Hisses rose all around. If Liu Wuxie refused, the sheer flood of spit could drown him.
"It's not impossible for me to agree to your wager, but there's a problem with the stakes."
Liu Wuxie gave a playful smile. No amount of gold coins would be much use. What he needed now were Spirit Stones to speed up his cultivation. Once his heart meridians were repaired, he could break through to the Xiantian Realm.
"Feel free to tell me, Young Master Liu. I can change them."
Wan Zhuoran needed Liu Wuxie to participate. As for how much they wagered, he truly did not care. Whatever else the Wan Household might lack, they had mountains of gold coins.
"Replace the gold coins with Spirit Stones. At the market rate of a hundred thousand gold coins per Spirit Stone, ten million gold coins would be a hundred Spirit Stones."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone stared at Liu Wuxie as though he were an idiot.
"Brother, what do you need Spirit Stones for? You can't cultivate."
The moment Song Ling finished, he realized he had said the wrong thing and hurriedly slapped himself. You did not expose someone's shortcomings in public, just as you did not strike someone in the face. Liu Wuxie did not mind, though. Song Ling was just that sort of thoughtless, carefree clown.
"You want Spirit Stones?"
Wan Zhuoran frowned. The Imperial Academy only issued him five Spirit Stones each month for cultivation. Over more than a year, he had saved barely thirty-odd stones. He could not scrape together a hundred on such short notice.
"Can't produce them?"
His voice carried a faint mockery. Without the Spirit Stones, Wan Zhuoran had no right to wager with him. With this sudden reversal, the initiative fell back into Liu Wuxie's hands. I'll agree to your wager, but first you have to produce the stakes I want.
The two traded moves back and forth. Wan Zhuoran had forced Liu Wuxie to accept the wager, but proposing Spirit Stones as the stakes was an ingenious move. Would he wager or not?
"Trash, there's no need to invent such an absurd excuse to refuse the wager. If you don't dare gamble, just say so."
Tian Yequan sneered, drawing agreement from many others. Mockery rained down on Liu Wuxie, blotting out the sky.
"Brother Zhuoran, I happen to have some Spirit Stones on me. Take them for now and return them once the match is over."
Xue Yu took the Storage Bag from his waist and tipped it over the table. Seventy or eighty Spirit Stones clattered out. Together with Wan Zhuoran's thirty-odd stones, there were already more than a hundred.
A hundred Spirit Stones lay piled on the table, releasing astonishing Spiritual Qi. Those seated nearby drew deep breaths, comfort spreading through their bodies.
"Young Master Liu, can we begin now?"
He did not want to wait another moment. Once this match ended, this piece of trash could get out of Canglan City for good. With his fame and prestige, his chances of winning Xu Lingxue were high.
"Let's begin!"
Before Xu Lingxue could speak, Liu Wuxie waved impatiently. He, too, wanted to finish the Hundred Demon Gathering early and take the Spirit Stones back to cultivate.
The two Demon Beasts crouched on the platform, with two beast tamers standing guard beside them. The beast fight was about to begin.
The Iron Centipede against the Blood-Patterned Lion.
Peak first-tier Demon Beasts were on the same level as humans at the ninth level of the Postnatal Realm. Their clash was bound to shatter stone and startle the heavens.
"Brother Liu, please choose first!"
His offer to let Liu Wuxie place his bet first drew a round of cheers. Wan Zhuoran enjoyed an extremely high standing. Compared with him, Liu Wuxie was as far apart as heaven and earth.
One was a favored son of heaven, like the bright moon above; the other was Canglan City's notorious trash, like an ant crawling on the ground.
"That's not my habit. You choose first."
It was the same as before. In all three high-stakes wagers, Liu Wuxie had given his opponent the first choice, earning many people's respect. Even if he lost this round, he would lose with honor.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll bet on the Blood-Patterned Lion."
Wan Zhuoran did not stand on ceremony, choosing the Blood-Patterned Lion to win. Liu Wuxie had no choice left. The Iron Centipede excelled at defense, while the Blood-Patterned Lion excelled at attack. It was another contest between spear and shield.
"Brother, are you confident? I want to earn some spending money." Song Ling nudged Liu Wuxie, itching to join the wager.
Liu Wuxie rolled his eyes at him. Having received his answer, Song Ling quickly ran off.
"Take out all the gold coins you have." After a round of fleecing, he gathered over a million gold coins from everyone in the Song Household, a very considerable sum.
He staked all the gold coins he had collected on the Iron Centipede to win. At odds of three to one, a win would earn him three million gold coins.
The beast fight soon began. Both Demon Beasts relied on strength. The Blood-Patterned Lion was slightly larger, while the Iron Centipede had dozens of legs and could spray a highly corrosive venom from its mouth. Ordinary weapons could not pierce its hard iron armor.
The Blood-Patterned Lion stood ten feet tall, puffing white mist from its mouth. Its four lower legs were as thick as an adult's thighs, sturdy and powerful. Each step on the bluestone floor produced a dull thud.
The beast tamers blew their whistles. Both Demon Beasts roared and lunged.
In an instant!
The sounds of tearing, biting, and collisions rose one after another, generating powerful waves of air that surged in every direction.
The Demon Beasts' battle was brutally bloody. After a single exchange, blood spattered the platform, and the Iron Centipede had slashed a gash across the Blood-Patterned Lion's lower belly.
Everyone held their breath. The ground shook with every collision. Some of the more timid spectators simply closed their eyes, not daring to watch.
Song Ling stared fixedly at the Iron Centipede. "Attack! Hurry up and attack! Kill the Blood-Patterned Lion!"
