"These people and their big mouths..."

At the library, Qin Yang had some free time, so he headed for the archives, scrolling through the news on his phone as he walked.

Following the recent announcement, the internet was in a frenzy.

The web’s clickbait artists, never ones to let a good drama go to waste, immediately started fanning the flames.

The moment the official media outlets broadcast the Star Martial Police Bureau’s announcement, the bloggers sensed a viral opportunity.

They rushed to create content, and in less than a morning, all sorts of embellished versions were already circulating.

Along the way, Qin Yang swiped through his phone, scrolling past several exaggerated, clickbait headlines.

’These rumors are getting ridiculous.’

[The Jianghai Arrow God is about to face a mysterious powerhouse! Stay tuned!!!]

[Speculation on the mysterious challenger’s identity: a Cult Demon seeking revenge?]

[The Jianghai Arrow God’s grand debut...]

A quick glance showed the internet was flooded with this kind of news, making it hard to tell fact from fiction.

After a round of intense hype, "Jianghai City" quickly shot to the top of the trending charts.

It wasn’t just the people in the city who were fired up; even those from outside were scrambling to come and watch the duel between the two masters.

By now, all plane and train tickets to Jianghai were completely sold out.

’At this rate, the Jianghai tourism minister is probably grinning from ear to ear.’

’With so many people coming to Jianghai, Li Shui Lake is going to be packed.’

Qin Yang sighed.

The thought of that scene instantly gave him a headache.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of helplessness.

Everything had been going fine, and then suddenly he was outed as the Arrow God’s top disciple. To top it off, this Liu Wushuang character had inexplicably shown up at his door.

He had originally planned to deal with Liu Wushuang quietly, get his reward, and be done with it.

But now, thanks to the Star Martial Police Bureau’s nationwide broadcast, the announcement had swept across the internet, attracting a huge crowd of spectators.

After all, this was a duel between two Venerable Realm experts!

To ordinary people, it was no different from a battle between Immortals. It was bound to attract a massive number of tourists coming to watch.

Before long, Jianghai City would be in an uproar again.

It was one thing for them to cause a commotion, but as one of the parties involved, he now had to put in a lot of effort to figure out how to handle it.

’Forget it. I’ll put it aside for now and think about it after work.’

Qin Yang put his phone away and walked to the library’s archive room. He took out the key the previous Steward had given him, opened the door, and pressed the light switch on the wall.

CLICK!

The dim archive room was instantly flooded with light.

The metal cabinets inside were arranged in neat, orderly rows.

Now that he was promoted, there were still many things from the previous Steward that needed to be handed over. Only after he was done could he go back to slacking off.

’The personnel files should be in here.’

Qin Yang walked into the room, pulled the steward’s records from a cabinet, and began skillfully organizing the files, his mind returning to his earlier thoughts.

’If all else fails, should I just get it over with quickly?’

’Anyway, this whole one-arrow business... The sooner I get the reward, the sooner it’s over...’

Just then.

"Master, why are you sighing? You’ve looked so worried this whole time."

The little fox scurried over, rubbing against Qin Yang’s pant leg, and sent a quiet telepathic message: "Is it because of that Liu Wushuang business?"

"Mmm..."

Qin Yang grunted in response, continuing to rifle through the documents with his head down. Soon, he pulled out a folder.

"It’s just that stinky archer Liu Wushuang..."

Xiaobai tilted her head back and huffed, "Master, your Archery is so strong. When the time comes, just make your move. One arrow and you’ll definitely win!"

"One arrow? You don’t understand. Don’t jinx me by overpraising me."

Hearing this, Qin Yang shook his head slightly. "Liu Wushuang has been immersed in Archery for years, while I’ve only just started dabbling in it. Competing with him based on Archery alone isn’t exactly a sure thing."

"Not a sure thing? Who says!? What’s there to be afraid of?"

Xiaobai shook her body and deftly leaped onto the table. "Master, you’re not weak. Even if that Liu Wushuang tries to overwhelm you, you can always just use your Divine Skill!"

"What Divine Skill?"

Qin Yang frowned, his hand holding the file pouch pausing for a moment. "I have a Divine Skill for Archery?"

"No... your Self-Destructive Divine Skill from last time, Master."

Xiaobai’s fox eyes narrowed into slits. She lowered her head and nuzzled into Qin Yang’s arms, fawning, "Don’t forget, last time you had your Clone use that Divine Skill. If you just do the same thing now, you’ll definitely win!"

As soon as she finished speaking.

"..."

Qin Yang was speechless.

’Good grief.’

’Ever since that self-destruction incident, this little fox has been hung up on it.’

"Master’s Self-Destructive Divine Skill is the best in the world!"

Xiaobai snorted proudly. "From now on, if you don’t like someone, just go blow them up. You’ll be invincible."

As she spoke, she nuzzled up again. "When the duel starts, if you can’t beat him, just put on a show for everyone with your Self-Destructive Divine Skill. You’ll definitely win!"

"..."

Hearing this, Qin Yang rolled his eyes and replied dismissively, "Fine, fine. I’ll just blow him up. I’ll put on a show just for you and explode on the spot!"

"Really?"

Hearing this, Xiaobai excitedly flicked her fluffy tail, overjoyed. She slinked off to a corner by herself.

’Yay!’

’Now that I have his approval... ’

She ran back to the corner, glanced back at Qin Yang to make sure he wasn’t coming closer, and then opened a mysterious little website.

