A week passed by in a flash.
It wasn't easy for him, but Lou Lan forced himself to get up off the ground and limp over to Xue Chang.
His body was full of bloodied cuts and bruises. There was a limp within his leg and his eyes had almost been swollen shut.
From an outside perspective, he looked like he was a step away from death.
Yet Xue Chang didn't think so. Contrary to what others might think, Xue Chang was quite impressed with the broken man before him.
"You actually did it, you maniac."
Xue Chang pulled out his prized saber from its scabbard, he pointed the tip forward as he worded out with his mouth, "Show me what you got..."
Lou Lan took this challenge seriously as he held up the staff within his hand.
Pointing it forward, a fearsome aura surrounded him as he took a step forward.
The two weapons clashed and an intense pressure was brought about.
The ground beneath the two of them broke as Lou Lan spun around and brought his staff down at an unimaginable speed.
This action caused a frightening presence to be displayed from Lou Lan's body.
It looked as if he grew twice his height as the bo staff was swung down with what seemed like an unimaginable force.
Stopping just before it struck at Xue Chang's face, a powerful wind current blew onto him , causing his hair to fly all over the place.
As Lou Lan pulled his staff back, Xue Chang chuckled giddily.
"How do you feel?"
"A little confident." Lou Lan looked down at his own body in disbelief as he thought about all the effort he put into his training.
Xue Chang clapped his hand across Lou Lan's lower back, as he wasn't tall enough to get higher.
"Then let's solve those light injuries on you."
A strange power emanated from Xue Chang as the cuts and bruises on Lou Lan's body began to close and heal at a visible rate
This wasn't the first time Xue Chang had done this for him, but it was still surprising no matter how many times he had seen it.
He couldn't imagine what type of power Xue Chang must have in order for him to do this. Although he was already told that it couldn't heal serious injuries, it was still better than nothing.
"Healing is all finished, now get over there and kick Wang Dong's ass!"
Lou Lan sighed as he nodded at Xue Chang's command. No matter how much time he spent with this boy, he only became more mysterious in his eyes.
________
The duel was to be set back within the dueling arena in the center of the city.
This was where many different arguments were settled by people who had problems that couldn't be solved in a court of law.
The rules were simple, two people would publicly step into the ring and fight it out, winner wins all. Loser gets nothing.
Anything was allowed except for killing and outside help.
Because problems occurred almost everyday, crowds of people would stand in the side lines waiting in order to watch the fights for entertainment.
Gambling would also be done here, and as such it was a popular attraction among the people.
News of the duel between Wang Dong and Lou Lan had spread around recently.
"A mysterious person who has accused Wang Dong of theft has challenged him to a battle today" was how the rumor went.
Many people who knew of Wang Dong's reputation were very interested in this fight.
Especially as he was no slouch. Although he was only in the first level of Qi refinement, his strength wasn't low at all.
In fact, despite not reaching the peak yet, he could challenge anyone who is near a breakthrough to level two.
That was just how good his martial sense was.
In contrast, no one knew who this mysterious challenger was. All they knew was that he barged into Wang Dong's manor facing little to no resistance.
But there could be a number of reasons for that.
Coming here to experience this battle first hand and seeing how things will go was what made fights like this so fun for the common people.
"Put your blind bets in now! Remember, blind bets can get you twice the profit than what visual bets get. This is your only chance to receive a huge sum of money!"
"Pass your money here! A return rate of 1.2:3! 1.2 for Wang Dong and 3 for the mysterious challenger!"
"Seven silver coins for Wang Dong!"
"One hundred and fifty copper coins on the challenger!"
"Two gold coins in Wang Dong!"
Shouts and announcements like these resounded in the air as people quickly made their bets.
Most people would bet on Wang Dong's success since he reputation was much greater than the challenger.
But the true gambling addicts couldn't help but take the risk to bet in the losing side.
They would give low amount of money, that way if they won they could make a nice sum. But if they lost then they wouldn't lose much.
Wang Dong was actually standing on the platform waiting for his opponent to show.
Patiently waiting for his opponent to arrive, he sat down in silent meditation in the meanwhile.
But his eyes slowly opened as he heard a shout come from the crowd.
"10 platinum coins on the challengers victory!"
This shout caused the crowd of people to freeze in shock.
After all, this person was basically betting a hundred gold coins on a challenger who hasn't even arrived yet.
What madman would do that?
Xue Chang casually handed the money over to the bagman with a smile on his face.
He wasn't worried that the man would take the money and run. After all he had a reliable helper there to deal with such a problem if it occurred.
Looking up the at platform casually, Xue Chang lied back on the ground and closed his eyes.
He didn't need to watch the battle, victory was already decided.
Seeing the child who held onto so much money, Wang Dong had a bad feeling well up in his chest.
Just as he was about to do something about it, someone jumped up from the crowds onto the stage.
Holding a bo staff in his hand, a terrifying aura emanated from his body as he walked toward Wang Dong.
Looking down at the young master of the Wang Family as if staring at an ant, he spoke to him
"Let's get this over with."
Wang Dong was shocked by what he faced. Lou Lan had a complete transformation since he saw him two weeks ago.
It was like he was a completely different person.
He couldn't help but wonder if the person before him had hidden his strength back then to get him to let his guard down.
If this was so, then Wang Dong was sure of it. Not only would his opponent be monstrously powerful, but he was a conniving freak as well.
But instead of an expression of fear or trepidation on his face, Wang Dong had an almost orgasmic expression instead.
If things were truly as it seemed, then...
"... this might pretty fun after all."