Li Yundong felt a complicated mix of amusement and exasperation, as if he were Detective Conan, destined to fight wherever he went. The difference was, Conan was a harbinger of death, while Li Yundong seemed to attract conflict and brawls everywhere he stopped.

"Am I some sort of walking calamity?" Li Yundong mocked himself internally with a wry smile. Li Yundong waved his hand dismissively.

"Starting something here... isn't appropriate, is it?" Before Shi Neng could reply, the handsome man beside him chimed in with an encouraging grin, "Just a bit of sparring, that's all.

Plenty of space here, and letting the media friends capture it could be great publicity. What's the harm in that?" Li Yundong frowned secretly, turning his gaze toward the man who had been stirring the pot from the beginning, and asked with clear displeasure, "And who might you be?" The man hadn't opened his mouth when Su Chan suddenly pointed at him and exclaimed loudly, "Ah, I know you!

You're Guo Peng!" Guo Peng, who had been subtly observing Su Chan, was secretly thrilled that she recognized him. He struggled to control his emotions, but the triumphant smile playing on his lips was impossible to conceal.

"You know me? Have you seen my TV shows?" Su Chan nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at grain.

"Yes, yes, I have!" Guo Peng could hold back no longer and laughed with smug satisfaction, feigning modesty. "Ah, that was a show from a year or two ago.

I wasn't very good in it, sorry to make you laugh." Yet, his expression was that of a proud peacock displaying its brilliant plumage—a full-blown fan display. Every curve of his brow and the triumphant upturn of his lips seemed to demand: Praise me, adore me!

When Su Chan finished speaking, she nodded with firm conviction. "Well, it really didn't look very good!

You acted so incredibly silly in it!" The drop in expectation was too steep. Guo Peng’s smile froze instantly.

Not far from him, Tan Xue burst into hearty laughter, and even the woman standing beside him couldn't help but cover her mouth to stifle a giggle. Li Yundong fought to suppress his own laughter, shooting Su Chan a stern look.

He feigned anger. "What nonsense are you spouting!" He quickly pulled Su Chan behind him to shield her, but his hand slipped back to give her a thumbs-up, signaling that he approved of her retort.

Guo Peng's eye twitched, and he managed a dry, forced chuckle. "I told you, it was filmed a long time ago, very immature work." With that, his gaze settled back on Li Yundong.

"Tan Xue spoke highly of your skills in front of us earlier. Why not show us a move or two now, in front of all these people?

Are you refusing to give face to so many of us?" Li Yundong frowned, but before he could speak, Shi Neng interjected with a smile, "If you're worried about getting hurt, we can have a contest of wits instead." Guo Peng immediately picked up the thread, pressing eagerly, "What exactly is a contest of wits?" Shi Neng smiled but remained silent. He beckoned over a waiter and whispered a few words into his ear.

The waiter nodded once and hurried away. A few minutes later, the waiter returned holding a cup woven from rattan.

"Is this it?" Shi Neng smiled as he accepted it. "This is it, thank you." He passed the waiter a fifty-unit tip.

The waiter smiled, took the money, and walked away. Shi Neng shook the woven rattan cup toward Li Yundong, smiling, not yet ready to explain.

Gripping the latticework cup, which was full of holes, with both hands, he called over another waiter. "Please bring me a bottle of boiling water." The waiter looked utterly confused but complied, returning shortly with a thermos from the cabinet.

Shi Neng instructed the waiter, "Pour the water into the cup in my hands." The waiter jumped, startled. Not just him, but Tan Xue and the others nearby were also visibly moved, drawing closer, their eyes wide as they stared at the rattan teacup in Shi Neng's hands.

Li Yundong watched Shi Neng calmly, his attention equally fixed on the delicate cup woven from thin strips of rattan. To call it a teacup was generous; it was more like a teacup holder.

Its entire surface was covered in diamond-shaped perforations. Though each hole was tiny, any water poured in would immediately leak out, making it seem utterly incapable of holding liquid—more like an outer sleeve for an actual cup.

And Shi Neng intended to pour boiling water into this sieve? Wasn't he afraid of burning himself?

What trick was this man planning? The waiter hesitated, unwilling to pour water into the riddled rattan vessel.

Shi Neng offered a few persuasive words, but the waiter kept shaking his head, refusing. Finally, Shi Neng glared, his voice dropping to a low command.

"Pour it! If anything happens, it's my responsibility!" Though Shi Neng practiced external martial arts, his internal Jing, Qi, and Xue were abundant and robust.

That glare made the waiter tremble involuntarily. He instinctively grabbed the hot water bottle, pulled out the stopper, and let the boiling water cascade into the rattan cup.

The surrounding crowd held their breath, eyes wide, seemingly envisioning Shi Neng screaming from the intense heat in the very next second. But the moment the boiling water entered the rattan cup, it behaved as if it had been poured into porcelain—not a single drop leaked out!

Shi Neng cupped both palms around the rattan container. His face was slightly flushed, and the veins in his forehead were bulging slightly, suggesting he was concentrating his Qi.

However, by this time, nearly everyone’s focus was locked onto the cup, and no one noticed his strained expression. "That’s incredible!" Tan Xue gasped softly, her eyes wide with disbelief.

The waiter who poured the water looked utterly shocked, viewing Shi Neng like a deity. He could not comprehend how boiling water remained perfectly contained within a vessel riddled with holes.

