Dao of Money

With everything that was going on, a duel with Li Xuan was the least important thing on his mind. But he agreed. He wasn’t about to pass up an easy opportunity to expand his business and tax concessions, especially not one handed to him so neatly. Besides, the man had been persistent. It left him with little choice. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Li Xuan would’ve found a way to challenge him eventually.

It wasn’t just rivalry either. He could tell. The path of cultivation was as much mental as it was physical. If Li Xuan truly saw Chen Ren as a wall in his path, then sooner or later his cultivation would stagnate under that belief. Overcoming Chen Ren might be the key to unlocking his next breakthrough—or so Li Xuan believed.

But with the added offer of business connections, Chen Ren wasn’t about to make it easy for him. Li Xuan wasn’t his enemy. Stubborn, sure. Arrogant, perhaps. But not malicious. He struck Chen Ren as someone who lived by his word, and that was all he really needed.

Once he accepted, Li Xuan insisted they fight immediately. Chen Ren, despite the fatigue of the long journey home, agreed. Better to get it over with quickly than let it hang over him. Besides, preparation would be useless.

From what he could sense, Li Xuan’s qi hovered somewhere at the fifth or sixth star of the qi refinement realm. Chen Ren had seen his fighting style during the tournament, but time had passed and training changed people. The Li Xuan standing in front of him now might fight in a completely different way. Any plan Chen Ren made in advance would likely fall apart the moment the battle began.

Then again, he wasn’t the same person from back then either. He would face him as he came.

On the other hand, word of the duel spread faster than Chen Ren thought possible. Most likely, some wandering mortal disciple had overheard him agreeing and rushed to tell everyone. Soon, a small crowd had gathered at the sparring grounds.

Most were mortals, curious and whispering amongst themselves, but a handful of familiar faces stood out. Anji watched from the side, looking at Li Xuan warily. Luo Feng leaned casually against a tree, arms crossed. Zi Wen stood nearby, with Little Yuze curled at his feet and Whiskey perched quietly on his shoulder. Feiyu stood right next to Xiulan. Even Qing He had made the effort to come and observe.

The only one missing was Hong Yi, but Chen Ren had a good guess where he had gone—no doubt locked away in his workshop, already tinkering excitedly with the puppet parts they’d had brought back from their journey.

His eyes briefly met Anji’s across the crowd. She gave a small nod, a subtle signal that she had secured Wang Jun’s head out of sight. Chen Ren allowed himself a silent breath of relief.Just then, Yalan’s voice echoed calmly in his mind. “How are you going to win?”

Chen Ren smiled faintly. “Old tricks and new ones.”

“Will it be enough?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, flexing his fingers lightly. “But I think I can catch him by surprise. After that, it’ll come down to who can last longer.”

As the crowd quieted, Xiulan stepped confidently between them. She raised her hand and gestured for both to approach. The audience instinctively pulled back to form a wide circle around the two fighters.

“This will be a duel between Chen Ren of the Divine Coin Sect and Li Xuan of the Soaring Sword Sect,” Xiulan announced clearly. “There will be no deaths. Any lethal injuries will end the fight. Weapons, pills, arrays, and talismans are permitted. Use of any forbidden technique will result in immediate disqualification. Are you both ready?”

Chen Ren gave a silent nod.

Li Xuan smirked. “I’ve been ready for months.”

With a single sweep of Xiulan’s arm, the duel began. Lightning crackled in Li Xuan’s blade as he shot forward with a terrifying speed. He looked like he wanted to end the battle in one swift blow.

Chen Ren had anticipated it. He shifted sharply to the side, narrowly dodging the arcing strike. As his feet touched the ground, Chen Ren retaliated instantly, launching his [Lightning Frenzy] in a wave of crackling energy.

Bolts lanced toward Li Xuan, but a shimmering shield of lightning qi flared to life around him, absorbing the strikes.

Li Xuan laughed sharply. “Too weak!” He charged again, calling out, “[Stormpiercer Lightning Blade!]”

