At the sound of Lu Chao’s voice, the two hundred-plus warhorses that had been thundering ferociously toward his team of ten suddenly bucked wildly, violently throwing off their riders—more than two hundred students brimming with killing intent—before turning tail and bolting.

Zeng Quan was stunned. Zheng Liyuan and Li Wumian were stunned. The entire upper echelon of Beast Flame was stunned.

The experts from the twenty University Institutes froze on their cliffside perches.

Everyone from the Small Institutes stared blankly at the scene, utterly bewildered.

Dongfang Ren, who had been watching with great anticipation, found his gaze frozen solid.

Beside him, Marquis Longyin’s jaw dropped.

On the cliff where the Inner Courtyard students were watching, Wu Caicai’s eyes glittered as a smile graced her face. In contrast, Wu Yiyi, who had been enjoying the show, saw her mocking smile vanish, replaced by sheer disbelief.

THUD, THUD, THUD...

The two hundred-plus University Institute students fell to the ground one after another. Staring blankly at their desperately fleeing warhorses, Chang Zui of Weihu shrieked, "What are you running for?! This isn’t Great Wu Lu Chao!"

However, as if hearing the three words "Great Wu Lu Chao," the warhorses only ran faster.

The two hundred-plus students were all completely dumbfounded.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP...

They heard the sound of hoofbeats again and whipped their heads around.

There, they saw the unmasked Fake Lu Chao approaching with a long spear in hand and a smile on his face. Then they heard him speak softly...

"Zeng Quan, you shouldn’t have let the duel continue. You should have declared them the losers."

"If they had lost, they could at least have fought in the revival battles in the third stage. But now, I’m going to make sure none of them can fight in any revival battle."

If Zeng Quan had just declared Dragon Flame Academy the winner, these two hundred-plus students would have been spared from injury.

In the third stage, they would have been able to fight in the revival battles at full strength.

But by using the mask as an excuse to continue the duel, he had eliminated the University Institutes’ chance at a revival battle, because Lu Chao was preparing to severely injure every single one of their students.

As his voice fell, Lu Chao raised his spear, ready to charge...

Suddenly, Li Wumian couldn’t help but roar, "Wait! Why can you still scare away the warhorses without a mask?"

Without even turning his head, Lu Chao replied, "When you pretend to be Great Wu Lu Chao for long enough, you naturally pick up some of his aura... Besides, these warhorses probably still remember my voice. They were scared out of their wits before."

"Oh, and by the way, I’m not wearing a mask. I’m fighting this duel completely according to your rules."

With that... he attacked!

Leading the nine members of Dragon Flame Academy, he once again plunged into the midst of Chang Zui of Weihu and the others. Screams of agony shot into the sky.

The screams were accompanied by furious roars from the surrounding cliffs.

’Damn it! How could we not have realized the warhorses would remember the Fake Lu Chao’s voice?’

’What are we supposed to do now?’

Those who couldn’t afford to lose wanted to run out and interfere again. One by one, they turned their gazes to Zeng Quan...

But Zeng Quan’s expression was utterly foul. If he ran out to show favoritism again, never mind whether Dongfang Ren would jump out to stop him; after pulling this stunt multiple times, how could he possibly maintain his authority?

「On a certain mountain peak...」

Dongfang Ren murmured, "Why isn’t he putting on a better performance? He should be able to win even without resorting to these methods."

Beside him, Marquis Longyin leaped onto a Flying Bird Demon Beast. He had to go ensure the duel proceeded as it should.

Hearing this, he replied, "Perhaps the Fake Lu Chao has no intention of becoming your disciple."

The words slipped out of Marquis Longyin’s mouth, but even he thought it sounded ridiculous. ’What reason would the Fake Lu Chao have for not wanting a master?’

And the truth was just as Marquis Longyin had said. Since Lu Chao didn’t want a master, he naturally wouldn’t show off.

「Time trickled by...」

In Battle Valley, the screams continued to ring out.

