One careless move had upset the Xu family's entire plan. Now, the Xu were left in a passive situation. They had initially thought that they had secured their first victory when Qin Lianshan had stepped up.
Unexpectedly, not only did they lose the first round, but the loss had also cost them the life of one of their warriors.
However, they were not in the mood to be mourn the death of Xu Wugen at the moment. The other party was already waiting to begin the second round. Forget trying to avoid the battle, if they showed even the slightest hesitation to step up on the stage, they would not be able to stop the crowd from jeering at them.
Xu Sanli's face appeared ashen and inwardly, resentment filled his heart. He looked out at the square that was bustling with noise and could not understand, when did the Humble Qin family gain such popularity? And when had the Xu family became so unpopular to the point where everyone was calling for their blood?
He never even considered how many anguished souls had died at the hands of the "Human Butcher," Xu Wugen!
"I will go up for the second round!" Xu Sanli looked at Qin Wushuang on the opposite side of the stage. Although fighting with a martial arts student would make him lose all of his face, the Xu family could not afford to lose in this circumstance.
Winning three of the five fights would determine the winner. If they lost again in this second round, they would find themselves with the backs facing a sheer cliff with nothing but precipitous rocks directly below.
And the usually steadfast Xu family would never allow the occurrence of such a situation.
"Sanli, you cannot fight in the second round." That one-eyed Elder stared at Qin Wushuang with his only eye, which was filled with hatred. He whispered as he sized up Qin Wushuang from the distance, "You are the Patriarch of the family. We must win this competition, no matter what. The Xu family can afford to lose in the second round, but the family cannot afford to lose you."
Xu Sanli was momentarily stunned, but he immediately understood.
Yes, even if the Xu family lost the second round, they still had a chance to turn the situation around in the next round. However, as the head of the household, if he lost, then the Xu family would doubtlessly and completely lose its morale. The enemy could then use the momentum to secure the win in the third round. Thus, they would have beaten the Xu family in only three rounds.
He was the Patriarch, so he must definitely be responsible for the most difficult and crucial match in the third round. If he won, the fight would continue. But if he lost, then he would need to yield the Wealthy Class seat to the enemy!
The third battle was the most critical battle to decide the winner.
“Uncle Kai, then what about the second battle?” Xu Sanli still had some uncertainty.
"I will go. In the original plan, I was to fight the second battle anyways. Unfortunately, we did not expect that the father and the son of the Qin family were going to fight one after another. In this second round, since the enemy did not continue to fight, we can only fight one-on-one.”
According to the rules, if the enemy participated again in the second round after he had fought in the first battle, then they would have to fight one-on-two. If he decided to fight three rounds consecutively, then he would have to fight one against three in the third round.
However, on the Qin side, Qin Lianshan had fought in the first round. In the next round, Qin Wushuang had followed up after his father's battle to appear as the new challenger. So then next round would be a one-on-one fight.
"It would be best for Elder Kai to fight in the second round." That remaining Elder Yue said, "The third round is the most crucial. No matter who goes up from the Qin family, it will be counted as their second fight, and they would have to fight one against two. Thus, even though we’ve lost the first round, as long as we perform well in the later battles, we can waste their energy by means of attrition."
Xu Sanli repeatedly nodded in strong agreement with Elder Yue's words.
"Uncle Kai, Uncle Yue, let's make a rule for the following battles. Not only do we need to win, we must also get them spend more energy. The more they use up their energy and Genuine Qi, the better chance we’ll have of winning."
The Xu family no longer cared about their face. Regardless of whatever tactics or by taking advantage of their superior numbers to win by means of attrition, they only sought to suppress the Qin family.
To put it bluntly, they were going to bully them since they had a larger reserve of warriors.
The Xu family had been whispering among themselves for a while and had stalled from going up on the stage. Hence, the audience below the stage was becoming unhappy. Hisses and rowdy jeering sprung up everywhere among the audience, all of them urging the Xu family to hurry up and send someone up on to the stage.
Such a mighty Wealthy Xu family, how could they stall when facing a challenge from a little Humble Class?
The one-eyed Elder Kai smoothed his robes, tidied his belt, and with a whistle, he jumped onto the stage.
An elder and a young man stared at each other and towered above the audience like the two lofty mountains contrasted by the desolate white hair of the elder and the thick flowing hair of a youngster. The sense of disparity was enormous.
The old man’s face showed great bitterness and hatred, without a single trace of elegance. On the contrary, the youngster appeared at ease, as if he was just meeting an old friend. From his expression, one could not sense any form of rage nor the fact that he was about to fight a life and death battle.
"Kid, you dared to learn martial arts when you’ve yet to even wean yourself off from your mother’s milk?" Elder Kai spoke with an arrogance born from his age and experience, "It's a pity that your father had wasted so much effort in raising you, why are you so eager to to throw away your life here?"
Qin Wushuang smiled lightly and replied: "I also wanted to ask you. You still came up to die in shame at your old age, could it be that all of the youngsters in the Xu family had died?"
These words were full of gas and was loud enough to be heard beneath the stage. The young people of the Xu family heard Qin Wushuang’s mocking taunt and were all filled with rage. They gritted their teeth as if they want to tear Qin Wushuang to pieces.
