Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1598 - 1598 0938 Not a Single Competent Fighter

Chapter 1598: Chapter 0938: Not a Single Competent Fighter Chapter 1598: Chapter 0938: Not a Single Competent Fighter Chapter 0938: Not a Single Competent Fighter

The person who walked in from outside was none other than Mr. Jianqiang, who had once had a brief encounter with Qi Tian.

A few days ago, before entering the Holy Land, at a market in a small town, there was a stall with a pile of weeds among which was a very precious Three Needle Grass. Mr. Jianqiang had paid a high price to buy the weeds from Qi Tian. At the time, Qi Tian had played a little trick: after handing over the weeds, he had secretly withdrawn the sole Three Needle Grass. It was unknown whether, after these few days, Mr. Jianqiang had discovered it.

After Mr. Jianqiang entered the room, his gaze swept across it. On seeing Qi Tian, his eyes lingered briefly in confusion, but he showed no sign of resentment. Then, his gaze continued to move among the others.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Jianqiang had chosen his target. Smiling, he walked over to them.

Qi Tian raised an eyebrow. Mr. Jianqiang’s reaction could only mean one thing: up to this point, he might still be unaware that he had spent a lot of money on a pile of worthless weeds. Of course, it was also possible that he had discovered the loss, but had not connected the disappearance of the Three Needle Grass with Qi Tian.

Whichever was the case, Mr. Jianqiang showed no desire to come closer to Qi Tian. Naturally, Qi Tian had no intention of being warmly affectionate to an indifferent party and continued to sit where he was, waiting for the gathering to begin.

After Mr. Jianqiang, several talented youths entered one after another. Qi Tian found them all very unfamiliar; there was not one he knew.

After waiting a little while longer, the door to the room opened and a pair of female cultivators who looked somewhat alike walked in. One of them was Huang Yuqiu, who had just gone to invite Qi Tian.

Huang Yuqiu said, “Sir, everyone we could have invited has arrived, and it’s getting late. Let’s not waste time and begin the official gathering. First, allow me to introduce someone from Cat Ear City who is acknowledged as The First of the Region, our Immortal Hongxia.”

As soon as Huang Yuqiu finished speaking, the door, which had been firmly closed, opened, and a dignified lady in her early twenties emerged. She wore simple attire, clad in plain white clothes with no intricate ornaments on her head. Yet such simplicity gave her an immensely striking appearance. It felt as if she was always radiating boundless charm, especially with those large eyes of hers, as deep as autumn waters—so captivating they could easily drown someone with just one glance.

He Hongxia stepped out of the room and, bowing to everyone, said, “Hongxia has met all the seniors and fellow brothers.”

The moment He Hongxia appeared, most people in the room were captivated by the charm she exuded, their thoughts momentarily pausing as if a freezing spell had been cast on them. It was only when He Hongxia greeted them that they came to their senses, hastening to respond to her.

The living room soon filled with overlapping greetings. Each of the promising young talents, while greeting, also announced their names and origins, some even revealing their age and preferences. From their demeanor, it seemed they wished they could have an immediate face-to-face matchmaking session with He Hongxia right then and there.

He Hongxia smiled and said, “Thank you all, Sirs, for your high regard. It is Hongxia’s blessing that you accepted the invitation and came here readily.”

“Immortal Hongxia speaks too modestly. It is our blessing to be able to attend this gathering. Whatever commands you may have, just speak, and even going through fire and water, I shall not hesitate,” said Mr. Jianqiang who issued such bold and lofty words.

As Mr. Jianqiang made this declaration, many young talents glared at him with anger in their eyes, blaming him for stealing the spotlight and making the first impression in front of He Hongxia.

“Thank you, Mr. Jianqiang, for your profound affection,” He Hongxia said, smiling at Mr. Jianqiang, who felt as though his entire body had gone soft, both physically and emotionally fulfilled to the utmost.

Observing this scene, Qi Tian’s expression slightly hardened. Earlier, as everyone had returned greetings to He Hongxia, the voices were overlapping and noisy. Mr. Jianqiang’s voice was just one in the midst of dozens, making it nearly impossible for an ordinary person to distinguish it. Yet, He Hongxia had done so, not only accurately pinpointing Mr. Jianqiang’s location but also precisely announcing his name. This was no easy feat. However, what truly made Qi Tian cautious was not just this point—Mr. Jianqiang’s behavior was inconsistent with his status. As a scion of a great family, there was no type of female cultivator he hadn’t seen. Yet today, upon encountering He Hongxia, he seemed ready to kneel at her feet at just one glance, which was highly irrational.

