by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
The handler was completely shocked by this amount; throughout the entire morning, he had only collected ten thousand gold coins up to now. Hearing this new bet, he almost didn’t believe his own ears.
That huge figure was, of course, Shi Feng. He had been entrusted by Long Chen to put all of his gold coins onto his own victory.
Because of his status, Long Chen already knew that the Youlan Gambling Hall would definitely open up a betting pool, and so he had already preemptively told Shi Feng to bet on him.
Even if the Youlan Gambling Hall ended up in a deficit from opening up the betting pool, he definitely wouldn’t back out.
Most of the money he normally earned was from his own personal bets, and as for these outer public bets, he didn’t actually make much money off them. The main reason he had to hold public bets was to keep the people satisfied.
And even if he were to take a loss, with the Youlan Gambling Hall’s imposing wealth, it could easily be brushed off. It was for these reasons that Long Chen decided to join the betting.
Originally, he had planned on just betting with Li Hao, but now he could get ten times the profit by betting with the Youlan Gambling Hall. Long Chen wasn’t an idiot, so of course he knew which was better.
Yesterday, with the help of fatty Yu and his friends, he had collected over two hundred thousand gold coins. When he had handed it over to Shi Feng, Shi Feng had seen how assured Long Chen was acting. Clenching his teeth, he increased the amount to three hundred thousand.
Shi Feng’s family was actually not very rich, mostly because they had a tendency to be rather hot-tempered and were not that good at handling business. The families of fatty Yu and the others tended to be better off.
In order to collect this much money, he had actually used all of his weapons and armor as additional collateral.
All of this was just for Long Chen’s wild and crazy bet. Shi Feng couldn’t hold back having his heart leap a couple of times in nervousness. Brother Chen, you have to stay calm and steady… all your brother’s belongings have all been put on the line.
Li Hao arrived just before noon. With a light push on the ground, he jumped several meters into the air to land on top of the martial arena, arousing a burst of cheers.
However, this time the cheers weren’t for his appearance, but rather because everyone was excited to see the start of a good show.
Today, Li Hao was wearing clean and neat robes that were quite attractive, and a proud thought arose in his mind: Long Chen, the humiliation you’ve given me will be returned to you tenfold!
But even after quite a while passed after Li Hao went onto the stage, no one saw Long Chen appear. No one understood why he hadn’t appeared, and some people began to wonder if perhaps he had chickened out.
Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, an old man in charge of the martial arena coldly told Li Hao, “Your appointment for your battle is for 12:45, so you’re early by almost an hour. You can either continue to wait on top of the stage or you can come off to wait.”
Everyone booed in disappointment when they heard this, and the originally full of vigor Li Hao also became a bit dumbstruck as he had forgotten to check the time.
“Whatever, I’ll just wait for him on the stage. In any case, he’s a person who’s about to die, so his remaining time is more valuable than mine.”
Li Hao indifferently smiled, and just like that, he sat down cross-legged on top of the martial arena, putting on the air of an expert. However, his attempt to maintain an expert’s manner only lasted for a short while before becoming a bit strange…
Because it was noon, the sun was extremely powerful, and to make it worse, the martial arena was topped with black stone tiles, and by now, it was already boiling to the point where it could fry an egg.
Since Li Hao had already sat down, he couldn’t stand back up or it would ruin his act. Therefore, all he could do was suffer.
Of course, some sharp-eyed people had noticed that Li Hao’s bottom had already begun smoking slightly, and in just a moment, it became very obvious and the crowd’s expression became very strange.
“This guy is such an idiot; is he trying to save face? The fight hasn’t even begun, and his butt is already burning,” a maiden gently laughed. In the distance, two veiled women were indifferently looking at the martial arena.
“Speaking frankly, he’s just a phony,” responded the other maiden, shaking her head.
“Sister Meng Qi, we’ve already been here for several days. When do you plan on withdrawing from the marriage agreement?” asked the other one.
