Xu Ke saw but did not react, nor did he express any anger.

The Tianhai Martial Alliance had their own traitor, Peng Hetong, colluding with them. For Jin Hankang to manipulate the rules was as easy as pie. This was not surprising at all.

At this moment, Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang were furious. Especially Yuan Shang, whose eyes were practically burning with a ferocious desire to devour someone.

He wouldn't even glance at the report on the ground. That bastard Peng Hetong must have already arranged everything. Right now, he just wanted to kill Jin Hankang.

But Jin Hankang was not afraid. He continued to stand arrogantly with his arms crossed, provocatively staring at Yuan Shang.

"Go on, what else is against the rules?" Like a victor, Jin Hankang then said pretentiously, "Oh, you just mentioned that it didn't have the consent of Referee Shi and Referee Mo, right?"

"May I ask the two referees, this procedure was sent by the Long Capital Grand Alliance, and this report was issued by the Tianhai Martial Alliance themselves. Do you think this procedure is valid?"

Hearing this, Mo Yunchang and Shi Junneng immediately cursed Yuan Shang under their breath. Why did he have to drag them into this? Now they were forced to speak up.

Yuan Shang and Chen Xiong immediately turned to look at the two men.

Mo Yunchang coughed lightly. "I have no objections. It's all in compliance with the rules."

"Same here!" Shi Junneng nodded.

"Did you hear that?" Jin Hankang laughed heartily.

Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang's expressions grew even darker.

Nearby, Lin Zhongtian had been silent the entire time.

Jin Hankang glanced at him sideways. "Do you have an opinion?"

Lin Zhongtian subconsciously peeked at Xu Ke. Xu Ke wasn't looking at him. Only then did he lower his head. "No."

Seeing him look at Xu Ke, Jin Hankang's eyes filled with disdain. He even has to consult Xu Ke for something like this. This traitor is a real coward...

Lin Zhongtian caught Jin Hankang's contempt. He managed a dry laugh, daring not to show his hatred. But in his heart, he thought venomously, You old fool, let's see how you'd act if you were poisoned! You'd be even more of a coward than I am!

Next, Jin Hankang turned to the contestants and the many Martial Alliance Leaders. "What about all of you? Any objections?"

"None!" a chorus of agreement immediately sounded. They were all practically in cahoots; cooperating with Jin Hankang now was just part of the show.

Finally, Jin Hankang turned to Xu Ke, a half-smile playing on his lips. "What about you, Xu Ke?"

He was incredibly pleased with himself. You, Xu Ke, wasted your breath earlier, seizing the verbal high ground, but what did it accomplish? Now you're being suppressed by my blatant cheating, so much so that you don't even dare to fart!

Jin Hankang's question put Xu Ke in the spotlight, drawing everyone's attention. Yuan Shang and Chen Xiong were already livid... They all wanted to see if Xu Ke's face was now the color of pig's liver.

But to their surprise, Xu Ke was perfectly composed. "Why is Elder Jin asking me?"

"I'm showing you respect, of course. Wouldn't want people saying I bully the younger generation," Jin Hankang said with a smile, his eyes glinting with triumph.

Xu Ke suddenly looked up at Jin Hankang. "Since Elder Jin respects me so much, how about you let me press the draw button later?"

As soon as he spoke, the expressions of everyone present shifted subtly. What did he mean by that?

Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang exchanged a surprised glance. What was Xu Ke implying? Could there be a turnaround?

Jin Hankang's smile stiffened. "And why should you?" he retorted. "You're just a contestant. This program is meant to be operated by Martial Alliance staff."

"Elder Jin, that's where you're wrong." Xu Ke smiled. "With this kind of program, the algorithms are all prepared in advance. The randomness is very high. Whether you press it or I press it, there's really no difference!"

"Absolutely not!" Jin Hankang flatly refused. He didn't know what Xu Ke was planning, but the cheat had a specific pattern. Letting Xu Ke use the program would expose it.

