Chapter 26: Toying with Ma Youcai, Dunhuang Heavenly Flying Seal
By: Gu Zhenren
The mountain arena was once again packed.
“Hey, have you heard? This morning, Chu Yun thoroughly humiliated Senior Brother Ma Youcai in front of everyone.”
“Yeah, I heard. As expected of the strongest freshman in history, truly unstoppable. Senior Brother Ma Youcai enjoyed bullying freshmen. I never expected him to run into a tough opponent this time and be bullied by a freshman instead. Hehehe.”
“Shush, keep your voice down. Senior Brother Ma Youcai is here today too.”
Ma Youcai’s face, already unattractive due to his elongated, horse-like features and sallow skin from aura modification, worsened considerably upon hearing the surrounding discussions.
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Seeing Chu Yun make a leisurely appearance, he shouted, “Chu Yun, if you have the guts, accept my challenge today!”
“You want to get beaten again? What’s the rush? If I draw your name, it’s you. In my eyes, Ma Youcai, Dog Youcai, Pig Youcai are all treated equally,” Chu Yun sneered at him, his voice calm but dismissive, yet audible to the entire crowd.
“Ma Youcai, Dog Youcai, Pig Youcai… Pfft.” Someone in the crowd couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Aaaargh, this is too much!” Ma Youcai’s eyes turned bloodshot, his anger making his hair stand on end. He yelled frantically.
Chu Yun remained unfazed. He stopped looking at Ma Youcai and pulled out a thick stack of wager slips from his怀, casually drawing one.
As he held the wager slip, his movements paused, and his expression froze.
The entire crowd stirred, and the atmosphere became delicate. Most people were secretly guessing if Chu Yun’s first drawn wager slip was indeed Ma Youcai’s.
Ma Youcai quieted down involuntarily, his eyes widening as he stared at the wager slip in Chu Yun’s hand. The flesh on his face twitched, and his gaze was extremely hostile.
“The first person to be challenged today… Fu Yun.” The name Chu Yun announced was unexpected.
“It’s not Ma Youcai?” the crowd exclaimed in surprise.
Ma Youcai’s eye twitched, and he suddenly snorted, “Wait, I want to see the wager slip in your hand. I have strong reason to believe the name on that slip is mine, Ma Youcai!”
Chu Yun narrowed his eyes. “You want to see it, so I’ll show you?”
Ma Youcai laughed heartily, convinced Chu Yun was guilty. He pointed at Chu Yun and said, “What, are you afraid? You clearly drew my wager slip! But you announced someone else’s name. You’re cheating! If you have the guts, show it to me.”
Chu Yun sneered, “If I say I’m cheating, then I’m cheating? What proof do you have?”
“The wager slip you drew is the proof! Give it to me! In full view of everyone, you can’t pass off a fake. Everyone here has eyes!” Ma Youcai clamored. The spectators began to murmur, and the challenger, Fu Yun, stood by the side, looking at Chu Yun with suspicion.
The scene became a stalemate.
“You want me to show you just because you asked? Who do you think I am? Humph!” Chu Yun looked at Ma Youcai with disdain, then a change in tone. “You’re slandering me, and you’ll pay the price. If this wager slip isn’t yours, you’ll lose ten sets of Blood Qi Pill ingredients to me. Otherwise, we’ll talk no more!”
“Ten sets of Blood Qi Pill ingredients? That’s nothing! I’ll see it. Hand it over!” Ma Youcai immediately shouted, stretching out his hand towards Chu Yun.
Chu Yun did not hand it to him. Instead, he walked to the edge of the arena and displayed the wager slip to others.
“Wow, it really is Fu Yun’s wager slip.”
“Senior Brother Ma Youcai misunderstood and wrongly suspected Chu Yun. I knew it, the youthful tiger wouldn’t act like that.”
A wave of discussion ensued among the scholars.
Ma Youcai’s face turned ashen. He heard the sounds around him and froze, motionless.
Chu Yun walked over leisurely and showed him the wager slip.
Ma Youcai’s eyes widened. He glanced at the slip and trembled as if struck by lightning. He then stared intently at Chu Yun, his face flushed with shame and anger, yelling, “You tricked me!”
