Even that impulsive brat Fang Lizhe got swept up in the heat of the moment, howling as he charged forward with his newly acquired longsword.

His posture didn’t look like someone trying to catch a bird; it looked more like he was charging into battle to slay demons and monsters.

“Mine! It’s mine!” One cultivator, possessing sharp eyes and swift hands, suddenly reached out and actually managed to grab a fluttering Flowing Light Sparrow.

His face had just broken into a look of wild joy when, in the next instant, his smile froze.

Plop.

The poor Flowing Light Sparrow twitched twice in his grip, its head lolling to the side. He had actually squeezed it to death!

This scene poured a bucket of cold water over the heads of the other excited cultivators, making them realize that these Flowing Light Sparrows were not only fast but also extremely fragile. They had to be careful with their strength.

Zhou Kai and Chen Ziyi exchanged a glance. Chen Ziyi gave a slight nod, her figure flickering as she left behind a brief words, “I’m going in to practice my technique,” before joining the fray.

Her wide cloak fluttered slightly with her urgent movements, yet she didn’t seem clumsy at all.

Zhou Kai, however, was in no hurry to catch one.

A meaningful smile played on his lips as he crossed his arms, leisurely observing the chaos unfolding in the field.

He understood the situation perfectly: there were only fifteen Flowing Light Sparrows in total, but nearly two hundred people in the field. Going straight for one—setting aside whether he could even grab it—would inevitably make him a target for everyone else the moment he succeeded.

Better… to let these people fight amongst themselves first and deplete some of their strength.

When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits.

Zhou Kai didn’t mind playing the role of the “fisherman” this time.

He clearly wasn’t the only one with this idea. Many cultivators in the field chose to watch from the sidelines for now, or appeared to be chasing the birds while actually looking for an opportunity to pull down those who dared to stick their necks out.

For a time, the scene grew increasingly chaotic.

Cultivators employed all sorts of methods to snatch the Flowing Light Sparrows or prevent others from getting them.

The glow of low-level spells flashed intermittently, accompanied by the dull thuds of fists meeting flesh. The noise was incessant, occasionally punctuated by cries of pain and angry shouts.

Although Gao Feiyang had explicitly forbidden taking lives, in such a chaotic scramble, bumps and bruises were unavoidable. Situations where people struck too hard, or where genuine anger flared up, occurred from time to time.

Zhou Kai’s gaze remained primarily fixed on Chen Ziyi.

She wasn’t rushing to blindly catch a sparrow. Instead, relying on physical prowess and reaction speed that far surpassed her peers, she easily dodged attack after attack and interference after interference.

Even though her cultivation was suppressed to the first layer of the first realm, her foundation as a Meridian Opening fourth layer practitioner was undeniable.

That composure and calmness were something most cultivators present sorely lacked.

Occasionally, some foolhardy cultivator tried to attack her or snatch a Flowing Light Sparrow flying past her. She effortlessly deflected them all with a light push or a nudge, sending her opponents off-balance and stumbling away.

“Hmm, Ziyi should be fine over there.” Zhou Kai felt reassured. Since she provided Vitality points to the system, she likely had some genuine talent in body cultivation.

The time it takes for three incense sticks to burn isn’t particularly long, nor is it particularly short.

As time passed, the struggle in the field grew fiercer.

Many cultivators had already been forced out of contention due to depleted spiritual energy or injuries inflicted by others. They could only withdraw unwillingly from the fighting circle and collapse at the edges of the square.

The number of people still able to compete had sharply decreased to around a hundred.

Zhou Kai’s eyes swept across the field and quickly locked onto several key targets for observation.

That old fellow Hu Yongyu was currently hopping around in the crowd like a monkey; his movement technique was surprisingly agile. He was fighting with another cultivator over a circling Flowing Light Sparrow, the two of them going back and forth quite enthusiastically.

The trio led by Fu Sheng also displayed considerable strength.

Fu Sheng stood to one side with a calm expression, occasionally giving instructions. The unremarkable crow perched on Wu Yong’s shoulder beside him was proving surprisingly effective. It kept letting out sharp caws that accurately predicted the flight paths of the Flowing Light Sparrows.

Guided by the bird, Wu Yong avoided several dangerous situations and successfully caught one Flowing Light Sparrow, carefully cradling it in his arms.

Fu Sheng himself wasn’t idle, either. Seizing an opportunity, he ruthlessly snatched a Flowing Light Sparrow right from another cultivator’s grasp just as it was about to be secured—his methods were quite vicious.

As for that body cultivator, Xiong Gang, he stood guard beside Fu Sheng and Wu Yong like an iron tower, blocking all attacks that tried to get close and creating an excellent environment for his two companions to work.

“Interesting.” A slight smile touched Zhou Kai’s lips. This Fu Sheng indeed had some tricks up his sleeve.

Seeing that more than half of the incense in the burner had already burned away, Zhou Kai knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Ziyi, now!” he called out in a low voice.

Hearing this, Chen Ziyi’s eyes sharpened. She stopped circling and lunged directly toward the Flowing Light Sparrow closest to her.

“Looking for death!” Several nearby cultivators saw this and immediately closed in around her, trying to block her path.

At that moment, Zhou Kai moved!

With a flick of his wrist, light flashed continuously from his Storage Bag as he scattered a massive handful of multicolored talismans like flowers raining from the heavens!

