Chapter 161 – Florida Man Wins Lottery, Receives Gold Digging Catfisher as Prize.
Yan Xiang, Yan Luo, Yan Zhu, Situ Bai, and Ouyang Ke's faces were as white as a sheet. They were horrified by the presence of Esen's subordinates.
Moreover, the boulder of verification was known for its durability. Their ancestors once praised that it could withstand a heaven celestial stage immortal's strike. However, Esen and Beatrice easily destroyed it.
It was a clear indication that both women were at least at the heaven celestial stage immortal, aka the 3rd level immortal!
Realizing his mistake, Yan Xiang regretted that he chose to provoke Leo. He turned around to look at Tang Xuan.
The former patriarch of the Tang Clan deeply sighed and silently saluted Yan Xiang. He prayed for the emperor's fate and future. Tang Xuan believed he did everything he could, but Yan Xiang ended up seeking demise.
Tang Xuan looked away from Yan Xiang and gazed at Leo, hoping that the latter would not lump him together with the Yan Family and their entourage.
'I hope Daoist Florida Man will spare my clan after this. I already did everything I could.'
.
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Esen puffed her chest and strode back in elation. When she was about to walk past Leo, the latter raised his hand. Esen noticed it and instinctively high-fived him even though she had never done it before – Everything came from a muscle memory, which she inherited from Leo's blood.
"Well done."
"Of course. I'm an empress for a reason."
The five representatives on Leo's side all gathered. Esen, Beatrice, Marc, Ivy, and Gao Yan were ready for the next event.
Yan Xiang's face was still pale. His previously arrogant demeanor vanished. Still, he waved his hand and swept away rocks and debris on the arena stage with his Qi.
After the stage was clean, Yan Xiang stood still for a minute. Once his breathing pace returned to normal, he announced.
"All eight teams have been qualified. The preliminary round is over. Now, we will introduce the tournament bracket and the rules."
Yan Xiang snapped his fingers. Situ Bai and Ouyang Ke pulled out white talismans and tossed them into the air.
The talismans floated and formed a square array, acting as a projecting monitor. Like a real TV screen, it showed five empty tournament brackets. Each bracket consisted of eight participants.
Yan Xiang explained, "This will be the main theme of this season's tournament. All teams will send one of their members to participate in each bracket. The winners of each bracket will be the finalists, and they will fight in a free-for-all combat in the final."
Leo and Esen nodded as it sounded fair. However, Gao Yan sweated profusely.
By these rules, Gao Yan might have to duel against a 7th-stage cultivator at least once. As he was still at the 5th stage, Gao Yan was not confident that he could win.
Gao Yan turned to Leo, asking for permission, "S-Senior. Can I forfeit before I go up on the stage?"
Leo rolled his eyes, "Did you forget the gun and the lightsaber?"
"B-But I don't know any nascent soul techniques or special moves!"
"Just go out there and shoot your opponent. If you miss, just swing your lightsaber. The force will guide you."
"Force?"
"Use the force, young Padawan. Size matters not."
"But my techniques…"
"Shut it and be confident in yourself. I heard you have been practicing the Sword Saint's techniques for years. Do you think your hard work means nothing?"
"But the strength gap…"
"Even ants can take down an elephant. You aren't alone. Isn't Thora a part of your strength? She's with you the whole time!"
"…"
Gao Yan finally remembered that he had a sentient dao avatar as his dao companion. As a dao avatar, she was considered as Gao Yan's power. Therefore, she could help him during combat.
Behind Gao Yan, Thora had been following her boyfriend since the beginning of the journey. Except for Leo, Esen, and Esen's new subordinates, only a cultivator stronger than soul transformation could see her.
Yan Xiang and others long noticed Thora's presence. However, they disregarded her as they mistook her as a common dao avatar, which sometimes came out from their master's body. It was a normal occurrence, and every nascent soul cultivator had one.
Thora gave Leo a thumbs up. Then, she embraced Gao Yan from behind.
'Be confident, husband. You are stronger than you think. We can defeat those trashy cultivators.'
"…"
Hearing his girlfriend's encouragement, Gao Yan's hope was ignited. He no longer sulked.
"…I'll try my best."
Leo snickered, "You will surely do your best. You're a main character after all."
"Main character?"
"Never mind that."
"???"
Although Leo wasn't 100% certain, from his point of view, Gao Yan appeared to have the qualifications of a main character.
He had an abnormal amount of Qi and strength surpassing his actual cultivation base. He had a unique girlfriend, who acted as Gao Yan's mentor and bodyguard. He was a hardworking kid with a humble background. Moreover, he was on a lucky streak lately after Leo had met him.
It was a wild guess, but Leo believed he was right.
While Leo and Gao Yan chatted, Yan Xiang began calling the representatives to get on the stage to draw the lottery tickets, deciding which bracket they would be in.
"Immortal Florida Man. Could your team come up and draw a lottery ticket for your representatives?"
Leo shrugged and gestured for Esen and others to finish this farce.
Esen and her three subordinates leisurely leaped to the stage and stood along with the other contestants. Gao Yan was the last to arrive.
Yan Xiang explained, "Each team will send their representative to draw a lottery. All five of you will be on a different bracket by default."
The emperor gestured his one of his team members to be the example. The person was a 14-year-old soul transformation cultivator. The latter walked up to his emperor.
A cubic box appeared out of thin air. It came with a circle hole on top, which allowed any adult man to put his hand inside. It floated toward the boy's chest.
Not thinking much, the cultivator inserted his hand into the box and found eight iron balls. He picked one up and showed it to the crowd.
It showed the Chinese number "8".
The boy passed the iron ball to Yan Xiang. The latter summoned another box and put the ball inside. Afterward, the cultivator's name automatically appeared on the first bracket.
