Although the payout for betting on Bibi Dong was lower than for betting on her opponent, the odds were far better than Zhao Ling had imagined.
After she earned her Silver Soul Badge, her first opponent was a level 55 Battle Soul King whose Martial Soul was the Undying Blood Axe.
It was a tool Martial Soul he had never heard of in the original story. The entire axe was suffused with crimson, and even the air carried a faint smell of blood. It looked imposing, with a truly terrifying presence.
It intimidated many spectators, but Zhao Ling stuck to his principle of betting wholeheartedly on Bibi Dong. He kept only twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins as reserve funds and bet the remaining hundred thousand on her.
Bibi Dong was utterly speechless at this. This fellow really did treat her as his money-making tool.
Yesterday, he had bragged relentlessly at the dinner table that he had originally possessed only three hundred Gold Soul Coins, but after two days of frantically betting on Bibi Dong, those three hundred had multiplied into over a hundred thousand.
Hearing that had left Bibi Dong completely dumbfounded. Even she did not throw money so recklessly into betting on herself.
After all, who knew whether the Great Soul Arena's higher-ups would find ways to trip her up for profit?
During yesterday's final match against a level 58 Battle Soul King, even she had not been very confident. Yet this fellow had gone mad and staked his entire fortune on her winning. Wasn't he afraid she would lose? Did he trust her that much?
Bibi Dong felt a warmth in her heart. How many people in this world would trust her so unreservedly? She could probably count them on one hand.
For that trust alone, Bibi Dong felt she could not lose. Today, he had put down a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins outright. If she won, Young Master Zhao would surely be footing the bill again tonight. The thought made her happy.
Perhaps Bibi Dong's undefeated record yesterday had put considerable pressure on Fei Zheng. After she stepped into the ring, her opponent released his Undying Blood Axe, gripping it with both hands as he stared fixedly at her.
Two yellow, two purple, and one black Soul Ring slowly rose from beneath his feet. His presence erupted, and he spoke in a deep voice.
"Fei Zheng, level 55 Battle Soul King. Please show me your skills!"
Sensing the fierce fighting spirit in his eyes, Bibi Dong's lips curved slightly. An illusory image of the Death Spider Emperor appeared behind her, and one yellow, three purple, and one black Soul Ring rose from the ground.
Her first Soul Ring lit up immediately, activating her first Soul Skill, Death Poison Fog (the original story never mentioned it, so forgive me for making this up). Purple poison sprayed from Bibi Dong's mouth and soon enveloped the entire ring.
The dense purple poison fog reduced visibility throughout the ring to no more than 1.5 meters, leaving practically no one able to see through it into the ring.
The spectators below were unhappy. They had bought tickets to the Great Soul Arena to watch matches, but Bibi Dong had shrouded the entire ring in poison fog. How could they be happy about that?
Some had already begun cursing and demanding refunds from the Great Soul Arena. They were being denied a good show, yet the arena still wanted their ticket money? Couldn't it do something decent?
Some spectators remained reasonable, however. After all, the poison fog was her Soul Skill. Surely she could not be expected to stop using it just because the audience could not see the match?
Watching the poison fog grow denser over the ring, Zhao Ling pursed his lips ruefully. Since he could not see the match, wouldn't admiring the beauty beside him be nice?
Unexpectedly, the moment he turned his head, his lips touched Ah Yin's forehead. To anyone else, it looked as though he was kissing her.
Ah Yin even rested her head shyly against his arm, leaving him utterly bewildered. How had his lips ended up bumping into her forehead?
Wait, shouldn't this girl be watching the match? Why did it seem as though she had deliberately put her head in front of him, waiting for him to turn and bump into her forehead?
In the ring, Fei Zheng's expression changed at the sight of the spreading purple poison fog.
He had never expected Bibi Dong's first Soul Skill to obscure his vision outright. Without being able to see, he had no way of knowing when she would attack.
Still, he thought the obscured vision was fair to both sides. If he could not see his opponent, she should not be able to see him either.