Chen Ren activated his defense technique. A faint blue radiance enveloped his form as he braced and met the blow head-on for a single heartbeat. Then, with barely a ripple of motion, he vanished from that spot using his movement technique and reappeared behind Li Xuan.

His palm lashed out, striking squarely against Li Xuan’s shield. The barrier held, but that wasn’t his true aim.

Flames erupted beneath Li Xuan’s feet as Chen Ren burned one of his talismans he had left there. Li Xuan reacted immediately, leaping high into the air, but not before the searing flames licked through the cracks of his shield and scorched the edges of his robes.

Li Xuan landed lightly. “Always crafty.”

“In a real fight, you don’t expect your opponent to play fair,” Chen Ren replied with a shrug.

“Very well then,” Li Xuan cracked his neck and looked at him. “But I’m a cultivator of the dao of sword. I will not be outwitted so easily.”

Qi gathered rapidly along his sword, the air itself humming ominously. As Chen Ren prepared to evade, his sense screamed danger—seven spectral blades materialised around him in an instant, converging toward his position from every direction.

For a split second, Chen Ren froze.

And that hesitation was enough for Li Xuan.

The latter’s primary blade crashed down. The blow struck Chen Ren’s armor with a loud noise. But he reacted in the same instant, thrusting his palm against the blade and surging his own lightning qi into the steel.

The clash sent both fighters skidding backward. Chen Ren used the momentum to leap away and widen the distance between them, breathing hard, muscles tensed.

Li Xuan spun sharply, eyes blazing as he locked onto Chen Ren’s position. Without hesitation, he surged forward once again, lightning crackling along his form, boosting his speed to near-blinding levels. His blade flashed over and over.

At his speed, Chen Ren could barely keep up. His eyes struggled to track the blur of movement, and he quickly stopped relying on sight altogether. Instead, he focused on the minute fluctuations of qi in the air—the faint ripples that marked where Li Xuan’s presence shifted. It was the only reason he avoided a direct hit.

Fortunately, Li Xuan didn’t seem to have caught onto that method, continuing to rely on pure speed and force to corner Chen Ren.

Chen Ren adapted fast, retreating to maintain distance, laying down burning talismans along Li Xuan’s path. Every burst of flame forced Li Xuan to adjust or slow just enough to avoid getting caught. The field of battle soon erupted into chaos, arcs of lightning, pillars of flame, and sudden gusts of wind surged across the grounds.

The spectators, already wary, kept moving farther and farther back to avoid being caught in the crossfire. But not one of them looked away. The duel was becoming something far more brutal and spectacular than they’d expected.

Both of them bore the marks of the ongoing clash.

Their defenses had held, but only barely. As lightning cultivators, they had managed to evade the worst of each other’s strikes, but there was no doubt the fight was taking its toll.

Chen Ren got caught in several strikes and even if his armour held, bolts of lightning did shock him. He had to take pills to keep going without his focus getting distracted.

Minutes dragged by in a blur of motion. When the seven illusionary swords once again materialized and shot toward him, Chen Ren instinctively dodged and, in that moment, realized something profound, he was holding his own.

He was using talismans freely and popping pills to recover when the pain became too sharp, yet he stood toe-to-toe with Li Xuan. The same Li Xuan who, in the sect entrance examinations, had effortlessly crushed the former soul of this body.

Chen Ren wondered for a fleeting second if the stubborn will to win was a remnant of the soul that came before him, but deep down, he felt it clearly—this desire to beat Li Xuan was his own. Not for the reward, but for the satisfaction of proving himself.

Spurred by that realization, his counterattacks became sharper, faster, and more aggressive.

Li Xuan laughed, exhilarated. “You’re finally taking this seriously!” he called out, his blade weaving between Chen Ren’s attacks.

Instead of retreating as before, Chen Ren advanced. He layered the armour made from his [Starlight Defence] around his arms and fists, stacking it thick enough that his reinforced hands became weapons in themselves.

Without drawing a blade of his own, Chen Ren met Li Xuan head-on. Fist met sword in a savage, close-quarters exchange that sent sparks and ripples of qi bursting outward with every impact.

