Seeing Bu Wuchen so tense, Lin Zhuxian's sleazy grin deepened. "Heh heh, if you want those two to stay safe, return the goods, then obediently confess and submit to punishment."
"Get lost!!"
Bu Wuchen roared in fury.
He was no fool.
If he really agreed to confess and submit to punishment, A Chun and Wan Xiaoyao would lose him, their pillar of support, and their fate would be just as utterly tragic!
Lin Zhuxian narrowed his eyes. "Hmph, then I'll make another concession and have a wagered duel to the death with you."
"The stakes will be those two manuals, the cultivation method and the mystical technique."
"If you win, that will prove that heavenly justice is on your side. My Lin Lineage will believe you aren't my younger brother's true killer, and we'll stop trying to recover the cultivation method and mystical technique."
"But if you lose, you must return them and confess to murdering my younger brother."
At this point, Lin Zhuxian gave a sly smile. "Heh, don't tell me you don't have the Fierce Tiger Soul-Searing Astral Force and Flame Leopard Fist."
"Without them as stakes, I won't have any interest in playing with you."
"Then you can prepare to collect their corpses, the old one and the young one!"
After hearing this, Bu Wuchen sneered. "Heh, the mystical technique your younger brother insisted on giving me wasn't called Flame Leopard Fist. It was Flame Tiger Fist."
Lin Zhuxian froze at his words.
He had deliberately gotten one word of the mystical technique's name wrong to bluff the other party into revealing something.
Who would have thought that, although Bu Wuchen had stated the technique's correct name without any reservations, he had also adamantly insisted that Lin Zhuliang had given it to him of his own accord, leaving Lin Zhuxian with nothing to use against him.
Crafty bastard.
Lin Zhuxian cursed inwardly, his expression remaining composed. "Very good. So you've agreed?"
Just then: "Ding-dong! God-Level Choice System successfully triggered. Host, please choose from the following options-"
"Option one: fearlessly accept Lin Zhuxian's wagered duel."
"Reward for this option: one mystical technique, spirit tier at minimum, with no upper limit."
"Option two: shrink from the challenge and muddle through with evasive words."
"Reward for this option: one exquisite little figurine of a turtle hiding its head."
Then I've got to pick the first option!
"Ding-dong! System reward delivered."
Then Bu Wuchen raised his eyebrows with interest and said to Lin Zhuxian, "Agree? Why wouldn't I?"
"But I have one more condition."
"I can guess it without you saying anything."
Thinking himself clever, Lin Zhuxian waved a hand. "Don't worry. You don't have to defeat me."
"When the time comes, you only have to last ten breaths on the wagering platform without losing, and we'll count that as your win!"
This was not some great act of kindness on Lin Zhuxian's part.
Rather, he worried that otherwise, Bu Wuchen would feel he had no chance of winning and refuse the wagered duel.
If that happened, even killing the old servant and maid on the spot would not get Lin Zhuxian what he truly wanted.
Ten breaths will be enough to crush this trash to death several times over!
Lin Zhuxian was certain of it.
Bu Wuchen, however, was somewhat surprised. Ha, that really wasn't what I was going to say.
But since this bastard is being so "courteous," there's no need for me to spoil his fun...
So he cleared his throat and said, "Fine, but I demand another twenty thousand gold in stakes."
"Twenty thousand gold?"
This time, Lin Senyu, who had remained silent all this while, spoke up. "You? Can you even produce that many gold coins?"
Bu Wuchen glared. "We'll obviously be drawing up a blood contract for this wagered duel."
"Are you really afraid I'll welsh on the debt?"
Lin Senyu thought it over and found that reasonable.
If either party to a blood contract failed to honor its terms, they would face the harshest sanctions under the laws of their kingdom!
In fact, as cultivators grew stronger, there was also a universal method specifically for swearing blood oaths.
These were even more binding than blood contracts!
If those extraordinarily powerful cultivators dared violate a blood oath, even if the laws of mortal kingdoms could do nothing to them, they could not escape the punishment of heavenly divine retribution when the blood oath took effect.
"Fine. Twenty thousand gold it is."
The Lin father and son exchanged smiles, both thinking the same thing. Trash like you actually thinks he can win another twenty thousand gold in stakes? Dream on!
Once you dare step onto the wagering platform, your little life is over. Not even immortals could save you...
At that moment, Wan Xiaoyao suddenly reached out and clutched Bu Wuchen's sleeve tightly, saying nervously, "Young master, you mustn't take such a terrible risk for us."
The old servant A Chun immediately followed, "That's right. Blades have no eyes in a wagered duel to the death. If anything should happen to you..."
"Pah, pah, pah! Heaven watches over a lucky man like me. Nothing will happen to me!"
"As long as I win the duel, twenty thousand gold will come rolling in!"
Bu Wuchen waved a hand carelessly. "Move aside, move aside. Don't get in the way of this young master drawing up the contract."
"Young master, you... sigh!"
Wan Xiaoyao and A Chun both felt that their young master had been blinded by greed.
Thinking about it, it was understandable. After all, back in the imperial capital, he had grown used to spending lavishly.
Yet for the past few months, he had been forced to hole up in this cold frontier city, living a miserable life.
Now that an opportunity to "get rich overnight" had suddenly appeared, how could he not be tempted?
Before long, on one of the martial platforms at Blood Dragon City Academy.
Dressed in plain cloth, with no hint of luxury, Bu Wuchen stood facing Lin Zhuxian, who wore long brocade robes and had his arms folded across his chest, a dozen or so paces away.
A ring of braziers burned at the platform's four corners, lighting the freshly fallen darkness as brightly as day.
The "Mystic Qi academy" Bu Wuchen now attended was vastly different from the schools on Earth in his previous life-
Here, there had never been any such thing as "flowers in a greenhouse"!
Whether in Blood Dragon City or any other city or town,
every Mystic Qi academy had been established to cultivate all kinds of talent for the Great Liang Kingdom!
Of these, combat specialists were undoubtedly the most numerous and the most widely employed.
Every Mystic Qi academy hoped to nurture a group of younger students with hot blood and fighting spirit!
Thus, as long as both parties were willing, the academy would not interfere with duels to the death on the martial platforms. It would even send an instructor to referee the wagered duel free of charge.
The stands surrounding the martial platform were already packed with spectators who had come after hearing the news, and they were now all talking over one another-
"Isn't that Bu Wuchen, the one who kept getting held back all the way from the advanced class to the preparatory class?"
"Yeah. I never imagined he'd actually dare challenge a senior from the advanced class to a wagered duel to the death!"
"I heard he had someone request sick leave for him several days ago, and he couldn't even get out of bed. How come he's standing on the martial platform now with his arms and legs perfectly fine?"
"Heh, if you ask me, this guy's probably having his final flicker before death, and that 'flicker' fried his brains too-"
"You finally managed to get out of bed. Couldn't you find something else to do? Why insist on fighting a senior from the advanced class to the death?"