Near Vermilion, One Becomes Red; Near Ink, One Becomes Black!

Qin Qi stepped down from the arena and returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy's temporary lounge.

Ye Lingling poured him a cup of tea, Dugu Yan brought him some food, and the Shi brothers kneaded his shoulders.

"Qin Qi, what do you think of Elephant Armored Academy's strength?"

Dugu Yan asked.

"They're quite strong. That guy called Huyan Li can really take a beating."

"He endured five whole minutes of my pummeling. His defense isn't any weaker than Shi Mo and Shi Mo's."

The disdainful smile vanished from Qin Qi's face as he spoke somewhat seriously.

"I won so easily this time entirely because that big fool got blinded by rage and charged straight at me."

"If not for that, it would have taken me some time to win."

Qin Qi looked down on his opponents in battle, but strategically and tactically, he took them seriously.

"The Diamond Mammoth—a martial soul with both strength and defense. It really isn't easy to deal with."

Xue Beng nodded from the side in deep agreement.

He was Heaven Dou Royal Academy's seventh member this time, though he was only there to make up the numbers. If asked to fight, he would surrender immediately.

"Blazing Fire is fighting Thunderclap right now, while Godwind is fighting Skywater. Who will our next opponent be?"

Dugu Yan rubbed her chin, a thoughtful look appearing in her eyes.

"Probably Thunderclap or Godwind."

Yu Tianheng spoke up.

"I'm not surprised you picked Thunderclap. After all, that's your family's academy. But why did you choose Godwind over Skywater?"

Dugu Yan asked curiously.

"Because Skywater is all girls. They'll definitely lose."

Yu Tianheng stated as though it were only natural.

"Fuck off. Who says girls are bound to lose? I'm betting on Skywater. Five hundred gold soul coins. You dare take that bet?"

Dugu Yan was immediately displeased. Why did girls have to lose? Was he looking down on girls?

"You're on."

Yu Tianheng did not like gambling, but he liked competing, and that applied to his judgment as well.

"What you're doing is bad. It's not something good students should do."

Qin Qi spoke from the side.

"Mhm, mhm, mhm."

Ye Lingling nodded. She also felt gambling was bad, but being socially anxious, she did not dare speak up.

"We're a team, so if we're playing, we play together. I'm betting on Skywater."

Qin Qi said with a grin. He had this extra cash in the bag.

"We're betting on Skywater too."

The Shi brothers joined in as well. They could not tell who would win, but they knew that following Qin Qi could not be wrong.

"Ah."

Ye Lingling looked at the group helplessly and sighed. Then she leaned close to Qin Qi's ear and whispered something.

"Lingling wants to bet on Skywater too. She's putting down one thousand gold soul coins. Old Yu, are you taking it?"

Qin Qi looked at Yu Tianheng and asked.

"So it's only three thousand gold soul coins in total. What's that? I'll take it!"

"I'm betting on Godwind!"

Yu Tianheng said stubbornly.

"I'm betting on Godwind too. One thousand gold soul coins!"

Xue Beng joined in as well.

At that moment, a server delivering drinks walked in and happened to hear them.

He was a little speechless. Was there really not a single good student among this entire group?

The two matches outside ended quickly, and the winners were decided.

Blazing Fire Academy and Thunderclap Academy fought to a draw, while Skywater Academy defeated Godwind Academy.

"Hmph, hmph, hmph. Who said women were inferior to men? I won this time, didn't I?"

"Pay up, pay up. Don't even think about welching on the bet."

Dugu Yan immediately put on a smug expression, waving her little hand back and forth with extreme arrogance.

"Feng Xiaotian, that big idiot. Useless at everything, a complete waste."

Yu Tianheng cursed inwardly, then paid Qin Qi and the others as agreed in the bet.

"Although Feng Xiaotian really is a big idiot, don't underestimate him."

"That brat was hiding his strength. He's probably planning to ambush me."

Qin Qi had watched the entire battle. Feng Xiaotian had clearly still had the strength to fight at the end, yet he had deliberately surrendered.

He guessed that Feng Xiaotian was conserving his strength so that he could ruthlessly catch him off guard when they faced each other.

There were no elimination rounds in the Academy Exchange Tournament. The drawing of lots only decided the matchups; everyone still had to fight through a full round.

There would also be team battles in the second round, so there was a high chance Feng Xiaotian was deliberately concealing his abilities.

"Forget that. It's our turn again. Let's go draw lots."

Dugu Yan was delighted to have won money. Holding Qin Qi's hand, she skipped out with him.

Ye Lingling followed behind Qin Qi and Dugu Yan, carrying the heaviest thousand Gold Soul Coins.

She felt that this was wrong, that she was being led astray—but the clinking sound of Gold Soul Coins really was so pleasant.

The group went outside and drew lots. This time, their opponent was Thunderclap Academy, whose entire team was above level thirty.

They had truly taken internal competition to the extreme just to win!

Their captain was Yu Tianxin, one of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Twin Stars who stood alongside Yu Tianheng!

"Let me go first this time."

Yu Tianheng loosened up and stepped forward, preparing to head onto the arena, but Qin Qi grabbed him after just one step.

"I know you want to go, but please, leave this one to me."

Yu Tianheng looked at Qin Qi solemnly and made the request with utmost seriousness.

"No, I don't want to go up. We're just about to open another round of bets—betting on how many opponents you can last against."

"Want to place a bet?"

Qin Qi shook his head. He was not trying to compete with Yu Tianheng for the chance to fight; he was merely asking whether Yu Tianheng wanted to bet.

"..."

"As your teammate, I'm about to fight the enemy, yet you're placing bets here? You've gone too far!"

"I'm betting on myself to take down all seven! One thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

Yu Tianheng was utterly furious. He felt that Qin Qi and the others simply had no respect for him.

After angrily placing his bet, he strode onto the arena. His first opponent was not Yu Tianxin, but a student from Thunderclap Academy.

"Yu—"

That Thunderclap Academy student had wanted to strike up a conversation, but before he could finish, Yu Tianheng instantly took him down with a Thunder Dragon Claw.

"Next!"

Yu Tianheng called out domineeringly.

"That kid really got to show off."

Qin Qi remarked from beneath the arena.

"Don't tell me he's really going to take down all seven?"

Dugu Yan had bet on Yu Tianheng taking down six. Although they often called Yu Tianheng useless and said they wanted to kick him off the team, he was actually very strong.

Looking across the younger generation, there were truly only a few who could face him head-on.

"Take down all seven, my ass. Yu Tianxin is about evenly matched with him, but he's already spent physical strength and soul power in the previous fights."

"In the end, he definitely won't be Yu Tianxin's match. I'll sweep the board this round—huge profit."

Qin Qi laughed twice. The battle was entirely within his control; as the bookmaker, he was guaranteed to make a profit this time.

As the battle continued, the situation unfolded exactly as Qin Qi had predicted. The students of Thunderclap Academy fell one after another.

At last, Yu Tianxin stepped onto the arena. The true battle was about to begin!