After hearing the knock on the doors, Yuan went downstairs to see who was knocking on the door.
Upon seeing the middle-aged man standing before him, Yuan asked, "Excuse me, but what do you mean by official match? I don't remember accepting any matches."
The sect elder standing outside then pulled out a logbook and pointed at his name that was written on one of the pages, "Is this not you?"
Yuan looked at the logbook.
"Outer Court Disciple Yuan versus Outer Court Disciple Wu Laohu."
"That is indeed my name, but I don't recall agreeing to any matches." Yuan was baffled to see that unreasonable disciple's name next to his name.
And he wondered, 'How did he even learn my name? I don't remember giving it to him!'
Unbeknownst to Yuan, whenever a disciple challenges another disciple to a deathmatch, regardless if the challenge is accepted or not, their names will be recorded in a jade slip at the Dispute Hall so the sect elders can keep watch of them, and that's how Wu Laohu learned of his name.
"I don't know your situation, Disciple Yuan, but it's an official match, and if you don't participate tomorrow, you'll be punished according to the sect rules." The sect elder said, thinking to himself that Yuan must be backing out after agreeing to fight Wu Laohu.
"Is there no way to cancel the match?" Yuan asked, as he really didn't feel like fighting without any reason.
The sect elder shook his head and said, "After your name is written in the logbook and a sect elder stamps it, you must participate in the fight no matter what. However, if both you and Wu Laohu agree to end the match, we can stop it."
'Haaaa… I doubt that person will agree to stop the fight, especially since he was the one who started it.' Yuan sighed inwardly.
Xiao Hua's voice suddenly resounded inside his head, "Brother Yuan, just accept the challenge and fight him. That disciple is the type of people who won't give up until the bitter end, so it's better to just give him what he wants. You'll take care of him easily, anyways."
'Since I have no choice but to fight him, I guess so…'
Yuan then nodded, "I understand. I'll show up for the match tomorrow."
"Good. The match will begin at the peak of sunrise tomorrow morning." The sect elder said to him before leaving.
After returning to his room, Xiao Hua appeared and said, "Brother Yuan, there will be times when you must step onto the stage and fight even if there are no good reasons for it. That's just the cultivation world. You fight and fight and fight until nobody dares to fight you anymore."
"If you don't accept these challenges, people will think you're a pushover and continue pressuring and bullying you. That's why the best thing to do is to just fight them."
"Hmm…" Yuan laid on the bed and stared at the empty ceiling with a dazed look on his face.
"Thank you, Xiao Hua. I think I know what to do tomorrow." Yuan nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning, Xiao Hua. I just logged on to speak with Feng Feng for a bit."
"Okay. Goodnight, Brother Yuan."
After Xiao Hua returned to the necklace, Yuan logged off and proceeded to cultivate until morning.
"Good morning, Yuan." Meixiu entered his room early in the morning already with breakfast prepared.
"Good morning, Meixiu."
Sometime later, Meixiu began feeding Yuan soup.
"What do you think? Does it suit your taste?" Meixiu asked.
"Yes."
After breakfast, Yuan said, "By the way, Meixiu, I have a way to get you to the Eastern Continent in just a few days. I'll let you know when it happens."
"I understand."
After cleaning up, Meixiu said, "The Young Lady should be here in half an hour."
"I have something to take care of in Cultivation Online so I won't be able to greet her when she arrives," Yuan said.
"I understand. I'll notify the Young Lady."
Sometime later, Yuan went into Cultivation Online whilst Meixiu waited for Yu Rou's arrival.
Once Yuan returned to his room in the Dragon Essence Temple, he left the house and made his way to the sparring area where matches between disciples are held almost every day whether it be deathmatches or just casual sparring.
About twenty minutes later, Yuan arrived at the area, and to his surprise, there was already a large crowd there with all of them surrounding a large platform.
"I heard Mad Tiger's opponent was too scared to show up yesterday?"
"That's right. We waited for the entire day and the bastard never showed up despite agreeing to this fight! What a spineless coward!"
"Then how do we know he'll be showing up today?"
"Apparently one of the sect elders spoke with him last night and confirmed that he will be showing up today."
"I see…"
While the disciples made fun of Yuan for not showing up yesterday, Yuan approached the stage that had two people on it— Wu Laohu and a sect elder.
"Look who decided to finally show up?! Did you finally stop shitting your pants?!" Wu Laohu laughed out loud when he noticed Yuan's approaching figure.
The disciples there quickly turned to look at Yuan's handsome face, even making a path for him so he could enter the stage.
A few moments later, Yuan stepped onto the large stage and stood a couple of meters away from Wu Laohu.
"Where were you yesterday?" The sect elder looked at Yuan with a frown on his face.
"I didn't know I had a match yesterday because I never agreed to fight him," Yuan responded in a calm voice.
The sect elder coldly snorted at his words and said, "Bullshit. I personally witnessed you agreeing to the fight, yet you dare claim that it never happened? I didn't know you were this shameless."
Yuan frowned at the sect elder's words. Was he involved in this scandal as well?