Chapter 451: Can’t Afford to Lose
Chapter 451: Can’t Afford to Lose
Gao Yangyu did not expect that an Inferior Grade Martial King that he did not care about initially would become the fish that had escaped the net. Even after intervening a few times, he had still failed.
[TL note: Fish that escaped the net: Chinese Idiom for someone escaping unscathed.]
No, I cannot afford to lose here. I cannot tolerate such an unexpected existence.
It was not easy for me to reach where I am today. After struggling for most of my life, if l lose the tremendous resources of Wrestling City, I will lose all hope of becoming a Martial Monarch.
Gao Yangyu finally made a decision. He said, “Make an announcement tomorrow. We will start an all-or-nothing system. If you want to play, then let’s play big.”
The moment Gao Yangyu spoke, all the old men’s expressions changed. They all seemed extremely astonished.
Once the all-or-nothing would be established, if Xiao Chen obtained a hundred consecutive victories, the people who bet on him would gain 32 times their bet.
This was double the original sixteen times they would have gotten. However, the consequences of losing became even more severe. If Xiao Chen did not obtain a hundred consecutive victories, the people who bet on him would not receive any money at all.
“City Lord, isn’t this…a little too big?” an old man said as he trembled in fear.
Gao Yangyu said indifferently, “Naturally, I have carefully thought about it already. The all-or-nothing system is not something that regular people can afford to play. When we announce it, most people will choose to stop, taking their earnings instead of risking it.”
Gao Yangyu was right, sixty consecutive victories had already allowed the people who bet on Xiao Chen to double their money.
The risk of betting on a hundred consecutive victories was too high. Since the establishment of the wrestling ring, there had not been any cases of anyone gaining a hundred consecutive victories, neither here nor in the other four Wrestling Cities.
Within the Rank A wrestling rings, no one had ever obtained a hundred consecutive victories. The highest record belonged to the northern group of islands—eighty consecutive victories.
After the announcement, most of the people would likely calmly decide to stop and leave with their earnings.
An old man said somewhat worriedly, “However, there is that person who could afford to bet one million Medial Grade Spirit Stones on Xiao Chen. Clearly, he is someone who would take risks. He might not decide to stop.”
Gao Yangyu smiled coldly, “If he stops, that would be for the best. If he does not, I will make him pay for it with his blood. Anyone who goes against me will not meet a good end!”
The rest thought about it carefully and felt that this was a good idea. As long as they could stop Xiao Chen from gaining a hundred consecutive victories, their losses would be limited to those four million Medial Grade Spirit Stones.
However, if they failed…the thought of the payout of 32 times the bet made everyone feel afraid. Not only would Gao Yangyu be finished, all of them would be finished along with him.
Gao Yangyu’s expression turned warmer, and he said, “Don’t overthink this. Go and do your jobs. Now, Shi Feng has two days, she should have more than enough time to make her way back. Do all of you not believe in her strength?”
When everyone thought of how horrifying Shi Feng’s strength was, they all calmed down; they felt that she would not fail.
“In that case, we will begin preparations to make the announcement. I guarantee that everyone will know of the all-or-nothing system after tomorrow. I will take my leave first.”
After that was said, the old men slowly left one by one. Soon, Gao Yangyu was the only person remaining.
After he saw the last person leave, his expression immediately turned heavy and his eyes started emitting killing Qi.
The horrifying aura caused all the items in the entire room to shake.
Gao Yangyu had been operating in the Ancient Desolate Lands for a long time already. Yet, he was now forced to issue the all-or-nothing system by an insignificant Inferior Grade Martial King.
When Gao Yangyu thought of the taunting smile Xiao Chen gave him while in the wrestling ring, his heart filled with rage.
If it were not that the fact that Gao Yangyu was afraid of the Heavenly Extermination Union, he would have broken the rules of the wrestling ring and personally killed Xiao Chen.
How hateful!
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Gao Yangyu felt very depressed. He violently slammed his palm on the table, and all the vases and screens in the room exploded.
------
The next morning, Xiao Chen arrived at the spectator stands on time. Like before, he walked to his usual corner and started to cultivate.
While Xiao Chen fought with his Vital Qi, the speed of his physical body cultivation advanced at a godly speed. By the fourth day of the selection, the Firmament Body Tempering Art’s fourth layer had already reached Great Perfection.
Now, Xiao Chen just needed to reach the peak of Consummation and he would have completed the Firmament Body Tempering Art’s fourth layer and could advance to the fifth.
If Xiao Chen missed this chance, it would be hard for him to encounter such high-intensity continuous battles again.
Xiao Chen intended to make another breakthrough to reach peak Consummation of the fourth layer.
Now, when everybody saw Xiao Chen’s actions, no one dared to say that Xiao Chen was making last minute preparations.
If they said that, they would be slapping their own faces. Those who did it in the past, all felt their cheeks turn warm.
Time went by slowly. The fights in the wrestling ring continued on, while the drums resounded.
However, the crowd in the spectator stands did not focus on the wrestling ring. Instead, they occasionally shifted their gazes to the contestants’ spectator stands.
Clearly, the battles in the wrestling ring could no longer attract the attention of the crowd.
“I did not expect Gao Yangyu to issue the all-or-nothing system. This must be the first time in history, right?”
“However, it is too hard to succeed with the all-or-nothing system. I have never heard of anybody gaining a hundred consecutive victories in any of the wrestling rings in the Ancient Desolate Lands.”
