Chapter 58: Broken Blade; A Ten-Year Veteran Fan Arrives Uninvited

This was the first time Luo Chen had met Mi Shuhua.

He was the "Old Man Mi" mentioned by Qin Liangchen, the leader of the Broken Mountain Gang.

With a head of white hair and a large, round face, he was wrinkled yet possessed a rudimentarily glowing complexion. Combined with his large belly, he closely resembled a smiling Maitreya Buddha.

If he were in the mortal world, he would look like any ordinary wealthy merchant.

However, Luo Chen, and indeed all the rogue cultivators in the Great River Market, knew that he was far more than just a seemingly amiable man.

It was common knowledge that Foundation Establishment was the greatest hurdle on the path of cultivation.

This realm was rich in resources and abundant in spiritual qi; logically, breaking through this barrier should have been simple.

Yet, the number of cultivators who successfully achieved Foundation Establishment was one in ten thousand.

Only sect cultivators found the process relatively easy.

The reason lay in the fact that the methods for refining Foundation Establishment Pills were held exclusively by the great sects.

Even if a recipe were to occasionally leak out, the major sects would expend any cost to seize it back.

Even if the recipe could not be recovered, the person possessing it would be taken back, dead or alive.

Thus, for an ordinary rogue cultivator to achieve Foundation Establishment, unless they encountered a unique stroke of luck, their only hope was to crave the Foundation Establishment Pills released by the great sects each year.

However, the appearance of every single Foundation Establishment Pill often brought about various storms.

At auctions, sky-high prices for these pills were commonplace.

Consequently, while the Great River Market was home to many rogue cultivators, very few had managed to reach Foundation Establishment over the years.

In the past century, as cultivators came and went, only two Foundation Establishment cultivators had appeared in the Great River Market.

Mi Shuhua was one of them.

After achieving Foundation Establishment, he became the leader of the Broken Mountain Gang.

He was a man of great character, exceptionally benevolent toward low-level cultivators. He was never stingy with help when encountering small cultivators struggling to make ends meet.

Even when some cultivators died violently in the mountains, he would do his utmost to settle their families.

It was because of this that he gradually won people's hearts.

Under his leadership, what was originally just a poor alliance of rogue cultivators struggling for resources in the mountains gradually grew in strength.

By now, the Broken Mountain Gang had become the largest force in the Great River Market, second only to the six great upper sects.

The gang boasted over a hundred late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, over a thousand mid-stage cultivators, and countless low-level rogue cultivators who made a living by performing tasks for them.

Take Luo Chen, for example; his ability to refine Inedia Pills had actually benefited significantly from the Broken Mountain Gang.

For those cultivators who frequently entered the mountains, the demand for Inedia Pills was the highest.

Outside the Jade Tripod Sword Pavilion, Mi Shuhua stood with hundreds of people, surrounding a massive jade wall.

Disregarding the tens of thousands of onlookers outside, he pointed at the jade wall and announced loudly, "In this battle, I hope everyone works with one heart and mind to defeat our opponents!"

"The victors shall have full ownership of the spoils; I, Mi Shuhua, shall take not a single shred."

"For those who fall in battle, I shall take responsibility for their families. If they leave behind offspring with spiritual roots, I will devote all my efforts to cultivating them into cultivators."

"Furthermore, if we win this battle, I will produce one Foundation Establishment Pill to reward everyone. Of course, there is only one, so it shall go to whoever first reaches the perfection of the ninth level of Qi Refinement."

"And once that person achieves Foundation Establishment, I will join them in doing my utmost to secure Foundation Establishment Pills for the rest!"

"Our Broken Mountain Gang seeks only to break through the great mountain blocking the immortal path and ensure everyone achieves Foundation Establishment!"

As these words were spoken, the hundreds of Broken Mountain Gang cultivators, as if they had known this all along, shouted in unison, "Victory in this battle!"

Meanwhile, the onlookers outside were stunned.

Mi Shuhua actually possessed a Foundation Establishment Pill.