Relying on his memory, he locked onto Bibi Dong's previous position. His second Soul Ring lit up. Mad Demon Whirlwind Chop! He swung his Undying Blood Axe, striking tentatively toward where he remembered her standing.
But Bibi Dong was no fool. Having released poison fog to obscure his sight, why would she stay where she was and wait for his attack?
Chapter 38: I'm No Gentleman
Fei Zheng struck fast, but she dodged even faster. His first probing attack missed completely, merely dispersing some poison fog at that spot before fog from elsewhere quickly surged back in.
Suddenly, Fei Zheng heard something cutting through the air beside his left ear. He hurriedly raised his axe to block. With a clang, he felt something strike the axe, and he could not help feeling fortunate.
Luckily, he had instinctively blocked that attack. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, his expression changed drastically...
Whoosh... A sharp attack sliced across the right side of his abdomen. Searing pain flared through it, making him frown.
What's going on? Why can she attack me so easily? Can she see my movements through the poison fog?
Just as Fei Zheng suspected, Bibi Dong was particularly at ease within the poison fog she had released.
The fog could obscure other people's vision, but not her "vision." More precisely, she could clearly sense objects enveloped in the dense poison fog.
Thus, this had been an unfair fight from the start. Bibi Dong leisurely circled Fei Zheng, striking occasionally and leaving him scrambling miserably to defend himself.
Whoosh... Another sound cut through the air. Fei Zheng's expression changed, and he hurriedly swung his blood axe with a ferocious rush of wind. The axe's afterimages formed a defensive net around him, lest Bibi Dong ambush him again.
Sensing Fei Zheng hacking wildly within the poison fog, Bibi Dong's lips curled teasingly. She quietly retreated a few steps and let him thrash about as he pleased.
Her poison fog worked quite well, but it took effect rather slowly. Fei Zheng's desperate axe-swinging would undoubtedly accelerate his body's absorption of the fog, allowing it to take effect faster.
Two minutes later, Fei Zheng felt much weaker all over, and even his head felt somewhat muddled.
He had already realized the fog probably contained poison, but he could not give up the match. He had to defeat her no matter what. He was clearly two levels above her. How could he lose?
Yet however unwilling he felt, he could sense his body growing weaker and his arms struggling more and more to swing the blood axe. Huff, huff.
He panted heavily and roared hysterically at Bibi Dong.
"Come out if you have the guts! Stop hiding behind the fog and launching sneak attacks! What kind of gentleman are you? What kind of hero? Fight me fairly if you dare!"
Listening to her opponent's impotent rage, Bibi Dong gave a cold, indifferent laugh.
A gentleman? I'm no gentleman. I'm a woman, and I might turn into that vicious woman from the diary who stops at nothing at any moment.
Talking to me about being a gentleman? A hero? Fairness? Is this fellow stupid?
By the third minute, Fei Zheng felt dizzy, his vision blurred, and his head seemed heavy while his feet felt light. His eyelids kept drooping, as though someone were murmuring in his ear.
"Sleep, sleep. Once you fall asleep, you won't feel so awful..."
But how could Fei Zheng willingly pass out like this? He still wanted to defeat his opponent and win the match.
Yet he felt increasingly unable to endure. To keep himself from fainting, he bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. The pain briefly cleared his head for two minutes.
But when the battle dragged into its fifth minute, a heavy thud rang out as he collapsed onto the ring. Everyone guessed that the outcome was settled.
Sure enough, Bibi Dong's voice came from the poison fog. "Hurry up and announce the result. He's been poisoned by my fog and has lost the ability to fight."
A Soul Douluo expert with a flying Martial Soul immediately flapped his wings and dispersed the poison fog over the ring. The man named Fei Zheng lay on the platform, his skin blue-purple all over. He had clearly been severely poisoned.
His abdomen was also bleeding. If he was not carried away for treatment quickly, he would probably be "ascending" before long.
Zhao Ling had not expected Bibi Dong's first Soul Skill to release poison fog. Besides obscuring vision, it apparently poisoned enemies as well. He just did not know how far the poison could spread or how potent it was.
Still, it had taken five minutes to poison her opponent enough to make him collapse, suggesting it was not particularly potent. Otherwise, this poison fog would absolutely be a godly skill.