The maiden who had been called Meng Qi elegantly creased her brows and somewhat awkwardly said, “Currently, he’s in a very difficult predicament, and if I were to bring up withdrawing from the marriage to him at this time, then it would be too cruel. Even I don’t know what I should do.”
“But delaying this matter isn’t a solution. Master has already urged us several times. If we don’t return to the mountain soon, then we’ll probably be punished. Furthermore, with big sister’s talent, you’ll definitely reach Xiantian and be able to touch the Heavenly Daos. The two of you will be in completely different worlds; there’s no way for you to work it out,” sighed the other maiden.
“But I still feel that doing it in such a manner is still extremely unfair to him… sigh, let’s just watch a bit more.” Meng Qi lightly shook her head, distress appearing within her beautiful eyes.
As Meng Qi hesitated, they saw a disturbance within the distant crowd. Turning to stare, they saw a young man in black robes with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes slowly walk up. His body seemed to have a unique aura, giving people a very profound feeling.
He appeared just like a well; on the surface, he appeared like nothing was out of the ordinary, but it was impossible to see through him. No one could manage to see through his depths, and his existence appeared like a mystery to them.
Even Meng Qi and the other maiden couldn’t help but feel some fluttering in their hearts when they saw him. Compared to the Long Chen they had seen just a few days ago, it was like the difference between heaven and earth. The current him appeared to be full of self-confidence.
Seeing Long Chen’s arrival, Li Hao jumped up, feeling a burst of scorching pain from his bottom.
Blaming Long Chen, his anger rose even more, and he angrily shouted, “Long Chen, come up and die!”
Long Chen didn’t even spare a glance for Li Hao, and instead, he scanned the crowd and met Shi Feng’s gaze. Shi Feng gave Long Chen a slight nod.
Not only did he see Shi Feng, but he also saw fatty Yu and the others who had apparently come to cheer him on.
Long Chen smiled over to them before turning to walk onto the martial arena. Li Hao had jumped up to show off his skill, but Long Chen decided to simply walk up…
For the moment, the people who had bet on Long Chen’s victory all felt that the money they had gambled was about to be lost forever.
“Long Chen!” Seeing Long Chen walk up, these two words were angrily forced out of Li Hao’s clenched teeth.
“Idiot, your butt’s scorched, isn’t it?” Long Chen sneered at Li Hao.
Actually, he had long since arrived; he merely stayed in the shade further away, and no one had noticed him. However, he had seen very clearly what had been going on on the stage.
“12:45 has arrived; both parties must sign the life and death contract.”
At this moment, the old man took out a document, and Long Chen indifferently smiled and signed his name on top of it.
This time was different from the last duel; conceding to the victor would have no effect this time. The loser’s life and death were held within the victor’s hands.
Li Hao also signed, and with a sinister expression, he said, “You little bastard, today I will return all the humiliation you gave me a hundredfold!”
Now that the life and death contract had been signed, there was no more need for a referee. The current martial arena had now
become the ground upon which they would decide who would die today.
“Looks like you don’t understand. You’ve come to provoke me so many times, and I’m not enduring any longer.”
Long Chen took a deep breath… an extremely dense killing intent appeared within his eyes. Ever since Zhou Yaoyang had first said that he wasn’t Long Tianxiao’s son, many people had started using the same kind of insult against him.
“Go to hell you son of a bitch!”
Li Hao sneered, and with a loud bellow, his whole body’s spiritual qi started to circulate, and the spiritual energy visible to the naked eyes could be seen fluctuating around his body.
Everyone in the watching crowd nodded when they saw this. Last time, Li Hao had been extremely unlucky; he hadn’t made any preparations to protect his body, and Long Chen had used one quick attack to beat him. But this time, he had properly prepared and set up his defenses.
Although this was only the spiritual energy of Qi Condensation and had no way of leaving the body, circulating spiritual energy within the body for protection meant that an ordinary person would have a very hard time inflicting any injuries.
