Chapter 8 Life and Death Showdown

Outside the Imperial City, in front of the duel platform, a considerable number of people had gathered. In addition to some onlookers who often come to watch the excitement, there were also many heirs from the Imperial City. Today was the day of the life-and-death duel between Long Chen and Li Hao. Although there were constant duels here on normal days, life-and-death duels were rare. Moreover, this was a life-and-death confrontation between two heirs. Although both were not extraordinarily powerful, they still attracted countless spectators. The most famous gambling house in the entire Imperial City, the Azure Blue Casino, even opened betting odds for all gamblers to choose from: Li Hao wins, 1 to 2; Long Chen wins, 1 to 10. Because it was a life-and-death duel, there was no possibility of any cheating, especially since both were heirs of noble status. Betting on the life and death of two heirs was an extremely thrilling affair. In no time, even non-gamblers began to place bets, although most of them were betting on Li Hao's victory. Although Long Chen had previously defeated Li Hao, at that time, Li Hao was completely unprepared and fell into Long Chen's trap; miracles were unlikely to occur twice. However, a small portion of people, who enjoyed thrill and took risks, bet on Long Chen's victory, but this group was very small. The betting place was not far from the arena, and the area for those betting on Li Hao's victory was crowded, while the area for betting on Long Chen's victory was desolate. "I bet 300,000 gold coins on Long Chen's victory!" Suddenly, a tall man appeared in front of the registrar, tossing over a crystal card. "What?!" The registrar was taken aback. It was already past half-morning, and he had only received a little over 10,000 gold coins in total, almost thinking he misheard. The tall man was none other than Shi Feng, who took it upon himself to place all the gold coins on Long Chen as per his request. Long Chen anticipated that due to his status, the Azure Blue Casino would definitely open betting for the life-and-death duel against Li Hao. For such life-and-death duels, even if the Azure Blue Casino knew they would lose money, they needed to participate or risk losing significant popularity. Their most profitable ventures were their internal bets, and they had to engage in such external bets to avoid displeasing gamblers. However, the Azure Blue Casino was wealthy enough to afford such losses while still making a profit, so Long Chen focused on this point. The original betting was altered to an external bet; one was 1 to 1, the other was 1 to 10, and as long as Long Chen wasn’t foolish, he knew what to do. With the help of his friends, he had gathered over 200,000 gold coins by yesterday and, after handing the coins to Shi Feng, Shi Feng, seeing Long Chen's confidence, gritted his teeth and managed to raise the bet to 300,000. The Shi family was not wealthy; they were straightforward and hot-tempered, not skilled in managing finances, and were actually less affluent than the families of his friends. To gather the money, he had even pawned his weapons and armor, just so he could take a gamble with Long Chen. After receiving the receipt from the registrar, Shi Feng's heart raced uncontrollably. "Bro, you better hold steady; I've put everything on the line here." By noon, Li Hao had already arrived. He leaped onto the platform, about ten feet high, drawing a round of applause. However, the cheers were not for his agility but because the duel was about to commence; the great show was finally about to begin. Today, Li Hao was dressed in a fitted outfit, looking clean and sharp, radiating a sense of pride: "Long Chen, the humiliation you’ve given me, I will repay tenfold." However, after Li Hao got on stage, he waited for a long time without seeing Long Chen appear, causing confusion among the crowd. They wondered if Long Chen was too scared to show up? Just as the crowd was puzzled, an old man guarding the arena coldly stated, "You agreed to duel at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. You arrived half an hour early; you can choose to wait on the stage or come down to wait." Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in boos, and Li Hao, who had originally been spirited on stage, became somewhat dumbfounded: "Damn it, how could I forget to check the time?" "No matter, I’ll wait for him on the platform. After all, he’s the one who’s about to die; his time is far more precious than mine," Li Hao said with a faint smile, sitting cross-legged on the platform, trying to maintain the demeanor of a master. However, this pretense did not last long. It was noon, and the sun was scorching; the platform was made of black stone, sizzling hot, almost capable of frying an egg. But since Li Hao had sat down, he could not stand up anymore; to maintain his master’s air, he was continuously suffering. Some keen-eyed people noticed that smoke was starting to rise from beneath Li Hao's backside, causing every onlooker to have a strange expression. "This guy is really an idiot, clinging to his pride while suffering. At this rate, before the duel even starts, his butt will be cooked!" A girlish laugh came from a woman in the distance, where two masked women watched the platform