Numerous bloody marks appeared on the Iron Centipede's back, left by the Blood-Patterned Lion's claws. Blood dripped from them. Though the claws had not torn through its defenses, they enraged the Iron Centipede. It opened its fanged mouth and surged forward.
Only two people in the entire venue remained utterly calm: Liu Wuxie and Wan Zhuoran.
Boom!
Seizing an opening, the Blood-Patterned Lion stomped hard on the Iron Centipede's back. Its gaping, bloody maw bit down and tore away a large chunk of armor. Blood sprayed wildly, and the Iron Centipede let out a piercing scream.
The Iron Centipede grew frightened and backed away, not daring to face the Blood-Patterned Lion.
With its armor torn open, the battle became even more unfavorable for the Iron Centipede. The Blood-Patterned Lion pressed forward step by step, victory firmly in its grasp.
Though both were peak first-tier Demon Beasts, the Blood-Patterned Lion far surpassed the Iron Centipede in both speed and strength. There should be little suspense left in this match.
"Brother, hurry up and think of something!" His face tense, Song Ling grabbed Liu Wuxie's arm, urging him to find a solution.
"Look at you. What a lack of backbone." Liu Wuxie gave him a disdainful glance.
Song Ling could only sit down obediently and continue watching.
The Blood-Patterned Lion gave its opponent no respite after gaining the upper hand. It suddenly leaped into the air, its terrifying jaws releasing towering ferocity, like a primordial giant beast. This enormous creature was on the verge of awakening as a second-tier Demon Beast.
The Iron Centipede was in an entirely different league in terms of size. It had already retreated to the edge of the platform.
Victory or defeat hinged on this single move!
Just then, the corners of Liu Wuxie's mouth moved slightly. Had anyone heard him, they would have found that it was not human language, but a strange set of written symbols that formed a straight line and shot toward the platform.
The Iron Centipede had little intelligence and had lost its ability to fight. After the strange symbols entered its body, a trace of scarlet appeared in its eyes.
The language of the Demon Race!
Extremely few people on the True Martial Continent understood the language of the Demon Race. Liu Wuxie had learned it from the master of the Beast Controlling Studio, never expecting it to prove useful. Every Demon Beast had a fatal weakness, and their potential could likewise be awakened.
The Blood-Patterned Lion drew closer and closer, already bearing down on it. The Iron Centipede had nowhere to dodge.
The enormous beast descended from above. The Iron Centipede had lost its last chance. The Wan Household disciples began celebrating. They had lost one and a half million gold coins, but winning this round was enough. The Xu Household's live-in son-in-law would leave Canglan City for good.
Many looked at Liu Wuxie with gloating expressions. Without the Xu Household to rely on, this piece of trash would not live to see tomorrow.
The situation hung by a thread. Song Ling's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as he hoped for a miracle.
Wan Zhuoran and Xue Yu chatted and laughed, the battle on the platform unable to hold their interest. They were high-level Xiantian cultivators. To them, a fight between first-tier Demon Beasts was like children playing house.
"Is the fight about to end?"
This time, many had followed Liu Wuxie in betting on the Iron Centipede to win. His reversals in the previous two rounds had won him considerable popularity.
Under countless watching eyes, the Blood-Patterned Lion's iron claws were about to land on the Iron Centipede.
At that very moment, the Iron Centipede suddenly curled into an iron ball and rolled across the ground with a rumble. The Blood-Patterned Lion pounced on empty air, shattering several bluestone slabs at the edge of the platform.
"How could this happen!"
Wan Zhuoran's eyes narrowed. He knew the Iron Centipede's combat strength well. It was certain to lose. Even if Liu Wuxie had chosen the Blood-Patterned Lion, he had a way to make it lose the match.
The sight before him left him puzzled. The Iron Centipede seemed to have changed, but he could not say exactly how.
The Iron Centipede's survival provoked the Blood-Patterned Lion. It let out a piercing roar that made countless spectators' eardrums ache. The resulting wave of air set the banners hanging around the venue snapping.
Suffocating Yao Qi swept across the entire platform.
It sprinted forward and pounced, intending to pin the Iron Centipede beneath its body and crush it to pieces.
It all happened in a flash. After curling into an iron ball, the Iron Centipede spun at extraordinary speed. Like a streaking meteor, it vanished from its spot.
Crack!
The iron ball slammed into the Blood-Patterned Lion's right foreleg with a crisp crack. Its right forepaw snapped, and its body tottered.
"Hiss..." Wan Zhuoran sucked in a cold breath.
The sudden turn caught him off guard. The Iron Centipede had become so powerful. What sort of attack was this? Curled into a ball, it was practically impervious to blades and spears.
The Blood-Patterned Lion roared furiously in pain and limped toward the Iron Centipede, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.
Xue Yu's eyes narrowed, and he looked toward Liu Wuxie, but found none of the answers he wanted. Liu Wuxie sat with his eyes lowered toward his nose and his attention turned inward, completely oblivious to the beast arena, like an old monk deep in meditation.
The Iron Centipede kept ramming. Every charge left another wound on the Blood-Patterned Lion, whose combat strength steadily declined.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could the Blood-Patterned Lion lose?"
Wan Zhuoran's eyes strained as though their corners would split. He could not lose. He could not afford to lose a hundred Spirit Stones. Even as a student of the Imperial Academy, he received only five Spirit Stones each month.
The Wan Household might not recover from the loss of ten million gold coins even in ten years.
A cold glint flickered in his eyes. His right hand made a strange gesture, and the beast tamer below the platform received the command. A strange red pill flew through the air.