My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 331: Daily Life with Canary

The announcement left the martial artists who came to participate in the martial arts tournament bewildered and unsure of what to do.

In previous years, the martial arts tournament had very low ratings.

Eventually, the organizers added a trash-talking segment before the match.

During this segment, the competitors had three minutes to insult each other on stage.

The trash-talking segment was the most popular and had the highest ratings.

Moreover, many of the best insult exchanges were edited and uploaded online.

Especially those where a competitor would engage in vicious trash talk and then get beaten up badly afterward; these clips were highly dramatic and very entertaining.

Now… promoting “civilized behavior and fostering a new spirit,” forbidding trash-talking.

Does this mean they no longer care about ratings?

Who is the official with a brain that was squashed by a door, coming up with rules like this out of nowhere?

“Ah? The world has become so surreal lately,” Xing Yu couldn’t help but complain.

Recently, in Qin Yuan country, all sorts of bizarre things were happening.

There were rumors about the revival of spiritual energy, tales of sword immortals destroying military camps with a single strike, and the voting incident; everything was getting more and more chaotic.

So, the promotion of “civilized behavior and fostering a new spirit” didn’t seem all that ridiculous in comparison.

“We can't guess what those above are thinking, so we’ll just follow the rules. After all… we’re only here to broaden our horizons, aren’t we?”

Xu Tiezhu spoke seriously this time.

In the city-level competition, he had performed quite well.

But on a national level, it was clear that the ones who would perform well were all martial arts masters at their peak.

His strength was still far from the peak of martial arts.

“That’s right, let’s just follow the rules. After all, I’m a law-abiding citizen,” Qi Yuan chimed in, echoing the sentiment.

Not far away, Wang Shiqiao heard this and remained silent.

Beheading someone and sending their head as a gift — is that law-abiding?

What kind of good person decapitates people?

“But, I have high ambitions. I came here to win the championship!” Qi Yuan said enthusiastically.

Now that he was at the Jade Blood stage, participating in the martial arts tournament was like a grandfather playing with his grandchildren.

“Mr. Qi will definitely win the championship!” At this moment, Han Xianyun from Beihe came over, his face full of respect.

Recently, there had been upheavals in the capital, and the Mu family of the Seven Martial Star Families had been annihilated.

His elder brother had been transferred to the provincial cabinet, and he himself had received an honorary earl title.

One could say he was having a great time.

He knew that everything he had now was bestowed upon him by Mr. Qi.

He felt both respect and awe toward Mr. Qi and Ning Tao.

“Didn’t you say before that I couldn’t win the championship?” Qi Yuan asked, surprised.

“That was then; this is now,” Han Xianyun replied earnestly.

“Good insight. If I get a chance in the future, I’ll introduce you to a fantastic wife,” Qi Yuan said softly.

Unfortunately, Han Xianyun could not enter the Death Qi World or the Yellow Springs World. Otherwise, he could have introduced him to Old Master Huang or the Sea God.

Upon hearing this, Han Xianyun felt conflicted.

Before he could respond, a voice tinged with mockery came from the side.

“Han Xianyun, the championship in the martial arts tournament is not something just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can win,” the speaker was a burly man with a tattoo on his face, someone clearly not to be trifled with. “To win, one has to be a powerhouse like Zhang Yang, the Southern Lion!”

When Zhang Yang was mentioned, admiration filled the tattooed man’s eyes.

Han Xianyun couldn’t help but laugh, “If you were the one claiming to win, I might have given you some credit. But you’re pinning your hopes on someone who once defeated you — you’re quite something.”

The tattooed man had faced off against Zhang Yang, the Southern Lion, before participating in the martial arts tournament and lost within three moves.

Since then, his fighting spirit had been crushed.

“Hmph, you don’t know your own limits. You don’t understand that even among martial arts masters, there are differences. If Zhang Yang had more time, he would have surely surpassed the peak of martial arts. What a pity…”

As the tattooed man spoke, his expression became somewhat forlorn.

He had also heard that after winning the martial arts tournament, Zhang Yang would retire from the martial arts world.

This tournament was his farewell fight.

It was a pity that he would not get to see anyone break through the peak of martial arts again.

After speaking, the tattooed man waved his sleeve and left.

Xu Tiezhu's eyes widened in surprise, “Are you Han Xianyun from Beihe? A martial arts master?”

As a martial artist, he had naturally heard of the Northern Crane and Southern Lion.

This young man who referred to Qi Yuan as Mr. Qi was actually Han Xianyun, the Northern Crane?

Then Qi Yuan…

Many thoughts raced through his mind as he looked at Qi Yuan with a different expression.

The people from the martial arts school behind Xu Tiezhu also looked at Qi Yuan with a newfound respect.

