The Wager

As the elimination rounds began, the entire academy bustled with activity again, even more so than over the past few days.

At the Assessment Zone, not only had all the remaining freshmen arrived, but many upperclassmen with no classes had also come over to join the excitement.

The spectator stands teemed with people, the hum of conversation rising and falling like the tide. Outside the Assessment Zone stood a row of academy teachers, some thirty in all, their expressions solemn. Clearly, they attached considerable importance to these elimination rounds.

The contestants who had made the Top 64-over two hundred people-stood in an open area, waiting to draw lots for their matchups.

Soon, the results of the draw were announced.

First match: Nezha, Ning Tian, and Nanmen Yun'er of Freshman Class Nine.

Against Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao of Freshman Class One.

On the elevated viewing platform.

Zhou Yi stood quietly on the platform, surveying the matches about to begin below. Freshman Class One had been the biggest winner in the round-robin tournament, but now that the elimination rounds had begun, students with formidable individual strength were starting to reveal their potential and prowess. She knew perfectly well that the truly tough battles only began now.

"Teacher Zhou, are you looking for your seeded team?"

An amused voice came from behind her. Zhou Yi turned her head and saw Mu Jin approaching in slender-heeled ankle boots, his long, chestnut waves swaying lightly over his shoulders. His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes held undisguised smugness.

Mu Jin stopped beside her and lowered his voice, his tone brimming with delight at her misfortune. "I just checked the draw. What a coincidence—the seeded team you picked happens to be facing our class's seeded team. Over there, in Assessment Zone Five. Who do you think will win?"

Zhou Yi's gaze immediately sharpened.

She stared at Mu Jin's smiling face for two breaths before saying coldly, "Mu Jin, do you think your students are certain to win?"

Mu Jin smiled and shook his head, his tone airy. "Not at all. Nothing is absolute, after all. However-"

He tilted his head, casting a sidelong glance at Zhou Yi through his narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes, and the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened.

"I haven't heard of any particularly outstanding talents in your class this year. At the very least, none above rank thirty, right? What a shame."

Zhou Yi looked at Mu Jin, her eyes growing colder still. "Mu Jin, are you here to provoke me?"

The false smile on Mu Jin's face vanished instantly. He raised his chin, his voice turning abruptly shrill. "So what if I am? Doesn't your Class One have such a high advancement rate? I'd like to see how many of your students make the final eight. You only raise that so-called advancement rate by expelling students with poor talent!"

He paused, his tone dripping with contempt.

"Zhou Yi, I'm truly ashamed to be associated with someone like you. When the draw ended just now, I saw that my seeded students were facing yours, and it put me in a wonderful mood. I hear you're hoping to earn a senior professional title? Honestly, with a seeded team of that caliber, you might as well wash up and go to bed. Stop dreaming in broad daylight."

Zhou Yi listened to the entire tirade without expression. After two breaths of silence, she suddenly spoke. Her voice was quiet, but every word rang clear. "Care to wager?"

Mu Jin had come to humiliate Zhou Yi. He still remembered her expelling his younger brother, and immediately agreed without hesitation. "What will you wager against me?"

Looking into Mu Jin's eyes, Zhou Yi said gravely, "A Soul Bone. Do you dare?"

At the words "Soul Bone," Mu Jin's pupils contracted.

Even the least valuable hundred-year Soul Bone was worth tens of thousands, or even a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

By proposing a wager of a Soul Bone, Zhou Yi seemed prepared to stake her entire fortune against him. How could Mu Jin not be shocked? More importantly, he had no idea where her confidence came from.

Those two Soul Grandmasters and one Soul Master down there? Mu Jin simply could not imagine how he could lose.

Seeing Mu Jin's pupils contract and his startled expression, Zhou Yi felt a little pleased. She looked utterly confident, but in truth, she had no certainty either.

Zhou Yi cared deeply about saving face. Mu Jin's snide mockery had left her thoroughly irritated, and she wanted to hit back. So she had made a shocking declaration, opening with a Soul Bone in hopes of frightening him off.

