Chapter 131: The Camp Is Ambushed

Seeing Xiang Nan accompanied by a Daoist priest, everyone looked confused and began asking questions.

The Daoist master San Tong immediately beamed with joy upon being surrounded by so many gorgeous beauties.

"I only brought a few tents, and everyone is already using them. Daoist San Tong, since you are in the transcendent realm and have long been used to sleeping in the open, I suppose you wouldn't mind?" Xiang Nan said calmly.

"Not at all, not at all. We who practice the Dao have always been free of worldly desires." Daoist San Tong naturally wanted to show off in front of so many beauties.

"Right, right. I truly admire you seekers of immortality. Not only can you use the sky as your quilt and the earth as your mat, but with such a high level of cultivation, you must have achieved inedia long ago, right?"

"Naturally, naturally. Once your cultivation reaches a certain realm, there's no need to eat ordinary food." Daoist San Tong remained quite smug.

"Splendid. Those of us with low cultivation can't manage that; we get hungry just from moving around a bit. Su Yao, let's fire up the barbecue!"

"Huh? What? Barbecue?" Hearing the word barbecue, Daoist San Tong couldn't help swallowing hard.

As for inedia and the like, he was not a true immortal. He was made of flesh and blood like anyone else; how could he possibly not eat?

He had been in the Lingsu Realm for two days, surviving entirely on compressed biscuits and plain water until his mouth felt utterly devoid of taste.

Just as he was preparing to cadge some barbecue for himself, Xiang Nan specifically instructed: "Only barbecue enough portions for the five of us. Daoist San Tong is practicing inedia; he doesn't consume such worldly fare."

"Well... I..." Before Daoist San Tong could finish, Xiang Nan had already led the others toward the nearby grill.

"Xiao Nan, when did you become so stingy? Someone is helping us, and we won't even let him have some barbecue? Isn't that a bit heartless?" Su Yao asked in a lowered voice.

"It's fine. We're petty, but he's noble, so he won't blame us," Xiang Nan said with a chuckle.

"Don't be like that, Brother Nan. Now that we finally have an expert to help us, won't it be much easier to win the championship? Forget a single barbecue; from now on, I'll cover all his meals," Li Xiang said, patting his chest.

"Look at you lot, always boosting others' morale while undermining your own confidence. Our group will take the championship with or without him. However..." Xiang Nan paused to think. "Having someone willing to do unpaid labor without taking a salary seems alright—it saves me a lot of trouble."

"Ain't that the truth," Meng Qingwan muttered softly.

Xiang Nan glanced sideways at Meng Qingwan. "Oh, Qingwan, turns out you have a ruthless side too. Hehehe, lovely, simply lovely."

Meng Qingwan could not help lowering her head slightly, though her demeanor had become much more relaxed.

Over these past few days, growing familiar with Xiang Nan and the others had made her feel much more at ease.

"Xiao Nan, I just don't understand why he's so willing to help us out of nowhere."

"As for that... you'll understand when the time comes."

Once the barbecue started, the aroma of meat filled the air.

Unable to resist any longer, Daoist San Tong brazenly joined in to scavenge some food.

Xiang Nan didn't actually intend to starve him, so naturally he didn't stop him, and the others treated him quite politely.

After all, he was a well-known figure and a fifth-tier expert whom many people looked up to and revered.

However, Daoist San Tong's character left much to be desired; the moment he saw the beauties, his eyes darted around slyly, completely stripping away any otherworldly demeanor.

Li Xiang had initially looked at him with utmost admiration, but seeing him behave this way, he couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"Brother San Tong, you're an expert seeking immortality—could you please maintain some dignity? Is that how you leer at young women? You're making me want to dig your eyeballs out!" Li Xiang said with utter disgust.

"I'm seeking the Dao, yes, but I haven't severed all earthly ties. With three such breathtaking beauties around, how did you lot get so lucky to have them all in your group? I, San Tong, have lived half my life and never enjoyed such treatment. I am truly envious!"

"What's the use of having them all in our group when none of them are interested in me? Of course, that goes double for you," Li Xiang sighed deeply.

"Are you really that cowardly? Three of them, and you can't even handle one?"

Faced with this soul-searching question, Li Xiang was instantly choked up and rolled his eyes. "Are you blind? Can't you tell? All three of these girls belong to Brother Nan. With Brother Nan around, who knows if we'll ever see our own spring."

Daoist San Tong looked at Xiang Nan with envy, then glanced at Xu Jiya and the others hovering around Xiang Nan, prompting him to give a thumbs-up. "Ruthless! But close water gets the moonlight first; you might not stand a chance, but I, San Tong, am different."

Li Xiang rolled his eyes again. "I hate to burst your bubble, bro, but at your age, where do you get such blind confidence? Look at Brother Nan's looks—granted, your cultivation is decent, but girls don't care about that nowadays. You, my friend, have zero chance."

Daoist San Tong, however, remained unimpressed. "Well, let's wait and see."

Not far away, Xiang Nan glanced casually at Daoist San Tong. In reality, with his sharp senses, he had heard every single word of their conversation.

Daring to plot against the three girls—this old lechard. If he wasn't still somewhat useful, Xiang Nan would have really wanted to punch his head off right then and there.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

After fleeing in disarray, the two Lu brothers were far from reconciled!

"Brother, what on earth is going on? Didn't the Grand Mage claim he was extremely powerful? Look at Xiang Nan, he's completely fine!" Lu Yu doubted his own reality.

"Didn't you see there was another expert by his side? That's Daoist San Tong, a fifth-tier transcendent as well. The Grand Mage probably lost to him," Lu Ning sighed and said.

"This Xiang Nan is truly something else, keeping an expert hidden right here in the Lingsu Realm! We've taken a massive loss this time—tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait! It seems we really should have listened to our old man; we shouldn't have provoked him in the first place!"

"Lu Yu, do you have any spine at all? Giving up already? Since there's an extra expert by Xiang Nan's side, can't we go find others to deal with him? Didn't you notice? None of the external reinforcement experts who came to the Lingsu Realm this time are simple characters. Besides, I've noticed for a while that quite a few of them came specifically for Xiang Nan."

"Came for Xiang Nan?"

"Did you forget that video from a while back? The one where Xiang Nan killed the Fire Cloud Evil God. Lots of people saw it at the time—he possesses some magical artifact, and some analysts claim it's a primordial treasure capable of moving mountains, draining seas, and destroying the world."

"Wasn't that rumor debunked later? Do you still believe that?"

"Whether I believe it or not doesn't matter, and it doesn't even matter if he has the artifact. What matters is that many experts lurking in various corners of society believe it. My guess is spot on—those people are all after the artifact in Xiang Nan's hands."

"If that's really true, it's a good thing. We won't even need to make a move; Xiang Nan is bound to be torn to pieces by them."

"That kid Xiang Nan is too weird. I'm just worried those people won't be a match for him. If we can't finish him off in the Lingsu Realm, and he comes back to settle scores with our Lu family later, we'll be in deep trouble. Since we've already burned our bridges, we might as well contact those people and deal with Xiang Nan together."

"Right! And those people from the Supreme Spirit Martial Academy—they're all dying for Xiang Nan to drop dead anyway. If Xiang Nan actually wins the Lingsu championship, where will they put their faces?"

"Win the championship? In his dreams, how is that even possible?!"