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He then turned to Chen Qingcang and asked, feigning curiosity, "May I ask which of the Chen family head's grandsons is this?"

Chen Qingcang reached out and pulled Chen Yuan in front of him, and said with a smile, "Your Excellency, this is my grandson, Chen Yuan."

"A-Yuan, quickly greet the Prefect."

Chen Yuan immediately bowed to Gou Zongdao and said, "This junior greets the Prefectural Magistrate."

"Um."

Gou Zongdao carefully examined Chen Yuan, nodded and smiled, "Indeed, he is a worthy son of the Chen family, with extraordinary bearing."

Chen Qingcang smiled and waved his hand: "You flatter me, Prefect. I am hardly a prodigy."

Although his words were humble, the pride in his eyes was evident.

"Your Excellency, you must not show favoritism!"

Upon seeing this, Lu Sidao immediately shouted loudly.

What do you mean by that?

Gou Zongdao frowned slightly and glared at him coldly. "I have always been impartial and strict in enforcing the law. How can you say I've shown favoritism?"

Lu Sidao rolled his eyes inwardly.

And still upholding justice and strict discipline?

However, he dared not speak out, and could only nod repeatedly, admitting that he had spoken out of turn.

Gou Zongdao snorted coldly, then looked at Chen Guohai and asked, "Director Chen, there must be some misunderstanding in this matter?"

"There is indeed more to the story, and there is a deep misunderstanding."

Chen Guohai smiled faintly and then succinctly recounted the whole story.

"So there was more to the story than I thought."

Gou Zongdao drew out his words, turned to look at Lu Sidao, and slowly said, "Patriarch Lu, when the incident occurred, your white-robed youth had already personally agreed that as long as 100,000 Yang Gold were paid, the matter could be settled."

As the saying goes, if something can be resolved with money, there's no need for a major conflict.

As he spoke, he pointed at Chen Qingcang:

"The Chen family has already been generous enough by offering 200,000 Yang gold coins as compensation. Is Patriarch Lu still unwilling to let this go?"

"My lord, the Lu family is not short of money!"

Lu Sidao's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at Gou Zongdao, and he said in a deep voice, "I won't swallow this insult!"

"snort!"

Gou Zongdao's expression turned slightly cold. "So, what do you intend to do?"

Lu Sidao turned to look at Chen Yuan, his eyes cold, and said, "This matter was all caused by the young master of the Chen family, so why not settle it fairly?"

"Let him fight against the four prodigies of my Lu family in a life-or-death battle!"

"Regardless of who lives or dies, this matter is considered settled. We request that Your Excellency, the Prefect, serve as our witness!"

Chen Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.

Oh?

So they came for me after all.

He understood immediately, and his gaze swept over the four Lu family youths, instantly seeing through their scheme.

It turns out that the four people were waiting here for this very purpose.

"This matter is rather tricky."

Gou Zongdao narrowed his eyes slightly, feigning reluctance, and looked at Chen Qingcang hesitantly, asking, "What is the Chen family's decision?"

"snort!"

Chen Qingcang's eyes flickered slightly, then he let out a cold snort full of disdain.

"My Chen family's young master is of noble status. How dare a few mere prodigies from the Lu family compete with him on the same stage?"

He looked at the four Lu family teenagers, his tone full of sarcasm: "Could it be that you're talking about these four?"

Forgive my bluntness, but these four aren't even worthy of carrying my grandson's shoes, yet they dare to talk about a fight? It's utterly absurd and laughable!

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the Chen family nodded in agreement.

The fact that the Chen family was so united made Gou Zongdao feel uneasy.

Once the human race unites the power of its clans, its potential is truly terrifying.

This is also why the Great Xiang Empire is unwilling to see any powerful clans rise among the human race.

The empire valued the collective power of the court and the state, rather than the foundation of clans and families.

This is precisely the governing strategy established by the divine descendants of the Great Alliance Empire.

If the powerful clans are allowed to grow too strong, they will eventually hinder the foundation of the empire.

"Haha! Hahahaha!!"

Lu Sidao suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, pointing at Chen Qingcang with a mocking expression:

"Chen Qingcang, you're clearly scared!"

"If you're afraid of my Lu family's prodigy, I'll beat your precious grandson to death on the spot!"

