Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Taoyuan Zhenjun was very nervous.

It's not that I'm worried about losing this battle and the sect losing points, which would affect the sect's ability to secure points and reach the finish line.

In his view, his failure was inevitable.

Putting everything else aside, just the fact that Su Qing brought out the puppets he used to deal with Qian Xuzi was not something Su Qing could easily handle. Moreover, he still had trump cards like the Azure Dragon Dao Pattern and the Xing Tian Blood Axe. For ordinary fourth-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, defeating an upper-stage Divine Transformation cultivator was as difficult as ascending to heaven. With layers of buffs on him, Su Qing could defeat an upper-stage cultivator as easily as drinking water. It was not news at all that he could not defeat him!
True Monarch Taoyuan was well aware of his own abilities. Combat was not his forte. He was able to enter the final five because he did not encounter any top contenders on his way to the finals, and because his sect prepared a number of valuable items for him to help him gain points, which added many advantages to his abilities.

Making it into the top five was already a stroke of luck. The score in this event had already exceeded previous expectations, so losing to Su Qing today is not unacceptable.

However, there's a trick to how you lose!
He can't afford to lose too easily, or he won't be able to show his style or skill. His fellow disciples in the audience will inevitably be disappointed, and many onlookers, especially those who have placed bets on him, will feel that the match is being fixed. If it causes protests or riots, it will not do him any good.

The fight can't be too intense. He, True Lord Taoyuan, is currently holding two jobs: he is the leader of the Taoyuan Sect and a guest lecturer at the Martial Arts Academy of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. Since he couldn't resist the temptation of the Martial Arts Academy job and made Su Qing his boss who pays his salary, he naturally has to satisfy his boss in this battle.

Anyone who has ever competed with their boss knows that losing to them is also a skill. It's no good if the boss wins too easily, as that's too fake and doesn't allow them to experience the joy of victory. It's also no good if the boss wins too hard, as they are delicate and needy. If they are exhausted and overwhelmed by a victory, it would be a dereliction of duty for their subordinates!

For Su Qing, after winning this battle today, he will face even stronger opponents. The more strength he preserves, the better, and the deeper he hides his trump cards, the better. If he, True Monarch Taoyuan, wants to flatter this new boss well, he can't be foolish enough to go all out and make the boss use too many means to deal with him!

These things don't need to be taught; Peach Blossom True Lord figured them out and made his decision yesterday. He was just afraid that communicating with the boss about fixing the match beforehand would make the boss feel insulted, so he didn't contact Su Qing. Thus, he was prepared to lose gracefully, to make the boss happy, and to leave the audience with no complaints. The only uncertainty was whether the unsuspecting boss, Su Qing, would cooperate with him, which was why he was nervous.

"Master Su, please forgive me, but behold my Peach Blossom Sect's unique skill, the third-grade immortal technique—The Journey of Flower!"

Before making his move, True Monarch Taoyuan bowed respectfully, displaying the demeanor of a great sect, which drew cheers from cultivators across all realms.

After he shouted, he didn't rush to make a move. As if he was afraid that Su Qing wouldn't know how powerful his magic was, he showed off by explaining it first!
"Hua Qiangu, this immortal technique is a marvelous immortal technique created by a senior master of my Peach Blossom Sect by combining the essence of the two immortal techniques of scattering beans to create soldiers and transforming mortals into spirits."

With this immortal technique, every flower and blade of grass can be infused with spiritual essence in a short time, transforming into spirits and magical artifacts, possessing all sorts of mysterious and wondrous uses. When used, it is as if commanding thousands of troops, or as if ten thousand swords are unleashed simultaneously. Other immortal techniques of the same level may have their power, but none can match its versatility; others may have their flexibility, but none can match its fierce attack. Since its creation, it has always been an essential immortal technique for the true disciples of my Peach Blossom Sect. My disciples of Peach Blossom have also made a name for themselves throughout the heavens with this technique.

The power of this technique, besides the cultivator's own strength, is mainly determined by the quality and quantity of the flowers and herbs. This True Monarch, favored by his sect, was bestowed with the sect's secret treasure, the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle. This magical artifact contains 33,000 Frost Silver Pear Blossoms, already a fifth-tier spiritual weapon, possessing the ability to turn the tide of battle and defeat enemies. With Hua Qiangu's enhancement, its power and ability are unmatched even by ordinary Nascent Soul True Monarchs!

After speaking rapidly with his hands behind his back, Peach Blossom Spring True Lord finished his speech.

Su Qing on the stage hadn't reacted yet, leaving many cultivators watching the battle with a lot of questions in their minds!
"I knew that this True Lord of Peach Blossom Spring was always flamboyant and acted in a high-profile and classy manner, but I never expected that he would dare to show off to such an extent. Is there anyone in this world who explains his methods and secrets to his opponent before a fight?"

