"This guy does harbor a grudge against Ricky!" The disciples whispered among themselves when they heard Ray spell out the challenge.
In particular, they were curious about how Ricky, the ace genius, would react to the challenge. For all they knew, Ricky was not the kind of person to play by anyone's rules.
No one who knew Ricky well would be foolish enough to challenge him to a duel. The challenge from Ray rendered Ricky speechless. In this game, wisdom was priceless, and Ricky knew this was not the right time for picking unnecessary battles unless it were unavoidable. He'd have to control his anger. After all, the Luxurious Chamber of Commerce was a spiritual-emperor force.
So ignoring the challenge, he vowed to himself instead to work on improving his power and skills. One of these good days, he would have to stir up the Luxurious Chamber of Commerce.
"You want to challenge me to a fight? I just became an innate spirit, which everyone here witnessed. Don't you find it ridiculous that you're spoiling for a fight with someone of much lower ranking? What point are you trying to prove?
For goodness' sake, you are a middle spiritual king, with so much power! If I were you, I'd be ashamed of making a fool of myself by stooping so low for a serious challenge. I'd be mortified, to be honest, for lowering the expectations of the entire Luxurious Chamber of Commerce with such spineless, shameful flubbing," Ricky scoffed.
Many of the disciples watching were deeply impressed by the wisdom of Ricky's words.
And they knew it would help him much not to think too highly of himself, if he wanted to go further.
"It was very wise of you to answer neither in anger nor to be swayed by his unnecessary provocations. Although you have broken through your limit to become an innate spirit, you still have to learn the ropes of your new rank. It will take you time to you achieve any significant improvement in skills," the Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor advised Ricky.
"Should you give it your best, put in the effort and patiently take the time needed to nurture your gifts, then you'll have no problem competing against them."
"Sir, I understand your instructions," Ricky replied.
Meanwhile, Ray's face turned sour. Not only had Ricky cleverly declined his challenge, but he also humiliated the entire Luxurious Chamber of Commerce.
"What? Is that how you want to casually sidestep my challenge?" Ray nudged, desperately trying to save his face.
"Will your entire camp be pissed up if you can't successfully challenge me today? It seems that you won't easily give up. Ok, I'd like to accept your challenge as you wish," Ricky said with a smile as he agreed to the challenge.
At once, everyone at the scene quieted down again.
The way he had tactfully downplayed Ray's unfair challenge left them confused. By now, even if Ray said anything more, everyone around would ignore him. They would not think Ricky was a coward who didn't dare to accept Ray's challenge.
By his own words, Ray had embarrassed himself and made Ricky earn favor with the people.
However, shortly afterward, Ricky changed his mind, leaving them confused as to his real intentions. Was he kidding at first, playing mind games so as to catch Ray on the wrong foot?
Or had he had an impulsive change of mind? That would be unwise of him. Such abrupt decisions would eventually have a negative impact on his development.
"Ricky, what's wrong with you? Why did you change your mind to agree to his challenge?" Soar asked Ricky in an urgent tone.
"Don't worry about me. I know exactly how far I should go, and I also know when to stop. Of course, I can't accept the challenge, unless I'm pretty sure of what I'm doing. But reading his mood, I can tell he was deeply hurt when I downplayed his demands. From that humiliation, Ray is very desperate to redeem his face, and he's not easily gonna give up!" Ricky explained.
After a moment's reflection, he added, "If I didn't agree to his challenge, I'm afraid he would keep shouting and thus causing trouble to everyone."
"That's fine, if you are pretty sure of what you are doing. In which case, I should have your back," Soar said, a contemplative look on his face.
Then he cleared his voice before asking, "Well, tell me now. What are you planning to do?" The Heavenly Ape Demi-spiritual Emperor also echoed Soar's sentiments.
"Sir, rest assured, for I won't make fun of my own life. The game plan is simple. I'll give him a later date for a duel, just to let him cool his jets," Ricky explained.
"What do you mean? Don't you want to..." the emperor asked, sounding very thoughtful.
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