"Heh heh, have you heard? The Star Phoenix Palace's once-a-decade North-South Grand Competition kicks off in three days. They say both the Northern and Southern Sects are dead set on winning this time."
"Please, the Northern Sect's a bunch of women — how could they possibly compete with the beasts from the Southern Sect? Sixty years running, and I don't think they've beaten the Southern Sect even once."
"Fate swings both ways. The Northern Sect's master, Madam Yu, apparently took in a few disciples, and their strength is supposedly quite impressive. On top of that, every last one of them is a real beauty. They've got a real shot at challenging the Southern Sect this time."
"Who cares? Doesn't matter if the Southern Sect or the Northern Sect wins — Star Phoenix Palace isn't gonna let us move in. It's just swapping one bunch of men for a bunch of women."
In a certain tavern, Jiang Chen overheard this conversation from the neighboring table.
Ever since arriving in Jushi Prefecture, the thing he'd heard about more than anything else was the Star Phoenix Palace North-South Grand Competition.
The winners of this competition would get to occupy Star Phoenix Palace. The losers would have to leave and find somewhere else to settle.
Of course, with a competition held only once every decade, losing this time just meant coming back for the next one.
Jiang Chen sat drinking alone, yet his ears missed nothing. The Wind-listening Ear technique he cultivated had already reached the third level, giving him at least two to three times the auditory range of an ordinary martial artist.
All manner of information flooded in at once.
Star Phoenix Palace. Northern Sect. Women. Beauties…
These useful tidbits were sorted out and filed away one by one in Jiang Chen's mind.
Setting down his cup, he left some silver on the table and drifted out the door. He had made his decision — he would head to Star Phoenix Palace.
If the Lotus Plucker intended to strike again anytime soon, there was no better location in the entire Tianhu territory than Star Phoenix Palace.
Female disciples — that alone was tempting enough.
The art of harvesting through intimacy worked better the higher the target's cultivation. Female cultivators, therefore, were a thief's greatest prize.
And where in all of Jushi Prefecture could you find more women than Star Phoenix Palace? They were all cultivators too, which meant harvesting from them would be an enormous boost.
Standing in the Lotus Plucker's shoes, Jiang Chen figured that even if the thief didn't plan to commit a crime, he'd at least come to case the joint.
After leaving the Royal Capital, Jiang Chen had used various materials to alter his appearance. He now looked like a rugged wanderer in his thirties.
Lone drifters like him numbered in the hundreds of millions across the Eastern Kingdoms, and Jiang Chen's getup was about as ordinary as it could be — the sort of person you'd never pick out of a crowd.
Star Phoenix Palace occupied an excellent location. Within a hundred li of the palace, a city had already sprung up, called Star City, built up around the palace itself.
Even an ordinary sect could have a pervasive influence on its surroundings.
Two days later, when Jiang Chen arrived in Star City, he realized that attending the North-South Grand Competition wasn't a matter of simply showing up.
There were only three hundred spots in total. After accounting for the reserved slots, roughly a hundred-odd were available to the public.
In recent days, the number of martial wanderers pouring into Star City had already surpassed a hundred thousand.
Over a hundred thousand people competing for a hundred-odd spots — essentially one in a thousand. The odds were brutal.
But Jiang Chen knew that to investigate the Lotus Plucker, he had to secure a viewing pass.
If he revealed his identity as a vassal's heir, it would send shockwaves through the entire Star City, and getting a spot would be effortless.
But that would amount to cheating his way in, and he'd be disqualified on the spot.
Jiang Chen made his way to the Star Phoenix Palace branch office in Star City. The place was packed shoulder to shoulder with people.
"I'll pay thirty thousand taels! Who'll sell me a spot?"
"Get real, buddy. Have you just woken up from a dream? A single spot can't be had for less than ten thousand taels now, and you're seriously offering one?"
"Uh…"
……
"I've got five meridians of True Qi — surely that qualifies me to watch!"
"Sorry, unless you've reached six meridians of True Qi, you're not getting in."
……
"Brother, I know Xie Qiang from your Southern Sect. Can't you make an exception?"
"Who's Xie Qiang? We only recognize connections through the Sect Master and Elders."
……
"Hey, I'm the owner of Wanma Hall. Your Star Phoenix Palace has done business with me before. About that viewing spot…"
"Business is business, and personal connections are personal connections. If you've got money, there are a few spots left for sale — ten thousand taels of silver each."
"Damn it — fine, I'll buy!"
……
Jiang Chen listened in, and every snippet that reached his ears was some variation of the above. The whole scene was chaos, everyone scrambling over each other for a single viewing spot.
"What a shame — the poor can't afford ambition. Looks like we're fated to miss this once-a-decade North-South Grand Competition. What a downer."