"Why is Elder Jin so nervous?" Xu Ke raised an eyebrow. "Could it be that Elder Jin intends to use this program to cheat?"

"Nonsense!" Jin Hankang shouted.

"Then let me press it."

"Impossible!"

"Your refusal proves you're using this program to cheat."

"Xu Ke, if you keep this up, I'll have someone throw you out," Jin Hankang raged. He had intended to show off, but instead, Xu Ke had put him in a tight spot.

At this moment, Peng Hetong stepped forward, speaking with righteous indignation. "Xu Ke, stop causing trouble here. If anyone who wanted to could press the button, wouldn't that mean any member of the Martial Alliance could? Wouldn't that make a mockery of the drawing ceremony?"

He wanted to put Xu Ke down to curry favor with Jin Hankang.

For once, Xu Ke didn't argue, instead nodding in deep agreement. "This is the first time I've ever heard you speak sense!"

Peng Hetong's face turned green.

Xu Ke looked back at Jin Hankang. "Since Elder Jin disagrees, then let's just forget it. Please begin."

With that, Xu Ke sat back down with a plop.

Seeing Xu Ke first act out and then suddenly back down, everyone was baffled. What was the point of all that fuss? Other than delaying things a little, what did it achieve? In the end, isn't he still just cooperating with the 'cheating'?

Peng Hetong sneered. Just an insignificant clown! He'll soon find out how the word 'death' is written! He still vividly remembered the kick Xu Ke had given him. Under the combined siege of so many elite Postnatal Late Stage warriors and Qian Jun of the Innate Great Perfection realm, not only will Xu Ke fail to make it into the top three, but his serious injury is a certainty!

Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang, however, looked suspicious. Why does it feel like Xu Ke is hiding something we don't know about...

Seeing this, Jin Hankang grew wary of Xu Ke. To avoid any further complications, he looked at the large screen and hastily said, "Start the drawing."

According to their algorithm, Xu Ke and all the Postnatal Late Stage experts would be grouped together to kill or injure him at all costs.

But as he sat, Xu Ke was smiling slyly at the large screen.

Living in Junyue Residence has its advantages; it's quite close to here. The time from Huang Sheng's call until now, plus the time I just spent stalling them with verbal spars, should have been enough for Hua Xingxue to get Feng Wei to the floor above and connect him to the Martial Alliance's intranet... So they want to play with programs, do they? Who doesn't know how?

After Jin Hankang's shout, the screen immediately came to life. The drawing program was simple and brutal. It was divided into an upper bracket with eight slots and a lower bracket with eight slots. In the middle, names scrolled rapidly. When the call to stop was given the first time, the name it landed on would be selected for the first slot in the upper bracket. The second stop would be for the first slot in the lower bracket. This would continue until eight pairs of opponents were chosen.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The frantically scrolling names on the screen came to a halt.

"Upper Bracket, Slot One: Xu Ke!"

Three seconds later, "Lower Bracket, Slot One: Qian Jun."

Seeing this, the crowd was not surprised. They stared at Xu Ke with undisguised schadenfreude, as if watching a good show.

Jin Hankang proudly glanced at the pale faces of Chen Xiong and the others. I'm obviously cheating, so what can you do about it? I'm obviously setting up Qian Jun for the finals just in case, so what?

But Zhao Xiangping and Su Ximing both sneered. Just in case? Not needed! Under our combined assault, Xu Ke won't even make it to the finals!

Another three seconds passed.

"Upper Bracket, Slot Two: Wong Qiang."

"Opponent: Xu Ke."

Qian Jun's face changed dramatically.

Jin Hankang's pupils shrank.

Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang were dumbfounded.

The crowd, smug just moments ago, was completely stunned. Their smiles froze on their faces in a comical tableau.

The entire hall instantly fell dead silent.

What's going on?

What is this situation?

Who the hell is Wong Qiang?!

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