Li Yundong was momentarily stunned, but quickly, Su Chan, behind him, scoffed quietly. "It’s just a small trick; don't be so amazed!" Li Yundong tilted his head slightly, asking in confusion, "How did he do that?" Su Chan used her finger to trace a character onto Li Yundong’s back: Qi.

Li Yundong instantly understood: Shi Neng was using his internal Qi to seal the tiny holes around the rattan cup. Combined with water's natural surface tension, even a modest application of Qi could seal the cup and prevent leakage.

Seeing Li Yundong grasp it, Su Chan chuckled. "You can do that too.

In fact, you don't even need the rattan cup. With your powerful Golden Core Zhenqi, you could probably shield the water itself, formless as it is!" Li Yundong was surprised and turned to ask, "Without the cup?" Su Chan nodded, snorting.

"Of course. To others, this looks like a magical ability, but for us cultivators, it’s just basic training!

Yundong, they dare look down on you—give them a little taste!" Li Yundong didn't have time to ask Su Chan how when Guo Peng spoke to him. "See that?

That’s real skill!" Zhang Guozheng, Tan Xue, and the others nodded along, staring intently at the cup in Shi Neng's hands, watching to see if a single drop would fall, or perhaps watching to see if Shi Neng felt the heat. In reality, the boiling water looked scalding enough to peel skin, but Shi Neng's palms were covered in thick calluses—dead skin that felt nothing—so the heat was irrelevant to him.

By now, Li Yundong had completely figured out the mechanism and didn't find the feat particularly mysterious. Noticing Li Yundong’s unimpressed expression, Guo Peng let out another sly, provocative chuckle.

"Master, how about you show us your hands?" Shi Neng, pleased by the awe he had generated, felt a surge of pride. He had trained for over a decade to achieve this level of skill.

This young man looked much younger than him, suggesting he possessed no true mastery. Without waiting for Li Yundong’s acceptance, he offered the cup.

"You try it?" Li Yundong, inexperienced and proud in his youth, inwardly sneered: Try it? What's the big deal?

Just as he reached out, a waiter brushed past Guo Peng. The waiter’s eyes darted, an idea striking him.

He pretended to stumble, crying out "Oof!" as he bumped squarely into Shi Neng. Shi Neng's internal Qi was entirely focused on protecting the cup between his hands.

The collision instantly scattered his concentration, causing the rattan cup to tilt, and the scalding water splashed out violently toward Li Yundong. "Watch out!" "Be careful!" Alarmed shouts erupted from the crowd.

The instant Shi Neng’s body shifted, Li Yundong sensed a subtle, uneasy premonition of danger. Though faint, it sharpened his senses and brought his entire body to high alert.

As the boiling water erupted from the cup, Li Yundong instantly sank his waist, his wrist twisting as one hand swept up like a 'moon-scooping from the bottom of the sea,' slapping the base of the rattan cup. The cup immediately flew out of Shi Neng’s grasp, tracing an arc through the air.

With his other hand, Li Yundong rapidly released a surge of potent Zhenqi, firmly controlling the splashing hot water. He swept his hand through the air, and like a magnet, his palm swiftly gathered all the scattered droplets, condensing them into a single, cohesive sphere of water that refused to dissipate.

As he controlled the airborne water, the rattan cup tumbled down, arriving right before Li Yundong’s eyes. With precise timing, Li Yundong shoved the water sphere he held back into the rattan cup, while his other hand slid underneath the bottom to support it!

The water that had been splashed out was returned to the cup, and the rattan vessel settled steadily in Li Yundong’s palm. Li Yundong's Golden Core Yuanqi was ten, perhaps even dozens of times stronger than Shi Neng’s.

The moment he released his Zhenqi, every tiny hole in the rattan cup became densely packed with his energy, as if encased in glass—not a single drop could escape! Li Yundong found controlling the cup with one hand an effortless feat.

A sudden whim struck him: he rested one finger on the bottom of the cup, channeling all his internal energy through that single digit. Moments before, the crowd had watched Guo Peng, Shi Neng, and Li Yundong as if they were actors in a choreographed action sequence.

Li Yundong’s movements had been too fast for them to follow. By the time they reacted, Li Yundong was supporting the cup with a single finger, a faint smile playing on his lips as he observed them.

For Tan Xue, Guo Peng, and Zhang Guozheng, Shi Neng holding the cup without leakage was astonishing enough. But Li Yundong’s subsequent display was far more exaggerated!

The difference in difficulty between shielding it with two palms and balancing it on a single fingertip was obvious even to a blind man! The surrounding crowd was struck dumb, gasping in stunned reverence.

"Holy cow, no way!" "Is this a magic trick?" "Nonsense, this is genuine martial skill!" Shi Neng himself was profoundly shaken; he had never witnessed such martial prowess! Shi Neng stared at Li Yundong, his mind reeling: This young man, so young, yet his Qi cultivation has reached the pinnacle!

Li Yundong smiled faintly, spared a glance for Guo Peng, and then said to Shi Neng, "Contest of wits? You are not qualified!" Beside him, Tan Xue shook her head silently, murmuring in a mixture of shock and admiration, "Sure enough, he lives up to the name 'Show-off Hero'!

Where on earth did this monster appear from?"