The High-Stakes Duel of the Dao Debate Palace

Ji Ning, Mu Northson, and Bu Ying all landed at the entrance of the Dao Debate Palace. Peering inside, although it was night, the palace was brightly lit, and the sounds of conversation and laughter could be heard.

“Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian, I’ll accept this hundred Black-White Pearls and ten catties of Primordial Liquid.” The speaker was dressed in a white robe stained with droplets of blood—it was Yinxue Wenjian. A faint hint of delight was on his face, clearly pleased at having emerged victorious in a debate with a fellow disciple.

Opposite him, a long-haired woman in a simple water-blue Daoist robe who had been seated cross-legged on a stone pillar floated down lightly, landing to one side. She shook her head and said, “Three years ago, I could still barely edge out Wenjian. I never imagined that today I would lose to him.”

“I only managed a narrow victory through utmost effort,” Yinxue Wenjian said, unusually humble despite his normally proud demeanor.

“Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian, sparring is all about seeking that sliver of an opportunity to win. You and junior apprentice-brother Wenjian are evenly matched; it’s just that Wenjian’s attacks are a bit more incisive.”

“Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian…”

A few male and female disciples were chatting and laughing.

Just then, Ji Ning, Mu Northson, and Bu Ying entered the Dao Debate Palace. The group of men and women all turned to look.

“Jiulian?” Ji Ning’s gaze instantly locked onto the woman the others addressed as ‘Jiulian.’ She wore a simple, casual water-blue Daoist robe, and her black hair flowed freely. While her features were beautiful, they were actually slightly inferior to Meng Xin’s, whom he knew. But this ‘senior apprentice-sister Jiulian’ possessed an extraordinary aura.

She was like a celestial lotus, drawing the gazes of all the senior and junior apprentice-brothers around her.

“With such an aura, she must have an extraordinary background,” Ji Ning surmised.

“Junior apprentice-sister Jiulian!” Bu Ying, his voice rising a notch, smiled broadly and quickly said, “These two are the new disciples accepted by our Black-White College this year. This is Mu Northson, and this is Ji Ning.”

Jiulian’s gaze fell upon them, a hint of a smile on her lips. “I heard that this afternoon, junior apprentice-brother Mu Northson lost two matches in the Dao Debate Palace and stormed off in anger.”

Mu Northson, who was rather thin-skinned, immediately looked embarrassed.

“That’s only because he had just joined the sect and had never faced such setbacks before,” Ji Ning interjected.

Jiulian looked at Ji Ning. “You’re Ji Ning, the one taken as a direct disciple by Patriarch Diancai.”

“Yes,” Ji Ning nodded.

Bu Ying quickly added, “Junior apprentice-brother Beiming, you’re the disciple of Immortal Diancai. Junior apprentice-sister Jiulian is also the disciple of ‘Immortal Wufeng,’ you know.”

“Immortal Wufeng’s disciple?” Ji Ning was surprised.

“I just returned to the College this evening, so I missed junior apprentice-brother’s initiation ceremony,” Jiulian said softly. “Since you’re here now, are you planning to engage in a debate?”

Ji Ning smiled and nodded. “I’d also very much like to spar with you senior apprentice-siblings.”

“Then you’d best be careful. I just lost one myself,” Jiulian said with a laugh.

“Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning!”

A cold voice rang out.

Ji Ning turned his head. The speaker was Yinxue Wenjian, still in his white robes. The very reason Yinxue Wenjian had come to the Dao Debate Palace was to defeat Ji Ning and purge the bitterness from his heart.

He hadn’t expected to run into Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian, whom he had long admired. He had strained every nerve to defeat her, hoping to leave a mark in her heart. But then Ji Ning had to arrive and start chatting so intimately with his Jiulian…

“Senior apprentice-brother Wenjian,” Ji Ning said with a smile.

“Do you still remember that battle in the mountain cave?” Yinxue Wenjian said coldly.

“I remember,” Ji Ning nodded. “Back then, I tried to state my name, but senior apprentice-brother Wenjian simply refused to let me, saying we would never meet again.”

Yinxue Wenjian’s expression flickered.

