Chapter 128: Lost Bet
Chapter 128
The entire arena was totally silent, even more so than how silent it had been mere moments ago. If before it had seemed as silent as a graveyard, right now it seemed far more silent than a graveyard as the crowd watched the scene that looked even more horrifying and mind-breaking unfold right before them.
If the first part of the fight, where Shi Lan got beaten black and blue, didn’t make any sense, then what were they supposed to call this second part, where Shi Lan was completely overwhelmed and breaking down beneath Liyu’s punches and the devilish smile plastered across his face?
"Wait... can someone wake me up now? I have been staying too long in this nightmare," someone said from the crowd, his tone sounding innocent as if he truly believed that he was trapped inside some sort of unreal dream, because, put simply, that was the only explanation that could make any sense.
Someone smacked him on the head the next second.
"You aren’t dreaming, bro. We are in reality," he said, his tone no less filled with shock than the one whose head he had smacked. "Although... this reality we found ourselves in is more dreamlike than an actual dream."
The two of them were not the only ones looking totally shocked and completely at a loss for words, as the same could be said for each and every member of the crowd, all of whom were witnessing a scene that seemed more mythical than myth itself.
Soon, Liyu stopped punching and stood up, cracking his knuckles with a smile on his face as he calmly spoke, his tone sounding cheerful, almost as if he was happy that he still had more prey to completely break just like he had done with Shi Lan.
"Alright... so who is next?" he asked with a small smile.
The entire crowd, in unison, sucked in a cold breath of air as they felt their hearts thumping loudly all at once.
Bam...
The referee, who was standing at the side, had himself been completely stunned by the match and the way it had unfolded. He had also believed and even bet on Shi Lan to win.
After all, in his eyes, Liyu was nothing more than an overly arrogant brat genius who believed he was invincible and simply didn’t know his limits, and he had been almost willing to stake his life that Liyu would lose badly.
The good news was that he hadn’t actually done that, because that would have meant he would be dead now that Liyu had won.
The bad news... he had lost all the 10,000 gold coins that he had bet on Shi Lan.
After all, the person he had believed would win the match was now lying there at the very verge of death, and the guy had to already be standing at the gates of hell.
The referee finally managed to snap himself back to reality.
With a single step, he appeared on the stage, and with another step, both he and Shi Lan disappeared before instantly reappearing beside the physicians who were treating the wounded.
"Leave those ones for now. This one will die soon... very soon... if he doesn’t get treated," he said as he gently laid Shi Lan onto one of the cushions. And yeah, he wasn’t exaggerating either.
Out of everyone who had suffered grievous injuries today, Yuexin’s condition had remained the worst for quite a while. After all, the poison that had completely permeated her body had first needed to be forced out before she could be fully detoxified, and only then could her other wounds begin to heal.
Due to the speed and capability of the healers, they had already reached the stage where they were treating her physical injuries, as every trace of poison had already been completely detoxified.
Yet despite the fact that she had held the title of the person closest to death only moments ago, she had now been pushed down to second place, and without further ado, the first place now belonged to Shi Lan. He looked far more than half dead.
In fact, he looked even worse than a dead person, and if not for the fact that he was still taking a weak breath every once in a while, everyone would have simply assumed that he had already died.
The physicians quickly rushed over to examine Shi Lan’s injuries. Yet the very moment they checked him, their expressions twisted into pure disbelief.
Because of the important task they had been entrusted with, they hadn’t been paying much attention to what had happened on the stage, and as such, they had absolutely no idea just how personally, calmly, and thoroughly Liyu had crushed Shi Lan.
"Can we save him?" one of the younger physicians said with worry, probably seeing just how terrifyingly damaged Shi Lan was and starting to doubt his own abilities.
One of the elder physicians nodded, although his expression remained grim.
"We will be able to manage, but this will consume some useful and rare resources."
He looked at Shi Lan and couldn’t help but pity him greatly, unable to even begin to imagine the kind of pain the kid must have gone through.
"Just which monster did this?" he wondered as his eyes moved to the stage and locked onto the figure who was smiling warmly while searching for his next opponent.
After scanning Liyu with his spirit sense and seeing that he was only at the first stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, and without even the slightest doubt knowing that the kid who had been totally and utterly dismantled by him was at the eighth stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
And yet he had been pushed to this brink of being totally ruined by someone of a weaker realm.... he thought, "He is either nonsensically weak, or that kid is abnormally strong beyond comprehension..."