And he was willing to give it away as a reward to others.

What immense generosity!

Similarly, they were in constant discussion regarding the various promises Mi Shuhua had made.

Witnessing this scene, Luo Chen could not help but marvel at Mi Shuhua's extraordinary magnanimity; no wonder Brother Wang Yuan and Brother Qin recognized him as a leader worth following.

His gaze swept over the Broken Mountain Gang cultivators, seeing them all filled with fervor, looking as if they wished everyone could jump in for a fight.

Wang Yuan was among them, his gaze cold and sharp.

The couple, Qin Liangchen and Murong Qinglian, were also there, standing tall and unafraid.

*Eh? Fellow Daoist Zeng is also among them, and he's one of the closest to the center of Mi Shuhua's circle.*

Listening to the discussions of others, Zeng was referred to as the "Sick Tiger" among the Seven Tigers of Broken Mountain.

Just as he was feeling curious, a thunderous sound erupted from the passage beside the jade wall.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the masses, the great doors slowly opened.

A long, white corridor opened, and seven Foundation Establishment cultivators stood before the gate, their expressions calm.

Another Foundation Establishment cultivator walked out from within—it was none other than Deacon Miao Zhen, the manager of the Sword Pavilion, whom the cultivators of the Great River Market were quite familiar with.

He offered some polite formalities and then cleared the passage.

Without hesitation, Mi Shuhua led nine late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators into the corridor first.

The remaining gang members either presented jade tokens as tickets to enter the passage or produced specialized iron plates, which were inspected before they were allowed in.

Looking at those iron plates, Luo Chen's eyes blinked; it seemed he had one too.

Only after all the Broken Mountain Gang members had entered did the other rogue cultivators approach the massive jade wall.

They were in no hurry to enter, for everyone knew that the way they participated in this grand opening ceremony was different from that of the Broken Mountain Gang.

"So this is the list for the Eighteen Death Matches. I've been waiting for days."

"Let me see who is fighting whom, so I can place my bets easily."

"With my fifty years of experience living in the Great River Market, I know the experts of both gangs well. It's obvious who will win and who will lose!"

There were nine combat lists in total, arranged vertically from one to nine.

A battle of this scale among late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators was not something easily seen, so everyone was extremely interested.

However, as soon as they crowded around, someone let out a cry of surprise.

"Who is this Min Longyu? Does the Great River Gang have such a person?"

"And this Bai Qi, I've never heard of this name."

"Yang Rusheng? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere. No, isn't he a rogue cultivator from Tianye Market? When did he join the Great River Gang?"

"Shameless! The Great River Gang is actually using outside reinforcements."

"They are a local gang, yet they use outsiders for the match. Isn't that cheating?"

Cheating?

Of course not!

The rules disclosed first only limited the cultivation realms; they never restricted the use of outside reinforcements for either side.

It was simply that the Broken Mountain Gang chose to let their well-known internal experts fight.

The relatively weaker Great River Gang, on the other hand, had somehow recruited four rogue cultivators from elsewhere.

One or two were names people had occasionally heard of, but for the other two, no one even knew where they came from.

However, despite the cursing, for the gamblers, guessing the outcome of the battles was the most important thing.

"Regardless of where they come from, they are still bound by the Qi Refinement realm limits, so it will ultimately come down to their individual skills."

"True. In that case, if one wants to win five and lose four, the order of the matches becomes extremely important."

"The first match is the opener; both sides will fight to the death. Let me see who is stepping up."

"Han Dang, the leader of the Seven Tigers, the Heart-Devouring Tiger! Isn't this a guaranteed win? I'm going all in!"

"Brother, you're so bold? Betting requires wisdom. Do you even know what skills Han Dang's opponent, Min Longyu, possesses?"

"Heh, you don't know squat. Who do you think Han Dang is? He's at the Great Perfection of the ninth level of Qi Refinement, a man who could break through to Foundation Establishment at any moment. Who knows where that Min Longyu crawled out from? It would be strange if he were a match for him. Wisdom? Going all in *is* wisdom!"

