At Jiang Wang's willingness to draw his sword, Zhao Xuanyang nodded in respect.
Then he finally turned halfway around and faced Jiang Wang.
"Fighting and killing is no good, is it? I've always advocated peace. Let's settle this with words, not fists." He continued smiling. "Look, you've frightened all these people."
Though the two of them were facing off near the tavern's main entrance, and though everyone else was a considerable distance away from them,
the tavern's patrons, diners, waiters, and bookkeepers had all moved as far away as they could, nearly all pressed against the walls.
At that moment, Jiang Wang suddenly wondered:
What would the "Jiang Wang" these people spoke of do now?
Everyone in the tavern would probably become hostages!
Zhao Xuanyang was a Prodigy of Jing Kingdom, the hegemon of the Central Regions.
A hegemon state had to bear the responsibilities of a hegemon state. A Prodigy had to shoulder the responsibilities of a Prodigy.
If he took everyone in the tavern hostage and threatened to kill them regardless of age or sex, whether they were extraordinary or not, surely Zhao Xuanyang would have his misgivings.
From the coldest perspective on combat, this might be the only factor he could exploit in these circumstances.
But with his sword in hand, Jiang Wang said only, "You have forty breaths to leave. After forty breaths, I'll give everything I have to fight to the death here."
He said it very calmly.
The terrified people in the tavern, however, looked to Zhao Xuanyang, the Prodigy of Jing Kingdom.
Zhao Xuanyang nodded with a smile.
At once, the crowd surged out in a great crush, giving Jiang Wang a wide berth as they streamed past Zhao Xuanyang and poured through the tavern's doors. No one dared linger nearby, either. They