At Flender's words, the staff member behind the counter jerked his head up, his eyes widening into saucers.
"Sir... sir, are you sure you want to spend 100,000 Gold Soul Coins? All on the newcomer Wine Sword to win?"
The staff member had begun to stammer, his voice filled with disbelief.
Wait, even burning money didn't go this far, did it? Were all rich people idiots?
After all, who in the entire Great Soul Arena hadn't heard of Mad Demon?
He was a veteran powerhouse at the Soul Ancestor level, with Soul Power as high as level forty-eight!
He also possessed the top-tier Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf Martial Soul and had already secured ten consecutive victories without a single defeat.
For tonight's entire event, nearly ninety percent of the gamblers had blindly bet on Mad Demon to win.
Wine Sword, on the other hand, had seemingly popped out of some forgotten corner of nowhere.
In everyone's eyes, Wine Sword was just a stepping stone for Mad Demon's eleventh consecutive victory, an ant offering Mad Demon an easy point.
Anyone with half a brain would know to bet on Mad Demon in this match, yet here this man was, spending 100,000 Gold Soul Coins on someone bound to lose.
If the staff member hadn't seen the card Flender had slapped onto the counter, he would have thought the man had come to cause trouble.
Flender, however, casually waved a hand.
"I said I wanted to bet, so place the bet. What's with all the nonsense? I've got plenty of money. Can't I throw 100,000 Gold Soul Coins into the water just to hear the splash?"
Seeing this, the staff member let out a helpless sigh, as though he could already see Flender heading for the rooftop after the match.
Here was another idiot whose head had been turned by the high odds.
He had seen far too many people like this. After all, whenever a match was a complete mismatch, the difference in odds was enormous.
And at times like these, there were always reckless gamblers who wanted to take a chance and defy the heavens to change their fate.
But they never stopped to think: what did those sky-high odds mean? They meant an absolute gap in strength, a guaranteed outcome that had been proven countless times.
Would there be any surprises when Mad Demon, with ten consecutive victories, fought little Wine Sword?
Of course not. Who the hell was Wine Sword? Just a greenhorn who had only just arrived at the Great Soul Arena.
Mad Demon, on the other hand, was an expert with ten consecutive victories!
Not long ago, Mad Demon had defeated a Soul Ancestor whose Soul Power had reached level fifty.
That Soul Ancestor had originally hoped to make a hefty profit before reaching the Soul King level, only to suffer a crushing defeat at Mad Demon's hands. Mad Demon had even torn off one of his arms.
And Wine Sword? His registered Soul Power was only level forty-five. How could he possibly be a match for Mad Demon? Their strength was as far apart as heaven and earth.
Just like the odds on the board.
The odds of the newcomer Wine Sword winning were as high as thirty-nine to one.
The odds of the ace Mad Demon winning were only 1.07, so low there was almost no room for profit.
The staff member had long since written Flender off as a wishful-thinking gambler.
He had no idea that Flender, whom he took for a sucker and a fool, was already blooming with joy inside.
Flender slowly clasped his hands behind his back, turned, and left the VIP room, returning to his private viewing box.
As soon as he shut the door, the corners of Flender's mouth became harder to keep down than an AK.
By now, his grin stretched from ear to ear, his face filled with wild joy and excitement.
He couldn't help muttering, "Thirty-nine-to-one odds. A full thirty-nine to one!"
Just now, Flender had thrown all the Gold Soul Coins the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had given him into the match, going all in on Su Zui to win.
Flender knew exactly what he was doing. He was playing an information war to perfection.
Nobody present knew Su Zui, and they had no idea how terrifyingly strong he was.
Everyone was certain Mad Demon would win, and that was his golden opportunity.
While everyone underestimated Su Zui, he could put everything on the line and turn things around, striking it rich in one fell swoop.
Even if the Great Soul Arena took ten percent as a service fee for a large bet, after all the fees, he would still make a staggering profit of at least three million Gold Soul Coins!
That was three million Gold Soul Coins! A single carriage couldn't carry that much money.
Investing that much money in Shrek Academy would be enough to bring the entire academy back to life.
From then on, there would be no need to worry about cultivation resources for the students or daily expenses.
At the thought of the enormous fortune soon to be in his hands, Flender had already begun to daydream.
Meanwhile, in the contestants' waiting area of the No. 2 main Soul Fighting Arena.
The vast waiting area was already filled with Soul Masters about to enter the arena.
Most of these Soul Masters were seasoned veterans who had spent years on the fighting circuit, with fierce presences and sharp eyes.
As Su Zui walked into the waiting area, everyone's gaze instantly turned toward him.
Some of those gazes were appraising, but more held the inexplicable hostility and rejection that veteran Soul Masters showed a stranger.
After all, in their eyes, every newcomer stepping onto the stage for the first time was a stepping stone for padding their records and racking up points.
"Hey, new guy? How come I haven't seen you before?"
A burly man looked at Su Zui and spoke in a muffled voice.
Su Zui said nothing and calmly sat down in an empty seat.
Then Su Zui took the wine gourd hanging from his waist, pulled out the stopper, and took several great gulps.
In an instant, the clean, mellow fragrance of wine filled the air.
The smell of Su Zui's wine made several nearby Soul Masters' mouths water.
However, since fighting was forbidden in the waiting area, no one got up to cause trouble.
After all, the Great Soul Arena's rules were strict. Any Soul Masters caught fighting privately on the premises would be expelled from the Soul Fighting Arena.
Seeing that no one was looking for trouble, Su Zui couldn't be bothered with them either.
He raised his eyes to watch the match below.
The view here was unobstructed, making it an ideal place to watch the fights.
The battle below, however, was rather monotonous, and Su Zui lost all interest.
Although the two Soul Masters onstage attacked fiercely, their use of Soul Power was downright crude.
The whole time, they did nothing but blindly pour out Soul Power, meeting force with force and simply unleashing Soul Skills in a furious exchange.
Such methods served no purpose other than wasting Soul Power.
A trace of disappointment flickered in Su Zui's eyes.
This was what actual combat was like for the vast majority of low-level Soul Masters. They relied entirely on brute force and Soul Skills to fight, never bothering to delve into the uses of Soul Power itself.
The dreary match was decided in just a few minutes.
After watching several fights in succession, it was finally Su Zui's turn to take the stage.
The arena's announcement rang out once more, its rousing voice piercing through the venue and drowning out all the noisy chatter.
"Next, please welcome the contestants for the seventh match in the No. 2 main Soul Fighting Arena!"
"This match is a peak showdown between high-level Soul Ancestors!"
"The two sides are—the holder of a ten-win streak in the Soul Fighting Arena, who has gravely injured his opponents in ten consecutive matches and needs only one more Soul Fight to advance to the gold badge, the ace of our Suotuo City Great Soul Arena, Martial Soul Berserk Demon Wolf, codename Mad Demon!"
"And the Soul Fighting Arena's newcomer, Wine Sword!"