A trace of disdain curled Zhou Yi's lips. "If you're scared, stay away from me. Don't let me see you again."

But Mu Jin's loathing for Zhou Yi and his confidence in his own students made his chest heave twice. Gritting his teeth, he accepted the wager.

"Fine, let's wager! You think you can scare me off? A Soul Bone it is. Who's afraid of whom?"

"Teacher Mu, Teacher Zhou, isn't that stake too high? Why not forget it? Or wager ten thousand Gold Soul Coins instead? Not too much, not too little-just right."

Some of the teachers on the nearby platform had been watching the spectacle with relish. Discovering how enormous their wager was, they were stunned and hurried over to mediate between the two rivals.

"Exactly, Teacher Mu, Teacher Zhou. There's really no need. A Soul Bone is far too much."

But Mu Jin raised a hand to the teachers around them who were trying to make peace, his tone filled with an unwavering resolve to press ahead. "Please don't try to dissuade me."

Then Mu Jin stepped forward to face Zhou Yi. Leaning slightly toward her, he stared into her eyes with an oppressive intensity. "Zhou Yi, I've accepted your wager. Do you dare follow through?"

Faced with Mu Jin's imposing manner, Zhou Yi's heart gave a sudden jolt. She truly had not expected him to be this unyielding.

But how could Zhou Yi, fiercely competitive all her life and never one to back down, let Mu Jin frighten her? Besides, she still had great confidence in Huo Yuhao and the others, so she shot back, "Why wouldn't I dare? You're on!"

A sharp hiss of indrawn breath rose.

The surrounding teachers sucked in cold breaths at the sheer extravagance of Mu Jin and Zhou Yi's wager.

A Soul Bone-even across Shrek Academy's entire outer court, that was an earth-shaking stake.

"Oh? Such a large wager? Interesting. Let this old man serve as your witness."

A disheveled old man holding a chicken drumstick walked onto the platform.

His hair was grizzled, his figure stooped, and he wore a gray cloth robe washed pale with age. Grease still clung to the corner of his mouth. He looked little different from the old man who basked in the sun every day by the dormitory entrance, yet as soon as he appeared, the teachers on the platform rose and bowed respectfully.

"Elder Xuan."

"Greetings, Elder Xuan."

"Hello, Elder Xuan."

These teachers knew Xuan Zi's status as Shrek Academy's strongest publicly known expert.

And Xuan Zi had come to the Assessment Zone with a task: to see whether anyone was worth the academy's full efforts to nurture.

Naturally, they had also noticed Nezha, the freshman who had been stealing the limelight these past few days, and had even held a Sea God Pavilion Meeting because of him.

They had discussed the matter for most of the day without reaching any conclusion.

Some said Nezha already belonged to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and was not worth the academy's investment.

Others argued that the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect did, after all, share ten thousand years of friendship with the academy. Moreover, Nezha had enormous potential. With his ultimate fire attribute and spear intent, he was certain to become a Super Douluo, and even had a slim chance of reaching the Limit Douluo level. A Limit Douluo with ultimate fire could be called invincible. The academy had vast holdings and abundant resources; all it needed to offer was one allocation of top-tier resources to gain such a friendship. That deal certainly would not leave it at a loss.

In short, the husband had his reasons and the wife had hers, each side insisting it was right. In the end, Mu En made the final decision: Xuan Zi would observe Nezha at close range to determine whether they should invest in him.

Xuan Zi had not expected to encounter such an interesting scene as soon as he arrived at the Assessment Zone, so he joined the excitement for his own amusement.

He waved a hand, took a bite of his chicken drumstick, and looked at Zhou Yi and Mu Jin as he said indistinctly, "In that case, the wager is settled. Let the match decide the winner."

Zhou Yi and Mu Jin exchanged a glance, then ignored each other and turned their attention to the students below, who were ready to begin their match.