Chapter 4450 — Raising Doubts

"That part is simple. If any escort agency is challenged, it may not refuse the challenge until its two challenge rights are exhausted. And if several agencies challenge at the same time, the challenged party chooses its opponent," Hai Wuliang replied.

At those words, the last of the crowd's doubts dissolved. One by one they turned wary, eyeing the other agencies with suspicion thinly veiled by calculation, each mind already turning over its next move.

In this final round, an agency's own strength mattered, of course, but one thing mattered more: choosing one's opponent. That was the key to victory or defeat, and there was no room for the slightest negligence.

Yet just as everyone was flexing their muscles, certain the contest was about to begin, Hai Wuliang abruptly added another rule—the very rule concerning challenges by an agency's helmsman that he had laid out to Cheng Haonan and the other two the night before.

When he finished, the crowd was still busy digesting this extra rule, while the four other judges seated on the raised platform were utterly baffled, puzzlement written across their faces.

This challenge rule had never been part of their earlier discussions; they had not so much as heard of it. And now Hai Wuliang had sprung it on them in public—clearly acting first and reporting afterward!

As things stood, everyone assumed it was the joint decision of the panel. To raise objections now would be to slap him in the face openly, to offend both Hai Wuliang and the Sihai Escort Agency—and who knew what unforeseen consequences might follow. If the assembly descended into chaos on the spot, no one could bear that risk.

At that thought, Zhao Bufan and the others, though their faces had all darkened, held their tongues in the end. This extra challenge rule, after all, cost them nothing of substance. It might even prove an opportunity.

Apart from the Qingtian Escort Agency, the other major agencies—the Sihai Escort Agency included—had no Golden Core cultivators among their upper ranks at all. They were traditional houses of standing, and a Golden Core cultivator ranked at best middling within an agency, sometimes even lower; such a one could not even command respect, let alone rise to a post like chief escort.

So unless they did something foolish, this new challenge rule Hai Wuliang had suddenly appended left them no way to lose points. On the contrary, if they could pick out the soft persimmons, they might even skim off extra points. In other words, they had been placed in the position of beneficiaries from the start—why would they not welcome it?

Of all those present, only Qi Mingyuan's expression shifted the moment he heard it through. The other major agencies had no Golden Core cultivators among their upper ranks—but his Qingtian Escort Agency did!

Hai Wuliang had sprung this out of nowhere. If Qi Mingyuan could not even smell that much scheming, he would be far too dull. In fact, the first thought that leapt into his mind was this: the move was aimed at the Qingtian Escort Agency!

Had the number of challenges simply been capped, that would have been one thing. But the problem was that Hai Wuliang had just stated plainly that any contestant could issue a challenge, with no limit on the number.

The malice behind it was plain for all to see!

The Qingtian Escort Agency had only two people who could step forward and fight—Qi Wenmo and Wei Zhao. Granted, at the Golden Core level those two should have few rivals, but a good tiger cannot hold off a pack of wolves, and true qi always runs dry in the end. They might be confident of winning the first two or three bouts—but what about after that?

Unlimited challenges—if it truly came to that, all the other agencies needed to do was wear the two of them down, then challenge them ceaselessly until the assembly ended. They could keep it up all day long if they liked.

So long as they did not kill both men outright, the other agencies could challenge again and again, harvesting points off the pair without pause. And so, however great the Qingtian Escort Agency's earlier lead, its points could never cover such losses...

Qi Mingyuan on the platform could see this, and naturally Qi Wenmo below could see it too. What was more, he was utterly certain the scheme was aimed not at himself but at Ling Yi!

A tree that stands tall in the forest will have the wind tear at it. Ling Yi had shone brilliantly in the earlier matches, and by his strength alone had made the Qingtian Escort Agency a dark horse of the highest order and trampled the Sihai Escort Agency underfoot. Hai Wuliang had long been stung into a fury, and now that he had pulled this trick, who else could it possibly be aimed at but Ling Yi?

"This fellow spouts fairness and justice day and night, yet this challenge rule is plainly aimed at us—he wants to wear us down with a revolving door of challengers until we drop dead! He cannot beat us in open competition, so he stoops to such despicable means. How vicious!" Qi Wenmo ground his teeth.

Qi Wenmo did not yet know that in the enemy's eyes, not even a revolving door was needed: Wu Baoliang alone was enough to finish him and Ling Yi. And so long as one of them was left alive, they could harvest points however they pleased afterward—no one could stand in their way!

"Look at the judges' faces—this rule must have been added on the spot by Hai Wuliang himself. The man is going a bit too far." Wei Zhao frowned as well. Quite apart from anything else, the whole thing reeked of scheming, and being targeted with such malice was thoroughly unpleasant.

"Exactly. Something this big—why doesn't Father stand up and say a word?" Qi Wenmo muttered.

The words had scarcely left his mouth when Qi Mingyuan rose to his feet on the platform. He was, after all, one of the five judges; faced with a rule so maliciously aimed, how could he fail to strike back at all? Qi Mingyuan was no shrinking turtle.

"Chief Escort Hai, this rule on challenges by an agency's helmsman appears to have a flaw that needs supplementing," Qi Mingyuan said, clearing his throat.

Uproar swept the hall at once, and one puzzled face turned to another. In the past, it was the agency heads below who raised such questions—so why this time had it fallen to Qi Mingyuan, one of the judges? He was one of the framers of the rules; surely he could not be ignorant of them?

For a moment, every gaze in the hall turned thoughtful. The sharp-witted had already sensed that something was decidedly amiss.

"Oh? Does Chief Escort Qi have an opinion?" Hai Wuliang raised an eyebrow. He had known Qi Mingyuan would not swallow such a bitter pill so meekly and was bound to counterattack, but he had long since prepared his reply, and felt not the slightest worry.

"This matter of unlimited challenges is hardly rigorous for an assembly of this kind—it leaves an opening that is easily exploited. If opportunistic sorts use it to harvest points wholesale, where is the fairness and solemnity of the assembly?" Qi Mingyuan demanded, his words ringing with righteous indignation. (To be continued!)