Healing System

"I-I," Chu Dong stammered, seemingly flustered by the chain of events.

But in the very end, there was nothing he could do. These rules were made by their ancestors, and these people religiously followed them.

And those who don't do so—well, they get executed on the spot.

That was the case back during their ancestors' time, and until now, it had not changed a bit.

"You have accepted the bet, and due to the scale of it, you are going to have to inform your sect leader. Therefore, we are postponing this tournament for a single hour. Good luck," Michael explained, hiding a small smile that managed to form on his face.

"Ridiculous!" Chu Dong shouted, pointing at Michael in an accusatory tone. "You set this up! I did not even do anything—you can ask the others, right?"

As he spoke those words, he turned towards the other elders who, upon meeting his gaze, all turned away.

"Seems like you are all out of luck," Michael chuckled before walking up to him and patting his shoulder.

"But don't worry, your contributions..." He stopped himself dramatically. "Sorry, I did not mean to determine the winner just yet; that would be a little unsportsmanlike, don't you think?"

"Fine!" Chu Dong pushed Michael aside before saying in anger, "I will be reporting this incident to the sect leader, so prepare yourself for the consequences."

Michael shrugged and watched as he dashed away, using the pavilions as trampolines, until eventually, he was completely out of sight.

Yet again, it did not matter, as he had accomplished his goal and had the many eyes of the people around him witnessing what happened.

Safe to say, Chu Dong and his Azure Dragon sect were not going to have a fun time in the following hour—or future, for that matter.

Since Michael had decided to finish them off—this time for good.

"You can stop playing now, Elder Li—or should I say, Sect Leader Li?" Michael teased before enveloping him in a golden color, and soon, he shot up with an annoyed look.

"That... I am going to kill him the next time I see him," Sect Leader Li expressed, and Michael tried to reel him in.

"Calm down. You can kill whoever you want after we get the sect's riches back."

Sect Leader Li looked at him with hesitation but merely nodded instead. "I'll do as you say."

"Good." Michael put on a soft smile before whispering, "I am going to make sure Chu Dong gets the right words across—be right back."

Just as his words fell, Michael made his way down the platform and proceeded to go behind a few pavilions.

Once he felt like no one was watching him, he quickly shot up into the sky and headed right after the sprinting Chu Dong.

Due to the sheer strength difference, Michael was able to catch up in mere seconds, and finally, they reached the Azure Dragon sect's grounds.

However, he noticed something interesting—something he had not taken notice of previously.

And that was the familiar mana coming from one of the pavilions that seemed to mimic the exact same one he had felt back when the Golden Dragon sect's trials emerged.

'Hmm... system, can you go and investigate?' he asked.

It was a pity he couldn't give it mana, since after all, he was pretty dry on it himself—merely at 40% now.

The sun's rays managed to enhance his mana recovery, but it was still not enough.

I can give it a go, I guess, but you owe me more mana than usual, the system stated before appearing in its humanoid form and heading towards that particular pavilion.

Meanwhile, Michael continued following after Chu Dong, who by now was nearly at a pavilion where the strongest person was located.

Even then, it was simply someone at the Tier 5 level—still within Michael's handling limits if push came to shove.

He hovered around that pavilion and suddenly injected a bunch of mana into his ears, barely controlling it so as to not go deaf, but just enough to hear what was going on below him.

The same went for his eyes—he was able to completely see through the building.

"Sect Leader Ji... there is a big problem," Chu Dong spoke, garnering the sect leader's attention before continuing, "One of the people present used demonic qi to control my actions and make me attack the... announcer, but I—"

Before he could even finish, Sect Leader Ji lashed out, grabbing Chu Dong by the face and lifting him up.

"You did what?!" he questioned in a furious voice, as if his ears were betraying him. "You broke the only rule I told you to uphold! How brainless can you be?"

Sect Leader Ji tightened his grip on Chu Dong's head before throwing him into a wall and questioning, "Please tell me the Golden Dragon idiots did not place a bet first."

But yet again, Chu Dong had to disappoint him. "They have... and it's bad... really bad."

"Speak," Sect Leader Ji stated in a dominating tone.

"The... The Golden Dragon sect name... title... and everything else," Chu Dong barely managed to finish, when all of a sudden, his head was ripped off.

"FOOOOL!" Sect Leader Ji shouted, making the entire building shake.

"No, I can fix this..." he said, and what happened next made Michael's skin crawl.

He went up to the dead Chu Dong's body before swiftly locating the remainder of what was left of the head. Immediately after, he picked up a small scalpel and began trimming the skin off.

Not even a few seconds later, there was a makeshift facemask that was nearly identical to Chu Dong's face, with the added freckles that seemingly formed from the sheer destructiveness of what had happened.

Soon, Sect Leader Ji put it on, seemingly disguising himself as Chu Dong, as well as taking his clothes.

That was when he finally decided to head out, practically sprinting back to where the Golden Dragon sect was.

All the while, Michael trailed close behind, with the system approaching even faster before going inside him.

'What did you find?'

It's not exactly a trial ground, more like an inheritance chamber. Stuff like dragon blood is in there, but no one seems able to unlock it, the system explained, practically hinting at the possibility of Michael being the one who could do it.

'And that's where I come in, I presume? All I have to do is probably place my hand, right? Like in the fantasy films?' Michael said with a hint of excitement, which was quickly shut down by the system.

O sweet, innocent Victorian child... No. You will have to offer a strong sacrifice and a lot of gold—which, hey, at least we have one of, right?

'The money is no issue, but how strong are we talking?'

Tier 5 or 6 should suffice. More than one Tier 5 is probably better, though a single Tier 6 would be enough as well, the system said before adding, It's not like you're a stranger to sacrifices, right? You did almost offer that guy up to Meph, remember?

'Of course I remember—it still haunts me to this day.' Michael shed an imaginary tear before letting out a chuckle. 'It's fine. I'll get this bigshot below me as a sacrifice.'

Suit yourself, just don't bite off more than you can chew.

'Don't worry,' Michael assured as they finally arrived at the sect, and the supposed Chu Dong stepped up onto the arena, standing before the crowd.

"The sect leader has decided to go through with this. We will offer our name and title as well—have to make it fair, after all," he announced, earning startled gasps from all the people present.

"Is that so... I see." Sect Leader Li smirked before stretching out his hand. "Deal?"

And the supposed Chu Dong readily accepted. "Deal. The bet is on."

"Excellent!" Sect Leader Li exclaimed and turned to the crowd.

"With this, I declare the bet official, and the tournament can finally start!"

As his words hung in the air, a few people approached, holding plaques in their hands that they soon put into a single basket and shook it up.

"The way we will be choosing the contestants is by simply drawing lots—or in this case, plaques," Sect Leader Li stated before continuing, "The person who wins this first dueling tournament adds a point to their sect. And yes, people from the same sect can and will probably fight each other—it's all based on luck, after all."

"If the only people left are those from the same sect, the battle can be concluded by forfeit; otherwise, it's first to get knocked off the platform. Also, I would like to mention that there is a top performer system—the disciple who is the most extraordinary out of everyone present gets extra points and even a special reward in the end."

"Now then..." Sect Leader Li glanced around, his gaze staying a bit longer on Michael as he finished.

"Disciples, step forth, and let the tournament begin!"