Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 168 - 168 0174 The Method of Understanding Grudges

Chapter 168: Chapter 0174: The Method of Understanding Grudges is Simple Chapter 168: Chapter 0174: The Method of Understanding Grudges is Simple The steward of Sky Eagle Hall waved, and the Sky Eagle Hall disciple who was fawning over him stopped in mid-sentence.

The young man known as Haoshuai had an air of arrogance about him, his voice carrying a somewhat condescending tone. “Brothers, please, follow me.”

Haoshuai turned to find a suitable place for them to sit. The dining hall was quite empty, and finding a good seat was a simple task. However, when he turned around, he noticed Qi Tian. An ordinary person might have disregarded him, but Qi Tian stood out too much.

On one hand, Qi Tian was sitting alone in the dining hall. On the other hand, he was wearing the uniform of Huangque Hall. The uniforms of the disciples of the two halls were significantly different in color, style, and ornamentation. The appearance of a Huangque Hall disciple within Sky Eagle Hall was sure to draw attention.

After spotting Qi Tian, the more Haoshuai looked at him, the more familiar he seemed. He felt a throbbing in his temples; he couldn’t help but to approach Qi Tian and observed more clearly.

“Qi Tian, it really is you. I’ve been looking for you.” Haoshuai’s words, spat out from between clenched teeth, made his hatred toward Qi Tian clear.

Qi Tian was enjoying his meal when he suddenly heard someone call his name. He looked up, recognizing the young man standing not far from him, but he couldn’t remember who he was. “You are…”

Qi Tian genuinely didn’t recognize him. After all, he had trained in the Lianying Realm for three months and Haoshuai was still a teenager, his appearance had changed a lot in that time. Furthermore, Haoshuai had not left a deep impression on Qi Tian’s mind. He was like a passerby who briefly flashed and was gone, so it was normal to not recognize him after three months.

However, what was a common occurrence for Qi Tian felt like a blatant insult to Haoshuai. While Haoshuai had been dreaming of revenge and longing to defeat Qi Tian, it turned out Qi Tian didn’t even consider him a threat. This humiliation was something that Haoshuai could not accept.

“Good, Qi Tian. You have humiliated me, and you have won. I, Liu Haoshuai, have never hated anyone as much as I hate you today. You did it, you made me hate you even more.” Liu Haoshuai stated resentfully.

Upon hearing Liu Haoshuai’s self-introduction, Qi Tian faintly remembered a youth his age who had competed with him for the use of the premium Cultivation Room in Huangque Hall and had been inspected together with Zhao Qian. “Oh, I remember who you are now.”

Liu Haoshuai almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. Qi Tian’s short sentence made him feel insulted and belittled. “Qi Tian, I’ve been training hard since our last fight. Do you dare to have another match with me?”

Before Qi Tian could respond, Wang Mingming, the Sky Eagle Hall disciple who had been fawning over Liu Haoshuai, spoke up. Some time ago, he had accompanied Liu Haoshuai to Huangque Hall to try to obtain the rights to use the high-quality Cultivation Room. Therefore, he also had a previous encounter with Qi Tian. While Liu Haoshuai had been in closed-door cultivation, unaware of the changes outside, Wang Mingming had been keeping up with the outside world. He hurriedly intervened, “Brother Haoshuai, you can’t challenge Qi Tian now. He’s not what he used to be. Not only is he the Acting County Teacher, but he is also going to compete with Brother Chu Yang for the qualifications to fight against the Guardian National Master Manor. You’re no match for him.”

“What?” Liu Haoshuai could hardly believe his ears. Although he was unaware of Qi Tian’s current abilities, he knew Chu Yang was an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who had achieved fame much earlier than his own maternal uncle. Even his uncle would be courteous when meeting Chu Yang. It was only a few days ago that his uncle had taken him to visit Chu Yang, whose demeanor had greatly impressed him. “He is competing with Brother Chu Yang for the qualifications to fight? Are you sure you’re not spouting nonsense because you just woke up?”

Wang Mingming almost choked on Liu Haoshuai’s words. If not for Liu Haoshuai’s powerful uncle, he would have given him a good slap. But as things stood, he had no choice but to endure his insolence. “Brother Haoshuai, this news has been circulating throughout the Master Mansion for some time. While I can’t say that everyone knows about it, at least half of the people do.”

The Master Mansion was home to eight to nine thousand cultivators. However, if you included servants and odd-job workers, the number of people would exceed twenty thousand. If more than half of the people knew about something, it would undoubtedly be big news.

