Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Death Bet

The Tianyun Continent is home to numerous forces, but their composition is not complex, with the vast majority consisting of powerful families and clans. Lacking a strong, unified government to govern them, these forces inevitably generate many conflicts, leading to constant infighting and strife.

The most direct consequence of this conflict is that the strength of each major family is constantly being weakened in the struggle. In particular, the consequences of a fierce battle between some of the super-powerful families are far too severe.

It often happens that one powerful clan invests a great deal of manpower and resources to defeat another powerful clan, but they themselves are also severely weakened in the struggle, and the benefits they gain are far from enough to make up for the losses caused by the struggle.

The worst part is that some families, after being weakened, are taken advantage of by other families that are eyeing them covetously, and end up being wiped out.

This is not in the interest of any family. In view of this, many years ago, some of the top aristocratic families on the mainland established a united organization called the Clan Alliance.

The tribal alliance is a loose organization responsible for mediating conflicts between different tribes, distributing various benefits, and also trying its best to restrain the forces of all parties and keep various conflicts within a small scope.

The clan alliance does not have the direct authority to command families that dare to disobey, but it can combine the power of many families to impose various severe sanctions on disobedient families by convening clan alliance meetings.

However, although this method is effective, it is simply not enough to manage small families in some remote areas, such as the Xiao family, Tie family and Situ family in Feiyue City, because the Tianyun Continent is too large and the clan alliance has limited manpower.

Even so, these smaller families dared not openly defy the clan alliance's rules, for no one knew whether such behavior would provoke the alliance's wrath. To those super-powerful clans, these smaller families were like ants on an elephant, their annihilation a mere blink of an eye.

However, conflicts will always arise. Without the mediation of the clan alliance, these small families have no choice but to find their own solutions, such as the hunting competition in Flying Moon City.

The hunting competition is held every three years, with each of the three clans sending one peak martial apprentice and seventeen outstanding disciples below the martial apprentice level to participate.

The reason for this arrangement is twofold: first, younger disciples are better able to represent the potential of a family; and second, it will not harm the foundation of a family.

In any small family, warriors are the backbone. Compared to martial apprentices and martial students, these individuals are more likely to break through their acquired skills and become martial masters. Therefore, families are reluctant to let their disciples who have reached the warrior realm participate in major competitions.

For these small families, training a martial arts student is no easy task, requiring a significant investment of resources. Moreover, martial arts students are already considered elite disciples, and they typically hold important positions within their respective families.

The loss of all eighteen martial arts students at once was an outcome they were unwilling to accept. However, if they only sent one or two martial arts students to participate in the competition, it would only result in a one-sided slaughter against the martial arts disciples of other families. In that case, what would be the point of holding a hunting competition?

Therefore, the three families had agreed many years ago that the highest level of disciples in the hunting competition could only be the peak of martial apprentice.

According to the rules, the hunting competition lasted for half a month and took place at Broken Soul Ridge, three hundred miles outside the city. After entering Broken Soul Ridge, the disciples of the three families began hunting wild animals in the ridge, and also hunted each other.

Half a month later, the disciples emerged from the mountains, and the family with the most remaining members won. If the number of members was the same, the family whose disciples obtained the most prey would be considered the winner.

Before the competition, the three families would wager mineral veins, medicinal fields, gold, and silver, which would all belong to the winning family after the competition.

The hunting competition is not only about hunting wild animals, but also about taking human lives. During the competition, all disciples can fight to their hearts' content, settling scores and seeking revenge. However, once the competition ends and they leave Broken Soul Ridge, this behavior must cease, or they will pay with their lives.

This situation is also called a "live situation," meaning that those inside the mountains accept their fate, while those outside remain undecided about life or death.

However, there is another situation besides the "living match": if there is an irreconcilable feud between the participating disciples, it can be decided before the competition, through the impartiality of the three clans, that the two sides will fight to the death within the mountain. Even if one side survives the competition, they will still have to fight to the death after they emerge. This situation is called a "deadly match" or a "life-or-death match."

Now that Xiao Chong had issued a death challenge, Tie Changqing was somewhat stunned. He really couldn't understand why the other party wouldn't leave any room for maneuver.

"Isn't it just a few sarcastic remarks? Why is he so resolute, actually proposing a deadly agreement?"

Seeing the murderous glint in Xiao Chong's eyes, Tie Changqing was completely bewildered, feeling that his brain wasn't quite up to the task.

For a moment, he even felt a little afraid of the other person, but then the shame and anger that followed enveloped him tightly, making it hard for him to breathe and making him resent himself.

"He's just a nobody who's only just reached the Martial Apprentice realm. What's there to be afraid of? Judging from the aura emanating from him, he doesn't even seem to have opened a single acupoint, while I'm at the peak of the Martial Apprentice realm, just one more acupoint away from entering the Martial Life realm."

Tie Changqing grew increasingly resentful, his fingernails digging deep into the flesh of his palms, the blood flowing from them redder than the rouge on his face.

"This kind of trash is so ignorant of his own mortality, insisting on gambling with me in a deadly game. This is absolutely a provocation, a provocation against the prestige of Young Master Changqing, a provocation against the most powerful genius of the Tie family in three hundred years."

“Killing you on the street would be troublesome, but in the hunting competition, even if I kill you a thousand times, it would be your own fault.”

Thinking of this, Tie Changqing stuck out his tongue and licked the scarlet blood off his hand. He chuckled sinisterly, "Fine, I'll accept your challenge and let you live a few more days. When the hunting competition comes, I'll skin you alive, piece by piece."

“Very well, that’s what I think too.” Xiao Chong’s voice still carried a chilling undertone.

For some reason, Situ Mingyue, who was standing next to the two, suddenly felt a chill and involuntarily shrank back. She quickly turned around, wanting nothing more than to leave this place and escape as far away as possible.

"You're leaving before you've even apologized? Do you want to join the game?" Xiao Chong asked, grabbing her cloak again.

Situ Mingyue felt as if she were being stared at by a ferocious beast; her body stiffened, and she slowly turned around.

Based on her woman's intuition, she sensed a dangerous aura emanating from Xiao Chong, though she didn't know how this aura came about.

"A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall, and of course, I, this young lady, cannot stand under one either," Situ Mingyue quickly made a judgment in her mind.

"I was in a bit of a rush today and didn't expect to bump into Brother Xiao's... companion. I'm really sorry."

Situ Mingyue forced a smile to appear more sincere. To prove it, she even took a jade hairpin from her hair and clumsily put it on Qingmeng.

Xiao Chong was very satisfied with this approach. At first, he only wanted the other party to apologize and did not intend to hold a grudge.

Seeing Xiao Chong nod, Situ Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief and raised her hand to touch her chest. Perhaps because she was too excited, she didn't control the force well, causing her chest to swell up in a turbulent wave.

Amidst the sounds of swallowing coming from all around, she transformed into a fiery red figure and vanished instantly at the end of the long street.

Along with her, Tie Changqing, who was relentlessly pursuing her, also disappeared.