Chapter 80
Boom—!
Luo Buqi crashed heavily onto the dueling platform.
The impact sent violent tremors through his chest, and the moment his back struck the ground, alarm bells exploded in his mind. He didn't even have time to steady the surging spiritual energy inside his body before abruptly swinging the banner in his hand.
Golden light burst forth.
The shattered flying sword instantly reformed before him, fragments converging at terrifying speed.
Clang!
The countless golden swords merged together midair, layers of sword light overlapping as they condensed into a massive shield more than two zhang wide directly in front of him.
Almost the instant the shield took shape—Tan Sheng's counterattack arrived.
Earthen spikes tore through the ground like a rising forest of spears, descending in a furious barrage toward Luo Buqi.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The impacts exploded one after another in deafening succession.
The entire shield shook violently beneath the assault, the sound resembling torrential rain crashing against banana leaves, dense and relentless enough to numb the scalp.
Luo Buqi gritted his teeth and forcefully endured the storm of attacks. Then, taking advantage of a brief opening, he abruptly planted one hand against the ground and flipped backward, retreating several zhang in one swift motion before finally stabilizing himself again.
At the same time, he transmitted his voice directly toward Tan Sheng. "Did you hear that voice too?"
"You mean the part where you got called stingy?" Tan Sheng replied calmly, not slowing his attacks in the slightest.
He had already recognized Lou Yuqing's voice earlier. Although he had no idea how she knew about Luo Buqi's habits, that didn't stop him from stabbing directly at the man's sore spot.
Luo Buqi's expression darkened instantly.
"How am I stingy?" he snapped irritably. "You believe whatever she says? Can't you think for yourself?"
He frowned, clearly annoyed. "And stop looking at me like I'm trying to scheme against you. I only want to ask you one thing."
His expression suddenly turned strange. "Can you say it out loud?"
Tan Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly. "What do you mean?"
He wasn't surprised Luo Buqi had noticed his vigilance. In a fight between cultivators, dropping one's guard recklessly could easily cost someone their life.
But seeing that Luo Buqi genuinely didn't seem to be using this as a distraction tactic only made Tan Sheng more suspicious instead.
Luo Buqi fell silent for a brief moment before speaking again through voice transmission.
"That female disciple called me stingy just now. I wanted to correct her..." His expression twisted more and more the longer he spoke. "But the moment I tried, I suddenly couldn't say anything."
His gaze locked onto Tan Sheng. "That's why you managed to slam me down earlier. I was so shocked that I completely missed your attack."
Tan Sheng frowned instinctively and opened his mouth.
"You—"
Are you actually stingy or not?
But before the words could leave his lips, his mouth froze shut as though an invisible force had sealed it closed.
His pupils contracted sharply.
Immediately, he tried changing the phrasing.
Tried using different wording.
Tried circling around the topic from another angle.
None of it worked.
Anything remotely connected to the matter simply could not be spoken aloud.
Seeing the constant shifts in Tan Sheng's expression, Luo Buqi instantly understood.
Good.
So he wasn't the only one cursed by this nonsense.
A trace of unease finally surfaced in Luo Buqi's eyes.
At the moment, neither of them understood what exactly was happening. Continuing to fight seriously under these conditions felt far too risky.
"Let's test things first," Luo Buqi proposed calmly through voice transmission. "We slow things down for now. Once we confirm there's nothing strange going on, we settle this properly afterward."
He paused briefly.
"Agreed?"
Tan Sheng gave a slight nod.
Luo Buqi clearly no longer had the mindset for a full-force battle, and winning under circumstances like this would feel hollow anyway.
More importantly—Tan Sheng also wanted answers.
So, beneath the audience's bewildered gazes, the two resumed exchanging blows across the arena.
Spells collided.
Spiritual light burst outward.
Shockwaves rolled across the platform one after another.
The fight still looked fierce enough to rattle the ground beneath them—yet anyone sharp-eyed could tell something was off.
The killing intent had noticeably weakened.
Both sides were holding back.
At the same time, Luo Buqi secretly sent another voice transmission to his followers.
