An Easy, Crushing Victory

At the arena!

Yang Que and Lin Chen stood on the stage, staring each other down!

To Lin Chen, Yang Que was a piece of juicy meat—meat within reach, even if there was not much of it. To Yang Que, Lin Chen was Gold Coins, a great glittering pile of them! His eyes were practically turning into coins themselves!

Once he pulled this off, he would be a little rich. Then he could buy more cultivation pills and healing pills!

They gazed at each other, each seeing something wonderful in the other. The referee saw that both were eager to begin, and the betting had closed. It was time!

"Today's match at the Mercenary Arena pits the leader of the Yanhuang Mercenary Group against the leader of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group! What sparks will fly? Will dragons battle tigers, or will one side crush the other? Let's find out!"

"The match begins now!" The referee's voice had barely faded when Lin Chen summoned his Martial Soul. Clearly, he wanted a quick victory!

"Lin Chen, level 45 Soul Ancestor! Martial Soul: Blood Wolf!"

Martial Soul Possession! Blood-red light flashed. Lin Chen's hair turned crimson, his hands and feet became wolf-like claws, and muscles bulged across his body. Four Soul Rings slowly rose beneath his feet!

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple!

It was a standard Soul Ring Configuration!

As expected of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group's leader! Even his Soul Ring Configuration was standard. The group must have been named after his Martial Soul!

After Lin Chen summoned his Martial Soul, Yang Que remained where he was, calmly sizing him up.

But that was not how it looked to everyone else!

"He hasn't even summoned his Martial Soul," someone in the stands said. "Did the kid get scared witless? Has he given up?"

"Probably. I hear he's only a Soul Elder! Maybe he didn't know how strong the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group's leader was and accepted the challenge without thinking. He's going to lose badly!"

"I heard that fool even bet 45,000 Gold Coins on himself! He'll lose the pants off his back!"

"Heh! Why worry about him? A fool with money to burn is money in our pockets! Haha!"

The spectators erupted when they saw Yang Que standing motionless. They all thought he had frozen in fear!

One man did not agree: the middle-aged man who had bet on Yang Que!

"The kid's so calm. Does he have a way to fight a Soul Ancestor as a Soul Elder? He might be a genius," the man murmured. He had once held a minor position at court, where reading people had been as natural as eating and drinking. After offending someone in officialdom, he had been forced out and registered as a mercenary to make a living. Even then, his enemies had kept pressing him down. Now, despite being a Soul Emperor, he had only 1,000 Gold Coins to spare and was betting in a pool this small! Most Soul Masters with more than five rings would not bother with such a pool. That showed how far he had fallen!

"Hahaha! Scared, kid? Why haven't you summoned your Martial Soul? Given up on a broken pot and decided to smash it?" Lin Chen laughed, mocking Yang Que without realizing danger was upon him!

A smile curled at Yang Que's lips. He slowly raised a hand and beckoned, plainly inviting Lin Chen to come at him!

"If you've given up, get off the stage!" Lin Chen said with a savage grin!

Third Soul Skill: Blood Wolf Palm!

A red palm strike hit Yang Que's position, throwing dust across the stage!

Below the stage, the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group members relaxed when they saw their leader's strike land. The mishap they had feared had not happened. It looked like they had won!

The spectators stared, bewildered. "That's it? It's over already?!"

"No way, he's that weak? If I'd known, I would've gone up there and earned ten points for nothing!"

The referee and the middle-aged man who had bet on Yang Que narrowed their eyes. The same thought rose in both their minds: What a powerful body!

The dust cleared. A tall figure still stood there, unmoving. Yang Que's white robes fluttered around him. If not for the shattered floor, everyone might have thought the palm strike had carried no force at all!

"Is he... a body-refining Soul Master?" Lin Chen was stunned!

The spectators were just as baffled. What was going on?

Yang Que's body refinement had already reached the middle stage of Tendon Punishment. With the Jade-Suppressing Hades Body Art on top of that, taking a Third Soul Skill was easy!

Yang Que grinned. "Is that it? I'll give you one more chance. Use your strongest Soul Skill, or you won't get another chance!"

Lin Chen stared at Yang Que grimly and said through gritted teeth, "I didn't expect you to hide your strength so well! You set a trap for me. After hunting hawks all my life, I've had my eyes pecked by one!"

"Are you sure you want to take my strongest move?!"

Yang Que smiled. "Come at me!"

Watching Yang Que show off, someone in the stands could not help saying, "Isn't that kid too arrogant? He took Leader Lin's Third Soul Skill and thinks victory's in the bag? Now he's giving Leader Lin a free move?"

"He is arrogant! Give a young man one little achievement and he gets full of himself. I thought he had some ability, but he's just a hotheaded fool!"

"Haha, kid, you'd better be ready!" Lin Chen laughed. He had thought he was done for. A Soul Master who could take his Third Soul Skill with his bare body might have reached Tendon Punishment in body refinement, or gone even further. But the kid was a hotheaded fool who wanted to take his strongest move!

