Wang Family Old Ancestor!

"Nonsense!"

Facing a thousand accusing fingers, Wang Lie abruptly stood, the pressure of Golden Core Great Perfection bursting forth, forcibly suppressing the surrounding clamor.

"This Guest Official was a rogue cultivator I recruited overseas. I had no idea he practiced demonic arts!"

"Besides, who's to say your Zhang Family didn't use some sorcery to deliberately frame us?!"

These words, though forceful, seemed utterly feeble before the pool of black water still reeking of foul stench.

None of the cultivators present were fools.

A Foundation Establishment Late Stage Demon Cultivator, wandering around your Wang Family all day, and you, a Golden Core Family Head, couldn't tell?

Who were they trying to fool?

"Shameless to the extreme!"

"So this is the caliber of the Wang Family? Who would dare do business with them from now on?"

"Exactly. Can't handle a loss, and on top of that, colluding with the Demonic Path. Jian Shou has utterly disgraced us Dongshan Cultivators!"

The tide of public opinion had now completely turned in favor of the Zhang Family.

Those rogue cultivators who had previously bet against the Zhang Family and wagered on the Wang Family, though heartbroken over their Spirit Stones, now switched their stance under the weight of righteousness, launching a torrent of condemnation against the Wang Family.

Wang Lie listened to the accusations around him, trembling with rage, the killing intent in his eyes nearly solidifying into substance.

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

"Continue! The Arena continues!"

With the precedent of that black-robed Demon Cultivator, the atmosphere of the subsequent matches grew even more eerie and grim.

On the Wang Family's side, morale had clearly taken a hit.

They had originally believed that with a powerful expert backing them, victory over the Zhang Family was a foregone conclusion. But after two consecutive losses and being saddled with the stigma of "colluding with the Demonic Path," the remaining Wang Family clan members and Guest Officials felt a pang of guilt.

In contrast, the Zhang Family's momentum was soaring.

Zhang Song's single sword strike had not only slain the Demon Cultivator but also severed the last shred of fear lingering in the hearts of the Zhang Family clan members.

Third match.

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

Yet, the moment he stepped onto the stage, he was defeated in an instant!

Another victory for the Zhang Family!

Fourth match. The Wang Family finally won one.

It was a direct-line elder of the Wang Family. To secure victory, he didn't hesitate to swallow a "Blood Burning Demonic Pill" on stage, enduring the cost of shattered meridians to barely triumph over a Zhang Family opponent.

But even with the win, as that elder was carried off the stage, foaming at the mouth and limp as a pile of mud, there was no cheer from the Wang Family side.

A bitter victory was worse than defeat.

Fifth match... Sixth match...

The competition proceeded at a rapid pace, with hardly any evenly matched stalemates.

The Zhang Family participants were not only well-equipped but also highly flexible in their tactics.

They fought when they could win, kited with their equipment advantage when they couldn't, and if all else failed, they threw talismans, pushing the "cowardly playstyle" to its extreme.

As for the Wang Family, though each fighter charged in as if fueled by gunpowder, even swallowing those red pills before every match, they still lost more than they won under the absolute gap in equipment and psychological pressure.

When the gong signaling the end of the seventh match rang out.

The scoreboard froze at a suffocating tally.

Five to two.

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

Under the ten-match, six-win rule, the Zhang Family needed only one more victory to seal the deal, claiming the six million Spirit Stone earth-shattering bet and the Wang Family's Spiritual Vein!

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

The spectators below stared at the scoreboard, their expressions complex.

Who could have imagined that the Zhang Family, once on the decline and seen by all as a lamb to the slaughter, would actually pull off such a stunning reversal?

"The Zhang Family Young Master truly has a fine hand."

Someone looked toward Zhang Chen, standing calmly at the front of the Zhang Family ranks with a serene expression, their eyes filled with awe.

From the initial show of weakness, to the later equipment dominance, and then the Thunderfire breaking the demonic arts—

It all seemed to have been calculated within this young man's scheme.

On the high platform.

Wang Lie stared fixedly at the scoreboard, his eyes blood-red!

Lost?

Several years of meticulous planning, even colluding with the Demonic Path and draining the family's foundation... and it all ends in defeat like this?!

No!

Impossible!!

If they lose, handing over the Spiritual Vein and three million Spirit Stones will cripple the Wang Family!

"I implore the Old Ancestor to act!"

RUMBLE—!

As Wang Lie's voice transmission summoned him, the already overcast sky suddenly darkened even further.

A terrifying pressure swept in from the northern sea. Its intensity far surpassed the Golden Core Stage, like a mountain pressing down on everyone's hearts.

"This is... a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor?!"

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

Every cultivator present, whether Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining, felt their legs go weak under this pressure. Many fell to their knees on the spot, trembling uncontrollably.

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

An old man in a black robe, with white hair and beard, stepped through the void.

With each step he took, ripples spread across the empty space beneath his feet.

The Wang Family Old Ancestor, Wang Jiuyin!

This Old Monster, who had been in seclusion for a hundred years, was now wreathed in black aura, his gaze merciless, as if looking down at a swarm of ants.

"A bunch of Wastes, can't even handle such a trivial matter. You force this Old Man to come personally."