"He seemed afraid that Su Qing wouldn't know how to deal with his Hua Qiangu, just like a master teaching a disciple, he wanted to break down his next move for Su Qing one by one!"

"Is he stupid? How could someone so stupid cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage? God, are you blind?!"

"Oh no, oh no, we're probably going to lose again. I only considered the difference in their cultivation levels, not the difference in their intelligence. Su Qing is cunning and treacherous to begin with, and if he runs into a fool like Peach Blossom True Monarch, he'll just have to play him to death!"

Aside from the gamblers, the neutral spectators no longer had a high opinion of Peach Blossom True Lord. They felt that he had underestimated his opponent and was too careless. They thought that Su Qing was no match for him and that he had only revealed his methods to his opponent without respecting him. It seemed that the saying "pride comes before a fall" was tailor-made for him.

The cultivators of Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom were initially angry, feeling that True Monarch Taoyuan was incredibly disrespectful and didn't take their True Monarch Su seriously enough to make such a foolish move. But soon, they were all smiles again. A little foolishness was good; a little foolishness would make it easier for True Monarch Su to win this match and conserve his strength for the next match. Compared to the outcome, it didn't matter if True Monarch Taoyuan was proud for a while.

In contrast, the cultivators of Peach Blossom Sect were the most distressed. When their senior brother usually sparred with them, he would indeed explain and break down their techniques, just like now, and speak before making any moves. But that was for practical teaching of his fellow disciples. This was not the case in this situation!

Although they were extremely confident in their senior brother's strength, Su Qing was no pushover either. Before the match, they optimistically analyzed that with the help of the methods prepared for him by the sect, their senior brother might be able to barely fight Su Qing to a draw, and the outcome would depend entirely on his performance on the day.

But what's with the senior brother revealing his underwear before the fight even started? Those Rain of Pear Blossom Needles are hidden weapons! What kind of good person would warn their opponent before using a hidden weapon?

The cultivators of Peach Blossom Sect were puzzled by their senior brother's actions, and Su Qing on the stage was also puzzled. Little did he know that this True Monarch of Peach Blossom Sect had not only exposed his underwear, but also white underwear, practically surrendering with his hands raised!

Despite her confusion, Su Qing continued to fight as she had planned.

He's going to concede this match!

First, the Peach Blossom Sect is worth winning over. This sect is quite powerful in the myriad realms, second only to a few major forces such as the Spirit Treasure Sect, the Primordial Sect, and the Eastern King Sect. Its strength and foundation are quite good. Befriending it is of great significance to the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom's layout in the myriad realms.

Most importantly, this sect also intends to befriend the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. In recent days, despite Taoyuan Zhenjun's dissatisfaction, through him, Taoyuan Sect has been continuously extending goodwill to the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, ordering a large number of Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom specialty products, and is willing to open up some of the Daoist books and various cultivation knowledge collected and organized by their sect to the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. They have also placed their sect's base in the Tianyuan Realm within the Xingsha Divine Kingdom of his elder brother Gao Erqiang, making them purely friendly forces.

Su Qing naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to join forces with such strength and vision. Seeing that they were currently ranked at the bottom of the first tier and could fall out of the top tier at any time, he was willing to lend a helping hand if he could.

The second reason is that none of the subsequent opponents in this battle are weak. Even if he uses all his skills, he may not be able to win, and he will definitely expose some of his hidden cards that he does not want others to know. Therefore, it would be best if he could be defeated by this True Lord of Peach Blossom Spring as soon as possible, and at the same time do a favor for the Peach Blossom Spring Sect.

"True Lord, please make your move! Although Hua Qiangu is powerful, I have also prepared an army of exorcism dolls, totaling five million. Five million against thirty thousand, the advantage in this battle is in my hands!"

Su Qing, who was determined to fix the match, was even more perfunctory than Taoyuan Zhenjun. To be honest, if Xiong Er Qianzhuang hadn't opened the betting and everyone knew about his relationship with the Qianzhuang, he wouldn't have wanted to put on an act and would have just given up and admitted defeat.

But as soon as he said those words, he caught Peach Blossom Monarch off guard.

What happened? Did Master Su not hear what I just said? That shouldn't be the case. My voice was loud and clear, and although I spoke quickly, my words were clear. Master Su should know that I was going to use Hua Qiangu to deal with him.

Do you know why he still needed to use an exorcism army to deal with it?

Those large and small evil spirits might be very useful against evil spirits and demons, but for him, a righteous and upright True Lord of the Gods, the evil spirits' special abilities were completely useless.

