Time Travel: The Survival of Li Zhi

Chapter 317 Finals

Situ Han was half pushed and half pulled by Zhao Wuji onto the stage, and he had no time to blame Zhao Wuji.

After standing firmly, he first glanced at Li Zhi and Duan Heng standing at both ends of the ring, then coughed lightly and cleared his throat.

Then, he said with a serious expression and a steady and powerful tone: "You two have been able to overcome all the difficulties and stand out among so many strong people. You have won all the way to here, so your own strength is beyond doubt. However, as the saying goes, there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. This time, you two are standing on this stage, and only one person can win the championship and become the first in this competition. Therefore, I hope that both of you can show your strongest strength without reservation to compete with each other, and use your strength to conquer your opponents, and at the same time conquer all of us present!"

When Li Zhi and Duan Heng heard Situ Han's words, they clasped their fists and saluted, saying loudly at the same time: "We respectfully obey the orders of the deputy chief!"

Seeing this, Situ Han nodded with satisfaction, then jumped off the stage neatly, leaving the huge stage space completely to Li Zhi and Duan Heng, the two protagonists who were about to engage in a fierce competition.

After Situ Han left the ring, Li Zhi and Duan Heng did not choose to fight immediately. For a moment, the atmosphere on the ring seemed a little subtle and solemn, as if an invisible force was quietly spreading between the two of them.

Duan Heng stood there, looking Li Zhi up and down.

In fact, just a few days ago, he didn't take Li Zhi seriously at all, and didn't even pay much attention to him.

Although Li Zhi had caused quite a stir in Yongguo because of the incident of killing his master, Duan Heng was completely focused on the position of guardian and did not pay much attention to other things that had nothing to do with him.

It was not until the King of Zhou specially invited him to a banquet and asked him to find an opportunity to humiliate Li Zhi in this duel that Duan Heng paid some attention and went to inquire about the relevant information about Li Zhi.

Although Duan Heng was still quite wary of the magic of Xiaoyao Mountain, after all, Xiaoyao Mountain was famous and its magic was often unique and exquisite.

But even so, Duan Heng was still not too worried that Li Zhi would be his opponent. Duan Heng had enough confidence in his own strength.

After all, his goal is to become the guardian, second only to Si Shou.

It is really hard for a small Earthly Branch member like Li Zhi to feel a sense of crisis.

Therefore, he originally thought that if he could meet Li Zhi during the competition, it would just be possible to fulfill King Zhou's wish, and give Li Zhi a good beating, so that King Zhou would accept his favor.

But what he didn't expect was that, as fate would have it, he and Li Zhi were both chosen as champions. As a result, in the early matches, the two had no chance to meet and fight each other. This was really beyond his expectations.

Duan Heng naturally also noticed that King Zhou was winking at him from the audience, and it was clear that he wanted him to pretend to be defeated and then challenge Li Zhi so as to act according to the previously agreed plan.

But what kind of person is Duan Heng? He is arrogant and proud in his heart. How could he pretend to be defeated before challenging Li Zhi? In his opinion, it was a great shame.

Therefore, even though Duan Heng knew that going against King Zhou's wishes would definitely make King Zhou dissatisfied, Duan Heng was still unwilling to do so.

Not to mention that the emperor was watching the battle in person at that time. If he could show his face in front of the emperor and win his attention and recognition, it would be much more important than King Zhou's gratitude to him.

Although the emperor had left temporarily, Duan Heng was certain that as long as he performed well in this fight and made a name for himself with his own strength, the emperor would definitely remember him.

In fact, Duan Heng’s guess was correct. The emperor did remember Duan Heng and gave him an excellent opportunity to soar to the sky.

As long as Duan Heng can win first place in the contest with Li Zhi and become the undisputed champion, then he will be able to get the position of guardian that he has been dreaming of.

Of course, if Duan Heng loses in this contest and fails to take the top spot, what awaits him will be endless neglect from the emperor.

At that time, not only would the long-cherished position of Dharma Protector be shattered, even getting a small position as an Earthly Branch would become as difficult as ascending to heaven.

However, Duan Heng was completely unaware of all this at the moment.

Duan Heng's gaze first fell on Li Zhi. There was a bit of disdain and determination in his eyes, as if he had already regarded Li Zhi as something in his pocket.

Then, his gaze slowly moved to King Zhou outside the field, and he nodded slightly to King Zhou calmly.

The King of Zhou was angry because of Duan Heng's non-cooperation.

But unexpectedly, the current situation has gone around in circles and finally returned to the starting point. Duan Heng finally faced Li Zhi, which fulfilled his previous wish.

Therefore, King Zhou barely suppressed the anger in his heart, but his expression was still not very good, with a hint of gloom.

Seeing Duan Heng signaling to him, King Zhou raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a slightly forced smile, but that smile revealed a bit of impatience.

He couldn't wait to see Li Zhi being brutally tortured.

King Zhou winked at the attendant beside him, who immediately understood and shouted at the top of his voice: "King Zhou bets 100 taels of gold, and the bet is a win!"

This shout instantly broke the already tense atmosphere off the field. For a moment, the people around were in an uproar, and noisy discussions suddenly filled the air.

Everyone was shocked by this generosity. You know, one hundred taels of gold is not a small amount of money. In this competition, it can be regarded as a staggeringly huge bet.

When the banker heard this, his face suddenly changed, and he thought to himself that this one hundred taels of gold bet was too hot to handle.

But facing the noble status of King Zhou, how could he dare to refuse easily? For a moment, he stood there, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his face was full of embarrassment.

At this moment, another voice sounded slowly, breaking the stalemate.

"King Zhou is so interested that I am itching to do it myself."

Master Bao's lazy voice came slowly, and he slowly said: "I also bet one hundred taels of gold... on Li Zhi to win!"

As soon as he said this, the crowd was in an uproar, and everyone looked at Master Bao with surprise and curiosity in their eyes.

King Zhou and Master Bao have never gotten along. The conflict between the two has been going on for a long time, and they just dislike each other on a daily basis.

Seeing that Master Bao was clearly coming for him and deliberately going against him, King Zhou's face instantly darkened. His gloomy expression seemed to be dripping with water. He gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "Then let's see who wins!"

There was a strong smell of gunpowder in their words, as if the contest between the two was no longer limited to Li Zhi and Duan Heng on the ring, but extended to the two of them.

Master Bao did not respond, but just smiled at King Zhou. However, there was no real smile in that smile, but instead it was full of provocation and disdain, as if to say, "Just wait and see, who is afraid of who?"

The atmosphere below the stage was full of tension, and the same was true on the stage at this moment.

Duan Heng glanced at Li Zhi coldly, and said with a somewhat disdainful tone: "Originally, I thought that I could just defeat you. Unfortunately, you don't know what's good for you and actually offended King Zhou. Then I can't let you lose too easily..."

Li Zhi just smiled after hearing this. He responded calmly, "Defeat me? We need to see if you have the ability to do so first."

Duan Heng sneered when he heard this. That smile was full of contempt for Li Zhi, as if what Li Zhi said was a huge joke to him.

The next moment, an astonishing scene happened. Duan Heng's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot. The speed was so fast, like a gust of wind blowing past, leaving people no time to react.

Almost at the same moment that Duan Heng's figure disappeared, a black shadow like a ghost appeared behind Li Zhi in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely strong aura suddenly burst out from behind Li Zhi. The aura was like a surging wave, sweeping towards the surroundings, as if it was going to swallow up everything around it!