Liu Haoshuai looked at Qi Tian with disbelief. He had made significant progress during his three-month closed-door cultivation, which was why he dared to challenge Qi Tian again. However, even with his newfound confidence, he wouldn’t dare to challenge Chu Yang. He could not accept at all that a young man around his age had the qualifications to challenge Chu Yang.

At this moment, a deacon from the Sky Eagle Hall approached them. Seeing Liu Haoshuai, Wang Mingming, and others gathered around a disciple from Huangque Hall, with his nephew looking like he was facing a formidable adversary, he couldn’t help but be surprised. So, he quickly walked over. “Haoshuai, what happened?”

Upon seeing his uncle, Liu Haoshuai took it as if he was seeing his saviour, quickly ran up to his uncle, pointed at Qi Tian and said: “Uncle, this is Qi Tian. He’s the one who bullied me.”

A glint ignited in Liu Haoshuai’s uncle’s eyes, like a hawk spotting its prey. He inspected Qi Tian from head to toe and remarked, “So you are Qi Tian?”

“Indeed, I am Qi Tian. May I know who you are, kind sir? How may I assist you?” Ta Qian’s tone was polite. It wasn’t Liu Haoshuai’s uncle he respected but rather the position this man held. He, too, was a second-level deacon of the Sky Eagle Hall, just like Chu Yang.

Locking his gaze on Qi Tian, Liu Haoshuai’s uncle spoke, “I am Hu Qifan, the uncle of Liu Haoshuai, whose ribs you had broken. Qi Tian, your reputation precedes you. Meeting you today confirms that you indeed live up to your fame.”

“So, you’re Hu Qifan? The one who prostituted themselves, allied with a senior sister of Peacock Hall to set a trap, and hurt me? That Hu Qifan?” Qi Tian retorted rudely.

Hu Qifan squinted his eyes slightly, he laughed coldly before saying: “Qi Tian, what on Earth are you talking about? I have no idea. Just a reminder for you, I am a second-level deacon from the Sky Eagle Hall. If you level accusations against me without concrete evidence, you’ll have to bear the consequences of false accusations.”

Qi Tian put down the chopsticks in his hand, wiped his mouth, stood up, and said, “Hu Qifan, you know what you have done. I don’t have time to fetch evidence and witnesses for you. I beat your good-for-nothing nephew, and you tried to harm me which shows that you hate me. Likewise, I do not like you at all. We bear bad blood now. The only way for me to resolve any grudge is through a fight. So, how about it? Dare to have a duel with me? We could fight in the death arena, sign a life and death contract, and let the outcome speak. What do you say?”

“Ha-ha, you want to challenge me in a deathmatch, sign a life and death contract?” Hu Qifan, hearing this, laughed out loud. A cultivator about to enter the Foundation Establishment Stage was being challenged by a mere adolescent at the Qi Cultivation Stage 4, and that too a deathmatch. It’s simply preposterous.

“Why, are you afraid? Afraid I’ll kill you?” said Qi Tian indifferently.

“Well, Qi Tian, you indeed have courage. Since you’re not afraid of death, I’ll be glad to oblige.” How could Hu Qifan be afraid of Qi Tian? Even though he had heard about Qi Tian’s daring feats and knew that Qi Tian had shown bravery at the Lianying Realm, he thought that local cultivators of the Lianying Realm were too incompetent, and disciples sent by the Imperial Master Mansion for historical cultivation were nothing but good-for-nothing. This is why Qi Tian could show off. Qi Tian was indeed not that remarkable. In fact, many in the Imperial Master Mansion would agree with Hu Qifan’s view. Due to Qi Tian’s age and cultivation level, it was indeed difficult to associate him with being an expert.

“Then let’s head to the death arena now. I’m short on time.” Qi Tian added nonchalantly.

“Well, what a coincidence. I too am short on time.,” Hu Qifan said while patting his stomach. “But no worries, killing you on the death arena should not delay my return to enjoy my breakfast.”

Several people walked out of the cafeteria and headed towards the death arena.

The death arena is guarded twenty-four hours a day. Anyone with a mortal grudge can engage in a duel, and even if someone dies, it would not violate the Mansion regulations.

While the death arena isn’t in use every day, there are dozens or even hundreds of battles throughout the year, rendering the deacon guarding the death arena numb. Even if the challengers are a teenager and a deacon from the Sky Eagle Hall, there is not a trace of emotion. He merely presented the contract for life and death for Qi Tian and Hu Qifan to sign, waved his hand with a blasé attitude towards life and death.

“Alright, you both may proceed.”

With a scornful look at Qi Tian, Hu Qifan leapt onto the death arena…