Hu Lei's voice echoed throughout the venue, causing the masters of Chasing Light City to fall silent for a moment.

The strength of the young man from the Flame Horn Race was already evident, even the first Deputy City Lord was taken down. With such power that could be boosted twice, who could possibly defeat him?

"Since none of you dare step up, and Diroya is not willing to give up Chasing Light City, then let's prepare for a battle now," Hu Lei said, scanning the room. He noticed the eyes of the masters from various races were filled with reluctance and fear. He then smiled slightly and said, "Of course, I'm not a cold-blooded creature. As long as any of you is willing to give up half of your resources and control of the city areas, I can assure you I won't make a move against you."

"Otherwise, once you step out of this door, neither you nor your people will be able to take another step out of the city!"

As Hu Lei's words fell, the entire venue returned to silence, and the various races in Chasing Light City were also deeply hesitant.

Full-scale warfare between cities is restricted by Domain City's regulations, which prohibit large-scale destruction and slaughter within cities, especially against ordinary people. Therefore, in the city skirmishes within the Mist Mountain Region, whenever two City Lords have comparable strength, they usually block each other in the wild, making it impossible to do business or transport goods.

And for a dominant party like Star Tower City, they could blockade the city, making it impossible for those inside the city to even think of leaving.

While major cities can produce resources and food, much more still has to be obtained from outside, especially cultivation resources for martial artists, like monster meat, minerals, and herbs, which are materials provided by resource towns over a long period.

Once you can't leave the city, and external supplies can't get in, staying in the city becomes meaningless, and they might even face assassinations now and then. After all, during full-scale city wars, Domain City only prohibits large-scale destruction and killing of ordinary people, not the killing of martial artists.

If the forces vying for control of the city are ruthless enough and don't care if the city they're taking over is destroyed and can't operate normally, they may even choose to fight within the city, directly wiping out the bases and strongholds of major forces within the city.

Now Star Tower City plans to blockade the city directly unless they all rush out to fight, or they'll only be worn down by Star Tower City bit by bit.

However, for them to hand over half of their accumulated resources and controlled areas is akin to cutting away half their lifeblood.

Their clanspeople have lived in Chasing Light City for many years. Losing half of their accumulated wealth is one thing, but losing half of their resource access means that not only would their available cultivation resources greatly diminish, their existing martial artist's cultivation would become a big problem. The future birth of martial artists would also drastically reduce, not to mention cultivating a new generation of strong individuals to sustain their clan.

"So this is your true purpose behind proposing a life-and-death duel," City Lord Diroya said, glaring at Hu Lei with eyes full of anger, yet unable to do anything.

"You think you can use the duel to buy time, so there might be a chance to invite stronger external reinforcements, but I am well aware of that," Hu Lei laughed. "But unfortunately, in the face of absolute strength, you will only lose faster."

While a life-and-death duel could indeed buy Diroya more time, it was also his best opportunity to establish authority in Chasing Light City. After all, if the various races don't recognize the strength of the Holy Blood Mercenary Corps, they might fight to the death with Diroya, resulting in heavy losses for both sides.

But now that the Holy Blood Mercenary Corps has exhibited absolute strength, the various races have to seriously consider whether they should follow Diroya to the death. In fact, Diroya himself might not even die, and the Three-Eyed Race wouldn't decline much, as Diroya, a Blood Coagulation Realm expert, could completely look for new large energy ore veins and rebuild the city, possibly creating a city exclusively owned by the Three-Eyed Race.

However, it's different for the other races in Chasing Light City. If all the Bone Forging Realm experts were to perish, even if Diroya holds Chasing Light City, they would be permanently removed from the city's core.

Between the two choices, the better option is obvious. Without the support of masters from various races, how could the Three-Eyed Race's fewer than a hundred Bone Forging Realm experts compete with the thousands from Star Tower City?

"Fine! You're ruthless enough!" Diroya said, taking a deep breath as he looked at Hu Lei. He then stood up and turned to the masters from various races behind him, speaking with great seriousness, "I know what you're all thinking now, but today I assure you, anyone who steps up for the duel, win or lose, will receive five thousand energy crystal stones, and I'll pay them before the duel begins."

As soon as Diroya spoke, everyone looked at him in disbelief, even Hu Lei couldn't help but glance at Diroya.

Three thousand energy crystal stones!

This may not mean much to a City Lord, but awarding someone five thousand energy crystal stones just for stepping up — that's quite a bit.

Five for one person, fifty thousand for ten, and five hundred thousand for a hundred.

Five hundred thousand energy crystal stones, that's nearly all of his years of accumulation.

Conversely, the breaths of various races in Chasing Light City started to quicken, and even the eyes of some Bone Forging Realm experts reddened a bit.

Five thousand energy crystal stones might not seem like much for a City Lord, but to a Bone Forger Realm martial artist, that is a considerable amount, especially for the weaker races who can't produce so many energy crystal stones at once.

If an Initial Stage Bone Forger Realm martial artist were to receive it, they'd have the opportunity to break through to High Tier Bone Forging Realm, and if they have talent, they might even become a top-level Bone Forger Realm expert.

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