Most importantly, that despicable, shameless, detestable man seemed to be interested in the extraordinarily graceful girl, just as he was.
He would never hand over the beautiful girl who had finally made his heart stir. He would rather die than yield.
Chapter 35: You Cannot Wake Someone Pretending to Sleep
Yu Xiaogang's expression turned solemn as he replied unhappily to the Great Soul Arena's manager.
"Isn't that rather inappropriate? I was attacked and injured in your Great Soul Arena. Instead of catching the attacker and bringing them here to apologize, you're throwing out the victim. Aren't you showing far too little regard for our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?"
Seeing Yu Xiaogang's reaction, the Great Soul Arena's manager earnestly tried to persuade him.
"You really should leave as soon as possible. Your attacker's background is no less powerful than yours. To be precise, it surpasses yours. Our Great Soul Arena cannot afford to offend them."
Yu Xiaogang's pupils contracted. A background more powerful than his own? Could it be a member of the Clear Sky Sect or the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? Or someone sent by Spirit Hall?
If it was a member of the Clear Sky Sect or the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, that would be manageable. Once he learned their identity, he could return to his clan and have his father speak to them. Given the Upper Three Sects' ties as branches of the same tree, the misunderstanding would soon be resolved.
If Spirit Hall had sent them, however, things would be troublesome. Spirit Hall and the Upper Three Sects had always been at odds. Never mind a sneak attack-he was lucky they had not slaughtered him.
Someone like that was indeed beyond the Great Soul Arena's ability to offend.
At this thought, Yu Xiaogang softened his tone and asked tentatively.
"I see. Since the Great Soul Arena cannot afford to offend the attacker, I won't pursue the matter. However, I would like to know who struck me from behind. Could you tell me?"
"Uh... you still don't know?" The Great Soul Arena's manager stared at Yu Xiaogang's earnest, solemn expression with a peculiar look. He had reason to suspect this fellow was putting on an act for him.
"Wasn't the person who struck you from behind the woman who wiped the blood from the corner of your mouth yesterday? She was also the one who knocked you unconscious with a chair yesterday. Haven't you already asked people about it several times?"
The Great Soul Arena's manager directly named the culprit, even looking at Yu Xiaogang as though he were an idiot.
But upon hearing this answer, Yu Xiaogang felt an inexplicable fury rise through his entire body.
"Sir, do you take me for a fool? The person who hit me with a chair yesterday was clearly the man I gave a thorough tongue-lashing at noon.
"He admitted it himself! How could it possibly have been the woman who wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and gave me a silk handkerchief? If you slander her again, I swear I will fight your Great Soul Arena to the bitter end!"
Yu Xiaogang simply could not understand why such a gentle, kind, beautiful woman had to suffer so much slander. Why was the world so unfair?
Those people must have been jealous that he had won her favor. They were trying every possible means to drive a wedge between them so that he would leave her, allowing them to take advantage of the situation.
Shameless! Those people were utterly shameless. No matter what, he could not believe their malicious claims.
He even felt that merely listening to those words just now had desecrated that angelic face and graceful figure in his heart. It was absolutely intolerable.
"..." The Great Soul Arena's manager was completely speechless. He had clearly told the truth, so why would this fellow refuse to listen?
That old saying was right: you could never wake someone who was pretending to sleep. If someone refused to wake, no amount of effort would help.
At that moment, in Yu Xiaogang's eyes, Bibi Dong was the only person who had approached after he was injured, offered her a silk handkerchief, and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Naturally, he could not help idealizing her as a kind, innocent angel. Unless he personally saw Bibi Dong knock him unconscious, he would never believe she could strike so viciously.
Fine. The Great Soul Arena's manager could no longer be bothered to argue with Yu Xiaogang. Since this fellow enjoyed getting beaten so much, he could stay in the Great Soul Arena. At worst, they would send someone to treat him a few more times.
He believed that before long, this fellow would accept reality and obediently return to his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. No matter how much someone debased himself, after running into one wall after another, surely he would turn back once he hit the southern wall?
