Wang Family's Old Ancestor!

"Utter nonsense!"

Facing a thousand fingers pointed at him, Wang Lie sprang to his feet. The pressure of Golden Core Great Perfection erupted from him, forcibly silencing the murmurs around them.

"This Guest Official is a Rogue Cultivator I recruited overseas. I had no idea he was practicing demonic arts!"

"Besides, who knows whether your Zhang Family used some demonic trick to frame us on purpose?!"

His words were forceful, but in front of that pool of foul-smelling black water that was still bubbling,

they sounded so feeble and hollow.

None of the cultivators present were fools.

A Demon Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Late Stage had been wandering around your Wang Family all day, and you, the Golden Core Family Head, never noticed?

Who did he think he was kidding?

"Utterly shameless!"

"So the Wang Family is this kind of outfit. Who'll dare do business with them from now on?"

"Exactly! They can't accept a loss, and now they're colluding with the Demonic Path too. They've disgraced all the Dongshan Cultivators!"

At that moment, public opinion swung completely in the Zhang Family's favor.

The Rogue Cultivators who had written off the Zhang Family and bet on the Wang Family were pained to lose their Spirit Stones, but in the face of righteousness, they too turned their guns on the Wang Family, tearing into them with scathing criticism.

Hearing the accusations around him, Wang Lie trembled with rage. The killing intent in his eyes nearly solidified.

"What...? Are you trying to disrupt the Arena?"

"Keep going! The Arena match continues!"

After what had happened with the black-robed Demon Cultivator, the atmosphere at the matches that followed grew even more eerie and murderous.

The Wang Family's morale was visibly low.

They had thought victory over the Zhang Family was all but assured with a master on their side. Instead, they had lost two matches in a row and earned themselves the accusation of "colluding with the Demonic Path." The remaining Wang Clan Members and Guest Officials couldn't help feeling uneasy.

By contrast, the Zhang Family's momentum was unstoppable.

Zhang Song's sword had not only slain the Demon Cultivator; it had also cut away the last trace of fear in the hearts of the Zhang Family's members.

Third match.

The Wang Family sent out a Guest Official skilled in poison.

But he had barely stepped onto the Arena before he was soundly defeated!

Another win for the Zhang Family!

Fourth match. The Wang Family finally won one.

A direct-line elder of the Wang Family had swallowed a "Blood Burning Demonic Pill" on the Arena, willing to suffer shattered meridians for victory. He managed a hard-fought win over one of the Zhang Family's opponents.

But even after winning, there was no cheering from the Wang Family's side as they watched the elder being carried away, foaming at the mouth and limp as a heap of mud.

A bitter victory was no better than a defeat.

Fifth match... sixth match...

The matches proceeded at a breakneck pace, with almost no drawn-out battles between evenly matched opponents.

The Zhang Family's fighters were not only superbly equipped, but also employed extremely flexible tactics.

If they could win, they fought. If they couldn't, they used their superior equipment to keep moving. If all else failed, they threw Talismans, taking the "sneaky" style of fighting to its utmost.

The Wang Family's fighters, on the other hand, fought like they had firecrackers lit under them. Before every match, each of them even swallowed one of those red pills. But under the overwhelming disparity in equipment and the pressure on their minds, they still lost far more often than they won.

When the gong rang to signal the end of the seventh match,

the score on the board settled at a breathtaking figure.

Five to two.

Five wins for the Zhang Family, two for the Wang Family.

Under the best-of-ten, first-to-six rules, the Zhang Family needed just one more win to secure victory, claim the staggering six-million-Spirit-Stone wager, and seize the Wang Family's Spiritual Vein!

"It's over... The Wang Family is finished."

The spectators below the Arena stared at the score, their expressions complicated.

Who could have guessed that the Zhang Family, which had been in decline and was seen by everyone as a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, would truly pull off such a stunning reversal?

"Young Master of the Zhang Family, what a brilliant hand."

Someone looked toward Zhang Chen, who had stood at the front of the Zhang Family's group the entire time, his expression calm as still water. Their eyes were full of respect.

From feigning weakness at the start, to overwhelming them with superior equipment, to using Thunderfire to break demonic arts—

it all seemed to have been part of this young man's calculations.

On the high platform,

Wang Lie stared fixedly at the score, his eyes bloodred!

They'd lost?

He had plotted carefully for years, even colluding with the Demonic Path and draining the family's foundations... and now he'd lost just like that?!

No!

He couldn't!!

If they lost, handing over the Spiritual Vein and three million Spirit Stones would deal a crippling blow to the Wang Family!

"Please, Old Ancestor, take action!"

Rumble—!

As Wang Lie sent out a summons, the already gloomy sky suddenly darkened further.

A terrifying pressure swept in from the northern sea.

It far surpassed Golden Core Stage pressure, like a mountain appearing out of nowhere and bearing down on everyone's hearts.

"Is that... a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor?!"

"The Wang Family's Nascent Soul Old Ancestor really came?!"

Every cultivator present, whether at Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining, felt their legs go weak beneath that pressure. Many even dropped straight to their knees, trembling.

The clouds to the north were torn apart by an invisible giant hand.

An old man dressed in a black robe, his hair and beard completely white, strode through the air.

With every step he took, ripples spread through the empty air beneath his feet.

The Wang Family's Old Ancestor, Wang Jiuyin!

This ancient monster, who had been in seclusion for a hundred years, was now surrounded by swirling black energy. His gaze was cold and merciless, as though he were looking at a swarm of ants.

"A pack of good-for-nothings. You couldn't even handle such a small matter, so now I have to come out myself."