After the soul transformation cultivator showed them how it was done, Yan Xiang elaborated.
"Now that the imperial court's team has sent the first representative, their four remaining participants will wait until the first bracket is full. Then, we will move on to the second bracket. But before that, every team has to send one person to enter the first bracket."
The rules were simple and easy to understand. Every team could choose which contestant to send in a certain bracket. However, it came with a nasty scheme as Yan Xiang immediately called out Leo's team.
"Immortal Florida Man. Please select your representative to enter the first bracket. Who will you choose?"
Leo and Esen knitted their brows as they sensed something amiss. Although the call seemed random, it hid a certain tactic that they could see.
Testing the water, Leo ordered Ivy to go first.
"Ivy. You're up."
"Yes, Holy One."
Ivy, who wore the spare robes of a tamer girl, walked toward the box and picked an iron ball from the inside.
The number was 7.
The imperial agent's face instantly turned dark. He lamented to his fate.
Ivy's name appeared on the first bracket. Her opponent was none other than the fake 14-year-old boy.
The other teams secretly laughed at Yan Zhu. One by one, they sent their men to pick their lotto.
After the first bracket was filled, it was time for the second bracket. Then, Yan Xiang subtly revealed his nasty scheme.
"Immortal Florida Man. Could you please?"
"…"
Leo slightly nodded. With just this call, Leo was 50% sure that the tournament was half-rigged. It seemed that they were targeting something.
"Marc, you're up next."
The white-haired boy innocently smiled, "Yes, Holy One!"
He went up and picked the number "1".
While Marc drew the lotto ball, Leo scanned everybody's reactions and expressions. By observing other people, he noticed one thing in common.
Their throats vibrated, and they secretly glanced at each other.
"Vibrating throats?" Leo narrowed his eyes.
Esen also noticed it. She whispered, "Voice transmission techniques. They secretly talk to each other with a Qi frequency trick. If you adjust your ears a little, you can eavesdrop on their conversation."
"Oh?"
Leo slightly grinned and concentrated. His cancer cells adjusted his gills and ears. Then, Leo began to hear strange noises of mixed radio frequencies.
The sounds of people became more audible.
'The boy is not our target. Send another dummy.'
'Should we send mid-horse this time? He seems weak.'
'Don't underestimate that white-haired boy. I saw him pierce through the verification boulder with his finger. He's a lot stronger than Gao Yan. We'll send another low-tier horse as planned.'
'Dodge that boy. Send another weak pawn.'
As Leo was new to this technique, he could only hear the voices from the crowd, which had a lower cultivation base. As for the soul transformation cultivators, Leo couldn't hear them yet.
However, the information was enough for Leo to figure out their plan.
"I guess Gao Yan is in danger."
Esen nodded, "Indeed, he is. I'm sure they will send their strongest fighter to join the same bracket as Gao Yan's. Should we order him to forfeit the matches?"
"No. We'll let him struggle a bit. We have necromancers on our side. If things go south, we can resurrect him, right?"
"We can, but he will lose his status as a cultivator. By the way, do you have some healing pills for emergencies?"
"I do. Don't worry."
"Okay, then. Let's sit back and watch the show."
.
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The lottery pull continued. After Marc, Yan Xiang ordered Leo to pick a fighter first.
Leo sent Beatrice to join the third bracket. Then, he and Esen eavesdropped their conversation.
Again, everybody chose to send their remaining weakest cultivator to face Beatrice. But strangely, Yan Xiang's team still kept Qi Niu and Yan Zhu in their team.
Next, it was the fourth bracket. As Leo already figured out Yan Xiang's plan, he boldly sent Gao Yan up.
As Leo and Esen had predicted, everybody got noisy. They urged their teams to dispatch the strongest fighter to join the 4th tournament bracket.
Gao Yan got the lucky number "7".
The draw became a scramble. Yan Xiang's agents and allies competed with each other to draw the lotto next. They even loudly prayed for a certain number. Surprisingly, Yan Xiang sent Yan Zhu to join this bracket.
"Let me get that eight!"
"No, mine!"
"Me! He's mine!"
But in the end, a 9th-rank soul transformation cultivator from the Situ Clan got the 8th ball. He would face Gao Yan.
Everybody on Yan Xiang's side silently rejoiced. Their eyes gleamed, eager to see the demise of Gao Yan even though he had done nothing wrong. Everybody disregarded the last bracket.
Esen snorted and proceeded to finish this farce. She drew the number 1 and got down from the stage.
The remaining representatives lifelessly finished their tasks. Qi Niu, the weakest link among the bunch, got the short straw as she picked up number 2.
Qi Niu trembled as she sneaked glances at Esen. She then rushed to Yan Zhu.
"Husband! Can I forfeit the match? I can't possibly defeat that woman!"
Yan Zhu was still over the moon as he was in the same bracket as Gao Yan. He looked forward to the fight to the point that he disregarded Qi Niu's wellbeing.
"Don't worry about it, Niu'er. We told them that the fight was a non-lethal one. That immortal won't kill you. If she does, it will ruin her reputation and her future. There's an unspoken rule among cultivators that no senior should harm or kill a junior no matter the reason. If someone violates this, the other seniors from the higher realm will hunt him down!"
"B-But we did kill a bunch of commoners and weak cultivators."
"That unspoken rules don't apply to people with backgrounds. Those peasants can rot and die for all we care!"
"…"
Qi Niu felt a bit better. However, her heart still beat like death metal drums as she couldn't get rid of a bad feeling in her chest.
She didn't realize that Esen secretly glanced at her. Moreover, under Qi Niu's foot, a purple shadow slipped into her shadow and coiled around her left ankle.
