"Uh, do you think the repeated blows of being held back since his cultivation plummeted became too much for Bu Wuchen, so he decided to seek release through death in a wager duel?"
"That's actually possible!"
Everyone's predictions for the outcome of this battle were overwhelmingly one-sided.
That was because the hierarchy of strength at Blood Dragon City Academy was especially clear-cut-
Under academy regulations, anyone who raised their mystic cultivation to the third level of the Brute Martial Realm before turning fourteen could earn a place on the academy's preparatory class roster.
But that was by no means easy.
Among ordinary people, cultivators were already one in a hundred.
And those who reached the third level of the Savage Martial Realm before fourteen were, without exception, standouts among their peers in their locality or city!
In fact, being in the "preparatory class" only meant one "might" become a student of Blood Dragon City Academy someday.
To actually enter the academy to study and cultivate, one had to reach the seventh level of the Savage Martial Realm before sixteen and become a junior class student;
When a cultivator's Mystic Qi cultivation broke through the peak of the ninth level of the Savage Martial Realm and reached the Qi Observation Realm, they could graduate from the junior class and advance to the intermediate class;
Those at the Qi Observation Realm Fifth Layer through ninth layer could join the senior class;
Only the exceedingly few geniuses who broke through the peak of the Qi Observation Realm and reached the Qi Control Realm before eighteen could enter the elite class!
Now Bu Wuchen, who was on the verge of falling out of even the "preparatory class," actually wanted a life-and-death wager duel with Lin Zhuxian of the "senior class." How could he possibly stand a chance?
"Will the young master... really be all right?"
Wan Xiaoyao clenched her delicate fists.
The old servant A Chun swallowed hard, his face just as tense.
But as he recalled the deadly precision with which Bu Wuchen had instantly killed Lin Zhuliang, a keen gleam could not help lighting his aged eyes again.
He offered quiet reassurance. "If he only needs to last ten breaths to win... the young master should still have a sliver of hope, shouldn't he?"
Originally, neither of them had been qualified to enter, since they were not students.
But because Bu Wuchen and Lin Zhuxian had signed a life-and-death duel contract;
If he lost and died, someone would need to handle his funeral affairs and compensate the victor according to the contract. Only for that reason had an exception been made to let A Chun and Wan Xiaoyao in.
At that moment, up in the stands.
Besides the students and instructors who had come specifically to watch the spectacle, an elder from the Lin Lineage's main branch sat prominently in the central seat.
He was Lü Chunyang, the only elder of a different surname in the Lin Lineage's main branch.
He was the one who had originally agreed to lend Fierce Tiger Soul-Searing Astral Force and Flame Tiger Fist to Lin Zhuliang.
Now the day to return them had arrived, yet neither the books nor the promised "fee" had found their way into his hands. Lü Chunyang was decidedly displeased!
Beside him, Lin Senyu stood stiffly, wearing an ingratiating smile.
The head of a collateral branch was inherently a rank below an elder of the main branch.
What was more, his son, Lin Senyu, had committed the grave error of losing the sole copies of cultivation manuals!
At that moment, he was humbly assuring the other man, "Please rest assured, Elder Lü. My son will certainly defeat that scoundrel in this wager duel."
"Those two cultivation and mystic technique manuals will naturally be recovered without the slightest damage."
Lü Chunyang merely snorted. "Hmph. Let us hope so!"
Just then, the instructor serving as the temporary referee on the martial stage cleared his throat and gave the command. "Both duelists, prepare yourselves."
Buzzz-
At those words, Lin Zhuxian's body trembled slightly. In an instant, fiery crimson mystic astral force enveloped him like a suit of translucent, seamless armor formed from a curtain of fire.
This was a method unique to Qi Observation Realm cultivators: mystic power cladding.
A cultivator wrapped in mystic power armor possessed far greater striking power and defensive strength than they had in the Savage Martial Realm!
In the Savage Martial Realm, each increase of one level granted the strength of half an ox.
Even a cultivator at the peak of the ninth level of the Savage Martial Realm usually struggled to break through the ceiling of "five oxen's strength."
But once they reached the Qi Observation Realm, even at merely the Qi Observation Realm First Layer, they could easily gain eight oxen's strength after cloaking themselves in mystic power!
That went all the more for Lin Zhuxian, who was at the Qi Observation Realm Fifth Layer...
Compared with the dazzling spectacle of Lin Zhuxian's body cloaked in mystic firelight, Bu Wuchen's side looked far more subdued and bare.
Yet when he gathered strength into his body, the force that instantly billowed outward still startled everyone-
"Th-that feels like far more than nine oxen's strength, doesn't it?"
"Yes. The mystic force Bu Wuchen just released has probably long since surpassed the limit a body can attain in the Savage Martial Realm."
"Exactly!"
But after their brief surprise, the crowd still had little faith in the youth in plain cloth-
"Thinking about it carefully, it's nothing much."
"After all, he was at the Qi Observation Realm Ninth Layer Peak when he first enrolled!"
"Now, with his cultivation falling again and again, it isn't strange for this final flare before the light dies to temporarily grant him strength far beyond an ordinary Savage Martial Realm cultivator."
"Besides, even if Bu Wuchen could attain the strength of 'nine oxen and two tigers' that those legendary favored sons of heaven developed in the Savage Martial Realm, so what?"
"Against Lin Zhuxian, who's at the Qi Observation Realm Fifth Layer, he still has absolutely no chance!"
"Begin the duel!"
At the referee instructor's command, Lin Zhuxian immediately charged in to seize the initiative. "Hmph! Why would I need ten breaths to defeat trash like you?"
"One breath is enough to blast your damned head apart!"
As his roar ended, Lin Zhuxian had already stormed right up to Bu Wuchen and launched a savage punch.
"Good heavens! Senior Lin Zhuxian is opening with a completely unrestrained strike?"
"Exactly. That punch is so overbearing that my face hurts even from this far away!"
Wager duels between students were common at Mystic Qi academies in every city and town.
But no matter what, they were still fellow students and would usually spare some thought for their bond as schoolmates;
As such, very few actually struck to kill in life-and-death duels.
Now, however, Lin Zhuxian's incomparably fierce punch had shown everyone his utterly resolute intent to kill!
"Senior Lin's punch is terrifying. Even a Qi Observation Realm First Layer cultivator would certainly die if it landed;"
"But Bu Wuchen is only in the Rough Martial Realm. He can't even protect his body with mystic power. How could he survive?"
"Exactly. I'm afraid he'll be the first person this year to die in a wager duel on the martial stage."
"Young master?!"
The instant Wan Xiaoyao cried out involuntarily, Bu Wuchen moved-
Without dodging or retreating, he raised his hand and clenched his fist, actually taking a stance to meet Lin Zhuxian's punch head-on!
"Heh. A mantis raising its forelegs against a chariot."
As Lin Zhuxian laughed scornfully, their fists crashed together.
Bang!!
They separated the instant they made contact. Bu Wuchen slid a long distance with both feet scraping across the platform, clearly having come off worse in this exchange.
Yet judging by everyone's reactions, the youth who had been forcibly driven back more than ten steps after exchanging punches seemed to be the true victor-
"H-how is this possible?"
"With his mere Savage Martial Realm body, Bu Wuchen actually met Senior Lin head-on, even though Senior Lin is at the Qi Observation Realm Fifth Layer and had already summoned his protective Mystic Qi?!"
"A-am I seeing things?"
For a moment, both the spectators outside the martial stage and the instructor referee on the platform were utterly astonished.