An Arrogant Bet (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Old Lady Zhou's expression tightened instantly. "To have cultivated a Talisman Martial Soul to the Soul Elder realm at under twelve years of age, I am indeed quite interested."

"However, Mu Jin, you should stop trying to gild your own lily. Feng Piaoling just happened to be assigned to your class; you can hardly claim to be her teacher."

Although Mu Jin was no longer young, she could certainly be described as youthful and beautiful. She shook her head with a smile:

"Oh, so you mean to say that Teacher Zhou is determined to have this student of mine? But setting aside the fact that class assignments were already finalized by the academy, even if you were truly willing to teach, she might not be willing to join your class. After all, the fearsome reputation of you, Old Lady Zhou, has long since spread throughout the academy."

Zhou Yi's face turned cold. "Are you provoking me?"

The smile on Mu Jin's face vanished as well. "And what if I am? Don't you pride yourself on being an excellent teacher? I'd like to see how you intend to fight me this time. When I heard yesterday that Dai Huabin from your class lost to Feng Piaoling from mine, I felt wonderful."

"Ever since that time I begged you, yet you still expelled my younger brother, I haven't felt this happy in a long time."

It was at this moment that Feng Piaoling walked into the Soul Fighting Arena with Jiang Nannan.

Zhou Yi paid no mind to Mu Jin's repeated provocations. Instead, she stared in Feng Piaoling's direction, pondered for a moment, and then her expression suddenly turned cunning. With a curl of her lips, she said, "Dare to make a bet with me?"

Mu Jin was taken aback. "A bet? What kind of bet?"

Zhou Yi finally revealed her objective. "A bet on whether I can persuade Feng Piaoling to join Class One and be personally guided by me. If you lose, you must agree to let Feng Piaoling transfer classes. As for the academy, I will handle them myself."

"Have you gone mad?" Mu Jin was both shocked and furious.

"What, are you afraid? If you're scared, stay away from me; don't let me smell that nauseating perfume on you." Zhou Yi used her customary goading tactic.

Mu Jin fell for it. "Who's afraid? A bet is a bet, but if you lose, what then?"

Zhou Yi replied, "If I lose, I will give you a Spirit Bone."

"A Spirit Bone? You really are going all out, you old hag. But I don't want your Spirit Bone. If you lose, have Fan Yu forge a close-combat Soul Tool for me."

Mu Jin let out a cold snort, proposing the same wager as the one in the original story during the freshman assessment tournament, when Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, and Xiao Xiao fought against Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun'er.

Love-struck brains and love triangles—those who know, know.

Zhou Yi frowned. "The one betting with you is me, not him."

"That is your own business; I have already stated my terms," Mu Jin sneered.

"Fine, I accept on his behalf." A tall, middle-aged man strode toward them.

He was about 1.8 meters tall with broad shoulders and a wide frame. He wore simple cloth garments, and his arms were exceptionally thick and sturdy, the exposed muscles resembling granite. Just standing there, he exuded a mountain-like sense of weight.

His identity was none other than the Fan Yu mentioned by Mu Jin—Zhou Yi's husband, the teacher of the former Sun Moon Empire Crown Prince Xu He, and the object of Mu Jin's unrequited love.

Seeing her beloved appear, Mu Jin's expression changed instantly. Her previous toughness vanished without a trace, and she stepped back, pale-faced, looking at him with reddened eyes: "You would actually team up with her to bully me."

Fearing that Zhou Yi might misunderstand, Fan Yu frowned. "You were the one who kept provoking her. If you want to bet, do it; if not, walk away. Also, don't forget, Zhou Yi is my wife."

"Fine... very well. Today I will take this bet with her. Back then, between me and Zhou Yi, you chose her, and I lost. But that doesn't mean my student will make the same choice as you. Don't believe me? Let's wait and see."

Mu Jin whipped her head around, her hands gripping the railing at the front of the Soul Fighting Arena tightly. Her eyes, blurred by tears, looked toward the competition field in the assessment area.

The Soul Fighting Arena was too noisy; Feng Piaoling had no idea that Zhou Yi had already made a wager with Mu Jin.

After entering the arena, he parted ways with Jiang Nannan and went to the waiting room to sign up and register.

Xu Sanshi had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing Feng Piaoling arrive, he said with full confidence, "I thought you weren't coming."

"It seems you are quite confident?" Seeing that Xu Sanshi was a completely different person compared to when he had defeated Dai Huabin yesterday, Feng Piaoling secretly began to grow vigilant.

"Hmph, if I didn't have confidence, how would I dare to place such a large stake against you?"

Before coming here, Xu Sanshi had already experienced Huo Yuhao's Spirit Detection Sharing. It had to be said, it was an incredibly powerful support skill.

With the assistance of Huo Yuhao's Spirit Detection Sharing, Bei Bei, whose strength was originally on par with his, was completely outmatched.

"Then let's give it your all." Though vigilant, Feng Piaoling wasn't overly worried.

No matter how many trump cards the opponent had, he had more than enough ways to overcome them.

Meanwhile, in a corner at the front of the Soul Fighting Arena, Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao stood among the crowd.

"Yuhao, how is it? Can you handle it?" Bei Bei looked at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao activated his Spirit Detection to sense the area and nodded. "It shouldn't be a problem. At this position, as long as Senior Xu Sanshi doesn't move more than fifty meters away from me, I should be able to maintain the detection sharing."

Because Huo Yuhao was already a Soul Grand Master, his spiritual power coverage was much higher than when he had first enrolled in the original story.

Bei Bei nodded. "That's good. I've already instructed Xu Sanshi about this; he will try his best to keep the combat circle close to our side."

Tang Ya listened to their conversation from the side and said hesitantly, "Feng Piaoling's strength is so monstrous. Even with little Yuhao's assistance, can Xu Sanshi really defeat him?"

"That will have to be left to fate." Bei Bei wasn't entirely certain himself.

After all, to this day, they still didn't know what kind of soul skill Feng Piaoling had obtained after absorbing the five-thousand-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear as his third soul ring.

Huo Yuhao's eyes rolled, and he said, "Senior Brother Bei, Teacher Xiao Ya, perhaps I have a way."

"What way?" Both of them looked at him simultaneously.

Huo Yuhao said, "This morning, after absorbing the morning purple qi and practicing the Purple Demon Eye, I discovered that when the Purple Demon Eye is combined with my Spirit Eye Martial Soul, I can launch a spiritual attack. If I can launch it while Feng Piaoling is off-guard, it might create a fleeting opportunity for Senior Xu Sanshi to win."

"That would carry significant risk for you, wouldn't it?" Bei Bei frowned. Generally speaking, attacks involving the spiritual realm were constrained by the spiritual power of both parties.

With Feng Piaoling's soul power so far exceeding Huo Yuhao's, there was no guarantee he wouldn't suffer a backlash.

"As long as I can help Senior Brother Bei's friend, I am willing to risk the backlash."

Huo Yuhao's words were nothing if not righteous.

But to Tang Ya, who was listening nearby, it felt like something was off.