"Alright, if there is anything to discuss, spit it out. It'd best be settled before you prepare the Gold Soul Coins." Lang Lei picked up the cup of water in front of him with an indifferent expression, took a light sip, and then spoke at a leisurely pace.
Mhm, it really was fruit juice, and quite sweet at that, without any artificial additives or preservatives.
You had to know that in a universe undergoing a technological explosion, various high-tech fruit juices emerged in endless streams.
His voice wasn't loud, but the indifference and impatience revealed within it made the Great Soul Arena manager's heart tighten. The manager hurriedly accompanied a smile, nodding repeatedly as he said, "Yes, yes, yes, we will definitely get it sorted out for you as soon as possible, and absolutely won't waste your precious time."
While speaking, the manager used his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. Ever since he attained his current cultivation and climbed to the position of Great Soul Arena manager, he had never been this humble before.
Under normal circumstances, it was always others who came to ingratiate themselves with him and butter him up, but now the situation was completely reversed. This left the manager feeling extremely unaccustomed to it, while at the same time unable to help sighing at the impermanence of the world.
Still, he was also very clear in his heart about the reason causing this predicament. After all, even those people whose status was slightly higher than his basically all had requests of him, and naturally wouldn't easily go off to offend a manager of the Great Soul Arena like him.
Yet Lang Lei seemed to be a complete exception. He was like someone devoid of desires and demands, leaving people with no way to start and finding no direction in which to butter him up.
There was no help for it; since they had a favor to ask of someone, their attitude naturally had to be lowered a bit. The manager took a deep breath, steadied his nerves, and then continued with an accompanying smile, "Rest assured, we will go all out and satisfy your demands as soon as possible."
"Then cut the crap. What on earth do you want to do? What is your objective? Spell it all out for me at once, and I'll consider whether to agree. Also, I still rather prefer the attitude you had when putting on airs outside." Lang Lei said with a mocking expression.
A trace of an awkward smile appeared on the face of the Great Soul Arena manager. While dryly laughing, he hurriedly pulled a small booklet out from his bosom, explaining, "Little brother, please don't misunderstand. Wasn't I just needing to maintain my majesty in front of my subordinates..."
The corners of Lang Lei's mouth lifted slightly, revealing an imperceptible smile. He knew very well in his heart that someone like the other party was simply obsessed with face and loved putting on airs in front of others. However, he didn't expose the other person, merely giving that small booklet a faint glance before ceasing to speak.
Seeing this, the Great Soul Arena manager hurriedly continued, "It's like this. As you should also know, aside from collecting admission tickets from ordinary people who come to watch soul duels, our arena's biggest revenue channel is income from acting as the house for bets. But an existence like you..."
Of course Lang Lei understood the other party's meaning, which was nothing more than feeling that his strength was too strong, affecting their earnings from acting as the house. After all, with experts like him, very few people were willing to place bets wagering on his defeat. With things like this, the Great Soul Arena naturally lost a lot of revenue.
However, Lang Lei didn't feel there was anything wrong with that, since he wasn't relying on this to make money anyway. Moreover, he also knew his background was extraordinary, and the other party definitely wouldn't dare do anything to him. If it were swapped for someone else, they probably would have been coerced and intimidated long ago. He, who frequently dealt with the Interstellar Peace Company, understood these kinds of methods all too well.
However, for businessmen, profits came first, and blocking someone's path to wealth was akin to murdering their parents—this was something they absolutely could not tolerate. Yet, the fact that the other party could still maintain such a polite attitude up until now had no other reason than the fact that Lang Lei's current stance remained unclear. Should Lang Lei stubbornly decide to make trouble for them, then one could imagine that the few families backing the Great Soul Arena would definitely not let the matter rest.
Even if Lang Lei had such powerful existences as the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress as backing behind him, the other party probably wouldn't harbor the slightest scruple and would still find some trouble for him inside the Great Soul Arena. After all, in the face of profits, any faction could have its fighting spirit stirred up.
Lang Lei naturally understood the stakes involved. Although he didn't fear trouble, he truly detested these troubles. Thus, he directly and bluntly questioned the soul arena manager, "Then just how do you folks intend to handle this matter? Could it be that you're going to ban me from participating in soul duels at the Great Soul Arena?"
Facing Lang Lei's questioning, the soul arena manager reacted swiftly, hurriedly replying, "Of course not. We will absolutely never ban you from participating in soul duels. It's just that from now on, your matches will no longer feature the gambling entertainment project."
The soul arena manager's reply was exceptionally resolute, seeming to fear that Lang Lei might stop patronizing the Great Soul Arena because of this decision.
Even so, the soul arena manager knew very well in his heart that although they would lose the betting revenue from Lang Lei's matches, they still had another avenue for making money—collecting admission tickets. After all, Lang Lei's strength and popularity were quite high, and his matches would boundlessly attract throngs of spectators to come watch. This ticket money could also be considered no small sum of revenue!
After today, Lang Lei's existence would clearly carry a certain celebrity effect; a Soul Grandmaster possessing two Thousand-Year Spirit Rings defeating a well-configured Soul Elder team—this in itself was a huge gimmick. People naturally gravitated toward the strong, and Lang Lei's matches would definitely command a core group of regular spectators, and not a small one at that.
And another thing: if Lang Lei really stopped coming to the Great Soul Arena to participate in soul duels after finishing this chat with him, then his own job would basically be finished.
First of all, the shareholders behind the scenes definitely wouldn't let the Great Soul Arena off the hook for offending such a behemoth as Lang Lei, and there was a high probability he would become the sacrificial lamb they offered up to apologize to Lang Lei.
"If it's just this, there was completely no need to invite me here, right?" The corners of Lang Lei's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile while he also shrugged his shoulders, seeming somewhat baffled by the situation before him.
He went on to say, "Setting up whatever entertainment projects is entirely your own business; no matter what I say, I wouldn't meddle that widely. After all, this is your territory, and I have no qualifications to point fingers."
Even though he felt a bit of regret in his heart at losing a legitimate opportunity to earn Gold Soul Coins, Lang Lei still appeared quite magnanimous.
He had always been a reasonable person; he couldn't possibly harbor resentment toward the Great Soul Arena just because of this tiny matter, right? If he did that, wouldn't he be no different from those unreasonable people? Furthermore, doing so would bring him no benefits whatsoever, and instead make people feel that he was petty and narrow-minded.
"Little brother is broad-minded, this humble one admires you." Seeing this, the soul arena manager hurriedly accompanied a flattering smile and spoke. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, having originally worried that Lang Lei might take his anger out on the Great Soul Arena over this matter, and perhaps even cause him to lose this job of his.
Lang Lei waved his hand and smilingly replied, "The manager flatters me. I just feel there's no need to quibble over such trivial matters." He paused for a moment, then abruptly shifted the topic, "However, to be honest, I still rather prefer the way you looked outside. Please restore it."
Upon hearing this, the smile on the soul arena manager's face instantly stiffened, and he spoke somewhat awkwardly, "L-Little brother is joking again..." The soul arena manager flipped a page of the booklet and then continued, "There is also one final matter..."
"Speak."
Before you continue