Quit While You're Ahead: The Psychological Game

【The cultivators of the Heavenly Fiend Sect withdrew alongside their sect master.】

【They retreated with remarkable professionalism, sweeping up their fellow disciples’ corpses, belongings, and the surrounding battlefield until nothing was left behind—not a single worthwhile item for you.】

【You didn’t care, though.】

【Today, you had obtained a jade slip and a Celestial Emperor’s red bellyband. That was already an unexpected windfall.】

【Besides, there was an awkward matter that still needed dealing with.】

【The Holy Light True Lord, sect master of the Flying Feather Sect, and the Void-Breaking True Lord, sect master of the Azure Hill Sect, arrived beside you at the same time.】

【Both cupped their fists and solemnly extended an invitation.】

【“Senior’s arrival on Blazing Light Star is truly an honor for us. Would you be willing to visit our sect? It would be our privilege to admire your bearing and exchange insights on cultivation.”】

【You couldn’t simply ignore such a matter.】

【This was a planet—vast and richly endowed.】

【The Holy Light True Lord and the Void-Breaking True Lord were the highest-ranking figures in two of the three most powerful and influential sects on this planet.】

【Moreover, cultivators of the Transcendent Heaven Realm were all ancient monsters who had cultivated for over a thousand years.】

【They were therefore nothing like the gullible onlookers gathered around the edges.】

【You could sense two frigid auras constantly sweeping over your body.】

【They were probably something akin to spiritual sense, emanating from the Holy Light True Lord and the Void-Breaking True Lord.】

【On the surface, they appeared awed by your strength and treated you with the utmost respect.】

【But no one knew what they were really thinking.】

【You had no idea who currently possessed the Profound Fire Mirror or the other Celestial Emperor relics.】

【You hadn’t had the time to pay attention to their struggle over them earlier.】

【Regardless of who held them, you had no intention of using the advantage created by everyone overestimating you to trick those items out of their hands.】

【You were certain that people like the Holy Light True Lord and the Void-Breaking True Lord would not be easy to fool.】

【Everyone thought you were incredibly powerful, but in reality, the dragonkin had simply run headfirst into the golden trait that countered them. Against other alien races, you were nowhere near as capable as you had appeared just now.】

【If they discovered that, the jade slip on your person would become a death warrant.】

【It was better to quit while you were ahead. You could always come back and harvest more in your next simulation. The gains you had made this time were already quite good.】

【And so, you said:】

【“There’s no need. I have no interest in your sects. As for exchanging cultivation insights, I’m afraid the only one doing the sharing would be me. I came to Blazing Light Star to handle an important matter. I merely happened to run into the emergence of these Celestial Emperor relics.】

【“I had no intention of taking action in the first place. It was only because you attacked me that I administered a slight punishment.”】

【A “slight punishment” had left the most powerful person on the planet with his skull cracked open.】

【And the matter you had come to Blazing Light Star to handle was supposedly a hundred times more important than the Celestial Emperor relics.】

【The onlookers found your identity increasingly mysterious.】

【The Void-Breaking True Lord spoke.】

【“May I ask what matter Senior has come to handle? We would be honored to assist in any way we can.”】

【This Void-Breaking True Lord belonged to the Three-Eyed Clan.】

【He was testing you.】

【The Three-Eyed Clan’s innate talent was their Heaven-Born Divine Eye, which could see through all falsehoods.】

【Put simply, disguises were useless in front of the Three-Eyed Clan.】

【You had copied the Three-Eyed Clan’s innate talent before, so you knew this very well.】

【The Void-Breaking True Lord was definitely certain that you possessed only the cultivation of the Core Formation Realm.】

【He simply had no idea how you had managed to kill the Demon Calamity True Lord, so he was putting on an act.】

【It could be said that whether the Void-Breaking True Lord would attack you depended on a single thought.】

【You had to get out of there quickly. You couldn’t let them come to their senses.】

【“Although the Profound Fire Mirror may not be famous, it is still an immortal weapon once used by the Celestial Emperor. Since Senior has shown himself today, it would be inappropriate for us to keep it. Why don’t you take it?”】

