Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 90: Advancement

Ye Su got news from Huang Erqian that the cultivation world had already started placing bets on which sect would win this grand tournament.

"Which one did you bet on?" Ye Su asked him.

Huang Erqian coughed awkwardly. "…Kunlun."

"You were just talking about sharing in the glory, I thought you’d bet on Qianji Sect." Ye Su was surprised.

"I’ll bet on them next time!" Huang Erqian said. "Since you even got the scroll back for me, fine, I’ll bet —I’ll put everything on Qianji Sect!"

"Up to you," Ye Su replied, only reminding him to make sure he gathered all the materials she needed.

There were five thousand participants in the draw, split into several batches.

You Fushi and Yi Xuan were scheduled to fight on the first day, while Lu Jiu and Ye Su were scheduled for the second day.

Early in the morning, Ye Su went to knock on her junior brother’s door, dragged him out of bed, and took him to the arena.

On the first day, there was the match between Lu Chenhan and Zhang Shan, practically every sect disciple came to watch. The top-ranked disciples from every sector were gathered around that arena.

"You came to see Lu Chenhan fight too?" Mei Chouren greeted Ye Su enthusiastically. "What a coincidence!"

Ye Su replied, "…we’re here to fight."

You Fushi’s ring was right next to Lu Chenhan’s, and also scheduled for the second round.

Mei Chouren, holding a flower, came closer. "Our fate doesn’t stop there."

"You mean that Monk's Spade blessed by the Dao?" Ye Su responded calmly. Once she had learned his name, she had realized he was the one who bought the Monk's Spade back then. "If it breaks later, I can help you repair it once, no spirit stones needed."

Mei Chouren immediately replied, "Sure enough, good-looking people have kind hearts."

Ye Su answered, "Flattery won’t work. We won’t join Hehuan Sect."

Mei Chouren looked at Ye Su, then at You Fushi, and sighed deeply. "My lifelong wish is for there to be no ugly people in the entire cultivation world. If you two joined the Hehuan Sect, our power would grow a bit more, and my wish would be that much closer."

Ye Su: "…"

Their master was right, Hehuan Sect people really are hopeless.

"Senior brother, has Lu Chenhan fought yet?" Yan Hao hurried over from another arena, clearly just finished with his own match, and upon seeing You Fushi and Ye Su, lit up and repeated the same words as Mei Chouren: "What a coincidence!"

Ye Su began to suspect the Hehuan Sect trained specifically in awkward pick-up lines.

At this moment, the first two matches on the front arenas ended one after another, and it was time for the second matches.

Ye Su took out a qiankun bag of spirit stones and gave them to You Fushi, just in case he needed them later.

You Fushi accepted them and, dragging the Chongming Sword, slowly stepped up.

On the other arena, Lu Chenhan arrived flying on his sword from afar, leaving only an afterimage. By the time everyone looked, he was already standing on the platform.

"Be careful," Cheng Huaian patted Zhang Shan on the shoulder.

Being able to see the first-ranked disciple of the East sector and the number one of Kunlun fight on the first day drew more and more people to gather.

Zhang Shan climbed the steps one by one, like he was stepping on everyone’s hearts.

To face the top of Kunlun on the very first round, no one would feel relaxed.

Lu Chenhan didn’t even spare Zhang Shan a glance, instead looking past him toward You Fushi on the next platform over.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, please," Zhang Shan cupped his hands in a polite gesture.

Lu Chenhan stood in the center of the ring, holding his sword in one hand, without replying, only nodding slightly.

Zhang Shan held a talisman between two fingers and chose to take the initiative, one talisman multiplying into thousands as he forcefully struck forward, like ten thousand arrows flying at Lu Chenhan.

Under the crushing weight of Kunlun Lu Chenhan’s name, Zhang Shan could be said to have performed beyond his usual level. However, Lu Chenhan’s sword didn’t even leave its scabbard; he simply spun it with a flick, instantly scattering all of the talismans and making them explode apart.