“Indeed. I have already withdrawn my bet. I have already earned five thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones. I don’t want to lose it all because of my greed.”
“Me too. Otherwise, if Xiao Chen does not get a hundred consecutive victories, I will lose it all. However, I am interested to see how many consecutive victories can Xiao Chen obtain.”
“Who knows, it might even be possible for Xiao Chen to obtain a hundred consecutive victories.”
The focus of everyone’s discussion was the all-or-nothing system that Gao Yangyu had issued. Their gazes kept shifting to the contestants in the spectator stands, anticipating Xiao Chen’s turn.
Unfortunately, Xiao Chen was the last contestant to go up, making them wait until the end.
When the sun started to set, a sharp-eyed cultivator shouted, “Xiao Chen is coming out!”
Everyone looked over, full of anticipation.
“I am Xiao Chen of the Great Qin Nation. Please show me your guidance!”
The familiar voice resounded throughout the entire wrestling ring again. After that, the drums rang out, filling the entire place with excitement.
Xiao Chen continued to use his Vital Qi to fight, relying only on it to power the Great Dragon Tiger Fist. After three days of doing this, he had already become much more familiar with this.
Furthermore, Xiao Chen discovered that, when only using Vital Qi, he could create the mysterious phenomenon of the tiger and dragon more perfectly. In fact, it was much more mighty than when executed with Essence.
A tiger and a dragon roared as Xiao Chen tested out his new ideas on his opponents.
As the matches continued, Xiao Chen’s understanding of Vital Qi continuously rose to a higher level, allowing Xiao Chen to gain many benefits.
To Xiao Chen, gaining consecutive victories was not important. To him, the most important thing was strengthening his cultivation in these hundred matches.
The rewards might have been tempting, but one could not fight for the sake of the rewards; one had to fight for the sake of their cultivation.
Xiao Chen continuously improved himself during the battles. He had never forgotten that this was only the first round of selection for a spot to enter the Ancient Desolate Tower.
The second round of selections would be the true battleground. At that time, he would have to face off against peak experts like Ding Fengchou and Jiang Zimo.
Just within this group, there were about five or six people that Xiao Chen was not fully confident in defeating. When considering the other groups, the situation became even more dire.
After all, there were only twenty spots to enter the Ancient Desolate Tower. If Xiao Chen did not improve himself, it would be very hard for him to get one of these twenty spots.
“Rumble…!”
The tiger and dragon roared together with the booming drum sounds. Xiao Chen used the 300,000 kilograms of force from his pure Vital Qi to their peak.
When his figure flashed and landed on the ground, cracks extended in all directions.
The circulation of his Vital Qi was much faster than that of his Essence. Together with Xiao Chen’s fast attacking speed, this made his attacks very sharp.
After Xiao Chen managed to use his Vital Qi to fully control the Great Dragon Tiger Fist, the situation in the wrestling ring became different from how it was previously.
Xiao Chen’s aura flourished, suppressing his opponent. His strong body put him at an advantage in head-on clashes.
“Xiao Chen won another six matches; he is now at seventy consecutive victories. This fellow seems stronger than he was three days ago.”
“Have you guys noticed? He seemed to be testing something out in the wrestling ring.”
The cultivators with an eye for details said when they noticed that Xiao Chen was no longer forced into a miserable state by the fights.
“Now that you said it, I noticed it as well. I recall that the Great Qin Nation’s Xiao Chen seems to be a bladesman. He is even nicknamed White Robed Bladesman.”
“He does seem to be wearing white robes but I do not see a saber. I saw that he had been using barehanded techniques and thought that the information was wrong.”
“Could it be that he ended up in such a miserable state during the past few days just so he could temper his cultivation on bareheaded techniques? Then, he managed to succeed after three days?”
After the first cultivator spoke, a discussion about Xiao Chen turning things around erupted.
The crowd felt incredulous just thinking about it. These people had seen Xiao Chen’s injuries clearly for themselves for the past few days.
It was hard to imagine that Xiao Chen endured such hardship and hid his status as a bladesman just to temper his cultivation.
After Xiao Chen finished another fight, an old man sighed softly and said, “This youth is so talented and unwavering. After such torture, he even managed to stay calm.”
“He was not affected by the rewards for the consecutive victories or the arduous battles. In this budding era of geniuses. He will definitely be one of the main characters on this stage.”
Xiao Chen’s performance today exceeded the expectations of many people. In the past four days, he had won every battle with great difficulty.
Very rarely would Xiao Chen be able to suppress his opponents, causing them to retreat, and hold the advantage from the start to the end.
Ding Fengchou, Jiang Zimo, and the others exchanged surprised looks. They all felt mildly astonished.
---
At the top of the distant tower, beside a drummer. A graceful woman dressed in black leather armor unknowingly appeared.
Two short swords criss-crossed on her back, and she wore a half-mask on her face, revealing her face only above the nose. She looked very mysterious.
The skin that was exposed outside the leather armor looked so delicate, that the wind seemed like it could break it. Her complexion was as white as snow, and she looked extremely tender and lovely.
Even the black leather armor could not hide her very exquisite and seductive figure.
The woman looked at the two people fighting in the distant wrestling ring with great interest.
She focused her gaze on the white-robed youth and continued to follow their battle. A myriad of thoughts seemed to flicker across her deep eyes.
She muttered softly, “He has so much power just by relying on his Vital Qi. No wonder he is such a headache for Gao Yangyu.”