Reversing the Milky Way

On the arena, Xue Min and Bai Cheng looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xue Min: "I never expected that someone from Renhui Academy would actually make it to the final round. This has never happened before."

Bai Cheng: "Well, now that's happened, isn't it? Nothing is absolute."

Upon hearing this, Xue Min burst into laughter, "Hahaha... Well said." He then strode towards Bai Cheng. Seeing this, Bai Cheng became increasingly wary, as the image of Xue Min defeating Shui Ning'er was still vivid in his mind.

Slowly, Xue Min walked up to Bai Cheng and whispered, "Bai Cheng, I know why you participated in the competition."

Bai Cheng looked somewhat bewildered after hearing this.

Xue Min: "How about you listen to my suggestion?"

Bai Cheng was taken aback: "What suggestion?"

Xue Min: "As long as you admit defeat, your losses to my Xuefu Restaurant will be wiped clean. How about it?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng's expression spoke volumes. After all, he participated in this competition solely for the first-place prize. He quickly calculated the approximate prices in his mind. A third-tier spirit beast mount costs approximately five to six hundred silver coins, a high-grade treasure-level weapon costs between eight hundred and one thousand silver coins, and the compensation he would have to pay Xue Fu Restaurant is one thousand eight hundred silver coins. All things considered, it's about right. Moreover, he can still get the second-place prize, so it's practically a guaranteed profit.

After much deliberation, Bai Cheng finally agreed to the plan. However, when he recalled Yue Ling's experience at the restaurant, he felt a surge of anger that he couldn't vent, and his expression twitched slightly with rage.

However, Xue Min noticed all these subtle expressions. Xue Min hoped that Bai Cheng would agree, since judging from Bai Cheng's previous strength, it was uncertain who would win if he faced him.

Xue Min: "Brother Bai Cheng, is this a disagreement? Could it be because of that girl named Yue Ling?"

After saying this, Xue Min observed the expression on Bai Cheng's face, which confirmed his earlier speculation.

Xue Min: "I see. I've also heard about Miss Yueling's matter. How about this, I'm willing to offer you another three hundred silver coins as compensation. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng's eyes lit up. At this moment, he had completely agreed to Xue Min's conditions, but he still planned to squeeze out another sum of money.

Bai Cheng: "But it would be so embarrassing for a grown man like me to admit defeat in the finals in front of everyone."

Xue Min: "So, what does Brother Yibai mean?"

Bai Cheng said with an extremely serious expression, "It costs more money!"

By this time, the surrounding audience had become impatient.

Crowd #1: "Hey, am I still going to call or not? It's been going on for so long."

Crowd member #2: "They're not going to just admit defeat like before, are they?"

Gradually, the murmurs from the crowd below grew louder. Several cultivators in the VIP seats also began to discuss the matter amongst themselves.

Sun Jianxin: "It seems the Xue family is quite adept at business. Are they trying to buy the first place?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, I'm pretty impulsive, I despise this kind of behavior the most."

Guo Yanyang: "I don't think there's anything wrong with what Xue Min did. If something can be settled with money, then it's not a big deal."

Xu Lie: "That's right, this is just a martial arts competition. If something like this happened on the battlefield, it would reduce a lot of unnecessary casualties. So why not?"

Unlike these cultivators, Mo Yan and Zhu Mingxuan, seated in the main seats, were able to penetrate the Spirit-Trapping Array due to their strong spiritual senses. They could hear what Bai Cheng and Xue Min were discussing. However, the two tacitly refrained from expressing their opinions. This was an obvious fact even within the sect, so it wasn't surprising.

Upon hearing Bai Cheng's reply, Xue Min on the arena burst into laughter: "Hahaha, what did I think? No problem, I'll double it! I'll give you another three hundred silver coins! My Xue family may not have much else, but we have plenty of money. I'm not interested in money."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng felt as if he had been struck by lightning. "Damn it, I was careless. If I had known this guy was so rich, I would have asked for more myself." However, it was too late to back out now, and Bai Cheng could only admit that he lacked experience.

