"Do it another way?"
The middle-aged man looked at Jiang Xiaobai, raising his brows slightly. "What way, exactly?"
"Simple."
Jiang Xiaobai sat there and said with a smile, "Defend the arena!"
"One person against twelve."
"If the defender falls short of even one of them," Jiang Xiaobai explained, "he steps down!"
"If he successfully holds out to the end... then he takes first place today!"
As his words fell, a low murmur instantly swept through the Orchid Pavilion Tower.
"One person against twelve?"
"Isn't that too difficult?"
"Lose to just one person, and the defense fails. It's certainly simple, but isn't it a little too ruthless?"
Indeed, the method was so simple that everyone understood it immediately.
In a normal assessment, all thirteen contestants would give their answers, and the Brush Holder and the senior figures in the tower would determine their rankings.
Defending the arena was different. The defender had to single-handedly suppress all twelve others.
As long as any one of them surpassed the defender, the defender would have to step down.
This was no examination question. This was putting someone... over a fire to roast!
"That does sound interesting."
After pondering for a moment, the middle-aged man suddenly smiled and looked at the thirteen people in the Jia Area. "Very well. We'll do as you suggest."
"Only..."
The middle-aged man paused briefly. "Who will defend first?"
At those words, everyone's gaze immediately returned to the Jia Character Area.
Du Chong frowned.
Guo Zhan and Zhong Yu remained silent as well.
The Third Prince sat upright with an indifferent expression. The others wore varying looks, but none spoke.
Clearly, everyone understood what being the first defender meant.
Going first might seem like seizing the initiative, but in reality, it was also the most dangerous position.
All twelve people