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They were here to witness the event or, more accurately, to watch the spectacle and act as witnesses to this wager.

The members of the Long and Bai Clans had already entered the arena, sitting opposite each other on the east and west sides, their eyes filled with provocation, as if ready to clash at any moment.

The scholarly-looking City Lord Yan Pohjun sat on the north side of the arena. After taking a sip from the tea on the table, he spoke in a deep voice, “Since both sides are here, let’s not waste any more time.”

“Today, the Long Clan and the Bai Clan will compete through martial combat to determine the ownership of a Spirit Metal ore vein.”

“And as the City Lord of Blackstone City, it is my duty to maintain the peace in the city. Therefore, I have come here to act as a witness. Whoever loses must accept the outcome, without seeking revenge or provoking conflict for any reason. If anyone breaks this rule, they will be disrespecting me, Yan Pohjun!”

Yan Pohjun slammed the table heavily, releasing the powerful aura of a peak-grade Gu King, suppressing the entire scene.

In that instant, the whole square fell silent. Under the immense pressure of his aura, many people\'s faces changed slightly, revealing signs of fear.

Blackstone City was filled with powerful experts, and the number of Gu Kings was countless. However, there was only one peak-grade Gu King in the entire city—Yan Pohjun. In fact, there were probably fewer than ten peak-grade Gu Kings in the entire Western Land.

Once at the Gu King level, each advancement became incredibly difficult. Out of hundreds of Gu Kings, only a rare few could cultivate to the peak-grade Gu King level.

As one of the few peak-grade Gu Kings, Yan Pohjun was almost certainly the strongest person in Blackstone City. When he spoke, no one dared to defy him.

After the crowd fell silent, Yan Pohjun surveyed the scene with a stern gaze before continuing, “I have reviewed the lists of participants submitted by both the Long Clan and Bai Clan. To save time, I will randomly assign opponents for all twelve matches. Do you have any objections?”

“I have no objections. I trust the City Lord’s character. Let the City Lord make the random assignments,” Bai Clan Head Bai Zhan responded immediately, without hesitation.

“I have no objections either. We’ll follow the City Lord’s arrangements,” Long Yuanshan responded quickly as well.

How could they dare to object? Saying they had objections at this point would be questioning the City Lord’s authority and humiliating him in public. The consequences would be dire, possibly even leading to their defeat in this competition. They weren’t fools.

“Good! Then for the first match, Long Yun will face Bai Changfeng. Both of you, step onto the arena now!”

City Lord Yan Pohjun was swift and decisive, immediately announcing the start of the first match without wasting a word.

Everyone’s spirits were lifted as they focused on the Long Clan and Bai Clan camps.

“Go Long Yun! Beat that Bai scum!”

“We’re rooting for you! Don’t let us down!”

...

Many Gu cultivators from the Long Clan cheered on a beautiful young woman, and the crowd was filled with shouts of encouragement.

The girl named Long Yun felt the pressure mount but quickly clenched her fists, her gaze becoming determined. She jumped confidently onto the arena.

Opposite her, Bai Changfeng, a young genius from the Bai Clan, also leaped onto the stage. Both of them emitted the aura of early-stage Marrow Cleansing cultivators. To have broken through to the Marrow Cleansing stage at such a young age, they were undoubtedly rare talents within their respective clans.

“Bai Changfeng, early-stage Marrow Cleansing. Please advise me!”

Bai Changfeng’s voice sounded polite, but his face bore a sinister expression, with a vicious glint in his eyes, his malice unhidden.

Long Yun immediately grew cautious and replied politely, “Long Yun, early-stage Marrow Cleansing. Please advise me as well.”

City Lord Yan Pohjun then announced, “Begin!”

As soon as the City Lord finished speaking, Bai Changfeng rushed at Long Yun with blinding speed, moving as if he were a gust of wind—speed that seemed beyond what an early-stage Marrow Cleansing cultivator should possess.

At this speed, Long Yun was instantly suppressed. Under Bai Changfeng’s assault, she was barely able to defend herself and had no power to counterattack.

She quickly realized that she was no match for him, but remembering the hopeful gazes of her clansmen, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words “I surrender.”

If she were to be defeated as soon as she stepped onto the arena, how could she face her clan again? Thus, she gritted her teeth and held on, her eyes filled with stubborn determination.

Seeing this, the Gu cultivators from the Bai Clan cheered loudly, while those from the Long Clan remained silent, with the higher-ups frowning deeply.

“Something isn’t right. Bai Changfeng is strong, but he shouldn’t be this strong. He shouldn’t be able to overpower Long Yun like this,” Long Qian muttered, frowning in confusion.

“It’s indeed strange. Long Yun is a dual-attribute Earth-grade genius from our clan, while Bai Changfeng, though talented, isn’t even among the top five geniuses of the Bai Clan. Even if Long Yun were having an off day, she shouldn’t be getting completely dominated like this.”

Long Yuanshan also frowned in puzzlement, unable to understand the situation.

