Is It Wrong to Bully the Novice Village for System Rewards?

The Exquisite Sanctuary.

The venue was a masterpiece of arcane engineering. A vast, artificially carved stone platform floated in the center of the valley, reinforced layer by layer with defensive arrays. Dense patterns of light flowed across its surface like liquid mercury, marking it as a top-tier dueling ground.

News of the duel had spread like wildfire. Disciples of the Exquisite Sanctuary flooded in from every peak, eager to witness the clash between two Holy Scions. Guests from other sects, sensing drama, abandoned their wine and flocked to the spectator stands.

The air buzzed with the noise of a thousand conversations.

“Who do you think takes it? The Supreme Mystery Holy Scion or Purple Sun?”

“Is that even a question? Look at the odds.” A cultivator pointed to a bustling betting station nearby. “Betting on Supreme Mystery pays one-to-six. Put in a hundred spirit stones, get six hundred back. It’s a long shot for a reason.”

“Pass,” his companion shuddered. “Qi Yuan is an unknown variable. Ji Tianpeng is a monster. I’m not throwing money into the void.”

“Suit yourself. I’m putting five thousand on Ji Tianpeng. Sure, the payout is low, but profit is profit. Even a mosquito’s leg is meat.”

“Good point. Put five thousand on Purple Sun for me too!”

“Snacks! Spirit fruits! Mineral water! Get your snacks here!”

…

In the crowd, Qi Yao watched the figure in white standing on the platform, her hands clasped tightly together.

“Sister Qin,” she whispered, looking up at Qin Lingxue. “Do you think Big Brother Qi can win?”

Qin Lingxue, whose expression usually rivaled a frozen lake, softened as she looked at the young girl.

“Yao’er,” she said gently. “Your brother is dead. Although this man shares his name and face, he is not him. You must understand this difference.”

“I know.” Qi Yao’s eyes rimmed with red. “When I was in the depths of despair, Big Brother Qi fell from the sky and saved me. And he just happened to have the same name.”

She stared at Qi Yuan’s back, her voice trembling. “Sometimes, I can’t help but think… maybe my brother’s spirit couldn’t bear to leave me. Maybe he found a way to come back, wearing a different identity, just to protect me.”

“I know it sounds stupid,” she wiped a tear. “He is a supreme Holy Scion, a dragon among men. My brother was… he was just an ordinary mortal with a trash spirit root. The difference between them is like clouds and mud. But I have to believe it. It’s the only way I can pretend he’s still alive.”

Qin Lingxue sighed, her heart aching for the girl.

“Yao’er… I failed you and your brother back then. But now, you are my sister. And as for this Holy Scion Qi… I will remember the debt of gratitude I owe him for saving you.”

Her eyes hardened as she looked toward the arena. If he falls, I will step in.

…

On the platform.

Seeing that the audience had reached critical mass, Xiao Yueni stepped forward as the officiator.

“The array is about to activate,” she announced, her voice amplified by spiritual energy. “The combatant with the higher cultivation will have their mana suppressed to match the lower level. This is a spar to determine superiority, not a death match. Please stop when the outcome is decided. Do not strike to kill!”

Qi Yuan rubbed his nose, looking bored. “Understood. Can we start? I’m in a rush. The food back at the palace is getting cold.”

“Still talking big,” Ji Tianpeng sneered from the other side. “I hope your bones are as hard as your mouth.”

Hummmm—

The formation patterns on the stone floor erupted with blinding light. A heavy, suppressive law descended, enveloping the entire arena.

The Equalization Array had engaged.

Immediately, Ji Tianpeng felt the vast ocean of his spiritual energy being compressed. The array detected Qi Yuan’s level and began forcing Ji Tianpeng down to match it.

Early-stage Soul Formation… Peak Nascent Soul… Late-stage Nascent Soul…

Ji Tianpeng didn’t mind. This was expected. He stared at Qi Yuan like a tiger eyeing a rabbit, a cruel grin stretching across his face.

“You should kneel and beg for mercy while you still hav— Wait. What?”

His sentence cut off. His eyes bulged.

He realized with horror that his cultivation wasn’t stopping at the Mid-Nascent Soul stage. It was plummeting. It was crashing like a boulder off a cliff.

Early-stage Nascent Soul. Late-stage Golden Core. Late-stage Foundation Building.

“What is happening?!”

It felt like his dantian had taken a laxative. His power was flushing away uncontrollably.

Qi Refining Stage.

In the span of three breaths, the mighty Holy Scion of Purple Sun had been nerfed into a level 1 rookie.

“This is impossible!” Ji Tianpeng gasped, his knees trembling.

Opposite him, Qi Yuan smiled, the picture of calm.

“Since Fellow Daoist Ji is ready, let us begin.”

“Wait! Hold on—” Ji Tianpeng screamed, panic seizing his heart.

