Neither of the Zhen brothers was expected by anyone present, even so, how could the Wang family higher-ups show disrespect? They quickly approached to greet.

Sensing what question would follow, Zhen Mang spoke up first

"I know that our arrival is a bit sudden, but how could the master of a disciple not arrive?

As for Zhen Gan, he immediately followed up

"As for me, I decided to look at my brother's disciple... It's his first one after all"

The sheer presence of the Zhen brothers had already thrown in disarray all the plans that the Wang family had cooked up after hearing about Wu Guang. Adding that Wu Guang was the disciple of the Butcher, Zhen Mang, how could they now even dare thinking about even touching him in the latter's presence. Their actual plan was like Wu Guang and Elder Mo had thought of, albeit with more political reasons. The head of the Wangs, Wang Ling, was an old schemer. He wanted to use this duel to demonstrate the power of their Sect by making Wang Yong win the duel. After that, they would capture Wu Guang and question him.

They were never interested in taking revenge. Wang Ling even felt relief after Wang Boqin's death, after all, the latter had been a shame for the family. A weakling that obtained the position of core elder only thanks to being related by blood the all-powerful Wang's.

What they did want to confirm was that the 'Three Hills Sect' was the one responsible for his disappearance. Using this information as leverage, Wang Ling hoped to pressure the Sect leadership during the powers and cities discussion. If it went successfully, then the only power that would be a candidate for leading the alliance would be their Leaf Shadow Sect.

Such grand merit would help the Wangs finish establishing themselves as the great benefactors of the Sect. And by giving all of the credit for the plan to his disciple and protege, Wang Fang, they would secure his position as the inheritor of the sect.

Regretfully such a good plan needed to be scrapped, as Wu Guang was not a simple disciple. And even if Wang Ling dared to provoke almost anyone, he would not dare to go against Zhen Mang. Especially now that his brother was also present. Being at the peak of the Soul realm, the two of them were among the ten strongest people on the island. Wang Ling was also a 9th level of the Soul realm cultivator, but he knew that he would need an extreme amount of luck to last for more than 10 movements. As for winning? It was out of reach.

Without letting any of his thoughts appear on his face, Wang Ling smiled amicably while talking

"Oh, there's no problem at all, after all, we even invited a few guests to observe the duel. Still, I did not hear that the Head Enforcer of the 'Three Hills Sect' had taken a disciple"

"It was a bit sudden, so the Sect did not announce it"

"I see"

"But do not worry Advisor Wang, we will not interfere with the planned duel, albeit I am a bit unsure of the reasons for it"

"Well, to tell the truth, I have been also feeling unsure about all this. Wang Yong is a brilliant youngster and the pride of our family, so we believed his words fully. But now looking at the situation calmly, I find it almost impossible for young friend Wu Guang to be responsible for Boqin's disappearance" Taking this opportunity to quickly distance himself from the possible trouble, Wang Ling fluently lied.

"In any case, let us try and finish this matter quickly. We two have a task to accomplish, and so can only remain here for a couple of hours"

"Is that so?" Hearing this, Wang Ling's mind started churning while thinking about how great it would be to grab the personal disciple of Zhen Mang. Granted, provoking him in person was idiotic, but if Wu Guang was alive and in their power, no one would risk being the reason for his death. After all, the culprit would have to make explanations to Zhen Mang. Furthermore, they could try and use Wu Guang as a bargaining chip to get some other concessions.

"Yes, as you know we are currently campaigning against the Underhill group. Not only are they helping the Eagle Kingdom, but they also are responsible for most of the recent assassinations"

"So you have discovered some kind of lead?"

"Mmm"

"Brother, there is no need to hide it from them" Zhen Gan quickly nudged

"Haa... Well, it turns out that an Underhill group location, which may be an important one has been located by a few scouts we sent. Right now the base is under surveillance, but at midnight we will rush and eliminate it"

"Oh!"

"Yes, and so to meet them in time, we need to leave shortly. So if it's alright with Advisor Wang, could we get started now?" Zhen Mang showed a bit of impatience while saying these words, to confirm that they were short of time.

All of this was a ruse, to give them a reason to leave without Wu Guang. Obviously the latter would be safe, but they had to make sure everyone knew that the Zhen brothers had left. In fact, they were planning to invite some of the experts present to accompany them. They had actually located a base of the Underhill a few days ago, and Elder Mo had decided that it was the perfect moment to visit it tonight.

"Yes, yes. Someone, call for Wang Yong"

"There is no need, I am already here Grand Uncle" As soon as he heard his name, Wang Yong appeared from between the party that had followed behind Wang Ling.

"Mmm, good"

Until now, Wu Guang had been quiet and spent the time mostly observing the experts present. The group consisted of a hundred, but only a fifth of them were actually experts or people with some status. As for the rest, they were followers and servants. Obviously only the masters dared to approach the Zhen brothers.