Bibi Dong's second opponent was a level 56 Agility Attack System Battle Soul King whose Martial Soul was the Shadow Leopard.
The instant the referee announced the start of the match after he entered the ring, his second Soul Skill lit up. Shadow Clone activated, and an identical figure instantly appeared before him.
A moment later, his third Soul Skill lit up. Shadow Assault activated, and the two black shadows rushed toward Bibi Dong in unison, moving so quickly that most spectators below shouted together.
Bibi Dong immediately looked wary. Her fourth Soul Ring lit up, activating Thorn Spider Armor. Purple-black spikes over a meter long instantly covered every part of her body.
The purple carapace covering her became especially thick without hindering her movement speed. That was not all: every spike now growing from her body was highly poisonous.
Everything happened in the flash of a spark. The two black shadows had already closed in, one's sharp claws reaching for Bibi Dong's neck while the other's sharp claws attacked her abdomen.
But when those densely packed spikes appeared, both figures had no choice but to forcibly withdraw their claws.
Bibi Dong activated her first Soul Skill, and enough poison fog to envelop the ring poured from her mouth once again. It quickly covered the entire platform, leaving the audience unable to see what was happening inside once more.
"For fuck's sake... Poison fog again? Could you stop doing this? How are we supposed to watch the match?"
"Exactly! She releases poison fog every match. All we can hear is the clanging of the fight inside, and we can't see anything else. This is boring!"
"Fuck you! Refund! Refund!"
The spectators were beginning to lose their composure. Once the poison fog appeared, they were left blind. Want to watch the fierce fighting inside? Not a chance. They felt buying tickets to watch this had been a complete waste.
The Great Soul Arena's staff could not be bothered with the spectators' complaints. Didn't want to watch? Then leave.
As for refunds, sorry, but refunds were impossible. Not in this lifetime. Watch if you wanted; otherwise, get lost.
Back in the ring, both figures of Bibi Dong's opponent changed expression when they saw the purple poison fog appear again. They hurried toward the edge of the platform.
There was no helping it. Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing was best...
Chapter 39: Better to Be Careful
Bibi Dong's opponent did not want to inhale that loathsome poison fog, but it spread farther and farther until it covered the entire ring, leaving him nowhere to hide.
Based on the previous unfortunate fellow's experience, he had already formed some guesses about the fog.
He understood that if he could not defeat her within five minutes, the poison fog would take effect, and he would collapse, unable to fight. This left him no choice but to stake everything on one attempt.
Having made his decision, both figures closed in on Bibi Dong again, their four leopard claws attacking her relentlessly...
The purple poison fog also dampened Zhao Ling and Ah Yin's desire to watch the match.
Unwilling to stand foolishly below the ring, Ah Yin pulled Zhao Ling along to find a seat nearby and had him sit down.
She then sat directly on his lap and took his hands, making him wrap his arms around her.
This caught Zhao Ling somewhat off guard. Although Ah Yin had always liked holding his arm and had even let him kiss her forehead before,
this was the first time she had sat directly in his embrace and made him hold her so intimately.
Zhao Ling was no Liu Xiahui, so how could he remain unmoved with a woman in his lap? He instinctively wrapped his arms around her and wanted to rest his head on her fragrant shoulder, but abandoned the idea after some thought. Not wanting to take a mile after being given an inch, he simply held her quietly.
Ah Yin had thought that if she took the initiative to sit in Zhao Ling's lap, he would be unable to resist doing something more intimate, such as kissing her or confessing his love.
But even after waiting five or six minutes, Zhao Ling made no further move.
Ah Yin waited until she began doubting her own charm. She had already been so forward, so why was he still acting so foolishly? Didn't he desire her?
Just then, the referee announced Bibi Dong's second consecutive victory in the Silver Soul Fighter ring matches.
Those two consecutive victories quickly turned Zhao Ling's hundred-thousand-Gold-Soul-Coin stake into nearly three hundred thousand.
Beaming, Zhao Ling set Ah Yin down and rose to dash toward the glittering pile of money. Ah Yin stamped her feet in anger, inwardly cursing him as an insensitive blockhead.