【The Void-Breaking True Lord’s second test had arrived.】

【He offered up the Profound Fire Mirror with both hands—the very item he had fought so hard to seize from the others.】

【What he never could have expected was that you possessed his race’s innate talent as well!】

【You saw at a glance that this Profound Fire Mirror was a decoy. It was merely a mass of energy, probably conjured by some divine ability of the Void-Breaking True Lord.】

【Someone who knew nothing about divine abilities would certainly have been unable to see through it.】

【Unfortunately for him, you were a bug. With the Three-Eyed Clan’s innate talent, you saw through it immediately.】

【This was a battle of wits.】

【The Void-Breaking True Lord was watching your expression, trying to determine your attitude toward such a treasure and whether it matched the bearing a supreme expert above the Transcendent Heaven Realm ought to possess.】

【You let out a soft laugh.】

【“What Celestial Emperor immortal weapon?”】

【The Void-Breaking True Lord’s expression froze.】

【“I mean that the mirror you were fighting over isn’t an immortal weapon at all. It’s merely an ordinary mirror, the sort a young woman might carry around to admire herself while fixing her hair. It only acquired some strange abilities after being imbued with a trace of the Celestial Emperor’s power. It’s nowhere near the level of a Celestial Emperor immortal weapon.”】

【You weren’t making that up.】

【When they had been fighting over the mirror, you had used Reverse Engineering to inspect it, but found no blueprint.】

【That meant it was not a cultivation-world creation, but an ordinary object—no different from the red bellyband in your possession.】

【Of course, it was inappropriate to describe a Celestial Emperor relic as “ordinary.”】

【After being steeped in the Celestial Emperor’s power, which had naturally dispersed following his death, they had long since undergone a transformation.】

【If they had originally been magical artifacts or spirit treasures, they could be called Celestial Emperor immortal weapons. If not, they were several grades below that level.】

【Your words surprised many people.】

【That included the Holy Light True Lord of the Flying Feather Sect, who said in astonishment:】

【“This item isn’t the Profound Fire Mirror? No wonder the people from the first-class stars showed so little interest after receiving the news…”】

【The Void-Breaking True Lord didn’t appear surprised. Clearly, he had developed his divine eye far beyond the average member of the Three-Eyed Clan and had also seen through the mirror.】

【The Void-Breaking True Lord smoothly went along with your explanation.】

【“Since it’s merely an ordinary relic, Senior presumably has no interest in it either…”】

【You cast the two of them a casual glance.】

【“Come to think of it, when those relics flew to my feet just now, the two of you attacked me as well…”】

【The moment they heard this, both men dropped to one knee.】

【“This junior failed to recognize Mount Tai and offended Senior. Since Senior had not revealed your true identity, our eyes were blind and we could not see through you. We beg Senior’s forgiveness!”】

【Seeing the two of them acting so obsequiously, the cultivators present became even more convinced that you were some supreme magnate—perhaps one who crossed the stars!】

【Meanwhile, Know-It-All’s legs were shaking like sieves.】

【He had actually shouted at such an existence earlier, and even attacked him?】

【Although he hadn’t gained the upper hand and had instead been beaten several times…】

【“This makes perfect sense! How could a little nobody like me possibly beat a great powerhouse of this caliber?”】

【Now, even the fact that you had hired him as a guide seemed perfectly reasonable.】

【A great powerhouse had come from some distant first-class or even special-class star. Naturally, he wouldn’t know much about their remote, impoverished second-class star.】

【So he had found someone familiar with the local situation to show him around.】

【But then, why didn’t such a great powerhouse even know basic common knowledge, such as divine markings?】

【It doesn’t matter anymore. He took down the Demon Calamity True Lord as easily as slicing tofu—do you even realize how important divine runes are?】

【Maybe he simply doesn’t care to use divine runes at all!】

【You looked at the two kneeling figures and waved your hand.】

【“If I didn’t have something important to deal with right now, I would certainly punish you for this! Enough—get up.”】

【“Thank you, Senior!”】