“That’s right,” the vendor smiled. “The cultivators from the sects all love to try their luck. If they win, it’s considered auspicious, and they’ll be happy when entering the secret realm. You immortals look like lucky people – go in and play a round or two, you’re sure to achieve victory from the start.”

Zanxing thought to herself that he had guessed completely wrong. Luck was something that had never been associated with her.

Tian Fangfang whispered, “Forget it, junior martial sister. We don’t have any spirit stones anyway.”

Mu Cengxiao over there also said, “Not interested.”

All three disciples from Miaokong Hall had little interest in gambling and were about to turn and leave when Mimi, on the ground, suddenly let out an “Aowu” and jumped onto Zanxing’s shoulder, making her shoulder sink from the weight. Immediately after, with a loud “Bang!” a human figure flew out of the gambling house and crashed heavily in front of the vendor’s stall. The sweet syrup on the table immediately spilled everywhere, and the person was in such a sorry state with half his body stuck in a bucket that he couldn’t get up for quite a while.

“What’s happening?” Tian Fangfang was startled.

The person in the wooden bucket struggled to climb out amid the vendor’s scolding. He was a pale-faced young man wearing a light azure wide-sleeved robe, with bruises at the corners of his lips. As soon as he climbed out of the bucket, without bothering to look at the stains on his body, he ran back toward the gambling house without looking back.

“Should we go take a look?” Tian Fangfang asked.

Zanxing nodded.

The three of them entered “Clang Clang Gambling House” together. Before they could walk far inside, they heard noisy sounds from within, occasionally mixed with men’s curses and shouts. Tian Fangfang pushed through the people in front of them, squeezing open a small gap to let Zanxing and Mu Cengxiao come look. The three moved forward and saw that in the center of the gambling house was a long bronze table covered with spirit stones, jewels, some pills, and magical artifacts that should be chips. A bowl for dice was turned upside down on the table, with several dice scattered on the ground.

Surrounded by the crowd in the middle were two people wrestling together – more accurately, it was a one-sided beating. The man standing wore a cultivator’s black robe and looked fierce and menacing as he punched and kicked the person on the ground. The person on the ground couldn’t dodge in time and was beaten until he vomited blood, clearly taking in less air than he was letting out.

Within the Taiyan Sect, fighting was forbidden, so when had they ever seen such a violent scene? Tian Fangfang quietly asked someone nearby, “Brother, what happened here?”

“Ah, came to gamble without bringing enough spirit stones and tried to renege on his debt,” the person replied.

“But you can’t beat someone to death like this,” Tian Fangfang couldn’t bear to watch. “Why isn’t anyone trying to stop this?”

“It’s not that we don’t want to intervene,” the onlooker whispered. “We just can’t afford to offend him.”

Just as they were talking, they saw the young man who had just climbed out of the wooden bucket call out “Senior martial brother” and block in front of the person on the ground, pleading with the other party: “Young Master Tan, stop hitting him! Please spare my senior martial brother!”

“Get lost!” That “Young Master Tan” kicked the young man away with one foot, then picked up the bronze bowl from the table and smashed it toward the head of the person on the ground. If this blow landed, it would surely crack his skull open.

Just as the bronze bowl was about to smash into the person’s head, a golden axe suddenly appeared in the air, almost dazzling to the eyes. The axe easily cleaved down, splitting the bronze bowl cleanly in two, and it fell to the ground.

The young man from before was stunned, and the noisy crowd gradually fell silent.

“Young Master Tan” slowly turned his gaze toward Tian Fangfang.

Tian Fangfang stood in front of the person on the ground and spoke amicably: “Brother, spirit stones are just external possessions. What matters can’t be discussed calmly and peacefully? Why must you resort to violence…”

“Where did this wild dog come from?” Before he could finish speaking, Young Master Tan interrupted him, his tone extremely arrogant. “In front of this young master, do you have a place to speak?”

Zanxing’s brow twitched. This person’s tone of speech reeked too strongly of cannon fodder.

“Move aside,” Young Master Tan said.

Tian Fangfang remained unmoved and continued trying to persuade with kind words: “Young Master, how many spirit stones does he owe you? He could write an IOU. Why must you go to such extremes?”

“Since you’re helping him so much,” Young Master Tan stared at him with sinister eyes, his tone gentle: “It seems you want to die together with him.” After speaking, light flashed in his hand, and a gleaming long sword appeared in his grasp.

“Tsk, this kid doesn’t know the height of heaven and earth,” a young master in sapphire blue robes at their side shook his fan and said gleefully. “To offend someone from Chihua Gate – now he’ll have a bitter lesson to learn.”

“Chihua Gate?” Zanxing was startled.

That young master smiled: “That’s right. Tan Tianxin from Chihua Gate is not someone with a good temper.”

Zanxing fell silent. Before coming here, Xuan Lingzi had mentioned that among the hundred sects in the cultivation world, Taiyan Sect’s relationships were indeed not very good. Among them, Chihua Gate could probably be considered a mortal enemy. Back then, Chihua Gate’s previous sect master and Yushan Shengren both approached Spirit Transformation cultivation and underwent tribulation at the same time. Yushan Shengren successfully transformed and ascended, leaving behind a legendary legacy, while Chihua Gate’s sect master failed his tribulation and perished.

Both were genius cultivators, yet their fates were completely different. The cultivation world was full of discussions about this, and Chihua Gate’s members were greatly affected. This continued until the great war between humans and demons twenty years ago. Taiyan Sect suffered heavy losses in that battle, and Chihua Gate took the opportunity to develop. In just twenty years, they had already caught up to the Taiyan Sect’s reputation and resources. Even in recruiting new talented prodigies, Chihua Gate had far more than Taiyan Sect.

Xuan Lingzi had repeatedly warned them that it was best not to conflict with people from Chihua Gate. However, enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road – they had just arrived at Li’er Kingdom and encountered them before even entering the secret realm.

Tian Fangfang showed no fear of the long sword in the other’s hand, only gripping his axe and smiling: “Does this young master want to spar with me?”

“Spar?” Tan Tianxin let out a cold laugh. “It seems you still don’t know what kind of person you’ve offended.” After speaking, his sword tip thrust directly toward Tian Fangfang.

Tian Fangfang raised his axe to meet the attack.

Previously in the sect, several martial uncles had said that although Tian Fangfang appeared greedy for small advantages and rough around the edges, he was meticulous and thorough in his considerations. He also possessed tremendous strength, so ordinary people really couldn’t harm him. Therefore, when Tian Fangfang first started fighting with Young Master Tan, Zanxing wasn’t worried, thinking that Tian Fangfang probably also had the intention of testing his skills.

However, the reason Chihua Gate had gained such a great reputation in the cultivation world over the years was naturally because they had some real substance. Tan Tianxin’s sword techniques, compared to Hua Yue’s, were a thousand Duan Xiangrao’s worth of distance apart. He was also very arrogant, not even using proper sword techniques much, relying solely on elemental force suppression to make Tian Fangfang’s Qianyang Axe unable to get close.

Zanxing was surprised: “How is he so formidable?”

“Tan Tianxin has late-stage Golden Core cultivation, while this big oaf looks like he just formed his core. Naturally, he’s no match for Tan Tianxin,” the blue-robed young master at their side shook his fan. “Pitiful. Falling into Tan Tianxin’s hands, this person would be lucky not to lose a layer of skin.”

Zanxing felt worried and gripped the Panhua Stick at her waist, about to go help, when she saw a figure flash from another side. She heard a crisp ringing sound as Tan Tianxin’s long sword, thrusting toward Tian Fangfang, was blocked mid-air by an iron blade.