The sixth day!

The agreed date for the Martial Arts Competition between Xu Guang and the Sword Demon was tomorrow!

Meanwhile, inside the casino.

The Sword Demon’s odds were one to twenty‑three!

Xu Guang’s odds were one to five!

Seeing these odds, the higher‑ups of the Fighting Arena couldn’t sit still anymore.

Tai Yi and Ning Zheng were still standing inside the Secret Chamber, watching the Underground Casino below.

Tai Yi put away the Sound Transmission Token, the corners of his mouth slightly lifting as he said, "The higher‑ups of the Fighting Arena can’t sit still anymore. With such disappointing odds, the Fighting Arena in Black Water City is destined to lose money!"

Ning Zheng asked, "So, they’re planning to..."

Tai Yi said, "Directly raise the Sword Demon’s odds to one to a hundred!"

"And press Senior Xu Guang’s odds down to one to one!"

Hearing Tai Yi’s words, Ning Zheng’s Eyes flashed as he lowered his voice and said, "Lower Xu Guang, raise the Sword Demon... The higher‑ups of the Fighting Arena want to use such astonishing odds to attract those rich guys who love betting on upsets, right?"

Tai Yi laughed and said, "That’s the only way. Otherwise, if these odds keep up, unless the Sword Demon wins, the Fighting Arena of Black Water City is bound to suffer a massive loss!"

Ning Zheng took a deep breath and said, "Yeah."

...

In the Underground Casino, countless Warriors were watching the odds every moment.

"The Sword Demon’s odds actually jumped straight from one to twenty‑three to one to a hundred!"

"My god, what an insane payout!"

"And Senior Xu Guang’s odds actually dropped to one to one? That’s way too low!"

"Bet a hundred Merits to earn just ten Merits!"

Many Warriors looked helplessly at these odds. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

They wanted to bet on the Sword Demon, since his odds were sky‑high, but they also knew the Sword Demon had no chance of winning.

They wanted to bet on Xu Guang, but those odds were too low. There was hardly any risk, but there was hardly any profit either!

In the Underground Casino, Ban Ye and the Fatty had, over the last few days, stayed just like the other Warriors, never leaving the casino, but watching the odds inside rise higher and higher!

"Fatty, I’m going to place my bet!"

When Ban Ye saw the Sword Demon’s odds surge to one to a hundred, he couldn’t hold back anymore!

The Fatty said, "Ban Ye, think this through. You know how long it would take you to save up a million Merits, right?"

"You’ve been a Guest Official in the Tang Family for more than ten years, and you’ve only saved up a bit over a hundred thousand Merits!"

"This one‑point‑something million Merits is enough for you to save for decades!"

Ban Ye said, "I’ve said it before, these Merits were originally earned thanks to the Sword Demon. Now that I’m betting on him, even if I lose it all, so what?"

As he spoke, Ban Ye stepped forward and came to the betting counter.

Ban Ye directly said, "Sword Demon to win, one million Merits!"

The little servant in charge of registration lifted his head, looked at Ban Ye in surprise, then smiled and said, "Alright, sir, please wait a moment, I’ll write the ticket for you right away!"

"Sword Demon to win, one million Merits!"

Right then, Ban Ye took out the Merits and received his betting slip!

If Ban Ye won, his one million Merits would instantly turn into one hundred million Merits!

The Fatty still didn’t move for a long while, continuously watching from inside the casino.

But in the end, the Fatty gritted his teeth, went to the betting counter, and said, "Sword Demon to win... three hundred thousand Merits!"

"Mad, with odds this insane, I gotta take a shot too!"

The Fatty said viciously.

After placing their bets, the Fatty dragged Ban Ye out of the Underground Casino, found a Small Tavern, and downed several jars of fiery liquor with him!

As the Sword Demon’s odds in the Fighting Arena reached one to a hundred, it indeed attracted quite a few rich men who loved betting on upsets!

Besides Ban Ye’s one‑million‑Merit bet!

Many other wealthy patrons also placed bets ranging from one million to three hundred thousand Merits!

And there was another person who put five million Merits on the Sword Demon!

That person was a woman—Tang Yuezhi!

Tang Yuezhi looked at the betting slip in her hand, shook her head with a bitter smile, and said, "This is my savings from so many years... Lin Bai, don’t let me down."

Inside the Fighting Arena, every Warrior knew.

Sword Demon at one to a hundred, Xu Guang at one to one—this was already the limit for this Martial Arts Competition. It couldn’t go any higher, and it couldn’t go any lower.

The Warriors who wanted to bet had already done so.

Those who were still hesitating didn’t dare place any more bets!