After Li Hao had set up his defenses, a sinister smile appeared on his face. He charged towards Long Chen, both hands turning into claws aimed towards Long Chen’s shoulders.
These two claws of his were filled with spiritual qi, making them no different from iron fangs. If ordinary people were to be hit by them, their shoulders would immediately break.
“Good! Li Hao, completely cripple this son of a bitch!” From below the arena, a loud shout came from the person who Long Chen had sent flying within the Imperial College, Wang Mang.
Wang Mang had now already lost half of his teeth while still a youth. And as for any bone-growing medicinal pills, those were far too expensive for his family to buy. Nowadays, he was already full of hatred for Long Chen and seeing Long Chen about to be assaulted, he couldn’t hold back from cheering.
But Shi Feng, fatty Yu, and the others all became extremely worried. From the very start, Long Chen had not shown even the slightest cultivation base, causing their hearts to momentarily get stuck in their throats.
Long Chen coldly smiled as he looked at Li Hao. Taking one step, his whole body turned into a blur as he charged forward towards Li Hao.
BANG!
Chapter 9 Alchemist Guild
BANG!
An explosive noise rang out, causing everyone to become completely dumbfounded. No one had noticed how, but at some point, Long Chen had appeared right in front of Li Hao just like a demon. This was due to his Windchasing Steps. This technique increased his speed to the max, especially in close range, and the explosiveness was something that was impossible to guard against.
Li Hao’s two claws hit nothing while Long Chen’s leg viciously kicked out and hit him between the legs with such a ferocious force that his whole body was lifted into mid-air.
After the explosive noise passed, a little ball flew out of Li Hao’s trousers and was flung towards the crowd.
Wang Mang was still imagining Li Hao tormenting Long Chen and making Long Chen suffer a life worse than death. But the current situation completely shattered this delusion of his, and his jaw dropped, dumbstruck.
He was completely oblivious to a small, grape-sized thing that was now flying towards his mouth. By the time he noticed it, the thing had already entered his open mouth.
Before he could even react, that slippery thing passed through his throat into his stomach, bringing with it a grotesque, foul smell.
“AHH!”
Only now did Wang Mang react and desperately begin using a finger to dig at his throat, causing him to vomit. After a while, a small ball was vomited out.
When Zhou Yaoyang and the rest of the people beside him saw that ball, they also started retching, swiftly scattering away from it.
“AHH!!!”
On the martial arena, Li Hao was tenaciously holding onto his crotch, his face twitching and contorting. If he hadn’t set up his spiritual qi to protect himself, he would have long since lost consciousness from the pain.
For a moment, the whole audience was completely silent. Everyone’s eyes roved from Li Hao on the stage to the distant round thing on the ground, and their expressions became extremely odd.
“This is good for you. Now you’ll be able to walk without tilting and tripping,” Long Chen said, nodding his head.
“You…!”
Li Hao furiously glared at him, wanting to tear him apart. His last family jewel was stripped off him, and now that it had entered Wang Mang’s stomach, it had already been corroded to the point that even if he collected it, he wouldn’t be able to use it.
One was taken away by a wild dog while one was no longer usable; Li Hao was now destined to become a sterile person incapable of reproducing.
“You fucker, go die! Stone Crushing Fist!”
Li Hao crazily roared, forcefully circulating his spiritual qi to restrain the pain coming from his lower body. His fist shot towards Long Chen, the wind whistling as it passed.
The full power of his third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation cultivation base exploded out. By now, he had already descended into madness and completely forgotten about Zhou Yaoyang’s instructions. The only thing on his mind was to completely destroy Long Chen.
Seeing Li Hao go completely berserk, a cold killing intent appeared within Long Chen’s eyes. He roared, the sound like violent thunder capable of shocking the sky, blasted the surrounding people’s ears.
An incorporeal aura engulfed Long Chen. Not taking any actions to avoid it, he also attacked with a fist.
“Spirit of the Bull!”