Praise me.
Now.
And make it loud.
He specifically instructed them to emphasize his generosity with real examples so everyone present would clearly understand that he absolutely was not stingy.
The followers immediately relaxed.
This was easy.
After all, Luo Buqi genuinely treated his own people quite well.
One disciple instantly puffed out his chest and declared proudly, "I've never met anyone as generous as Senior Brother Luo! He gave me pills before, talismans yesterday, and even promised me a magical artifact today!"
There was even a faint trace of bragging in his tone.
Another disciple hurriedly joined in. "That's nothing. Before the New Year, I suffered serious injuries. Senior Brother Luo personally found a physician to treat me and even rewarded me with a hundred spirit stones afterward. Honestly, being able to follow him is a blessing."
A third disciple became increasingly emotional the more he spoke. "During a mission, I got trapped and nearly died. Senior Brother Luo charged straight into enemy territory himself just to save me!"
One after another, the testimonies rang out across the arena.
And the more they spoke, the more convincing it sounded.
For a moment, even the surrounding crowd began wavering slightly.
Had Junior Sister Lou actually gotten it wrong this time?
Then—Lou Yuqing's thoughts rang clearly through everyone's minds once again.
[Yeah, Luo Buqi really is generous to his underlings. But toward women? He's stingy beyond belief.]
Lou Yuqing looked at Luo Buqi with obvious disdain.
At first, after hearing all the passionate praise from his followers, she genuinely thought the man might actually be fairly generous.
Then she checked the gossip panel.
And instantly fell silent.
The crowd: "..."
One by one, their gazes slowly shifted toward Luo Buqi.
Curious.
Disbelieving.
Almost impressed, in a bizarre sort of way.
Just how exactly had this man managed to be stingy?
Luo Buqi nearly exploded on the spot.
Nonsense!
Those were true love relationships! Why would material possessions matter?!
Then Lou Yuqing's thoughts echoed again.
[Forget cultivation resources. This guy doesn't even bother saying sweet words.]
[He just tells girls things like, "True love shouldn't be tainted by worldly possessions," then hands them a heart-shaped jade pendant.]
Luo Buqi froze.
That... sounded disturbingly accurate.
What was wrong with the jade pendant?!
He had personally chosen every single one!
Each carried his sincere feelings, alright?!
But Lou Yuqing's merciless thoughts continued.
[And don't be fooled by how nice they look. Those things are mass-produced.]
[Every woman Luo Buqi dates receives the exact same heart-shaped jade pendant.]
[Every single time he talks about "true love," he gives out the same identical token. Seriously, what kind of true love comes off an assembly line?]
Luo Buqi: "..."
These people understood nothing.
That was my way of expressing affection!
Unfortunately for him, no one present seemed capable of appreciating such "romance."
Tan Sheng looked at Luo Buqi with completely undisguised disdain now.
Shu'er would absolutely never fall for this kind of man.
As expected, the moment Wu Fengshu heard everything, her expression turned thoroughly disgusted.
First, because Luo Buqi was a shameless flirt.
Second—because he was unbelievably stingy.
Si Nidie let out a long sigh and crossed her arms. "The world really is going downhill."
How could a man like this still find partners?
The only explanation was that the women involved had either gone blind... or been thoroughly deceived.
Beside her, Si Nanren silently glanced at his sister and wholeheartedly agreed.
Meanwhile, Nangong Wen and Chen Mujian—already lovers themselves—felt this even more deeply.
They rarely exchanged gifts, but whenever they did, the gestures were sincere and thoughtful, naturally deepening their feelings over time.
But Luo Buqi...?
How exactly was this man even falling in love?
Nearby, Luo Buqi's followers awkwardly covered their faces.
Honestly... Senior Brother Luo truly wasn't generous when it came to relationships.
He constantly repeated one phrase: "Love conquers all."
To be frank, they had always found the saying a little strange. Yet Luo Buqi treated it like sacred truth.
Ling Yunxiao silently committed this entire situation to memory as a future cautionary lesson.
