Chapter 79: Xiao Kaitian Is Far Too Cunning

All around was utter silence, even the staff responsible for judging the match stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Guo Lei, who had been covering her face, slowly opened her eyes; peeking through her fingers, she saw Xiao Kaitian rifling through the belongings of Su Lie, who lay collapsed on the ground.

For the first time, Xiao Kaitian was facing a martial cultivator from Han-Tang directly. He didn’t care about the man’s background. Sweeping his divine sense over him, he found a small vial on Su Lie that contained a faint trace of higher-dimensional energy. Xiao Kaitian pulled it out, opened it, and found three pills inside.

“You dare…” Su Lie coughed up blood as he spoke. “I am from the Yinshan Qimen Sect—”

“I know, you’ve said that,” replied Xiao Kaitian, tucking the bottle away in his pocket. He then turned to the staff member beside him, who was watching with wide, fearful eyes. “Can I kill him?”

“In principle… there’s no rule against it,” the staff member replied, trembling, wiping sweat from his brow. He’d presided over many challenge matches, and each time the martial artists fought evenly, clashing back and forth in a spectacular contest, ending with a narrow victory and mutual respect. Never had he seen anything like this—a single blow knocking the opponent flat.

“You… you dare kill me,” Su Lie stammered, now both fearful and desperate. “I am from the Yinshan Qimen Sect—”

“Is that all you know how to say?” Xiao Kaitian sneered, and with a light kick, Su Lie slipped into unconsciousness. It was, in fact, a merciful act—since they had no prior enmity, he’d only knocked him out. Only now did he feel a trace of regret. “I forgot to ask what those pills were.”

He turned his gaze to the staff member, thinking perhaps someone who hosted these events might know. The staffer, feeling a chill down his spine, stammered with a pale face, “If they’re from the Yinshan Qimen Sect, I’d guess you’ve taken a Qi-Returning Pill—they’re used to enhance the power of one’s mystical arts.”

Xiao Kaitian focused his divine sense on the pills. They still contained excessive heavy metals—but compared to the Meridian Pills he’d obtained from the island nation, these were far superior. This indicated that Han-Tang martial artists possessed greater skill in pill crafting, which made sense given their longer, richer tradition in martial arts.

According to Ogihara Rin, the martial world controlled the pharmaceutical trade. If he could extend his reach into this field, the benefits would be more than just profit—he’d gain a substantial boost to his own abilities as well.

With the Ninefold Divine Source cultivation method, his body would gradually grow stronger, but with medicinal aid, the process would be faster still. More importantly, he now understood that this world definitely contained the power of four-dimensional space, cleverly “applied” to herbs and, through them, transferred into martial artists’ bodies for human use.

The only mystery left was how this four-dimensional power entered the world in the first place.

But Xiao Kaitian was in no rush. Since the martial system existed and was tied into corporate interests, no matter which path he chose, it would only be a matter of time before he became entangled with the martial world.

After resolving the challenge match, Xiao Kaitian left with Guo Lei. She sat in the passenger seat, stealing glances at him now and then, her face full of conflicting emotions.

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Kaitian seemed to know what troubled her. “I’m not a martial cultivator. The opponent was simply too weak, and because he was careless, that’s how I managed to knock him out with a single slap.” It was an explanation he’d given countless times, though no one believed it.

Guo Lei rolled her eyes. You claim not to be a martial artist, yet you nearly killed one with a slap and then stole his pills. Years ago, Han-Tang had a variety show called “Sword Debate on Mount Hua,” co-hosted with the martial world. Guo Lei had seen the martial artists featured there; every one of them was formidable—not the kind to be felled so easily.

But Xiao Kaitian couldn’t be bothered to explain, nor did he have any way to.

Meanwhile, Xue Rong sat in his Mercedes RV, peering out the window at Xiao Kaitian and Guo Lei as they got into their car, his expression darkening. “What’s going on—why are they leaving? Where’s Young Master Su?” He dialed his phone.

At first, only static came through. Then a flustered subordinate reported, “President Xue, Young Master Su was knocked out. We just checked—his spine is broken in several places. He’ll probably be a cripple for life.”

“Ruined?” Xue Rong’s eyes bulged like a dead fish, his heart bleeding. It wasn’t Su Lie’s fate that pained him, but the 12 million fee he’d paid to hire him.

Before the match, the boasts had soared to the heavens: “Unmatched among his peers in the Yellow Rank throughout the coastal region!” Normally, a martial artist of that level wouldn’t fetch more than ten million. But for this “peerless” fighter, he’d paid a premium—only to see him reduced to a cripple.

Damn it, not even three minutes inside—was he a quick-draw marksman or what?

Fuming and flustered, Xue Rong switched his phone to his other hand, shoving away the two women clinging to him. “What happened? Who did Xiao Kaitian hire?”

“No idea—the staff say they’ve never seen the man before. He just walked up and knocked out Young Master Su with a single slap,” the subordinate replied.

Xue Rong’s gaze grew stormy. Xiao Kaitian was too cunning, hiring a higher-tier martial artist to fight—utterly shameless.

In Han-Tang’s inter-corporate challenge matches, the initiating company had to match the rank of their martial artist and their company’s standing, but there was no strict rule for the defending side—they could send a higher-ranked martial artist or just anyone at all, as long as someone showed up for the challenge.

At first glance, it seemed to favor the defending side, but the reality was determined by corporate strength. For example, a one-star company would only have a few million on the books, barely enough to hire a Yellow Rank martial artist. They could borrow money to hire a higher-ranked fighter, of course, but even if they won, the company’s finances would collapse and they’d go bankrupt anyway.

So overall, the challenge system between corporations and martial artists remained reasonably balanced.

Xue Rong racked his brains, making countless guesses. The one possibility he never considered was that Xiao Kaitian could defeat such martial artists on his own.

He closed his phone, face grim. Su Lie’s defeat might actually become a new turning point.

Su Lie was a lay disciple of the Yinshan Qimen Sect. The sect would surely intervene in this matter. More importantly, Su Lie belonged to the Su family, one of the eight great clans of the capital, even if only a minor branch. For the sake of their reputation, the Su family would inevitably get involved.

At this thought, he breathed a little easier. The Xiao family would have to answer for this; it would be better to let others do the dirty work. The connections within the noble families’ martial circles were tightly interwoven; a single disturbance could shake the whole web.

He’d also need to reach out to the martial authorities in Haidu and reassess Qixi Media Consulting—if Xiao Kaitian was working from the shadows, who knew what backing he might have?

With this in mind, a faint smile played at his lips. He picked up his phone again and sent two messages: one to contacts in the Qimen Sect, and another to those connected to the Su family.

Only then did he make a call. “Director Xiao, it’s me. Yes… there’s been a bit of an incident, but this incident is absolutely to our advantage.”

This is how a true subordinate should act—always able to turn any setback into a loyal advantage.