Yu Xiaogang, a Homeless Cur! Ning Lin Crushed Him with Ease!

At first, few people believed it.

After all, Ning Lin's glorious image from the day before was still vivid in their minds.

But a lie repeated a thousand times could begin to deceive.

With certain people fanning the flames, the tide of opinion in the city actually began to shift in subtle ways.

Some who had already been jealous of Ning Lin began discussing the matter with relish.

"I knew it! What made Ning Lin worthy of His Holiness the Pope's favor? So he used such filthy, underhanded tricks!"

"Poor Grandmaster. His sincere heart was repaid with such betrayal."

"You can know a man's face without knowing his heart..."

These malicious rumors naturally reached the City Lord's Residence.

Every guard in the residence seethed with righteous indignation, itching to rush outside and cut out the tongues of those spreading lies and stirring up trouble.

Yet Ning Lin, the man at the center of it all, remained as unruffled as drifting clouds in a gentle breeze.

He sat in his study, leisurely sipping fragrant tea as he listened to his subordinate's report.

"...City Lord, the rumors outside are getting uglier by the moment. People have already begun questioning your character. This is a tremendous blow to your reputation."

The man delivering the report was the guard captain of the City Lord's Residence.

His face was filled with anxiety and anger.

Ning Lin set down his teacup, raised his eyes, and asked mildly, "Have you traced the source?"

"We have."

The guard captain answered immediately.

"All the rumors point to the Blue Lightning Prince's Residence."

"Yu Xiaogang..."

Ning Lin softly uttered the name, a meaningful smile curling his lips.

"So it was him, as expected."

"A fly that only knows how to buzz in dark corners. How irritating."

He rose, walked to the window, and stood with his hands behind his back, gazing toward the distant Blue Lightning Prince's Residence.

"Since he enjoys twisting the truth so much, I'll give him a chance to confront me face-to-face."

"Pass down my command."

Ning Lin's voice was quiet, yet it carried clearly throughout the study.

"Post a notice outside the City Lord's Residence. Declare that I, Ning Lin, Heaven Dou City Lord, challenge Blue Lightning Prince Yu Xiaogang to a duel to the death in Heaven Dou Square, three days from now!"

"A duel... to the death?"

The guard captain jolted at those words.

"City Lord, isn't... isn't this a little too..."

"Further discussion is pointless."

Ning Lin cut him off.

"State clearly in the notice that this battle concerns no factions, only right and wrong. If he wins, both my life and my position as city lord are his."

"If he dares not accept, he must break both his own legs and crawl out of Heaven Dou City, never to set foot here again!"

"Also, make an exact copy of this challenge and deliver it to the Blue Lightning Prince's Residence."

Ning Lin's voice was calm and firm.

He could not be bothered to wage a war of public opinion against Yu Xiaogang.

The simplest and most effective way to deal with someone like him was to use absolute strength to grind all his schemes and plots to dust!

"Yes! Your subordinate obeys!"

The guard captain answered loudly, his heart surging.

He could feel it—the iron-blooded city lord who had passed judgment on Clear Sky Douluo in Heaven Dou Square was back!

In less than an hour.

News even more explosive than the Pope's marriage announcement once again set all of Heaven Dou City ablaze!

Lord Ning was going to fight the Blue Lightning Prince to the death!

In an instant, all the earlier negative rumors about Ning Lin were drowned out.

Everyone's attention focused on the earth-shaking showdown that was about to unfold.

"Unbelievable! Lord Ning really is formidable! He'll smash those rumors with his fists!"

"Now that's a real man! Who knows how many times better he is than Yu Xiaogang, who only knows how to wag his tongue behind people's backs!"

"Do you think Yu Xiaogang will dare accept?"

"Accept? What could he possibly fight with? His rank twenty-nine soul power? I bet Lord Ning could kill him with a single glance!"

"Haha, now we're in for a show! I bet Yu Xiaogang will pull his head into his shell like a turtle!"

Public opinion underwent an earth-shaking reversal in an instant.

Even those who had sympathized with Yu Xiaogang now saw him for what he was: fierce on the outside, cowardly within.

Hadn't he called Ning Lin despicable and shameless?

Now Ning Lin had given him a chance to prove himself before the entire world in the fairest way possible.

Did he dare?

At the Blue Lightning Prince's Residence.

Smack!

Yu Xiaogang stared at the harshly worded challenge in his hands, his face pale as paper, his body shaking like chaff in a sieve.

The challenge slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.

"A madman... Ning Lin is a madman!"

He slumped in his chair, his lips trembling, his eyes filled with boundless fear.

A duel to the death?

How dared he?

How dared he resolve a problem this way?

Didn't he know that matters between soul masters should be settled through theory and wisdom?

Resorting to fighting and killing at the slightest provocation—what kind of conduct was that?

"Your Highness... everyone in the city is watching us now. Do you think... should we accept this challenge or not?"

A subordinate asked in a trembling voice.

"Accept? What am I supposed to accept it with?!"

Yu Xiaogang sprang to his feet and roared at the subordinate.

"Are you trying to send me to my death?"

"That brute Ning Lin is merely relying on his powerful martial soul and a little brute strength! I, the Grandmaster... I refuse to stoop to his level!"

"But... but the notice says that if you refuse, you must break both your legs and crawl out of Heaven Dou City..."

"He's gone too far! Far too far!"

Yu Xiaogang shook with rage, pacing back and forth across the room like a beast trapped in a cage.

Fear swept over him like a rising tide.

He knew he was finished.

Accepting meant death.

Refusing meant utter disgrace and a miserable end.

Ning Lin's move was vicious. It had driven him straight into a dead end.

"No... I can't stay here!"

A glint of resolve flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes.

"I can't remain in Heaven Dou City!"

"Your Highness, you mean..."

"Prepare a carriage! No! No carriage! It would draw too much attention!"

Yu Xiaogang lowered his voice, panic flickering in his eyes.

"Go pack our valuables immediately. Take everything worth anything. We... we'll leave the city tonight!"

"A gentleman can wait ten years for revenge! Once I find San'er, once we've built up enough strength, I'll return and make Ning Lin repay his blood debts in blood!"

He found a lofty-sounding excuse for his flight.

As his subordinates listened, the last shred of respect in their hearts vanished.

At a time like this, this "Grandmaster" was thinking not of how to face his predicament, but of how to flee with his tail between his legs.

How... pathetic.

That night.

While all of Heaven Dou City was caught up in anticipation of the duel three days away, several bedraggled figures slipped secretly out the back gate of the Blue Lightning Prince's Residence under cover of darkness.

Leading them was none other than Yu Xiaogang, the "Blue Lightning Prince" who had held his position for less than two days.

He abandoned the residence bestowed upon him by the imperial family and the noble title he had only just regained, vanishing into the boundless night like a homeless cur.