Following this voice, two stationary digits appeared in the sky with a wave of Lawrence’s hand. They were both zero.

Betting?

Xu Yangyi was somewhat surprised. He’d never heard about this part. But it seemed more like this tradition had already been done many times.

“Mr. X.” The handsome young man across from him spoke up and explained in a voice that couldn’t be nitpicked, “I am very honored to meet you. The arena is located in a stabilized spatial crack. The cost to active it is quite great. The betting segment is the way Vatican City’s New York branch recoups the funds for activating it. They will take a thirty percent cut of the proceeds. There is betting for each round.”

Xu Yangyi nodded and looked at the numbers in the sky that continued to be as calm as a lake. He smiled and said, “In that case, how come no one is activating it right now?”

The young man’s lips twitched, but he lowered his head as he mumbled and said nothing.

Xu Yangyi thought to himself and then couldn’t help but break out in laughter.

Yes… who wasn’t afraid of smearing a master spirit-technician’s face? How could they possibly put a bet down just like that, in his presence?

Lawrence had obviously thought about this point. He lightly coughed, and a light-screen suddenly materialized around Althorne and Xu Yangyi. The outside could no longer be seen.

In the instant the screen formed, the previously silent audience seemed to quickly flare.

Similar to a pot of water coming to an instant boil.

“3,000 middle-grade spirit stones.” A slight rosy flush appeared on the face of a man from the House of Dracul, and he yelled out, “I bet Mr. Althorne wins.”

“10,000 middle-grade spirit stones. Althorne.”

“5,000 middle-grade spirit stones, Althorne.”

“4,000 middle-grade spirit stones, Althorne.”

It was like they were afraid that the Sky Restriction would be undone in the next second. Voices casting bets rose and fell. Before the light-screen closed, the numbers were at two extremes.

In less than thirty seconds, on both sides of the sky, one was zero and the other had madly swelled up to over 4,000,000 middle-grade spirit stones!

“20,000 middle-grade spirit stones. Althorne.” A man next to the black-masked Pale Dragon laughed. “Are you going to play a hand?”

Pale Dragon didn’t reply. Several seconds later, he raised his hand. “5,000 middle-grade spirit stones, X.”

“X?” The man next to him laughed, “Are you mistaken? It’s a done win. There’s no suspense at all. Aren’t you just throwing away your resources?”

“Good and bad, Mr. X must be left a little prestige,” Pale Dragon sighed. “After all, I invited him to the Corvinus.”

“There are eight great families present and also five or six minor families. A family brings about ten Marquises, and it’s already 4,000,000 spirit stones. That means on average, a Marquis is betting 3,000 to 4,000 middle-grade spirit stones on him to lose. Regardless, we can’t let our table manners be too unsightly, and I don’t lack this pittance of spirit stones, anyways.”

With the Marquises taking the lead, all the Counts were likewise spurred.

“3,000 middle-grade spirit stones! Althorne! This is my entire savings!”

“500! Althorne! I’m going for broke!”

“200!”

“800!”

Apart from these numbers, Althorne’s name echoed through the arena.

Three minutes later, the light screen became transparent again. As soon as Xu Yangyi raised his head, he began to laugh.

The stake on one side was 6,000. On the other… was 5,120,000!

The odds were one to eighty-five!

Completely one-sided!

These were the people who had just expressed their good wished for his victory!

These were the people who had just applauded for him!

And now, after the light-screen became transparent again, the audiences’ faces were slightly awkward, especially among the Corvinus. No one had expected that the odds would actually be this high!

“Everyone really does think highly of me,” he leisurely laughed, “No one’s tricking themselves, that’s how it should be.”

“I bet on you to win.” At this time, a voice was heard. Xu Yangyi raised his head and saw that it was unexpectedly Vermilion Snow.

Their gazes collided in the air like blades and then shifted away afterwards as easily and gently as clouds and winds.

“Alright.” Lawrence’s expression was also a little unnatural. Yes, this was a pointless opportunity to make money. The outcome was very evident. Why bet on Xu Yangyi? It was just that he hadn’t imagined that not even the House of Corvinus—technically Xu Yangyi’s side—would bet on him. The demon slayer wasn’t left with a tiny bit of face.

“I declare that the first battle of the fourth Holy War begins… now!!!”

BOOM! Just as Lawrence’s voice fell, Althorne, who was facing Xu Yangyi, loudly erupted with boundless green essence!

Like a wave, like a tide, the elf’s power engulfed the entire arena.

In Althorne’s essence, all things seemed to thrive, like packs of beasts were roaring. It was like Xu Yangyi wasn’t facing a person, but rather a vast domain of nature, a grand biosphere.

“Mr. X.” At this time, Althorne’s voice rang out in Xu Yangyi’s ears. “I will do my utmost not to hurt you. I will let you leave with your dignity. Please don’t resist.”

Xu Yangyi quickly laughed and said indifferently, “You’re Althorne?”

“Yes.”

“Relax, I’ll go a little easy on you too.”

Althorne was dazed. Afterwards, a wave of unhappiness surged up in his heart.

We respect your mind and workmanship as a master spirit-technician, certainly not your battle power!

Ignorant of the world’s immensity, he inwardly snorted, In that case… I’ll let you know what a warrior is like!

Althorne went down on all fours and crawled on the ground like a beast. In less than two seconds, boundless green essence whirled around, and his figure rapidly swelled. Hair wildly spread over him, and a two-headed lion no less than ten meters in size soon appeared in front of Xu Yangyi.