Mounted on their warhorses, Lu Chao’s team of ten continuously inflicted heavy injuries on the two hundred-plus students. The surrounding cliffs were still filled with furious roars.

But since Zeng Quan said nothing, no one else dared to interfere with the duel.

But at that very moment, a shriek suddenly pierced the air from the cliff where the Inner Courtyard students were watching...

"Young Master Zheng, that’s my Sister Caicai! What are you doing?"

The voice belonged to Wu Yiyi, and she had deliberately projected it to echo loudly into Battle Valley.

Instantly, Lu Chao and the five from the Azure Flame Sect abruptly stopped and looked over.

They saw that on the Inner Courtyard’s viewing cliff, a space had been cleared at some point. Zheng Zhuhe had his sword pointed at Wu Caicai, while the students from the other Seven Great Inner Courtyards had stepped back to form a circle and watch.

As for Wu Yiyi, she was screaming with a smile on her face, "Young Master Zheng, don’t do anything rash!"

Zheng Zhuhe ignored her for the moment. Instead, he stared at Wu Caicai with a sinister, terrifying gaze and roared, "I heard you were just bad-mouthing me, is that right? Believe it or not, I’ll kill you right now!"

After speaking, he shot Wu Yiyi a quick glance, his expression clearly saying, ’Leave it to me.’

Wu Caicai stood alone, facing the oppressive presence of Zheng Zhuhe with a look of stunned confusion. The whole affair was completely baffling to her. Just a moment ago, she had been happy about the impending victory for Lu Chao and his team.

The next thing she knew, Zheng Zhuhe had suddenly rushed over, hurling all sorts of accusations.

She looked at Zheng Zhuhe, a smirk playing on his lips, then at... Wu Yiyi, who was deliberately shouting toward Battle Valley. Finally, she looked down into the valley, at the now-stationary Lu Chao and the five from the Azure Flame Sect.

In an instant, she understood everything.

Fury surged within her, and she snapped in a cold voice, "Wu Yiyi, you’re actually using me to threaten Hero Lu!"

Wu Yiyi turned back to her, a wide grin on her face...

"Sister Caicai, what nonsense are you spouting? I’m trying to persuade Young Master Zheng not to hurt you."

"Young Master Zheng, even though Sister Caicai spoke ill of you, please don’t harm her."

Hearing this, Zheng Zhuhe put on a look of understanding...

He said gravely, "No. This bitch dared to slander me. She must be punished."

With that, the sword in his hand crept closer and closer to Wu Caicai, but his gaze was already fixed on Lu Chao in Battle Valley.

The current situation was, of course, something Wu Yiyi had arranged with him in advance.

Wu Yiyi had said...

...that Wu Caicai had teamed up with Lu Chao to bully her. This had already made Zheng Zhuhe want to make a move on Wu Caicai. Now that he could also use her to threaten the Fake Lu Chao, he was more than happy to play along with Wu Yiyi’s performance.

At this moment, Wu Yiyi’s face was a mask of panic...

She whipped her head toward Lu Chao in the valley and shouted, "Young Master Lu, I can’t persuade Young Master Zheng! What should I do?"

As she spoke, her eyes narrowed...

She sneered inwardly...

’You rejected me. You didn’t come to me. You made me lose a night of sleep, so now you must be punished. I, Wu Yiyi, will not let you win the second stage. Without my help... you simply cannot win.’

’Hmph, hmph...’

’You thought dealing with Zeng Quan would solve all your problems? Sorry, but I, Wu Yiyi, am the one you can’t afford to offend.’

’Now, what are you going to do?’

’If you dare to keep fighting, I’ll let your good friend Wu Caicai be brutally humiliated by Zheng Zhuhe.’

’If you choose to win, you’ll have to watch as Wu Caicai is horribly tormented.’

「In Battle Valley...」

Beside Lu Chao, Luo Wendeng and the other four ground their teeth. "More dirty tricks! Damn it!"