71: Chapter 71 Concealing One's Edge

Li Changsheng walked up to Shi Tiezhu and gently patted his shoulder.

"It's cleared."

Just those two words.

Shi Tiezhu's eyes were red; he wanted to say something, but Li Changsheng waved him off.

"Go back and recover well. There are still matches later."

After taking revenge, what surged in Li Changsheng's heart was not pleasure, but a strange sense of calm.

He turned around and headed toward the rest area.

As he passed through the crowd, his ears were filled with the rise and fall of discussions.

The gazes falling on him held surprise, doubt, wariness, and even a hint of inexplicable awe.

Behind him, Li Xiaocao pulled on Li Changqing's sleeve and whispered.

"Sister Changqing, Brother Changsheng seems... not very happy?"

Li Changqing watched the receding back, lost in thought.

She had seen Li Changsheng many times.

In Qinghe Town, he was a man of few words, yet he never bowed his head.

In the General Affairs Hall, he endured humiliation and heavy burdens, yet he never complained.

During the assessment, he faced stronger enemies as the underdog, yet he never retreated.

But at this moment, he was different from before.

It wasn't endurance, it wasn't anger, and it wasn't pride.

It was a kind of... feeling she couldn't quite describe.

As if he had finally finished something that needed to be done, only to realize that it wasn't actually that important.

In a corner of the rest area, Li Changsheng sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.

In those three matches just now, he had barely consumed any Qi.

Wang Xin, Zhang Sanli, and Li Daquan—three opponents at Qi Refining Level 3 or 4—were as fragile as children before his century of combat experience.

But there was no joy in his heart.

He recalled the way Zhao Yan had looked at him—that gaze was gloomy, venomous, yet contained a complex mix of emotions forced under control.

He knew that from today onward, there was no longer any room for reconciliation between him and Zhao Yan.

But so what?

He hadn't come here to make friends.

However, another thought quietly surfaced in his mind—

Was ranking really that important?

If he continued his triumphant streak in the Minor Competition and fought his way into the top ten, or even the top three, what would the consequences be?

He would be noticed by more people, feared by more people, and plotted against by more people.

His trump cards would be exposed, his secrets would be unearthed, and his every step would be placed under a magnifying glass for scrutiny.

At that point, how could he peacefully plant his spirit tea?

How could he secretly Cultivate the Evergreen Plant Truth Scripture?

How could he use the samsara simulation system to grow stronger step by step?

He opened his eyes and looked toward the distant arenas where intense battles were taking place.

First place offered generous rewards.

Tenth place did as well.

But what about one hundredth place?

There was nothing.

But what he needed wasn't entirely those rewards.

What he needed was time.

A corner where no one paid attention.

Years where he could plant trees peacefully and slowly take root.

Having realized this, he suddenly felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

Ranking?

Whatever happens, happens.

In the matches that followed, Li Changsheng seemed like a different person.

In the fourth round, he faced an opponent at Qi Refining Level 4.

The opponent opened with a Fireball Technique, looking aggressive.

Li Changsheng dodged a few moves, maneuvered for twenty breaths using the basic palm techniques of the Qingyuan Formula, and then "narrowly" forced the opponent back with a palm strike to win by a slight margin.

In the fifth round, his opponent was at Qi Refining Level 5.

He fought this match with much more "difficulty."

He was forced into a corner by the opponent's Spells, taking two hits that caused blood to spill from the corner of his mouth, before finally "luckily" seizing a flaw to barely secure a victory.

The sixth round was against a Qi Refining Level 5 Peak.

This time he "couldn't hold on" and was knocked off the arena by a palm strike after thirty moves, losing cleanly and decisively.

He climbed up, patted the dust off his clothes, and walked down from the arena with a calm expression.

His rank: Top 32.

Not too high, not too low—just right.

When the referee announced the result, he noticed several gazes in the crowd.

Some were surprised, some were disdainful, and some were thoughtful.

He looked at no one, simply walking over to Li Changqing and the others.

"It's over?"

Li Changqing looked at him with a complex gaze.

She had seen those last few matches clearly.

