They reached the top floor.
The atmosphere had changed somewhat. Most notably, there were only a little over a hundred seats in the audience area.
Everyone who could enter this place was an elite from one field or another.
They either possessed a certain level of wealth, had special connections, or had received a personal invitation.
Only people like that were qualified to enter the top floor and watch the matches.
Apart from the hundred-plus ordinary seats, there were also three levels of circular VIP rooms supported by bluish-white stone pillars carved with dragons.
Each VIP room had an entire wall of huge floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing guests to enjoy a clearer view of the exciting fights in the ring below.
Golden lacquered wooden dragons and phoenixes lay across the ceiling, so lifelike they seemed ready to leap out.
Three enormous LCD screens hung in the center, while several directors, cameramen, and other related personnel constantly moved around the venue.
In the ring, a high-level match had just ended.
Not long after Feijizai entered with Song Ren, a sharply dressed waiter jogged over.
"Feijizai, you're in luck. Mrs. Wen came here today. After seeing you, she sent invitation cards to you and your people."
Song Ren looked over in confusion.
Feijizai was stunned as well, but a faint blush soon spread across his face. His tone turned slightly ingratiating. "Good, good. We'll head over right away."
Song Ren asked, "Mrs. Wen is..."
Feijizai sounded somewhat excited. "Mrs. Wen is the wife of the late newspaper tycoon Wen Zhaoren. In the VIP section of the top-floor boxing arena, she's one of the biggest money sources."
At this point, he suddenly leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"Mrs. Wen is very beautiful, but I've heard she likes handsome men. Most of the time, though, she's lusting after the top fighters in the ring. So tell me, she suddenly invited me—does that mean she's taken a fancy to me?"
Song Ren glanced at the young man, who could only be considered ordinary. At most, he was a little clever.
After saying that, Feijizai laughed first. "I'm just joking. Compared to taking a fancy to me, she probably noticed you, bro."
"But it is strange. You haven't even fought in the ring before."
Mrs. Wen's VIP room was on the third floor. Two sharply dressed bodyguards stood guard outside, their eyes carrying a hint of sharpness.
After entering, Song Ren noticed that there were more than one or two people inside the VIP room.
The room, over thirty square meters in size, contained sofas, coffee tables, an LCD television, a platter of cut fruit, and several bottles of foreign liquor he did not recognize.
There were four people inside—three men and one woman.
Two of them were the cold and gorgeous wealthy woman Tong Peipei, whom he had encountered before, and Du Youbang, who should have been listed under the name of the major financier Xu Jiaqi.
Of the other two, one was a burly dark-skinned foreigner, while the other was an energetic old man with white hair and a youthful face.
Tong Peipei's eyes glistened as she gazed at Song Ren. "It seems we're rather fated. We've met again so soon."
"If you don't mind, just call me Sister Peipei."
The moment Tong Peipei finished speaking, Du Youbang and the muscular foreigner standing on either side of her both showed obvious changes in expression.
The white-haired, youthful-looking old man merely nodded gently at Song Ren with a kind expression.
Song Ren returned his smile. "Sister Peipei."
Feijizai also bowed and nodded obsequiously. "Pei..."
"Hmm?" The gentle smile on Tong Peipei's face vanished at once. She furrowed her brows and looked over.
Feijizai immediately shrank his neck. "Mrs. Wen."
"Hmm." Tong Peipei nodded perfunctorily.
At that moment, the muscular foreigner suddenly took the initiative to walk over.
His skin was so dark that it seemed to gleam. Several dreadlocks were tied at the back of his head, and a tattoo resembling an eagle totem ran from the side of his face to his forehead.
He took two or three steps to Song Ren, but did not stop. Instead, he moved even closer, coming within half a foot of him.
The foreigner was burly and about 1.97 meters tall. With muscles covering his entire body, his dark, gleaming biceps were almost as thick as Song Ren's thighs.
He lowered his head and stared at Song Ren, his eyes full of provocation. "Who!"
"..." Song Ren ignored him.
Instead, he sidestepped and looked toward Tong Peipei, who had not stopped the foreigner and even seemed somewhat expectant.
"Sister Peipei, is he one of your men? What's wrong with him?"
Tong Peipei did not speak. Du Youbang suddenly cut in with amusement. "He's greeting you in a friendly manner and asking who you are."
Song Ren merely raised his brows and looked at Tong Peipei.
Tong Peipei gave him a faint smile as well, seemingly waiting to see how he would respond.
The foreigner clearly could not stand being ignored. He lowered his head and shouted provocatively in Song Ren's face.
"Who!"
"Who!"
"Who!!!"
"What the hell?" Song Ren cursed as he blocked his ears with his fingers.
Then he retreated another step.
With his brows slightly furrowed, he tilted his head and looked at Tong Peipei again. "Sister Peipei, did you invite us here just to make fools of us?"
Tong Peipei sat on the sofa in a dazzling fiery-red dress, crossing her legs with great interest.
"Of course not. Valerio is merely a little wild by nature."
"But he isn't a bad person."
Song Ren stared at her deep eyes for a moment. He confirmed the trace of malicious encouragement in them. She seemed impatient to see him make a move.
He turned around decisively.
At the same time, he slapped Feijizai, who had been standing there foolishly the entire time. "Let's go. Stop gawking. Do you like being treated like a monkey? This woman clearly has something wrong with her head."
"Huh?" Feijizai belatedly came back to his senses. Instead of following immediately, he bowed and apologized. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Wen. Bro was only joking."
"Damn it, what a nutcase." Song Ren muttered a curse and turned around, intending to leave on his own.
But he had only taken one step.
A hand had already grabbed him by the shoulder from behind.
Valerio had put on a smug expression. He bared his teeth and was about to shout again. "Wh—"
Bang!!!
Before he could finish the syllable, a sharp pain exploded in his abdomen.
The muscles in his lower abdomen felt as though they had been struck by an iron hammer.
His entire body suddenly arched backward, his heels lifting off the ground first, followed by his toes.
Song Ren kicked him more than three meters away, but the white-haired, youthful-looking old man, who had stood as steady as a pine, pressed one hand against his back and forcibly brought him to a stop.
Song Ren withdrew his leg and looked at Tong Peipei, who remained unmoved.
"Sister Peipei."
"Learn manners before anything else."
"Your fighter seems not to understand that. I'll teach him for you."
As he spoke, he turned around. His gaze paused for an instant on the white-haired, youthful-looking old man before he indifferently withdrew it.
He opened the door and left without hesitation.
Feijizai recovered from his shock. Without time to bow his head to Tong Peipei again, he hurriedly apologized and chased after Song Ren.
Valerio clutched his stomach and retched painfully. That kick had been truly vicious. The only reason he had not vomited blood was that his muscles were sturdy enough.
After taking a long while to recover his breath, Valerio's face twisted with rage. The eagle totem on his left forehead looked as though it had spread its wings.
He roared repeatedly, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
Du Youbang stood silently beside Tong Peipei, finding the scene rather amusing.
Tong Peipei had remained unmoved, staring blankly at the doorway. Then, the faint smile at the corner of her lips gradually faded.
She reached back and grabbed the expensive bottle of foreign liquor from the table, then abruptly hurled it.
Crash!!!
The bottle shattered. Scarlet liquor mixed with the blood from Valerio's forehead and splattered everywhere.
"Shut up!!!"
The icy, nearly emotionless shout rang from Tong Peipei's lips, painted with blood-red lipstick.
For a moment, aside from the white-haired, youthful-looking old man, who had followed Tong Peipei the longest, even Du Youbang, who had been standing to the side enjoying the show, was left stunned.