Chapter 4449 — The Final Duel

"That could present a bit of trouble, though not much. From what I know, among the upper ranks of the Qingtian Escort Agency, only Qi Wenmo and Ling Yi are Golden Core cultivators—the rest are not. So once you issue your challenge, the one who steps forward will be either Qi Wenmo or Ling Yi." Hai Wuliang smiled.

Having suffered such a heavy loss at Ling Yi's hands, he had spent the past two days doing his homework on the Qingtian Escort Agency, and he now knew the entire outfit inside and out.

"Only those two? Then this is easy! Qi Wenmo is the young master who manages the agency's affairs—he can't very well take the field himself, so that leaves only Ling Yi!" Long Kuiba brightened at once, though inwardly he could not help feeling a pang of shame: an old rival of the Qingtian Escort Agency for so many years, and he understood them less thoroughly than Hai Wuliang did. The man truly deserved to be the overlord of the Southern Continent's escort world.

"Hmph, even if Qi Wenmo does step in himself, what of it? At worst we knock him down first and force Ling Yi out!" Wu Baoliang wore an expression of lordly contempt.

The likes of Qi Wenmo were not worth his notice at all, and even Ling Yi, who had crippled Old Kong face to face, had never truly weighed on his mind. Originally he had come only to avenge Cheng Haonan, but now that the man had offended him today, he was all the more determined to kill him.

At the thought of what tomorrow would bring, Cheng Haonan and the other two exchanged looks and burst into laughter, as elated as if they had already won a great victory.

Cheng Haonan wanted revenge, Wu Baoliang wanted to vent his spleen, and Long Kuiba wanted the rise of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency. So long as they followed the script laid out before them, the odds of all three getting what they wanted stood at ninety percent at least. Perhaps even higher!

"Well, this is all the help I can give you. Be sure to seize this opportunity—whatever you do, don't disappoint me." Hai Wuliang offered his instructions with a smile.

"Rest easy, Chief Escort Hai. So long as we follow the plan, Ling Yi is a dead man, and the Qingtian Escort Agency's days of glory are numbered!" The three nodded in unison, then took their leave. "It's getting late, so the three of us will be going. Chief Escort Hai, just sit back and enjoy the show tomorrow."

"Very well. I won't see you out." Smiling, Hai Wuliang escorted the three to the gate. Watching their triumphant backs recede, the corner of his mouth suddenly curved into a mocking arc. "A pack of bumpkins."

True enough—the special rule allowing an agency's helmsman to issue a challenge had been a spur-of-the-moment notion, one that had only occurred to him after meeting Cheng Haonan and the other two. And at first glance, apart from being aimed squarely at the Qingtian Escort Agency and Ling Yi, the greatest beneficiary of this rule was the Dragon Boat Escort Agency.

After all, Wu Baoliang was the rare sort whose outward strength was only Golden Core, yet whose true power could hold its own against a mid-Nascent Soul expert. Other agencies would be hard pressed to produce a second such man. In a tournament restricted to Golden Core cultivators, he was an unstoppable killing weapon—against whom the other agencies had no answer.

Under such circumstances, the Dragon Boat Escort Agency would naturally be the one laughing last. By then it would not merely trample the Qingtian Escort Agency underfoot—it might even vault to the heavens on the momentum, and drag the traditional powerhouses like the Four Seas Escort Agency down with it. That was no impossibility either.

But what sort of man was Hai Wuliang? This was the man who had built the Four Seas Escort Agency, step by step, into the overlord of the Southern Continent's escort world. Would he really be foolish enough to sew another's wedding dress? Least of all for three strangers who were so plainly crooked at heart?

Cheng Haonan, Wu Baoliang, Long Kuiba—none of them could be called fools. Yet set beside Hai Wuliang, they were exactly the sort who would be sold and still help count the money. Their schemes were simply not on the same plane.

His reason for proposing this special rule was twofold: on one hand, naturally, to deal with Ling Yi and achieve his aim of killing by another's blade; on the other, to clear the field for his own Four Seas Escort Agency.

Judging by the results of past Southern Continent Escort Gatherings, the strongest agency was none other than the Four Seas Escort Agency—and this time they were fighting on home ground. Hai Wuliang had long since regarded the champion's seat as something already in his pocket, within easy reach.

Yet never in his wildest dreams had Hai Wuliang imagined that from the second round onward, the gathering would break entirely from his control, and go on to evolve into the awkward situation it now faced. With the final round looming, it was clear that without a strong dose of medicine, matters could not be set right. And then, conveniently, Cheng Haonan and his two companions had come knocking.

In Hai Wuliang's eyes, the three men of the Dragon Boat Escort Agency were doubtless clowns—but clowns could serve as a ready-made sharp blade. That blade could cut down Wei Zhao, and with him, bring down the suddenly risen Qingtian Escort Agency as well.

And once the Qingtian Escort Agency, that top-tier dark horse, was no longer in the way, which of the remaining agencies could stand against his Four Seas Escort Agency?

As for the Dragon Boat Escort Agency—it might swallow the Qingtian Escort Agency's vast store of points, and for a brief time even sit alone at the pinnacle as the new top dark horse. But what of it?

Hai Wuliang did not worry about that in the slightest. Should matters truly reach that point, he need only expose Wu Baoliang's identity as an evil cultivator, and the Dragon Boat Escort Agency would collapse on the spot. Never mind becoming the new overlord of the escort world—whether it could even survive the siege of the assembled agencies was an open question.

After all, escort agencies were recognized throughout the Southern Continent as a force of the righteous path. Whose righteous force ever made an evil cultivator its trump card? If that was not courting death, what was?

So no matter how things played out, Hai Wuliang considered himself to stand in an unassailable position. As for Cheng Haonan and his two companions, they were simply pitiful creatures who would be sold and still help count the money...

The night passed without a word. When the sun rose the next day, Demon Cold Plaza was once again packed with people. The crowds who had come from every direction to watch were more than double those of the previous two days! Everyone knew that today was the final round of this year's gathering. Who would laugh last and become the new overlord of the escort world—the answer would be revealed today.

This time, as usual, Hai Wuliang took the stage to announce the rules of the round to all present.

The final round, after all, had little room for innovation or change. The judges had agreed on the rules long ago, and even among the spectators, anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the Southern Continent Escort Gathering could have guessed five or six parts of them in advance.

Still, among the many agency heads present, some raised questions. Unlike the others, they had not come for the spectacle—they had to fully grasp the rules beforehand, with not the slightest ambiguity permitted, or it would be the entire agency that paid the price.

"Chief Escort Hai, since each agency has only two chances to challenge and two chances to be challenged, when we are challenged, may we refuse our opponent?" (To be continued...)