The surrounding crowd immediately broke into murmurs. 

Everyone already knew that Lu Yuan had come to challenge the Bear-Hugging Martial Arts Center, but no one had expected such brutal terms. Losing would not merely damage the center's reputation; it would mean being driven out of Pan City entirely.

Liu Tianxiong, the master of the center, immediately darkened. But despite his anger, he knew he did not have much of a choice. 

If Liu Tianxiong backed down without fighting, everyone in Pan City's martial arts community would see it as an admission of defeat. From then on, his disciples would have to lower their heads whenever they encountered students of the Extreme Martial Dao. His reputation would be ruined, new students would stop coming, and the center would eventually be forced to close anyway. 

In the end, he had to fight whether he liked it or not. 

"Fine. I accept," said Liu Tianxiong coldly. "But Lu Yuan, didn't you nearly die during the first round of the Martial Arts Tournament after fighting the heir of the Meridian-Severing First? That was quite the incident." 

He stared at Lu Yuan, deliberately bringing up the humiliating defeat in front of the cameras and the...