Chu Yun laughed heartily, “Do you know why I asked for ten sets of Blood Qi Pill ingredients? Because I was afraid you wouldn’t have enough to eat.”
A wave of laughter erupted from the surroundings.
“Wait, wait, why are you all laughing? Is there a story behind this?” someone asked those next to them, confused.
“You still don’t know? Ma Youcai boasted in pill refining class that if Chu Yun refined a Blood Qi Pill, he would eat it on the spot!” those next to him asked, tears streaming down their faces from laughter.
“So that’s what happened. It’s hilarious. Senior Brother Ma Youcai is truly pitiful; he was humiliated once, and now he’s been humiliated again here.”
“Chu Yun is too wicked, his acting was too convincing. Honestly, I thought it was Ma Youcai’s wager slip he’d drawn just now.”
“Yeah, yeah. He purely set a trap for Senior Brother Ma Youcai. And the Senior Brother eagerly fell right into it, not only losing ten sets of ingredients but also losing face completely!”
Gossip spreads far and wide, especially bad news. Soon, Ma Youcai’s Blood Qi Pill story had spread throughout the entire mountain arena. Both freshmen and seniors knew of this anecdote.
“Good, very good, Chu Yun. You play your tricks. Just you wait!” Ma Youcai’s face turned crimson. The surrounding laughter was a great mockery to him. He could no longer stand there and pushed through the crowd to leave.
“Remember the ten sets of ingredients.” Chu Yun’s reminder came from behind him.
Ma Youcai’s steps faltered. He felt an overwhelming frustration in his chest, almost spitting out blood on the spot from anger. Just as he was about to exit the arena, he was intercepted.
“Ma Youcai, why the rush to leave so early?” The newcomer held a folding fan, wore wooden clogs, and was dressed in a pink scholar’s attire, smiling with a hint of effeminacy.
Ma Youcai glared and roared, “Hua Ying, are you here to humiliate me too?”
“Brother Ma, if you leave now, what if your wager slip is drawn next?” Hua Ying’s words froze Ma Youcai in place.
“This…” Ma Youcai found himself in a dilemma. “Leaving is not an option, staying is not an option! What should I do?!”
“It’s simple, stay and watch with me.” Hua Ying smiled meaningful. “Even if neither of us is drawn, we can still offer guidance to other challengers outside the arena. Chu Yun uses the Shu Family’s Saber Techniques, a typical battlefield martial art, simple, direct, and ruthless. It’s very easy to find countermeasures for such a Dao.”
“Good idea! Excellent! Even if I can’t fight Chu Yun today, I can cause him significant trouble! That’s right, let’s do that!” Ma Youcai was overjoyed and, following Hua Ying, returned to the arena.
Together, they pointed and commented on Chu Yun’s movements and saber techniques, analyzing them in detail. The surrounding scholars nodded along, impressed.
As Chu Yun went through the challenges, he clearly felt the pressure increasing. Although he won all ten challenges, they were much more arduous than yesterday.
“Hua Ying, was this your cunning plan?” He keenly sensed the hidden hand behind it and felt the pressure. A single tactic from the opponent had put him in a rather awkward position.
“This Hua Ying, and Ma Youcai, are too detestable. They actually provided guidance and analyzed Brother Chu’s saber moves on the spot. They’re just playing tricks from below; it’s despicable!” After the ten challenges, Jin Bihan was furious and complained incessantly along the way.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. They have the freedom to speak, and I have no reason to restrict them. The challenges are not the main point; they are merely a source of my materials. It doesn’t matter if I lose. The current focus is still on diligently practicing the Pill Refining Seal,” Chu Yun shrugged, adopting a casual attitude towards such challenges.
“Speaking of the Pill Refining Seal…” Jin Bihan stopped walking. “I happen to have a set of Upper grade Pill Refining Seals that I can teach you!”
It was a pill refining seal passed down through generations by the Country Lord of Dunhuang, with the full name of the “Dunhuang Heavenly Flying Seal.”
“Upper grade Pill Refining Seals?” Chu Yun also stopped, his heart deeply shaken!
