"Why doesn’t the Daoist Temple directly grant him the spot? Why make us fight to the death in the grand contest?" Li Donglai asked, his face dark.
"There’s a Great Virtuous Master watching over us. Who dares to defy the rules set by the Great Virtuous Master? Moreover, to become a Star God, one needs sufficient luck. As long as the Crown Prince defeats you, he can seize the luck from a Great Victory and secure the position of Star God," Liu Feng responded.
"So we’re all resources for the Crown Prince, contributing all our luck for him to devour, right? Using all our luck just to fulfill one person?" Li Donglai’s voice was full of bitterness.
"For the greater good of the sect, this is unavoidable. I hope you can understand the Daoist Temple’s diligence. Rest assured, when the Five Directions and Five Emperors return to their places and the Star God is restored, I can grant you the status of a subordinate deity. Achieving immortality won’t be a mere fantasy, just a few days delayed," Liu Feng earnestly explained.
"It’s not just a few days delayed; everyone will have to become Zhang Xiaohua’s subordinate and continue to serve him, right?" The bitterness on Li Donglai’s lips deepened.
"This is your fate! It’s the fate of your generation of Yellow Heaven Dao disciples!" Liu Feng sighed gently, "Accept your fate."
Li Donglai fell silent, standing still without a word.
Liu Feng patted Li Donglai’s shoulder, then sighed lightly, turned around, and walked away. When he reached the main gate, he saw Zhang Chen. Nodding at him, Liu Feng didn’t speak, evidently not considering Zhang Chen capable of threatening Zhang Xiaohua.
"Junior Brother Zhang, you’re back." Li Donglai stood in the courtyard and saw Zhang Chen entering, showing a bitter smile.
"I heard everything," Zhang Chen said heavily.
"This grand contest exploits the luck and future of all the youth under Ancestral Master Wu’s lineage, all to nurture Zhang Xiaohua. The so-called grand contest is nothing but a harvest and plunder of luck." Bitterness reappeared on Li Donglai’s lips.
"Are you giving up?" Zhang Chen looked at Li Donglai.
"Do you think I have the right to say ’no’ against the pressure of the entire lineage?" Li Donglai retorted to Zhang Chen.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen fell silent. Although Li Donglai was a first-tier divine being, having mastered Copper Skin and Iron Bones, against the massive Yellow Heaven Dao, he was no more than an ant.
"I thought you were the rebellious type who wouldn’t submit to oppression," Zhang Chen said.
Upon hearing this, a mischievous, almost insane smile crept onto Li Donglai’s lips, "I have to admit, Junior Brother, you do have an eye for people."
"So you’re going to give it your all to defeat Zhang Xiaohua during the grand contest?" Zhang Chen asked curiously, believing that if Li Donglai gave his all, he had a good chance of winning.
"If I defeat Zhang Xiaohua, the upper echelons of Yellow Heaven Dao will certainly not let me off," Li Donglai said.
Zhang Chen was bewildered by this statement. Not willing to submit yet not defeating Zhang Xiaohua, how would that work?
"I might as well just forfeit! If Zhang Xiaohua wants to take my luck, he’ll have to personally defeat me, but I won’t give him the chance." At this, Li Donglai stood up and waved to Zhang Chen and Xiaodouding, "Farewell, my fellow disciple-brother and sister, may we meet again someday. Yellow Heaven Dao is not a place I must stay; now that I have the ability and have become a deity, I can earn a living anywhere."
Having said this, he turned and left gracefully, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the courtyard, dumbfounded.
Zhang Chen stared blankly at Li Donglai’s departing figure, utterly shocked that Li Donglai had planned such a move.
"His sudden departure will prevent Zhang Xiaohua from completing his luck harvest. When the Daoist temple hierarchy realizes this, they won’t let him off," Zhang Chen remarked watching Li Donglai fade into the distance.
"That fat rascal is audacious; I must admit I’ve underestimated him," Chengyu commented from the side, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"He has great ambitions and won’t willingly be anyone’s resource," Zhang Chen said.
