After news spread that Meng Zhao had responded to Tong Lie's challenge, the entire Jianghu Martial Arts World of the Northern Lands was shaken by the information it revealed.
He could agree to fight Tong Lie, but only on the condition that neither held anything back, that both gave it their all, and that each staked everything they possessed. The winner would take all; the loser would never be able to rise again for eternity.
It had to be said that such a Meng Zhao truly gave the world an immense shock. Alongside encouragement, there was no shortage of doubt.
First, Meng Zhao had now attained Great Grandmaster Martial Dao and was confident he could fight Tong Lie with all his strength—and defeat him.
Second, this was merely a psychological tactic Meng Zhao was employing, a smokescreen cast to confuse his opponent.
He was betting that Tong Lie did not understand him and would not dare place such an enormous wager, one that could utterly ruin the rest of his life.
Indeed, the latter possibility seemed far more likely than the former.
Meng Zhao's rise in strength had already been fast enough—abnormally fast. Yet no matter how fast it was, could he truly have attained Great Grandmaster Martial Dao in such a short time? That was beginning to defy common sense.
Of course, this was only one possibility. No one dared guarantee that Meng Zhao could not do it. After all, geniuses were extraordinary people who shattered ordinary people's understanding and accomplished what they could not.
Still, more people believed that Meng Zhao did not possess such strength and was simply engaging in a psychological contest.
The target of that contest was naturally Tong Lie, and the desired result was for Tong Lie to turn his gaze elsewhere and withdraw