On the stage, He Xiping suddenly shook his sleeves, and two divine ropes appeared in his hands.
The referee Daoist, with sharp eyes, immediately reminded him, "He Xiping, you cannot use magic treasures during the competition!"
He Xiping replied, "I am a trickster, isn't it reasonable for me to bring out some trickster equipment?"
The referee Daoist was momentarily undecided. He turned and discussed with the second elder of Longhu Mountain, then said, "Your trickster equipment can only be ordinary objects, not magic treasures."
"Of course, they are ordinary objects. Please Daoist, inspect them!"
He Xiping was very confident and casually threw the divine ropes to the referee Daoist. The referee Daoist inspected them, puzzled: "Are they really ordinary objects?"
These ordinary ropes, what purpose did they serve? Liu Lang could probably snap them with ease.
"These are indeed ordinary ropes. Anything else?" the referee Daoist asked while returning the ropes.
He Xiping shook his sleeves again, and unexpectedly, a pile of things tumbled out from within.
There were flags and masks used for opera, a blowtorch for fire-breathing performances, and even two bright green watermelons!
All the items piled up higher than him, making it impossible to fathom how he had stuffed them into his sleeves and could still walk normally.
Even Liu Lang, standing opposite, was dumbfounded.
He Xiping said, "These are all items for us tricksters."
The referee had no choice but to step onto the stage to inspect each item, muttering, "Why bring so many useless things?"
"These are not useless things," He Xiping smiled. "Even if I have no cultivation, these ordinary objects can be manipulated with skill in my hands. Because we tricksters perform tricks, not magic or immortal arts, but performances accomplished purely through skill."
In recent years, tricksters had rarely appeared, so even the referee Daoists on Longhu Mountain were not very familiar with them. They had only heard legends.
By the time they finished inspecting all the items, the other three matches had already concluded.
The referee Daoist said, "Everything is in order. Please begin quickly."
"Thank you, Daoist!"
He Xiping waved his large sleeve, and the mountain of small objects on the ground instantly vanished, as if he had put them back into his sleeve!
This move alone had already amazed the audience.
"These folk sects truly have some tricks up their sleeves!"
"You should be clear, it's the tricksters who are capable, not Yan Shouyi."
"Yes, folk sects are folk sects, and Yan Shouyi is Yan Shouyi. No matter how skilled this He Xiping is, it doesn't stop us from looking down on Yan Shouyi!"
Yan Shouyi: "..."
Luo Ning chuckled, "It seems your physique makes you a natural at attracting animosity!"
On the stage, Liu Lang adjusted his mindset and prepared to attack He Xiping.
He Xiping took out the divine ropes again, forcefully tossed them into the sky, and tethered them to the firmament once more!
The two divine ropes shot straight into the sky, and He Xiping easily climbed more than ten meters high!
Seeing this, Liu Lang also wanted to climb up the divine ropes to deal with He Xiping. However, the ropes were incredibly obedient in He Xiping's hands, but slippery as eels when Liu Lang tried.
Liu Lang couldn't climb up at all!
He couldn't help but curse, "Do you think you can escape me by hiding up there?"
He Xiping completely ignored Liu Lang. Holding one divine rope, he actually pulled down a small thundercloud!
The thundercloud was only about ten meters in diameter, not even covering the Wanfa Zongtan, but it rumbled with suppressed thunder, which was quite frightening!
Liu Lang was utterly bewildered. Wasn't this guy only supposed to do tricks? How could he pull down a thundercloud?
"Boom!"
He Xiping roared, and lightning indeed struck from the thundercloud. Liu Lang, however, reacted extremely quickly and dodged by rolling over.
Immediately after, the lightning seemed to have eyes, chasing Liu Lang and striking along his path, completely devastating the ground of the Wanfa Zongtan!
While the crowd marveled at He Xiping's skill, they didn't underestimate Liu Lang, for He Xiping's display was grand, yet Liu Lang remained unharmed.
Liu Lang dodged the lightning and reached below the divine ropes. He grabbed the ropes with both hands, jumped up, and violently swung them, trying to shake He Xiping off.
This move was indeed effective. He Xiping quickly lost his balance and slid down the divine ropes.
The moment he landed, before Liu Lang could make a move, He Xiping opened his mouth and spat out raging flames!
Liu Lang couldn't dodge in time, and his head caught fire. Terrified, he quickly retreated, patting his scalp frantically to extinguish the flames.
