343: Chapter 343 A contest is not out of the question, but I have two conditions.

"A match?" Xu Ruyu spoke slowly, "How would it work?"

Mo Ran was delighted to see him actually accept and hurriedly said, "Simple! We each take out a Spiritual Artifact we're most skilled with and blast each other once!

Let's see whose power is greater! How about it?"

As soon as he said this, the surroundings immediately erupted in an uproar.

Blasting each other? This was the most direct way of competing!

Whose Spiritual Artifact was more powerful would be known with one blast!

No bells and whistles, no trickery!

But this also meant that if Xu Ruyu's Spiritual Artifact backfired again, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing face.

This method of blasting each other, if things went wrong, could cost a life!

It seemed these Taihu Clan Disciples didn't just want Xu Ruyu to lose face, but wanted his life.

On the Hehuan Sect's side, several Disciples couldn't help but shout, "Sect Master! Don't accept! They're intentionally provoking you; they're up to no good!"

Mo Ran looked back at those Hehuan Sect Disciples and sneered, "What? Your Sect Master hasn't even spoken yet, what are you in a hurry for?

Are you afraid your Sect Master will have another backfire and lose face for your Hehuan Sect?"

"Hahaha!"

On the Taihu Clan's side, there was another burst of laughter.

Those Hehuan Sect Disciples' faces turned red, but they didn't know how to retort.

Xu Ruyu glanced at them, a hint of warmth flashing in his eyes.

He knew that although these Disciples didn't say it, they must be very worried about him.

"A match is fine." He withdrew his gaze and looked at Mo Ran, saying indifferently, "However, I have two conditions."

Mo Ran was stunned: "What conditions?"

"First," Xu Ruyu held up a finger, "since it's a match, there must be stakes.

If I lose, from now on, you can mock me as much as you want without any complaints. But if you lose—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Mo Ran and the Disciples behind him, saying word by word: "From now on, when you see a Hehuan Sect Disciple, you must take a detour, and those who have bullied my Hehuan Sect Disciples before must apologize publicly."

Mo Ran's expression changed.

Take a detour? Apologize publicly?

These stakes were ruthless!

But on second thought, how could a loser like Xu Ruyu, whose Artifact Refining resulted in a backfire, win? How was it possible!

"Fine! I agree!" Mo Ran accepted immediately, "What's the second one?"

Xu Ruyu smiled slightly, pulled something out of his Storage Pouch, and held it up.

It was a long, strip-shaped object made of dark silver metal.

The front was a long, thin tube, the middle was a slightly thick chamber, and the back was a curved grip and shoulder stock. The over-

all design was sleek, exuding a cold and dangerous aura.

It was exactly the "poqi type i" rifle.

When Mo Ran saw this thing, he was first stunned, and then—

"Hahahahahaha!"

He laughed so hard he doubled over, tears almost coming out!

The Disciples behind him also burst into earth-shattering laughter!

"This... isn't this that thing that backfired last time?!"

"It's exactly the same! Sect Leader Xu, why did you take that piece of junk out again? Was the backfire not disastrous enough?"

"Hahaha! I thought you had practiced some trick in these ten days, but it turns out it's still this thing!"

"Sect Leader Xu, do you have a special fondness for this long tube? One backfire wasn't enough, you want a second one?"

"Come, come, let's see how many seconds it can last this time? One second? Two seconds?"

Laughter and mockery surged like a tide.

Mo Ran laughed until he couldn't stand up straight, pointing at the rifle in Xu Ruyu's hand while laughing: "Sect Leader Xu, are you... are you serious?

You're going to use this thing to blast against my 'crimson flame sword'? This is a third-grade Magical Artifact!

That piece of junk of yours... hahaha, with one strike of my sword, it'll probably shatter directly into dregs!"

With a flick of his wrist, a crimson longsword appeared in his hand.

The blade was about three feet long, with blazing flame light flowing through it, and a fiery red crystal was embedded in the hilt, emitting a powerful Spiritual Pressure.

A third-grade Magical Artifact!

It was indeed a good item!

The surrounding crowd praised it one after another.

In contrast, the rifle in Xu Ruyu's hand was simply shabby to the extreme.

No Spiritual Pressure, no treasure light, only those dense, almost invisible patterns faintly shimmering with silver-blue light under the sun.

No matter how one looked at it, they weren't opponents on the same level.

On the Hehuan Sect's side, the faces of several Disciples had become extremely ugly.

They wished they could rush up and pull Xu Ruyu away to avoid losing face again.

However, Xu Ruyu still had a smile on his face, as if those mocking words weren't directed at him.

He looked at Mo Ran and said indifferently, "Second, before the blast, I want to ask you one thing—are you really sure you want to use your sword to blast against my 'gun'?"

Mo Ran laughed even louder: "What? Scared? If you're scared, just admit defeat! If you admit defeat, we won't compete!"

Xu Ruyu shook his head and sighed softly: "I'm not scared. I'm afraid you'll... regret it."

Regret?

Mo Ran was stunned, then laughed loudly again: "Regret? What would I regret? Regret bullying you? Sect Master Xu, stop joking!

Can this piece of junk of yours make me regret it?"

He had laughed enough and raised the crimson flame sword in his hand; the flames on the blade surged, emitting scorching high temperatures.

"Come on! Let me see how powerful this 'gun' of yours really is!"

Xu Ruyu looked at him, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes.

That look made Mo Ran feel inexplicably uneasy.