A Card In Hand

Chapter 29: Please Call Me the Master of Imagination

“Young man, confidence is a good thing, but sometimes it turns into utter foolishness,” the Transparent Person said with a whoosh, vanishing like a breeze.

“Ha!” Li Ao raised an eyebrow, play scare tactics? Guess if I’d be frightened?

He woke up the next day.

Li Ao stretched languidly.

Rinsed his mouth.

Then washed his face.

Slowly, he opened the small bundle he had brought with him.

Beneath a layer of clothes, there was a greaseproof paper packet containing a dozen generously filled pancakes.

Picking a pancake at random, Li Ao saw the Stone Bear looking pitifully at him. Unmoved, he even kicked it, “Idiot, can’t you go out and have a feast with Fuxi?”

The Stone Bear looked tearful.

Fortunately, Fuxi had felt sorry for it while feeding his war beasts in the morning; otherwise, it would have starved to death.

Why do other masters take such careful care of their war beasts, yet his own master frequently scolded and hit him?

Not only did he scold, but he also didn’t feed him!

How pitiable it was to be hungry!

Li Ao casually tore off a small piece of his pancake.

Tossed it in front of the Stone Bear: “You’ve never done any work and yet eat so much, don’t you reflect on yourself?”

The Stone Bear wasn’t picky.

Gobbled it up.

It seemed today his master was in a good mood; he shouldn’t irritate him further, or he’d end up with nothing…

After finishing the pancake, Li Ao stretched again, poked his head out to check the sun: “The weather is so nice, it’d be a waste not to take a nap in such fine weather!”

The Stone Bear almost choked.

What does nice weather have to do with sleeping?

What kind of excuse is that?

With such nice weather, why not go out for a walk?

Others fear their war beasts aren’t active enough, which might affect their mood.

They seize the good weather to take their war beasts out for a stroll, a perfect opportunity to increase affection and rapport. But alas, the master didn’t care about that; sleep then sleep, if asleep, then not hungry!

The man and beast slept soundly.

Until Fuxi returned.

It was already two in the afternoon.

“Li Ao, have you contracted with the snooze bug? Why do you sleep all the time? Do you know the battlefield at the Newcomer’s Trial Plaza was earth-shattering?”

Fuxi couldn’t help but complain. His little cousin was too unseemly, even if he had really contracted a snooze bug, he shouldn’t be sleeping so much!

As the only newcomer who had defeated Prince Jinxi in combat skill fighting, shouldn’t you at least pay attention to the results of the combat skill fights?

“Who won?”

Li Ao slowly got up, stretched his limbs, took a wooden basin to rinse his mouth and splash his face, and that was that.

“Prince Jinxi,” Fuxi stated the obvious.

“Uh.” Li Ao reacted indifferently.

“You don’t know, Prince Jinxi changed into new armor today, no, his previous tight combat suit is still there, but now he wears a set of platinum dragon-scaled armor over it. Not only that, but he also added a strongman’s belt to his waist, and on his feet, a pair of Silver Moon Long Boots capable of Shadow Jumps.”

As Fuxi spoke, he became anxious for Li Ao, seeing his lack of reaction, he couldn’t help but slap him heavily on the shoulder.

“What does that have to do with me?”

Li Ao was completely unaware.

“How can it not matter? His gear is clearly targeted at you!”

Fuxi was so anxious he began to pull at his own hair.

“Don’t worry, big guy, just lend me some luck tomorrow, and I’ll beat him till he’s down and out!”

Li Ao yawned casually, gesturing dismissively.

“My luck is all used up, isn’t it? How could there still be luck to lend you? Wait a minute, didn’t you use it all up yesterday?”

Fuxi’s eyes shone brightly, infinitely surprised.

“What do you think?”

Li Ao glanced sideways at Fuxi.

“Huo Mei, the goddess, smiled at me this morning and even casually asked about you… I think my luck must not be used up, Li Ao, do I have a lot of luck? Otherwise, there’s no reason it would be so powerful to let you defeat Prince Jinxi in one go. You know, Lie Feng used up all his strength and even shattered the platform, yet couldn’t shake Prince Jinxi at all!”

The more Fuxi thought about it, the more he believed he must have incredible luck; otherwise, how could Li Ao possibly defeat Prince Jinxi?

It seemed unrealistic, yet it was a fact.

“Whether you’re lucky or not, I can’t say because that would jinx it all. Are you sure you want me to spell it out?”

Li Ao teased.

“No, no, don’t say it; I’ve already guessed the truth!”