Qi Yuan had only been at Mingwu Martial Arts School for a few months.

Judging by Han Xianyun's description, he was at least a martial arts master.

Could he really be a top-notch genius?

Han Xianyun smiled, “Yes, that’s me.”

At this point, Qi Yuan looked around at all the participating martial artists and couldn’t help but say, “Too weak, it’s so lonely being invincible.”

Xing Yu rolled her eyes at Qi Yuan, “Qi Yuan, even if you are a top-tier genius, don’t underestimate everyone else.”

She understood that Qi Yuan was likely a genius who had broken through the peak of martial arts.

Given the strange things happening lately, it wasn’t too surprising.

“I’m not underestimating anyone. I wish they would put in more effort. But unfortunately… they’re too weak. If it wasn’t for wanting to win the championship, I wouldn’t have even bothered participating,” Qi Yuan said.

Canary, holding Qi Yuan’s arm, said cheerfully, “Do you want me to injure them all so they have to withdraw from the tournament? That way… you can directly win the championship.”

“Wouldn’t that be a bit much?” Qi Yuan thought about it and shook his head.

Meanwhile, inside the building.

A woman looked anxious. “Sir, just now, contestant Wang Fusheng verbally provoked the target person.”

“What?” The man in military uniform looked shocked. “How dare he!”

The target was someone they all had to treat with caution, and someone dared to provoke him?

Is he courting death?

“Wang Fusheng, right? Quickly, send someone to arrest him. He verbally provoked and threatened an opponent before the competition. Disqualify him immediately and charge him with endangering national security… arrest him right away!”

The military man was truly angry.

They had been treading carefully around Qi Yuan, fearing to provoke him.

Yet someone still had the nerve to offend him — was this a death wish?

If they upset Qi Yuan and he brought down a few more Eyes of Heaven, who would bear that responsibility? Who would take the blame?

“Hurry up and arrange for staff to give every contestant a pre-competition briefing. Prohibit them from using any form of foul language or provoking their opponents, understand?” the military man said sternly.

This matter had to be handled properly.

Otherwise, forget about promotions and pay raises; they might not even be able to keep their lives.

…

The next day, the martial arts tournament officially began.

This martial arts tournament featured ten arenas, where participants would fight in batches.

After several rounds, the top twenty or so fighters would be selected for further competition.

The competition usually spanned two days.

The first day was essentially a battle royale with no highlights.

In the spectator stands, there were only a few viewers.

“Sigh, why is there no pre-match trash-talking segment? It’s so boring.”

“No trash-talking, no heated exchanges. This fighting is less exciting than a street brawl.”

“Boring, I wouldn’t have come if I’d known.”

The audience watched the matches with little interest.

Qi Yuan wasn’t particularly interested either. As he watched the competition, he mused, “A mortal martial master… you can achieve that in a hundred years. As for a spiritual martial master, I still have no clues.”

Canary, on the other hand, found it quite entertaining. “Watching these little people fight is quite fun. It’s like watching a cartoon.”

“Hey, you’re the little one, not me,” Qi Yuan glanced at Canary.

Canary was petite and delicate. Her black dress covered her entire body, making her look even smaller.

She could even hang herself entirely from Qi Yuan without much weight.

“What do you mean little? I’m not little at all!” Canary said proudly, puffing out her chest.

Although she secretly bought a push-up bra, she was naturally between an A and B cup, leaning more towards a B. Even with that, she didn’t look exaggerated, like an upside-down jade bowl.

“Indeed, you’re not small. If you want to be bigger, I could use a spell to make you as big as… a mountain.”

“Get lost!” Canary rarely swore.

“Hey, don’t swear. It’s prohibited here.”

“Tch.” Canary turned her head away from Qi Yuan, deciding that if Blood Pearl didn’t apologize, she wouldn’t talk to him today.

“See that person? That’s Zhang Yang, the Southern Lion. He’s my biggest opponent in this martial arts tournament… but unfortunately, he’s just a bit stronger than an ant.”

At that moment, on the arena, Zhang Yang unleashed a powerful punch, creating a strong gust of wind, his blood energy boiling.

This scene elicited cheers and applause from many in the audience.

Because… it was another instant knockout.

Canary was still angry and didn’t want to talk to Qi Yuan.

But then she thought, this was Qi Yuan trying to talk to her.

If she responded, it wouldn’t count as her initiating a conversation with him.

She glanced at Zhang Yang, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Blood Pearl, don’t you think the people in this world… look a bit familiar?”

“Familiar?” Qi Yuan was taken aback.

To be honest, he hadn’t noticed anything familiar.

“Their bloodlines… seem to share some degree of origin with the demons of the Ten Thousand Demon Realm,” Canary said seriously.