"Stop with the rubbish, let me see if your Qin family had really produced a demon. A little martial arts student like you who had dared to come up on the stage!"
Qin Wushuang waved his hand and said lightly: “Since you are much older than me, how about I let you have three attacks for free, what do you think?”
Although Qin Wushuang understood the principle of respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, on the battlefield, there were only enemies. Of course, he never intended to comply with any elders in reality.
He had only spoken these words because he’d wanted to provoke Elder Kai, to slap the face of the Xu family and to increase the prestige of the Qin family. From Qin Wushuang's perspective, the rise of the Qin family was inevitable. And this stage was the best for him begin.
Every word and action he had taken or said so far had been to create the best opportunities to promote the Qin family.
“Such arrogance…” Elder Kai had lived for more than eighty or ninety years, what kind of situations had he not seen? He knew the enemy was obviously trying to provoke him. He immediately yelled as if a rod was hitting the snake: “Count me incompetent if I cannot beat you in three moves.”
This old man was a bachelor, without any courtesy, he directly stepped forward. His hand sliced downward like a blade toward Qin Wushuang's neck.
The smile that hung on Qin Wushuang's face did not diminish. He pointed up with one finger, gently shook it and smirked: "Three moves are too much."
Before he’d finished talking, his body flashed like a ghost. He had already dodged to the side.
Elder Kai abruptly stopped his movement and turned around in a hurry. He saw Qin Wushuang speaking with a sarcastic face: "One move, I only need one attack, and I promise, you will go to Heaven."
Everyone in the audience beneath the stage held their breath. A moment ago, the two party had only attacked and defended in one move. However, in that short interaction, one had initiated a fierce attack and the one had evaded using his superior body movements. All the experts had clearly seen through the tricks behind the exchange.
When they saw how Qin Wushuang had freely and easily evaded a fierce attack from a Stage Four Genuine Force Warrior, their heart quivered violently.
They had previously heard the story of how Qin Wushuang had killed Zhang Yao in an instant during a duel. However, that Zhang Yao was merely at Stage Nine of the Power Force and there were many different versions of the rumor flying around. Some people had believed the reason that Qin Wushuang had been able to kill Zhang Yao instantaneously was because Da Xi Ming had secretly supported him.
That was, until this moment, when all the doubts, the curiosity, and the jealousy quickly vanished like smoke into the air!
Nobody could help him cheat on this stage, in this battle.
A little martial arts student was actually fighting against a Stage Four Genuine Force Warrior. And, he was holding his ground!
If killing a Stage Nine Power Force Warrior instantly was considered a miracle, then this would become a legend. A little martial arts student was fighting against a Stage Four Genuine Force Warrior!
This was indeed a legend in the making in front of everyone's eyes at this moment!
Between a Stage Nine Power Force Warrior and a Stage Four Genuine Force Warrior, many people were inwardly calculating the difference between these two. The more they thought about it, the more they were in awe and fear.
Especially those martial arts who had offended Qin Wushuang, their faces became pale, their hearts agitated and their bodies weak.
Most of the parents of the other martial arts students started asking their children what kind of relationship they’d had with Qin Wushuang at the Martial Arts Academy!
Immediately, parents began to roundly abuse and criticize their children with a harsh tone when they learned of how their children had offended Qin Wushuang. As for those parents who discovered that their children hadn’t had any interaction with him, amidst their disappointment, they also rejoiced. Fortunately, their children hadn’t offended this demonic son of the Qin family.
A few of the parents, such as Hu Ziyan and Fang Xiaozhong knew their son was somewhat acquainted with Qin Wushuang and could not help but feel joyful. Inwardly, they were feeling quite pleased.
Of course, the one that had the ugliest expression was Zhang Maorui, the Patriarch of the Zhang family. It was only now that he’d learned how much of demon this child of the Qin family was.
In other words, both of his sons had died regretfully and pointlessly. They had been nothing more than the scapegoats and cannon fodder for the Xu family!
With an ashen face, Xu Sanli pursed his lips tightly as a disconcerting feeling rose up in him. He watched the high-spirited Qin Wushuang, and his heart turned incomparably desolate.
He finally realized that lusting after the assets of the Qin family might have been a mistake. An unforgivable mistake.
If the Xu family hadn’t tried to rob the assets of the Qin family first, then even if the Qin family had sought to challenge the Wealthy Class, they might never have picked the Xu family. After all, among the three Wealthy Classes in River County, the Qian family was focussed on business and had a weaker martial force. They were the easiest bone to chew on among the three great Wealthy Classes.
Besides, the son of the Qin family had previously declared that since the Xu coveted the assets of the Qin family, then they would get it in exchange for their Wealthy Class seat!
He had been enmeshed in a trap of his devising over everything that had happened!
On the stage, Elder Kai had barely finished his three moves when Qin Wushuang instantly withdrew the smile on his face and said harshly: “You have finished your three attacks, now, take one of mine!"
As soon as the words had left his mouth, he channeled the Sun Force Qi and the next instant, the energy surged out from his entire body like a tide. A wave of power flowed out from every pore as if his whole body had been ignited in the moment. In a blink, a single spark turned into a great prairie fire; an astonishing and resplendent appearance!
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