He Hongxia and Mr. Jianqiang were either conspiring together in a play, or one was exploiting the other’s plans.

Out of the two possibilities, Qi Tian inclined more towards the latter.

He Hongxia gave him a very dangerous impression, of course, this was just his intuition. To produce evidence, he needed to further investigate and understand He Hongxia.

“Gentlemen, we at Qi Tian have invited you here not to unilaterally take from you, but to hope to build a platform where we all come together, share what we have, help each other, and support each other. The specific details will be explained to everyone by Junior Sister Yuqiu.”

He Hongxia gestured towards Gao Yuqiu, who stood beside her and said loudly, “The Saint Great Competition will be held the day after tomorrow, and we don’t have much time left. As far as we know, although there are various opportunities in the Great Competition at the Holy Land that can achieve Nascent Soul Master status, these opportunities often come with significant dangers. A mere slip-up could cost a life, not only leaving you with nothing but possibly making you a stepping stone for others, clearing the dangers around the opportunities for them. I believe none of you gentlemen would wish to see such an outcome.”

The crowd nodded repeatedly, as this scenario was very likely to occur, not only in the Holy Land Great Competition but even outside, similar possibilities existed.

Gao Yuqiu continued, “We’ve come all the way to participate in the Holy Land Great Competition, spending a lot of time and energy, not to mention a great number of spirit stones. Given so much investment, if we can’t at least break even in the Holy Land Great Competition, we should certainly not just throw our lives away. With this in mind, Hongxia Fairy took the initiative to organize this meeting, hoping to form a mutual aid group. Once we enter the arena of the Great Competition, instead of competing over opportunities, we will help each other and jointly eliminate the dangers surrounding those opportunities. Then, depending on the type and strength of the opportunities, as well as other factors, we will finally decide who gets the opportunities.”

By this point, Gao Yuqiu’s intention was quite clear; put simply, she wanted to form a team that would seek out opportunities in the Holy Land Great Competition. Though Gao Yuqiu spoke diplomatically, essentially, that was the case, and forming such a team was obviously advantageous for He Hongxia and her group. To say nothing else, just consider the irresistible charm He Hongxia showed when she first appeared, which would be hard for anyone to resist. Once Mr. Jianqiang joined He Hongxia’s team and encountered an excellent opportunity, he would likely think not of keeping it for himself but of gladly offering it to He Hongxia, even fearing that she might not accept it.

He Hongxia’s actions also made Qi Tian speculate. Before today, he had already more than once encountered situations where people wanted to form teams.

Both Mr. Jianqiang and He Hongxia did so; evidently, there must be quite a few people harboring similar thoughts.

Both Mr. Jianqiang and He Hongxia shared another commonality—they were likely the most outstanding figures of their respective territories. Logically, others entering the Holy Land Great Competition might not obtain good opportunities, but for them, it should pose no considerable difficulty. Yet, they still chose to form a team, which was definitely not a coincidence; there must be secrets unknown to him.

Previously, Qi Tian was averse to forming teams. Even if he were to form a team, he preferred to lead it. However, Qi Tian suddenly changed his mind. He knew little about the Holy Land Great Competition, and if he felt that relying on his strength, far surpassing the average Gold Core Realm Peak cultivator, could make him invincible in the competition, he might be in for a significant loss. A more prudent approach was to join a team first and move together with the team. After gaining some understanding of the Great Competition, he would then decide whether to act alone or continue moving with the team.

As for whether he would be at a disadvantage after joining the team, he was not worried at all. He was not sure about other teams, but in this room, including the Nascent Soul Masters locked in the private rooms, there was not a single capable one. If he, Qi Tian, could still be at a loss while teaming up with them, that would truly be unbelievable.

As Qi Tian’s thoughts raced, Gao Yuqiu continued, “That is the situation. Now, if you are interested in joining our team, please raise your hand as a sign. We will conduct a simple assessment, and if there’re no problems, you can join our team.”

“I’ll go first.” Mr. Jianqiang, not surprisingly, was the first one to raise his hand, and it was unclear whether he was bewitched by He Hongxia or if she had soberly made this decision.

Following Mr. Jianqiang, many others raised their hands, mostly those who had been captivated by He Hongxia’s charm the moment she appeared.

As for those who were indifferent to He Hongxia’s charm, they basically did not raise their hands now.

Gao Yuqiu said, “Those who haven’t raised their hands, you may leave now. In order to show our apologies, we will give each of you a top-grade spirit stone. Please make sure to accept it and do not refuse.”