"Your spirit stones? What spirit stones are there for you to take? A piece of trash and a pauper like you, can you even afford to play this?"
Cao Ning basked in the attention of the surrounding disciples. He glanced at Xiao Li, who had scrambled to his feet looking disheveled, clearly furious yet not daring to fight back, and laughed wildly.
He shoved Xiao Li again, a vicious expression appearing on his face as he threatened, "Hurry up and roll back to wash your spirit horse stables, this isn't a place you should be!"
Xiao Li was pushed into another stagger and fell to the ground.
His hands, planted on the ground, clenched tightly into fists. Xiao Li gritted his teeth, but quickly adjusted his mindset. Without a word, he stood back up and continued walking toward the gambling table.
"Hey, I told you to go back, do you not understand human speech? Do I have to beat you up?"
Cao Ning was a disciple of the Qinghui Courtyard located near the Beast Taming Garden. His strength was lacking, and to this day he was still just an ordinary disciple.
Usually, when facing inner sect disciples and his senior brothers and sisters, he would bow and scrape endlessly.
But when facing Xiao Li, who was even weaker than him—a piece of trash who swept the spirit horse stables—his sense of superiority flared up.
He could not stand Xiao Li ignoring him!
Someone who swept stables should obediently sweep stables and do heavy, dirty work for the rest of his life. He shouldn't be walking into the sect competition plaza like the rest of them!
Xiao Li raised his eyes and gave him a cold look. In the next moment, he was met with Cao Ning's fist.
Bang!
A muffled thud rang out as Xiao Li's head was knocked to the side, blood quickly flowing from the corner of his mouth.
A ruthless look flashed across Xiao Li's face. He raised his hand to fight back, but Cao Ning easily caught his wrist, spun around, and delivered several vicious punches to his stomach.
Bang!
Xiao Li slammed hard into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"In the cultivation world, martial prowess reigns supreme. A piece of trash like you actually dares to fight back. I think you're tired of living!"
Cao Ning let out a smug, cold snort, clenching his fists as he prepared to strike again.
Bang!
Suddenly, a streak of fiery red spiritual energy whistled over, ruthlessly striking Cao Ning's shoulder and sending him flying straight away.
At the same time, a soft, pleasant scoff came from the back of the crowd.
"Well said. In the cultivation world, martial prowess reigns supreme. I think a piece of trash like you is also tired of living and deserves a beating!"
Everyone turned their heads, looking in the direction the voice came from.
They saw Yuan Shu, who had just retracted her hand. Dressed in a stunning red dress, she strode over toward them.
Her exquisitely beautiful small face was tilted slightly upward, carrying a condescending sense of disdain.
Ignoring the astonished gazes of those around her, Yuan Shu stepped forward and crouched in front of Xiao Li, whose lips were stained with blood.
She reached out, pulled out a Vitality Pill, and fed it to his lips.
"Eat it."
Xiao Li froze. His tightly gritted teeth parted, and his gaze moved down from Yuan Shu's pretty face to land on her fair, slender hand.
A red pill was pinched between her pinkish fingertips. It was a tiny thing, yet inexplicably eye-catching.
"It's not poisonous. Eat."
Seeing him remain motionless, Yuan Shu pushed her hand a little further forward.
Xiao Li's eyes trembled slightly. The moment he met Yuan Shu's gaze, he lowered his eyelids in inferiority and opened his mouth to take the pill.
The pill melted in his mouth, carrying a hint of cool, refreshing medicinal fragrance. A faint scent of pear blossoms drifted over along with it.
It smelled very nice.
"Get up," she said as she stood up, her tone cold and calm. "Go over there and take back the four punches and three slaps from just now."
Xiao Li looked up, staring at Yuan Shu in disbelief, and then looked at Cao Ning, whom she was pointing at.
Was she talking to him?
She was telling him to hit Cao Ning?
She... was she standing up for him?
Yuan Shu tilted her head, meeting his shocked gaze. The corner of her mouth curled up as she asked again, "Do you dare?"
Xiao Li's eyes widened slightly. His gaze fell on Cao Ning, who had collapsed on the ground not far away, unable to get up for a long time after being injured by Yuan Shu in some unknown spot.
"I dare!"
