Although the Underground Boxing Ring had rules forbidding fighters from betting on their own matches, few actually obeyed them. After all, a fighter could secretly entrust someone else to place the bet.
"Old Jack, I still have two million US dollars here. Bet it all for me." A faint smile appeared at the corner of Li Yang's mouth. He might not be able to get his hands on the enormous sum of one billion dollars, but he could still make a little money through betting.
Li Yang hung up and looked outside. It was already eight or nine at night—time to cultivate his inner energy again.
Li Yang immediately sat cross-legged on the bed, his mind empty and tranquil. Under these circumstances, his Fusion Stage with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was far higher than usual. Streams of spiritual energy gathered from above Manhattan and continuously flowed into Li Yang's body. With Overlord Xiang Yu's help, Li Yang absorbed the spiritual energy at an even more astonishing rate. Wisps of hazy green air curled around his entire body like ribbons...
Suddenly, a strand of Spiritual Sense rapidly rushed toward Li Yang's area. Its owner had sensed the disturbance in Manhattan's spiritual energy. Compared with the spiritual energy across all of Manhattan, the amount Li Yang absorbed was only a tiny fraction. However, there were few cultivators in Manhattan to begin with, and Li Yang's absorption speed was so fast that it still caught this cultivator's attention.
"Li Yang, a cultivator is probing you," Overlord Xiang Yu said with a grin.
Li Yang froze and immediately stopped cultivating, doubt rising in his heart. "A cultivator? Hegemon, there are cultivators here too? Haven't I been cultivating all this time? Why didn't anyone come to investigate me before?"
"Don't worry. Let this Hegemon mislead him first!" Overlord Xiang Yu casually set up an array at Taibai Restaurant—the Spirit-Gathering Array. At once, the array continuously drew the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into Taibai Restaurant.
Li Yang had stopped absorbing it, and that strand of Spiritual Sense had merely rushed toward the area without discovering that the source gathering the spiritual energy had been Li Yang's villa. Moreover, Taibai Restaurant was now absorbing spiritual energy on a massive scale due to the Spirit-Gathering Array. Most importantly, Taibai Restaurant stood beside Li Yang's villa. Thus, as a matter of course, this cultivator's Spiritual Sense went to the wrong place.
Inside a room in an ancient-style building in Chinatown.
An old man in a green robe sat cross-legged atop a meditation cushion. Suddenly, his eyes flew open. A sharp gaze, like Blade Energy, made the entire room seem to brighten in an instant. The old man appeared somewhat puzzled. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Strange, truly strange. I have visited that Taibai Restaurant before. How had I never discovered such a marvelous Spirit-Gathering Array? The person who laid this array must understand formations far better than I do! Mm... Cultivating within this Spirit-Gathering Array will surely be much faster than before. Even ordinary people would extend their lives by staying inside it. I must visit more often in the future!"
Although Overlord Xiang Yu had not studied formations much and was not particularly proficient in them, that lack of proficiency was only relative to experts of the Immortal Realm at his level. Back when he fought Immortal Realm experts, he had faced their formations time and again. Even if he was not an expert, he was at least familiar with them. What level of formations had Overlord Xiang Yu encountered? Anything he casually set up now was enough to leave this cultivator dumbfounded.
"Master, you have only just returned from your journey and must be exhausted. Your disciple should not have disturbed you, but an unprecedented one-billion-dollar mission has appeared in the Assassin World. The target is the president of Combay Group, also the Wolf King-level werewolf you mentioned last time, one who has reached the peak of a level-seven expert. How should we handle this mission? Should we have the Assassin Brokerage Organization withdraw it? After all, a Wolf King-level werewolf is still very difficult to defeat!" A deep voice sounded from outside the old man's room.
The old man thought for a moment, then said, "There is no need to worry. The Assassin Brokerage Organization allows assassins around the world to take missions easily. All we need to do is satisfy the clients posting the missions and the assassins accepting them. Then we have succeeded. As for everything else, there is no need for us to concern ourselves with it!"
