Lai Yu would prove to be far above her brother, at least in Bai Qi's opinion.

  While barely a Warrior Lord, her cultivation was still on the breaking stage from peak Sage to 1st level Warrior Lord, and she was an itinerant proof that rumors about Geniuses sometimes wouldn't be mistaken.

  Each of her attacks was on a level comparable to medium-leveled Warrior Lords, and her control over both Qi and Aura was far above the latter, making Bai Qi resort to dodges and the small openings given to him by the somewhat immature girl.

  Lai Yu was strong, and if not for her lack of actual combat experience against beasts and actual fights against cultivators, no matter how much she had trained with retainers and retainers, Bai Qi, or well, Qiu Shandian managed to both keep his ground and even respond with an additional attack each breath, one above the already crazy tempest that Lai Yu had became.

  *Swoosh* *Plop*

  With no need to hold back now in this image and the strength of a middle-aged Sage, Bai Qi used nearly all of his qi to punch through Lai Yu's defensive qi-cover, making her slip outside the bounds of the [Grudge Arena], all without using even a sliver of the mind power he had revealed before, the one that was his actual strength, at least for now.

  ***

  With his win and the fact that he actually shared a few words of advice, mentioning Lai Yu's lack of experience and absolute lack of offensive skills to supplement her physical attacks, even going so far as to outpoint the moments she failed for believing that her opponent would act as she expected, Qiu Shandian cemented his role as a cultivator that was keen on improving the younger generation, even if his initial idea had been to just create a name for himself before meeting the [Gao Clan], the latter top members eclipsing even the powers of his official backer, the [Shoumen City].

  Sometime before, the same [Grudge Arena].

  Li Xia, even with the always active talisman gifted to her by the [Gao Clan] along with the promise to always help the [Hall] as they had been forced to move into the city with no other remaining path, she couldn't remain in place, moving to the [Grudge Arena], where the minor clans that the great [Gao Clan] couldn't influence to quit fought for a prize, herself, as she understood from the mix of rumors and her current visit, not to mention the previous comments of who could be considered the benefactors of what remained of the 4th-tier power known as the [Seven-Stroke Hall].

  {They are getting bolder than before, which means that either the [Gao Clan] is failing to hold power or the situation outside is getting so bad that the leaders have no time for this.} Peng Sha mentioned. With her position as the only assistant, also a maid, and the main bodyguard in one person, Peng Sha had the liberty to talk easily to Li Xia, even if the latter was acting as the only capable decision maker of the entire [Hall], or well, what remained of it.

  While the elder disciple Peng Sha, someone who had trained under the only remaining elder, Zha Qun, maintained her distance and kept reassuring Li Xia, the latter was still too much aware of their [Hall] being a prime target, no matter what their benefactors said.

  ***

  A prime target indeed, as she found out herself visiting the so-called [Grudge Arena], now mostly a place for youngsters for both resolve their issues and prove themselves.

  And yet, there would be a middle-aged cultivator, even if giving the airs of an actual elder, Qiu Shandian, who not only defeated a good chunk of the ones aiming at gaining prestige and vying to marry her, but actually explained the latter a few of their mistakes, as if he was some kind of divine teacher.

  With the [Azure Sky Sect] trying its utmost, and it was indeed the utmost allowed to someone above the station of a normal cultivator, even if the latter one revealed mind-power above his cultivation, Qiu Shandian still refused, even if in an honorable way for both sides, even Li Xia couldn't help but get interested.

  Still, the fact that the latter ignored her, even if challenging other people who aimed for recognition enough to fight for her hand, and didn't even look at her as he went for his 11th battle of the day forced Li Xia to leave, lest she would show any interest on this middle-aged uncle that suddenly appeared to trash all of the men that tried to view for her attention, or at least a permission to do so with their renown. And even if her thoughts were suddenly a mess from a sudden thought, she still left, leaving just before the 11th battle of the older man began.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  While the decisive battle was the 11th, as he fought and won against Lai Yu, Bai Qi wouldn't leave this [Grudge Arena].

  As if showing his age and the fact that he was a bit more experienced, he actually commented on a few duels and took part in some.