“I didn’t get to say it then, but senior apprentice-brother already knows my name now,” Ji Ning said with a smile. “Why did you call out to me, senior apprentice-brother?”

There was a chilling glint in Yinxue Wenjian’s eyes. “Do you dare to step onto the debate stage with me?”

“Step onto the debate stage?” Ji Ning turned his head to survey the vast hall of the Dao Debate Palace. It resembled a large-scale arena from his past life, with seats for spectators. The central area was a massive space for combat. On either side stood towering stone pillars; those engaging in debates could sit on these pillars and use puppets to fight!

Jiulian spoke from the side. “You’d better be careful, junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning. The one I just lost to was junior apprentice-brother Wenjian.”

Yinxue Wenjian’s jealousy flared hotter, and the chill in his eyes intensified. “Dare you, or not?”

“Since I came here to spar with you senior apprentice-siblings, why would I not dare?” Ji Ning shook his head with a smile. “It’s just a hundred Black-White Pearls and ten catties of Primordial Liquid.”

“Hah, a hundred Black-White Pearls and ten catties of Primordial Liquid are just the smallest of stakes,” Yinxue Wenjian said coldly. “Black-White Pearls are granted by the College and are very rare. As for Primordial Liquid… let’s raise the bet to a hundred catties of it. Do you dare?”

Ji Ning frowned.

Yinxue Wenjian continued coldly, “It makes sense. Junior apprentice-brother has just joined the College and was only given a hundred catties. You probably can’t even produce a hundred catties.” As he spoke, he flipped his hand, revealing a token. “This is a Tianbao Mountain Primordial Liquid token. It’s for one thousand taels, which is one hundred catties. You can take this token to Tianbao Mountain and exchange it for a hundred catties of Primordial Liquid directly.”

“Do you dare to bet?” Yinxue Wenjian looked at Ji Ning.

…

The atmosphere in the hall instantly grew tense. The other disciples could sense something was very wrong between Yinxue Wenjian and Ji Ning. When they had sparred with Mu Northson earlier, it had been with the smallest of stakes; none of them wanted to foster lasting enmity. But Yinxue Wenjian raising the stakes so high was clearly an attempt to bully the newcomer.

He was asking a fresh disciple to produce a hundred catties of Primordial Liquid—wasn’t he just trying to leave the newbie without resources for cultivation?

What they didn’t know…

Was that while Yinxue Wenjian had wanted to fight Ji Ning from the start, he hadn’t initially intended to go this far. But when he saw Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian chatting so absorbedly with Ji Ning—unlike her usual perfunctory responses to him, she was actively engaging Ning—it kindled an unbearable resentment within him.

“What does this Ji Ning have that I don’t? Why does Jiulian look at him with such special regard the very first time she meets him? Whether it’s treasures, strength, or family background, I surpass him in every way!” The cold murderous intent in Yinxue Wenjian’s eyes grew even stronger.

“Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning,” Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian said. “You’ve just joined the College. I can lend you a hundred catties of Primordial Liquid.”

At these words, the pressure emanating from Yinxue Wenjian became even more terrifying.

Ji Ning laughed. “No need. Since Senior apprentice-brother Wenjian wants to bet a hundred catties of Primordial Liquid, I’ll take the bet.” Ji Ning flipped his own hand, revealing several spirit-tokens. “These are also Tianbao Mountain Primordial Liquid tokens, for one thousand taels as well.”

“Oh?”

“Tianbao Mountain tokens?”

Everyone was staring at the tokens in Ji Ning’s hand.

It was normal for Yinxue Wenjian, who had been in the sect for a long time, to have tokens from his travels and adventures. But for Ji Ning, who had just joined the sect, to be able to casually produce a thousand-taels token… that was unusual. They didn’t know that this was what Ji Ning had won from his fights in the Wuyou Caverns.

Although the battles of the Wuyou Caverns had spread, very few of these Black-White College disciples knew of them. Among the Primal Daoists, only ‘Wu Xiu’ had relatively sharp intelligence.

