Chapter 369: Chapter 369: Challenging the 50th Place
At that same moment, the Identity Jade of Xu Mingyu, ranked fiftieth on the Bai Mu List, also lit up.
He froze for a moment, then quickly picked up his Identity Jade. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
The few people beside him looked at him with even greater astonishment. "Did someone just challenge you?"
"That can’t be right. Wasn’t everything already decided?"
The people around him all found it strange. The suddenly glowing Identity Jade had disrupted their plans.
"I don’t know either. Since someone issued a challenge, I’ll go have a look and find out!"
A flicker of fighting spirit flashed in Xu Mingyu’s eyes. He wasn’t worried about being challenged.
Even in the worst-case scenario where he really lost, he would just swap ranks. He’d still have his spot in the Spirit Stream Secret Realm.
It wasn’t just him. Everyone assumed someone else on the list was challenging Xu Mingyu; they never even considered it could be someone from off the list.
After all, to break into the top fifty, his combat prowess was self-evident.
"Let’s go, we’ll go take a look!" The group headed for the battle stage in a large procession. No one could be bothered to go training in the back mountains anymore; they all wanted to see which fool wanted to challenge Xu Mingyu.
Meanwhile, curious disciples also flocked to the battle stage. Seeing Song Wanning standing below the list, they all showed looks of surprise.
"Isn’t that... Song Wanning?"
"She’s the one who issued the challenge? Let me see who she’s challenging... HISS, it’s Senior Brother Xu Mingyu!!!"
"For real? Has she lost her mind? Xu Mingyu is ranked fiftieth!"
"I don’t think she’s crazy, I think she’s gotten full of herself. Now that no one’s challenging her anymore, she must think she’s invincible!"
"..."
Many disciples looked at Song Wanning with a mixture of confusion and disdain. After all, the echoes of her previous bold declarations had barely faded, and now she was challenging someone in the top fifty. Such arrogance was simply clueless.
The Deacon Elder at the side was also trying to persuade Song Wanning.
"Why don’t you challenge someone else? Xu Mingyu is on a roll right now, his strength is top-tier. He’s not like Lin Hao or Sun Lian!"
’If she loses too badly, the poor girl will be devastated.’
"Thank you for the reminder, Elder. I choose him."
Song Wanning smiled and gave her longsword a flourish, looking both elegant and beautiful.
From her relaxed and casual demeanor, where was there even a hint of worry?
The Deacon Elder shook his head and didn’t try to persuade her further.
’Everyone has their own fate. Sometimes, experiencing a setback isn’t a bad thing.’
Time flew by. As more and more disciples gathered to watch, Xu Mingyu finally appeared.
When he saw that his challenger was a complete stranger, the name "Song Wanning" immediately came to mind.
After all, that name had been making waves lately; it was impossible not to have heard it.
"Song Wanning?"
He raised an eyebrow, his playful gaze lingering on Song Wanning’s face for a moment.
’She really is a beauty.’
Song Wanning gave a faint smile and sized him up with the same playful expression.
"Xu Mingyu?"
She returned his question with the exact same tone.
The smile on Xu Mingyu’s face instantly faded, and he let out a soft scoff.
His friends nearby immediately started to tease him.
"Oho, has our Young Master Xu been provoked? Don’t you go easy on her later just because she’s a beauty!"
"That’ll be tough. Everyone knows our Young Master Xu has a soft spot for beautiful women, hahaha..."
The group of friends were all ranked on the list themselves, so they really didn’t take Song Wanning’s challenge seriously.
They were, however, quite interested in her looks.
Seeing this, the surrounding disciples also burst into roaring laughter, as if Song Wanning, standing there, was a joke that she herself wasn’t in on.
"Get lost!"
Xu Mingyu’s face flushed slightly. He shot his friends a glare before turning back to Song Wanning.
He had expected Song Wanning to be embarrassed or angry, but instead, he was met with a calm and composed face.
Her clear, cold eyes held an indescribable meaning, which instantly made him feel a bit awkward.
He did indeed have more patience when dealing with beauties.
"Are you sure you want to challenge me? I haven’t accepted yet, so you still have a chance to back out."
Xu Mingyu gave a roguish smile. If possible, he’d rather not beat a beauty to a bloody pulp.
"Are all you so-called genius disciples this talkative?"
Song Wanning let out a soft laugh and leaped directly onto the battle stage.
’All this rambling is so pointless.’
"Heh, quite the personality. I like it!"
Hearing this, Xu Mingyu wasn’t annoyed at all; instead, he grew even more interested.
Amidst the teasing gazes of his friends, he too flew onto the battle stage.
The two took their positions, and a wave of boos erupted from below the stage.
Of course, these sounds were directed at Song Wanning.
"Song Wanning is about to get a clear look at her own strength. I think she’s gotten full of herself these past few days."
"Isn’t that the truth? None of the True Disciples even want to bother with her, and she won’t accept challenges from anyone else. She must think she’s hot stuff!"
None of them had truly witnessed Song Wanning’s strength, but they had all heard her arrogant words, so naturally, their impression of her wasn’t very good.
"Come on, come on, how about we set up a betting pool?"
Someone suggested a betting pool, but since everyone only wanted to bet on Xu Mingyu to win, the pool couldn’t get started.
"What’s wrong with you all? Not a single person is betting on Song Wanning to win?"
That disciple cursed with a laugh, and the crowd erupted in another round of boisterous laughter.
From start to finish, no one took Song Wanning’s challenge seriously, and that included Xu Mingyu.
"See that? No one thinks you can win. I suggest you give up the challenge. I’d hate to injure a beauty."
His words were flirtatious, and his gaze lingered on Song Wanning’s face.
’The more I look, the more my heart flutters.’
He swallowed, and a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
’Looks like I’ll have to conquer her with my strength. Maybe then she’ll be willing to follow me...’
’After all, plenty of women in the Sect want to be with me, and I haven’t even given them a second glance!’
"Less talk!"
Song Wanning felt like rolling her eyes. This Xu Mingyu was way too long-winded.
She casually took out a Storage Bag and tossed it to the disciple who had proposed the betting pool.
"Bet on me to win!"
’Since no one else believes in me, I’ll just bet on myself.’
’Might as well make some money while I’m at it!’
"HISS, so generous?"
The disciple caught the Storage Bag and looked inside. To his surprise, it contained over a thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones.
"Looks like she’s really confident in herself!"
He didn’t refuse and casually put it away.
’This money will all end up in my hands anyway, so there’s no harm in collecting it now.’
And when the people around saw Song Wanning joining the bet, they quickly took out their own money, all wanting to win her Spirit Stones.
"Let’s begin."
Song Wanning was getting impatient. If they kept dawdling like this, it would be dark soon.
Her longsword shot out of its sheath with a resonant HUM, and her fighting spirit instantly engulfed the entire battle stage.
Xu Mingyu, who had been about to say something else, had his expression change in an instant. The way he looked at Song Wanning changed as well.
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