Using this army of exorcists to deal with his Hua Qiangu, isn't that just letting him win? Do you even want to win? With you doing this, how am I supposed to lose?!
"While the Exorcism Army is impressive, if I may be so bold, the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles, after being enhanced by Hua Qiangu, not only have an extremely powerful burst of power, but each Frost Silver Pear Blossom Needle can also transform into a third-tier spirit monster after the burst. Dealing with Master Su's Exorcism Ghost Child is a piece of cake for them. I advise Master Su not to use this Exorcism Army. Why don't you try other puppets instead?"

"Stop talking nonsense! My exorcism army just slaughtered a group of fifth-tier demons a few days ago. You're only a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and you might not even be as strong as that Daoist Evil Monarch. Using this exorcism army to deal with you is more than enough!"

"This...this isn't how it's calculated, Master Su! Don't you have the Lizard Legion? Using that legion to deal with me, Hua Qiangu, would be perfect!"

"The Lizard Legion is undergoing maintenance and renovation at the factory and cannot be used for the time being!"

"And the Demon God Legion, that's also an elite force!"

"The Demon God Legion is currently on a mission outside; do not move against them!"

"If that doesn't work, we should release that Star Chaos. This puppet has the ability to shift stars and has unparalleled defense, making it a perfect match for dealing with Hua Qiangu!"

“Using the Starry Chaos technique once is too costly, I can’t bear to do it. I’m telling you, are you still going to fight or not? Do I, Su Qing, need you to teach me what kind of methods I use?”

Su Qing glared at Peach Blossom True Lord, not understanding what this True Lord was thinking. If he wanted to win, didn't he know how to deal with him? Isn't this just throwing the game? Your words make it sound like I'm really throwing the game!
Peach Blossom True Lord was also wronged. Was he trying to guide Su Qing in dealing with him? It wasn't that he didn't want to guide him; he simply couldn't figure out how Su Qing could use this exorcism army to defeat him!
He doesn't want to win! When did it become so hard to lose a game?

At this point, he dared not say anything more.

As the two of them talked, all the cultivators watching the battle realized that something was wrong.

These two are talking back and forth; if they can't tell that neither of them wants to win, then they're truly out of their minds.

"It's match-fixing! Blatant match-fixing!"

"Give me my money back! I'm not playing anymore!"

"One is the leader of the Puppet Masters of the Heavens, and the other is a Nascent Soul True Monarch. Both are prominent figures. How dare they perform such an ugly trick in front of cultivators from all the heavens and myriad realms? Is it a distortion of human nature, a decline in morality, or perhaps the two of you have some shady deal in private?"

"Ganni's mother! Get serious and fight with all your might! I came here early this morning to wait for you two to put on a show!"

The monks below the stage were indignant, feeling that the two people on stage had gone too far.

Fearing that the stalemate would continue and the emotions of the cultivators below would become increasingly agitated and difficult to control, True Monarch Peach Blossom Spring had no choice but to launch an attack.

"Master Su, be careful, I'm coming!"

"Come on, unleash your furious onslaught and ravage me! Show me no mercy!"

"Oh no! The Rain of Pear Blossom Needles have exploded!"

"Despicable! They deliberately caused the magical weapon to explode, creating terrifying casualties and catching me completely off guard. This time, I have lost!"

The farce, the utterly clumsy match-fixing, ended with Su Qing's desired defeat to Peach Blossom True Lord.

After the match, amidst the jeers of the gamblers, Su Qing gave his opponent, True Monarch Taoyuan, extremely high praise, saying that his Taoist skills were excellent, his superb supernatural powers were invincible, and he possessed superb combat wisdom. He said that he was willing to lose to him. In addition, he also gave special greetings to the Taoyuan Sect, saying that the sect was worthy of being a great sect in the heavens for being able to cultivate a talent like True Monarch Taoyuan. He expressed his great hope that the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom would have more opportunities to cooperate with the sect in the future!

That is to say, he has a thick skin. After saying that, he was still able to calmly start another competition amidst the scorn and curses of a group of gambling addicts.

Kendo (Japanese martial arts) is a sport.

It was a contest between him and Tiger Egg.

He didn't need to hold back. His swordsmanship skills all came from Hu Dan. Hu Dan knew everything he knew and used it better than him. If they didn't use evil methods like magic sword puppets, he was definitely no match for Hu Dan in terms of pure swordsmanship.

Could he really use evil methods on his puppet? If he really wanted to win, he could just make Tiger Egg admit defeat. However, Tiger Egg is about to join the Lingbao Sect, and its ranking in this sword competition might improve its reputation within the sect. To help it reach the pinnacle of tiger life, it's no big deal for its master to suffer a defeat.

A quick defeat, and there are still several fixed matches to play; we'll be busy for a while! (End of Chapter)