Dao of Money

256. Merchant vs genius (2)

As it turned out, Yun Zhaotian had been in a lot of battles.It was normal, since Guardian sects were brutal, and duels were a daily occurrence there, but even with that, Yun Zhaotian seemed like he was a battle junkie. According to Princess Yanyue, he had been in hundreds of battles till now, and had mostly come out on top in all of them. The only ones he had lost were against people who were in a completely different realm than him, and he had even taken that as a slight on himself.

The more Chen Ren heard, the more he became sure that battling Yun Zhaotian was nothing but suicide.

Princess Yanyue told him about a battle where he had fought against a shadow wraith, a demonic creature that could dissolve into shadows and attack from anywhere. Even after almost losing a leg, Yun Zhaotian had managed to grab its throat when it reformed and crushed it to death.

Another tale she spoke of was from inter-sect battles, where Yun Zhaotian had taken an average of ten seconds to eliminate his opponents, only losing to Han Qingshi in the finals.

There was even a time when he had taken on five inner sect disciples of the Thunder Blade Sect at once, just to prove himself worthy of becoming a core disciple.

And he had won.

Like that, Princess Yanyue narrated battle after battle in detail. How they had started, how they had progressed, and how they had ended.

Most of them ended the same way with Yun Zhaotian winning.

But Chen Ren couldn’t help but notice something else.

Unless the opponent was from his own sect, Yun Zhaotian didn’t just defeat them. He made sure they were either crippled or… dead.

In one word, Yun Zhaotian was brutal. That was one of the two things Chen Ren got from his talk with Princess Yanyue.

The other was something he didn’t say out loud. It was the fact that there was no way she should have known all of this in such detail.

Every battle, every injury, every outcome—she had spoken about them as if she had seen them herself. That only meant one thing.

She had spies. Not just anywhere, but inside the Guardian sects.

That thought made her far more frightening in his mind, but he didn’t dwell on it. Right now, Yun Zhaotian was the problem in front of him, and he needed a way to defeat him.

Hours passed like that.

Princess Yanyue kept talking, going through battle after battle, while Chen Ren listened and tried to piece something together. A pattern, a mistake, anything he could use.

But nothing obvious came.

By the time the eight hours were up, Chen Ren still didn’t have a clear answer.

This floor didn’t seem to follow day and night, so even after all that time, the sky remained unchanged, still bright as ever.

Chen Ren actually wanted more time, but the moment the eight hours ended, Yun Zhaotian, who had been cultivating all this time, opened his eyes.

“Let’s get going, Chen Ren,” he said loudly. “Your injuries should be healed, and your qi replenished. I won’t let you delay any further.”

Chen Ren let out a slow breath. For a moment, he almost tried to think of another excuse, but in the end, he shook his head.

“Sure,” he said. “Take your position. I’m coming.”

Yun Zhaotian grinned and moved toward the center of the street. Around him, the Thunder Blade Sect disciples shifted to the sides, clearing space while positioning themselves like spectators waiting to watch an execution.

Chen Ren didn’t move immediately. He looked at Princess Yanyue and leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice.

“If it looks like I’m about to die, do something.”

She frowned. “I can’t interfere in an honour duel.”

Chen Ren smiled faintly. “Then do something about the other disciples. I have a feeling they’ll try something if things go the way I expect.”

Princess Yanyue nodded. “Did you get anything from everything I said?”

Chen Ren gave a small shrug. “Some things. But I don’t have time to test them out. I’ll see how it goes.”

With that, he turned and began walking toward the centre of the street, where Yun Zhaotian was already waiting.

He didn’t look up, but he knew Yalan was up on the building, watching everything closely.

If his plan failed, she would step in. She had to. But even then, Chen Ren didn’t think she could kill Yun Zhaotian with all the Thunder Blade disciples around. That meant one thing.

His plan had to work no matter what.

As he reached his position, Yun Zhaotian grinned. “Finally. It’s starting. Do anything unhonourable, and I’ll make sure to torture you before killing you.”

Chen Ren let out a quiet breath. “For someone who talks so much about honour, you sound like the most cliché, arrogant cultivator I’ve ever met. The kind who won’t even live past a century.”

Yun Zhaotian didn’t reply immediately.

Qi burned around him, lightning crackling along his legs. Only after a moment did he speak, his voice colder. “You are going to regret that.”

The next second, he moved. The distance between them vanished in an instant.

Chen Ren was ready for it. Lightning surged through his own legs as he tried to step back using his movement technique. But Yun Zhaotian didn’t fully commit to closing the gap.

Instead, he stopped midway.

His fingers flicked forward, and a gust of wind shot out toward Chen Ren’s chest.

It was too fast.

Chen Ren barely managed to twist to the side. The attack clipped his arm instead, the force spinning him around as he lost his footing.

Cheers rolled out from around him as Chen Ren struggled to steady himself. He forced his footing back into place and immediately covered his body with [Starlight Armour] while unleashing a [Lightning Frenzy].

Bolts of lightning burst out around him, striking the ground and walls in chaotic arcs.

But it didn’t matter. Yun Zhaotian simply took the bolts head on.

He appeared right in front of him, too fast to track, and Chen Ren felt an arm clamp down around his neck. Instinctively, he reinforced the armour around his throat, pushing qi into it with everything he had.

Even then, a cracking sound echoed.

“That’s a pretty good defensive technique,” Yun Zhaotian said calmly.

Then he threw him.

Chen Ren’s body slammed into the street and rolled across the ground, and he felt the armour breaking apart under the impact before he finally managed to stop himself and push back up.

Ten seconds—Just ten seconds into the duel, and he was already losing.

Chen Ren let out a breath, forcing his mind to stay calm. Lightning qi surged into his palms as he shaped it into long spears.