Before the third match began, Zhao Ling noticed that the odds on Bibi Dong had suddenly risen, changing from 1.3:2.1 to 2.7:1.4.
Such a sudden surge in the odds was extremely unreasonable in itself. Given Bibi Dong's current record, it would already have been fortunate if her odds did not keep dropping.
There had to be something wrong with this sudden spike. It meant a large amount of money had entered the betting pool, all backing Bibi Dong's opponent.
After thinking it over, Zhao Ling suspected someone must be manipulating the match. He therefore placed no further bets on the third match and instead asked the Great Soul Arena to deposit all his money onto a card.
Nearly three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins was certainly a considerable sum, but it was nothing much to the Great Soul Arena.
Thus, they did not make things difficult over his request and obligingly deposited nearly three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins onto a Black Card.
With this Black Card, Zhao Ling could withdraw Gold Soul Coins up to the deposited amount from any bank on the Douluo Continent. It was quite convenient.
He felt that, having acquired nearly three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, there was no need to keep taking risks. Of course, it was not that he doubted Bibi Dong's ability to defeat opponents with Silver Soul Badges.
He was merely worried the Great Soul Arena might suddenly pull something sneaky, such as assigning Bibi Dong a Power Attack System Battle Soul Emperor in the sixties-especially one above level 65. Wouldn't that be awkward?
Someone at that level was probably beyond what the currently level 53 Bibi Dong could contend with. Since ancient times, cases of manipulating matches for money had persisted despite repeated bans.
To avoid sending all his money down the drain, Zhao Ling felt it was better to be careful. His money had not simply blown in on the wind...
Sure enough, in the third match, the illusory Martial Soul behind the new opponent the Great Soul Arena assigned to Bibi Dong looked like Azure Vine. This surprised Zhao Ling somewhat.
He remembered that the second-ranking member of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's three-person education committee in the original story had Azure Vine as his Martial Soul. That committee member's surname seemed to be Zhi, but Zhao Ling could not recall his full name.
After all, he had physically transmigrated to the Douluo Continent over a decade ago. How could he remember everything so clearly? He also did not know whether Bibi Dong's opponent was that future second-ranking committee member of Heaven Dou Royal Academy surnamed Zhi.
After hearing Bibi Dong's opponent introduce himself, it turned out that he really was Heaven Dou Royal Academy's future second-ranking committee member, Zhi Lin.
However, Zhi Lin had reached level 61. The Great Soul Arena had actually assigned a level 61 Soul Emperor expert as Bibi Dong's opponent. How utterly shameless.
Zhao Ling cursed inwardly. Even if both were Control System Soul Masters, Zhi Lin's Soul Power was eight levels higher than Bibi Dong's, and he had an additional Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. The gap between them could hardly have been more obvious.
What was more, Bibi Dong had already fought two matches against two opponents. Yet the Great Soul Arena had shamelessly assigned her a Soul Emperor opponent now. It was utterly brazen.
Zhao Ling could not help feeling fortunate. Luckily, he had stopped in time, or he really might have risked losing his entire fortune. As expected, he was as wise and discerning as ever, unlike those foolish ordinary people...
It seemed Bibi Dong's string of victories had cut into someone else's cake, so they had deliberately arranged for a Soul Emperor expert to compete with her. No matter what, they wanted to blunt her edge.
Sighing somewhat, Zhao Ling returned to Ah Yin's side, only to find her standing there coldly. He looked utterly baffled.
What's wrong with this girl? Why does she look so unhappy? I have nearly three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins now. Isn't that something worth celebrating? Why does she look so deeply aggrieved?
Scratching his head, Zhao Ling sat back down in confusion and waited for Ah Yin to return to his lap. Unexpectedly, she merely watched coldly from the side.
Zhao Ling tentatively put an arm around her and drew her back onto his lap. Seeing that she still looked icy, he thought for a moment, kissed her between the brows, and asked tentatively,
"Ah Yin, what's wrong? Who upset you? Tell me, and I'll deal with him."
Before you continue