His first attack failed, and at the same time, Lu Chenhan’s figure shifted, disappearing from Zhang Shan’s sight. A bead of sweat dripped from Zhang Shan’s forehead, and his hairs stood on end. He instantly opened both hands, forming two talismans into a circle and forcefully blocking behind him.

Lu Chenhan’s sword sheath struck Zhang Shan’s talisman array, sending a shockwave of spiritual energy through the arena.

Zhang Shan’s reaction had already been fast enough, but still fell short. Lu Chenhan turned his sword slightly, and Zhang Shan’s talisman array shattered like tofu.

"Leave now, and I won’t hurt you," Lu Chenhan said, standing steadily with his sword.

Zhang Shan didn’t answer, reaching behind him as talismans appeared between his fingertips again but this time, he didn’t even get a chance to move.

Because Lu Chenhan struck with a slash carrying sword intent, cutting across horizontally at Zhang Shan, sending him flying high through the air before crashing heavily onto the arena floor, with no strength left to resist.

—Even with his sword still sheathed, his sword intent alone was already terrifying to this degree.

Zhang Shan tried to get up but could only move a few fingers, lying there unable to even turn his head, let alone see Lu Chenhan.

Lu Chenhan turned his step, walked to Zhang Shan’s side, crushed his travel pass in his hand, then opened his palm and let it fall.

The audience fell silent. Lian Lian and Cheng Huaian’s faces were both cold and grim. In the distance, Ten Thousand Buddha Sect’s Buddhist son Gu Liangtian paused his prayer beads, then turned and left.

Compared to that side, the arena next door was even quieter.

As soon as You Fushi went up, the Chongming Sword started fighting on its own. His opponent wasn’t strong, but seeing he could still land a few moves against the sword, his confidence swelled.

Then the people below the stage saw You Fushi pull out a meditation cushion from his qiankun bag. He patted it off and naturally sat down to meditate.

Ye Su had been keeping her attention on You Fushi, and when she saw him start meditating, she frowned slightly and turned to ask Xu Chengyu, who had just finished his match,

"Can you stay on the platform after your match is over?"

Xu Chengyu was puzzled. "There are people waiting to fight after."

"He’s probably about to advance," Ye Su explained.

"…Advance?" Xu Chengyu looked toward You Fushi, who was sitting cross-legged on the stage with a rare perfect posture. "In that case, he can stay. The presiding elders will open another ring."

Another cultivator on the stage was quickly forced down, and then the surrounding spiritual energy began surging toward You Fushi. The commotion drew over a few presiding elders, who gathered to discuss briefly, then added another barrier around the stage to prevent anyone from disturbing him.

In a major sect tournament, with so many eyes watching, You Fushi had already finished his match so his advancement couldn’t be casually interrupted.

"How is he advancing so suddenly? Didn’t see him do anything special." someone wondered.

"Best to stay out of a genius’s business."

"Fair point."

Lu Chenhan walked down from his stage, turned back to look at You Fushi meditating, his cold eyes deep and unreadable.

When he left, the crowd automatically parted to make way.

A whole day passed, and You Fushi was still advancing on the platform without any movement.

"Senior Sister, you still have a match tomorrow," Xia Er came over to remind her. "You should go back and rest."

"No need," Ye Su turned to ask him, "Has anyone asked you to repair magic artifacts?"

The three from Ming Liu Sha weren’t just here to watch the tournament; they were also taking every chance to offer repairs.

"Only a few people from the Eastern positions were willing. The others all went to Zhanjin Sect or Poyuan Sect," Xia Er answered.

"No rush." Ye Su gestured for him to head back first. "My match is first thing tomorrow morning, so I’ll just stay here tonight."

Xia Er always listened to his senior sister, and quickly left.

But then Yi Xuan came back.

He didn’t say a word, just stood next to her.

Ye Su turned to look at him. "Not going back to cultivate?"

"Cultivating here is the same," Yi Xuan replied, and really sat down next to her.

By then the rest of the arena had long since emptied out, leaving only the two of them on and around this one platform.

As the sun set and rose again, on the second day You Fushi still hadn’t made any movement. Yi Xuan stood up.

"You should go to your match now."