Because betting on the Sword Demon was too risky, while betting on Xu Guang yielded too little!

The Warriors who still hadn’t placed their bets by now basically weren’t going to bet anymore!

Until two hours before the Martial Arts Competition, the Underground Casino closed the books.

During these past few days, Lin Bai had also come to the Underground Casino from time to time to watch his own odds fluctuate!

...

The seventh day!

Dawn Moment.

As usual, Lin Bai walked out of the Tang Family and headed for the Fighting Arena.

Today was the day of his Martial Arts Competition with Xu Guang.

Before he even got close to the Fighting Arena, though Dawn had yet to fully break, the street from Black Water City leading to the Fighting Arena was already packed to bursting.

And on the Spectator Seats inside the Fighting Arena, the Warriors had already filled every spot.

Inner‑field tickets had, three days ago, already been driven up to a terrifying price of ten thousand Merits each!

Tickets for a Private Room had been bid up to over a hundred thousand Merits per day.

For example, the Yellow Character No.1 Private Room where Madam Yang resided—Private Rooms like that cost one million Merits a day!

Back in the day, any Warrior who could enter a Private Room to watch the fight was either rich or noble. Naturally, they didn’t care about a mere one‑point‑something million Merits.

Fortunately, the Yellow Character No.1 Private Room that Madam Yang had rented in the Fighting Arena was leased starting from a one‑year term!

Lin Bai walked along the crowded Passageway of Black Water City and, after finally squeezing through the Crowd, entered the Fighting Arena.

Walking down a dim Corridor, Lin Bai put on the Sword Demon disguise.

He headed straight for Yellow Character No.1.

After entering the Elegant Pavilion, Lin Bai saw that in the Yellow Character No.1 Elegant Pavilion today, besides Madam Yang and the four handsome flower boys, there was also a whole group of Old men and Middle-aged Men!

"The Sword Demon is here?"

"So that’s the Sword Demon?"

"Hehe, I’ve heard your name for a long time."

When they saw Lin Bai step into the Elegant Pavilion, those Old men and Middle-aged Men all looked at Lin Bai and laughed cheerfully.

Madam Yang stood up and said, "Sword Demon, you’re here!"

Lin Bai gave a slight nod and remained silent.

Madam Yang introduced, "These are the senior Elders of my Zhao Family. This is the Patriarch of the Zhang family, and also my elder brother, Zhaoyun Tian!"

At once, a Middle-aged Man sitting in the chair, whose very presence carried authority, stood up, looked at the Sword Demon with a smile, and said, "Regardless of victory or defeat in this battle, just do your best."

Looking at the smile on Zhaoyun Tian’s Face, Lin Bai also understood that the Warriors of the Zhao Family didn’t have any confidence in him at all.

From Madam Yang and Zhaoyun Tian, to the other Strong Ones of the Zhao Family, they all believed Lin Bai was doomed to lose!

And at this moment, from the smiles on Madam Yang’s and Zhaoyun Tian’s Faces, Lin Bai could guess that they truly hadn’t placed their bets on him!

Because if they had bet on Lin Bai, there was no way they could be smiling this happily, no way they could be this relaxed!

Since Lin Bai had already guessed that they hadn’t put their wager on him, he didn’t ask further and simply smiled, "Alright, then I’ll go down and get ready."

Zhaoyun Tian smiled and said, "Go on."

Lin Bai turned and left Yellow Character No.1!

Zhaoyun Tian then sat down, a delighted smile appearing on his Face. "Looks like we didn’t bet enough Merits. The Young Lord of Houtu City first put down five hundred million Merits, then added another five hundred million!"

"A total of one billion Merits!"

Madam Yang smiled and said, "But we bet earlier than they did. By the time they placed their bets, Senior Xu Guang’s odds were already pressed to one to one, whereas when we bet, the odds were still one to two!"

Zhaoyun Tian said, "If I’d known, I should’ve put down more at the time—directly pressed all of the Zhao Family’s liquid funds from these past few years onto Senior Xu Guang, and dumped two billion Merits in one go!"

Madam Yang said, "Our Zhao Family first put down one hundred million Merits, then added three more times, for a total of seven hundred million Merits. That already uses up all the capital the Family can move!"

"That’s enough!"

Zhaoyun Tian and Madam Yang both nodded slightly.

Zhaoyun Tian said, "Sister, after today you’ll be the great achiever of the Zhao Family. I’d like to see if those old fogeys still dare to say anything!"

Madam Yang smiled faintly and said nothing, but when she heard Zhaoyun Tian’s words, a hint of subdued joy also appeared on her Face.