My starting summon is a small skeleton

Phoenix Nest Training Ground, on the stage.

Guzhentian did his best to calm himself, trying to settle his nerves.

To calm himself, he even declared that he was willing to concede the match.

He used this method to tell others, and also remind himself, that he was not a sore loser.

Creating an impression of willing to sacrifice the match for a fair competition with Lu Wu.

This act of Guzhentian scored him points in the eyes of the audience.

However, his true intention was to strip Lu Wu of his role as a judge.

He had to admit that Lu Wu's dual role as a Master and a judge had a considerable impact on him, so he wanted to minimize this by his action.

It was also for his "condition" or rather, to make a bet with Lu Wu.

"I hope to make a bet with Master Lu," he said, "if Master Lu can't stump me, I hope to get Master Lu's Little Skeleton's cellphone."

As soon as Guzhentian spoke these words,

The entire place was stunned, but no one was more shocked than Gutian in the audience stands.

Upon hearing this, he instantly realized that his son's withdrawal from the championship was to secure Lu Wu's cellphone for himself, and he was deeply moved.

Meanwhile, when Little Skeleton beside Lu Wu heard this, he immediately objected, tightly grabbing onto his cellphone with one hand while his Bone Staff transformed into a Long Spear, almost wanting to strike down this villain attempting to steal his cellphone.

On Lu Wu's side, his eyes narrowed, the slits gleaming with dangerous light.

Guzhentian continued, "Of course, if Master Lu can stump Gu, Gu will likewise offer..."

"No need!"

Guzhentian was interrupted by Lu Wu before he could finish his sentence.

And as the words "no need" came from Lu Wu, there was a noticeable shift in Guzhentian's demeanor.

That was a sign of his regained confidence.

In Guzhentian's view, this meant Lu Wu was wavering, no longer the unbeatable Demon King that he had long been unable to challenge.

However, Lu Wu then spoke again.

"There's no need for complications. If you can answer the updated questions I'll pose, I'll reward you with the cellphone. If you can't, it's fine as well, you don't need to give me anything."

By saying this, Lu Wu was essentially saying: 'What do you want? We are not at the same level.'

With a single sentence, he pushed back the confidence that had started to return to Guzhentian.

But it also ignited pride and anger within Guzhentian.

Gutian in the audience stands clenched his fists even tighter, feeling the humiliation imparted by Lu Wu as his own.

Yet, neither father nor son voiced anything. Guzhentian suppressed his anger, trying to calm himself again, and with a stable mindset, he nodded to Lu Wu as a gesture of acknowledgment, then went off to prepare his questions.

On Lu Wu's side, watching Guzhentian get busy, he felt he might as well utilize the time and turned back to engage his seven disciples, discussing the 144 questions he had posted.

Three hours passed swiftly.

As Lu Wu completed another round of discourse, Guzhentian had finally prepared his questions.

He walked over to Lu Wu, holding twelve questions that consolidated sixteen years of his learning.

At that moment, anyone could see that Guzhentian's demeanor was drastically different from three hours earlier.

Now, there was no sweat on his brow, no hint of hesitation.

There was confidence, absolute confidence in his learning and in the questions he posed.

Yes, absolute confidence!

He had stepped out of Lu Wu's shadow, and in domains where he excelled, even preparing to challenge for the title of Master, Guzhentian had no reason to lack confidence.

"Master Lu, my questions are ready."

"Then go ahead and read them!"

"Alright!"

Guzhentian did not waste words and directly delivered all twelve of his prepared questions.

As Guzhentian spoke, there was yet no reaction from Lu Wu's side, but Gutian in the audience stands laughed first.

Guzhentian's twelve questions were all related to the evolution aspects of the Summoned Beast "Snowman."

These were questions Guzhentian had put great effort into tackling.

Even though he had modified the questions, they retained a high level of specificity, and if Lu Wu lacked in-depth understanding of the "Snowman," he would likely struggle to answer, let alone revise these questions.

Indeed, as Guzhentian threw out these questions, Lu Wu's brow furrowed.

"Ah, issues regarding the evolution of the Snowman can be quite tricky, as I haven't studied it in depth."

Guzhentian immediately responded, "If Master Lu hasn't studied it, I can provide you with time to research and even offer the necessary materials."

This act, although seemingly fair, was actually a form of cajolery – problems posed by Lu Wu, although wide-ranging and tricky, lacked this level of specificity and required practical knowledge to solve.

However, his required specific knowledge.

Thus, offering time to research was quite reasonable.

Of course, Guzhentian's generosity was not out of magnanimity but aimed to create an illusion of fairness.

These were questions he himself had struggled over a year to conquer, and he was confident that even given time, Lu Wu would not be able to address these questions in a short span.

Unexpectedly, Lu Wu declined the opportunity to consult resources.

"That won't be necessary; although I haven't deeply studied the Snowman, I do have basic knowledge, and moreover, I'm quite adept at evolution. If it's just about solving or revising the questions, I should be able to manage."

