Lin Shu was in his room, training. He planned on heading to Yanqi's place later to continue his cultivation, but a knock at the door interrupted him. He formed his plain mask and armor before answering.
Kai and Aoyan greeted him. Kai moved quickly, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "So Elder Yanqi wasn't lying! You're not dead!"
Lin Shu slowly moved away. "What are you doing here?"
Aoyan walked in. "Well, we came to get you."
Lin Shu grabbed a robe, pulling it on. "Why?"
"Zephyr and Rampage wanted a meeting with Elder Yanqi," Kai said. "He told us he wants you to be present for it."
"Did they accept his deal or something?" Lin Shu asked.
"They talked for a while," Aoyan answered. "But we were already leaving, so we couldn't hear anything important."
Lin Shu nodded. He quickly gathered everything he owned, stowing it in his storage ring and pouch. "Alright, let's leave."
Aoyan moved to the door, then turned and punched Lin Shu's shoulder. "I'm glad you survived that technique. It would've been a pain to find another good fighter for our team." She left, and Kai nudged Lin Shu with a smile. Lin Shu pushed his face aside and followed.
They headed toward the arena. "I won't be able to train in privacy there, but whatever. I can use this opportunity to ask Yanqi for what I want. I should use protecting Aoyan as leverage for the upcoming hunt." Lin Shu knew his thinking was dangerous. He was in the middle of a fight between monsters over a prized hunt. But in danger came opportunity. All he needed was to catch the crumbs they were fighting over, and he'd be doing a lot better than most cultivators like him.
He thought further. "Yanqi said the ones to watch out for are Chi Ran, Chi Su, and Chi Kun. He seemed furious whenever he said their names. I wonder what they did to make someone like him hate them to the bone."
They entered the arena's main building, weaving through floods of people coming and going. He headed to the private lodgings for fighters and soon reached Yanqi's door. He knocked and entered.
New faces greeted him. Yanqi sat in his chair. In front of him was a young man with bluish hair and blue eyes, wearing a black robe tattered with embroidered flowers. Next to him was a brown-haired boy with streaks of black in his hair.
"Ah, Li. You're here. Sit down. We have some business to do," Yanqi said.
Lin Shu walked closer, sitting with Kai and Aoyan on Yanqi's side of the room.
"Hello, Li," said the brown-haired boy.
Lin Shu responded, "Shang." He then looked at the blue-haired boy. "Rampage."
The latter nodded.
Yanqi watched the silent exchange. "Now that my top fighter is here, what did you two want to talk about?"
Shang Yufang looked at Rampage, who spoke. "As you know, the two of us have been fighting in the arena for a while, but we still don't have an agent or a team."
Yanqi nodded.
"We've been offered many deals," Shang continued, "but we've refused them all. Unfortunately, none of the teams respected our wishes. Lately, we've been having a lot of issues—dangerous matches, fighters trying to cripple us."
Yanqi laughed. "And don't you think that has anything to do with how you've been offending everyone around here, Shang? You've almost crippled multiple top fighters. You've caught the displeasure of some Rank 2 cultivators, which I assume is the only reason you've toned it down this past month." Of course, Yanqi knew all about this; he had even orchestrated some 'accidents' to pressure Shang and Rampage toward joining him.
Shang smiled but said nothing. He had indeed made enemies by running his mouth.
"So what does that have to do with you being here?" Kai asked, frowning specifically at Shang.
Shang glanced at him, a spiteful smile forming. "Come on, Kai. You're not still mad about me beating you... how many times again? Let's see... one, two... oh, four times now? Are you?"
Kai almost popped a vein, leaning forward. Shang mirrored him.
Yanqi didn't like being ignored. He released a bit of pressure, and both Kai and Shang immediately leaned back. Rampage shot Shang an angry look, using a transmitted technique. "Stop trying to get us killed, you moron."
"I don't like my time wasted," Yanqi said. "Tell me what you want."
Rampage spoke slowly. "We want to accept your deal and join your team."
Yanqi looked at them, letting the silence hang.
Rampage looked at Shang, who said, "But we would like to propose something."
Yanqi raised an eyebrow. "And what could that be?"
Shang began, his tone measured. "We want to prove our worth."
"And how will you do that?and prove your worth for what exactly?" Yanqi asked.
Rampage pointed at Lin Shu. "We all know about the new rule change, right? The death hunt."
Shang continued. "We propose a deal involving us and Li. During the hunt, we will search for him and fight him, one against one. The first of us to find him gets the first fight. We won't team up, and we'll give him time to rest if one loses before the other gets a turn. If either of us wins, the winner takes his spot as your top fighter."
Yanqi smiled, amused. "Well, I've never actually formalized a 'top fighter' position, even if Li was technically it. But I'll play along. "Yanqi thought As he then said "And what if you lose?"
The two looked at each other. "We'll make a contract with you for free," Shang said. "We'll only get paid from our match winnings."
Yanqi's smile widened. He liked the sound of that. But then he thought, "Li will be busy protecting Aoyan. He'll be in a tough spot fighting these two and guarding her from the Chi heirs. I should add a condition."
