On the journey from South City up to the Stone Fortress on the mountain, Zhang Ji could feel the entire city's anticipation and fervor for tonight's martial contest. Even the bolder gambling houses had openly sent people into the streets to drum up business. "Who'll win? Who'll lose? Who'll live? Who'll die? Place your bets! Come on, a once-in-a-century chance to make a fortune!"
Zhang Ji scoffed at the gambling houses' bluster, but the surging emotions of the people left a deep impression on him. The contest between the Unrivaled King and the Dragon King wasn't the final battle. Win or lose, it would still take enormous sacrifice and a long time to deal with the other side's remaining forces.
Yet to the more than a hundred thousand residents of Jade City, this was the decisive battle. Its outcome would determine who owned Jade City—and even Golden Peng Fortress. It was as if the armies outside the city were merely props, destined to vanish overnight with their masters' defeat.
Zhang Ji disliked this.
He spoke frankly to the Unrivaled King. "The contest between the city lords has attracted too much attention. That's a bad thing."
"What's so bad about it?" Shangguan Fa stood before a stone pillar, like a master craftsman pondering where to make the first chisel mark.
"There'll still be plenty to do after the contest, and it'll all have to be handled step by step. But the people down the mountain seem to think this is the end. They'll get impatient. I hope King Lord won't be too affected by it."
"You've grown timid." Shangguan Fa turned to look at his military strategist. A long time ago, he'd begun to wonder whether he had chosen the wrong man. Now that feeling was growing stronger. "You were the