"Yes!" the deep voice outside answered.
Tonight, the Underground Boxing Ring welcomed a new fighter.
Almost every day, new fighters arrived at the Underground Boxing Ring. Many fighters, brimming with ambition and hoping to earn fistfuls of dollars, wanted to display their strength. Yet they lacked experience, so newcomers usually chose weaker opponents at first. Only after accumulating experience would they gradually challenge stronger fighters.
But tonight was different. The new fighter in the advanced matches had actually set his sights on the current number one of the advanced matches—the Madman Shaq, who was about to become a top-tier fighter.
Madman Shaq was immensely powerful. Even among top-tier fighters, he was considered formidable. In the advanced matches, he had no rival at all. Due to the Underground Boxing Ring's rules, no matter how strong someone was, they could only enter the advanced matches directly. Although Madman Shaq possessed the strength of a top-tier fighter, he could only slaughter his way through the advanced matches because of those rules.
Underground Boxing Ring rules: Only after fighting thirty consecutive matches in one tier could a fighter enter the next tier. Every fighter had to fight at least ten matches each year.
In only six months, Madman Shaq had fought more than twenty matches, sweeping through them all. People believed that Madman Shaq would definitely complete the requirement of thirty matches within a year and enter the top-tier matches.
"Roar~~" A thunderous roar rang out. A brawny Black man stood atop the ring and howled wildly at the audience below...
"Shaq, kill that little newcomer! Let him know what a real fighter is—kill him!"
"Shaq, teach that little newcomer a good lesson! Kick his head open and let him see how powerful you are!"
The shouts below rose without end. One wealthy man after another tore off his ties and popped the buttons from their shirts, screaming themselves hoarse while waving the betting slips in their hands. At this moment, they were no longer noble members of high society, but merely beasts yearning to watch slaughter and satisfy the desires in their hearts...
Groups of wealthy ladies were equally flushed, screaming without pause. Not a trace of their noble bearing remained...
After roaring a few times, Shaq cast Li Yang below the ring a smug, disdainful glance, then sat down in one corner of the ring.
The referee stood on the ring and shouted, "Gentlemen, ladies, let me introduce today's fighters! This one must be familiar to everyone. He is... Shaq, Madman Shaq, the man who brings us slaughter and excitement!!!!!!!" The referee's voice suddenly soared. Li Yang even suspected that this man's high notes were higher than those of the world's greatest tenors.
The wealthy men and ladies below immediately burst into cheers, wildly shaking the betting slips in their hands...
"His opponent is a rising newcomer—from China, Mu Yi! A rookie who has just entered the Underground Boxing Ring. As a newcomer, he may lack experience, but no one knows his true strength. His manager is Old Jack, and Old Jack has no weaklings under him. This newcomer must be formidable too. Everyone can place your bets on him!" The referee's voice seemed unable to rise any higher. Clearly, he had little confidence in Li Yang. After all, Li Yang's opponent was the battle-hardened and immensely powerful Madman Shaq.
"Oh, my odds are actually four to one!" Li Yang raised a brow, his expression rather strange. He was both pleased and helpless—helpless that no one could recognize a true expert, pleased that he was about to receive fistfuls of dollars.
Wearing a black sleeveless shirt, Li Yang slowly walked onto the ring, seeming utterly unconcerned with the surrounding audience.
With a crisp ring of the bell, the match immediately began. The referee darted off the ring like a crafty rabbit.
"Die, little brat!" The two-meter-tall Shaq looked at Li Yang, who was a head shorter than him, and gave a cruel smile. In two or three strides, he closed in on Li Yang. Suddenly, his thick leg whipped up a fierce gust of wind and blasted toward Li Yang.
From the moment he stepped onto the ring until now, Li Yang had watched Shaq with cold indifference. Even when that thick leg came crashing toward his head, Li Yang continued to watch him calmly. Suddenly, Li Yang's eyes narrowed slightly, and a glint of icy light flashed through them...
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