"I'll accept it," Yanqi said, "on the sole condition that while Li is fighting one of you, you have to protect my other fighters from anyone attacking them."
Rampage and Shang looked at each other. Rampage transmitted, "What do you think?"
"It's a good deal," Shang replied silently. "We only need to protect those two while one of us fights Li."
They nodded. "We agree," Rampage said aloud.
"Well, as my new unofficial fighters, I welcome you to the team. After the hunt, it'll be official. And I'll make sure Li gives you the warmest of welcomes," Yanqi said.
On the side, Lin Shu's expression was neutral, but inside he was fuming. "This old bastard is trying to get me killed! I have to fight heirs and these two? Why didn't he specify they need to protect me or stop someone from interfering? They can just wait until I'm weakened after fighting the Chi clan heirs!"
Yanqi added, "Oh, right. One more condition: you cannot side with anyone from the Chi clan."
"Sure," Shang said. "We weren't planning on siding with anyone anyway."
Lin Shu still thought it wasn't enough. He wanted to add that they had to fight him at his peak, not backstab him when he was drained. But as he opened his mouth to speak, a transmitted message from Yanqi hit him: "Keep quiet."
"Is this guy trying to get me killed?" Lin Shu thought.
Aoyan spoke up. "Master, shouldn't we add a condition that they need to fight him fairly? They can't just go after him after he's fought and used all his qi."
Shang and Rampage glanced at each other. They had been happy Yanqi ignored that fact. Hitting Li when he was weak was the smart move.
Lin Shu smiled inside, looking at Yanqi. "Can't say no now, you drunkard."
Yanqi smiled back and said, "No."
Lin Shu was stunned. Aoyan tried to protest, but Yanqi ignored her. Rampage and Shang were also confused. Why would he refuse to help his own fighter?
"But," Yanqi said, "I will add this one final rule. If you defeat him, or lose to him, you are immediately to join his team for the remainder of the hunt and help them."
Shang and Rampage didn't object. It was still in their favor, and helping Yanqi's team could earn them his goodwill.
Lin Shu then spoke. "Why don't we just fight now, one against one? Why wait for the hunt?"
Before the others could answer, he supplied the reason. "For the audience, of course."
Yanqi nodded. "This hunt will be watched by the entire city. Your fight can be one of the main events people look forward to."
Lin Shu grew more agitated. Yanqi was pulling reasons out of thin air to deny him a fair fight. "Didn't I accept his deal? Why is he so angry? Is he still pissed about me getting free things by using Aoyan?"
Rampage and Shang stood up, their business concluded.
"Oh, and Rampage," Yanqi said. "You don't expect me to call you that every day, do you?"
Rampage looked back his bluish hair resting on his shoulder. "You can call me Yu."
Yanqi nodded, and Shang and Yu left.
Lin Shu didn't speak, just looked at Yanqi. Aoyan was still angry about being ignored, and Kai was asking why Yanqi didn't make Shang fight him.
"First of all, Kai," Yanqi said, "you'll lose again. He's a full cultivation layer above you, and you haven't mastered your techniques to hit someone who can fly. Aoyan, I know what I'm doing, so be quiet and stop talking in Li's stead. And Li, you're probably wondering why I didn't agree with Aoyan. I've already answered that: I want our team to come out with the most profit from the hunt, and I need you to be the reason for that. Also, stop acting so cowardly. You think I don't know about your new techniques? I saw the damage in your training place. Those effects were from peak-tier techniques of the fire path, and none involved lightning so i know it's not your usual technique. Don't forget, I'm more than a master of the fire path so such thing cannot escape my eyes. So i know the damage was from a fire technique and a very powerful one at that. That power alone means Yu will have to risk being torn apart to reach you. Shang won't be able to destroy your armor without using a considerable number of peak-tier techniques which will result in him losing his Qi rapidly and i know that because when I broke your armor, I estimated its strength. It can take, at most, one Rank 2 technique. You might lose an arm or a leg or both and might die in the worst case scenario but there's a good chance you'll survive as long as it's a low tier one of course but that's not something anyone can claim without being being backed by large clans. Your defense is unparalleled for your cultivation rank. And while I don't know how you got those techniques or that armor, But I know you've created something that can withstand a Rank 2 technique. So don't try to act weak with me now."
Lin Shu was shocked. Yanqi had deduced all that from a glance at his training room and from destroying his armor in a second. Lin Shu himself hadn't known it could withstand a Rank 2 technique; he'd never dared test it.
Aoyan and Kai looked at Lin Shu, surprised. They knew he was strong, but this was another level. "Wait," Aoyan thought. "Isn't he basically one of the most powerful non-Rank 2 cultivators in the arena? I don't think even Su and Kun can claim that so he might be their equal if not stronger."
Yanqi continued. "So I need you to show that strength in the hunt against Yu and Shang. But don't kill them if you get the chance. As for the others we spoke about... I'm expecting a few deaths."