The man in charge of Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena was still that familiar face: Manager Ao.
But for the past few weeks, Manager Ao's life had been rather uncomfortable.
The Great Soul Arena, which had once raked in mountains of gold every day, had seen its earnings slashed in half over the past three weeks or so, nearly forcing Manager Ao to dip into his private savings to cover the shortfall.
The reason was simple. When the Imperial Fighting Team had dominated the arena, Manager Ao, out of options, had grasped at straws like a desperate patient seeking any doctor and arranged for the Shrek Team to fight them.
The Shrek Team had done him proud and beaten the Imperial Fighting Team into the ground.
But before Manager Ao could enjoy more than a few days of happiness, a new arena tyrant had emerged: the Shrek Team, the dragon slayer that had become a dragon itself.
Whenever the Shrek Team appeared in a match, nobles great and small went wild, piling their Gold Soul Coins onto the Shrek Team.
Even setting both sides' odds to 100 to 1 had done nothing to stop those nobles.
Everyone knew that betting on this team to win would make their Gold Soul Coins multiply. Who didn't love those glittering golden coins?
Manager Ao was so furious that he wanted to change the odds to a million to one. Unfortunately, the Soul Fighting Arena's rules set the minimum payout ratio at 100 to 1.
Those nobles had nearly fleeced the Soul Fighting Arena bare. Wealthy merchants passing through from elsewhere, along with nobles visiting from other cities, had heard the news and joined the ranks of the fleece-pluckers.
Manager Ao was aging a year every day from sheer anger. He was beginning to