"Hurry up, Brother Luo! If we're late, the show will be over, and we'll regret it!" Duan Yehu urged. Qian Tianbo's match with Lin Chang was first thing that morning. The four of them had agreed the night before to watch Qian Tianbo make a fool of himself. Yin Quanyin called from the side, "Old Luo, you know Lin Chang, don't you? Why not have a quiet word with him? Get him to sign a life-and-death agreement with Qian Tianbo and teach that bastard a brutal lesson!" Luo Qian shook his head. He was nowhere near as optimistic as the others.
Once Luo Qian was ready, the four set off. The Heaven Lake Martial Review was the main event. Thirty-six arenas had been built around Heaven Lake from exceptionally hard jade. Contestants could fight on the platforms or take to the sky. Even in the air, however, each match had its own allotted space; no one could stray into another arena.
By the time Luo Qian and the others arrived, the matches had yet to begin. Spectators clustered together, each group cheering on its favored contestant. Some even argued until their faces turned red over differing opinions. Luo Qian's odds had originally been pitifully low, but after he drove Qian Tianbo back with one punch and easily took another of his blows, Qi Ren's gambling houses promptly adjusted them. Now Luo Qian, formidable on the outside but hollow within, was among the favorites to win. It left him thoroughly depressed: a fine chance to make money had vanished for nothing. At the old odds, he could have bet heavily on himself and made a killing. At the current odds, there was hardly any profit in it.
Amid the clamor, celestial music drifted from the eastern sky. A staircase of golden