The Military Exercise Parade Ground was deathly silent.
All the Phoenix Spirit Guards stared fixedly at Millennial Commander Lu Linlong, eager to know whether he truly dared accept the challenge.
Only Ye Zhen stood with his hands behind his back, staring steadily at Millennial Commander Lu Linlong with a coldly mocking expression.
If one dared play Underhanded Moves behind someone's back, one had to be prepared to have them ripped into the open before everyone.
Ye Zhen was not one of those noble scions in the Phoenix Spirit Guard, their connections tangled and intertwined like roots and vines, burdened by endless misgivings whenever they wanted to do anything.
Lu Linlong's face was exceedingly awkward at this moment, and he almost had the illusion—
How did Di Kuohai dare!
How did he dare challenge him so openly?
If Wu Fan had not been defeated, and Di Kuohai had dared challenge him so directly, Lu Linlong would have accepted without hesitation, fiercely taught Ye Zhen a lesson, and shown him what true strength was.
But now, Lu Linlong hesitated.
Because even he could not defeat Wu Fan, an early-stage World King Realm cultivator, so cleanly and decisively.
Yet Di Kuohai had done it.
Especially before such a crowd—if he, the Millennial Commander, lost, his face would be trampled into the mud.
Even more fatal was how plainly Ye Zhen had laid out the matter, claiming that he had instructed Wu Fan to issue the challenge. Not only did that damage his image, it also placed him in an incomparably awkward position.
It would be fine if he won, but if he lost, his prestige in the army would be utterly finished.
No matter where in the world an army was, it valued courage, righteousness, and trust. Yet with just a few words,