After the fire, He Xiping held the blowtorch, his cheeks puffed out, looking as if his mouth was full of fire dragon oil, and he could spray four or five more mouths of it.
Liu Lang was on guard, not daring to approach again. Yet He Xiping continued to spew, and Liu Lang was shocked.
To his surprise, this time He Xiping spat out not a fireball, but simply saliva, which landed precisely on Liu Lang's forehead.
Liu Lang was almost driven mad!
"I'll kill you!!"
He roared, his body covered in true qi, and he instantly appeared behind He Xiping.
He Xiping failed to react and exposed his entire back to Liu Lang!
Liu Lang was overjoyed. He formed a blade with his hand and struck directly at He Xiping's nape!
Unexpectedly, this hand blade was incredibly sharp and directly severed He Xiping's head!
"What?!"
Even Liu Lang had not expected this outcome!
He Xiping's head rolled to the ground, and his body collapsed to its knees powerlessly. The audience cried out in shock; this was the first death in the Luo Tian Da Jiao competition!
Even the referee Daoists rushed onto the stage, preparing to restrain Liu Lang and assess the situation.
However, before anyone could react, He Xiping's body suddenly "grew" another head. He quickly got up, grabbed Liu Lang by the neck, and bound him tightly with the divine ropes!
The speed was so great that Liu Lang had no time to react. When he came to his senses, he had even been slapped twice by He Xiping!
"Wh-what is going on?" The referee Daoist was stunned.
Everyone looked at the ground again. The "head" on the ground was not a head at all, but the large watermelon He Xiping had taken from his sleeve earlier.
"What you see is not necessarily real," He Xiping said with a smile.
The crowd exchanged glances, and it took a long time for them to recover. They felt they were not watching a competition, but a performance.
A performance by a trickster!
He Xiping had deceived everyone's eyes!
After a brief silence, the crowd erupted into enthusiastic cheers:
"Amazing..."
"These folk sects are indeed extraordinary!"
"This He Xiping has earned our respect!"
"But it doesn't stop us from cursing Yan Shouyi!"
Yan Shouyi: "..."
Liu Lang struggled several times to no avail. He glared at He Xiping and said, "I am not convinced!"
"Why are you not convinced?" He Xiping asked.
"This is not a trick, it's clearly an illusion!"
"Clarify yourself, tricks are real, while illusions are fake."
Liu Lang gritted his teeth, "How can you prove your tricks are real?!"
He Xiping looked around, signaling the referee Daoist to step back from the stage.
The other three opponents on the stage immediately felt uneasy, sensing that He Xiping was about to act against them.
He Xiping then pulled on the divine rope tethering the thundercloud as if pulling a light switch.
The thundercloud rapidly descended three heavenly lightning bolts!
The speed was several times faster than when he had attacked Liu Lang.
The three opponents had no time to react before being struck by the heavenly lightning, their bodies convulsing as they fainted!
Liu Lang's eyes widened.
He Xiping said faintly, "This time it's real."
Everyone watched, holding their breath. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that a trickster could possess such abilities.
Even Yan Shouyi and his companions were greatly surprised.
"I never imagined Xi Ping would be so powerful!" Agong couldn't help but exclaim.
Yan Shouyi said, "Speaking of which, last time we encountered Chu Liang, a guy who ranks on Longhu Mountain. Xi Ping couldn't handle Chu Liang, but dealing with a trash like Liu Lang is certainly more than enough."
Master Guanyun said, "The Xuanmen cultivators have forgotten the folk sects for too long. It's time to open their eyes!"
Under the eager gazes of the crowd, He Xiping easily won the match and leisurely walked off the Wanfa Zongtan.
Wang Ji excitedly said, "Xi Ping, that was brilliant! I saw it, you secretly slapped Liu Lang twice! Hahahaha! So satisfying!"
He Xiping whispered, "Actually, it was twenty slaps. My hand speed was just too fast for you to see clearly. Liu Lang doesn't feel anything now, but in a few hours his face will swell and fester. It will take at least half a year to recover."
Everyone: "..."
Long Feicheng said, "How many years of being single does it take to achieve this hand speed... Anyway, I'll never be able to catch up in this lifetime."
But it had to be said, He Xiping had truly refreshed everyone's impression of him.
And not just in terms of strength.
He Xiping's series of astonishing moves made everyone realize that this guy was the biggest show-off hiding among them!