Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

At these words, the hearts of Li Wumian and the others began to race with hope again.

But Lu Chao just shrugged. ”Still crying cheat? Why didn’t you stop me at the beginning? I put the mask on right in front of all of you. If it wasn’t allowed, you should have said so earlier.”

If wearing a mask was cheating, it should have been pointed out from the start.

Bringing it up now is just a joke.

Dongfang Ren spoke again. ”The matter is perfectly clear. Dragon Flame Academy has done nothing wrong. You can all return now.”

For the third time, he told everyone to return to the cliffs.

Of course, the deans of the University Institutes and the others were unwilling to accept this. One by one, they turned to look at Zeng Quan.

Dean Wind Wolf growled in a low voice, ”The fake Lu Chao has killed so many people! He shouldn’t be allowed to join Beast Flame! He violated the rules of the competition!”

From the very beginning of the qualification battles, there was a rule against killing wantonly.

Accidents happen when blades have no eyes, but intentional slaughter was forbidden. And the fake Lu Chao hadn’t just been intentional—he had killed many.

However, Dean Wind Wolf’s words only made Marquis Longyin sneer. ”Who broke the rules first? Who tried to interfere in the duel? Your students were killed by your own actions.”

”Exactly! So it’s okay for you to shamelessly charge into Battle Valley, but we’re not allowed to kill anyone?” Yu Xiaoping couldn’t help but chime in.

Other than the CRACK of tightening fists, the entire area fell silent once more.

After a few breaths, Zeng Quan finally spoke. ”Since there was no cheating, the duel between Dragon Flame Academy and Zhongyue Academy will resume. All unrelated personnel are to return to their positions.”

Everyone present was stunned. Not only did they all have to go back, but the duel was also going to continue?

Zeng Quan swept his gaze over the crowd and spoke coldly...

”The true outcome has not yet been decided. Of course, it must continue.”

”However, from this point on, Lu Chao of Dragon Flame Academy may no longer wear the mask of Great Wu Lu Chao.”

As his voice fell, people from all factions stared with wide eyes...

Before anyone could speak, Zeng Quan continued, ”Now that the truth has come to light, this duel must get back on the right track. The mask of Great Wu Lu Chao is an unfair item and, of course, can no longer be worn.”

Zeng Quan then explained that, in the beginning, no one took the mask seriously, which is why it wasn’t considered cheating and no action was taken.

But now that the mask has been proven to be a method outside the Martial Dao, it can no longer be used.

To put it bluntly...

Zeng Quan was compromising with Dongfang Ren and Marquis Longyin. He would not pursue what had happened earlier, but the rules of the duel still had to be set by him. The main point was to save some face.

After his explanation, he stared intently at Dongfang Ren and Marquis Longyin...

His expression said it all: ’I’ve already compromised on what happened before. If you two continue to cause trouble, then we’ll have a complete falling out.’

Marquis Longyin frowned deeply. He looked at the thousands of students from the University Institutes. Many were dead or injured, but there were still two to three hundred who were unharmed. This meant if the duel continued, the ten from Dragon Flame would still have to face two to three hundred people.

Without the mask, Lu Chao could still win, but the crucial point was that Dragon Flame couldn’t afford to lose a single one of its ten members.

The risk was still immense.

Thinking of this, Marquis Longyin looked to Dongfang Ren to see what he would say.

It wasn’t just Marquis Longyin; Sun Shijin, Dean Jiang, and the others all looked at Dongfang Ren. He, in turn, glanced at Lu Chao a few times before finally nodding in reply to Zeng Quan. ”Very well. My only concern is ensuring the rules of the Beast Flame qualification battles are not broken...”

As his voice fell, Zeng Quan secretly let out a long sigh of relief.

He had actually been terrified that Dongfang Ren would continue to make a fuss. He truly didn’t want a complete falling out, as that would bring no benefit to him or the Saint Bone Zheng Family.

Taking another breath, Zeng Quan shouted, ”Everyone, return to the cliffs to observe the battle!”

