"Ha! Aren't you scared? It's just a little wager between us. If you don't trust me as the notary, and if your Dragon God Lord wins, I'll give you this item. If our little princess wins, you immediately return our 【Shuttle-Patterned Goldfish】 and the 【Heavenly Vast Demon Bow】 to us, and you, Long Yi, must personally admit you are inferior to me. What do you say?"

The 【Heavenly Vast Demon Bow】 was the bow that Xuan Hu Shi carried in the Dragon Domain, the one captured by Chen Feng—a composite artifact ranked ninth among the Ten Great Divine Artifacts. (Refer to Chapters 275 and 276 for details).

"Wager? Why wouldn't we wager? Fine, we agree to the bet!" A voice cut in from the side. Little Hu clenched his slender fists, his face contorted with anger.

"Who are you? Are you in a position to decide?" Hu Ben sneered at Little Hu.

Long Yi was still pondering the implications, but Little Hu knew Chen Feng's true strength. He quickly interjected, "He can decide, Elder Great! Agree to it. He's clearly provoking us. Look, everyone is watching us! If we refuse, the Dragon Domain will lose face!"

Long Yi glanced around. Indeed, everyone was watching them with intense "focus"—a gaze filled with scorn, greed, disdain, and rising anger... all directed their way.

"Good! A wager it is!" Long Da roared, "Then who will you find to be the notary?"

"How about I act as your notary? I wonder if the two of you would feel secure?" A voice suddenly came from not far away, and a figure slowly materialized before the crowd.

"If we can trust the Fist Emperor, there is probably no one left in this world we can trust!" Long Yi and Hu Ben responded in unison.

The surrounding spectators were utterly aghast that the Fist Emperor himself would step forward as the notary. Each one was struck with incomprehensible dread.

"Hand over everything you’ve put up for the wager to me," the Fist Emperor said with a cheerful, harmless demeanor. However, everyone present knew that this was merely an outward show. Anyone who truly believed it would be a complete fool.

Hu Ben smirked with triumph, deliberately glaring at Long Yi as a show of force, then gracefully stepped forward and handed over the 【Golden Silk Spirit Disk】.

Long Yi hesitated for a moment before taking out the 【Shuttle-Patterned Goldfish】 and the 【Heavenly Vast Demon Bow】. Chen Feng had given him the 【Shuttle-Patterned Goldfish】 just yesterday afternoon, and he had carried the 【Heavenly Vast Demon Bow】 with him, so both were readily available.

They were all Divine Artifacts, yet truthfully, the value of one 【Golden Silk Spirit Disk】 was easily equal to the combined worth of those two. Even though Long Yi was reluctant, he didn't feel the wager itself was too disadvantageous; his only hope lay in the Dragon God Lord's victory. Still, the probability of that seemed remote.

No one present knew the elemental attributes of the Four Great Divine Beasts better than he did. He knew precisely how fast the Xuan Hu Clan was! It was this deeply ingrained mindset that prevented him from believing his Dragon God Lord could win.

It was akin to Chinese football: due to the ingrained mindset of the populace, if they were to play Brazil one day and someone offered a 10,000-to-100 bet in Brazil's favor, one likely wouldn't even agree. Who takes a bet where they are guaranteed to lose money?

This was Long Yi's current mindset. Even with his peak Saint Domain strength, he couldn't claim to be faster than Jin Ling. How could the Dragon God Lord, who hadn't even activated his Flame Dragon Bloodline, possibly win?

However, the arrow was already loosed from the bowstring; there was no turning back now. He could only place his hopes on Chen Feng, praying for a massive upset...

………………………………………………………………

"Begin!" As the elder in charge of the speed trial roared, the members of the third group immediately shot forward like arrows released from a string.

"Huh... Why hasn't that fellow moved?" Someone suddenly cried out.

"Yeah! What's going on?"

"I recognize him! That's Chen Feng from the Dragon Clan!" the first person shouted loudly.

"It seems he saw the wager and conceded because he knew he couldn't win!"

Everyone shouted, their tones laced with a hint of regret.

When Long Yi saw that Chen Feng hadn't moved after the elder finished the announcement, a wave of powerlessness washed over him. His eyes stared straight ahead, with only one thought dominating his mind: "It's over!"

Elder Hu Ben, seeing Long Yi's dejected state, could hardly contain his delight; he was practically soaring with excitement. "Hahaha, it turns out your Dragon God Lord has self-awareness! Knowing he couldn't possibly win, he didn't even bother starting. Good, very good..."

"You..." Hearing his mockery, the Dragon Domain people instantly erupted in anger.

"Don't jump to conclusions too soon. Can't you watch the competition?" The Fist Emperor's calm voice drifted from the front.

"Heh, whether the conclusion is reached early or late, it makes no difference; the Dragon Clan is fated to lose anyway..." Elder Hu Ben turned back toward the competition arena, but before he finished speaking, he suddenly choked, his eyes wide open, unable to blink again...

There, Chen Feng, whom they had deemed hopeless, flickered—his figure vanishing from the spot. Immediately following, a thunderous boom echoed through the air, and his silhouette instantly shot past everyone, including Jin Ling...

For a moment, the entire arena fell silent. Everyone stared at the figure flying back and forth in the distance, too astonished to speak.

