Nobody could be quite sure whether Xuanyuan Zhou was a cultivator with a relatively strong physique, or if she was just talented in close quarters combat. But her alluring offer stood open, and the crowd was desperate for a chance.
Without much suspense, a guy paid ten spirit stones to challenge her in the art of musical manipulation of qi. The skill seemed rare enough to not just Xuhan, but also the entire crowd around them.
Everyone seemed disappointed, certain that her slot would be out of reach after this round.
"I had a toy zither I used to play lullaby tunes on when I was young. Does anyone in the crowd have one to lend me?" Xuanyuan Zhou said.
Eager to help her retain the slot so that they could challenge her later, a group of enthusiastic participants rushed off into the area full of housing tents and returned with a cheap looking zither.
The qi she gathered with this zither was enough to completely envelop her opponent's meager collection. Her fingers were bleeding by the end of the round, but victory was hers.
While Han Xuhan counted his winnings on this wager, he couldn't help but suspect that he was in the presence of no simple 'Child of Destiny.'
This girl, Xuanyuan Zhou, was likely to be a main character. Or at the very least, in a typical cultivation story setup, she would be topping the list of popular Jade Beauties.
This made him feel an urgent sense of crisis.
"If a top-notch jade beauty is showing off, the male protagonist has to be nearby, ready to take her down a peg or two to establish his awesomeness and grab a spot in her 'cold heart'. This is how it goes in wish-fulfillment novels.
"But should I rely on those shitty tropes and plan something?"
To be placed inside a world of cultivation, yet not finding any tropes to profit off... What could be worse than such a fate?
It was like seeing the girl you like give you drastically bipolar signals, putting both your nightmares and dreams inside Schrödinger's box.
In the third round, she won by defeating a girl in a theoretical debate on some obscure dao paths. Judging by the looks of confusion on almost everyone's face, Han Xuhan became more certain of his theory.
Who could be lucky enough to be proficient in the same obscure domain of knowledge as this random challenger from distant lands? It had to be a lucky coincidence.
Or... maybe she was cheating. Yes, that too was a possibility; he recalled the novels now.
Perhaps she had a ring grandpa whispering in her ears, or a supreme expert controlling her soul. That would explain how a seventeen-year-old girl was so confident while facing more than two hundred competitors in a free-range contest.
Nevertheless, the more she won, the better his prospects were looking. By the fourth round, the wager currency had moved from roughly polished coins to possessions like parts of his opponent's armor armor.
"For the fifth round, I want your waist protector, Zhu Ge," Han Xuhan said while adjusting his new backplates.
In any fight in the future, his first priority would be to keep little Xuhan safe. The other guy's armor would serve that purpose well for now.
"Aw, look at these two," some girl commented from a corner of the crowd, pointing at Han Xuhan and his fellow gambler.
"They're exchanging their things as a token of remembrance. Is this love?"
Zhu Ge gave her an incensed look and told Han Xuhan, "Brother, how about we stop? Can't you hear what those girls are saying? If we exchange the waist armor now, it's gonna get worse! Besides, gambling is not a good habit. We need to know our limits!"
"If Xuanyuan Zhou loses in this round, I'll give everything back to you, Zhu Ge."
"...." Zhu Ge remembered that even his travel expenses were now inside Han Xuhan's pocket. The backplates were quite expensive as well.
Could he truly redeem everything with one more bet?
"Brother Zhu, remember, 99 out of 100 gamblers quit right before they hit the jackpot. It's an ancient secret that no casino owners want you to know!"
Gaslighting worked magically on desperate folks. Zhu Ge promptly took off his waist armor and sincerely believed in the principle of probability.
Chances of someone winning six bets in a row were very slim, right?
A minute later, he had to teach Han Xuhan how to wear a waist armor.
"I am never gambling again!" He wept in despair. "Not even if I live for a thousand years!"
Han Xuhan patted him on the back with a gentle smile on his face.
"There, there, brother Zhu. I am happy to see that I could help you cultivate a principled dao heart. It seems I have taught you the lesson properly. As a grateful student, why don't you consider learning a bit more? The seventh round is about to start!"
Zhu Ge's eyes turned bloodshot.
"Senior Lao Jun was right! You ARE a scammer! Go die!"
Then with a bestial roar, he kicked Han Xuhan right between the legs.
Han Xuhan hadn't expected him to resort to violence from a simple joke. Before he could even react, he was sent flying above the crowd. While flying, he learned a lesson as well.
In the world of cultivation, you couldn't joke around without knowing your opponent's strength!
Luckily, Zhu Ge had enough rationality not to hit him in an unprotected area. If he had done so, Han Xuhan would have been killed on the spot. And Zhu Ge would be punished for involuntary manslaughter by the authorities.
Although his pelvic bone ached terribly, Xuhan managed to stand up without problems. Someone offered him a hand halfway through, which he gladly took.
But he discovered another problem after realizing where he had landed.
He was now standing three feet away from Xuanyuan Zhou. Her eyes were fixed on his face, and her scary smile was getting more and more pronounced.
"Oh, I was wondering when I'd see you again, foreigner! After all, you were the one who started this... But challenging me, out of all people?"
She patted herself in the chest, as if he had hurt her heart. "Do you dislike me, Gege? Can I know why?"
A blue light flashed in Han Xuhan's vision. His system had been forcibly activated!
[ Congratulations to the host for coming into contact with a daughter of destiny! Issuing Quest... ]