After working for both the righteous and demonic factions, I became a big shot.

After Shen An finished the competition, many of the doubts disappeared.

After all, he was a man with only one sword, and he had already reached the level of a top-tier inner sect fighter. Such strength was already a once-in-a-century genius for the Divine Demon Sect.

Besides, he was only in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Among them, Youmingzi and Mo Wuyai on the elders' platform were the most regretful.

I initially thought Shen An was a genius who understood finance and management, but I never imagined he was also a cultivation genius.

"What a pity. If he had been born a few years earlier, he might have been able to compete for the position of Holy Son," sighed Youmingzi.

After all, Shen An's strength and the purity of his demonic energy actually meet the standards for a candidate for Holy Son.

Fairy Lanyue said nonchalantly, "My disciple doesn't compete for anything like the Holy Son; that's too tiring."

After saying that, Fairy Lanyue ignored the group of old men and flew down to check on her disciple's injuries.

..........

After Shen An won this battle, even if he can last three moves in the next round of the top eight, it will still be considered a victory, since he is the only Foundation Establishment stage disciple among the top sixteen.

The remaining experts are at least at the late Golden Core stage, and there are three experts who are half-step Nascent Soul stage.

Those three were the candidates for the Holy Son.

Shen An had no intention of continuing the competition. Reaching the quarterfinals was unrealistic, and he had already decided to concede defeat when it came to the round of 16.

However, with the idea of ​​contributing to the two sects, Shen An still planned to continue his casual fighting.

At the very least, I need to see what that incomplete sword manual that's supposed to be the reward is all about.

His senior sister is waiting for him.

The next few days were unusually quiet.

Aside from pretending to change his medicine twice, Shen An spent his time recuperating and practicing swordsmanship in his cave, living a much more comfortable life than before.

He also took some time to have drinks with the disciple in charge of the library twice, subtly getting out of the recipient, "I heard that the reward this time does include a fragment of a sword manual, but I don't know the specifics."

When the draw for the Round of 16 came out, Shen An breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his opponent's name.

Blood Fiend Peak's Holy Son candidate, Blood Without Trace, half-step Nascent Soul!

What does this mean? It means that even if he loses miserably, no one will be surprised.

On the day of the competition, he walked towards the arena carrying that dark blue longsword, and the way the spectators looked at him along the way was completely different from what it had been half a month ago.

Some people made way for him, some whispered "Junior Brother Shen," and others stood still and clasped their hands in a salute to him.

When he reached the edge of the arena, Xue Wuhen was already standing on it.

The man looked to be no more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was wearing a dark red robe, with a long, jet-black sword hanging at his waist. He stood in the center of the arena with his arms crossed, his expression indifferent.

Although the aura of the half-step Nascent Soul cultivator was restrained, just standing there made him resemble a mountain more than any of his previous opponents.

He saw Shen An come up, but his expression remained unchanged. He glanced down at him and said, "Junior Brother Shen, mid-Foundation Establishment stage, it's not easy for you to get this far."

Shen An cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said, "Senior brother, you flatter me."

Xue Wuhen didn't respond, remaining silent for a moment before speaking: "Junior Brother Shen, I won't compete with you in strength this time."

Shen An was taken aback: "What do you mean, Senior Brother?"

He had expected to be beaten and then admit defeat, but he never thought there would be an unexpected surprise.

Xue Wuhen did not rush to answer, but turned to the elders' platform and cupped his hands in greeting: "Elder, this disciple would like to ask an elder to be a witness."

The Grand Elder nodded and casually pointed at Mo Wuyai, saying, "Wuyai, go and see what these two are up to."

He knew that this quarterfinal battle was far more interesting than the final, and coupled with his desire to secretly help Shen An make a name for himself, he agreed to the two men's idea.

Mo Wuyai landed in the arena in one step and quietly watched the two of them.

Xue Wuhen then turned back to look at Shen An, a playful smile on his lips: "Junior Brother Shen, it's not shameful for a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you to lose to me, and it's not glorious for me to win either."

"How about we try a different approach? Before coming here, I bought a bag of secondhand goods at Qinglong Market. Let's each guess the value of each item and see who can guess correctly. The one who guesses correctly wins, okay?"

The audience immediately became excited.

"Is Senior Brother Xue going to compete with Junior Brother Shen in this?"

"Senior Brother Xue himself rose to prominence by scavenging hidden treasures; that's his specialty!"

Shen An quickly calculated everything in his mind.

Xue Wuhen has a famous background. He came from humble beginnings and started setting up stalls and dealing in goods in the market when he was a teenager. He managed to make his first fortune by finding hidden gems in the piles of old goods.

It can be said that finding bargains on Taobao is Xue Wuhen's proudest skill.

Comparing yourself to him in this regard would be suicidal for anyone else.

But Shen An has a trump card that no one else has: the recycling function in the system shop. Anything you buy will have its recycling price displayed, and the number is the most accurate bottom price!

"Alright, thank you for letting me off the hook, senior brother. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, Shen An will concede defeat and consider it a game with you." Shen An nodded.

He's already won enough; this one was bound to be lost anyway, so he might as well say something polite.

"Junior brother, you're so straightforward. I'll be your friend."

After Xue Wuhen finished speaking, he took an old cloth bag from his waist and dumped it onto the center of the arena. With a "crash," seven or eight items scattered all over the ground.

A rusty broken sword, half a bronze mirror, two old tokens worn so worn that their patterns were almost unrecognizable, several pieces of dark-colored jade fragments, and a fist-sized lump of iron.

Xue Wuhen squatted down and arranged the items one by one. He dusted off his hands and stood up. "There are eight items in total. You and I will each take a piece of paper and write down the estimated value of each item. Then, please have Elder Wuya reveal the value on the spot."

Shen An took the paper and pen handed to him by the disciple next to him, but did not rush to write. Instead, he bent down and picked up the items one by one to look at them.

Each time you pick up an item, you select the system to estimate the price, and then put it down again.

It's very fast.

Even this was only because Shen An kept it; otherwise, he could have gotten it even faster.

By the time he finished looking at the last piece of iron, he already had a good idea of ​​what was going on.

Compared to Shen An's speed, Xue Wuhen was much slower. He carefully picked up each item, examined it closely, and even wiped it, probing it with his divine sense.

When Shen An finished speaking, Xue Wuhen began to look at the second item.

To outsiders, Shen An's speed and performance seemed to indicate that he had given up.

Yes, even without physical fighting, but through intellectual duels, someone like Xue Wuhen possesses eyesight comparable to many elder-level monsters. Not to mention Shen An, even ordinary elders cannot defeat him.

Even though he was already a candidate for Holy Son, Xue Wuhen still had the habit of picking up bargains, which was unique to him.

To be honest, putting everything else aside, just looking at his resume, Shen An would even think that this person has the makings of a protagonist.

"I've finished writing."

After a long while, Xue Wuhen folded the paper and handed it to Mo Wuyai, his tone relaxed, clearly confident in his judgment.

............