Fireball Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Wind Blade Talismans, Earth Wall Talismans… all were low-grade first-tier talismans, but their advantage lay in sheer quantity!

“Holy shit! Is this kid crazy?!”

“Damn it! He must have thrown his entire fortune into this!”

“Where did this prodigal son come from?!”

The cultivators surrounding Chen Ziyi had never seen such an extravagant fighting style before. For a moment, they were stunned by this overwhelming barrage of talismans. They scrambled frantically to defend themselves, and their formation instantly fell into disarray.

Chen Ziyi seized this opening. Her figure flashed as she firmly grasped the startled Flowing Light Sparrow in her hand.

“Well done!” Zhou Kai praised her briefly, but he didn’t pause at all. He shot toward Hu Yongyu like a ghost.

Hu Yongyu was currently locked in a heated struggle with his opponent over a sparrow; it seemed about to fall under his control.

Suddenly, he felt someone flash past his side, followed by a powerful force slamming into him.

“Ouch!” Hu Yongyu cried out in surprise as he stumbled backward several steps involuntarily.

Zhou Kai “happened” to appear right where Hu Yongyu had been standing moments before. He seemingly dodged an attack from Hu Yongyu’s opponent awkwardly while simultaneously sweeping his right hand outward—scooping up the very Flowing Light Sparrow that had just escaped Hu Yongyu’s grasp!

“Han Cheng!” Hu Yongyu steadied himself, shocked and furious, pointing at Zhou Kai and cursing loudly.

Zhou Kai merely spread his hands with an “innocent” expression. “Fellow Daoist Hu, you can’t blame me for this. Blades and swords have no eyes, and fists show no mercy. In scrambles like these, accidents are bound to happen.”

On the high platform, Gao Feiyang, who had been paying casual attention to Zhou Kai—this “Han Cheng” who had left a deep impression—watched intently. Initially, he thought this kid had low cultivation and was just foolish and rich, likely material to be eliminated in the first round.

But unexpectedly, this kid was as slippery as an eel!

The earlier move using the talismans to clear a path had already made Gao Feiyang’s eyelids twitch. Now, seeing Zhou Kai pull such an “accidental collision” stunt against Hu Yongyu, Gao Feiyang immediately realized the truth.

“Is this brat addicted to playing the pig to eat the tiger? Things are going to get interesting later.” Gao Feiyang saw it clearly—it was Zhou Kai who had intentionally bumped into him!

After succeeding, Zhou Kai immediately turned his gaze toward Fang Lizhe on the other side.

Fang Lizhe, despite having decent martial arts skills, seemed somewhat flustered now.

He wielded his longsword like a fire poker, chopping left and right without any technique. Often, he used it more for thrusting and stabbing in a comical manner, yet he barely managed to repel a few opponents.

He was currently chasing a Flowing Light Sparrow all over the field and seemed about to succeed.

Suddenly, a sneaky-looking cultivator darted out diagonally, moving extremely fast, reaching out a hand to intercept the bird.

“Looking for death!” Zhou Kai’s eyes turned cold. A thin, cicada-wing-like flying sword silently slid out of his sleeve.

Whoosh—

A barely perceptible cold glint flashed.

“Ah!” the sneaky-looking cultivator screamed. Blood spurted from his right wrist as he reached for the sparrow—his entire hand had been severed cleanly at the joint and fell to the ground!

Under the intense pain, how could he care about the sparrow? He clutched his severed stump, wailing miserably.

Fang Lizhe seized the chance, stepped forward clumsily, and hugged the startled Flowing Light Sparrow into his arms, his face a mix of delight and lingering fear.

“Thanks, Big Brother!” He shot a grateful look toward Zhou Kai.

Zhou Kai nodded slightly. “Protect it well!”

Thus far, Zhou Kai, Chen Ziyi, and Fang Lizhe each held one Flowing Light Sparrow!

“Gather around me!” Zhou Kai commanded sternly.

Chen Ziyi and Fang Lizhe immediately converged toward him.

“Are there any other fools looking to die?” Zhou Kai sneered. He pulled another thick stack of talismans from his Storage Bag and stood flanked by Chen Ziyi, shielding Fang Lizhe in the middle. He adopted a posture that screamed: Whoever comes, dies.

The surrounding cultivators who hadn’t obtained sparrows looked at the three people holding the obvious Flowing Light Sparrows, looked at the thick stack of talismans Zhou Kai held, and then looked at the bloody severed hand on the ground. They wisely chose to retreat.

You’d have to be joking to fight head-on against a tycoon who treated Spirit Stones like dirt. That was like lighting a lantern inside a latrine—looking for death!

Soon, the three incense sticks burned out.

“Time’s up!” Gao Feiyang’s booming voice echoed across the field. “All those without Flowing Light Sparrows, leave immediately!”

The field fell silent, and then those who failed to grab sparrows slunk away dejectedly.

Hu Yongyu, his face especially livid, glared fiercely at Zhou Kai before leaving unwillingly.

Moments later, the originally crowded square held only eleven people.

Zhou Kai glanced around. It seemed that among the fifteen Flowing Light Sparrows, four had died during the chaotic scramble earlier.

Fu Sheng, leading Wu Yong, was also present. Their trio had successfully grabbed two sparrows.

Fu Sheng walked over toward Zhou Kai’s group of three, wearing a faint smile. He cupped his hands and said, “Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Han, for passing this trial with your sister and little brother.”

His gaze lingered on Zhou Kai for a moment, filled with meaning.