He shook his head. If he tried to think about how this was supposed to be possible, he would only hurt his brain, and it was simply not worth it. So he focused on making sure Shi Lan didn’t meet his end.
The referee went back onto the stage, looking at Liyu intensely as if trying to see through the boy’s façade.
Seeing the referee’s intense stare, Liyu simply gave a calm, small, peaceful smile that looked so peaceful and sincere that it was almost impossible to compare him with the same monstrous human being who had effortlessly and mercilessly crushed his opponent.
Who was supposed to be overwhelmingly stronger than him, yet in reality was overwhelmingly weaker than him.
"Makes no sense..."
The referee sighed. He had probably thought that line far too many times than he ever had throughout all his years. This kid makes no sense. Still, he couldn’t keep the crowd hanging and the tournament stalled. The ninth match was over, and the winner was clear for all to see.
"Alright, folks... this battle has more than stunned and shocked all of us, hasn’t it?" he asked, but he didn’t get any replies, after all, the crowd were still in a state of immense shock.
Not like the referee was waiting for them to reply, though. He continued, "The ninth match between the Honored One of the Li Clan and the Fist King of the Shi Clan is over... The Honored One wins."
There were no cheers or applause, as it took the crowd a few more moments after the announcement to finally come to terms with and accept the reality of what they had just witnessed.
Shocked gasps echoed throughout the crowd as murmurs and ripples spread everywhere.
"Wait... he won?"
"How is the Fist King of the Shi Clan defeated so easily after all that hype?"
"Maybe it was all baseless. Maybe he is actually a weakling."
"What a weakling? You have no idea what you’re saying. He is super powerful, more so than you can believe."
"If that is so, then tell me why he is defeated and sent into a coma... not even in one piece but shattered like that."
"I don’t know... maybe the Li heir is not him but a monster using his body."
"No, it is him."
"Then how the hell is he that strong if he isn’t a monster?"
More and more and more rumours spread far and wide as the crowd genuinely tried to come to terms with the fact that they had all been wrong in their judgement. Liyu was no weakling. He had defeated his opponent in the most brutal, splendid, and unexpected way possible.
While others were still gasping in shock at what they had seen, a voice suddenly spoke, sounding on the brink of despair, "Wait... since Shi Lan lost... does that mean my nine hundred silver coins are gone too?"
He didn’t even finish his words before he broke down in tears. He was cooked.
How was he supposed to survive now without any money? He wasn’t the only one who almost instantly broke down, because after him, the other members of the massive crowd all came to their senses and realised that they had all bet on Shi Lan, causing their expressions to instantly sour.
Wait... since Shi Lan lost... that means all the money they had bet on him was now... gone. Cries of mourning spread throughout the crowd as they all began grieving over their now-lost money.
"No! I bet all the money from my father’s inheritance, and now it is all gone! I am back to being totally poor!" one cried out in horror.
"Yours is little. I just bet all my life savings from twenty years on Shi Lan. Now I am more than cooked."
The person who had just bet all the money his entire city had contributed to him on Shi Lan simply looked at the sky, wondering if he had any hope left at all, knowing that if he returned to his city, he would be skinned alive and probably burned afterwards, which he deserved that much.
"I am cooked... I had better run out of this region after the tournament ends," he said in panic.
More and more people spoke up, revealing that they were in deep trouble because they had bet enormous amounts of money on Shi Lan, who had lost his match.
While those that betted on Shi Lan were mourning their loss, those that betted on Liyu, who were mostly those from his clan, were rejoicing and a bit annoyed as well.
Most of them had betted so little it barely counted as something, and because of that, the amount of coins they would be receiving would be something that wouldn’t be big, but they were the ones to blame for it.
Meanwhile, Li Bao couldn’t stop the grin that was stretching across his face as he looked at Liyu like he was looking at his saviour, having decided to bet 200 gold coins on Liyu.
Many, and even he himself, knew he was probably crazy for taking this kind of risk, after all, no one actually believed that Liyu would be taking the win against Shi Lan.
And now that he had won, Li Bao’s 200 gold coins would increase to 10,000 gold coins, a tremendous sum of money that alone was enough to make someone become so wealthy and own a good manor, family estate, and everything that came with it, all earned by simply winning one bet, proving that Liyu was indeed his lucky star.