Fuxi said urgently, waving his hands.

“Boss, you’re really smart, able to conjure up reasons out of thin air.”

“Please, call me the ‘Conjecture Expert,’ thank you!”

“That big-eyed monster, didn’t he make it to the finals?”

“You mean Cang Yue? No, he was unlucky, not only facing Tie Zheng in the initial group scoring round but also encountering Eugene with a combat power of 874 in the subsequent knockout round. After a tough battle, he came up against Lie Feng who ranks second with a combat power of 1235, and ended up being kicked out.”

“What about our Iron Clan’s big boss Tie Zheng?”

“Tie Zheng met Man Huang.”

“Man Huang?”

“That’s the huge guy who came over to talk yesterday. Boss Tie Zheng and his combat power are very close; they fought so hard the arena shattered, and both were injured, leading to them both being eliminated because they fell from the ring at the same time.”

Li Ao took out a bundle.

He slowly began eating a pancake from inside it.

Unable to watch, Fuxi grabbed several pancakes from the bundle and threw them to the hungry Stone Bear.

The Stone Bear was delighted, eating happily with nods and shakes of his head.

Smells good?

Fuxi sniffed.

Although the pancakes had been sitting a while, they still smelled quite good.

He unceremoniously picked up two, and started munching on them left and right, savoring every bite.

Li Ao, not bothering to ask about Fuxi’s competition results, simply switched to Fuxi’s favorite topic.

“Boss, what about your most admired Goddess Huo Mei? Did she make it to the finals?”

“Goddess Huo Mei faced Zhao Kong in the round of sixteen, who is covered in something that looks like green snot. Disgusted, she forfeited and stepped down from the ring.”

“Okay then!”

“People say if you were luckier, you might have made it into the top ten.”

“I’m just riding on your coattails, boss. My real combat power isn’t worth mentioning. Without your protection, I’m nothing.”

“Little Li Ao, you’re being modest. Although my luck plays a big part, you do have some skill… If I really had enough luck to defy the heavens, you using a little wouldn’t matter, since I’ve got you covered, little brother! But be careful not to waste it, as it’s really hard for me to build up good karma! Little Li Ao, use it wisely, preferably in crucial moments… Can you give me a hint, is my luck as vast as the sea?”

“Boss, are you sure you want me to tell you? It might feel good for a moment, and then all your luck might drain away.”

“No need, no need, I’ve totally got it. I knew it, someone as outstanding and lucky as me couldn’t just have a little bit of luck. It makes sense; I was born with great fortune! Little Li Ao, I’m in a good mood today, forget about pancakes, I’m taking you out for a big meal!”

“Thank you, boss!”

“Just eat your fill later, don’t be shy with me. As a boss, I absolutely can’t stand to see you go hungry, eating pancakes every day. That’s just too sad.”

“After we eat, can I pack some to take home for a midnight snack?”

“Pack it, eat one portion, pack two!”
“Where’s the silly bear?”

Li Ao asked.

“I’ll feed it for you; from now on, this task is mine!” replied Youhuo.

Time swiftly slipped away.

Another day.

It was the year 35,891, April 12th, in the calendar of the Tianfeng Continent.

It was the seventh day since Li Ao had returned.

Morning.

Clear.

The sun was splendid.

Today marked the first day of the sixth event of the Newcomer’s Trial—Unlimited Challenge.

Over the next three days, newcomers could endlessly challenge any opponent. No one could refuse a challenge for any reason.

Once on the platform, regardless of defeat or surrender, one must rank below the challenger. In this manner, through continuous challenges, the final rankings of the newcomers would be determined.

Holding the snow cake he had packed up the day before, Li Ao nibbled on it as he followed Fuxi slowly forward.

All the newcomers followed the assistant referee.

They entered the secret passage of the Trial Temple.

Passing through this spatial passage.

The newcomers would enter a very special dimensional mini-world, where they would engage in the Unlimited Challenge.

“Every person must pass the demonic reaction test, otherwise they will be deemed unqualified.” Supervisors Dou Guang and Chang Chi blocked the end of the spatial passage.

“Li Ao? What should we do?”

Fuxi felt this was a nasty trick targeting his little cousin. In previous sessions, there had never been a demonic reaction test.

If it weren’t for the fact that they thought Li Ao had caused a problem by beating up Prince Jinxi, why would the Trial Temple suddenly introduce a demonic reaction test?

“I just love to see you all so frantic and yet powerless… La la la! Please call me the evil overlord!”