Chapter 51

After letting out a couple of dry laughs, Long Tai’s voice gradually faded away. He looked around with some confusion, not understanding why the atmosphere was so strange.

At this moment, a steward stepped forward to take his jade token, glanced at it, and then announced Long Tai’s results with a blank expression: "Long Tai, fifth level, eliminated four people!"

Upon hearing this result, a hint of pride flashed across Long Tai’s face. Eliminating four people under the attack of five was much more difficult than eliminating four in a one-on-one fight.

He had thought that this result would elicit gasps of amazement from the other martial artists, but the venue remained silent, not at all as he had imagined. He couldn’t help but turn his gaze to Elder Sun, wanting to know what was going on.

However, when he looked, he saw Elder Sun with a stern face, not even glancing at him.

"Elder Sun, as the chief examiner, can you now announce the results?" Uncle Jiu reminded him calmly.

In the four rounds of assessment, strength, mental fortitude, and practical combat, Lu Xuan had secured the top spot in all. Even in the third round of insight assessment, he had tied for first place with Long Tai, making him the undisputed winner of all four rounds.

Faced with these ironclad results, Elder Sun had no chance to play any tricks.

Taking two deep breaths, Elder Sun reluctantly spoke, his voice heavy: "The first place in this assessment... Lu Xuan!"

The martial artists were not surprised by this result. If they had thought Lu Xuan’s first place in the strength assessment was a fluke, the subsequent assessments had thoroughly convinced them, especially in terms of insight and practical combat, which were even worthy of their admiration.

Long Tai, who had been expecting to hear his own name, was taken aback when he heard that the first place was Lu Xuan. He immediately shouted loudly: "Wait! Why is Lu Xuan the first place? I was the last one to come out, so I should be the first!"

"What does being the last one to come out matter? Is the assessment about who stays the longest? Lu Xuan not only finished the fight before you but also completely outperformed you. For you to claim first place is really laughable." Xia Ye’s face was full of mockery. He was not afraid of Long Tai, especially after seeing him make a fool of himself, which gave him a sense of satisfaction.

Hearing Xia Ye’s words, Long Tai’s eyes were filled with disbelief. "Who? Lu Xuan? Outperformed me? Impossible! He is only at the fourth level of Body Tempering, while I am at the fifth level. Whether in strength or sustained combat ability, I am superior to him. It’s impossible for him to outperform me! Absolutely impossible!"

Xia Ye couldn’t help but laugh heartily: "Lu Xuan’s result was the sixth level, where he eliminated three martial artists at the sixth level of Body Tempering. Your result of the fifth level, where you eliminated four people, is not even worth boasting about. It’s really hilarious. Besides, Lu Xuan is only sixteen this year, while you are already eighteen, two years older than him. Your results are still inferior, and you still want to claim first place? You are truly arrogant."

"Long Tai, go down, don’t embarrass yourself!" Elder Sun couldn’t help but scold him in a low voice. He had always supported Long Tai, and now that Long Tai was losing face, it was also embarrassing for him.

However, Long Tai ignored Elder Sun’s words and shouted: "Impossible! How can someone at the fourth level of Body Tempering eliminate three martial artists at the sixth level? I don’t believe it! Elder, I think Lu Xuan must have cheated! I demand a duel with him! Unless he can defeat me, I won’t accept it!"

Hearing Long Tai’s words, Elder Sun’s mind raced. Since he had already lost, it might be better to let Long Tai cause a commotion, which might give him a chance to turn the tables. Moreover, he didn’t believe that Lu Xuan could eliminate three martial artists at the sixth level of Body Tempering with only the fourth level.

After a brief moment of thought, Elder Sun asked Uncle Jiu, Elder Xu, and another elder: "A candidate is不服 and demands a duel. What do you think?"

"This seems a bit irregular. The assessment is an assessment. If everyone who is不服 demands a duel, wouldn’t it be chaotic?" the other elder spoke first.

"I don’t mind, but we can ask Lu Xuan’s opinion," Elder Xu said. He believed in Lu Xuan’s strength and was confident that he would win even in a duel.

"Let’s ask Lu Xuan. If he agrees, I will also agree," Uncle Jiu said.

Seeing that Uncle Jiu and Elder Xu had no objections to the duel, Elder Sun immediately ignored what the first elder had said and loudly said: "Lu Xuan, Long Tai has doubts about your results and wants to duel with you. Do you agree?"

Lu Xuan sneered, "My results are right here. Does he just doubt them because he wants to? If all three hundred people here are不服, would I have to fight three hundred duels?"

"Lu Xuan, are you afraid?!" Long Tai shouted angrily.

"Afraid? Ha, what am I afraid of? If you want to fight, fine, but it’s not just a matter of wanting to fight. We need to add some stakes, right?" Lu Xuan said calmly.

Hearing that Lu Xuan wanted stakes, Xia Chenxi and Lin Xinyi exchanged a knowing smile. Clearly, they remembered the martial arena in the Spirit Materials Street, where Lu Xuan had demanded 200 gold taels as stakes from Long Yang. They wondered what Lu Xuan would demand this time.

Hearing that Lu Xuan wanted stakes, Long Tai immediately sneered: "A poor man is still a poor man. What stakes do you want? Speak up, I’m afraid you won’t have the chance to take them."

Seeing that Long Tai had accepted, the smile on Lu Xuan’s face gradually faded, and he said, word by word: "Your life!"

The martial artists, who had been excitedly watching the commotion, fell silent upon hearing Lu Xuan’s words. Now, they could see that there was a significant grudge between Lu Xuan and Long Tai. This was not a simple bet; Lu Xuan wanted to kill Long Tai in this battle!

A life-or-death battle!

Long Tai’s eyes narrowed. Lu Xuan’s demand was unexpected but aligned with his own intentions, as he also wanted to take Lu Xuan’s life in this battle!

Putting aside the grudge between the Long and Lu families, since the assessment began, Lu Xuan had always been ahead of him, making him lose face multiple times. With Long Tai’s vengeful nature, how could he not want to get back at him?

"If you want my life, we’ll see if you have the strength to take it. I accept the stakes!"

With Long Tai agreeing to Lu Xuan’s demand, the martial artists present immediately became excited. They had thought the assessment was over, but the real climax was just beginning. A life-or-death battle, this was truly thrilling!

All those present had passed the courage assessment in the mental fortitude test and were not afraid of killing.

Without a doubt, both parties had agreed to the duel. Elder Sun’s face was serious; he hadn’t expected a regular duel to turn into a life-or-death battle. But now that both parties had agreed, it couldn’t be stopped.

"Since you both agree, the duel is set. Given that you have just finished a battle and your essence energy is depleted, you will have one hour to recover. The duel will begin one hour from now!" Elder Sun’s voice echoed around.

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