Ch. 240 - It's a Duel, All Right — Three of Us Versus One of You

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At the Spirit Fighting Arena.

The crowd's attention had returned to the competition, but their minds kept circling back to that shocking battle outside.

Until Chen Shu summoned the Golden Slime.

"Holy crap — it got bigger again?! What is this thing on, steroids?!"

"Steroids don't work that fast! Did it go get itself pumped up somewhere? It's obviously a lot bigger!"

The entire arena erupted in discussion — genuinely stunned all over again. Was this a joke?

Chen Shu smiled without a word. He'd just gotten a 10% boost to all stats, so naturally the Slime had grown a fair bit.

The Nancang Fifth High team's expressions froze, bitter smiles spreading across their faces.

Could you please follow some kind of logic?!

Looking at their own two-to-three-meter contract spirits, they suddenly felt profoundly inadequate.

Nancang Fourth High's captain, Zhao Chen, stepped forward. "I'll admit you're strong. I dare you to a duel!"

"A duel — you sure about that?"

Chen Shu raised an eyebrow, grinning, but he didn't let his guard down. The guy might have some surprise-winning trick up his sleeve.

But he wasn't about to back down. He agreed outright.

"Fine. A duel it is!"

A flash of delight crossed Zhao Chen's eyes. He hadn't expected his opponent to be this careless.

He summoned his contract spirit — a humanoid monster materialized in the arena, its entire body composed of condensed dark light, though the faint outlines of facial features were still discernible.

It was an S-rank Dark Elemental Spirit!

Chen Shu had fought various elemental spirits before, but this was his first time facing an S-rank version.

Nearly three meters tall, the Dark Elemental Spirit tilted its head up at the giant monster before it.

A flicker of confusion appeared in its eyes.

It turned to look at its master, then spread its palms wide.

The meaning was crystal clear: Are you sure?

Zhao Chen nodded, signaling that the contract spirit was not mistaken — its opponent truly was this giant turd!

The Dark Elemental Spirit's body went rigid. Then it clenched both fists, as if marching to its death.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

It sprinted like a human, charging straight at the Slime.

The distance between them closed fast!

"ROOOOOAR!"

The Dark Elemental Spirit let out a furious bellow, its mouth opening wide — and from within shot a purple-black streak of light.

Zhao Chen's eyes held a smile. He murmured, "You're finished!"

The streak's speed wasn't particularly fast — at least, slower than a speed-type contract spirit.

"So this is your trump card?"

Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. Not taking any chances, he ordered the Slime to use Charge.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Its speed exploded, and it pulled away from the incoming streak with ease.

However, just as they were about to pass each other by —

The streak changed direction!

"Oh? A rare lock-on skill?"

Chen Shu's eyes narrowed. He understood the opponent's plan now.

Right now, the Slime was faster than the attack. But the moment Charge ended, it would become a sitting duck on the battlefield.

"Stop!"

The Slime's speed dropped sharply, yet Charge's effect hadn't expired.

Chen Shu's control over his contract spirit's skills had reached the point of mastery — something even the three members of Nancang First High couldn't pull off.

"Giving up?"

Zhao Chen's eyes brightened with joy. The streak of light was about to plunge into the Slime's body.

"I'm gonna win! I'm gonna win!"

His fists clenched, his entire body trembling with anticipation.

Once the Slime was eliminated, it would be the same as winning the match — straight into the Final Four!

Chen Shu folded his arms, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

He glanced toward Xia Bing and nodded.

At the very last second, a Frost Wolf appeared in a flash and intercepted the attack head-on.

"Growl..."

The Frost Wolf let out a weakened roar. Its own strength had been drained to the absolute limit — its body was barely steady on its feet.

"A weakening skill?"

Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. If the Slime had taken that hit, its defense would have plummeted to nothing. It genuinely would have been crippled.

The opponent knew the Slime had Tyrant Body, yet they'd still been confident — which meant the Dark Elemental Spirit's weakening skill quite possibly bypassed Tyrant Body immunity entirely.

"Y-You?!"

Zhao Chen stood frozen in place, his head spinning. Four words echoed endlessly in his mind: Shameless scoundrel!