The Great Soul Arena's manager turned and left, closing the private room's door behind him. Yu Xiaogang sneered. These people from the Great Soul Arena really took him for an idiot.
Although Yu Xiaogang could not claim to have met countless people, he believed himself a good judge of character. The girl who had given him the silk handkerchief was absolutely kind and innocent. He had never seen eyes so clear before. Otherwise, he would never have been drawn to her.
Those people with ulterior motives wanted to fool him like an idiot? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
He even strongly suspected that the Great Soul Arena's manager wanted him to leave Suotuo City and return to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan purely to break the two of them apart.
Shameless. Utterly shameless! No matter what, he would not let them get their way.
Hmph. What sort of man was he, Yu Xiaogang? How could gossip and slander sway his thoughts so easily?
He tried to get out of bed and look for the beautiful girl who had set his heart racing and haunted his dreams. He wanted to declare his love to her. He wanted them to spread their wings and fly together.
But after trying, he felt terrible pain all over his body and abandoned the idea. He should hurry and recover. Only once his injuries healed could he go find her.
Thinking of that graceful figure, Yu Xiaogang felt a tremor from deep within his soul...
After taking Ah Yin shopping for dresses, Zhao Ling strolled back to the Great Soul Arena.
Just as Bibi Dong had said, the Great Soul Arena had not scheduled any matches for her that afternoon.
After all, she had fought fifteen individual matches that morning and won every one. That was already quite insane.
The other outstanding members of Spirit Hall, however, had each been assigned some matches.
Zhao Ling also noticed something: the Spirit Hall group's records were exceptionally outstanding by the Great Soul Arena's standards.
Aside from Bibi Dong's perfect winning streak that morning, the others had lost no more than two or three matches each, so their group had attracted particular attention.
This also caused the betting odds for the Spirit Hall group's afternoon matches to drop considerably. In other words, the odds on a Spirit Hall participant winning that afternoon were far lower than those on their opponents.
Zhao Ling could hardly imagine how low the odds would fall when Bibi Dong, still undefeated, returned to the arena tomorrow.
After all, Bibi Dong's undefeated record would be exceptional not only among Iron Soul Fighters, but even among Bronze Soul Fighters or Silver Soul Fighters.
He wondered whether, in a couple of days, the Great Soul Arena would upgrade Bibi Dong's Iron Soul Badge straight to a Silver Soul Badge, just as it had directly raised Tang San's badge to that rank in the original story.
If Bibi Dong had to work her way up from an Iron Soul Badge to a Silver Soul Badge, or even a Gold Soul Fighting Badge, it would take quite some time. With those pitifully low odds, he would not earn much either.
Chapter 36: Naming Himself Demon-Suppressing Douluo
The next day, Zhao Ling discovered that, just as he had predicted, the odds for Bibi Dong's first match had plunged to 1:4.6. At the start of yesterday, they had still been 8:1.
But low odds or not, Zhao Ling staked all his money as usual.
The reason was simple. In Iron Soul Badge matches, Bibi Dong should have had no worthy opponents-at least not at this stage.
Even if the Great Soul Arena shamelessly assigned Bibi Dong opponents far beyond that level on purpose.
As long as her assigned opponent was not an expert at Soul Emperor rank or above with soul power exceeding level sixty, Bibi Dong would have little chance of losing.
Perhaps because Bibi Dong had won all fifteen matches yesterday, most spectators bet on her to win all nine matches other than the final one today, just like Zhao Ling. Even with the pitifully low odds, they still made that choice.
As everyone had expected, Bibi Dong's opponents in the first five matches were all ordinary Iron Soul Badge holders, the sort with levels but lackluster fighting ability. Bibi Dong completely crushed them.
But in the next five matches, Bibi Dong's opponents grew progressively stronger. Her final opponent even had level fifty-eight soul power, five levels higher than Bibi Dong.
That match was one of the more difficult battles Bibi Dong had fought over these two days.
Fighting ten consecutive matches had already consumed a considerable amount of her soul power, and now she faced a Battle Soul King five levels above her who was fresh and rested.
Thus, many people thought Bibi Dong might lose, and the number betting on her in that match dropped by more than half compared with the previous nine.
