Feeling every astonished gaze in the hall, Great Emperor Gan Jin coughed lightly and tried to salvage some dignity. "There's no need to be so pessimistic. Before my master left, he gave me several forbidden trump cards and killing moves. The rules of this duel prohibit forbidden arts, so I could only fight with conventional means. That was why I lost by a narrow margin."
His explanation did little to ease the heavy atmosphere in the hall.
Everyone understood his point. But the visitors from the Nine Heavens World had a far stronger power behind them—one with a true Great Dao Realm expert.
The five who had descended might appear to be fighting at the Emperor Realm level, but the forbidden methods they carried would only be more numerous and more powerful than anything the Source Realm had.
After a brief silence, a veteran at the peak Emperor Realm broke the deadlock. "The agreement is best of five. We're desperately short of top-tier fighters. If we want to secure a win, we must find Venerable Xuantian. With his unfathomable methods, he can at least guarantee us one victory."
"Exactly!"
Someone immediately agreed, his voice thick with suspicion and resentment. "Xuantian's behavior these past years has been far too strange. If he keeps hiding and refuses to help, I'll have to wonder whether he secretly planned everything from the appearance of the Six Source Ancestral Land to the arrival of the Nine Heavens World!"
"He disappears whenever it matters most. No one can find him. Then he quietly reappears afterward to reap the benefits."
Heads nodded all around. Many neutral parties grew even more suspicious of Venerable Xuantian.
But another man soon voiced their greatest weakness. "Even if Venerable Xuantian can secure one victory, we still need to win two of