The Proper Use of Celestial Instruments, Smash Forward

Chen Ping'an walked out.

At the moment he left the courtyard, two beams of light suddenly flashed into the Black Viper and Golden Feather celestial instruments.

In that instant, their auras changed.

The Golden Feather celestial instrument no longer exuded a terrifying air. It appeared to be merely at the artifact level. 

The Black Viper also no longer carried the aura of a great-cycle late stage cultivator, nor did it have the oppressive might of the dragon race. It looked like an ordinary dog.

At the same time, the system's cold voice rang in the ears of the Golden Feather and Black Viper:

"I have concealed your true power. Don't appear too formidable in front of him. Just exude a subtle aura."

Hearing this chilling voice, the Golden Feather and Black Viper quickly agreed.

In a deep alley of Light Ridge Town, Duan Xinxin sat in front of a bookstore and spoke, but strangely, no sound came out. It wasn't until she shook her head and smiled that she made a sound: "Dear, in a few more days, I'll be able to live with you again."

It had been years since they lived together. She had forgotten his scent and warmth.

...

Chen Ping'an walked to the small forest. Seeing no one around, he began following the system's instructions, focusing on a point ahead.

A black hole suddenly appeared, and the man and dog walked into it.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Ping'an found himself in an empty shop. On the table in front of him lay a light screen.

"In this kingdom, your name is Long Aotian. Let everyone in this kingdom know of your existence. Complete the mission to gain a major boundary increase and unlock the next level."

Seeing this mission, Chen Ping'an blinked in confusion. So the "levels" weren't about killing monsters and leveling up, but this? And why use Long Lao's name? Chen Ping'an was utterly bewildered.

He walked out of the shop and onto a bustling street, looking around. After a short while, an extremely burly man blocked his path, towering over Chen Ping'an by two heads.

The man was so huge, Chen Ping'an felt like he was standing at the foot of a mountain. As the giant approached with a stern expression, Chen Ping'an sensed he was looking to pick a fight. Chen Ping'an knew the cultivation world operated this way with constant fighting, so he became solemn.

"Brother, my name is Wang Dagui. Are you interested in forming a team for the upcoming martial arts competition? We can split the spirit stones we win," the burly man said with a smile as he approached Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an thought the giant was trying to start trouble at first, but hearing this, he was taken aback. A martial arts competition to split spirit stones?

"Brother, I'm actually not from around here, so I'm not too familiar with the situation," Chen Ping'an said politely.

Hearing this, Wang Dagui eagerly explained the local situation, seeming desperate for Chen Ping'an to agree.

"Our kingdom will soon hold a martial arts competition to celebrate the prince's birthday. It's teams of five, and we already have four people plus an alternate, so we're short two. Seeing your cultivation level is at the first pill formation stage and you look under thirty, I thought I'd ask if you're interested."

As Wang Dagui described the kingdom's team competition, Chen Ping'an's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. This sounded perfect - his mission was to make his name known across the kingdom! The competition would be an ideal platform. If he could win it, his fame would spread throughout the land, or at the very least gain some notoriety. More importantly, he could size himself up against cultivators of similar levels.

Still, caution was wise. Something felt off. "Brother, I'm interested in the competition, but let me think it over," Chen Ping'an said with a smile. He wanted to ask around first before deciding - it wouldn't be wise to immediately trust a stranger who could be trying to lure him into a trap or robbery. If it was just money they wanted, that was no problem since he was broke. But if they had certain...special interests in mind, that burly guy did seem the type! Chen Ping'an shuddered inwardly at the thought.

Wang Dagui nodded and pointed to the second floor of a nearby teahouse. "If you make up your mind, you can find us there later."

Chen Ping'an noted the location and agreed. As Wang Dagui turned to leave, he paused and asked, "Oh, I forgot to ask your name, Brother."

"Long Aotian," Chen Ping'an replied.