This directly shifted the odds from 1:4.6 to 3:1.14. As always, Zhao Ling put every Gold Soul Coin he had won so far on Bibi Dong.
And Bibi Dong did not disappoint Zhao Ling. Despite being five levels below her opponent, she successfully turned the tables and secured a perfect winning record for the day.
The majority of spectators who had bet on her opponent immediately erupted in an uproar. They had never imagined that Bibi Dong could still defeat her opponent despite being five levels lower and having already expended so much soul power.
This officially brought Bibi Dong to the attention of powerful fighters holding Gold Soul Fighting Badges or above...
Bibi Dong's ten consecutive victories that day sent Zhao Ling's forty thousand Gold Soul Coins soaring to one hundred and twenty thousand. Normally, the 1:4.6 odds between Bibi Dong and her opponents could never have earned him that much.
But the Great Soul Arena had been so obliging as to assign Bibi Dong an opponent five levels above her for the final match, leading most spectators to bet on her opponent.
That was perfectly understandable. After all, how many people in this world could overcome a five-level gap and still win in the end?
Unfortunately for them, Bibi Dong had precisely that ability. The spectators who had bet on her opponent were consumed with regret.
Especially when they watched Zhao Ling happily pocket over a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. It devastated them more than losing several hundred thousand themselves.
They simply could not understand why that fellow could win so many Gold Soul Coins. Why couldn't they be the ones winning all that money?
Faced with the spectators' envious, jealous, resentful gazes-some even looking as though they wanted to slaughter him-Zhao Ling generously invited Bibi Dong and the Spirit Hall group.
"Come on, I'm treating you all to dinner. Everything tonight is on Young Master Zhao."
Now that Bibi Dong had grown more familiar with Zhao Ling, she hardly stood on ceremony. She hurried after him, covering three steps in two.
She understood the principle that only a fool passed up a free benefit. She had no intention of missing a chance to make Zhao Ling pay for a feast.
Chrysanthemum Douluo and the Spirit Hall group exchanged bewildered looks. What was going on with the young lady? Someone offered to treat her, and she eagerly trotted off for a free meal? She had never been like this before.
Never mind a stranger like Zhao Ling, whom she had only met a few times-even when classmates from her advanced Soul Master Academy wanted to invite her to dinner, it depended on her mood.
The young lady's eagerness today was far beyond their expectations. After exchanging looks, they all turned to Chrysanthemum Douluo, seemingly seeking his opinion.
Chrysanthemum Douluo also found it quite a headache. After a moment's thought, he quickly followed Bibi Dong, and the other outstanding Spirit Hall members hurried after him.
Over an evening of clinking wine cups, laughter, and heart-to-heart conversations, Zhao Ling and Ah Yin became much closer to the Spirit Hall group.
Once he had drunk to his heart's content, Chrysanthemum Douluo stood up unsteadily with his wine cup and addressed Zhao Ling with a slightly slurred tongue.
"B-Brother Zhao, I still don't know your title or which faction you belong to. Hic..."
At Chrysanthemum Douluo's question, Zhao Ling fell silent. To be honest, ever since breaking through to Titled Douluo, he had never considered his title.
Generally speaking, a Soul Master who reached level ninety and successfully obtained a ninth soul ring was already a Titled Douluo. To receive an official title, they needed to register with Spirit Hall.
However, some people bore grudges against Spirit Hall or simply had no connection with it. Even if they went to Spirit Hall and requested a title, Spirit Hall might not agree.
In such cases, they had to devise their own titles. Zhao Ling had previously had almost no involvement with Spirit Hall, and he owed it no favor for becoming a Titled Douluo. In his circumstances, he would generally have to choose his own title.
A self-styled Titled Douluo might not be as official as one recognized by Spirit Hall, but with enough strength, most factions would still acknowledge them even without Spirit Hall's approval.
Take Tang Hao in the original story, for example. After becoming a Titled Douluo, the first thing he did was hammer that beast Qian Xunji so badly he could no longer care for himself. Logically, Spirit Hall would never have granted him a title.