Ye Su lifted her head to glance at You Fushi on the platform and said to Yi Xuan, "I’ll come back after."

She found her designated platform for her match and stepped up.

"We meet again," Ye Su said to the young talisman cultivator across from her.

"Wait!" Ma Shangzou spoke before she could attack. "Thanks to your talisman cannon, I got my travel pass."

"Mm," Ye Su asked him, "Do you want to buy another?"

Ma Shangzou shook his head wildly. "I lent it to someone yesterday, and it got broken in a fight. Can you help me fix it first?"

Ye Su was stunned for a moment. "Sure, bring it over and let me see."

So the few random onlookers who were passing by to see the fight stared at the two of them on the platform, completely bewildered.

They waited a long time, only seeing the two people huddled together talking, but not actually fighting.

"Are you going to fight or not?" someone called out.

Ma Shangzou raised his hand. "In a moment, in a moment! Don’t rush, let me fix my talisman cannon first."

The few people below the stage were speechless. "…"

"It was slashed by a sword cultivator?" Ye Su looked at the damage marks on the talisman cannon and asked.

"Yeah, my senior brother got cut by a sword cultivator yesterday," Ma Shangzou scratched his head, "and he broke my talisman cannon, too."

"That sword cultivator was pretty good," Ye Su commented as she rummaged through her qiankun bag for some materials. "I’ll reinforce it and make a few adjustments for you."

……

"Are you two playing house up there?" A few people below the stage had grown impatient, and someone finally shouted angrily, "Hold on!"

That person turned to call over the presiding elder to report that the two of them were hogging the arena without actually fighting.

"Are you two going to fight or not?" the presiding elder asked irritably. He was still hoping to go watch the new Buddha’s disciple from Ten Thousand Buddha Sect compete.

Ma Shangzou quickly jumped up. "Fight!"

Ye Su hefted the talisman cannon onto her shoulder, and out of habit stuffed an explosive talisman inside. "Let me test it first."

She fired it toward the sky.

But Ye Su had forgotten the entire stage was surrounded by a barrier.

A thunderous boom exploded above the arena, startling everyone on and off the platform.

"It—it cracked!" Ma Shangzou clutched his head and crouched on the stage, pointing at the barrier that had started to split, stammering.

Even the presiding elder was shocked, staring at the talisman cannon in Ye Su’s hands. That barrier had been set up by a Nascent Soul cultivator!

The cultivator who had just gone to report them was standing below with his mouth hanging open, regretting his rashness in case he was targeted for revenge.

"Your talisman is incredible," Ma Shangzou stood up, still shaken.

Ye Su looked down at her own hand. That talisman was one she’d drawn out of boredom last night, it seemed a bit stronger than before.

Ma Shangzou quietly hugged his talisman cannon back to himself and even stuffed some spirit stones into Ye Su’s hand. "Um, would it be okay if I don’t fight?"

"Don’t fight?" Ye Su had thought, from all his chatter about fixing the talisman cannon, that he wanted to show off.

"My senior brother got chopped up yesterday and is half-paralyzed. In the future I’ll need to take care of him, and see my master off when he passes. I can’t risk getting crippled too," Ma Shangzou said, tossing Ye Su his travel pass, then moved to the edge of the stage and knocked on the barrier, calling out to the presiding elder outside, "Let me out, I forfeit, I forfeit!"

The presiding elder: "…"

As soon as the barrier opened, Ma Shangzou hoisted the talisman cannon and ran off like a shot.

Ye Su: "…"

As she was walking back toward You Fushi’s side, she bumped into Lu Jiu, who had just finished his own match.

"Ye Su, how did your match go?"

"Didn’t fight."

Lu Jiu thought something had happened. "How could you not fight?"

"He forfeited," Ye Su explained, still thinking about testing out the modified talisman cannon later.

"I see." Lu Jiu let out a sigh of relief. "In the first round’s draw, all of Qianji Sect made it through."

While they were talking, a golden light suddenly fell from the sky in the distance.

Ye Su frowned and looked over, it was coming from You Fushi’s direction—