She was in the Yin God realm, so she saw more than Qi Yuan did.

As someone familiar with the Ten Thousand Demon Realm, Canary knew it well.

In the Flowwind Realm, one of their greatest enemies was the demons of the Ten Thousand Demon Realm.

The Supreme of the Ten Thousand Demon Realm, under Shang Yanran’s command, invaded the Flowwind Realm.

As a Supreme, Ning Tao had fought against the Supreme beings of the Ten Thousand Demon Realm many times and was familiar with their aura.

Qi Yuan was different. After entering the Myriad Convergence Gate, he just bulldozed his way through.

He barely interacted with the Supreme beings of the demon race.

Mentioning the Flowwind Realm, Qi Yuan grasped Canary’s cold little hand. “Does it have something to do with the Ten Thousand Demon Realm?

Does this mean we might have a chance… to return to Nineplate Mountain in the future?

If possible, we could even have a wedding at your hometown.”

“I don’t have a hometown, but if I did… it would be on your golden core.” Canary pouted playfully, but there was a hint of joy in her voice.

Indeed, she never really had any family.

The Blood Pearl, who suddenly burst into her world, was pretty much her everything.

Most of her life had been spent in a long, agonizing wait.

Now, she could finally savor some well-earned happiness.

“What if I bully you in the future and you have no one to back you up?” Qi Yuan pondered.

“You dare!” Canary glared at Qi Yuan. “If that happens, I’ll transform back into Ning Tao and stomp on you.

Oh, I regret it now. I should have stomped on you a few times when you were trapped in Tianxin Palace!”

Back then, Qi Yuan couldn’t enter the game.

Ning Tao had used a Soul Lock Jade to bring Qi Yuan in.

At that time, Qi Yuan was Ning Tao’s prisoner.

Ning Tao even thought about fully controlling Qi Yuan, imprisoning him in the dungeons of Tianxin Palace so that he would never leave her sight, making his entire existence revolve around her.

“No, I should stomp on you right now, hehe, Blood Pearl, you’re no match for me now.” Canary had a look of pride on her face.

In the private box, Canary lifted her slender leg. Perhaps she didn’t want to step on him with her shoe, and at some point, her shoe had slipped off, revealing a small foot wrapped in black stockings, like tender white lotus roots.

Her five jade-like toes were either curled up or perfectly aligned, resembling the most exquisite artwork in the world, small enough to fit in one hand.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan suddenly thought of something. “Are the stockings from the Flowwind Realm better quality than those on Gongxing Star?

If we could go to the Flowwind Realm, we could engage in cross-realm trade and sell stockings?”

“Get lost!” This time, Canary didn’t hold back and kicked Qi Yuan.

But perhaps she spoiled Qi Yuan too much. Her kick was light and slow, easily caught by Qi Yuan.

“Sigh, I was just saying, we’re too short on money.” Qi Yuan really wanted to buy Gongxing Star, but he was too poor.

“Hmph.” A flush of red appeared on Canary’s ears. She looked at Qi Yuan, displeased. “Is money more important than me?”

On Nineplate Mountain back then, she had asked similarly, “Is the Myriad Convergence Gate more beautiful than me?”

Hearing this, a smile appeared in Qi Yuan’s eyes. “For many people, money is indeed important.

But for me… a lawful good, idealistic person, you… are what matters.”

“If you weren’t lawful good or idealistic?”

“It would still be you,” Qi Yuan answered seriously.

“Hmph!” Canary snorted again, but this time there was more joy in her tone.

“I suddenly thought of a serious question.” At this point, Qi Yuan recalled something, his expression turning solemn.

“What question?” Canary’s long leg remained stretched out, not withdrawing her jade foot, seemingly enjoying her closeness to Qi Yuan.

Or perhaps, having waited for so long, she felt an intense sense of insecurity and feared being abandoned at any moment.

Only by staying close to Qi Yuan did she feel a sense of security.

That’s why, since coming to this world, she had stuck to Qi Yuan almost constantly.

Her gaze, her peripheral vision, never left Qi Yuan.

If she could lean against Qi Yuan, she would never refuse.

“We still haven’t discussed how much the betrothal gift should be.” Qi Yuan said seriously.

“I don’t want a betrothal gift,” Canary blurted out.

“Too much of a love-struck fool,” Qi Yuan chuckled. “If we posted our conversation online, there would be many people criticizing you.”

“If they criticize me, you’d defend me, wouldn’t you, Blood Pearl?” Canary smiled charmingly.

“Hmm… if not, I’d just kill them,” Qi Yuan replied earnestly.

He couldn’t bear to let Canary suffer any more grievances.

She had already endured far too much.