He didn’t get the chance. Qi Yuan simply released his aura.

BOOM!

The pressure of a genuine Nascent Soul cultivator slammed into the defenseless, Qi Refining-level Ji Tianpeng like a hydraulic press.

Thud!

Ji Tianpeng didn’t even have time to react. He was flattened instantly, his knees hitting the stone with a bone-cracking crunch. He was pinned to the floor, face pressed against the dirt, completely immobilized by the sheer difference in pressure.

“Oh my,” Qi Yuan looked down, feigning shock. “Fellow Daoist Ji, I haven’t even touched you yet. Why are you kneeling so formally? There’s no need for such a grand salute.”

The arena went dead silent.

The cheers died in throats. The hecklers froze. Thousands of cultivators stared blankly at the scene, their brains crashing like an overloaded server.

Silence. Eerie, absolute silence.

From the audience’s perspective, this is what happened:

They trash-talked.

The array turned on.

Qi Yuan said “Go.”

Ji Tianpeng immediately dropped to his knees in surrender.

It was smooth. It was fluid. It looked… rehearsed.

“What… what the hell just happened?” someone whispered.

Then, a voice from the back screamed out, filled with realization and rage.

“DAMMIT! I GET IT NOW! THEY’RE IN CAHOOTS!”

The shout broke the spell.

“This is a scam! It’s a match-fixing scheme! They’re acting!”

“Those two colluded with the bookmaker to cheat us! They lured us into betting on Ji Tianpeng, and then he dives in the first second!”

“Refund! Refund!”

“I bet ten thousand Spirit Stones! You crooked house! Give me my money back!”

The crowd exploded into a riot, surrounding the terrified bookmakers.

On the stage, the suppression flickered. Ji Tianpeng regained his senses and realized his humiliating posture. His face turned purple with rage.

“QI YUAN!” he roared, veins bulging on his forehead. “You despicable, shameless worm! You used a sneak attack while the array was glitching!”

As he screamed, the array seemed to recalibrate. His mana surged back, skyrocketing from Qi Refining all the way back to the Mid-Nascent Soul stage.

Qi Yuan chuckled, unbothered. “You claim the array has a problem. Do you have evidence? Or are you just making excuses for your weak knees?”

“Good! Good!” Ji Tianpeng gritted his teeth, standing up as his power returned. “We go again!”

BOOM!

Battle intent erupted from him like a volcano. He reached into the void and pulled out a pitch-black spear. The weapon was ancient and unadorned, yet it radiated a terrifying, savage aura from the Primordial World. It was a weapon of mass destruction.

“DIE!”

The air screamed as the spear tore through space. A beam of destructive black light shot toward Qi Yuan, fast enough to split a mountain.

Facing this lethal strike, Qi Yuan stood perfectly still. He didn’t dodge. He didn’t block. He just watched it come.

“He’s insane!” “That strike is lethal! Even with suppressed cultivation, that’s a Soul Formation technique!” “Dodge, you idiot!”

The crowd screamed in horror.

And then, it happened again.

Mid-flight, Ji Tianpeng’s mana bar crashed.

Zip.

In the blink of an eye, he fell from Nascent Soul back to Qi Refining.

Poof.

Without sufficient mana to sustain it, the terrifying black beam fizzled out halfway to its target, dissipating like a fart in the wind.

But the ride wasn’t over.

Ji Tianpeng felt his cultivation start to rubber-band. It shot up to Golden Core, dropped to Qi Refining, spiked to Nascent Soul, then crashed again. It was like riding a rollercoaster with the accelerator welded to the floor and no seatbelt.

“Blergh!”

Ji Tianpeng couldn’t handle the violent internal backlash. He convulsed and sprayed a fountain of blood into the air.

“You…” He clutched his chest, staring at Qi Yuan with bloodshot eyes. “What kind of demonic art is this… how are you controlling my cultivation?!”

Qi Yuan spread his hands, looking the picture of innocence.

“Why is there so much drama with you? Are we fighting or are you performing a one-man show?”

Internal Monologue: It’s not magic, buddy. It’s an exploit.

Qi Yuan possessed the talent [Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing]. It allowed him to display any cultivation level he wanted, and the disguise was perfect—it fooled people, artifacts, and even the heavens.

As long as the array wasn’t grade-checked by a Dao Integration grandmaster, Qi Yuan could feed it false data.

He was telling the array: “I am at the Qi Refining Stage.”

The array, following its core logic to “equalize” the fighters, immediately smashed Ji Tianpeng down to Qi Refining to match him. When Ji Tianpeng tried to attack, Qi Yuan would tweak the signal, causing the array to panic and adjust Ji Tianpeng’s settings in real-time.

The fact that Ji Tianpeng hadn’t died from Qi Deviation yet was honestly a testament to his sturdy constitution.