Chapter 34: Selecting Xiao Yiheng as Top Disciple of the North Courtyard

Chapter 34: Selecting Xiao Yiheng as the Top Disciple of the North Courtyard

"Nightfang... Nightfang actually chose him as its master!"

"Isn't he just at the Qi Refining Stage? How did he beat an ancient divine beast?"

"Look at his moves—he's not Qi Refining. To go toe-to-toe with Xiao Yiheng, this Pei Zhi has to be at least Foundation Establishment. Hitting Foundation Establishment in a month—is he some kind of genius?"

"..."

The disciples below erupted into chatter, voices rising one after another, snapping Xue Youtan out of his thoughts as he turned to look at the arena.

With Nightfang backing him, Xiao Yiheng was clearly outmatched by Pei Zhi, getting pushed back with every move. Just as it looked like he was about to get knocked off the stage, the long-awaited task notification suddenly rang in Xue Youtan's head.

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, on completing the 'Testing the Waters' task. You've earned 50 points and 300 prestige. Current points: 280, prestige: 1800, task progress: 7%."

Xue Youtan barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief at the main quest completion notification before two more dings went off.

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, on completing the temporary task 'Helping the Protagonist Awaken a Talent Skill.' You've earned 0 points and 200 prestige. Current points: 280, prestige: 2000, task progress: 8%."

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, for triggering the main quest: Top Disciple Selection. Please follow the storyline and select Xiao Yiheng as the Top Disciple of the North Courtyard. This quest rewards 50 points and 300 prestige. Best of luck in clearing the game."

The barrage of dings short-circuited Xue Youtan's brain, but he still latched onto the most critical line. "Say that again—who am I supposed to pick as Top Disciple?"

"Xiao Yiheng." System 2484 gave him a definitive answer, then helpfully added, "Main quests cannot be refused."

Troublemaker, troublemaker—2484, you just love causing trouble!

He'd said it before: in public settings like this, whoever won the arena match became Top Disciple. And right now, Xiao Yiheng was on the verge of losing.

Was he really supposed to announce in front of everyone that the loser would become Top Disciple?

Xue Youtan was so pissed he shot up from his seat. It didn't scare the disciples below, but it sure gave Feng Mingjue, sitting next to him, a fright.

"I know you've got high hopes for Xiao Yiheng, but seeing him about to lose—you don't need to react this strongly, do you?"

Xue Youtan paced back and forth. "You don't get it."

Feng Mingjue simply couldn't grasp his sorrow, like daylight that knows nothing of the night's dark.

What a headache. If this task had come yesterday, he'd have had time to work around it and pull it off smoothly. But stuck at this critical moment, with everyone watching, and the protagonist running around with Nightfang as a massive cheat, Xiao Yiheng had no chance of turning things around.

Xue Youtan weighed cheating during the match versus backing out afterward for three seconds, then chose the former.

Since the protagonist was cheating, Xiao Yiheng might as well cheat too.

Xue Youtan composed himself, dropping the flustered act, and sat back down. Just as Xiao Yiheng was about to fall, he gave him an invisible push from afar, funneling some of his own spiritual power into him.

Better to let him think he just lost the fight than to have Pei Zhi win and then get denied the position.

A textbook villain play.

Xue Youtan himself thought his actions were utterly shameful. But there was no choice—he had to stay alive, after all.

With Xue Youtan's spiritual power behind him, the tide of the battle flipped instantly. Within three moves, Pei Zhi was sent flying off the stage with a single palm strike.

Seeing his master fall, Nightfang stopped fighting, let out a howl, and retreated back into Pei Zhi's divine sense.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Pei Zhi clutched his aching chest, coughed twice, and steadied himself.

"Junior Fellow Pei, you okay?" Ling Yue hurried over to help support Pei Zhi, but he dodged her. Pei Zhi took a deep breath, let go of his wounded chest, and straightened his back.

He glanced at Xiao Yiheng, then shifted his gaze to Xue Youtan.

Xiao Yiheng's spiritual power had suddenly spiked—could Xue Youtan have had a hand in that?

"Oh—Pei Zhi lost." Feng Mingjue slapped his thigh and looked over at Xue Youtan with a knowing expression. "Looks like you've made your pick. Go ahead and announce it."

Xue Youtan rose from his seat, conjured the Top Disciple reward—the "Blood Jade Token"—out of his divine sense, and held it in his palm. In an instant, Xiao Yiheng's name appeared on the jade. With a wave of his hand, the green jade token at Xiao Yiheng's waist was instantly replaced by the Blood Jade one.

Xiao Yiheng clutched the token, the smug grin still on his face, when he saw Xue Youtan pull a brocade box from his pocket and turn his gaze to Pei Zhi.

"Step forward," Xue Youtan said.

Pei Zhi obeyed and walked toward Xue Youtan. As he drew closer, he could see Xue Youtan's appearance more clearly.

Light from the headdress reflected off Xue Youtan's cheeks, blending into rainbow hues—like multiple rainbows across a snow-white landscape, some bright, some dim, their edges blurring together.

Xue Youtan handed the brocade box to Pei Zhi. "Though your senior brother won, you've earned this."

Li Luoshu looked at the brocade box in Ling Feng's hands—Ling Feng having become Yueli's Top Disciple—and was puzzled. "What's in the box is a soul-reviving pill—shouldn't that be the Top Disciple's prize? Why'd the Master give it to that little... Pei, Junior Fellow Pei?"

Ling Feng said nothing, instead turning his gaze toward Xiao Yiheng.

Given Xiao Yiheng's temperament, he should have been kicking up a fuss by now, but standing on the arena, he was surprisingly calm.

"You sure know how to keep things fair." Yueli fanned himself, and seeing Pei Zhi make no move, picked up the thread. "The soul-reviving pill in that box might not raise the dead, but it can keep someone on the verge of death alive. Your master's being generous—hurry up and take it."

Pei Zhi took the box and said flatly, "Thanks, Master."

No need to thank me—this was always meant to be yours.

Besides, Pei Zhi's life was precious to him; giving him the soul-reviving pill would always pay off.

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, for completing the Top Disciple Selection quest. You've earned 50 points and 500 prestige. Current points: 330, prestige: 2300, task progress: 9%."

Went smoother than expected, no hiccups along the way. But that was it? Not only was the notification delayed, but the task was also issued at the last second—clearly a system bug. Wasn't there supposed to be compensation?

"Due to the system malfunction causing inconvenience to the Host, a compensation gift pack has been sent to your inventory. Please check it at your convenience."

Talk about speaking of the devil.

Xue Youtan followed the prompt and opened his inventory panel, where two gift packs were indeed sitting there. Xue Youtan was briefly surprised, then remembered one of them was a random item from the limited-time quest he'd finished earlier. It had been sitting there so long he'd forgotten all about it.

Feeling curious, Xue Youtan opened the limited-time quest item pack first.

Inside was just a piece of paper. The front was covered in unfamiliar talisman symbols, with four glittering characters across it: "Dream Journey."

Huh, no idea what that means. Let's check the back.

The back read: "One-time use item. Takes effect on the day of activation. Already activated."

???

What the hell? Can they speak in plain English when handing out items? What exactly got activated here?