Guys like Zhao Xuan—Lu Ran couldn’t care less about saving face for them.
A lot of people were watching this scene unfold.
Everyone had seen Zhao Xuan puffing out his chest and throwing down threats.
But Lu Ran didn’t back down an inch. He fired right back.
What’s that? You think I’m just lucky? You think I don’t have real skill?
Fine. Let’s sign a death duel contract. A fair and square fight. But this isn’t like those arena matches where your health drops to 1% and you lose—but you don’t actually die, thanks to that forced minimum health rule.
With a death duel contract, though? If you sign it and die, you’re dead for real!
Right now.
All eyes were on Zhao Xuan, waiting to see how he’d respond.
If he said no, that meant he was chicken. All talk, no real skill. He wouldn’t dare accept Lu Ran’s challenge.
And then his reputation would be completely ruined!
From now on, in the imperial capital, Zhao Xuan would probably have to walk around with his head down.
But if he said yes…
Looking at Lu Ran’s abilities—though nobody really knew the full extent of them yet, since they hadn’t even seen his undead summons as a Necromancer—
Just that one Blood Spear, plus that bizarre invincible state where he didn’t lose a single drop of health during Zhao Xuan’s ten-second burst…
If he agreed to this, he’d be walking straight to his death!
Face or life—which one mattered more?
At this moment, Zhao Xuan was drowning in humiliation. But the fear of death pressed down on him like an iron weight, holding him firmly in place.
His face was ashen, his teeth nearly grinding to dust.
His fists were clenched so tight they trembled as he stared at Lu Ran, eyes bloodshot.
But not a single word could squeeze through his gritted teeth.
He didn’t dare!
He really didn’t dare say yes!
“If you don’t have the guts to accept, then shut your mouth. If you think I lack skill, put it on a death duel contract. Got it?” Lu Ran asked, one eyebrow raised.
If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll really think I’m some pushover, huh?
With that.
Lu Ran turned and walked away.
Behind him, Zhao Xuan’s body trembled violently—maybe from fear, maybe from rage. But no matter what, when it came to this showdown with Lu Ran, he had lost. Completely and utterly.
Down in the audience.
The Zhao family.
Zhao Deyang felt like he’d just swallowed a mouthful of dirt—his expression was absolutely foul.
“Master, that brat is far too arrogant! We can’t just let this slide! We need to get justice for the young master!” a woman beside him said furiously.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Deyang turned to look at her.
His gaze cold, he asked, “So, you’re saying I should pick a fight with the Four Major Guilds and go after Lu Ran?”
The woman’s expression froze instantly.
She stammered, “I—that’s not what I meant, I…”
“Then shut up. Tell Zhao Xuan to go home. He’s done here.” Zhao Deyang said flatly.
Then.
Without even glancing at Zhao Xuan, he looked toward Lu Ran’s retreating figure.
A man in Zhao Deyang’s position didn’t think in simple terms of revenge.
By now, Lu Ran had already proven his ability and his worth.
“Prepare a generous gift for me. Tonight, I’m going to the Celestial Alliance headquarters to pay a visit.” Zhao Deyang said thoughtfully.
“Isn’t that… a bit rash?” his subordinate asked cautiously.
“Rash? The other families probably know what they need to do by now. Too bad—I should’ve made the first move last night.” Zhao Deyang said regretfully.
“There’s still the fourth round this afternoon. Shouldn’t we wait and see before deciding?” the subordinate pressed.
“Do you have a damn brain?! If Lu Ran loses this afternoon, can I just cancel the gift or something?” Zhao Deyang roared.
Sure, he wouldn’t go after Lu Ran for Zhao Xuan’s failure—but that wasn’t because he was a noble man. It was because he didn’t dare!
The frustration in his chest was real!
And now his own men were being this brain-dead, making his anger boil over completely.
Though, to be fair, Zhao Deyang wasn’t wrong. It was his subordinate who wasn’t thinking clearly.
Prepare the gifts now, head to Celestial Alliance headquarters in the evening.
Sure, the fourth round was still happening in the afternoon, but the two didn’t interfere with each other. If Lu Ran lost in the fourth round and the Four Guilds dropped him, then fine—just don’t make the visit.
But looking at the current situation.
How could Lu Ran possibly lose?
The guy is literally invincible!
He didn’t lose a single drop of health against Zhao Xuan’s ten-second void-form burst!
And on top of that, one Blood Spear was enough to one-shot his opponent.
Invincible himself, and able to delete anyone with a single move—how are the other contestants even supposed to compete?
Forget your so-called championship favorites. Forget your so-called imperial capital prodigies. In front of Lu Ran, nobody stands a chance!
As things stood right now, the championship belonged to Lu Ran. No question about it.
Zhao Deyang had no interest in watching the rest of the matches. He got up hastily and left with his people.
Many of the other major families also slipped out quietly to start preparing their gifts.
Looks like the Celestial Alliance headquarters was going to be quite the lively place tonight.
In the lounge.
Su Ting and Lu Ran returned together.
Su Ting looked at Lu Ran as if she were staring at some kind of monster.
One-shotting someone with a Blood Spear was already beyond her comprehension.
But that invincibility? What was that about?
As a Qimen Master, Zhao Xuan’s damage output needed no introduction—it was absolutely terrifying!
Among newbie professionals of the same level, the number who could survive Zhao Xuan’s ten-second burst could be counted on one hand.
Yet even so.
Even those who survived would see their health plummet.
But Lu Ran? He stood there, not moving an inch, didn’t even put up any defensive skills—and his health didn’t drop a single point!
It completely defied the rules of this world!
“Sister Ting, are you curious about why I didn’t lose any health?” Lu Ran turned to Su Ting and asked.
He wasn’t stupid.
It wasn’t just Su Ting who was curious right now—probably everyone in the entire imperial capital who’d watched that fight was dying to know!
Su Ting nodded.
But then she shook her head and said, “Don’t tell me. The four guild masters kept this hidden for so long—they didn’t do that so you could go around blabbing. If it’s not something I should ask, I won’t. When you’re ready to show it to everyone, I’ll find out then.”
Uh…
Lu Ran had actually been planning to tell Su Ting.
After all, the four guild masters had already said he didn’t need to hide himself anymore.
But since Su Ting put it that way, Lu Ran didn’t push it.
Soon.
The third round of matches came to a smooth conclusion.
In the end, a total of thirteen people advanced to the fourth round in the afternoon.
One of them was Cong Shuang, because she had drawn a bye.
But at this very moment, it was safe to say that all thirteen who advanced—no, all twelve except Lu Ran—were absolutely despairing.
Against this Lu Ran, how the hell were they supposed to fight?!
At this point, it had turned into a competition for second place.
And here’s the thing—
If luck was on their side in the fourth round and they managed to avoid Lu Ran and advance, their rewards would increase significantly!
Of course.
In the fourth round, there would still be one lucky person who got a bye.
In the end, seven people would move on to the fifth round tomorrow morning.
Those seven would then be split into three groups, with one more person getting a bye, leading to four finalists for the sixth round.
Then, on the morning of the day after tomorrow, two matches would be held—four into two—and finally, the championship decider!
