Magnificent

With Ma Wensheng's words falling silent, the entire hall seemed to be covered in frost and snow. Not only was Jiang Shaohuan pale, but Gao Pan's wild demeanor also vanished, his fierce, hard face turning so grim it looked like it could drip water.

One hundred thousand gold. What could that accomplish? With that much money, one could buy the life of a peak expert in the Qi Sea Realm.

The Black Dragon Hall, with tens of thousands of men, after deducting expenses, only accumulated about ten thousand gold a year. One hundred thousand gold was the Black Dragon Hall's effort of ten years.

"Hall Master Gao, now you should understand why the Hall Master bestowed upon you this low-grade magic robe from the Alchemy Hall, worth two thousand gold."

Ma Wensheng was very satisfied with Gao Pan's solemnity. His main task this time was to impress upon Gao Pan the importance of the decisive battle. He was confident in Gao Pan's combat prowess, but in a competition between peers, there were no guaranteed victories. A single miscalculation, even a one-in-a-million chance, could lead to a reversal. The Black Dragon Hall simply couldn't afford a reversal.

Gao Pan's body stiffened, and he said solemnly, "I will not disgrace my mission!"

"Very good! I also believe you won't joke with your own life."

As he spoke, Ma Wensheng took out a small black box, the size of a matchbox, from his waist pouch. He opened the box, and inside lay a silver ring. A delicate, miniature snake coiled around the center of the ring, its design very unique. "This item was also bestowed by the Hall Master. If any unforeseen event occurs on the field, you only need to channel your palm force and lightly touch the snake's head, and a green light will be emitted. This green light is the Hundred-Year Green Light Bee King's Stinger; it can pierce almost anything. Once it enters the flesh, it releases poison, and its toxicity is ferocious. A single sting can bring down even a giant beast. Those below the Body Tempering Stage are completely defenseless against it. Even experts in the Qi Sea Realm must avoid its edge."

As soon as his voice fell, Ma Wensheng channeled his palm force and lightly touched the snake's head. A green light, noticeable from a few steps away, shot out from a tiny, almost imperceptible hole on the carved part of Gao Pan's shoulder armor. It flashed like lightning and flew over ten yards, embedding itself into a pure copper gilded pillar.

The hardness of the green light was such that the low-grade magic robe from the Alchemy Hall was easily pierced, like rotten bamboo. The speed of the green light was so great that even the strong Gao Pan couldn't react to dodge it as it passed through him.

Ma Wensheng quickly plucked out the green light and returned, holding it up in his palm. Only then did Jiang and Gao clearly see the true appearance of the green light.

The green light was extremely short, only about a third of a normal sewing needle. It was pure green like jade, as thin as a hair, and almost impossible to find when placed in the palm.

After displaying it for a moment, Ma Wensheng broke the snake ring into two semicircles, carefully hid the green light inside the ring, reassembled it, and handed it to Gao Pan, saying solemnly, "This item is extremely powerful. With it as a final safeguard, this battle can be considered safe. However, I must remind you, this is a consumable item. Once it comes into contact with skin and flesh, the poison will be released. Although this treasure is good, it is not cheap. This single green light is worth a thousand gold. Although the Hall Master is generous and magnanimous, I hope Hall Master Gao will not use it unless absolutely necessary. I also believe that with your abilities alone, eliminating the madman should be no problem."

"Generous and magnanimous?"

Gao Pan grumbled inwardly but could only repeatedly agree verbally.

Everyone knew how stingy the Hall Master of the Black Dragon Hall was. The golden armor and magic robe he was wearing now were only temporarily lent to him by the Hall Master; they had to be returned after the battle.

Thinking of the Hall Master's obsession with money and his ruthless cruelty, Gao Pan decided that he would absolutely not use this green light unless it was a last resort.

Otherwise, even if he won, it would be a defeat.

A crystal hourglass, perfectly round and translucent, had been the object of Xu Yi's gaze for some time.

After bidding farewell to Gao Junmo, he was led into this extremely quiet room. The person who led him in pointed to the hourglass placed by the window and said that when the sand in the hourglass ran out, it would be time for him to go on stage.

With a creak, the door opened, and the last grain of sand fell in the hourglass. The young man in the green robe stood by the door and said, "Time's up, follow me!"

After winding through several turns, they entered an elevator. Just as Xu Yi was guessing the power source of the elevator, it stopped. The young man in the green robe then led him eastward, and after a moment, they entered another elevator.

Xu Yi was astonished. They had just descended over fifty feet. Could it be that they were going to descend again? If they went any deeper, they might end up underground.

Just as he was marveling, two beeps sounded from the young man's waist, and the elevator started again, slowly ascending.

However, this time, the young man in the green robe did not accompany him. Xu Yi stood alone in the cabin.

Upon closer inspection, this cabin was different from the previous elevator. The surrounding walls were fixed, and only the iron plate under his feet was rising.

After climbing up for more than ten feet, the darkness above suddenly brightened. After a few breaths, his vision cleared, and Xu Yi found himself standing in the center of the training ground. At the same time, he saw a burly man in golden armor rising into the air about ten feet away.

As Xu Yi looked at Gao Pan, Gao Pan also noticed him.

As Gao Pan's gaze swept over, Xu Yi's vision became chaotic.

Xu Yi could swear on the heavens that even in the 3D blockbusters of his previous life, he had never seen such a magnificent and spectacular scene.

The training ground beneath his feet was hundreds of feet wide and long. The ground was not paved with ordinary bluestone slabs like other training grounds, but was entirely constructed from heavy iron mixed with adamant, then roughened with lapis lazuli sand. Looking down, it was like being in the center of a black sea. Such a grand training ground seemed not meant for humans to fight in, but was sufficient as a battlefield for two ferocious beasts.

If the training ground beneath his feet was shocking to Xu Yi, then the towering, mountain-like stands surrounding it were enough to make Xu Yi question his sanity.

Those were no longer stands; they were clearly four massive city walls encircling the entire training ground.

The stands, hundreds of feet high, were packed with a dense crowd as far as the eye could see. From the huge signs on the sky-high platforms, Xu Yi learned that these stands could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

And to ensure that every spectator could get as close to the action as possible, the stands were ingeniously designed by a craftsman to be spiral and undulating. From a distance, they looked like an ancient giant snake, roaring at the sun and swallowing the sky.

However, no matter how ingenious the design, to accommodate tens of thousands of people, the stands inevitably piled up into the air. At such a height, looking down from above, the two figures in the center of the training ground were merely two black dots.

To resolve this contradiction, the Governor of Guang'an Prefecture specially visited the Alchemy Hall and invited a master craftsman with profound skills.

The master craftsman, with his ingenious craftsmanship, uniquely designed magnificent projection walls in the sky opposite each stand, creatively magnifying and projecting the figures of the duelists on the field onto these walls, ensuring that everyone could watch the battle accurately and realistically.

And for the ultimate sensory experience, the master craftsman also set up sound gathering arrays around the training ground, ensuring that even the slightest sounds, such as a fist hitting flesh or a blade cutting through the air, could be accurately transmitted to every spectator's ears.