Wang Dagui froze, surprised - that was the famous name of the Celestial Emperor Platform's leader. A complete namesake? Shaking his head, Wang Dagui prepared to depart, but as his gaze fell on the black dog behind Chen Ping'an, his hair stood on end. Yet when he looked closer, it seemed like an utterly ordinary dog. But that instinctive feeling of dread - what was that about? Confused, Wang Dagui left.

After seeing Wang Dagui off, Chen Ping'an began wandering around with the Black Viper, asking those who seemed friendly some questions to get an understanding of the area.

Through his inquiries, Chen Ping'an learned that this was actually the Northern Domain of the continent, over a hundred thousand miles from Light Ridge Town in the far south. This kingdom was called the Martial Kingdom, renowned for its emphasis on martial arts competitions like the upcoming one to celebrate the prince's birthday.

As Chen Ping'an asked around, Wang Dagui had returned to the teahouse.

"That guy actually rejected us?" An eerie voice immediately spoke from within the private room Wang Dagui entered.

"No, he said he'd consider it," Wang Dagui sat and replied.

"Heh, 'consider it' is just rejecting us politely. As if someone at the first pill formation stage is that great. I could handle him with one hand," the sneering voice belonged to a pale-faced man at the fifth pill formation stage.

A beautiful woman in purple sitting in the middle then spoke up. She appeared around twenty-four or twenty-five, with a perfect figure, but her cultivation had reached the sixth pill formation stage. This was Tian Shanshan, the team's leader and a general's daughter with high status in the kingdom.

"There's still a month until the competition starts, so we have plenty of time. Let's not neglect our training - we'll head to the nearby demon beast mountain range to hunt later. Get ready."

The pale-faced man smiled and nodded obediently. But if one looked closely, his eyes shone with greed whenever he glanced at Tian Shanshan, as if wanting to pounce on her right there.

...

After wandering around and finding the kingdom quite prosperous, Chen Ping'an noticed an especially large building with a three-zhang high, two-zhang wide gate bearing the inscription "Alchemist Guild."

"Oh?" Chen Ping'an's eyes lit up as he took out the token Ximen Chen had given him, wondering if it would work here. If so, Ximen Chen might be the Alchemist Guild's head, or at least hold a high position within it.

But before he could enter, Chen Ping'an was drawn to commotion nearby where a crowd had gathered. He squeezed to the front to see what was happening.

A young man around twenty-five wore a mischievous smile as he introduced something to a middle-aged spectator.

"Friend, care to place a bet? Just five spirit stones per round, completely fair and honest!"

This seemed to be some kind of gambling game. "Oh? Tell me about it," the middle-aged man said.

Between them stood two light screens displaying spell formations. The mischievous youth explained that he could control the array compass below to adjust the defensive strength of the screens. One would display the defenses of a reclusive cultivator, the other a amalgamation stage expert. If the spectator managed to shatter the reclusive screen, he would win and the youth would pay out ten spirit stones.

The middle-aged man understood - pick one screen to attack; if it's the reclusive one and he breaks it, he wins. "Sure, I'll give it a try," he said, handing over five spirit stones which the mischievous youth pocketed.

The youth crouched down to manipulate the array compass. "All set, attack whenever you're ready, friend."

The middle-aged man nodded, took out his weapon, chose one of the screens, and launched his attack.

Bang! The light screen shattered.

"Lucky you, friend!" The mischievous youth praised with a smile, handing over the spirit stones in front of the crowd.

Seeing this, the onlookers' eyes lit up and they surged forward to try their luck. Chen Ping'an had no spirit stones, so he could only watch from the sidelines, though he did want to give it a shot - it seemed like an amusing gamble.

People lined up to take their turns, some failing, some succeeding. This made it seem like the game was indeed completely fair.

However, no one noticed that only about one in three people actually won. Which meant that for every three bets, the mischievous youth profited five spirit stones.

The youth smiled slyly to himself, snickering inwardly at how easily he was fleecing these people.

The Golden Feather celestial instrument watched with disdain. "These people are so gullible. If our master went up there, I could guarantee smashing those trash light screens until this brat questioning his life's purpose." 

The Black Viper chuckled. "Don't worry, it seems our master has taken an interest."