In this small group, there were three members of the Wang family. At the front of everyone, Wang Ling, the current head of the family and the Grand Advisor of the 'Leaf Shadow Sect'. He was an old man, having reached a hundred years of age, dressed gaudily in green toned clothes. And except for the sly glint in his eyes, his overall looks were average. Albeit he looked about half his age thanks to being a cultivator, his manner of speech and movements still showed the reality of his old age.

The other two people from the Wang family were two middle-aged women. They were Wang Ling's nieces, and both had positions in the sect. Wang Qiu was the mother of the current successor for the sect, Wang Fang, and a concubine to the Sect Master. As for Wang Jia, she was Wang Yong's mother and a core elder in their sect.

In their youth, both of them were considered geniuses and among the most beautiful women on the island, and even now, they could contend with far younger beauties. They also had a decent cultivation, both being at the same 4th level of the Soul realm.

The rest of the people also had some kind of status or strength, but neither of these smaller family heads and inner elders of the 'Leaf Shadow Sect' interested Wu Guang in the slightest.

"Let's proceed then. As agreed, it is a duel without the aim to kill and so should be stopped either when one surrenders or can not continue. Is that right?" Zhen Mang asked.

"Yes, Head Enforcer is absolutely right" Wang Ling confirmed.

"Before we begin though, Wu Guang?"

Wu Guang knew what was expected from him as part of the task was to provoke the Wangs, and so came to the front and began talking

"Before I duel Wang Yong, I would like to confirm the reason. I have been informed that he was slandering me and saying that I am somehow responsible for his guardian elder Wang Boqin's disappearance. I can only tell that the latter followed me intending to assault me, but somehow got lost. In any case, this slander is an attack on me, and so I want this duel to clear up my name"

"Hoh? And how young friend Wu Guang intends to do so?" Wang Ling did not like the tone or the words, but he was forced to swallow up his anger. Especially as he understood that most probably these words were not Wu Guang's own, but came from his master.

"When I win, I want Wang Yong to apologize to me, as well admit that he had no proof when accusing me"

"I see, well, that's something that can be agreed to. But what if you lose?"

"I will not. Truth always prevails, especially against vile lies like this one" Wu Guang acted as if he did not understand what was Wang Ling getting to, and continued pressing.

"How dare you! My son would never lie, if he says that you are at fault for Boqin's disappearance, then he is in the right!" The one that did react and even shouted at Wu Guang was no one else than Wang Yong's mother.

"Stop!" Wang Ling did not want to risk what he had cooked up now, and so stopped her. Then he to the shock of everyone present agreed to Wu Guang's demand. Inside he was also burning in anger, but this was neither the time nor place to act. He also made sure to convey this to Wang Jia, indicating that she should simply wait until later. In the end, before indicating that the combatants should enter the stage, he sent another qi transmission, which unknowingly to him Wu Guang also listened to

"You think that your son can lose? I personally gave him the destruction rune. Albeit we agreed to a duel with no killing, if he uses it this small bastard is dead for sure"

Wang Yong had remained silent until the moment they both took the stage and the rune barrier around it was activated. This barrier allowed everyone outside to see and hear everything that was happening but should be enough to stop even a Soul realm expert from interfering.

"So you came. I initially thought that this month would be used for you to escape, but what a surprise, you increased your cultivation? Were you too cowardly to face me right away?" As the arena also would show one's cultivation when stepping on it, Wang Yong found out that Wu Guang was also an 8th level of the Spirit realm cultivator. Albeit his Grand Uncle had told him so, he could not believe that such a quick growth was even possible!

"What bold words from someone who can only bully people with lower cultivation. Scared of an equal?" Wu Guang responded in kind.

"You!"

"Speaking of which, how come that you did not increase your cultivation if it's so easy to do? After all, since our last meeting, only six weeks have passed, and I achieved three breakthroughs... As for you... Didn't you even get weaker? If you want we can postpone this and I will let you train for a bit more" Another provocation followed.

"You bastard!" Wang Yong had met a bottleneck and remained on the 8th level for almost six months already. He was turning 18 years old in a few weeks, and if he did not reach the peak of the Spirit realm quickly, even his own family would consider that he had failed to live up to his title of genius. Obviously, this was a really sore topic for him.

After being provoked and having short temper, he decided to not continue a losing battle of words and rushed forwards. And so, the duel started.

As is customary, the first few exchanges were with bare fists and barely utilized any qi. Wu Guang had a lower amount of close quarter combat experience, but his senses gave him an enormous advantage even against someone who had trained more and so they appeared equally matched. In truth, Wu Guang was actually suppressing half his strength, as he intended to use this fight to stabilize his cultivation and fully get used to his new combat strength.

Plus, this victory was meant to be a show of the 'Three Hills Sect' superiority. Thus he intended to play a bit first before starting to really act.