610 Blood Exchange

Although Jihaad and the three brothers didn't say anything, their subconscious action was as good as confessing Vaan's identity. As such, Bakram's dull eyes immediately lit up.

"You're Vanderlin Pendragon?" Bakram asked as he started sizing up Vaan to determine if there was anything special about him.

"And if I am?" Vaan indirectly admitted before casually asking, "Who are you? And what business do you have with me?"

"I am Duke Dragonchild's guard, Sir Bakram," Bakram introduced himself before continuing, "I believe it should be obvious what business I have with you, Sir Vanderlin. News of your feats on the way to Sunrock Bazaar has reached the Dukedom of Dragonmoor. I am interested in challenging you."

"But I am not interested in fighting you?"

Vaan's nonchalant reply immediately surprised not only Bakram but also Jihaad and the three brothers. After all, he had not refused a single challenge until now and defeated all his opponents with a single blow.

What changed?

"Oh? Can I ask why?" Bakram asked patiently, intrigued by the change.

"I have accepted many challenges until now, and they have been nothing but a waste of time. I gain nothing from these meaningless battles, so why should I keep accepting them? Why should I keep wasting my time?" Vaan cooly replied.

"That's true…" Bakram acknowledged, much to Jihaad's surprise.

"I've heard your opponents were no stronger than a Rank 3 Body Refiner. For someone as strong as you, opponents with this level of strength are indeed a little too weak to be worth your while," Bakram continued before asking with a confident smirk, "But what about a Mid-level Rank 4 Body Refiner like me? Have I aroused your interest yet?"

"No," Vaan flatly replied.

"No?" Bakram repeated with a dumbfounded look.

He didn't think it was possible for the young man in front of him to give such an answer. He had been completely confident the person would say 'yes.' Alas, the reality proved otherwise.

Nevertheless, Bakram was only momentarily taken aback before his impression of Vaan dropped to rock bottom.

'This young man accepts challenges when his opponents are weak but immediately refuses when his opponent is someone strong… Did he refuse to challenge me because he doesn't want me to break his undefeated record?' Bakram wondered.

As he arrived at that thought, he became gloomy and disappointed. At the same time, his depressive mood caused his intimidating pressure to become more oppressive.

'Hmph! Even if this young man is a peerless genius with heaven-

defying talents, his character is too rotten! His heart is weak, and his eyes are blinded by vanity! How could such a rare genius be like this?! This is simply a waste of heaven's gifts!'

Bakram felt indignant and immediately believed it was his responsibility to teach the young man a lesson and correct his ways. Thus, even if his lord had not ordered him to do so, he would have sought the young man out himself.

In the great journey of body refining, talent was undoubtedly important. However, a firm heart and indomitable spirit were even more important! A talented genius that doesn't want to work hard was a useless genius!

How could he let such a heavenly talent become wasted by chasing empty fame? – Bakram thought.

Meanwhile, Jihaad and the three brothers immediately broke into cold sweats under Bakram's oppressive pressure. They were a little concerned for Vaan's situation but even more so for themselves.

They weren't sure if they would be implicated because they were traveling with Vaan.

But at the same time, there was also a little bit of anticipation and hope rising in their hearts. A battle between Rank 4 Body Refiners… It was a rare opportunity. They would like to witness it.

"Hmph!" Bakram snorted at Vaan before saying, "Even if you are uninterested, you have no choice but to accept my challenge! And that's because I am challenging you to a Blood Exchange Duel! Under the imperial law, a Blood Exchange Duel cannot be refused!"

"Oh? A Blood Exchange Duel, huh?" Vaan smiled with interest, but his gaze became slightly chilly.

Before coming to the Great Ratholos Empire, he had naturally learned about its laws. That included matters related to the Blood Exchange Duel.

In the Great Ratholos Empire, it was normal for there to be a lot of competition between rivaling families and warriors. However, it was also inevitable that some intense competition would get out of hand and turn into irreconcilable hatred.

As such, the Blood Exchange Duel was introduced to settle all blood debts and hatred between two sides in a life-or-death battle. Both sides were permitted to put forward conditions or wagers before the duel.

Regardless of who won, the loser had to honor the conditions put forward by the victor, even if they were lifelong conditions. If they refused or broke the agreement, their entire family would be exterminated by the imperial family.

Consequently, such a flawed law had loopholes and could easily be abused by the powerful to acquire more power and wealth from those weaker than them. In the early years since the Blood Exchange Duel was introduced, many powerful families had indeed attempted to exploit it for their self-interest.

However, such acts had enraged the ruling emperor of that period, and the entire empire was awash with the blood of all the fools who sought to take advantage of his new law for resolving grievances.

Since then, no one dared to take advantage of the Blood Exchange Duel when they didn't have any irreconcilable grudge again. After all, it was equivalent to slapping the emperor in the face – a capital offense that deserved the extermination of the whole family.

The authority of the imperial family could not be challenged nor insulted.

Despite the Blood Exchange Duel having such a history, it was still frequently and surprisingly used in the present era—but only for wagers.

Since Bakram dared to propose the Blood Exchange Duel, Vaan was quite interested in his wager.

After all, no one had the courage to propose a Blood Exchange Duel in the present era when they didn't have any irreconcilable grudge. They would be more afraid of the other party reporting them to the authorities for trying to use the Blood Exchange Duel for exploitative intentions instead.

The only exception was if someone was completely confident they could tempt the other party with their wager.

In other words, their wager had to be of incredible value!