Long Yi stood frozen in place, dumbfounded. After a moment, he snapped back to reality and simultaneously let out a shout of sheer excitement.

"Clang!"

The bell signaling the first arrival rang out. The elder looked up at the scoreboard, then suddenly slapped himself hard across the face, shouting out—his voice tinged with either tension or excitement—"1 minute..."

As his shout echoed, expressions of stark terror spread across everyone's faces. The Fist Emperor's previous record was 1 minute and 8 seconds, yet this youth had clocked in at 1... beating the Fist Emperor's time by 5 seconds!

"Broke the record! Broke the record..." the elder bellowed, looking nothing like a competition referee.

"Brat, doing that... is a bit too high-profile, isn't it?" Although the Fist Emperor scolded him verbally, a slight smile played on his lips.

Elder Hu Ben let out a massive roar and actually stumbled, falling to the ground: "Cheating! It must be cheating! Impossible..."

The Fist Emperor shook his head at this sour loser. Although Hu Ben was an elder of his clan, he was too impulsive and didn't consider the consequences of his actions. He truly deserved his position less than anyone. He wondered how the Jin Xuan Hu had allowed him to become an elder.

………………………………………………………………

Jin Ling had long anticipated this result, but she hadn't expected the opponent to have hidden his strength during their bet yesterday.

Looking at the astonishing score of '1 second', she bit her lip, her expression clearly displeased. However, as if suddenly remembering something, she resumed her smile.

The next match was strength versus strength...

With a flip of her hand, a pitch-black gauntlet appeared abruptly in her grasp.

The gauntlet looked like leather but wasn't quite leather, nor did it resemble metal, yet its streamlined shape conveyed a sense of surging power.

After putting on the gauntlet, Jin Ling glanced sideways at Chen Feng and saw that he remained completely unconcerned, which secretly pleased her.

"The 【Nine Tiger Gauntlets】, third among the Xuan Hu Clan's Ten Great Divine Artifacts. When deployed, they grant nine times the strength! It seems the Xuan Hu Clan brought quite a few good items for this competition," the Fist Emperor murmured to himself as he watched from afar, but he didn't expose Jin Ling.

Besides, even if he did expose it, there was nothing he could do. The Five-All Competition emphasized strength but placed no restrictions on equipment. After all, during an actual fight, who would foolishly fight bare-handed or with bricks if they had weapons?

It was like facing an enemy to the death; if you had a gun, no one would be so idiotic as to use their fists or a brick to settle the score. Equipment was also considered part of one's strength.

Under the Fist Emperor's "fair" arbitration, Long Yi accepted the Xuan Hu Clan's fifth-ranked Divine Artifact, the 【Golden Silk Spirit Disk】, as if in a dream. Elder Hu Ben's face was ashen. When he saw Jin Ling don the gauntlet, his eyes lit up, and he turned around once more, glaring hatefully: "I want to wager again! Do you dare? We'll bet on the champion of this strength competition..."

Why do gamblers lose everything, losing both their money and their wife? Because they always believe they are right and that they are guaranteed to win this time. Elder Hu Ben was no exception. If the little princess wore the 【Nine Tiger Gauntlets】, ranked third among the Ten Great Divine Artifacts, and still couldn't beat the opponent in strength... that was simply impossible!

Although Elder Hu Ben was aggressive, single-mindedly trying to reclaim his clan's three artifacts, he sadly realized he had nothing left on hand to use as a stake, unless...

When he set out, the clan had only provided him with three artifacts to ensure the little princess's safety. Now, two of those artifacts were in the hands of the Dragon Clan...

"I must win them back!" Elder Hu Ben shuddered as he recalled the harsh penalties in the clan rules and loudly declared, "If I don't win them back, not only will I fail as an elder, but I might even be executed!"

"Fine, I'll wager one more time! I refuse to believe I can't win this time!" Elder Hu Ben hardened his resolve, flipped his wrist, and a small, five-fingered long vial appeared in his palm.

The vial appeared to be made of crystal, filled with a vibrant, blood-red liquid. The drops inside seemed to writhe and struggle, attempting to break free from the bottle's mouth, only to be repeatedly forced back.

Long Yi and the others instantly focused their gazes upon seeing the vial, their breathing becoming ragged: "【Tiger God Blood】?"

"Correct, it is 【Tiger God Blood】. I will use this to wager for the 【Shuttle-Patterned Goldfish】, the 【Heavenly Vast Demon Bow】, and the 【Golden Silk Spirit Disk】—how about it? Do you dare to bet?" Hu Ben's expression was gloomy, anger burning within him.

"【Tiger God Blood】 is considered the blood of a deity; it has incredible restorative powers. It is indeed priceless, but... it doesn't seem worth the value of those three artifacts. You're asking us to bet against you? That's a joke!" Long Yi said.

"One vial of 【Tiger God Blood】 isn't enough weight. What if there were two vials?" Hu Ben sneered, flipping his wrist again, revealing another identical vial in his palm.

"If we are to bet, how about I act as the notary again?" The Fist Emperor suddenly interjected from nearby.

Seeing the Fist Emperor make such an offer, Long Yi felt a stirring in his heart, and the corner of his mouth slowly curved upward: "Very well, we accept the wager. We bet on those two vials of 【Tiger God Blood】!"

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