"The third round of the martial contest is about to begin, City Lord. Changing contestants at this point might be hard to explain to the Heavenly Thunder Hall," the middle-aged man standing nearby said, his expression worried.
"You needn't concern yourself with this. I'll take care of it shortly." Gu Rentong waved a hand.
"Chu Chen, who's Chu Chen?"
As soon as Gu Rentong finished speaking, someone called out from beyond the low peak. A young disciple of the Heavenly Thunder Hall, dressed in green, walked up the mountainside.
Chu Chen didn't answer. He looked toward Gu Rentong.
"Miss Shi, please wait a moment."
Gu Rentong spoke in a low voice, then went to meet the disciple. After whispering with him, he beckoned to Shi Lan and Chu Chen.
Shi Lan and Chu Chen followed Gu Rentong, along with the Heavenly Thunder Hall disciple, to a massive arena nearly a hundred zhang long and wide and close to two zhang high.
The entire arena had been cast from black iron and engraved with arrays. Shi Lan gave it a few glances and recognized that some of them served to reinforce it.
Thousands of spectators crowded around the arena, their voices rising in a noisy clamor.
One spot in the crowd stood out. A throng packed tightly around a square, raised platform.
Everyone clutched spirit crystals in their hands, their faces alight with excitement. A row of names hung above the platform. Chu Chen's name was prominently displayed at the front, with the odds "one to two" written below it. Another name, Yuan Guanhai, hung beside Chu Chen's.
It was clearly a betting pool, where people could place their bets openly.
Shi Lan vaguely remembered Yuan Guanhai's name. The information she'd read said he was at the peak of the eighth