Choosing Friends Poorly!

A few minutes before the match began.

In a lounge at Shrek Academy's Soul Fighting Arena, Xu Sanshi shouted with a constipated look on his face:

"Bei Bei, your Xiao Ya went too far! Did she have to throw so many Dragon Whisker Needles?"

Bei Bei looked at the swollen lumps on Xu Sanshi's body and showed no sympathy whatsoever. Instead, he gloated, "You brought this entirely on yourself! That's what you get for bullying my junior brother."

At those words, Xu Sanshi's anger, which had just subsided, flared up again. "Didn't I already compensate the kid? He accepted it too. Isn't your Tang Sect a little too narrow-minded?"

Bei Bei merely shrugged. "We're standing up for our own, all right? Besides, don't forget you also destroyed the grilled fish Yuhao made for Xiao Ya."

"You should know how much Xiao Ya loves Yuhao's grilled fish. You destroyed every last one, so you should be glad she only used Dragon Whisker Needles on you."

Bei Bei understood that his girlfriend really had gone a little too far in this matter. But when it came to Tang Ya, he could never bring himself to say no to her, so he could only let her do as she pleased and deal with the aftermath himself.

Seeing the expression Bei Bei wore, like that of a little rascal, Xu Sanshi knew he couldn't win the argument. He could only say impatiently, "Fine, fine! You always have a reason, always have righteousness on your side! Hurry up and get the Dragon Whisker Needles out of my body!"

At that moment, Bei Bei seemed to think of something. Taking on the look of a crooked merchant, he said, "One Mystic Water Pill, and I'll help you get the Dragon Whisker Needles out."

"One Mystic Water Pill?!?!? Bei Bei, have you gone crazy from poverty??" Xu Sanshi couldn't believe that this scoundrel of a friend would actually extort him at a time like this.

Xu Sanshi had only ever read about backstabbing and extortion in books. He had never expected the friend he had always trusted so deeply to make him experience such a scene firsthand at a time like this.

Sure enough, his wife was right: choose your friends carefully! Otherwise, you never knew when a so-called friend would stab you in the back!

Bei Bei "kindly" reminded the furious Xu Sanshi, "If you don't want to pay, then don't. I can help you take them out for free after this match. But I'd really like to know if you and Dugu Yanran can beat Xiao Ya and me with Dragon Whisker Needles lodged in your body."

The moment the words left Bei Bei's mouth, Xu Sanshi pictured himself and Yanran being defeated by Bei Bei and Tang Ya, and a feeling of dread rose in his heart.

Xu Sanshi was certain that, with Dragon Whisker Needles still lodged in his body, even if he managed to beat Bei Bei, it would be a narrow victory. And if he really lost, his wife would have to face a two-pronged assault from Bei Bei and Tang Ya and ultimately lose the match.

If they merely lost, that would be fine; they could win next time. But the problem was that they would have lost to the Tang Sect. That was the real problem.

It was fine for Xu Sanshi. His family had neither ties of friendship nor hatred with the Tang Sect. But Dugu Yanran was different. She was the daughter of the current head of the Dugu Family.

Dugu Yanran might have been a quiet and reasonable young woman, but when it came to the Tang Sect, she would abandon her usual gentleness and strike with a heavy fist.

As a member of the Dugu Family, Dugu Yanran had naturally inherited her predecessors' strong prejudice against the Tang Sect for occupying her family's ancestral medicine garden. That was also why she and Tang Ya were at each other's throats whenever they met.

Looking back, ever since Dugu Yanran had met Tang Ya, the two had quarreled fiercely every time they saw each other. Heaven knew how many times Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi had been forced to step in and stop their disputes to separate them.

If Xu Sanshi and Dugu Yanran really lost this two-on-two Soul Fighting match to Bei Bei and Tang Ya, and the main reason for their defeat lay with Xu Sanshi himself, Dugu Yanran might not say anything as extreme as breaking up with him. But he definitely wouldn't get to share a pillow and bed with his wife for the next month. He might even have to kneel on a durian for a month before her anger subsided.

Thinking of that painful future, Xu Sanshi could only throw a porcelain bottle at Bei Bei, his face full of grief and indignation.

Bei Bei caught the bottle with a smile and began checking its contents. Only after confirming that it really contained a Mystic Water Pill did he show a hint of satisfaction and begin removing the Dragon Whisker Needles from Xu Sanshi's body one by one, using a method unique to the Tang Sect.

The Mystic Water Pill was a special pill. This miraculous pill was refined from the blood of more than fifty kinds of water-attribute Soul Beasts.

Its main function was to wash away impurities, using the water element within the pill to cleanse the user's meridians and expel the impurities accumulated in the body one by one.

At the same time, the pill had another highly coveted effect: it could raise the user's innate Soul Power by one rank.

Moreover, if the user possessed a water or ice attribute, his innate Soul Power would rise by more than one rank!

What was innate Soul Power? It was a manifestation of every Soul Master's innate talent. The higher a person's innate Soul Power, the greater their cultivation talent.

Putting aside certain Soul Masters with special Martial Souls, a Soul Master with Innate Full Soul Power was certain to have the potential to become a Titled Douluo!

That was why, whenever a Mystic Water Pill appeared, it was sure to draw large numbers of Soul Masters eager to buy it. Some wanted it for themselves, while others wanted it for their juniors.

All in all, to the Soul Masters of the Douluo Continent, the Mystic Water Pill was a divine pill that a thousand pieces of gold could scarcely buy. Anyone fortunate enough to take one might defy the heavens and change their fate!

That was why Xu Sanshi had looked so aggrieved when he handed the Mystic Water Pill to Bei Bei.

Producing Mystic Water Pills was indeed his family's main business, but that didn't mean he could eat them like beans!

Every Mystic Water Pill was made by the sect through untold hardships. If he really squandered them like that, his father, the clan head, would definitely kick him out of the house!

Before long, four or five golden grains appeared in Bei Bei's hand. They were the true form of the Dragon Whisker Needles, a special crystal called hair crystal.

Looking at the Dragon Whisker Needles that had been removed, Xu Sanshi said bitterly, "Bei Bei, do you dare make a bet? If Xiao Yanyan and I win this match, you have to give back the Mystic Water Pill I gave you!"

Hearing this, Bei Bei didn't immediately agree to Xu Sanshi's demand. Instead, he asked, "And what if I win?"

"If you win, I'll give you another Mystic Water Pill!" Xu Sanshi added, "If it's a draw, we each keep what we have."

"All right, then let's settle this in the Soul Fighting Arena!" With that, Bei Bei started out of the lounge, preparing to head for the match platform.

Watching Bei Bei leave with a foxlike smile on his face, Xu Sanshi couldn't help wondering if Bei Bei had tricked him again.

But without the Dragon Whisker Needles hindering him, Bei Bei and Tang Ya's chances of winning were practically zero, weren't they?

Could they have some trump card he didn't know about?

At that thought, Xu Sanshi's expression turned a little solemn, and he swore to himself that he wouldn't hold back in this match.

After all, if he really lost this time, his life in the days ahead would definitely be miserable!