Wasn't this supposed to be a duel?!

SCREEEE!

In that same instant, the Fire Bird appeared — its eyes blazing with skill activation light. A volley of fireballs tore toward the Dark Elemental Spirit like machine-gun fire.

The Slime leaped skyward and activated Violent Sitting Kill.

While the Dark Elemental Spirit was still in a daze, it slammed down and sat right on it!

Once sealed by its butt, the outcome was already decided!

"Captain, recall it! Hurry!"

The two teammates beside him shouted urgently. The Slime was wearing an expression of pure pleasure, shaking its butt like crazy.

Just watching the scene was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

God alone knew what the Dark Elemental Spirit was enduring down there...

Zhao Chen's head snapped back to clarity. He recalled his contract spirit at once.

"Y-You... you..."

He pointed a finger at Chen Shu. His excellent manners left him, for a moment, completely incapable of forming words.

"What about me?"

Chen Shu's face was the picture of total innocence — that smug, punchable look of his.

"You cheated! This was supposed to be a duel!"

Zhao Chen's teammates voiced the grievance on his behalf.

"It IS a duel!"

Chen Shu nodded with exaggerated earnestness and said:

"The three of us, dueling him alone! Perfectly reasonable!"[1]

"......"

The entire audience couldn't help but freeze. Son of a bitch... he had a point!

"Shameless Bandit, go go go!"

"SHAME-LESS! SHAME-LESS!"

The spectators erupted in cheers — except it didn't sound like condemnation. It sounded more like... praise.

Up in his private box, Wang Qing shuddered. What the hell had happened to the atmosphere here?!

Were citizens now taking pride in having no shame?

Then again, Beast Tamers did fight dirty by necessity — otherwise, Blue Star would have been wiped out by King Beasts long ago.

"This student's a bit early-maturing."

Wang Qing rubbed his chin.

With shamelessness at this level, the kid had to be at least a Gold-rank Beast Tamer.

Chen Shu unhurriedly recalled his Slime.

Then he spread his arms wide, basking in the crowd's adulation.

In the art of shameless cunning, he was approaching god-tier status...

With the captain defeated, the two remaining teammates surrendered immediately. Nancang Fourth High's team was done!

Nanjiang City had fought its way into the Final Four! This was unprecedented!

Chen Shu had set a new record for Nanjiang City!

Though, honestly, the absurd things he'd done had already set countless records — not just for Nanjiang City, but for all of Huaxia...

"We're in the Final Four, just like that?"

Xu Xiaoyu and Xia Bing exchanged glances. For the first time ever, they felt like fighting was this easy.

So this was how ambushes felt... so damn satisfying.

No wonder Chen Shu was addicted to them. When an easier way existed, only an idiot wouldn't choose it.

"Fighting's like that sometimes — simple as can be!"

Chen Shu tossed his head and swaggered out of the Spirit Fighting Arena.

But the moment he stepped outside, a middle-aged man blocked his path.

"Minister! Good to see you, sir!"

Chen Shu's slouching frame snapped ramrod straight. "Last time, I never got to finish my story, you know."

"Ever since my Slime started learning to code —"

"STOP!"

Wang Qing's eyes flashed with panic as he cut him off at once.

For fuck's sake, I just recovered! You trying to wreck my mental state all over again?!

"So. The Dingsheng Building fire. You know about it?"

"Yeah. I happened to be squatting nearby at the time. Suddenly my ass felt this searing burn. Thought it was hemorrhoids, but then flames started shooting up!"

"Stop! Stop!"

Wang Qing's brow furrowed. You genuinely have some serious shit wrong with you — what the hell are you even talking about?!

[1] 是单挑啊，我们仨单挑他一个 (It's a Duel — Three of Us Versus One of You): A well-established Chinese internet joke format. The word 单挑 means "single combat" or "one-on-one duel." The gag redefines it by re-parsing: instead of "one versus one," it becomes "[entire group] versus one [target]." The humor is the linguistic sleight — agreeing to the exact terms while completely reversing their meaning. The format appears across Chinese internet culture in schoolyard fight jokes, gaming scenarios, and comedy sketches where absurd logic wins through technical redefinition.