Chapter 110: The Duel

After learning the ins and outs of the situation, Yi Tian was left speechless.

Yi Feng and the others were nearly twenty-one years old, yet they were bickering with a girl of only thirteen or fourteen. If it had been a peer or another martial artist bidding against them for the Drunken Immortal Wine, it might have been a matter of maintaining their pride, but doing so against a young girl was simply ridiculous.

"Oh, right!" Just then, Yi Hong said to Yi Tian with a bitter face, "Yi Feng and Yi Kuang were so unwilling to lose face that when they left, they provoked the girl and challenged her to a duel at the martial arts arena tomorrow. The young lady accepted on the spot."

"What!" Yi Tian was taken aback. He glanced at Yi Feng and Yi Kuang, surprised that these two could cause so much trouble. Seeing Yi Tian's gaze, the two felt rather embarrassed. They had lost all dignity today; they hadn't expected that a moment of impulse would lead them to challenge a young girl. Of course, they weren't just challenging the girl herself—she was free to call upon her friends for help.

Yi Tian found the whole situation absurd. To him, this felt like two gangs of delinquent youths setting up a fight, a scenario he never expected to encounter in this world. "Sigh! They are still too young," he thought. Having lived through two lifetimes, Yi Tian felt no excitement or anticipation for the upcoming duel.

"You started this, so you resolve it yourselves. I can only offer you my spiritual support," Yi Tian stated his position immediately. If a soul-transmigrator who had already lived for over forty years were to get involved in a duel with a little girl, he would never be able to hold his head high again.

"That's fine!" Yi Feng breathed a sigh of relief. Since Yi Tian wasn't scolding them, he felt at ease. He didn't believe that the girl could summon any formidable helpers; even the Seven Stars of Tianfeng would likely be at the same Yuan Gang cultivation level as them. They had little to fear.

"Hahaha, that little girl is going to be humiliated this time! Who told her to be so arrogant? We’ll make sure to get under her skin," Yi Kuang said, his previous gloom swept away. Yi Shan, however, looked on with disdain. To him, bullying a young girl lacked spirit; only brutal, frenzied combat could make his blood boil. He held no enthusiasm for Yi Feng and Yi Kuang's challenge.

Yi Tian remarked, "Very well, but that girl likely has a significant background. Do not be careless." Yi Tian knew that anyone who could casually pull out a Yuan Crystal just for a drink must have a powerful backing.

Meanwhile, in an elegant and exquisite manor, a beautiful, ethereal young girl returned to the main hall, her cheeks puffed out in anger.

"Little Luoxiang, who has made you so angry?" Sitting in a high-backed chair in the hall was a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows. He seemed to blend into the very atmosphere of the room, as immovable as a mountain, but the moment he saw the girl, his expression softened and his profound aura vanished.

Little Luoxiang happily threw herself into his arms and said, "Father, today I bought a pot of Drunken Immortal Wine from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. It's a gift for you. Do you like it?" She stepped back and retrieved a translucent jade pot from the ring on her finger, revealing the nectar inside.

"I love any gift from my little Luoxiang," the man said with a sincere smile, affectionately patting her head. After they talked for a while, the girl skipped away. But as soon as she left the main hall, her face darkened again. She stomped through several courtyards and passed through a gate into another manor.

"Hmph, those guys are despicable! How dare they drive up the price on me? One Yuan Crystal, just like that—gone! This feud isn't over," Tang Luoxiang gritted her teeth. Spending a whole Yuan Crystal on a pot of wine had been painful; it was the vast majority of her savings.

Back in the main hall, after Tang Luoxiang had left, a sharp gleam flickered in the middle-aged man’s eyes. "Shadow Guard, what happened to the Young Miss today? Why was she so angry?"

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the empty hall, flickering in and out of sight. The guard recounted everything that had happened at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion in meticulous detail. "My Lord, should I investigate those individuals?"

The middle-aged man was none other than the Marquis of Zhenshan, who had recently returned to the Imperial Capital to report his duties. He felt a flicker of interest in those youths. According to the guard, they were only about twenty years old yet had already reached the Human Stage of cultivation, which suggested they had a significant background.

"No need," the Marquis replied. "Just ensure the Young Miss is protected." With that, he dismissed the guard and thought no more of it.

The next morning, the six members of Yi Tian's group arrived at the No. 1 Martial Arts Arena in the West City as agreed.

In this world, almost every major city had martial arts arenas. They served as a venue for resolving grievances, whether through duels to the death or simple contests of skill. Every day, someone was dueling there. Others used these arenas to make a name for themselves by holding the stage against challengers, hoping to be recruited by major factions as guest retainers.

In the Imperial Capital, the arenas were divided into public and private ones. The No. 1 Martial Arts Arena was reserved for the descendants of major factions to spar; it was not open to the public. When Yi Tian’s group arrived, they saw that the arena was vast, covering dozens of acres and capable of holding hundreds of thousands of people. The ring itself was a hundred feet in diameter, cast from black iron and appearing incredibly sturdy. The cost to rent such a venue for a day must have been substantial.

When the Reincarnation Squad arrived, they saw a group of young women waiting there. They were varied in appearance—some pure, some stunning, some quiet, others flamboyant—like a hundred flowers in full bloom. Surrounding them were a dozen young men from noble families, all fawning over the women.

Yi Tian’s eyes immediately fell upon a girl who was already breathtakingly beautiful. Beside her stood a refined, ethereal-looking woman who felt like a blue lotus. On the other side of the girl, a flamboyant and alluring woman was chatting with her. The moment Yi Tian looked at the ethereal woman, he felt a sense of danger; she was clearly very strong. The flamboyant woman was also a Human Stage expert.

"This duel should be quite interesting," Yi Tian thought, feeling a sense of anticipation.

"You finally arrived. I thought you had chickened out!" Tang Luoxiang scanned Yi Feng and Yi Kuang, a smug expression of total victory on her face.

"How exactly do you want to compete?" Yi Kuang asked, his voice steady. He wasn't afraid of the duel, but he couldn't maintain his usual aggressive tone with such beautiful women standing before him; he had to keep up appearances. Yi Feng and Yi Hong were also distracted, their hearts racing as they stole glances at the beautiful young women.

Yi Tian mentally cursed them, thinking they were too weak-willed to be so easily distracted by beauty. Even he, upon seeing the beauties, only felt a brief moment of admiration, unlike the others who were clearly losing their composure. As for Yi Shan and Yi Li, they remained unmoved—one was a battle-hungry warrior and the other a cultivation fanatic; to them, these beautiful women were no more than "pink-skinned skeletons," and they remained entirely focused on the task at hand.