with indifference. "To put it plainly, he’s just being hypocritical," the other woman shook her head. "Sister Mengqi, we’ve been here for several days; when do you plan to break off the engagement with him?" the girl asked. The woman referred to as Mengqi frowned slightly, looking troubled: "Now that he’s in such a predicament, if I suddenly propose to break off the engagement, it would be too cruel for him. I don’t know what to do now." "However, dragging this out isn’t a solution. Master has urged us several times, and if we don’t return to the mountain soon, we will face punishment. Furthermore, with your qualifications, you could step into the innate realm and touch the heavenly path. You two are destined to be from two different worlds; there’s really no future in this," the girl sighed. "But I still feel that it would be unfair to him. Sigh... let’s just wait and see for now," Mengqi gently shook her head, a trace of worry passing through her beautiful eyes. The girl saw that Mengqi was still hesitant, about to speak when suddenly, the crowd in the distance shifted, causing her to quickly turn to look. A man in a black robe was slowly walking through the crowd, his sword-like brows and bright eyes radiating an extraordinary aura, giving people a deep and inscrutable feeling. He resembled a well, appearing shallow on the surface, yet no one could fathom his depths; it was as if he was an enigma. Even the girl and Mengqi, upon seeing Long Chen appear in such a manner, couldn’t help but feel their hearts flutter. It must be said that Long Chen now was worlds apart from the last time they saw him; he was now filled with confidence. Upon seeing Long Chen arrive, Li Hao jumped up from the ground, feeling a sharp pain in his rear, his heart filled with indignation. "Long Chen, come up and die!" Li Hao shouted angrily. Long Chen didn’t even glance at Li Hao, scanning the crowd until he spotted Shi Feng nodding at him, causing him to relax. Not only did he see Shi Feng, but he also saw Yu Pangzi and the others, clearly there to cheer him on. Long Chen smiled slightly at them and turned towards the platform, while Li Hao jumped up, Long Chen walked up the stairs. In an instant, those who had bet on Long Chen's victory felt a chill in their hearts, sensing that the money they had staked was likely to be lost. "Long Chen!" Upon seeing Long Chen finally arrive, Li Hao gritted his teeth and spat out two words. "Idiot, your butt is burned, huh?" Long Chen looked at Li Hao and couldn’t help but sneer. In fact, he had arrived long ago but had been hiding in the distance enjoying the cool, unnoticed by anyone; however, he had seen everything clearly. "The time is up; both parties sign the life-and-death contract!" At this moment, the old man took out a document, and Long Chen smiled faintly, signing his name on it. This time was different from before; there would be no surrender this time. The winning side would have the authority to determine the other's life and death. After Li Hao signed, he looked at Long Chen with a fierce expression: "You little bastard, today I will repay the humiliation you’ve given me a hundredfold!" Now that the life-and-death contract was signed, this platform had become their battlefield to the death, with no one acting as a judge. "A sharp blade heals quickly, but harsh words leave deep scars. It seems you don’t understand. You continue to provoke me, and you’re forcing me to act!" Long Chen took a deep breath, a strong killing intent flickering in his eyes. Ever since Zhou Yaoyang claimed he wasn’t Long Tianxiao’s offspring, there were people who began using that derogatory term to refer to him. "Go die, trash!" Li Hao sneered coldly, shouting as his entire body was enveloped in spiritual energy, visible power swirling around him. The crowd below exchanged glances, knowing that Li Hao had suffered greatly last time for not activating his true essence to protect himself, allowing Long Chen to successfully ambush him. This time, he was well-prepared with his defenses. Although merely at the Gathering Qi realm, spiritual energy could not be released outward, with the energy protecting his body, causing ordinary people to have difficulty inflicting harm. After setting up his defenses, Li Hao lunged towards Long Chen with a sinister smile, his hands clawing towards Long Chen's shoulders. His claws were covered with spiritual energy, akin to iron hooks; if an ordinary person were caught, their shoulder bones would be shattered immediately. "Good, Li Hao, completely cripple this trash!" A loud roar erupted from the crowd, and the voice belonged to none other than Wang Mang, who had lost half his teeth to Long Chen in the Taixue Palace. Now, the young Wang Mang had lost half his teeth, and with his family's resources, he could not afford any pills to regenerate his bones. He had long since come to hate Long Chen, and seeing Long Chen about to be seized, he couldn’t help but cheer loudly. As he cheered, Shi Feng, Yu Pangzi, and the others changed their expressions, as Long Chen had not revealed any of his cultivation, causing their hearts to leap into their throats. Long Chen watched as Li Hao charged at him, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. He stepped forward, his entire being moving like a shadow,迎向李浩。 "Bang!"