"Realm Lord, Ning Xuan disrupted the order of the selection competition. Everyone witnessed it. Why are you shielding him?"

As soon as this person spoke, he garnered the support of the vast majority of those present.

The Realm Lord of the Dali Realm remained calm and simply chuckled. "I see it differently."

"We await the Realm Lord’s wise counsel."

"Since this is a selection competition, contestants should be evaluated on all fronts. If they cannot withstand even this small temptation, their spot should be revoked even if they win! Do not forget the purpose of this competition, everyone!"

Hearing the Dali Realm Lord’s words, those who had been advocating for Ning Xuan’s punishment felt their hearts clench.

"The Realm Lord is wise! We are selecting followers for the True Saint. If they can’t even resist a temptation like this, wouldn’t it be child’s play for someone with ulterior motives to get close to the True Saint?!"

"Exactly! I believe that not only should we not punish Ning Xuan, but we should reward him!"

The last two members of the Council of Elders who had yet to state their position now spoke up.

Lu Feng and the others’ faces darkened upon hearing this. Ning Xuan, however, was inwardly celebrating, as was the Dali Realm Lord.

At the same time, the Realm Lord sent a voice transmission to Ning Xuan. "I’ll start things off, but I’m not giving you the Divine Crystals I promised. Whatever they give, we still split it fifty-fifty."

"No problem!" Ning Xuan agreed without a second thought. Without the Dali Realm Lord, he knew he wouldn’t get a single crystal.

"Since everyone is so enthusiastic, as the Realm Lord of the Dali Realm and the main organizer of this competition, I will set an example. I hereby reward Ning Xuan ten million Divine Crystals!"

As soon as the Dali Realm Lord made this proclamation, the expressions of the other nine Great Elders shifted. However, Ning Xuan quickly sent a voice transmission to the two Great Elders who had just spoken, offering to return their offered rewards in full. Seeing how savvy Ning Xuan was, the two elders immediately returned the favor.

"I can’t compare to the Realm Lord’s wealth, but I will reward Ning Xuan five million Divine Crystals."

"Although I may be the poorest on the Council of Elders, I can still scrape together five million. I will also reward Ning Xuan five million Divine Crystals!"

Good grief. With these two setting the bar, could the remaining seven offer any less? One by one, they had no choice but to compromise.

Though their words were of reward, their gazes toward Ning Xuan were utterly venomous.

Ning Xuan’s face remained impassive. These men thought he was intimidated, which brought them a great deal of satisfaction. Unfortunately for them, they were completely mistaken.

Five million? If I have to split that fifty-fifty, we’d each get two and a half million. Damn, we’d be a couple of halfwits!

But then, Ning Xuan quickly devised a perfect solution.

The Dali Realm Lord was meticulous. He not only made a promise but fulfilled it on the spot, leaving the others no room to back out. The Divine Crystals would be his in moments!

With the Realm Lord leading the way, the other nine could only follow suit. Soon, Ning Xuan had ten more Storage Rings in his hands.

The Law Enforcement Officers watched, green with envy. In a matter of minutes, Ning Xuan had acquired 55,000,000 Divine Crystals! Damn, that was faster than robbing the Four Seas Bank!

(The Four Seas Bank would like to ask: Hey, have you no shame?!)

Ning Xuan’s next action made them want to chop his hands off right then and there. He put all ten Storage Rings on his fingers, one on each digit, being as ostentatious as possible.

Damn it! This round needed to end quickly! If any of them drew that bastard, they would thrash him mercilessly!

In the spectator stands, Lu Ying sent a voice transmission to Lu Feng. "Great-Grandfather, it seems the Realm Lord intends to protect Ning Xuan. What should we do?"

That bastard Ning Xuan not only almost got her killed by the Zhang Family, but he also killed her grandfather. That score had to be settled! She had initially thought she could deal with him after the competition, but now, that seemed difficult. She couldn’t tolerate it.

"Patience," Lu Feng, the old fox that he was, replied with a single word that brought a smile to Lu Ying’s face. "We still have Ding Heyan, don’t we?"

She glanced over at Ding Heyan and saw him staring daggers at Ning Xuan, his eyes practically spitting fire. This put her even more at ease. The Dali Realm, after all, was a direct participant in Chi Ming’s Cruel Punishments, and Ding Heyan was an extremely senior figure involved in them. Many times, even the Realm Lord had to bow his head to him.

For now, it’s best to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.

What she didn’t know was that Ning Xuan was currently sending a voice transmission to Zang Peng.

"Little Peng Peng, just focus on dealing with Ding Heyan later."

Despite his smug appearance, Ning Xuan was fully aware of his surroundings. Ding Heyan’s expression hadn’t flickered, and in fact, his murderous intent had only grown stronger. The only explanation was that he had no respect for the Dali Realm Lord whatsoever.

This guy has to be taken out first!

Zang Peng didn’t tease him this time, simply agreeing wholeheartedly.

Anyway, I never planned on actually making a move unless Ning Xuan was in mortal danger. But that’s highly unlikely. That bastard Ning Xuan is more cunning than a monkey! He would never pin all his hopes on me alone. I’m not falling for that!

Ning Xuan just chuckled and said no more.

Just then, the second round of duels concluded. Naturally, Ning Xuan was the first to draw lots again. This time, when he revealed his opponent, Lu Feng and many others burst out laughing.

Zhang Chi!

Although he wasn’t among the ten with the lowest odds, he was still considered a second-tier contender! In fact, they had even discussed the possibility of Zhang Chi emerging as a dark horse to seize one of the spots. A person of his stature would never be swayed by a bribe of Divine Crystals!

Ning Xuan was finished this time!

After two rounds, factoring in the casualties, Ning Xuan was now in the top one hundred.

"His road to advancement ends here!"

"Relying on petty tricks to get into the top one hundred is ultimately a fool’s path!"

"Haha, in the face of absolute strength, all schemes are useless!"

"..."

When the drawing was complete and Ning Xuan and Zhang Chi stood on the dueling field, many spectators were reveling in his misfortune.

"Brother, how can you be so sure Zhang Chi won’t be bought off by Ning Xuan?" an outsider in the stands couldn’t help but ask the person next to him.

"Zhang Chi’s grandfather is Zhang Boyuan, one of the members of the Council of Elders. Oh, right, he also has an older brother named Zhang Yang, who is a shoo-in for the top ten! Do you still think Ning Xuan can buy him?"

The man who asked the question gasped.

A family with two prodigies! With a background like that, Ning Xuan is definitely done for this time!

"Kid, how are you feeling? Are you confident?" the Realm Lord’s voice transmission reached Ning Xuan.

"Why do you ask?" Ning Xuan replied with a question of his own, though he already had a good idea of what the Realm Lord was up to.

"I won’t hide it from you. I own a stake in the Four Seas Bank, and I want to adjust the odds."

Even after a duel began, the betting didn’t stop. Wagers could be placed at any time, and the odds were adjusted in real time. Of course, betting after a match started was only available to those in the inner field. That was one of the reasons for the high ticket prices.