I Can See Your Combat Power

- 25: The Young Gambling God (II)

: : The Young Gambling God (II)

Translator: 549690339 I

The refined young man in a white robe went to the Martial Hall’s treasury first to exchange his contributions for gold coins.

Because he had improved many martial arts techniques, Tang Luo still had a lot of contributions left over after exchanging for techniques. He first exchanged them for five hundred gold coins to test the waters.

As the universal currency in Longzhou, gold coins played an important role and their purchasing power was quite strong.

For an ordinary family, having fifty gold coins a month means leading a pretty good life, with meat in every meal.

A job that earns more than a hundred gold coins a month would be considered a high-paying profession in ordinary households. Five hundred gold coins are equivalent to more than half a year’s income for an average family, after all, one gold coin can be exchanged for one hundred copper coins, and a bag of rice weighing forty pounds costs only fifty to sixty copper coins.

“How inconvenient, aren’t there any spatial rings or something?” Tang Luo looked somewhat speechless as the steward counted the gold coins one by one into a cloth bag, a total of five hundred, making a clinking sound.

Tang Luo picked up the bag and shook it. It weighed almost six or seven pounds, he attached it to his waist.

Fully equipped, he set off!

The destination was the Martial Arts Hall, with a determined look in the teenager’s eyes.

Xiling has over a dozen martial arts halls, the most famous of which are Xiling Martial Arena, Asura Martial Arts Hall, Extreme Truth Martial Arts Hall and Chaos Martial Arts Hall, each with a history of over a hundred years.

The Asura Martial Arts Hall is owned by the Tang Family and the Extreme Truth Martial Arts Hall is owned by the Mi Family; this is common knowledge.

However, it’s unclear whether the Tang Family or the Mi Family have a stake in the other martial arts halls.

Take, for example, the Lunjiang Martial Arts Hall. If it hadn’t been for this recent incident, the Tang Family wouldn’t have known that the hall was actually controlled by the Mi Family.

The first stop chosen by Tang Luo was called Balyan Martial Arts Hall.

This choice doesn’t carry any profound meaning. It is simply because this hall is closer to the Martial Hall. Given that Tang Luo doesn’t have any means of transportation, he naturally decided to visit the nearby Baiyan Martial Arts Hall first.

Baiyan Martial Arts Hall, a small gymnasium established nearly fifty years ago by the Wu Family, specializes in unarmed martial arts competitions among mortals. It also hosts a large-scale martial arts competition for mortals every year.

The hall is notable for its fights involving bare-chested martial artists in the Mortal Realm. The sight of it excites the spectators.

In addition to their own trained contestants, they also accept entries from martial artists from outside.

Many people who enjoy close-quarters combat like the atmosphere of the Baiyan Martial Arts Hall. The hall enjoys a great reputation.

The Baiyan Martial Arts Hall covers over a hundred acres and has six large pure stone arenas within its premises, one large and five small. There are also three thousand spectator seats around the arenas for the spectators to rest.

Tang Luo was in luck today. When he arrived at the Baiyan Martial Arena, they were just about to hold a small martial arts competition.

Many seats were still empty, and in the center of the enormous arena, the host was about to introduce the eight contestants in detail.

Tang Luo looked around, chose a seat at the highest point in the East, not because the front rows were occupied, but because he was short and couldn’t see anything if he sat in the front. It was more convenient to observe from a higher position at the back.

In the center of the enormous arena stood a host dressed in a plain white training suit, loudly introducing the contestants. His voice echoed to every corner of the venue.

Behind him, eight bare-chested martial artists stood, all in their twenties, strong and fierce looking.

The host’s face was all smiles as he whipped the crowd into a frenzy. His voice

was infectious:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, you’re in for a treat today!”

“This martial arts competition is Baiyan Martial Arena’s monthly Ultimate

Mortal Realm Close-Combat battle!”

The host pointed to the strong and fearsome eight martial artists and said loudly, “These eight martial artists are all at the peak of the Mortal Realm. Each has an illustrious record. Let me introduce them to you one by one.” “Luo Hongtu, the ‘Boulder Smasher’, twenty-three years old, at the peak of the Mortal Realm.

“Kang Chengli, the ‘Stream Cutter’, twenty-three years old, at the peak of the

Mortal Realm.

“Qu Lexian, the ‘Monument Destroyer’, twenty-six years old, at the peak of the

Mortal Realm.

“Chu Xinrui, the ‘Agile Monkey’, twenty-five years old, at the peak of the

Mortal Realm.

“Gongye Feizhang, the ‘Wandering Expert¹, twenty-two years old, at the peak of the Mortal Realm.

“Jade-breaking Hand” Bai Bingbing, twenty-four years old, at the peak of the

Mortal Realm.

