What a Lucky Day

His ready agreement actually made Elder Fu pause in surprise.

He looked at the two of them, somewhat hesitant.

There had been wagers on the Heavenly Prodigy Platform before, but they had only involved pills or weapons. This was the first time anyone had put their entire fortune on the line.

But as he looked at Chun Xiaobai's arrogant face, practically begging for a beating...

The longer he looked, the angrier he became.

This was clearly the sort of disciple who had just joined the sect and wanted to steal the limelight, only to lose his nerve when he realized he could not win and deliberately set an obstacle to make his opponent back off.

His beard bristled, and he nodded outright. "Since you've decided for yourselves, fine. We'll do it your way."

"But let me make this clear beforehand: once the wager is set, there's no backing out!"

"Huh?!"

Chun Xiaobai immediately put on a terrified expression.

In truth, his heart was blooming with joy.

"B-but... but..."

"But what? Get on with it!" Lu Mang's face positively blossomed with delight.

"Damn, what a lucky day! Someone's actually handing me everything he owns!"

Before, the sight of Chun Xiaobai had irritated him no matter how he looked at him. Now, the boy seemed especially adorable, as though he were Lu Mang's own father, lost for three hundred years.

"Since you're so eager to deliver your fortune to my doorstep, fine. I'll shave a few months off the time you spend bedridden."

Seeing this, Bai Jin'er anxiously tried to step forward and talk Chun Xiaobai out of it, only for Fang Yuan beside her to catch her arm.

"Don't panic, Junior Sister Bai!" Fang Yuan lowered his voice, his eyes full of excitement.

"Even if you don't trust the Great King's fighting strength, you've got to trust his sneak attacks! It's not like we didn't see those last two!"

With an agonized expression, Chun Xiaobai reluctantly handed his three Storage Bags to Elder Fu, acting as though he were having flesh carved off his body.

Elder Fu accepted the Storage Bags, a look of satisfaction spreading across his face at Chun Xiaobai's apparent humiliation.

"Today, you brat who knows neither the height of heaven nor the depth of earth, you'll learn a lesson you won't forget!"

Then he turned his gaze to Lu Mang.

With a swift tug, Lu Mang removed the Storage Bag at his waist and slapped it into Elder Fu's hand, then strode toward the arena at the center of the Heavenly Prodigy Platform.

"Ah!"

Chun Xiaobai heaved a heavy sigh, then dragged his feet after him, looking listless and utterly crestfallen.

His appearance made the surrounding disciples cover their mouths and snicker.

In the crowd, Fang Yuan was so excited that his eyes narrowed to slits. He thrust his arm into the air and shouted.

"Go, Great King! The Great King is mighty!"

"Uh!"

Everyone around him froze and turned to look.

What Great King?

Was this fellow the emperor of some mortal kingdom?

"Uh..."

Only then did Fang Yuan realize that the familiar words had slipped out. He hastily corrected himself.

"Senior Brother Chun... go, Senior Brother Chun! Senior Brother Chun will win!"

Then he nudged Bai Jin'er beside him with his shoulder, signaling for her to cheer along.

But Bai Jin'er was too nervous to be in any mood to cheer.

As far as she was concerned, Chun Xiaobai could barely draw qi into his body. His opponent was a disciple ranked among the top fifty on the Heavenly Prodigy Ranking, a true genius. How could a sneak attack possibly secure victory?

The two reached the center of the Martial Practice Platform and took their positions.

Chun Xiaobai still wore the grief-stricken expression of someone whose parents had died.

He had no choice. To rake in a fat haul on the Heavenly Prodigy Platform, he first had to play the meek little grandson.

If he accidentally scared these fellows away, where else would he make his fortune?

With Heaven-Rending Hand and Heaven-Treading Steps as his two trump cards, he was fully confident that he could pin these so-called "geniuses" to the ground and grind them into the dirt, provided he did not encounter a disciple in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

After all, he was a genuine middle Qi Refining cultivator now.

Most importantly, the raw strength of a single arm had already reached nearly ten thousand jin!

If he still could not beat them, how would he ever get by in the Cultivation World?

How would he restore the Mountain King's former glory?

"Ready?" Lu Mang rolled up his sleeves, raised his Tiger-Head Long Saber, and asked with a grin.

Following his example, Chun Xiaobai pulled a battered long saber from a Storage Bag and nodded nervously.

"Could we wait a little longer?"

"Wait?" Lu Mang laughed viciously, assuming he was frightened. "Once you're on the Heavenly Prodigy Platform, there's no waiting! The sooner I knock you flat, the sooner I get rich!"

With that, he stamped down hard, his burly body shooting forward like a cannonball. His long saber traced a vicious arc and came cleaving down at Chun Xiaobai's head!

"Ah!"

Chun Xiaobai let out an exaggerated cry of alarm, then turned and ran without a second thought.

"Hahahaha!"

His cowardly display immediately sent the spectating disciples below into gales of laughter.

Yet in the crowd, Fang Yuan's eyes lit up at the sight, and his confidence only grew.

Yes, yes!

That's exactly how it goes!

Didn't those last two unlucky fools fall for this exact trick, only to end up pinned beneath the Great King and ground into the dirt? He clenched his fists and growled excitedly.

"Go, Senior Brother Chun!"

Watching one man chase the other round and round the arena, Elder Fu's aged face kept twitching.

This fellow really has come here to make a disgraceful spectacle of himself!

"Boy, you're pretty quick on your feet!"

Lu Mang hollered as he chased, but he was in no hurry. Like a tiger toying with its prey, he relished the pleasure of watching his opponent struggle in fear.

Yet as the chase went on, he began to notice something wrong.

Despite his hulking build, he was relatively perceptive.

He suddenly realized that whether he sped up or slowed down, he always remained a fixed distance behind the fellow ahead, unable even to touch the hem of his clothes.

Chun Xiaobai caught the slight furrow in his brow and knew that the fellow had clearly noticed the problem.

He immediately stopped using Heaven-Treading Steps, deliberately letting his movement falter slightly to expose an opening.

Sure enough, Lu Mang seized that fleeting opportunity. Instantly casting aside his doubts, he flipped his long saber and unleashed a blade of light straight at Chun Xiaobai's back!

With a piercing shriek through the air, the saber light steadily expanded, turning into a blood-red spirit saber over three meters long in the blink of an eye!

Damn! Finally, someone's using spells!

Excitement flashed through Chun Xiaobai's eyes. He immediately gathered an invisible force into his blade, spun around, and held his long saber across his chest.

Clang!

The blood-red saber light struck the spine of his blade with savage force, unleashing a deafening crash!

But that was all it amounted to-a loud crash. Chun Xiaobai did not even sway.

This... doesn't seem all that impressive either! he muttered inwardly.

Still, to keep his opponent from noticing anything amiss, he hurled himself backward before the force of the impact had fully dissipated. His feet scraped tracks more than a dozen zhang across the arena before he "barely" steadied himself.

The spectating disciples saw only that Lu Mang had sent Chun Xiaobai flying with one strike, and immediately erupted into thunderous cheers and shouts.

"Go, Senior Brother Lu!"

"Senior Brother Lu is mighty! Cut him down!"