…

“A hundred Black-White Pearls and a hundred catties of Primordial Liquid,” an aged voice rang out. A white-haired old man standing at the edge of the Dao Debate Palace spoke. “Since both of you agree, this shall be the stake.”

“Now, please both disciples choose your puppets.” The white-haired elder continued.

This white-haired elder was also a puppet, responsible for the miscellaneous affairs of the Dao Debate Palace.

Ji Ning and Yinxue Wenjian immediately headed toward a side door. The hall behind it was filled with a large number of puppets.

Entering the smaller hall, the white-haired elder pointed to the puppets lined up against the wall—hundreds of them. Each was black, as if carved from rock. “All these puppets have identical cores of Yuan power. They all unleash the same strength: early Wanxiang Adept level Yuan power. This ensures that even reincarnated Immortals within the College who possess divine sense have very little impact on the battle with its backing.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Divine sense was slightly more powerful than the peak of the Zifu Disciple level, still far from early Wanxiang. So even if one used it to empower their weapons, it would have a negligible effect on the battle.

“Each of these puppets comes with a standard weapon,” the white-haired elder said. “They have flying swords, flying needles, silk ribbons, giant hammers… in short, virtually all types of magic treasures are available. You can choose whichever puppet suits your preferences.”

Yinxue Wenjian chose very quickly. He walked directly to one puppet, placed his hand on it, and immediately began to refine it.

“I’ll head out first. Take your time choosing.” Yinxue Wenjian cast a glance at Ji Ning before striding out. That puppet transformed into a blur and followed swiftly.

Ji Ning took one look, then began to meticulously examine the various puppets.

…

In the Dao Debate Palace, the surrounding disciples who were spectating—including Mu Northson, Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian, and the others—totaled eight people.

“The stakes are so high! A hundred Black-White Pearls, and a hundred catties of Primordial Liquid! Junior apprentice-brother Wenjian has gone too far. He can’t bully the new junior apprentice-brother like this.”

“He’s definitely overstepping.”

The fellow disciples were murmuring amongst themselves.

Just then, Yinxue Wenjian emerged from the side door. He gave a leap, crossing a hundred zhang in the blink of an eye, and landed directly on one of the stone pillars that stood over ten zhang tall. He sat down cross-legged on top of it.

Swoosh! His puppet also leaped down, landing in the central combat arena below, where it stood silently waiting.

“He chose the Big Dipper puppet.”

“Senior apprentice-brother Wenjian is ruthless. He picked the Big Dipper puppet, which he’s best at.”

“I wonder which puppet Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning will choose.”

The puppets themselves had no difference in power; the only distinction was how well they suited the user’s style. If Ji Ning chose a puppet that wielded a giant hammer, he obviously wouldn’t be able to use its abilities effectively.

“He’s out.”

“Junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning is out.” Everyone looked over. Mu Northson’s eyes were filled with worry. As for Senior apprentice-sister Jiulian, she watched Ji Ning carefully, curiosity in her eyes.

Ji Ning walked out, and a puppet followed behind him.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Ji Ning and the puppet leaped simultaneously. Ji Ning landed on one of the stone pillars and sat down cross-legged. His puppet landed on the arena below, causing the ground to tremble.

The two stone pillars faced each other from a distance.

Ji Ning and Yinxue Wenjian were also directly facing each other, about a hundred zhang apart.

The two puppets below were also a hundred zhang apart.

“Begin!” the white-haired elder barked.

Rumble~~~

Immediately, a clear, watery ripple spread out, manifesting as a massive barrier-like seal that completely enclosed the entire arena. Mu Northson and the others were all outside the barrier, while Ji Ning and Yinxue Wenjian were within it.

“A Thousand Sword puppet!” Yinxue Wenjian, seated cross-legged on his stone pillar, glanced at Ji Ning’s puppet and snorted coldly. “Overestimating yourself.”

“I look forward to your correction, Senior apprentice-brother,” Ji Ning called out.

“Begin,” Yinxue Wenjian barked.

The other fellow disciples held their breath, watching. The newly arrived junior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, accepted as a personal disciple by Immortal Diancai, versus the veteran senior apprentice-brother Yinxue Wenjian—who was stronger?