"You don't have to frown. It's not a difficult condition," Bai Qian'er said with a smile.

Xu Ke gave an awkward but polite smile and nodded. "Go on."

"If you want me to testify for you, then fight me with all your might!" Bai Qian'er declared.

Xu Ke's expression tensed. "Why?"

Tang Yingchang furrowed his brow. This was a dilemma. If Xu Ke didn't agree, Bai Qian'er wouldn't allow it. But if he did agree, how could he fight?

Is he really supposed to go all out? He'd definitely injure her badly if he did!

As expected, Tang Yingchang wasn't the only one thinking this; the others in the crowd were equally astonished.

Is Bai Qian'er looking for death?

"Do you think that just because you can defeat Elder Xuu, I wouldn't stand a chance against you?" Bai Qian'er voiced the thought on everyone's mind.

Xu Ke didn't answer her directly. Instead, he said with a serious expression, "I don't like to fight."

The crowd was speechless. They glanced at Elder Xuu, still sprawled on the floor, and swallowed the curses rising in their throats.

He really doesn't like to fight. He likes to cripple people!

Bai Qian'er paused for a moment before smiling. "You're quite humorous."

"But my condition is a fight. Are you planning to go back on your word?"

Xu Ke chuckled. "May I know why?"

"I want to see for myself just how strong the man Captain You and Captain Xia speak so highly of truly is," Bai Qian'er said slowly.

Xu Ke's expression changed. "What did you say?"

Captain You? Captain Xia? That form of address... Could Bai Qian'er be...?!

Bai Qian'er's lips curled into a confident smile. "When Captain You and Captain Xia returned from Tianhai, they caused quite a stir over the failure to recruit you into the Northern Dragon Guard."

"I'm very curious to see what kind of power you have to make them praise you so much."

The moment she spoke, the face of the man with the crew cut changed drastically. "Qian'er, how could you reveal your identity?"

"It's fine. I didn't plan on hiding it anymore after coming back this time," Bai Qian'er said with a faint, yet boundlessly confident, smile.

She wasn't afraid of her identity being exposed. Madame Yu herself had told her that the Northern Dragon Guard did not lack for those who lurked in the shadows, but it desperately needed warriors who could withstand the spotlight. The future core of the Northern Dragon Guard had to be someone who could stand in the light. She wanted to be that core.

In an instant, the surrounding crowd turned pale with shock.

Bai Qian'er... from the Northern Dragon Guard?

So the Bai Family's claim about her studying abroad was a lie? All these years, the family had kept a low profile, only to have secretly sent their daughter to the Northern Dragon Guard! And none of them in Sui City knew the Northern Dragon Guard had tried to recruit Xu Ke... This news was another bombshell. Many exchanged covert glances. The name Xu Ke had to be added to Sui City's priority watch list.

At that moment, however, Xu Ke suddenly asked, "So, are the two behind you also from the Northern Dragon Guard?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Qian'er was slightly stunned.

After I revealed I'm with the Northern Dragon Guard, his focus shifted to the people behind me?

The man with the crew cut and the man in the hat both turned to look at Xu Ke simultaneously. The former's gaze was hostile, while the latter's eyes darted about evasively.

"What's it to you?" the man with the crew cut snorted. He loathed Xu Ke because of Bai Qian'er.

But the man in the hat stammered, "Y-Yeah! We are!"

The man with the crew cut shot his companion a murderous glare.

Did this idiot just sell me out?

The man in the hat pretended not to see it.

Xu Ke looked back at Bai Qian'er. "So, you're the geniuses Captain Xia mentioned who were coming here for training?"

Bai Qian'er nodded. There was no point in hiding it, as their movements would be discovered sooner or later anyway.

Xu Ke suddenly felt a headache coming on.

So these three are the 'geniuses' I'm supposed to train?

"Did only the three of you come?" he asked again.

The crew-cut man's expression turned icy. "What's it to you? This is a Northern Dragon Guard secret. Stop asking so many questions."

But Bai Qian'er shot him a glare. "Fang Caizhe, Captain Xia told us to win Xu Ke's heart. What are you doing? Shut up!"

Secrets? When it comes to someone like Xu Ke, even the Northern Dragon Guard's secrets have to be tossed aside! Besides, after seeing his power, I finally understand why You Jinlong was so desperate to recruit him. We cannot let a man like this slip away!

Hearing this, Fang Caizhe felt a sharp pain, as if a knife had just slashed his nerves. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Win Xu Ke's heart?

His face turned green with envy.

What made his face even greener was Bai Qian'er stepping forward, moving intimately close to Xu Ke, and whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear, "There are two others, but they didn't want to waste time at the auction and went ahead to Tianhai."

In that moment, Fang Caizhe's mind was consumed by a crazed jealousy for Xu Ke.

But Xu Ke paid him no mind, his thoughts already turning elsewhere.

Five people... how should I train them?

His thoughts, however, were cut short.

"I've told you so much now. Can we fight?" Bai Qian'er interrupted him. Everything she had said was for the sole purpose of getting this match. Even when she had held his hand earlier, it was just to gauge the true depths of his power.

"A fight?" Xu Ke's eyebrows arched slightly.

"Don't worry about hurting me," Bai Qian'er said with a slight curl of her lips. "This sister is far stronger than you imagine."

Xu Ke was about to speak.

Just then, a voice came from the entrance. "Miss Bai, don't make things difficult for him."

"He's just a reject, discarded by your Northern Dragon Guard. Why force him to muster the courage to face a recognized, top-tier genius like yourself?" The voice that floated in from outside the door was filled with intense resentment and mockery.

Though the words seemed directed at Bai Qian'er, the gnashing tone made it clear to Xu Ke that the taunt was aimed at him.

Bai Qian'er frowned at the newcomer. She didn't recognize him. It wasn't just her; the others in the room were equally puzzled, as none of them knew the man.

Xu Ke turned his head to look as well and smiled.

Well, well, a familiar face...

Shi Hongda was slowly walking in.

Xu Ke chuckled. "So you made it off the expressway, huh?"

At Xu Ke's words, Shi Hongda's face twitched, his expression venomous, but he refused to answer.

"Shi Hongda, don't ignore me! Go on, curse me out a little. You took such a huge loss and just bottled it up? You've got a thicker hide than an old tortoise!" Xu Ke pressed on, firing on all cylinders. These people had tried to kill him. The fact that he hadn't gone and dug up their ancestral graves was already an act of mercy.

His words struck a nerve, and Shi Hongda's face contorted with rage. "Xu Ke, are you insulting me?!"

His aura exploded, surging toward Xu Ke like a tidal wave.

At that moment, Bai Qian'er's eyes flew wide open, and the entire room was seized with terror.

Innate Great Perfection?!