On the website, the names of the Jianghai Arrow God and Liu Wushuang were listed, split into two sides with corresponding betting odds...

’Hehe, the trick worked.’

Xiaobai squinted, thinking about her successful deception. She smoothed her fur, feeling a wave of deep satisfaction.

’I finally convinced Master.’

’When the time comes, right when the duel is at its fiercest, he just has to self-destruct in front of everyone. Then they’ll all think the Jianghai Arrow God is dead.’

’This Fairy truly is a genius!’

’Hehe, ten-to-one odds. I’m betting everything on Master losing!’

Xiaobai stretched out her little paws, tapping away at the phone screen.

Her fox tail wagged wildly!

Soon, the bet was placed.

Xiaobai hugged the phone, her eyes shining with golden light as drool trickled from her silly grin.

’So much money!!’

’If I win this one, this Fairy will be financially independent! I’ll have more money than I can spend!’

...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

Just then, a knock came from the door.

"Who is it?"

Hearing the sound, Qin Yang put down the personnel files. His water-like Spiritual Power spread out, and he immediately identified the person outside.

It was Li Qinghe.

From the results of his scan, the girl was in a good mood. Her whole being was brimming with Essence Qi and spirit; it seemed something good had happened to her.

’But... what is she doing here?’

Qin Yang frowned and continued organizing the files with his head down.

"Master, it’s me."

And then, Li Qinghe pushed open the door and walked into the archive room with a smile, looking around at the shelves and counters. "I heard you got promoted, Master, so I wanted to come and see you."

"Come to see me? Since when are you so nice?"

Qin Yang kept his eyes down, organizing the personnel files, and didn’t pay her much mind. "Your master is very busy right now. I don’t have time to instruct you on Arrays."

"That’s fine, Master! I didn’t come for instruction."

Hearing this, Li Qing came to the desk with her hands behind her back and said softly, "How’s the new position? You were stationed with the previous Steward before. When he came to file his report, I even put in a good word for you."

"Oh? You helped out?"

Qin Yang raised an eyebrow. "Alright, spit it out. What do you want as a reward?"

"Hehe, I don’t need anything... It was no trouble at all. Your disciple just came to see her master and show some respect..."

Li Qinghe touched her Star Ring, took out a gift bag, and slowly placed it on the table. "These are all gifts your disciple picked out recently. Take a look, Master, see if there’s anything you like."

With that, she opened the bag.

It was filled with a dazzling array of Spirit Medicines and various Star Artifact accessories.

"You picked these out for your master?"

Seeing this, Qin Yang’s gaze swept over the gifts on the desk. He looked at Li Qinghe suspiciously, instantly on high alert.

’Gifts before a fight!’

’This girl definitely wants something!’

"Just say it. What is it?"

Qin Yang shook his head and put down the file. "Does your master not understand you by now?"

"You really do understand me, Master. It’s about some sect matters."

Seeing his expression, Li Qinghe didn’t dare delay any longer and said directly, "It’s about Grandmaster. You saw the news this morning, right, Master? The internet is going crazy. It’s all about the Arrow God."

Then, she recounted the gist of the Bureau’s meeting, explaining the whole story to Qin Yang.

"Is that so..."

Qin Yang fell into thought. "So, they all know about it?"

"Yes, Elder Li and the others all know now, but..."

Li Qinghe’s lips curved into a smile as she looked at Qin Yang. "You can’t fool me, Master. Although you claim the Arrow God is your martial uncle, he and Grandmaster are actually the same person, right?"

"What makes you say that?"

Qin Yang raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Wild guesses might earn you a slap from your master."

"Isn’t it obvious? Since Grandmaster isn’t dead, and his abilities are heaven-defying—he knows both the Alchemy Dao and Arrays—wouldn’t picking up Archery be a piece of cake for him?"

Li Qinghe squinted and smiled.

"Some things become clear if you just think about them carefully, right, Master?"

As her words fell.

"You’re a clever one."

Qin Yang looked at Li Qinghe, unhurried, and said calmly, "If you leak this, you can expect to be expelled from the sect. Your master won’t be able to protect you then."

"Tsk, don’t worry, Master! I’ll definitely keep this a secret for you!"

Li Qinghe mimed zipping her lips and shook her head like a rattle drum. "During the Star Martial Police Bureau’s meeting last night, I didn’t say a single word about it!"

"That’s more like it."

...

...

「Nightfall. Fuhai District.」

The moon was bright and the stars were few. Soft moonlight scattered across the ground.

Qin Yang sat cross-legged on the balcony, continuing to comprehend the Power of Laws within the Sun-Shooting Bow.

The Space and Flame Laws swirled around him as Fire Butterflies fluttered through the courtyard.

’It’s still not enough.’

Qin Yang slowly opened his eyes.

The competition would begin in three days.

’If I want to get a better reward from the system, I have to put in more effort to break through Liu Wushuang’s defenses!!’

The best way to do that was undoubtedly to defeat Liu Wushuang in his own area of expertise: the Arrow Dao.

’But my Archery is still in its infancy. Compared to him, I’m still lacking.’

Qin Yang pondered this, then glanced down at his Sun-Shooting Bow. An idea suddenly struck him.

’The Space Law is inherently profound.’

’And my Archery can’t compare to Liu Wushuang’s.’

’But if I rely on the Sun-Shooting Bow’s innate Spatial Locking...’

’Wouldn’t my chances of winning shoot right up?!’