"I'm here to steal nothing. I saw the clouds and thought I should check it out. It was only after I came here that I heard you talk about having a battle," Qian Yu answered Du Liang.
One Du Liang was already enough for the people who were present here to have second thoughts. The addition of Qian Yu made things even worse.
Du Liang stopped near Long Chen before she looked back at the girl from the Beastkin Empire.
"You were talking about something. If you're still interested, let me take my friend's place. Let's have a go," he told the girl with a calm smile on his face.
The girl felt her heart skip a beat as she saw Du Liang's gaze shine in her direction. She didn't want to step back in fear. She clenched her fist to glare back at Du Liang as she gathered her courage to answer back; however, things were different. No words came out of her mouth.
Instead, her gaze fell on Du Liang's eyes. She felt as if the ground was snatched away from her feet. She couldn't speak anything.
"Cheh, I thought someone was brave enough. Albeit I was wrong," Du Liang let out as he rolled his eyes.
"So, what was that cloud about? Is there really a treasure here?" He asked Long Chen.
"There is no treasure here. The cloud was created by a Saint Realm Beast who is now dead," Long Chen answered.
"A beast that could cover a big enough area like that? Not bad. Did you all defeat it together? Where is the flower?" Du Liang inquired.
"No. It was defeated by a single person. The others are here to snatch the flower from that person," Long Chen told him.
Du Liang nodded. A look of appreciation dawned on his face as he gazed at everyone who was present there.
"Stealing? That's not my style. The one who got the flower deserves it for killing a Saint Realm beast alone. Who did that, though?" He asked Long Chen.
While the other looked towards Bing Lui, believing Long Chen's previous statement that it was with her, Bing Lui glanced at Long Chen.
"Now your friends are here as well. Are you still going to be a coward?" She asked Long Chen.
"Coward what?" Long Chen asked in return. A smile arrived on his face. "I have the flower. What's cowardly about that?"
"You still don't accept!" Bing Lui blurted out without even processing his words. It took her a few seconds to realize what he had just said.
"Huh, you confessed?" She asked.
"That's there to confess? Of course, I have it," Long Chen answered as he smiled.
'It's unfortunate that those three are still not here. What's taking them so long,' he thought as he wondered where Ji Shan and the others were. They still weren't here.
"You found one? I must say, I underestimated you. I thought that you were over-reaching yourself and that you couldn't deal with a Saint Realm Beast alone. I'm pleasantly surprised. As expected of someone from my team," Di Liang laughed out loud as he nodded towards Long Chen.
"So they were surrounding you to take something that belongs to you now. Awesome. Finally, something interesting. Let me increase the stakes," he continued as he raised both his hands.
Two golden flowers appeared in his hand.
"Since almost everyone is here and I was getting bored, please make it fun for me. Defeat me, and not only will you be allowed to take two of my Three-leaves Golden Flowers, but I'll also give you the flower of Pei Zen!" He declared.
"What? Three? I don't even have one, and they got three?"
"If we kill these men, we'll get the top rank easily. There aren't many days left either. The chances of finding more Golden Flowers are rare. This is the best opportunity!"
Everyone looked at each other's faces. Greed was evident in their eyes, but they still looked hesitant.
Du Liang couldn't help but sigh as he saw their uncertainty. Was it too much to ask to have a good battle? Why were they so scared? Even after so many incentives, they weren't attacking him.
"Qian Yu, do you have some as well?" He asked Qian Yu.
"Yeah. I have one as well," Qian Yu answered. She understood what he wanted to do, so she also revealed her Three Leaves Golden Flower.
"Good. See? You can get four of these flowers. Your whole team can be ranked at the top if you defeat me. Are you all still going to hold back?" He asked the people who were present there.
"Heck! We can't lose this opportunity!" Finally, someone couldn't take it anymore. It was someone from the Windshock World who yelled. His greed had overwhelmed him.
"Everyone! I know we are enemies in this tournament, but we must work together! Let's work together and take this guy down. If we don't take him down, none of us will get those four flowers! After we defeat them, we can decide amongst ourselves! But for now, we must work together!" The blonde man said as he waved his sword towards the sky.
"That's right! He is too strong! None of us will get anything if we don't work together! Let's take him down now and decide what to do with the flowers later!"
One more person chimed in, supporting the suggestion.
'Hahaha, finally some progress! I thought I wouldn't get any action throughout your first round. It was so boring only to fight monsters. Come! Come together!' Du Liang thought as he cracked his knuckles while licking his lips.
Even though some people agreed to join hands instantly, there were a few that refused.
"I won't join," Bing Lui informed everyone before she turned back to leave. She didn't forget to take one last glance at Long Chen before she left with her teammates.
She had heard stories about Du Liang. She didn't want to test the theories.
If they were killed here, their world wasn't going to get any rank. They were also going to lose the flower they already possessed because of greed.
There was no need to get the top rank for now. Only being in the top few was enough to qualify for the second stage. As for getting the second stage to be in their world, it was something very lucrative, but they didn't wish to risk everything for it.
After Bing Lui left, there was one more team that left. It was the Beastkins who had decided to step back. They were a little different from Bing Lui, though.
While Bing Lui ultimately left, they only left in name. They wanted to go only for a short while and come back at the end of the battle.
'If these idiots manage to injure Du Liang in the battle, we will join and finish the job. If they fail, we can stay back. No need to suffer by joining now.' This was the thoughts in the head of the people from the Beast World.
They knew Du Liang was going to win, but they didn't think he would win without being gravely injured. Bing Lui, on the other hand, had faith that they were going to win without being injured, so she left without a second thought.
Within a few minutes, those who wanted to leave had left, and those who wanted to fight had pulled out their weapons.
"Alright. You have fun. I'll sit back and watch," Long Chen told Du Liang before he stepped back. He walked back near a stone and sat on it. He also wanted to see the strength of Du Liang. Just what was so special about the Eyes of Death.
Qian Yu also stepped back. She walked closer to Long Chen and stood with the support of the tree.
"Is your Spirit Sword damaged?" Qian Yu asked casually.
"Yeah," Long Chen answered without thinking as his mind was on the battle that was about to start. He soon realized that Pei Zen had no Spirit Sword.
"Yeah, My Spirit Sword is damaged. That's why I didn't bring it to this place from Tricion. I'll have it by the second stage," he clarified.
Even though Pei Zen didn't have a Spirit Sword, the girl couldn't know if he had one back home or not. He used that to clarify his answer.
Qian Yu didn't respond and simply nodded her head.
Long Chen had realized that she was suspicious, and her questions were always tricky. He decided to stay more alert around her and not make the same mistake again.
After a few seconds, Qian Yu finally opened her cherry lips as she asked, "What did you do to Pei Zen?"
"What do you mean?" Long Chen innocently inquired. Even though he wasn't the least bit calm on the inside, his exterior was completely calm.
"My question is simple. What did you do to Pei Zen? And why are you impersonating him?" Qian Yu asked again.