Tianshang’s fierce assault, occasionally counterattacking. Remembering Tang Jie’s words, Ye Tianshang kept up the pressure, always taking the initiative in their clashes, and he slowly began to tip the scales toward him.
Anyone watching could see that Ye Tianshang’s victory was only a matter of time.
The illustrious figures present all sighed in praise, envious that the Basking Moon Sect had produced a figure like Tang Jie.
It was precisely his monstrous advice that allowed the Basking Moon Sect students to either win or escape certain death, such that half of the battles were over and done with without a single student dead, and they had even managed to go 50-50 on wins and losses. Thus, the Beast Refining Gate still did not have an obvious advantage.
“Someone with such insight is bound for great things!” the Celestial Heart cultivator from the Seven Absolutions Sect praised.
Madam He from Horizon Ocean Pavilion also nodded. “Miao’er seems to have pretty good eyes. However, he’s a little too ambitious, not knowing how to hide his ability.”
Some people praised him, and there were naturally some people who hated him.
Heng Wudi looked coldly at Tang Jie, a divine light in his eyes.
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A moment later, he groaned and took a step back, blood flowing out of his nose. Ming Yekong did the same thing, his body swaying a little.
With barely a noise, the two of them had clashed again, but this had been an even more dangerous clash of Divine Wills.
A moment later, Xie Fengtang pulled out a jade token and sent it flying into Tang Jie’s hand. His voice rang out in Tang Jie’s ear: “Heng Wudi attempted a Divine Will attack on you just now, but Master Ming stopped it. With Master Ming present, he probably won’t attack you with Divine Will again, but that might not be true in the future. This is a Spirit Guardian Jade, and it can block Divine Will attacks three times. Keep it in a safe place.”
Tang Jie silently put it away and then gave a short bow to Xie Fengtang, indicating that he understood.
Seeing this, Heng Wudi had no choice but to give up. If he used Divine Will to attack again, Tang Jie would be protected by the Spirit Guardian Jade, and Ming Yekong could seize that chance to attack him.
Divine Will attacks were the most dangerous of all, and those at peak Celestial Heart only had a basic grasp of them. Heng Wudi did not dare to take this risk.
While the bigshots were voicing their praises and fighting the shadows, the students down below were celebrating.
Victory after victory had made everyone look at Tang Jie differently.
No matter how strong an individual was, they were ultimately the only one who could enjoy this power. Someone who could bring benefits to others was more worth following, was worthy of admiration and worship.
At this moment, Tang Jie had used his unusual insight to win the admiration of most of the students.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Long Dao coldly looked at the crowd that had surrounded Tang Jie. He grunted and looked away, but the hand holding his bow had gone white from how firmly he was gripping it.
“Young Master, are you troubled by Tang Jie?” a voice asked.
Long Dao turned and saw You Shaofeng standing next to him, grinning.
Long Dao snorted, “I just can’t stand to see a petty person succeed.”
You Shaofeng sighed. “But his advice truly has been very useful. Alas, Young Master is on poor terms with him, so he probably won’t be willing to give advice.”
Long Dao couldn’t help but be angry now that his worries had been exposed.
Life was at stake in this war between the two sects. The others had received Tang Jie’s advice and had been able to turn danger into fortune, and Long Dao naturally wanted the same. The problem was that his relationship with Tang Jie was too awful. Even if he cast aside his pride and begged, Tang Jie might not be willing to help him.
You Shaofeng said, “In truth, even if he was willing to advise you, who can say if he might not be plotting something to hurt Young Master?”
Long Dao grimaced at these words. He had not thought about this scenario, but now that he did, he realized that it was quite possible.
He grunted and said, “I didn’t plan to get his help anyway.”
You Shaofeng said, “The problem is that Young Master has to deal with Ye Heizi. Ye Heizi is ranked second in the Beast Refining Gate, even stronger than Geng Tianzhao. Now that Helian Hu has lost, the Beast Refining Gate has placed all their hopes on him. Young Master, if you go up there, you will find it very hard to get out unscathed.”
Long Dao’s face shifted. If that hadn’t been the case, what reason would he have had to be worried?
You Shaofeng said, “In truth, I have an idea. If Ye Heizi wants to kill Young Master, he’ll definitely try to copy Helian Hu and seal the ring with a talisman, preventing Young Master from escaping. But the talisman’s seal is limited, and the Five Elements Escape can break through it. So long as you have a Five Elements Escape Talisman, you can ensure your survival.”
Long Dao frowned. “That’s a Grade 2 art talisman. Putting aside how difficult it is to get, the conference’s rules only permit those at Nine Revolutions to use it. Nobody here can use it!”
“That’s exactly what I came to tell Young Master. Yesterday, while in the market, I saw someone selling a spell-level Five Elements Escape Talisman. This spell talisman only lets you escape a few hundred meters, but on this stage, that’s enough.”
Long Dao was delighted. “Is that for real? Then why didn’t you buy it?”
You Shaofeng bitterly replied, “I did want to buy it, but it’s expensive. The seller was a ruthless merchant. He must have known about the bloody feud between the Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate, so he demanded two thousand coins for a single talisman, and he would only sell it together with some other weapons and tools. All in all, it was five thousand spirit coins, a price so high that no one is able to afford it. Young Master, you also know that there’s no way I could come up with this sum of money.”
Upon hearing this, Long Dao hastily said, “Can you still find that person? Go and buy it for me right now!”
He took out five thousand spirit coins from his Mustard Seed Bag and gave them to You Shaofeng. You Shaofeng took the money, but instead of rushing off, he looked at that Mustard Seed Bag and grinned. “This lowly one is such a faithful follower to you, Young Master. Are you not going to give me a little bonus?”
Long Dao angrily smiled, pointing at him and cursing, “You’re also a young master from a wealthy clan, so why are you talking like a shameless servant? Ah, forget it. I still have a few hundred coins here. Just take it all and get this done for me.”
Smiling, You Shaofeng took the money and disappeared into the crowd.
Long Dao waited around for You Shaofeng to come back as the matches continued.
The Grade 3 combat puppet remained powerful, and Wei Tianchong once more defeated his opponent.
The Basking Moon Sect and Beast Refining Gate continued to trade wins and losses, and Tang Jie continued his plan of doing his utmost to keep the sect’s students alive.
It was the 13th match, but You Shaofeng still hadn’t come back. Long Dao started to get antsy.
When the 14th match arrived and You Shaofeng still hadn’t appeared, Long Dao began to run around like an ant in a heated pot.
The next match was his, but You Shaofeng still hadn’t come back. What did that mean?
An unbelievable thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
As the 14th match came to an end, the bell rang to signal the start of the next match. Everyone turned to Long Dao.
Long Dao shivered.
With there still being no sign of You Shaofeng, his last hopes were crushed.
Despair, fear, and anger caused him to roar, “You Shaofeng, get out here! Come out right now!”
His voice boomed through the arena, transmitted to everyone’s ears.
Hearing this, Tang Jie could no longer restrain his smile.
He had to admit that Long Dao had done even better than he had expected.
Everyone now knew that You Shaofeng had gone missing!