But that did not matter. He was powerful enough to hammer even Spirit Hall's Supreme Pontiff into a state where he could no longer care for himself. Even if Spirit Hall refused to recognize him as a Titled Douluo.
Other factions would still treat him as a Titled Douluo expert. That would not change according to Spirit Hall's wishes.
Likewise, Zhao Ling could now give himself whatever title he wanted. Moreover, since he was getting along so happily with these people from Spirit Hall, perhaps it would be easy to have Spirit Hall recognize his title.
After a long silence, he said calmly, "Demon-Suppressing Douluo. From now on, just call me Demon-Suppressing Douluo."
Originally, Zhao Ling had wanted to choose Pagoda-Bearing Douluo or Netherworld Douluo, but they always felt somewhat jarring. Pagoda-Bearing Douluo, especially, immediately brought Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li to mind.
Demon-Suppressing Douluo, then, both matched the name of his first martial soul, the Netherworld Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, and made him sound imposing. He could even suppress demons-how impressive was that?
Hearing the title Zhao Ling had given himself, Chrysanthemum Douluo sucked in a breath. Wasn't this fellow boasting a little too boldly? In legends, demons were beings comparable to gods.
And becoming a god could be called the lifelong pursuit of most Titled Douluo. Most simply lacked the talent and luck.
With this fellow choosing "Demon-Suppressing" as his title, Chrysanthemum Douluo did not know whether to call him a newborn calf unafraid of tigers or a man whose great skill gave him great courage...
Chapter 37: A Money-Making Tool
"Excellent, Demon-Suppressing Douluo! What boldness! I, Yue Guan, admire you."
Chrysanthemum Douluo raised his cup toward Zhao Ling from across the table, then immediately drained it without the slightest hesitation or affectation.
Bibi Dong murmured the title "Demon-Suppressing Douluo," her beautiful eyes lighting up. She, too, could not help secretly admiring Zhao Ling's boldness.
Beside Zhao Ling, Ah Yin did not know whether to laugh or cry. She had always dreaded encountering human Titled Douluo above all else, yet for several days running, she had eaten and drunk at the same restaurant as a Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall.
In the past, she would never have dared do something so foolish, even under threat of death. Yet because of some secret technique Zhao Ling had placed on her.
She could actually sit at the same table and dine without a care with a Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall, without worrying that he might see through her identity.
Ah Yin could not help growing increasingly curious about Zhao Ling. Her azure eyes, as beautiful as blue crystals, kept turning toward him inquisitively.
Even she did not notice her growing desire to delve deeper into Zhao Ling's secrets...
On the third day, as soon as Zhao Ling and the Spirit Hall group arrived at the Great Soul Arena, they received a notice.
Just as Zhao Ling had predicted, the Great Soul Arena felt that Bibi Dong's strength far exceeded her current Iron Soul Badge rank.
Thus, after discussion, the Great Soul Arena's senior management decided to raise Bibi Dong's badge rank from Iron Soul Fighter to Silver Soul Fighter.
For Bibi Dong, upgrading from an Iron Soul Badge to a Silver Soul Badge was indeed very welcome. This meant she would not have to waste so much time advancing from an Iron Soul Badge to a Silver Soul Badge.
She only needed to upgrade her Silver Soul Badge to a Gold Soul Fighting Badge, saving her a great deal of time.
As for those low-level opponents, Bibi Dong had no interest whatsoever in playing house with them. Battles where she crushed her opponents from beginning to end were not what she wanted...
Her direct promotion from Iron Soul Fighter to Silver Soul Fighter also meant that the opponents she encountered next would probably all possess considerable strength.
This made fighting spirit rise in her eyes once more. Only evenly matched opponents could ignite her fighting spirit and make her training at the Great Soul Arena worthwhile.
When Zhao Ling heard that her Iron Soul Badge had been upgraded directly to a Silver Soul Badge, delight also appeared on his face.
This meant that the odds, which had previously fallen to an outrageous low, should be readjusted with Bibi Dong's increase in badge rank.
Sure enough, before Bibi Dong's turn to enter the arena, betting opened again, and the payout ratio returned to 1.3:2.1.
Before you continue