BOOM!!!
An explosion was followed by the sound of bones breaking. Li Hao let out a miserable scream, his blood flying everywhere. People were shocked and horrified to see that one of Li Hao’s arms had been completely crushed.
Long Chen was still resting in his punching position. His eyes were icy cold and completely apathetic. A terrifying killing intent spilled out from him, shaking people’s souls.
The current Long Chen seemed like a cold-blooded death god. His whole body brimming with an icy cold killing intent that caused everyone to tremble in fear.
The whole crowd was deathly still. The amount of power that he had released just now was something that even Zhou Yaoyang at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation felt somewhat afraid of.
“How is this possible?! He can use Battle Skills?”
“Isn’t it impossible for him to cultivate? What the hell is happening?”
“His expression is absolutely terrifying!”
People were unable to hold back their shock, and as for the ones who had previously ridiculed and sneered at Long Chen, they were all completely filled with dread. Seeing Li Hao lying on the martial arena, it was like they were seeing images of themselves. They couldn’t help but tremble, their spirits shivering.
Even Long Chen himself was somewhat shocked. It appeared that even he had underestimated the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art; otherwise, if it was a normal person using a low grade Battle Skill, it would not be able to release such a terrifying strength.
Slowly walking over towards Li Hao, each of Long Chen’s steps rang out loud and clear. The sound of it was like the overture of a murderer, each step pressing down on the people’s hearts.
Step… step… step….
By now, Li Hao’s previous expression of anger had vanished, replaced with complete terror. Shaking and quivering, he stuttered, “Don’t… don’t come over!”
Li Hao wanted to run away, but the completely terrified him only noticed now that his body couldn’t exert even the slightest strength. To him, Long Chen who was slowly but surely walking closer to him was like a nightmare which he couldn’t run away from.
“Don’t… don’t kill me! It was because of Zhou Yaoyang’s instructions!” Li Hao sobbingly begged.
Below the stage, Zhou Yaoyang’s expression changed, and he
angrily shouted, “Li Hao, what nonsense are you saying?”
“I’m not saying nonsense. You told us to handle Long Chen and that afterward, you’d give us some benefits! All of this is because of you!” Li Hao pointed towards Zhou Yaoyang as he hysterically rambled. In the face of death, he had already forgotten everything.
“Li Hao, you’re asking for death!” Zhou Yaoyang’s face turned ashen, and his two eyes were filled with killing intent.
“Zhou Yaoyang, you bastard! You used me for your advantage! Long Chen, I’ll tell you. Zhou Yaoyang is nothing more than a henchman dog, in reality-”
Long Chen suddenly felt a chill in the air ordaining an attack; sensing the air of death, he quickly retreated without even thinking about it.
However, even after Long Chen had retreated, it didn’t appear like anything had happened. But when Long Chen once again looked at Li Hao, he saw that Li Hao’s eyes had already lost focus, and he had already taken his last breath.
Long Chen’s expression changed slightly; turning to look at the crowd, all he managed to see was a figure wearing a conical bamboo hat who was quickly fleeing the scene. With just a few strides, he had already disappeared from the crowd.
The unexpected events caused an uproar amongst the crowd. Obviously, that mysterious figure had killed Li Hao!
“Long Chen wins!”
After a brief spell of confusion, the martial arena’s overseer still ended up announcing this final outcome.
Although Li Hao wasn’t killed by Long Chen, Long Chen had already defeated him. If he had wanted to kill Li Hao, it would have been as easy as turning his hand, so in the end, they still announced that it was Long Chen’s victory.
Following Long Chen’s victory, countless people sighed in regret. With this outcome, they had no way to take back their bets.
As for the people who had bet on Long Chen, they all crazily shouted in joy. Fatty Yu and the others shouted out especially loudly.
Lying on the martial arena, Li Hao would never again be paid any attention to. The martial arena’s organizers would send a message to his family, and they would come to pick up his dead body.