Immediately afterward, Bai Cheng raised his right hand in full view of everyone and shouted, "I admit defeat!" This statement immediately shocked many of the audience members present.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yingjie, who was below the ring, jumped up in a fit of rage.

Zhu Yingjie: "You still say you didn't do anything wrong? Then Qin Ming can say that after fighting Lei Che, he didn't have any spiritual power to continue the next match. So what's going on with Bai Cheng? Don't forget, we all saw the conversation between the two on stage just now."

After he finished speaking, many voices of doubt arose from the crowd below the stage. Bai Cheng remained unfazed by these comments, after all, his only goal was the reward for first place, and he might even have to sell it himself.

Now that there's an opportunity to make money without having to pay compensation, why not take it? Besides, the fragment doesn't have much spiritual energy left, and if we really continue the competition, winning won't be easy.

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng directly said to Zhu Yingjie beside the arena, "Uh... Principal Zhu, actually, I was too exhausted in the last round's battle with Zhao Bo, and I'm afraid I can't continue the match." In fact, what Bai Cheng said was not wrong at all, but Xue Min, who was standing next to him, thought that Bai Cheng was just making up a reason to surrender, and it was the same reason that Qin Ming had given earlier.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yingjie flew into a rage. "You're talking nonsense! You clearly accepted bribes from the Xue family!"

Bai Cheng was about to retort after hearing this, but Xue Qianfu spoke first: "Principal Zhu, so according to your logic, all those who surrendered before us accepted bribes?"

After these words, the skepticism from the audience subsided considerably. Zhu Yingjie, upon hearing this, was flushed with anger. Bai Cheng, however, sensed something was amiss. 'Strange. Logically speaking, the rewards for first and second place aren't that different. First place gets a third-tier spirit beast mount and a high-grade magic weapon, while second place gets a second-tier spirit beast mount and a mid-grade magic weapon. Putting aside everything else, third-tier spirit beast mounts are not uncommon at Renhui Academy. The wealthier students there can usually afford them. If I remember correctly, the low-tier, second-grade spirit beast mount, the Yellow-Horned Golden Ox, in the academy's spirit beast shed seems to be Fu Qiran's mount. The first place only gets a third-tier spirit beast; is it really necessary to be so petty? Although, I certainly can't afford it myself.'

Before Bai Cheng could think further, he saw Zhu Yingjie leave with a flick of his hand. The other cultivators remained silent, as they didn't care about the outcome of the competition. They were only there to recruit disciples, and even if they weren't the first place winners, there were many talented individuals to choose from.

Some left quietly, and the number of cultivators in the special seats was reduced by more than half, leaving only a few of the more powerful sects. Following this, as the competition ended, Bai Cheng returned to the Renhui Academy's group.

At this moment, Su Boran looked at Bai Cheng with a blank expression, then walked over to Bai Cheng and said, "In any case, I respect your decision. After all, apart from you, no one else can even make it to the finals."

Bai Cheng felt a little conflicted as he looked at Su Boran, who seemed to be a very righteous principal.

Immediately after the competition concluded, Liu Yuntian went to the arena to announce the rewards for this year's competition. He announced that the rewards for 21st to 30th place would be ten Body Tempering Pills and twenty Rejuvenation Pills each; 11th to 20th place would be twenty Body Tempering Pills and forty Rejuvenation Pills each; and 4th to 10th place would be forty Body Tempering Pills and fifty Rejuvenation Pills each. These rewards were almost double what Bai Cheng had known.

The second and third place winners were a second-grade spirit beast mount and a mid-grade treasure-level weapon, which was consistent with what was known beforehand. However, just as Liu Yuntian began to announce the first-place reward, his expression became excited, and his eyes were full of excitement.

Liu Yuntian: "The first prize for this year's competition is different from the previous ones. You should know that the Wuling Town Grand Competition, which is held every three years, was established to encourage you to cultivate better. However, simply giving material rewards is not enough to show the determination of the Huoyun Kingdom's royal family. Therefore, the first prize for this year's competition is different from the previous ones, and these material rewards have been cancelled."

Bai Cheng was also startled upon hearing this. 'What?! The first place winner of this year's competition gets an additional reward? Am I getting ripped off?'

Before Bai Cheng could think further, the crowd below the arena began to discuss among themselves.