  After his 11th duel, Bai Qi just took a short rest before announcing himself to the entire arena, to the dismay of Shen Xiaohui.

  While his announcement could be considered rude, especially as he stated himself as a senior, the fact that he had won several battles and even went so far as to mention faults for the losers made him an actual favorite even among the older generation. Especially the elders of the young generation who had been defeated before by either the people Qiu Shandian put down or even, as strange as it was, the ones who had their disciples defeated by the same Qiu Shandian.

  And from the 12th fight and upon his 37th one, as he decided to call it a day, Bai Qi suddenly became not the enemy of the ones he defeated or the sudden commodity for the weaker powers that requested him to fight for them, for a price but an actual teacher, with him, always sharing a few insights for the losers, making the latter admire him in place of hating, even if he acted for payment for many of his battles, representing small powers of the city without any remorse, even if he had once or twice switched sides from one encounter to another.

  "Let's go, I am done for today." Smiling to everyone and storing every reward in his [Void Ring], some rewards even coming from the sides he defeated, Bai Qi commanded Shen Xiaohui, and rode her momentum as a pretty powerful Warrior Lord, even with a couple of Warrior Kings observing them, yet, not only a single of them acting at all.

  Being lectured by a middle-aged man who was even below her cultivation, her peak far above the one shown by this man, Lai Yu could not help but sigh.

  Her initial thoughts after her loss were revenge, and even using her power's elders to subdue the middle-aged man who acted as if he was her senior while having a lower cultivation, but she resisted.

  And her resistance, even as she slowed down her family's goal, the one to win over the city, Lai Yu had no way to say that the latter would lose even against a Warrior Lord, or heavens befell on her, even a Warrior King.

  This Qiu Shandian manner was too strange, and while it was clear that the latter was a mind-power cultivator, he could still win in a cultivation match over an entire realm, and, she, as a confirmed Warrior Lord-power cultivator, one that had actually defeated a few Lord-realm instructors and even a couple of Warrior Kings' Elders, still lost.

  ***

  "I am sure that his cultivation is not above the Sage realm and yet..." Lai Yu appeared totally convinced as she reported all the happenings of her challenge and the result, even as she stood and bowed towards the head of the [Lai Clan] head, Lai Long, the so-called [Dragon of the Lai Clan].

  "Yet you lost!" The man who was considered the brightest star of the [Lai Clan], the only one to have reached the mythical Warrior Emperor realm in the last hundred years, roared out.

  Losing against an opponent would usually mean a hidden inner demon as the cultivator advanced but for Lai Yu, it had been something else.

  "Patriarch, while I lost, I don't consider this a setback." Mustering her courage, Lai Yu spoke over even the suppression that the Warrior Emperor realm guaranteed over someone like her, a simple peaked Sage.

  "Oh? Lai Long suddenly smiled as he turned his gaze to the youngster of his clan, his smile being nothing more than a formality, his actual plans shown on his face as he considered options.

  Regretfully for her, Lai Yu had no way to discern the actual emotions of her elder, her clan's patriarch, so she continued, explaining how Qiu Shandian had obstructed himself, an actual mind-power cultivator, probably even a pseudo saint, having no problem defeating a Warrior Lord, but fought and won against her with his pure Sage realm cultivation, even after dodging still sparing a few moments to recommend her a path as he won.

  "Oh? Lai Long repeated his half-questioning intonation but this time his aura released as he commanded, even if in a transmission, {Go and capture that Qiu fellow, he definitively is above the disciples and elders we have... If not easy to capture, then... recruit him!}

  Even if he thwarted the opportunities of a result for the so-called [Li Xia Allied Front] and fought a good deal of the so-called geniuses by himself, Bai Qi still maintained his decorum as an older cultivator, even if this time was just his physical image. No matter if it was a young genius, at least by the terms of a lower power under the [City], the new arrival, Qiu Shandian not only won the battle but also shared some insights with most of his opponents, except for the few that directly aimed for Li Xia. Not that it was so strange, right?

  Bai Qi's new persona, the [Evil Lightning] was both overbearing and helpful to even his opponents. While this latter could be strange, as he now played the role of an elder cultivator towards the young generation, how could it not be right?!