On the stands,
But the report from below painted a different picture: "Total bets placed came to one hundred and sixty million Demon Spirit Coins. Total payouts were over one hundred and sixty-six million — a loss of over six million!"
"How is that possible? We actually lost?" Shen Ming snarled in fury. He had expected the betting ring to recover some of their losses, but instead they had hemorrhaged another six million. It wasn't a huge sum, but it still enraged him.
"Damn it!" Shen Ming cursed bitterly. Ever since he had taken up the position of Overseer for the Sacred Family, nothing of this magnitude had ever gone wrong. They had hemorrhaged over fifty-six million Demon Spirit Coins in one stroke, and right at the critical moment when the Family Head was about to emerge from seclusion. Even if he could smooth things over with his past track record, the taste left in his mouth was absolutely foul.
Over on the Tianhen Family's side,
"Little Brother Nie Li, I thought you were an upright person, but you turned out to be quite the trickster! I'll have to be careful around you from now on,"
Nie Li smiled wryly. "Sister Yang, you've got me wrong. I really am an upright person — it's just that extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures!"
Yang Xin, Nie Hai, and Nie En all exchanged knowing looks at Nie Li's words, their expressions clearly saying: *Who would believe that?*
Nie Li shrugged, knowing that no amount of explanation would help. He turned to Nie En and asked, "How much did we win in total?"
"We won fifty million from the direct wager, and the thirty million in side bets brought in over seventy million!" Nie Hai said with a grin. Over one hundred million Demon Spirit Coins in revenue just like that — this kid Nie Li really knew how to make money.
"Mm." Nie Li nodded. One hundred million Demon Spirit Coins was nothing to him, but for the Sacred Family, it was no small figure.
By now, Shen Ming could contain himself no longer. He strode over toward the Tianhen Family.
"Overseer Shen Ming, how is Young Master Shen doing? Our Nie Li may have been a bit too heavy-handed. Please forgive him!" Nie Hai gave a slight cupped-hand bow toward Shen Ming. As the Tianhen Family Head, he still had to put on a display of grace — though inwardly, he was bursting with glee.
Shen Ming's face twitched slightly. Everyone knew that Shen Fei wouldn't be getting out of bed for the next half month. That kid Nie Li had struck truly viciously. Shen Ming didn't yet know the full extent of Shen Fei's injuries — specifically that Shen Fei would never again be able to perform as a man. Had he known, he would have flown into an even greater rage. Nevertheless, Shen Ming had already issued orders to
In Shen Ming's estimation, with only a single Tiger Teeth Panda, there was no way Nie Li could possibly beat Shen Ning. A typical Tiger Teeth Panda was merely a Bronze-grade Demon Spirit at best. Even if Nie Li's was somewhat special, reaching Silver grade would be its absolute ceiling. Shen Ning, on the other hand, was already a Silver Five Star Demon Spirit Master. Moreover, the Demon Spirit Shen Ning had fused with was the Sacred Flame Demon Bear — a Gold-grade Demon Spirit. Shen Fei's Scarlet Flame Black Tiger, though it had the potential to become a Black Gold Demon Spirit, was currently only at Silver grade. Meanwhile, Shen Ning's Demon Spirit had already reached Gold-grade strength.
If they could still lose after that, it would be a miracle.
"This is only the first of three matches. Don't celebrate too early. Let's get the second match started!" Shen Ming said coldly, turning his gaze to Nie Hai and the others.
"That..." Nie Hai couldn't help glancing at Nie Li. He had no idea what Nie Li's true strength was. The Sacred Family had lost once, and the fighter they sent out next would certainly not be ordinary.
Shen Ming followed Nie Hai's gaze, his eyes landing on Nie Li. A cold glint flickered in his pupils.
Nie Li cleared his throat. "Isn't this rather unfair of the Sacred Family? I just finished a match and my Soul Power is severely depleted. Forcing me straight into a second fight — isn't that a bit unsporting, using a rotating lineup like this? Why not postpone the second match by two months? Once I've recovered my Soul Power, I'll gladly challenge the Sacred Family's next genius."
When they heard Nie Li's words, Yang Xin, Nie Hai, and Nie En all stared at him in astonishment.
*Soul Power severely depleted?* In the last match, Nie Li had simply fused with his Demon Spirit, slapped Shen Fei a few times, and stomped on him a few more. There hadn't been any intense fighting whatsoever. Wasn't this excuse a bit too blatant?
Shen Ming's face darkened. He let out a cold snort. "The Tianhen Family wouldn't happen to have won some money and now plan to renege and walk away, would you? If that's the case, the Sacred Family isn't one to be trifled with." He glanced toward Yang Xin and snorted again. "With the Tianhen Family acting so dishonorably, surely the Alchemist Association wouldn't still choose to shelter them? If that's how it is, I'll have our Family Head bring this matter before the Association President for a proper discussion!"
Yang Xin's cheeks flushed slightly red. Though she was firmly on Nie Li's side, her thin skin made it somewhat embarrassing to speak up. If Nie Li truly took the money and ran, it would put them in the wrong.
"Since Overseer Shen Ming puts it that way, I have no choice but to play along. Even if the Sacred Family's rotating-lineup strategy is a bit unsporting, I'm sure nobody would dare gossip behind the Sacred Family's back!" Nie Li looked at the rage-contorted Shen Ming and allowed himself a small inward smile — he had successfully worked Shen Ming into a fury.
"Who dares gossip about my Sacred Family!" Shen Ming barked. He suddenly caught his own slip — hadn't he just openly admitted the rotating lineup was unsporting? He was practically about to explode.
Nie Hai, Nie En, and the others wore expressions of quiet understanding.
"The Sacred Family really does excel at leveraging its power to bully others," Yang Xin remarked lightly. She had finally grasped what Nie Li was doing. He was goading Shen Ming, step by step luring him into a trap. But could Nie Li actually defeat the Sacred Family's genius? If he couldn't, then all of this would be for nothing.
"So what if it is?!" Shen Ming raged, glaring at Nie Hai, Nie Li, and the rest. "How much does the Tianhen Family want to play for this time?"
Nie Li said casually, "In my view, we should be putting up at least two or three hundred million Demon Spirit Coins. Anything less would be boring."
Nie Li's words jolted Shen Ming into a moment of clarity. Though Nie Li had worked him into a rage, a wager of two hundred million — if something went wrong, the consequences were far beyond what he could bear. Even if he had contributed to the Sacred Family in the past, losing two hundred million in one shot would bring his comfortable days to a definitive end.
The fact that Nie Li had accepted this wager proved he had some measure of confidence. In the previous fight between Shen Fei and Nie Li, they had failed to probe the depths of Nie Li's strength at all. Shen Ming didn't dare act rashly.
After a moment of silence, Shen Ming spoke: "There's still one more match. Let's make this one one hundred million Demon Spirit Coins."
Reading Shen Ming's expression, Nie Li understood that as an Overseer of the Sacred Family, he had certain limits to his authority and didn't dare risk anything too large. Press further, and the other side might grow wary.
"Since the Sacred Family is so lacking in confidence, let's settle on one hundred million Demon Spirit Coins then," Nie Li said with a faint smile.
Hearing this, Shen Ming's face turned ashen. The way Nie Li kept referencing "the Sacred Family this, the Sacred Family that," belittling the Sacred Family at every turn, it was enough to drive him to the edge of madness.