Immediately afterward, Liu Yuntian on the stage continued, "There is only one first prize in this year's arena competition! It is an invitation to the Royal Heavenly Fire Academy of the Fire Cloud Kingdom!" As soon as he said this, the audience below the stage erupted in cheers.

Bai Cheng, however, was completely confused. Bai Cheng: "Skyfire Academy? What's that?"

Su Boran: "Tianhuo Academy is a cultivation academy founded by the royal family of Huoyun Kingdom. It is even a level higher than an academy. It has countless genius disciples and the academy has extremely high thresholds. All the cultivators who can enter are scions of noble families with extremely high talent. Moreover, after the cultivators of Tianhuo Academy graduate, they are all assigned to various institutions in Huoyun Kingdom. Depending on their cultivation level, the departments and officials they serve in are also different."

Hearing this, Bai Cheng blinked. "Isn't that just a civil servant?"

Su Boran: "Huh? A civil servant?"

Bai Cheng: "Oh, it's nothing, Principal Su, please continue."

Su Boran: "Most cultivation sects within the Fire Cloud Kingdom fall into two categories. One category consists of those loyal to the royal family, or the Fire Cloud Kingdom itself. These sects are primarily located within the major cities, with the royal family personally allocating territory to them and allowing them to establish their sects within these cities. Because many major cities contain signs of spiritual veins deep underground, the spiritual energy within them is significantly higher than outside, which is why many sects remain loyal to the Fire Cloud Kingdom. The other category includes sects like the Cangxuan Sect or the Crimson Soul Sect, which operate independently outside the major cities, establishing their sects and recruiting disciples in various auspicious locations. Most of these sects have existed for a very long time." The sects that came from elsewhere were mostly of first-rate size. These large sects were established before the Fire Cloud Kingdom even existed; at that time, aside from the cultivators within the sects, everyone else was essentially a mortal. Therefore, these large sects were unwilling to obey the Fire Cloud Kingdom's orders, and gradually a rift developed between them and the royal family. There were also some newly emerging sects that had risen in the last hundred years, mostly of third-rate size, who were unwilling to join the Fire Cloud Kingdom's royal family. These sects were largely unwilling to be bound by worldly constraints and also unwilling to clash with the Fire Cloud Kingdom's royal family.

After listening to these words, Bai Cheng seemed to understand something: "So that's how it is. If that's the case, then isn't this year's reward just a way for the royal family to win over talented cultivators?"

Upon hearing this, Su Boran's expression changed: "Not bad, it seems you understand very well. In recent years, the friction between the sect forces and the royal family has been escalating. In order to win over cultivators with better talent, both sides have begun to take action."

After listening, Bai Cheng also learned about the current situation of cultivators in the Fire Cloud Kingdom.

Afterwards, all rewards except for the first place winner were distributed on the spot. Bai Cheng then took the opportunity to suggest that he wanted to exchange his rewards for money, since the second-tier spirit beast and the mid-grade treasure-level weapon were not his goals. However, he requested that the price be calculated at the lowest possible rate, and thus, Bai Cheng received six hundred silver coins.

With the competition over, cultivators from many sects are actively seeking their disciples.

Those geniuses who had distinguished themselves in the competition immediately became the target of everyone's scramble. At this moment, Lei Che was already surrounded by disciples from several sects, but when they saw Mo Yan arrive, they all quickly made way for him.

Mo Yan stood tall and proud, swaggering up to Lei Che.

Mo Yan: "Lei Che, my Cangxuan Sect is the number one sect in the Huoyun Kingdom. I don't need to say more about its strength. I intend to take you as my disciple. Are you willing to join my Cangxuan Sect?"

After speaking, he stood calmly to the side, waiting for Lei Che's reply. In his opinion, Lei Che would not refuse to enter the Cangxuan Sect.

However, Raicer's answer was something he hadn't expected.

Lei Che: "I am grateful for Elder Mo Yan's kindness. I already have a place to go. Elder Mo Yan, please leave."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yan's face immediately turned cold.

Mo Yan: "Oh? I wonder which sect it is? Can it compare to my Cangxuan Sect?"