"So you deliberately brought up his status to say that my junior is not worthy to fight him?"

As he spoke, Lu Sidao looked at Chen Yuan and said coldly, "If you're afraid he'll lose his life, you can just say so. Don't use being unworthy as an excuse!"

Just as Chen Qingcang was about to retort, a hand gently pressed down on his shoulder.

"Grandpa, this matter started because of me, and I should be the one to settle it personally."

Chen Qingcang was slightly taken aback, then slowly nodded and stepped aside.

Chen Yuan stepped out and faced Lu Sidao directly.

"I'm willing to fight them, life or death!"

Chen Yuan pointed to the four Lu family youths and said in a calm tone.

"Young Master, be careful, it might be a trap!"

"Yes, young master, they have ill intentions and came prepared!"

"Young Master, don't accept the challenge! They're four against one, they're utterly shameless!"

……

The members of the Chen family spoke one after another, their words filled with worry, but their faces held a strange expression.

Holy crap?

These four ignorant fools dare to fight their young master?

Is it a life-or-death battle?

Damn it, is the head of the Lu family an idiot?

In the past, they would have been terrified that Chen Yuan would be beaten to death.

But after discovering that Chen Yuan had an 18th-level talent and had reached the half-step Yellow Court Realm, they were completely relieved.

Chen Yuan's strength had already been fully demonstrated outside Tianqing County!

That's the fierce determination forged in life-or-death battles!

Therefore, the Chen family members were not worried at all, but they had to pretend to be worried, for fear of being seen through and losing this good show.

However, their expressions were very strange, and they looked at Lu Sidao as if he were a complete idiot.

Even though the four teenagers were all at the late stage of the Dharma Body realm, and even though it was four against one, they firmly believed that Chen Yuan would win.

This confidence is beyond question.

"Alright, stop talking. I've made up my mind."

Chen Yuan rolled his eyes at them, remaining silent to himself.

These people's acting skills are terrible, even worse than Nuomi's.

Gou Zongdao also sensed that something was wrong.

The Chen family members expressed their concern, but their faces showed no worry whatsoever; instead, they exuded a sense of anticipation!

However, the die was cast, and there was no turning back.

"Heh, kid, you've got guts!"

Lu Sidao stared intently at Chen Yuan and said in an icy tone.

He then waved to the four people behind him, signaling them to come forward.

Four young men from the Lu family stepped forward and stood behind Lu Sidao with their hands at their sides.

They were around twenty years old, and when they looked at Chen Yuan, they were all eager to fight, their eyes full of ruthlessness.

Finally, it was their turn to take the stage.

"etc."

Chen Yuan raised his hand to stop him.

"Oh? Scared?"

Lu Sidao's face was full of sarcasm, deliberately trying to provoke him.

"No, I am the young master of the Chen family, and they are the pride of your Lu family. It's too boring to have a fight like this."

Chen Yuan said calmly.

"Oh? So what do you want?"

Lu Sidao narrowed his eyes, his tone wary.

Even Gou Zongdao looked at Chen Yuan curiously, wondering what he was up to.

"We need to raise the bet!"

Chen Yuan stood with his arms crossed, his expression calm: "I won. The past is forgotten!"

"Not only must you return the 200,000 taels of Yang gold, but you must also pay an additional 200,000 taels of Yang gold as compensation for your offense against the Chen family today!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned, and then they all realized what was happening, their expressions becoming even more strange.

"May I ask what realm you four prodigies are at?"

At this moment, Chen Qingtian couldn't help but ask.

"The Great Perfection of the Dharma Body Realm!"

Lu Sidao answered subconsciously, but as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized something was wrong and was about to speak up to explain.

Chen Yuan immediately replied, "What? Patriarch Lu, are you scared? You don't dare to gamble anymore?"

"Tsk tsk, didn't you say before that a mere 200,000 Yang Gold was nothing?"

Now you can't bear to part with it?

Are they afraid that if they lose money, even these four so-called prodigies will be ruined here?

Chen Yuan returned Lu Sidao's previous words verbatim, word for word.

Lu Sidao was speechless for a moment.

He suddenly remembered that this kid was a ruthless character who had killed many of his Lu family's guards.

Even if it's four against one, plus a combined attack formation, they probably still might not be able to take him down.

For a moment, Lu Sidao hesitated.