Like the Skeleton Gang, the Noxious Blood Gang was an organization based at the Bloodsin City. Both had similar strength, or to be precise, Noxious Blood Gang was slightly stronger. In truth, if it wasn't for the Skeleton Gang's ability to refine skeleton puppets, they would not be a match for the Noxious Blood Gang.
The Scorching Blood Monarch was one of the three monarchs in the Noxious Blood Gang with similar strength to Earth Skeleton. As for the young man, he was Blood Candle, a peak fourth-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator.
He was here today to participate in the arena battles, looking for a way to break through into the fifth stage. He could see that Xiang Shaoyun was only a third-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator with one glance. Thus, he did not fear a battle with Xiang Shaoyun.
More importantly, the Noxious Blood Gang had always been hostile with the Skeleton Gang. They had long planned to take over the Skeleton Gang to grow their own strength. Unfortunately, that would only be possible if they had a Sovereign.
"My son is right. If that baby skeleton dares to enter the arena, my son will go as well. So? Do you have the guts?" said Scorching Blood Monarch with a sneer on his face.
Earth Skeleton glanced at Xiang Shaoyun and received a voice transmission saying, "Say yes."
Earth Skeleton then looked at Scorching Blood Monarch and said, "Ok. Young Master Xiang has agreed."
"Haha. Excellent. Let us see who will be the one to leave the arena alive later," said Scorching Blood Monarch with a hearty laugh. Inwardly, he mused, This Earth Skeleton sure is dumb. That baby skeleton is a stage lower than my son. How is he a match?
As for Blood Candle, he sneered at Xiang Shaoyun and said, "Kid, you're dead."
Xiang Shaoyun ignored the provocation and thought inwardly, You better not disappoint me.
Next, Earth Skeleton brought Xiang Shaoyun to the registration counter. The registration counter was in front of the betting counter, and it was the same place he would sign the waiver. There were employees posted there to handle everything.
"After signing the waiver, your life and death will be decided by fate," said an employee at the counter while passing a form over.
Xiang Shaoyun picked up a pen and signed the waiver without any hesitation.
"Xiang Shaoyun? What an effeminate name. Later on the arena, I will make sure you get to enjoy the feeling of facing death," said Blood Candle with a sneer.
He then signed the waiver as well.
"The waiver has been signed. Xiang Shaoyun will be battling Blood Candle. Bets are now available. Odds of five-to-one for Xiang Shaoyun's victory and one-to-two for Blood Candle's victory," yelled a person at the counter.
"Haha, lord, that is a very smart rate. I wager 10,000 mid-grade spirit crystals on my son. He will definitely win," said Scorching Blood Monarch with a hearty laugh.
The employee posted at the counter served both as the referee and the bookmaker of the bets. The odds would be set according to the strength of the combatants in accordance to the bookmaker's judgment.
If there was an obvious gap in the strength of the combatants, there would naturally be different payout rates for the combatants. Only when the combatants had similar cultivation level would the payout be the same.
Evidently, this bookmaker was not optimistic on Xiang Shaoyun's chance of victory. After taking one look at Xiang Shaoyun and Blood Candle, the people there started placing their bets. A majority of them were betting on Blood Candle's victory.
The smile on Scorching Blood Monarch and Blood Candle deepened when they saw that. And when they looked at Earth Skeleton and Xiang Shaoyun, their eyes filled with contempt.
"A great monarch of the Noxious Blood Gang is only wagering 10,000 mid-grade spirit crystals? What an insult to your position. I wager 100,000 mid-grade spirit crystals on my Young Master Xiang's victory," said Earth Skeleton loudly.
That was a large sum of money that not even Emperors could easily take out. It attracted the attention of many people who then started wondering if Xiang Shaoyun was only pretending to be weak. At that thought, some of the people who were going to wager on Blood Candle held back on the bet. However, they still didn't bet on Xiang Shaoyun. Instead, they sat this round out.
Scorching Blood Monarch hesitated slightly before saying, "The Skeleton Gang is really something else. Fine, I'll wager the same. An additional bet of 90,000 more mid-grade spirit crystals on my son's victory."
A large number of spirit crystals were sent out, and pure spiritual energy rippled everywhere.
The bookmaker quickly put the spirit crystals away and recorded the new bet. He then asked, "Anyone else betting?"
Just as the bookmaker was about to announce the start of the battle, a lazy voice rang out, "Wait a moment. I'm betting too."
The crowd turned to look at the newcomer. An odd look appeared on their faces when they saw who the newcomer was. Sounds of discussion spread across the crowd.
"It's the Gambler. He's actually joining the bet as well. It is said that he never loses a bet. Let's see who he is betting on this time."
"Yeah. This old gambler will always bet a random amount, but he is never wrong. Moreover, he has an odd habit. The lower the amount he is betting, the more likely it is for the person he is betting on to win. I wonder who he is going to bet on this time."
"Although this guy is ugly, he is a godly gambler."
"I will bet on whoever he bets on. He won't be wrong."
...
Xiang Shaoyun had also noticed the newcomer. It was actually an extremely ugly middle-aged man. He had a massive forehead, a balding head, sunken eyes, tiny nose, massive lips, and sparse white hair. He looked more like a monster than a man and was dressed as sloppily as a beggar. A foul stench lingered about him, giving one the urge to step away from him.
He was one of the Seven Villains, the Ugly Gambler. The Seven Villains of Bloodsin City were comprised of Suicide Sword Li Juetian, Man-eating Mouth Shi Lie, Myriad Face Consort Yao Jiaojiao, Smiling Monk Yuan Xiao, Ugly Gambler Pang Nanyang, Heaven Rupturing Foot Can Lehen, and Poison Physician Du Wusheng.
The Seven Villains were famous throughout the Bloodsin City. They would not shy from any crime and were exceptionally powerful as well. Because of that, they were greatly feared. This person was one of them, Pang Nanyang the Ugly Gambler.
Generally, people only dared to call him "Gambler" when meeting him. Not many people dared to include the "Ugly" in front of it. Otherwise, they would die before even knowing what was going on.
The Ugly Gambler was a gambling addict. He once tried pestering a top Emperor to have a bet with him where the loser would be required to amputate himself. The Emperor rejected him again and again, but Ugly Gambler pestered him non stop for 64 days in a row. Ultimately, that Emperor was so annoyed he decided to accept the bet. He ended up losing both his legs.
From then on, the Ugly Gambler's name spread far and wide in the Bloodsin City, becoming one of the Seven Villains. Not only was he a gambling addict, but he was also extremely good at gambling. He had never lost a bet yet.
For some reason his bets had always been random. At times, he would only bet as little as one or two low-grade spirit crystals, and sometimes, he would bet up to millions of high-grade spirit crystals. Occasionally, he would even bet his own life. Nobody knew why he loved gambling so much.
When the bookmaker saw the Ugly Gambler, his face twitched before saying, "Lord Gambler, who are you betting on?"
This bookmaker knew about Ugly Gambler as well. Each time he showed himself, there was basically zero possibility for the house to win any money from the bet they were hosting because any bet Ugly Gambler made would be followed by countless people, resulting in great losses for the house. Even more annoying was the fact that despite having the backing of the city hall, they still seemed incapable of doing anything to the Ugly Gambler.