One head had flames burning in its mouth, and the other’s maw had frost lingering within. The fantastic three-story-tall monster overlooked everything.

“Artemis’s Garden of Endless Beasts.” Four golden pupils reflected Xu Yangyi’s figure, and Althorne leaned over. He took on the stance of a fierce beast, an omen of the coming attack, but he still hesitated. “Mr. X, are you ready?”

“This move will instantly shift all the surrounding spiritual energy to two extremes. A mid Marquis… If you’re not careful you’ll be reduced to flying ash.”

“Tch…” A youth from the Dragonmen couldn’t hold in his laughter anymore. “He’s giving an explanation of his move’s power before the fight! Is he scared he’ll use too much power to crush that ragdoll? This is ridiculous!”

Xu Yangyi smiled, but he was no longer where he stood in the next second.

“Huh?!” This movement caused over a dozen people in the arena to softly yelp out in surprise at almost the same time. There were even a few that nearly stood up!

Fast… so fast!

Xu Yangyi’s body had been transformed by A Thousand Li Invincible. He didn’t even leave behind an afterimage in the air! All that remained… was color.

The color of his figure! Without a shadow!

But this wasn’t what shocked them. What shocked them… were the five white lights that flared from Xu Yangyi’s fingertips. The Throneless Grand Dukes who clearly saw them felt a slight threat!

Swoosh! Without any time to react, Althorne, who bore the brunt, saw the snow-white lights that were over twenty meters long! As if they wanted to cleave apart the entire world, they madly clawed at him!

This definitely wasn’t the murderous aura that should’ve belonged to a flower in a greenhouse!

In a flash, they knew an enormous mistake had been made!

This master spirit-technician… was certainly no ordinary master! His physique arts and divine abilities were so shockingly strong!

“Such murderous aura… such murderous aura!!!” The fur on the giant two-headed lion’s neck stood on edge, and then it reared its heads back and roared. Althorne’s eyes conveyed a sense of incredible caution. “This is a true expert that’s been on the battlefield for a long time!”

“Now you know?” Xu Yangyi’s loud laughter contained a finally unleashed battle intent. “Too late!”

“Splitting Air!!!”

Boom boom boom! A barrage of white claw-scars loudly exploded and formed a bright silver globe that was twenty to thirty meters all around. It completely shrouded the giant lion!

Bang bang bang! The ground rumbled and caved in following the shine of these claw-scars!

Swish… A Marquis stood up. As soon as an expert extended their hand, one would know. In kind, he saw that Xu Yangyi’s attack was backed by power more than appearance! On the contrary, it was the real deal!

Of Xu Yangyi’s speed and movement trajectory, everything told them that the bunny in their eyes was an elder-dragon under soft fur!

Bang bang bang! Meanwhile, a swath of creeping vines quickly and violently grew under the white light. They carried streaks of green essence, and grew longer and taller, so much as forty to fifty meters in size. After a series of muffled bangs, countless vibrant flowers bloomed in unison.

“This is… Artemis’s Garden…” A dragonman Marquis concentrated seriously and exhaled sharply. “The Elves’s third strongest defensive move… Althorne… was actually forced to use it?”

“I’m not done yet…” Xu Yangyi was never one to patiently wait. His principle was to take vengeance from hatred and to repay grievance with justice. He couldn’t vent the anger in his heart on everyone, and he couldn’t snarl what he wanted to say to everyone in this competition, either.

I’m strong.

To voice these words was too much of a loss of grace, and it also didn’t suit his status. He wasn’t a shrew.

But… Althorne in front of him was his best venting point.

His left hand simultaneously rose up.

“ROAR!!!” A lion’s bellow echoed through the arena. The world-shaking scream caused all the Counts to tremble. Quite a few people broke into cold sweats.

In the next moment, the joints of Xu Yangyi’s arms audibly cracked, and his muscles dramatically swelled. His suit even burst apart into tatters, and two white lights, far stronger than the previous ones, pounced right at Althorne.

“No good!” Althorne’s golden pupils suddenly needled. In the face of the incoming onslaught, he felt this move’s killing intent with his entire body!

Xu Yangyi was attacking with his true power! Furthermore, he wasn’t planning to let him win at all!

So strong!

The faces of all the Marquises now were pictures of graveness. The golden protective cover could fully contain the spiritual force and spiritual pressure inside the battleground, but it wouldn’t stop the might from leaking out. Each and every person felt the power contained in Xu Yangyi’s and Althorne’s moves!

“This… is an apex physique art!” From the Sirens, a harpy covered in gold stood up and looked at the arena with awe. “But if that’s not scary enough… they’ve already been fighting for ten-odd seconds. He… can actually keep going?!”

A man who was laughing so much before that he was keeling over felt a shudder travel through him. He covered his mouth just like he was being choked to death, and he raised his head in disbelief and watched the fight. “No… he’s just a master spirit-technician…”

What did an apex physique art represent?

Everyone present, even the Counts, understood.

An apex fleshly body compatible with the physique art!

Otherwise, Xu Yangyi couldn’t have sustained his physique art for so long! Perhaps his veins would rupture in one or two seconds, and his muscles would tear apart!

An elf rogue didn’t stand up, only watching the scene, in shock. He didn’t dare to believe that Xu Yangyi, whom he’d just believed was as delicate as a flower, was actually attacking so frantically!

Xu Yangyi was directly suppressing Althorne as they fought!

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