At this question, the atmosphere in the room came alive. The three deputy hall masters and four elders began noisily recommending candidates.
The Black Dragon Hall had thirty thousand members, and plenty of experts at Body Tempering Peak. For a while, candidates seemed to be everywhere, and they couldn't agree.
With a loud smack, Wan Youlong slammed the tiger-head armrest of his carved golden chair. The room fell silent. "Chattering like a flock of sparrows. Wensheng, spit it out."
Ma Wensheng cupped his fists toward Wan Youlong. "Hall Master, it's not that I'm holding anything back. I've spent a long time weighing the options, but still can't decide on a candidate. Our Black Dragon Hall has many experts. More than a hundred are at Body Tempering Peak, and twenty or thirty are about as strong as Gao Pan. Only a dozen or so are certain to be stronger than him. There's no need to mention those on par with Gao Pan; they certainly can't beat that fellow Yi. But even those clearly stronger than Gao Pan can't be counted on to beat Yi for sure. It's a real headache."
Wan Youlong furrowed his brow and thought for a moment. "What if we offer a hefty sum to hire an expert? Plenty of the top ten on Guang'an City's Arena Battle Rankings are Rogue Cultivators. We might be able to persuade one to come."
Ma Wensheng replied, "That would certainly improve our odds. The problem is, whoever we hire would still be an outsider, which could damage the Black Dragon Hall's reputation. Even if we win, people will laugh that the Black Dragon Hall has no one of its own."
"Then let's do this: offer a fortune to have that person join the Black Dragon Hall. After the duel, they can