You say you’re Shi Hu’s friend, that you were invited to the Shi Family as a guest, and even went to the Scripture Pavilion—fine, that’s acceptable.

But an outsider, coming to take part in the Spirit Source Baptism?

That’s insane, isn’t it?

He really wanted to go ask the Patriarch Shi Feng about it.

It’s not even enough for ourselves—giving a spot to an outsider?

"Maybe he’s just here to watch." Shi Xiong thought to himself.

"Who the hell is he? Actually hanging out with Yu, even joking around and laughing—damn, don’t tell me they’re..."

"No way, absolutely impossible!"

"That guy doesn’t even look that great. I don’t buy it that Yu would be into him."

"But look, Yu’s smiling."

"Shut the hell up!"

...

The gossip around started to get weird.

Xu Yang immediately felt like something was off with the looks from everyone around him.

There was a bit of a chill to them!

"Bro."

Shi Haoting waved him over quickly. Shi Hu was standing nearby.

"Yu, over here!"

Shi Xiong shouted toward Stone Jade.

"You go ahead." Stone Jade said this, then curiously walked toward Shi Xiong.

"What is it?"

"Yu, who is that person? A few days ago I ran into him at the Scripture Pavilion, said he was Hu’s friend, been cultivating in seclusion... what’s his story?" Shi Xiong couldn’t wait to ask.

"Cultivating in seclusion?"

Stone Jade’s mouth twitched. She glanced back at Xu Yang, at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Still, for now, Xu Yang’s identity was better kept secret.

"You could say that." Stone Jade nodded slightly.

"Yu, don’t tell me you..." Someone else couldn’t help but ask.

"Don’t tell me what?" Stone Jade was taken aback, then suddenly realized and snorted, "What are you thinking?"

"Hahaha, I told you so, how could a loser who got beaten by Hu be good enough for Yu?" Shi Xiong let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Loser who got beaten by Shi Hu?"

Stone Jade batted her eyes and shot back playfully, "Who told you he’s someone Shi Hu defeated?"

Shi Xiong frowned, "Yu, isn’t that obvious? With Hu’s strength, unless he’s a loser, how could he get invited into our Shi Family?"

"If he could beat Hu, with Hu’s temper, wouldn’t he have gotten a beating in return? That’s even less likely!"

"Yeah, that’s right."

"Hu is, well, cough cough, if it were me, I’d absolutely have to smack him around!"

The rest all chimed in.

Stone Jade replied slowly, "Actually, Shi Hu got thrashed by him. Pretty badly, too!"

Instant silence all around, everyone staring wide-eyed, thinking they’d misheard!

"Huh?"

"What?"

"No way!"

Stone Jade said blandly, "Shi Hu couldn’t beat him. Anyway, from now on, he’s basically one of us from the War King Aristocratic Family, so that’s why he qualifies for the Spirit Source Baptism!"

"Alright, enough with the wild gossip."

With that, Stone Jade turned and left.

The group left behind looked at each other for ages, still completely stunned!

No matter what, Shi Hu was still a top Celestial Pride among the seven major powers, ranked seventh on the Celestial Pride List!

And suddenly, some nobody pops up and beats Shi Hu?

"He actually beat Hu? Damn!"

"So Yu’s saying this guy’s joined us, the War King family? That’s... actually a good thing, a Celestial Pride even more powerful than Hu!"

"Hold on, more powerful than Hu? Kinda feels like Yu was pulling our legs just now..."

"Pulling what?"

"Yu and that guy, between the two of them..."

"Shit, when you put it that way, something does seem off. Don’t tell me Yu actually fell for him?"

...

"How does it feel?"

Shi Hu asked casually.

Xu Yang glanced over all the disciples of the War King family and laughed, "Pretty impressive, dozens of True Monarchs among the young crowd. To me that’s already a hell of a lineup."

Shi Hu sighed, "Among the seven top forces, the War King clan isn’t even the strongest. The others are even crazier!"

"Out of these people, maybe not even two or three can reach the level of a Divine Sky Grand Monarch!"

"And those who can compete with the abnormal monstrous geniuses from the other forces—not many!"

Xu Yang couldn’t help but tense up a bit.

The Three Great Holy Lands must be even more terrifying, right?

"With you here, I feel a lot better."

"But, I’m going to work hard to catch up to you."

Shi Hu grinned widely at Xu Yang.

"All the better." Xu Yang replied with a dashing smile.

Though honestly, he thought Shi Hu catching up to him was looking more and more unlikely.

"Bro, guess what they’re buzzing about?" Shi Haoting suddenly ran over, an odd expression on his face.

"What?" Xu Yang asked, all confused.

"They’re thrilled you beat the crap out of Shi Hu; but super pissed that you ’stole away’ Yu!"

Shi Hu’s face went dark, clenching his fist with a freezing grin, "Looks like this bunch is really asking for trouble with all their gossip while I was away. When the Baptism’s over, it’s time for some extra training."

"..."

Pa!

Shi Haoting slapped himself, face twisted in regret!

Damn it, why am I such a dumbass!

Xu Yang was speechless, too.

’Stole’ Stone Jade?

Don’t make me laugh.

He had zero interest in Stone Jade. He was sure Stone Jade didn’t have any feelings for him whatsoever!

"But if you actually like Stone Jade, I could help set you two up." Shi Hu suddenly winked at Xu Yang. "My sister might not be the most monstrous genius, but she’s got plenty going for her!"

Xu Yang rolled his eyes. "Don’t start—I’ve got no thoughts like that!"

"What, is my sister just not good enough or something?" Shi Hu glared at him.

Xu Yang grinned, "You want to stand up for your sister or what?"

Shi Hu’s mouth twitched and he turned his head away at once.

Damn, do I look like I want a thrashing?

But he quickly turned back, staring at Xu Yang, "Wanna have a bet?"

"What kind of bet?"

Xu Yang’s eyebrows arched.

"Sure, your strength is above mine, but you’re from Daqian and never absorbed the power of the Spirit Source before; during the Spirit Source Baptism, my advantage might not be small."

"Let’s see who can endure longer, and whose soul mark improves more."

"And the stakes? What’s the wager?"

Before Xu Yang could answer, Shi Haoting couldn’t help but press impatiently.

Shi Hu licked his lips, "The wager? Easy."

Swoosh!

Shi Hu opened his palm, revealing a foot-long, cyan, miniature flying boat.

"This is my Cyan Flame Boat. I had it forged by a Divine Sky Grand Monarch from the clan. As long as you have enough supreme-grade Spirit Crystals—and the Spirit Source works even better—you can power it up. Its full speed is on par with a Divine Sky Grand Monarch!"

"If you manage to beat me in every aspect, the boat is yours."

Xu Yang stared hungrily at the Cyan Flame Boat—what a treasure.

The Spirit Realm is vast, god knows how many times bigger than Daqian, and the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Space is sturdy as hell. With True Monarch-level strength, traveling long distances would take forever.

With this boat, whether on missions or fleeing for your life, it’d help out a ton!

"Bro, that’s Shi Hu’s favorite toy." Shi Haoting licked his lips in excitement. No matter what, he had full confidence in Xu Yang.

"Deal!"

Xu Yang agreed without hesitation—hey, this was offered up by the other side. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Shi Hu scowled, "Don’t think you’ve got this in the bag! My chances are actually pretty good!"

"If you lose..."

"I don’t have any treasures on me," Xu Yang frowned slightly, though he didn’t really think he’d lose.

Shi Hu grinned slyly, "I don’t want any treasure."

"If you lose..."