Li Changsheng's performance was like a completely different person compared to the three matches on the first day.

If the first day was a fierce tiger descending the mountain, today was... a sick cat.

But her intuition told her that wasn't the real him.

"You..."

She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.

Li Changsheng nodded to her and then looked at Shi Tiezhu.

"How is your arm?"

"Much, much better."

Shi Tiezhu scratched his head.

"Brother Changsheng, those matches just now..."

"Bad luck."

Li Changsheng said indifferently.

"It's normal to lose when you run into someone strong."

Li Xiaocao whispered from the side.

"But Brother Changsheng was so powerful on the first day..."

"That's because they were too weak."

Li Changsheng ruffled her hair.

"Alright, let's all go back. Xiao Cao still needs to tend to the Spirit Medicine."

He didn't say anything more and turned to walk toward the Hundred Herb Garden.

Behind him, Li Changqing looked at his back and suddenly understood something.

It wasn't that he couldn't win.

It was that he didn't want to fight anymore.

Meanwhile, in a certain courtyard on Wanqi Peak.

Zhao Yan sat in a grand armchair, holding a match record in his hand, his face dark.

"Top 32?"

He slapped the record onto the table. "Are you sure?"

A Disciple in gray stood below with his hands down, saying cautiously.

"Senior Brother Zhao, I saw it very clearly."

"In the sixth round, he was knocked off the stage by a Qi Refining Level 5, completely unable to fight back."

Zhao Yan was silent for a moment, then suddenly gave a cold laugh.

"Hiding his clumsiness."

The gray-clad Disciple was stunned.

"Senior Brother Zhao, you mean..."

"On the first day, he crippled Wang Xin with three punches, yet in the following days, he fought with such difficulty?"

Zhao Yan stood up and walked to the window, looking toward the Hundred Herb Garden.

"This kid is hiding."

"Then we..."

"No rush."

A cold, sinister smile curled on Zhao Yan's lips.

"He thinks hiding will let him dodge this?"

"Go, find a few people to hang around the Hundred Herb Garden these next few days."

"Doesn't that spirit field of his have quite a few good things planted?"

The gray-clad Disciple's face changed, and he said submissively.

"Manager Qin of the Hundred Herb Garden has already put out the word that if anyone is caught stealing herbs again, they might be killed on the spot."

"Idot, who told you to steal herbs?"

The gray-clad Disciple's eyes lit up.

"Senior Brother Zhao, you mean..."

"Don't steal the herbs, just cause some damage."

"Let him know that offending me, Zhao Yan, won't be settled so easily."

Zhao Yan turned around, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes.

"And those fellow villagers of his, especially that little girl named Li Xiaocao."

"I heard she's working in the Rare Spirit Herb Garden?"

"A little servant at Qi Refining Level 1—it would be a shame if she accidentally damaged some century-old Spirit Medicine..."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was already clear.

The gray-clad Disciple nodded repeatedly and turned to leave.

Zhao Yan stood by the window, watching the sky gradually darken, a hideous smile curling on his lips.

"Li Changsheng..."

"I want to see just how long you can hide."

In the following days, the Hundred Herb Garden began to grow restless.

First, it was Li Changsheng's Section C Field No. 7; shadows were always flickering there at night.

A few clear heart grass plants he had grown were trampled, and his watering bucket was kicked over.

Though the losses weren't great, it was clearly intentional.

Then it was Li Xiaocao's Rare Spirit Herb Garden.

That day, she was loosening the soil for a century-old spirit lingzhi.

Suddenly, someone from behind shoved her hard, nearly making her fall onto the lingzhi.

Looking back, it was an unfamiliar gray-clad Disciple who claimed he was "just passing by and was careless."

Li Xiaocao was so scared her face went white, and after returning, she hugged Li Changsheng and cried for a long time.

After hearing her out, Li Changsheng calmly patted her back and told her to always bring Li Changqing along when she went to the nursery from now on.

"Brother Changsheng, why are those people bullying us?"

Li Xiaocao asked with red eyes.

Li Changsheng was silent for a moment, then said softly.

"Because some people cannot stand to see others doing well."