When Lu Wu made this statement, Guzhentian raised his eyebrows.

He thought Lu Wu was being a bit too arrogant.

However, before he could reply, Lu Wu had already started analyzing the questions given one by one.

"The first question is about the attribute of the Snowman's evolution.

The Snowman is an Ice and Snow System Summoned Beast; its enhancement attribute is key to its evolution. The issue you raised was whether to use 'Snow Ice Crystal' or 'Ice Heart' to enhance its attribute, and you kindly let me not fuss over the details of the enhancement.

It seems like you have researched this question for a while and have been struggling with whether to use 'Snow Ice Crystal' or 'Ice Heart.' However, this is a trap question you set for me.

In general, if the condition was for evolution, it should be 'Snow Ice Crystal,' which is an ordinary evolution method, but given your deep research into the Snowman, it is clear you are aiming to develop a new method of evolution.

Therefore, your choice should be Ice Heart.

Next is the environmental impact on the evolution of the Snowman...

Then there's the third question..."

In less than half an hour, all the questions posed by Guzhentian were analyzed one by one by Lu Wu,

from Guzhentian's thoughts when posing these questions, the traps he set, to the impacts of these questions on subsequent issues.

Even in these questions, the implicit understanding and concept of the Snowman's evolution held by Guzhentian were all refined by Lu Wu.

After that, Guzhentian was dumbfounded.

Though he had estimated Lu Wu as highly as he could,

to win against Lu Wu, he even resorted to asking questions in a tricky manner from his area of expertise.

Yet it was still to no avail.

Lu Wu, relying on his superb reasoning and learning abilities, easily grasped the intent behind the questions, found answers from his psychological approach, and deduced knowledge points from these answers.

In just less than half an hour, the results of his efforts over more than a year were almost entirely decoded by Lu Wu.

This is not to say that Lu Wu's research on the Snowman has surpassed his.

It wasn't that fast; Lu Wu wasn't that monstrous.

After all, he had studied for more than a year, and it would take Lu Wu about a week to catch up.

But Lu Wu had already mastered the core concept of Guzhentian about evolving the Snowman and added the answers deduced just now.

At this moment, Lu Wu's understanding of these questions was almost as good as Guzhentian's.

Then, it was Lu Wu's turn to perform.

He began to modify the questions he had analyzed and laid them out one by one in front of Guzhentian.

On Guzhentian's end,

watching the questions modified by Lu Wu,

his head buzzed, every question was almost similar to what he had asked before, but when he tried to answer, he found they were significantly different.

All of these questions, without exception, touched on another aspect of Guzhentian's way of thinking.

Each question seemed answerable, but Lu Wu would divert him just two or three sentences into his response.

In vain, he revealed his knowledge, but he could not answer a single question correctly.

All twelve questions were like this.

With Lu Wu playing tricks on him twelve times in a row, Guzhentian's confidence gradually waned, and by the last question, he felt completely defeated.

Watching his dispirited son, Gutian shouted from below, "Sophistry, this is sophistry, Mr. Lu's questions are simply logical traps!"

Indeed, his words were true.

In facing Guzhentian, whether in answering questions or posing them,

it was not just knowledge that crushed Guzhentian, but more so the logic of language and thought; Guzhentian was simply being led by the nose by Lu Wu.

If it really came down to solid knowledge, at least regarding the Snowman, Lu Wu was definitely not better than Guzhentian.

Many experts present, even Guzhentian deep down, thought this way.

However, just as everyone had this thought, Lu Wu suddenly asked the organizers to find a regular 3-star Snowman and some other corresponding materials.

When Lu Wu mentioned the materials he needed, Guzhentian immediately looked up,

his face full of disbelief as he stared at Lu Wu.

He clearly knew what Lu Wu was going to do.

"Impossible, he's just bluffing; he couldn't possibly know about the new evolution method for the Snowman I was researching, it must be a sham!"

While Guzhentian was incredulous, unable to believe his eyes,

the organizers brought over the Snowman device and the corresponding materials.

Lu Wu didn't waste words, and quickly started working, then took a thick syringe and injected a blue icy liquid into the Snowman.

As the potion was injected, a chill began emanating from the Snowman, and its form started to change.

In less than two hours, an exquisite ice and snow maiden appeared on stage.

The moment the ice and snow maiden appeared, Guzhentian completely broke down.

He couldn't believe that the new evolution method for the Snowman, which he had researched for over a year, was replicated by Lu Wu, who had merely discussed it with him for a few hours.

Moreover, the outcome was even more perfect than he had anticipated.

This completely extinguished the light in Guzhentian's eyes.

He muttered, "Impossible, I've researched this for over a year and haven't even reached the final step, how could you do it?"

Lu Wu, puzzled by his remark, said, "What? Such a simple thing, how did you spend more than a year on it? Were you slacking off?"

With these words, Guzhentian's face turned pale, and he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing to the ground...