Li Xuan gritted his teeth and pressed forward.

Chen Ren matched him blow for blow, surging his own [Lightning Frenzy] technique at point-blank range to disrupt Li Xuan’s rhythm. Sparks burst wildly between them. The strain was evident; Li Xuan’s thunder armour, already weakened by the constant barrage, flickered and failed to absorb the full brunt of the assault. The lightning danced painfully along his body, yet Li Xuan only clenched his jaw tighter and kept going.

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“You should give up,” Chen Ren said evenly between breaths, side-stepping another vicious swing and using his momentum to launch a punch. “You’re too exhausted.”

“Never.” Li Xuan’s eyes blazed with raw determination as he dodged.

He suddenly halted and drew his blade back in both hands, the qi around him violently compressing into a singular, focused point. The oppressive killing intent that erupted in the next heartbeat sent cold prickles down Chen Ren’s spine.

Li Xuan roared, calling the name of his technique, “[One Slash Strike!]”

Chen Ren’s instincts screamed at him. Even if this wouldn’t kill him outright, it would cripple him badly. All of Li Xuan’s remaining qi was pouring into this final, desperate blow.

Without hesitation, Chen Ren vaulted backward, hastily flinging out a handful of talismans. Thick earth walls surged up between them with loud rumbling cracks.

But the moment Li Xuan swung, the air itself split. A blinding, crescent-shaped sword aura blasted forth from the blade, a sharp beam of energy that effortlessly carved through the stone walls like paper.

Chen Ren barely twisted out of the way, the edge of the attack slicing past him and detonating against a nearby tree. The thick trunk exploded into splinters , the upper half toppling to the ground with a heavy crash.

Chen Ren stared for half a second, throat dry. If that had hit me…

More sword auras followed, each like a scythe of pure destruction arcing across the battlefield. Chen Ren immediately went full defensive, dodging and weaving with every ounce of speed his movement technique could offer, leaping over the attacks, sliding under them, barely staying ahead of the slicing beams hunting him down.

The battle had reached its deadliest phase—and Chen Ren knew he could no longer afford a single mistake.

“You can’t run forever!” Li Xuan shouted, his voice crackling with the same intensity as the sword auras he kept launching across the battlefield.

“And you can’t keep throwing them for long,” Chen Ren shot back, breathless but still moving.

Even as he spoke, Chen Ren frowned inwardly. Li Xuan showed no sign of stopping. Either his qi reserves were far greater than expected, or—more concerning—he was recklessly burning his life force to fuel the attacks. It was insane for a simple spar, but Chen Ren knew the man’s obsession with breaking through his imaginary wall could push him this far.

At this rate, he realised, I’ll lose if I keep running.

So he decided to gamble.

In a sudden blur of motion, Chen Ren sprinted straight at Li Xuan. The unexpected charge caught Li Xuan off-guard, but instinct kicked in as he swung out another lethal arc of sword aura. Chen Ren twisted his body at the last possible second, narrowly evading the beam, and closed the distance between them to barely ten steps.

With a smooth, practiced motion, Chen Ren channeled his qi into his spatial ring—and drew the weapon he had kept hidden for emergencies.

The gun gleamed dully in the flickering light of the battlefield.

Li Xuan’s eyes widened in disbelief at the strange, foreign object aimed at him.

Chen Ren gave him no time to react. With a sharp click, the first bullet roared from the barrel.

The sharp report of the shot tore through the air like a thunderclap, causing Li Xuan’s concentration to falter. His sword aura flickered wildly. He hastily deflected the first bullet with the flat of his sword, but Chen Ren had already fired again. And again. Click. Click. Click.

The relentless barrage left Li Xuan scrambling defensively. The sword was a poor match for the strange speed and trajectory of the small projectiles.

Finally, two bullets struck home—one in each shoulder. The rounds didn’t pierce skin, merely slamming into him with bruising force, but the pain and shock staggered him.