Amidst the discussions, Luo Chen used his Spiritual Eye Technique to scan through the entire combat list and the order of matches.

The first, fifth, and ninth matches were undoubtedly the three most important duels.

Neither side would likely give up on these three; they would surely send their strongest members.

The Heart-Devouring Tiger Han Dang against Min Longyu; the Broken Blade Xu Renke against the River-Mixing Dragon Gao Tingyuan; and the Mad Blade Wang Yuan against Xiao Wuyan.

Seeing these three selections, Luo Chen's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

He was actually familiar with most of the participants in the last two matches.

*Is Brother Wang actually this strong? To be placed in the final slot by Mi Shuhua.*

Gao Tingyuan's participation was a certainty, but his luck seemed poor, as he was matched against Xu Renke.

The name "Broken Blade" was even ranked above the leader of the Seven Tigers, the Heart-Devouring Tiger. His combat power was immense, truly peerless among those of the same Qi Refinement stage.

*If he dies on the Dao Discussion Stage, that would be wonderful.*

*It's decided. From now on, I, Luo Chen, am a ten-year veteran fan of the Broken Blade Xu Renke. I will support him wildly!*

While his thoughts were racing, ticket sales and inspections had already begun at the entrance of the Dao Discussion Stage.

Some cultivators who had placed bets nearby couldn't wait and rushed into the passage.

"Forget that, hurry and buy a ticket!"

"Only ten thousand tickets are being sold in total. After deducting the free family tickets for the spectators from both gangs, there won't be many left."

"Give me one! Here are a hundred spirit stones!"

Ten thousand tickets, even after deducting the free ones, still left over nine thousand.

The Jade Tripod Sword Pavilion might not have much else, but from this opening ceremony alone, they could earn nearly a million spirit stones from ticket sales!

That was not even counting the various incomes from the trade fair, the auction, and the gambling dens.

Luo Chen wandered patiently outside, sometimes glancing toward the gambling dens, and sometimes listening to the crowds under the jade wall discussing who would win or lose.

The feeling was just like watching the World Cup in his previous life, with fans comparing the players of both teams one by one.

From defense to offense, from strategic vision to individual specialties, even their appearance and killing intent could be discussed.

*Hey, you know what? The atmosphere is actually quite good!*

Time passed quickly, and midway through, the hundreds of members of the Great River Gang arrived.

However, they did not linger at all; they merely glanced at the jade wall and then walked inside.

Luo Chen focused his attention on the much-discussed River-Mixing Dragon, Gao Tingyuan.

He was a short, stout man with a fierce aura.

He looked nothing like the poor man Gao Ting'e whom he had killed; it was hard to believe they were biological brothers.

Gao Tingyuan might have seen his opponent's name, as his expression was quite grim.

But he could not lash out.

Being placed in the crucial fifth position meant that the boss, Wang Haichao, highly recognized his strength and hoped he would win a match for the gang.

How could he show weakness now?

To this, Luo Chen could only say, "Serves him right!"

As the cultivators entered one by one, and even some Foundation Establishment cultivators went in, the crowd of onlookers outside remained large.

Tens of thousands of people surrounded the jade wall, waiting for the opening ceremony of the Dao Discussion Stage to begin.

This was because the people of the Jade Tripod Sword Pavilion had stated that a Water Mirror Technique had been applied to the jade wall, which would simultaneously transmit the scenes from within.

It was said that to maintain the Water Mirror Technique, the Jade Tripod Sword Pavilion had arranged for two Foundation Establishment cultivators to perform it in shifts.

Of course, there were also some people who were distressed because they had failed to purchase jade token tickets.

After all, the Water Mirror Technique on the jade wall could only transmit images, not sound.

But the program list released had mentioned there would be song and dance performances!

Just as the crowd was reaching a fever pitch of noise and chaos...

Suddenly, a man raised his arms and shouted loudly.

"My younger brother has an emergency at home! I am reselling one ticket! Highest bidder wins!"