Only Long Xuan, standing behind them, wore a thoughtful expression.

He sensed a very familiar aura from Bai Changfeng.

He had studied many techniques that temporarily increased power at the cost of burning something within the body. So, he could naturally detect such an aura.

In his opinion, Bai Changfeng was definitely burning something inside his body, which was why his power had surged in a short period, allowing him to suppress Long Yun in battle.

However, others were not like him. When he used this kind of self-harming forbidden technique, nothing serious would happen to him.

But it was different for others. Once someone else used a similar forbidden technique, their power might skyrocket for a short time, but it would cause irreversible damage to the body. Using it just once would essentially cripple them.

It seemed like this person had crippled his potential. In other words, although he gained a temporary surge in power, the price he paid was that his cultivation would never advance for the rest of his life.

At this moment, Long Xuan was completely shocked. Was this Bai Clan insane? For the sake of a mere Spirit Metal mine vein, they didn’t hesitate to cripple their own genius? This was madness! Was it really worth it?

“He must have used some kind of forbidden technique, or maybe took some drug!” Long Xuan pretended to casually remark.

Long Yuanshan’s expression froze, and he suddenly burst out in anger, “It’s the Berserk Pill! He took the Berserk Pill!”

“The Berserk Pill can boost a person\'s combat strength by more than double. The greater their potential, the higher the multiplier. It lasts for a day, but the price is that their cultivation will never advance again, completely ruining a genius!”

“Bai Zhan plans to have all the Bai family’s geniuses take the Berserk Pill to win all twelve matches in the arena.”

“But by doing this, he’ll cause a break in this generation’s genius talent. He’s willing to sacrifice an entire generation just to seize all the Spirit Metal mine veins. How ruthless!”

“Is it really worth it for him to do this?”

Long Yuanshan slammed the table in fury. He was utterly shocked. Bai Zhan was clearly insane, sacrificing a whole generation of talent for a single Spirit Metal mine vein. Did he not understand how severe the consequences of breaking a generation of geniuses could be?

Long Qian’s expression was bitter. What he thought would be an easy sweep had turned into such an unexpected situation. Bai Zhan was indeed a madman, using such unscrupulous methods. How ruthless.

He said bitterly, “Whether it’s worth it or not, we don’t know, but to Bai Zhan, it certainly is. The benefits of the Spirit Metal mine veins are enormous. He might not even lose out.”

“Moreover, he might not cripple all the geniuses of this generation. I think he’ll preserve the top three, or top two. Even without taking the Berserk Pill, the top three have a high chance of winning. If he protects the three strongest geniuses, the Bai family’s talent won’t be completely lost.”

“So, what do we do now? We’re definitely going to lose the first match!”

Long Yuanshan narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “There’s nothing we can do. We can’t force our geniuses to take the Berserk Pill just to win.”

“However, the overall quality of our twelve geniuses is much higher than that of the Bai family. Even if Bai’s strongest geniuses take the Berserk Pill, they still might not be able to defeat all our geniuses.”

“It’s hard to say who will win more, but our gains will likely fall short of expectations. We originally expected to dominate eight or nine tenths of the mine veins, if not all.”

“But now, we might only get half, or even less. Bai Zhan’s move really caught me off guard!” Long Yuanshan said with an ugly expression.

At that moment, the battle on the stage had already concluded. Long Yun was sent flying off the stage, crashing heavily onto the ground, covered in blood, unconscious.

“Hmph! Useless, completely pathetic,” Bai Changfeng glanced disdainfully at the unconscious Long Yun, then jumped off the stage and walked towards the Bai family’s camp.

“Quick, help her!”

A group of Long family Gu cultivators rushed over, hurriedly carrying Long Yun away. They pried her mouth open and quickly fed her healing pills.

Long Qian placed his fingers on her pulse and swiftly examined her body with his soul power, his face growing grim.

“Her dantian is crippled. She will never be able to gather a Spiritual Sea in this position again. From now on, she’ll be stuck at the Marrow Cleansing stage.”

Upon hearing this, all the Long family’s Gu cultivators were furious, glaring at the Bai family’s direction with eyes full of rage.

Long Yuanshan slammed the table again, his gaze murderous as he looked toward the Bai family.

“These wolves! How ruthless! They went all out in what was supposed to be a friendly sparring match. Since they’ve been so merciless, don’t blame me for being ruthless too!”

Long Yuanshan turned to the group of angry geniuses behind him and shouted, “From now on, I want all of you to strike hard. Cripple every opponent you face, and don’t hold back if you kill them!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

...

The Long family geniuses all nodded in unison, their eyes filled with murderous intent as they looked toward the Bai family.

The geniuses from the Far West Long family exchanged glances with each other, realizing that the upcoming battles were going to be life-and-death struggles. What was supposed to be a fair competition had now turned into a deathmatch. If they weren’t careful, they might end up losing their own lives in the process—they were, after all, here as external reinforcements.

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