As Yun Zhaotian rushed at him again, Chen Ren threw them one after another.

They shot forward rapidly, cutting through the air, but Yun Zhaotian moved through them like it was nothing.

He stepped around them, tilted his body to let them pass by his side, even leaping slightly over one of them with effortless control. It almost looked like he was mocking him, showing how easy it was to avoid everything Chen Ren threw at him.

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The distance between them closed again, but before the man could take the few final steps—

One of the lightning spears Yun Zhaotian had just sidestepped suddenly exploded. The blast went off right beside him, catching him off guard and throwing him toward the side of the street.

Chen Ren’s lips curved slightly.

He didn’t hesitate. He took out a few thundercrack orbs and threw them forward one after another before Yun Zhaotian could even recover.

The next moment, explosions tore through the street.

Dozens of orbs detonated at once, the force shaking the entire area as the ground split apart beneath the impact. Even Chen Ren was pushed back by the shockwaves as parts of the street collapsed into a large crater.

Chen Ren was sure that even the Zombie Queen would have been injured by that attack.

But the very next second, a growl came from the crater.

Yun Zhaotian rose out of the hole, landing back on the ground as his eyes locked onto Chen Ren, filled with fury.

Parts of his robes were torn, and Chen Ren could see blood around his waist, but other than that, he looked completely fine.

Chen Ren didn’t understand how that was even possible with so many thundercrack orbs.

But he didn’t have time to think about it. Yun Zhaotian moved immediately.

Qi surged around his fist, forming a storm that twisted into dark tendrils as he thrust it forward. Lightning and water shot toward Chen Ren in a violent stream.

Chen Ren reacted instantly, throwing another orb at it. The two attacks collided.

An explosion burst out, pushing Chen Ren backward, but before he could even regain his balance, Yun Zhaotian had already moved through the smoke.

He appeared right in front of him, and his fist came straight for his face.

Chen Ren raised his hand in time to block, but the impact still carried overwhelming force. A sharp crack echoed as pain shot through his arm, and his body was thrown backward, crashing into a nearby building.

Before Yun Zhaotian could follow up, Chen Ren somehow pushed himself up, and immediately pulled out a smoke ball from his spatial ring and slammed it onto the ground.

At once, dark smoke exploded outward, rapidly spreading across the street and swallowing everything in sight. It rose thick and heavy, covering a wide area within seconds.

Chen Ren could still see through it, having reinforced his eyes with [Starlight Armour] already.

Then as he moved through the smoke, Yun Zhaotian’s voice came out. “What the fuck is this? My eyes burn.”

Chen Ren didn’t reply, and ran, putting as much distance between them as possible, knowing full well that the smoke wouldn’t last long.

And just like he had expected, winds soon swept through the street, clearing away the smoke.

Yun Zhaotian stood amidst the current of wind, his eyes red as he looked up at Chen Ren.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked again.

Chen Ren turned and smiled slightly, showing his teeth. “You don’t need to know.”

The next second, Yun Zhaotian raised his hand and qi gathered instantly. Three massive eagles made of lightning burst into existence, their cries sharp as they shot forward, heading straight for Chen Ren.

His eyes widened, seeing how fast they were, knowing he would have no room to dodge.

Instead, Chen Ren pushed qi into his arms, reinforcing his [Starlight Armour] as he braced himself and took the first eagle head-on. It slammed into him with massive force, trying to knock him off balance, but he held his ground. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed its head and forced it downward before crushing it under his foot.

But the other two were already on him.

One clawed into his side, tearing through parts of his armour, and Chen Ren immediately released a [Lightning Frenzy] at close range. The bolts struck both eagles, sending them crashing to the ground.

Projectiles clearly weren’t Yun Zhaotian’s strongest skill. But when Chen Ren looked up—

The man was gone.

For a split second, confusion flickered across his face. Then his instincts screamed and he looked up.

Yun Zhaotian was descending straight toward him like a storm, lightning and water swirling around his body as he reached out, aiming to grab him and slam him into the ground with overwhelming force.

At the last moment, Chen Ren reacted. He pulled out another thundercrack orb and detonated it between them using a thread of qi.

The explosion erupted right in the space between them, and it pushed him backwards as more smoke filled the surroundings.

His [Starlight Armour] held, even as cracks spread across it, and ahead of him a loud cracking sound echoed as a giant hole formed right in the middle of the street.

Chen Ren’s eyes widened at the sight.

If he hadn’t detonated the orb, he was sure he would have been buried several feet underground.

But he didn’t stop to watch.

He immediately took out the bow he had used on the sixth floor against the zombies and death knights. A qi string formed between his fingers as he pulled it back.

The next second, Yun Zhaotian emerged from the hole, landing heavily on the ground and cracking the surface further before charging straight at him, wind and lightning pushing him forward.

At once, several arrows shot forward, streaking through the air.

Yun Zhaotian scoffed as he rushed in. “That’s not going to work. I’m not a—”

The words cut off.

The arrows didn’t hit him, instead, they landed on the ground right in front of him.

For a split second, nothing happened, but then a loud vibration burst out from them.

A sharp, ringing frequency filled the air, piercing through everything.

Yun Zhaotian dropped to the ground instantly, grabbing his ears as blood started to seep out from them.

Chen Ren had already reinforced his ears with [Starlight Armour], and he moved at once, closing the distance between them for the first time in the battle, not wanting to give Yun Zhaotian even a second to recover or gather qi to block the sound.

Yun Zhaotian saw him coming despite the pain and raised his hand, qi beginning to gather for another attack—

But Chen Ren was already there. His [Thundering Fist] came down hard.

The punch slammed into Yun Zhaotian’s chest, the force cracking the ground beneath them.

***

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