Impossible! Absolutely Impossible! I, Xiao Hongchen, Would Never Pay to Get Beaten!

Impossible! Absolutely Impossible! I, Xiao Hongchen, Would Never Pay to Get Beaten!

"How did you manage to spend over ten million Gold Soul Coins?!" Xiao Hongchen grabbed Xiao Qiang by the collar and demanded through gritted teeth. This was not some grand auction; Xiao Hongchen had thought two or three million Gold Soul Coins would be enough. He could afford that much without any trouble.

Yet Xiao Qiang had spent over ten million Gold Soul Coins the moment he entered the auction house. Xiao Hongchen felt like he had fallen into a massive pit.

"Because there were a lot of things I wanted to buy, I accidentally spent a little too much. How about we forget it?" Xiao Qiang also felt that making Xiao Hongchen pay over ten million Gold Soul Coins all at once was a bit excessive, so he took out his own card.

Seeing Xiao Qiang about to pay himself, Xiao Hongchen raised a hand to stop him. "Stop! You have already humiliated my body! I absolutely will not allow you to humiliate my dignity too! It's only over ten million Gold Soul Coins! Do you think I, Xiao Hongchen, can't afford it?!"

"You go wait at the arena. You! Come swipe the card with me!"

With that, Xiao Hongchen took the attendant away, leaving Xiao Qiang utterly bewildered.

Wait, you really had over ten million Gold Soul Coins?! And you just paid it like that, without even thinking it over first?

In the end, he had underestimated Mingde Hall's wealth.

Xiao Qiang headed for the arena. After parting from Xiao Qiang, Xiao Hongchen dialed Meng Hongchen's number on his Soul Communication Device.

Meng Hongchen, who had just handed the photos of Xiao Qiang beating up Xiao Hongchen to a magazine publisher so they could make a storybook with a plot, was startled.

"Did Brother find out that I gave the magazine publisher photos of Xiao Qiang and him fighting?"

"That shouldn't be possible. If Brother had found out, he should be charging out right now."

Meng Hongchen guiltily looked around. After confirming there was no sign of Xiao Hongchen anywhere, she pressed the answer button on the Soul Communication Device.

"Brother, what is it?" Meng Hongchen asked, sounding somewhat guilty.

"Why does your voice sound a little off? Forget it, Meng, lend me some money."

"Huh? You want to borrow money? You scared me. How much do you need?" Hearing that he only wanted to borrow money and had not discovered what she had done, Meng Hongchen let out a sigh of relief.

"Three million."

"How much? Xiao! My annual allowance is only a little over three million. You opened your mouth and asked for three million—are you trying to borrow all my money?! And what do you need three million for? Don't you have quite a bit of money yourself?"

"I've saved over twenty million. Don't tell me you haven't even saved ten million."

"I do have over ten million, but it isn't quite enough. Meng, help your brother out."

"Helping you isn't a problem, but tell me what you need it for first."

Xiao Hongchen fell silent for a while before slowly speaking. "Meng, do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"I remember. Oh, right, wash my socks when you get back. You were injured yesterday, so I didn't say anything, but today it's your turn to do the chores."

Xiao Hongchen: "..." You really are my dear little sister.

"I'll wash them when I get back, but that isn't the point. The point is Xiao Qiang."

"Hm? Are you two together now?" Meng Hongchen was already starting to plot out the story in her head, preparing to have the magazine publisher she had bought dedicate a special issue to it.

"What are you talking about? Get your mind out of the gutter, Meng."

"Oh. So what is it, then?"

"It's like this. Didn't I lose to him yesterday? I really had underestimated him at the time. I hadn't expected him to close the distance between us so quickly, and I hadn't expected a Three-ring Soul Elder to be so strong in close combat."

"I lost. I understand now. There is always someone stronger, always a higher mountain. I understand that if I underestimate an opponent, then even someone whose apparent strength is inferior to mine could have a chance to kill me."

Meng Hongchen was somewhat surprised to hear Xiao Hongchen say that. "Huh? Xiao, you actually think like that? That really is unexpected."

"Since I lost, even if I don't want to accept it, I have to accept reality. Grandpa was right before—I must learn to face my opponents head-on, or I will suffer more defeats in the future."

Meng Hongchen nodded, then casually ordered herself a milk tea. "So what does this have to do with Xiao Qiang? Wait, Xiao, don't tell me you're unwilling to accept losing to Xiao Qiang, so you want to fight him again?"

"That's right. I can accept being defeated by Soul Masters much older than me, and I can accept being defeated by Soul Masters with higher Soul Power than mine. But compared to me, he has no advantage in either age or Soul Power. In fact, I have twelve more levels of Soul Power than him."

Xiao Hongchen clenched his fists. "I can accept defeat, but I cannot accept losing to someone weaker than myself. So I must defeat him. Only by defeating him can I continue cultivating in peace."

"Xiao, that's where you're wrong. You're a four-ring Soul Ancestor fighting a three-ring Soul Elder. There's a difference of more than ten levels of Soul Power between you—aren't you obviously bullying him? How could he possibly beat you? Why would he agree to fight you?"

"Indeed, he initially refused to fight me again. But this time, I intended to compensate him. He happened to participate in an auction at the auction house. After he finished buying his things, I promised to swipe my card for him as compensation for fighting me this time."

"Oh, how much did he spend? Wait, you're borrowing three million from me, so that means..."

"That's right. I didn't expect him to buy so many things. He actually spent over ten million Gold Soul Coins at the auction house. But I had already said it. Could I, Xiao Hongchen, go back on my word over such a small amount of Gold Soul Coins?"

Meng Hongchen sipped her milk tea, unsure what to say for a moment.

"Anyway, I'm still short over two million Gold Soul Coins. But considering I can't leave myself without a single Gold Soul Coin, I figured I'd round it up and borrow three million Gold Soul Coins from you."

Setting down her milk tea, Meng Hongchen said, "Brother, lending you three million Gold Soul Coins isn't a problem, but..."

"But what?"

"Brother, are you absolutely, positively sure you can beat Xiao Qiang? I feel like you're still underestimating him this time. What if you lose again and get beaten up like last time..."

Meng Hongchen imagined Xiao Hongchen spending over ten million Gold Soul Coins only to lose and get beaten up. "Brother, don't start crying and making a fuss again when the time comes. Boo-hoo-hoo, how pitiful."

"What are you talking about?! I'm a level forty-seven Soul Ancestor, while he's only a level thirty-five Soul Elder. No matter how you look at it, I have the advantage this time, all right?!"

"But it seemed like you said the same thing before, and then you lost to Xiao Qiang."

"That last time was one thing, but if you lose to him again this time, you'll have spent over ten million to buy yourself a beating."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Not to mention that I'm a dignified four-ring Soul Ancestor and the number one genius of the Sun Moon Empire—even an ordinary four-ring Soul Ancestor can't just be defeated by a Soul Elder whenever someone feels like it, right?!"