"These people are only calm because their fear is still stronger than their greed," Su Chen muttered, hiding behind a crowd of cultivators. A wicked grin crept onto his face. "But what if... the greed goes up just a little more? Hehe..."
He chuckled like a villain in a cheap street play.
"Lust, greed, and anger... the true holy trinity. Who can resist them?" he said with a soft giggle.
Then, like a seasoned scammer preparing a sacred offering, Su Chen dipped his hand into the system's storage space and pulled out a heavy pouch—filled to the brim with a hundred high-grade spirit stones.
He cradled it like a baby.
"My dearest scammed—I mean, hard-earned fortune-telling money," he whispered, eyes tender. "You lived a short but meaningful life. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
With utmost care, he began pouring Qi into the pouch. The spirit stones inside began to hum faintly, reacting to the energy. The bag swelled slightly, giving off a suspicious glow.
Uh-oh. Almost overloaded. Su Chen paused, glancing at the betting table.
The crowd was distracted. No one seemed to notice him.
"Good. Time for some fireworks," he muttered.
And with all the grace of a back-alley thief, he flicked the pouch toward a wealthy, oversized lady dressed in layers of silk and costly jewelry, who was eating... umm... while watching the match.
Thunk!
The pouch smacked her right on the back.
Boom!
A soft explosion rang out—more puff than power—but it was enough to send the pouch bursting open. Spirit stones scattered across the floor in a sparkling shower.
The woman let out a blood-curdling scream and leapt like a startled chicken.
"AAAHH!! WHO DARES?!" she shrieked. The food flew from her hands due to the sudden movement.
Everyone nearby froze. Their eyes weren't on her—no, they were locked on the spirit stones now rolling on the floor like spilled candy.
Even her servants looked like they'd just seen heaven descend.
Silence.
Then—
"SPIRIT STONES!! HIGH-GRADE ONES!!"
Chaos.
Dozens of cultivators dove forward like starving dogs at a feast. Even one of the betting guardian elders joined the scramble, pretending to "investigate" as he casually pocketed stones.
Su Chen, from a safe distance, grinned like a demon.
"Ah... nothing breaks the dignity of a man faster than a hundred high-grade spirit stones falling from the sky," he murmured. "Let the fun begin."
Then, without hesitation, Su Chen raised his hand.
Seven-colored Qi surged from his palm like a fountain of light, coiling and twisting around his arm. With a low murmur, he activated the Sky-Peaking Hand—an advanced technique from the Wood Sovereign Script.
In the sky above, Qi condensed violently, forming a massive hand—fifty meters wide and glowing with vibrant, overlapping hues, like a rainbow that had gone rogue.
The air buzzed with tension as Su Chen directed the hand toward the two Core Formation peak cultivators who had been guarding the betting table.
Boom!
The massive hand fell.
The two cultivators—both stronger than Su Chen—didn't even have time to react.
After all, no one—not even a lunatic—would dare to cause trouble in Yuxian City under the shadow of the Thousand Peaks Pavilion.
Which made Su Chen... that lunatic.
One of the cultivators was sent flying like a rag doll, his body smashing through two stone pillars before landing in a heap. Half of him looked like he'd gone through a spirit blender.
The other slammed into the wall, coughing blood mid-air before disappearing under rubble.
And the betting table?
Perfectly untouched. Not a single fruit or coin knocked out of place.
Boom!
A deafening alarm suddenly rang out across the arena—sharp and urgent. The kind used only when demonic cultivators were spotted inside the city.
Panic erupted. Chaos exploded like fireworks.
City security rushed in from all directions, shouting orders, blades drawn.
And Su Chen?
He smirked.
"Time to withdraw my investment."
With a flick of his wrist, he activated the Five Elements Escape Technique.
Swish!
He vanished from his spot and reappeared right beside the betting table.
Without a word, he sucked the entire jade betting platform—stones, weapons, fruits, even the judge's ink brush—into his system storage.
Swish! He vanished again.
BOOM!
A sword strike slammed down on the exact spot where he'd been standing just a heartbeat ago, carving a crater into the ground.
A middle-aged cultivator in a flowing green robe descended from the sky like a meteor. His face was calm, but his eyes burned cold. He stood tall and imposing as his pressure flooded the arena.
BOOM!
The crowd froze.
This was the pressure of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
The man was one of the city's Law Enforcement Elders—an enforcer of the Thousand Peaks Pavilion.
He slowly surveyed the silent crowd and said, voice low but full of authority:
"Search the area. He couldn't have gone far."
"Yes, Elder!" the surrounding guards responded in unison, immediately spreading out.
The judges from the betting table—now pale and furious—joined the search.
Meanwhile, the elder narrowed his eyes and released his spiritual consciousness, sweeping it across the arena like a net.
But Su Chen?
Gone.
Vanished into thin air—like a ghost who'd just robbed a bank during daylight.
The Law Enforcement Elder soared through the skies, his robe fluttering like a banner of justice (or at least, damage control). His spiritual sense scanned the area relentlessly, hunting for the thief who had just humiliated half the city's guards.
As his presence disappeared from the arena, the suffocating pressure lifted.
The crowd, frozen moments before, slowly came back to life like puppets with their strings reattached.
People blinked. Looked around.
Then came the realization.
The betting table... was gone.
The spirit stones Su Chen had scattered were already scooped up by quick hands during the confusion. And now... the actual bets?
Vanished. Along with the thief.
It took just three seconds of silence before chaos began again—this time from the bettors themselves.
Dozens of cultivators stormed toward the remaining guardian elders. There were Qi Condensation rookies, grumpy Foundation Establishment elders, and even a few wrinkled, long-bearded Core Formation cultivators clearly pushing 700 years old who probably hadn't moved that fast in decades.
"You three useless bastards! You can't even guard a table! Where are my spirit stones?!"
"Aaaahhh—my spirit fruit! My rare, juicy, third-grade spirit peach! You old mutts better pay me back!"
"Yeah! It's your responsibility!"
"If you won't pay up, then I'll just collect it from your wives—with interest!" a fat Core Formation cultivator cackled, eyes gleaming with a mix of rage and perversion.
The elders' faces twitched violently.
Just as the crowd looked ready to riot again, a group of red-robed officials from the betting committee rushed in, waving their hands like overworked waiters during a wedding.
"Everyone, please calm down! The Betting Committee will provide a full explanation!"
"Explanation, my foot!" one woman shouted, hurling a chicken bone she'd somehow been snacking on. "We want our money, not your damn speech!"
"Yeah! You think we came here for your acting skills?! PAY UP!"
The officials looked at each other, clearly regretting every life decision that led to this moment.
One of them cleared his throat. "We assure you, the matter is being investigated and—"
"You better investigate the contents of your own pockets, 'cause if I don't get my spirit stones back, someone's gonna be cultivating with their teeth!"
The elders sighed.
The cultivators raged.