The middle-aged man in the stands and the referee both frowned and shook their heads. He was too young after all!

Lin Chen wasted no words and unleashed his Fourth Soul Skill!

Fourth Soul Skill: Wolf Break!

A Thousand-Year Soul Ring slowly appeared. Soul Power from all around streamed toward Lin Chen. This was clearly a charging Soul Skill! In a team battle, releasing it at full power could turn the tide. But was this a team battle? Obviously not!

Yang Que looked at Lin Chen as he charged the skill. In a flash, he used Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps and appeared right behind him!

Under Lin Chen's stunned gaze, Yang Que chuckled and drove a fist into his lower back!

"Aah!" Lin Chen's Soul Skill was interrupted. Its backlash combined with Yang Que's punch, and he spat blood. His face went pale!

The entire arena fell silent!

"Damn! The kid fights dirty! He went straight for a sneak attack!"

"That kid's got a dark heart! He tricked the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group's leader. So why does it feel so satisfying?"

"Heh, this kid's no easy mark either! Looks like my ten thousand Gold Coins are in the bag!" the middle-aged man said with a smile!

"You... you..." Lin Chen pointed at Yang Que, but no matter how long he stammered, he could not finish a sentence!

"You what? Just because I said I'd take your move, I had to do it? You believed me because I said it offhand? How did you become the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group's leader? This is a world where people eat people! How can you be so innocent? Sigh, now you're making me feel bad!" Yang Que put on an innocent face and chuckled!

At Yang Que's words, Lin Chen's eyes rolled back, and he fainted...

"That's it? He can't handle even a little pressure? Sigh, I barely said anything!" Yang Que said, looking thoroughly innocent!

The crowd was speechless. He called that barely saying anything? He'd made the man faint from anger! What a ruthless bastard!

"Leader!" Seeing Lin Chen faint, the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group members rushed onto the stage to help him up!

One young man glared at Yang Que and said viciously, "Kid, the green mountains won't change, and the rivers will keep flowing. We'll meet again!"

"Heh! You're welcome anytime! Come a few more times, and I might even advance to a gold-rank mercenary group!" Yang Que said!

"..." The young man had no reply!

"Shouldn't you announce the result?" Yang Que asked the referee, who still stood there in a daze!

"Oh! The leader of the Yanhuang Mercenary Group wins this match!" The referee raised Yang Que's right hand and shouted!

Sighs swept through the arena!

"I've lost a fortune! I put a whole thousand Gold Coins on the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group!"

"You think that's bad? I put down five thousand!"

"That's nothing! I emptied my coffers and bet twenty thousand! Waaaah! I've lost the underwear off my back!"

"Damn that Blood Wolf Mercenary Group! If their leader couldn't win, why did he get up there? He cost us so much!"

Chaos broke out. A great crowd marched toward the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group's headquarters, clearly looking for trouble!

Yang Que did not care about that. He transferred every point from the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group leader's token to his own, sending his total soaring to 460! His leader's token changed from black to white. He had advanced! Another 540 points and his group would reach gold rank!

He had made a fortune this time: 450 mercenary points and 450,000 Gold Coins! It felt incredible!

With coins practically glittering in his eyes, Yang Que looked toward the betting booth. The man running it shivered. What was that? Did a cold wind just blow past?

Yang Que brought his betting receipt to the counter and handed it to the attendant with a chuckle. "I won! Time to pay up!"

The attendant's face darkened. It was only 450,000 Gold Coins. What was the rush? Did Yang Que think he would run away? "Young Master Yang, I'll fetch your money now. Please wait a moment!"

A middle-aged man came up beside Yang Que. "Cash mine in too."

He handed the attendant a receipt as he spoke!

Recognizing him, the attendant nodded quickly. "So it's Brother Huang! I didn't expect you to bet on this young master too. Your eye is as sharp as ever!"

The middle-aged man laughed. "Not at all! Young Master Yang is simply strong. I was lucky enough to make a little money off it!"

"If your eye weren't sharp, you wouldn't have bet on Young Master Yang! You're still the same man you were back then!" the attendant said, flattering him!

"All right, enough flattery. Go get the money!" the middle-aged man said with a smile!

Yang Que turned to the man beside him. "And you are?"

When Yang Que asked, the man nodded politely. "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Huang Dabiao! What should I call you, young master?"

"Oh, Brother Dabiao! You can keep calling me Young Master Yang," Yang Que said with a smile!

Before long, the attendant brought out their winnings and handed each man his share. As they left, he added, "Thank you for coming! Please visit again!" He had given Yang Que a gold card and Huang Dabiao a black card!

Huang Dabiao was surprised. A gold card?! No one could get one without a deposit of 500,000 Gold Soul Coins! But he had seen his share of the world. A gold card was not enough to make him lose his composure!

Interesting. There's more to that betting booth than meets the eye!

"Young Master Yang, shall we find a teahouse and sit down?" Huang Dabiao asked!

"Gladly! After you!" Yang Que said!

"After you!"