Chen Ren didn’t hesitate. He surged forward like a predator closing in on wounded prey. Li Xuan swung reflexively through the haze of pain, but the former ducked under the blade, stepped inside his guard, and drove a heavy punch into his chest that knocked the air from his lungs.

With a twist of momentum, Chen Ren forced Li Xuan to the ground, straddling him. Cold metal pressed against Li Xuan’s neck as Chen Ren leveled the gun just beneath his jaw.

The crowd gasped.

Li Xuan stared, stunned, his sword falling from his numb fingers with a dull clatter onto the dirt.

Chen Ren stared down at the defeated cultivator, the cold barrel of the gun still pressed lightly against Li Xuan’s throat.

“Even with your toughened body, this close, the next shot will pierce your skin,” Chen Ren said calmly. “Surrender.”

In truth, he had already used every bullet. The musket was empty, but Li Xuan had no way of knowing that. His eyes flicked between Chen Ren’s expression and the strange weapon for several tense heartbeats before he finally closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

“I surrender.”

Chen Ren immediately stood and stepped back, slipping the gun back into his spatial ring with a faint, satisfied smile. He then extended a hand toward Li Xuan.

“It was a good fight.”

Li Xuan stared at the offered hand, surprised, then grasped it and let Chen Ren pull him to his feet. His expression shifted to a frown. “You won.”

“I almost lost,” Chen Ren replied, shaking his head. “You should have used a healing pill.”

Li Xuan straightened, brushing the dust off his robes. “It’s against the ideals of my sect’s duels. No healing pills are allowed once the fight begins.”

Chen Ren chuckled softly. “I’m glad you have such strong ideals.”

The tension dissolved as others hurried forward. Xiulan reached him first, eyes sharp as she looked him over.

“Are you alright?”

“I took a healing pill midway through the fight,” Chen Ren reassured her. “My injuries aren’t too bad. We might need to let Li Xuan rest, though.”

Li Xuan, who had been standing stiffly with a somewhat distant look in his eyes, shook his head quickly. “I’m fine. My injuries aren’t severe.”

Chen Ren gave him a knowing glance. “I’d still prefer you stay at the sect until you’ve fully recovered. It’s the least we can offer.”

Li Xuan hesitated, visibly conflicted, then inclined his head slightly. Chen Ren expected for the man to say no. But surprisingly, he accepted easily.

“Thank you for your generosity.” After a pause, he added, “I will keep my word. Your sect will have no difficulties entering many cities in the empire. I’ll personally ensure you receive the connections and tax concessions I promised.”

Chen Ren smiled and clapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Thank you.”

As he glanced around, he noticed the expressions of wonder and excitement on the faces of the crowd. Most of them were mortals who had never witnessed a duel of such scale before. They whispered animatedly, pointing at the now calm battlefield and replaying the moments of the fight in hushed awe.

Chen Ren let out a light laugh. “Alright, everyone, I hope you enjoyed the show,” he called out. “Now, back to work!”

No one argued with Chen Ren’s dismissal. The crowd reluctantly dispersed, though the energy of excitement lingered in the air. Chen Ren had no doubt the story of the duel would ripple through the entire village by nightfall, likely growing more exaggerated with each telling.

Still, he didn’t mind. A bit of added reputation never hurt, and right now, he had more pressing matters to handle.

He turned back to Li Xuan. “We’ll discuss how you’ll help us over dinner tonight?”

Li Xuan, still catching his breath but recovering quickly, gave a short nod. “That would be good.”

Chen Ren gestured toward Zi Wen. “Go with Zi Wen. He’ll show you to a room. Make yourself comfortable.”

Zi Wen gave a respectful nod and led Li Xuan away from the training grounds.

Chen Ren then glanced at Anji, Yalan, and Xiulan as they approached him. He gave them a wry, almost tired grin. “Help me out a bit.”

Xiulan tilted her head curiously. “With what?”

Chen Ren’s smile widened slightly as he turned toward the main hall. “We need to sort and catalogue all the treasures we brought back. I hope you’ve got a few empty storage rooms ready, because we’re going to need them.”

***

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