"And you, Junior Brother? What will you do?" Xiaodouding asked, her eyes filled with worry, "Are you going to be harvested by Zhang Xiaohua too?"
"The Observatory Master hasn’t ordered me; if I defeat Zhang Xiaohua, how could the Observatory Master blame me?" Zhang Chen thought of Wu Changming. If Liu Feng really accused him, that old fellow Wu Changming should stand up for him, right?
"No need to overthink; better to start preparing." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
As Li Donglai left Zhang Chen’s small courtyard, growing angrier with each step. He had always been proud, considering himself a major contender in the grand contest. Neither Wu Ming’Er nor Chu Mingyue could break his defenses. The Star God’s position should have been his, but Prince Pingbian’s Mansion snatched it. His anger reached its peak.
"Everything that belongs to me was just handed over to that coward; how can I accept that?" Li Donglai fumed, suddenly stopping, then turning toward a side courtyard.
Since he was already rebelling against Yellow Heaven Dao, he might as well make a big move.
Having spoiled Yellow Heaven Dao’s plan and snatched away part of the luck doesn’t guarantee his security.
Since he was destined to be hunted down, why not gather even more luck? It would increase his chances of escape.
"Chu Mingyue!"
Li Donglai arrived at Chu Mingyue’s residence, casually calling out.
Chu Mingyue was in his courtyard, preparing for the next day’s contest, which he dared not neglect.
Seeing Li Donglai at his door darkened Chu Mingyue’s expression, "What are you doing here?"
The two had been at odds for a long time.
"I just can’t stand you boasting about having killed a deity. Today, I’m here to teach you a lesson. You need to realize the gap between deities and mortals! To understand despair." As he spoke, Li Donglai moved with the grace of a leopard, quickly approaching Chu Mingyue.
Unwilling to leave just like that, he aimed to defeat Chu Mingyue and seize the luck he had gathered.
"What are you doing? The Daoist Temple forbids private fights..." Chu Mingyue retaliated immediately.
Unfortunately, despite being a Dark Force Martial Artist, Chu Mingyue’s Essence Qi was no match for Li Donglai, who had also mastered it and had Copper Skin and Iron Bones. Chu Mingyue’s attacks were futile, as Li Donglai only had to strike for ten moves before delivering a powerful punch to Chu Mingyue’s chest. The sound of bones cracking echoed as Li Donglai flew backwards, crashing into a large tree, lying there like a dead dog.
"Li-Dong-Lai!" Chu Mingyue, raging with anger, spat out a mouthful of blood before collapsing, unable to fight.
"Kid, don’t be so arrogant in the future. Don’t let me hear of you boasting about killing deities again, or it won’t be so easy for you next time." Having said this, Li Donglai found a rope, tying Chu Mingyue to the tree, then quickly left. Chu Mingyue, enraged and stupefied, could do nothing but watch him leave.
"Is the gap between us really so vast?" Chu Mingyue’s eyes filled with despair as his Essence, Qi, and Spirit dissipated; gone was his previous confidence.
Without pause, Li Donglai defeated three others. When he arrived at the fourth person’s courtyard, he found a man frozen into an ice sculpture, standing still. Seeing the ice sculpture stunned Li Donglai, "That’s Wu Ming’Er’s Ice Power. Looks like this guy made the same choice as me."
In the small courtyard
Zhang Chen held an iron sword, hammer, and chisel, tinkering away.
Being someone who planned meticulously, he considered it unwise to solely rely on the power of Bloodstain to break through the opponent’s Protective Divine Techniques. He needed additional backup plans.
He knew he had only one chance. If the old guys in the sect realized what he was up to, he wouldn’t get a second chance.
"I should design some clever features on the Treasure Sword to deal with any protective divine techniques they have." Muttering to himself, Zhang Chen hammered away.
Just then, a sound came from outside the door, and a masked young man appeared, prompting a start from Zhang Chen.
"Junior Brother Zhang, you’re back," said Li Donglai, entering the courtyard with a bitter smile on his lips.
"I’ve heard everything," Zhang Chen said, face showing signs of worry and contemplation.