244: I'm really going to kill myself.

Chapter 244: He's Really Going to Play Himself to Death

Bai Lei, who was opposite, also heard Cong Shuang's words.

He didn't deny it, just shrugged and said, "Zhao Xuan is my younger brother. He lost to you in the Hundred Cities League. Since that's the case, now that you've come to the Tianfu Association, I naturally have to take extra care of you."

Bai Lei grinned, emphasizing the words "take extra care" with a sneer.

Lu Ran merely looked at Bai Lei calmly.

He wasn't in a hurry.

Because the procedures hadn't been completed yet, Lu Ran wasn't considered a member of the Tianfu Association and hadn't been ranked.

At the same time, Lu Ran also didn't have the qualifications to challenge Bai Lei yet.

But Shen Man had already arranged for someone to register Lu Ran, and it should be completed very soon.

So, before that, he could let this Bai Lei jump around a bit more.

Thus,

Lu Ran casually and leisurely asked, "Since you know Zhao Xuan lost to me, you must have heard about my combat ability from him. If so, you still dare to go against me? Your guts are truly not small."

"Haha... Arrogant, so arrogant! A mere Undead Mage can be so arrogant, I truly didn't expect it. You're right, Zhao Xuan did tell me he lost. He said you're very powerful, which is quite rare. As an Undead Mage, to be praised as powerful by Zhao Xuan, a Qimen Celestial Master, can be considered an affirmation of you. Unfortunately, an Undead Mage is always an Undead Mage. No matter how powerful, he's still an Undead Mage!" Bai Lei spoke eloquently.

He looked much more relaxed and at ease.

Lu Ran pouted, looked at Shen Man, and asked, "My procedures haven't been completed yet?"

Shen Man said, "Soon, a few minutes, please wait. But are you sure you want to challenge Bai Lei? His combat power is beyond doubt, as he is ranked first in the Tianfu Association."

"I confirm the challenge," Lu Ran said calmly.

"Alright, then let me introduce you two to each other. Bai Lei is a hidden class..." Shen Man subconsciously began to speak.

But before she finished, Lu Ran raised a hand to interrupt her.

"It's not important, I don't care about his class," Lu Ran said casually.

Uh...

Shen Man was a little startled.

Setting aside how confident Lu Ran's behavior was, the insult was truly maximized.

This was the first person in the Tianfu Association to face Bai Lei and completely disregard his class. The undisguised contempt and provocation in his words made Bai Lei's face turn ugly, clearly indicating he was very angry.

"Good! Good! Good! You're the first one who dares to look down on me like this. I'm telling you, if you're brave enough, come and fight me in a martial duel. A civil duel would be too boring. And in a martial duel, life or death doesn't matter!" Bai Lei looked at Lu Ran with threatening eyes, his provocative intent very clear.

Lu Ran was stunned.

Life or death doesn't matter?

Do challenges between Tianfu Association members go this far?

"Life or death doesn't matter? What does that mean?" Lu Ran looked at Shen Man and asked.

No wonder Cong Shuang had warned Lu Ran earlier.

It turned out people could really die!

This wasn't some arena match with rule restrictions, where health points wouldn't drop further after reaching a certain level.

This was truly a matter of life and death!

"Indeed, life or death doesn't matter because there are no rule restrictions; it's just a duel. But usually, when Tianfu Association members challenge each other, they don't take each other's lives. They stop when health points drop to one-tenth," Shen Man explained.

In short, there were no rule restrictions!

Just fight directly!

It was fine even if someone died!

As for things like one-tenth health points being a convention, Lu Ran didn't care at all.

This Bai Lei was so arrogant; it would be too boring not to kill him!

"That's right, life or death doesn't matter. You're not scared so easily, are you? I'm telling you, if we really fight, I'll definitely kill you if I get the chance!" Bai Lei raised an eyebrow and said with a sinister smile.

He thought Lu Ran was asking Shen Man to confirm the life-or-death rule because Lu Ran was afraid.

After all, for any new professional, the possibility of dying in a fight was inherently terrifying.

And he was facing Bai Lei, the top-ranked member of the Tianfu Association.

Therefore,

At this moment, Bai Lei was doing his utmost to show off, provoke, mock, and even insult.

This made Bai Lei feel incredibly satisfied, as if he had completely taken control of Lu Ran in all aspects.

But what he didn't know was that...

In Lu Ran's eyes at this moment, Bai Lei was already a dead man!

"Oh, and also, what did Bai Lei mean by civil duel and martial duel earlier?" Lu Ran continued to ask.

New terms naturally needed to be understood clearly.

Shen Man introduced:

"It is indeed divided into two types: martial duel and civil duel, which are agreed upon by both parties."

"Civil duel is the safest. Both parties do not directly confront each other. Instead, they attack a training dummy for five minutes to calculate their damage."

"The person with higher damage wins. Because it's peaceful and there's no personal danger, civil duels are highly promoted in the Tianfu Association."

"Martial duel is what was just mentioned: both parties duel."

...

It was actually quite simple.

One type was a damage competition; whoever dealt higher damage won. The two parties wouldn't engage in combat, so there was naturally no danger.

This also led some members, feeling they had grown a bit, to eagerly challenge higher-ranked members.

Anyway, there was no danger. If they lost, they lost. If they happened to win, they could improve their ranking, status, and benefits within the Tianfu Association. Why not?

Although the frequency was very high and many people challenged, the Tianfu Association highly promoted this method.

The purpose was to encourage Tianfu Association members to grow rapidly together.

With competition, there was motivation!

As for martial duels, because both parties had to directly engage, swords had no eyes, and skills, once unleashed, could not be recalled, accidents were prone to happen.

In the history of the Tianfu Association, there had been many instances of people dying in duels.

It was unavoidable.

The Tianfu Association couldn't set up arena rules like those in the Hundred Cities League.

Of course, the Tianfu Association also didn't like to see members die due to accidents during sparring, so such duels were not highly promoted, and not many people participated.

"Do you understand everything? You're not thinking of having a civil duel with me, are you? To be frank, although you'd still lose, it would be very boring. Unless you're truly that cowardly, then go for a civil duel, but I promise you won't have an easy time afterwards." Bai Lei threatened.

Looking at his posture,

He seemed genuinely worried that Lu Ran would choose a civil duel, which would prevent him from getting his revenge for Zhao Xuan to his heart's content.

He wouldn't be able to properly show off.

"Don't worry, I won't have a civil duel. It does sound quite boring. Let's go for a martial duel instead, but there's a small issue," Lu Ran called out to Bai Lei.

"What issue?" Bai Lei subconsciously asked.

"Since it's a matter of life or death, and you've clearly stated that you'll kill me if given the chance, then for fairness, how about we make the rules clearer?" Lu Ran asked.

"Clearer? I don't understand what you mean. How clear?" Bai Lei continued to ask.

"Simple. A death duel contract. We sign the contract, then begin the challenge. Life or death doesn't matter, but one side will definitely die. Can you handle it?" Lu Ran asked, raising an eyebrow.

This time,

It was Lu Ran's turn to use provocation.

And Bai Lei was forced into a corner.

If he didn't agree, all the momentum he had built up for so long would vanish.

If he was too afraid to sign because he feared death, then even if he kept his top ranking, even if he won, it would be meaningless.

Cong Shuang, seeing this, couldn't help but sigh.

This Bai Lei was really going to play himself to death.