And so, Zeng Quan was the first to gesture to the upper echelons of the Beast Flame Group, leaping back to the highest cliff.

Seeing this, Dongfang Ren turned and gave the experts from the University Institutes a cold stare...

The experts clenched their fists, but in the end, they could only carry away the wounded and the dead and return to their own cliffs.

At that moment, Lu Chao said softly, ”Elder Sun, you all should head back too. We’ll be fine.”

Sun Shijin and the others nodded. They led Dean Jiang, Cheng Chuming, Cheng Yunsu, and the rest back. Since Lu Chao himself had said it, they naturally believed he could win.

At the very least, the current situation was far better than before.

They had originally been prepared for the worst. No one had expected the reclusive Dongfang Ren to suddenly step forward for Dragon Flame Academy.

After Sun Shijin and his group left, Marquis Longyin also gave an order, ”All Order Enforcement Team Members, return to your original positions.”

With that, Marquis Longyin and the Order Enforcement Team departed as well.

In Battle Valley, besides the students from the two dueling parties, only Dongfang Ren remained. He stared intently at Lu Chao. ”Now, let me see your true combat strength without the mask.”

With those words, he flickered and vanished.

After Dongfang Ren left, Zeng Quan’s voice rang out again. ”Students from both sides, return to your starting positions.”

Lu Chao smiled faintly, waved to the nine people behind him, and walked back behind the initial dueling line.

Just then, Yu Xiaoping moved closer and asked, ”Brother Lu, what did Dongfang Ren mean by his last words? And why did he suddenly step in to help us? Was it really because he couldn’t stand what Zeng Quan and the others were doing?”

Luo Wendeng was also puzzled by this...

’Besides those parting words, if he was going to help, why not see it through to the end?’

’Why compromise with Zeng Quan, allowing the battle to restart and forbidding the mask?’

His eyes narrowing slightly, Lu Chao replied softly, ”Dongfang Ren... has likely taken an interest in me.”

The people behind him trembled slightly, understanding at once.

Their eyes lit up one by one. If Lu Chao could become Dongfang Ren’s disciple, then they would have a powerful backer in Beast Flame Academy.

Indeed, given Lu Chao’s performance, it was perfectly normal for Dongfang Ren to take notice of him.

”Of course, Dongfang Ren probably also had his own reasons for disliking Zeng Quan and the others, and more reason still to help the Small Institutes.”

Lu Chao continued to explain, ”His final compromise with Zeng Quan was also because he didn’t want to push things so far that the Beast Flame event couldn’t continue. More importantly, he wants to see my true combat strength—to see how I perform without relying on the mask of Great Wu Lu Chao.”

Everyone nodded repeatedly. To put it simply, Dongfang Ren intended to use the remaining two or three hundred students from the University Institutes to test Lu Chao.

Hearing this, Jiang Yu also asked, ”So, Lu Chao, are you going to show him everything you’ve got?”

Jiang Yi replied as if it were obvious, ”Does that even need to be asked? Of course he has to show everything he’s got and try to become Dongfang Ren’s disciple.”

They all thought this was a wonderful opportunity.

But Lu Chao just shook his head gently. ”No. I have no intention of becoming Dongfang Ren’s disciple.”

Huh?

The group from Dragon Flame Academy was completely astonished, their eyes all asking the same question: ’Why?’

But the five Descendants of Azure Flame understood immediately. Lu Chao possessed the Life-taking Bone. Of course he couldn’t expose that to Dongfang Ren.

’If he became his disciple, he would surely be inspected from head to toe.’

What the five of them, including Luo Wendeng, didn’t know was that aside from the Life-taking Bone, Lu Chao had another reason for not wanting a master...

It was this: before being killed by Lu Dingtian, Lu Chao’s own Martial Arts Realm was not much weaker than Dongfang Ren’s. His understanding of the Martial Dao was not much weaker either. There was simply no need for him to take a master.

This was a matter of Lu Chao’s own pride.