He answered with just two words. Then, he stood up and, dragging his limping leg, walked toward Cao Ning with firm steps.
He swung his fist and smashed it down ruthlessly!
Four punches and three slaps. No more, no less. He would take it all back!
Xiao Li glared viciously at Cao Ning on the ground, whose mouth was bleeding from his beating. At this moment, his heart was pounding wildly.
So, this was what revenge felt like.
So, hitting someone could be this satisfying!
It wasn't until all four punches and three slaps had been returned that Xiao Li stood up straight, panting heavily, and looked up at Yuan Shu.
As if to say, "I took it back!"
The corner of Yuan Shu's mouth curled up. "Well done."
A bright light lit up in Xiao Li's eyes.
But suddenly thinking of something, he hurriedly reached up to touch the pitch-black half of his face and lowered his head.
When he raised his head, the hair on his face would shift away, and this face would be seen.
She... must have seen it too, right?
Xiao Li's hand hanging by his side clenched slightly.
On the other side, having finished stepping in to right an injustice, Yuan Shu had already turned and walked toward Know-it-all's gambling table.
"I've come to collect my spirit stones."
Tapping her long fingers against the table, Yuan Shu smiled gently.
But anyone who had seen Yuan Shu whip Su Lingxi, or witnessed the scene just now where she sent Cao Ning flying with a single strike, would know that Yuan Shu was not someone with a good temper.
A smile quickly appeared on Know-it-all's face.
"Ahem, Senior Sister Yuan, please rest assured, it's all here, it's all here. You won the match against Su Lingxi, and with odds of one to three hundred, that makes thirty million spirit stones!"
As Know-it-all spoke, he hurriedly pushed nearly five-sixths of the spirit stones on the gambling table over to her.
As the dealer, he had also earned a bit, but compared to Yuan Shu, it was a drop in the ocean.
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow, the smile on her face deepening.
Su Lingxi had only bet ten million spirit stones with her. She hadn't expected that by placing a wager herself, she would actually earn thirty million spirit stones.
She had also won a Beast Soul Spirit Sword.
This deal was very worthwhile!
The surrounding crowd revealed envious gazes, regretting that they hadn't bet on Yuan Shu earlier.
Otherwise, with odds of one to three hundred, they would have made an absolute fortune!
"Senior Sister Yuan has truly made a killing this time!" Know-it-all said with a sigh of emotion.
The junior brothers and sisters to the side also couldn't help but speak up. "I'm so envious of Senior Sister Yuan. Not only did she win the match and obtain the Guest Token of Medicine Cloud Peak, but she also won so many spirit stones."
"Yeah, Senior Sister Yuan is so amazing and righteous. She even helped that bullied little disciple just now!"
Those who were speaking were clearly not the same group of people who had previously mocked Yuan Shu for overestimating her capabilities.
Those people had slinked away with their tails between their legs as soon as they saw Yuan Shu win the match.
The ones who stayed were those who had held a wait-and-see attitude toward Yuan Shu earlier.
At this moment, they were genuinely envious and full of admiration.
The corner of Yuan Shu's mouth curled up. She separated twenty million spirit stones and stored them away in her Divine Tree Space. As for the remaining ten million, she waved her hand and scattered them directly into the air.
In an instant, countless spirit stones cascaded down like a river of stars, landing steadily in front of every fellow disciple around her.
"Being fellow disciples is a kind of destiny. Please take these spirit stones to cultivate and purchase medicinal pills and weapons. There is no need to be polite. I hope we can look out for each other in the future!"
These words meant to win over people's hearts, accompanied by the dazzling river of spirit stones falling into the crowd, instantly made everyone's eyes light up.
"Th-these are for us?" someone asked in disbelief.
Yuan Shu nodded. "Naturally."
"Senior Sister Yuan is so generous! Senior Sister Yuan is mighty! Senior Sister Yuan is the best! Thank you, Senior Sister Yuan!"
The crowd's faces were filled with excitement.
Ten million spirit stones, and Yuan Shu had actually given them away without even blinking an eye?
Amidst the crowd, Xiao Li lifted his head from the floating spirit stone before him, his gaze falling upon Yuan Shu at the center of the gathering.
Did he have one too?