“Soul-severing Elbow” Suo Yingcai, twenty-five years old, at the peak of the

Mortal Realm.

“Hundred Rivers Flying Palm” Shentu Le’an, twenty-two years old, at the peak

of the Mortal Realm.

Every time the host announced a name, a thunderous round of applause would explode from the crowd, followed by uninterrupted cheers. However, the expression on Tang Luo’s face, who was sitting afar, was quite strange.

“I wonder if I’ve bumped into a scammer.” Tang Luo felt it was very strange. Although the introductions and nicknames were more terrifying than the previous one and it was claimed to be a peak Mortal Realm competition, he clearly saw that among the eight competitors on the field, damn it, only five were at the peak of the Mortal Realm.

Only Luo Hongtu, Qu Lexian, Chu Xinrui, Suo Yingcai, and Shentu Le’an had values exceeding 999 points with accumulation above their heads. The remaining three were not at the peak of the Mortal Realm, as Kang Chengli had only 877 points, Gongye Feizhang 855 points, and Bai Bingbing 822 points. Among the five people at the peak of the Mortal Realm, Shentu Le’an had the highest value, reaching 999 (1242). Although he was the youngest here, his numerical analysis suggested that he had been accumulating at the peak of the Mortal Realm for a long time.

Is the intelligence work of the Martial Hall so poor? It shouldn’t be. Tang Luo was very doubtful.

What was even more ridiculous was that when the host introduced these contestants, their strengths, records, and praises were vividly portrayed. It seemed as though everyone was the genuine peak of the Mortal Realm without any flaws.

But when it came to Shentu Le’an and Gongye Feizhang, the host only introduced them as just recently at the Mortal Realm’s peak and participating for the first time, as if both were on the same level.

You might be blind. Tang Luo was stunned. This guy was seriously spouting nonsense.

The host continued to introduce with great enthusiasm:

-Eight contestants draw lots, pair up and fight fiercely. The winner advances to the next round until the final champion emerges.

“Now the competition list is posted outside the stage. If you are interested, you can place a bet on the contestant you appreciate. If he wins, won’t it be a great conversation about your discerning eye!”

“Betting begins in one hour. After one hour, all bets will cease and the official peak Mortal Realm hand-to-hand combat tournament will begin!” Zhang Huai roared out the last word, stepped off the stage, with the eight contestants following closely behind, exiting the stage.

Around the stage were twenty betting tables. Behind each, several stewards stood, the odds for each contestant winning the championship clearly written on the tables’ cloths.

Now, was the most exciting and nerve-wracking time for betting in the Martial Arts match!

Among the thousand spectators sitting in the venue, nearly half stood up and surged toward the betting tables by the stage to place their bets.

As time passed, more and more people entered Baiyan Martial Arts Hall, with most of them not finding a seat, but instead directly running to the back of the betting tables to line up.

It was quite lively indeed. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Tang Luo, with a somewhat smirking expression, comfortably sat on the high platform, waiting quietly.

He had already made his judgment on this so-called “peak match”.

It seemed that there are indeed more smart people in the world. Opening a betting house and not having any scams would indeed be impossible. “But this is actually interesting.” Tang Luo murmured to himself, his eyes filled with interest watching the host who had just come down from the stage and started to accept gold coins and issue tickets from the guests at a large table by the stage.

The spectators were very enthusiastic because the bets they liked most were these duels where the level was seemingly equal. Everyone had a chance to win, so the odds were quite balanced. Some martial artists’ odds of winning exceeded 4, and the highest odds were Gongye Feizhang, with a payout of seven to one.

Among the eight contestants, Qu Lexian, Chu Xinrui, and Suo Yingcai had the lowest odds, with Qu Lexian at 3.25 to one and both Chu Xinrui and Suo Yingcai at 3.5 to one.

Some old gamblers hanging around the betting house seemed to have smelled the scent of gold coins from the odds. Low odds meant… it meant even the house put them as the most likely to win.

With the odds of all three exceeding 3, glimmers of wisdom flashed in the eyes of these old gamblers. So to say, if not being greedy, you take three hundred gold coins, put one hundred on each of them.

No matter who wins, the arrangement earns you a profit, because at the very least, you would win 25 gold coins. Although the money was not much, it was like picking it up for nothing.

They felt confident, pulling out the last copper coin from their pockets and placing their bets frantically on the three contestants.

It was understandable, after all, the oldest among the eight contestants were these three, and hadn’t the host mentioned that they had spent the longest time accumulating at the peak of the Mortal Realm?

Although everyone at the peak of the Mortal Realm had similar combat levels, the longer you accumulate at the peak of the Mortal Realm, the more proficient you would be in martial arts; the older you were, the more experienced, right? There was so much information in the host’s introduction, so how could these gamblers, who prided themselves on having a good eye, not notice?

After all, they were professionals..