The Li brothers that had bet 100 coins each were also a little happy, their winnings huge, but they could have been better and more rewarding if they had bet a much larger sum on Liyu.
But still, Li Xie and Li Jie weren’t mainly focused on the prize that they had won, instead, it was the fact that they were totally stunned by the way the battle had gone and ended in such a fast and unexpected manner.
Li Xie himself, despite knowing he would be happy if someone beat the crap out of Shi Lan for his and Yuexin’s sake, something he himself had requested from Liyu, wasn’t even expecting that he would be able to carry it out.
But no... he did it, and even far beyond what Li Xie had sent him to do. Li Xie looked at Liyu standing calmly as a cold tremor ran through his skin.
"Tell me he is hiding his true power... there is no way a first stage Qi Gathering cultivator can have that amount of power."
This thought was also in the minds of most cultivators present, though the mundane people couldn’t relate. At the midst of those crying over their losses, who were the masses, and the few that were rejoicing over their victories, a loud voice suddenly cut through the silence.
"That kid is cheating!"
The voice silenced the crowd as it brimmed with power and commanded attention. Liyu, as well as the rest of the crowd, turned their attention toward the one who had spoken. He was one of the leaders, the leader of the Shi Clan, to be precise: Shi Gubing.
Shi Gubing pointed at Liyu and spoke, "There is no way you aren’t cheating. You are either far above the realm you are displaying, or you are using some demonic art to increase your power rapidly," his tone accusing and not hiding it at all.
Li San’s gaze darkened as he looked at Shi Gubing. "Clan Lord Shi, I would say you should mind your tongue. You can’t go around throwing false allegations. You know no one takes well to demonic arts. Only those vile demonic cultivators practise something like that. Are you really accusing my Li Clan of being a demonic clan?"
Li San asked, his tone calm, yet the slight coldness within it made Shi Gubing feel all the hairs on his body stand on end.
"No, Clan Lord Li. I don’t make such an allegation. It is clear to us that it is impossible for a Qi Gathering cultivator to possess the kind of power that the kid has been displaying.
Maybe you are either helping him hide his cultivation, or he might be practising some demonic art that you have no idea about," Shi Gubing said, his tone making it clear that he wasn’t challenging Li San because he didn’t dare to, but also making it equally clear that he wasn’t going to back down.
"Elder Ting, you are the strongest here. You can tell if something is wrong. So help us examine the kid and clear this young one’s confusion."
Shi Gubing turned toward Elder Ting, who was looking at Liyu with interest, and the latter nodded to Shi Gubing’s request without giving it a second thought, after all, he was also eager to see whether what Liyu had been doing wasn’t with the help of some external aid, or whether his real cultivation realm had been hidden.
He used his spirit sense to cover Liyu, and after a while Elder Ting spoke, his tone calm and clear.
"The kid is clear. He is neither increasing his power through illegal means, nor is he hiding his actual power and realm. No... he is indeed a first stage Qi Gathering Realm kid," Elder Ting said with a straight face.
Shi Gubing’s expression changed. "But..."
He shut his mouth the moment he saw Elder Ting looking at him from the corner of his eyes. If he spoke against Elder Ting now, he would be a fool, after all, the difference between a Golden Core expert like Elder Ting and a Bronze Core cultivator like Shi Gubing was simply immeasurable.
So Elder Ting wouldn’t have seen wrong, or rather, there was nothing Shi Gubing could find if even someone as powerful as Elder Ting couldn’t find it.
It wasn’t that losing the 100,000 gold coins he had bet on Shi Lan was the only thing paining him, no, it was indeed paining him greatly, but still, he had not only been robbed of his fortune, his clan had also suffered a disgrace like none other because of the one figure standing calmly on the stage.
"Bastard..."
He thought as he looked at Liyu with undisguised anger. Liyu, though, didn’t know he had made an enemy of a Clan Lord simply because he had made the latter lose a fortune, and even if he knew, he would be delighted rather than afraid, after all, that was simply his nature. Why should he fear someone he would soon be able to kill with a single attack?
Liyu’s gaze sharpened as he surveyed the opposing camp in search of his next victims, and after a few moments, his loud voice echoed throughout the Ray Arena once more.
"Alright... you two are next."
"Guan Jian and Guan Feng... come onto the stage."
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