Then—a massive screen of light suddenly unfolded across the sky.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
The image revealed Luo Buqi standing beside an unfamiliar female cultivator.
With complete solemnity, he handed her a heart-shaped jade pendant.
"This is the token of our love," Luo Buqi declared seriously. "You must treasure it well. If you lose it, don't blame me for becoming heartless."
Everyone: ...What?
Before anyone could process it, the scene abruptly shifted.
A different female cultivator.
The same jade pendant.
"This pendant symbolizes our love. If it breaks, then it proves your feelings for me were never sincere. In that case, we'll end things here."
Shi Xiuxiu rubbed her eyes hard.
No.
She definitely hadn't misheard.
Even though Luo Buqi changed the wording slightly each time, the meaning remained practically identical.
And somehow... every version sounded awful.
Forget romance.
It sounded more like a threat.
No wonder Senior Sister Yuqing said Luo Buqi was stingy with sweet words.
Back when Qi Luofeng had pursued her, he could spout endless sweet nonsense until her head spun.
Compared to that, Luo Buqi's approach was downright catastrophic.
Sure enough—as the scenes on the light screen shifted one after another, different female cultivators appeared saying almost the exact same things.
"Luo Buqi, let's end things here forever."
"Luo Buqi, we're not suitable for each other."
"Luo Buqi, I'm leaving. Stop following me."
Every single relationship ended the same way.
The woman dumped him.
Ruan Qingzhu and Yuan Chenxing exchanged utterly speechless looks.
Meanwhile, Luo Buqi's expression cycled through colors so quickly it looked like someone had overturned a paint tray across his face.
Pale.
Green.
Red.
His scalp tingled violently.
Where the hell had this light screen come from?!
And why was it publicly exposing my private history?!
Worst of all—he had always told everyone that he was the one who ended those relationships.
Now the truth had been ripped open in front of the entire crowd.
He was the one getting dumped every single time.
The humiliation nearly suffocated him on the spot.
His followers collectively sucked in cold breaths.
No wonder Senior Brother Luo always spoke about "true love" with such tragic sorrow in his eyes.
They had originally assumed some unspeakable outside factor had forced the separations and never dared pry deeper.
Turns out—the problem had been Senior Brother Luo himself all along.
Meanwhile, Lou Yuqing calmly watched the playback through the system's audiovisual function while mercilessly commenting in her mind:
[Luo Buqi might be decent as a leader, but as a boyfriend? Total disaster.]
[Every single partner dumped you. At some point, shouldn't you reflect on yourself a little?]
[But no. You just keep repeating the same mistakes.]
[You don't show affection, you don't spend money, and you barely spend time with them. So what exactly are you dating for? Entertainment? A hobby? To prove you're attractive?]
Lou Yuqing genuinely could not understand it.
Inside, Luo Buqi stubbornly argued back: Love conquers all.
That was how his parents had raised him. There was definitely nothing wrong with his approach.
The only problem was that he simply hadn't met the right woman yet.
Once he met the right person—
[I knew it.]
[No wonder his relationships always end up like this. Luo Buqi basically got brainwashed by his parents' ridiculous stories.]
Luo Buqi froze completely.
Since childhood, his parents had constantly filled his ears with those stories.
There were even "real examples" to back them up.
How could they possibly be fake?
Compared to Luo Buqi's disbelief, everyone else accepted Lou Yuqing's explanation almost instantly.
Even Luo Buqi's own followers silently found themselves siding with her.
[When Luo Buqi was little, he refused to sleep unless his mother told him bedtime stories.]
[Most stories only interested him once. But he especially loved the romantic stories his mother embellished.]
[The more she told them, the more exaggerated they became, until they completely distorted Luo Buqi's understanding of love.]
[His mother once said that although his father was dull and poor, he was still willing to spend most of his monthly allowance on a token of love.]
[And somehow, Luo Buqi interpreted that as: "A good partner doesn't need to be eloquent or wealthy—as long as there's a token of love."]
Everyone: "..."
Luo Buqi: "..."
At that moment, an overwhelming urge to rush home and question his parents face-to-face surged through him.