4 Betting matches. (2/2)

”Lil Yongi will be the one to win the next match. Oy, Lil Yongi, I've bet on you just now, so don't you dare lose, otherwise, I'll be forced to spank you a few times!”

The one who entered the stage now was exactly the person Li Yang had met after the previous meeting with his father, it was Li Jueyong. The black-eyed and blue-haired Li Jueyong looked incomparably serious, his expression only faltering for a short second when Li Yang called out. Mei Kongxu also looked at the two fighters, placing her bet on Li Jueyong's opponent, Ping Shisui.

The fight quietly started with only a single word from the judge, Li Jueyong and the girl from the World-rending Behemoth sect dashing at each other and engaging in a fierce melee. Li Jueyong specialized in using his legs to attack, mixing in the law of wind to drastically increase the power of his kicks.

Li Jueyong was a diligent cultivator who had barely rested a single day ever since he started cultivating, allowing him to carve his sixth Law Rune at the age of 12. It might be considered somewhat slow compared to the geniuses of the 98 sects on this planet that were ranked higher than the Deepsea King sect, but it was an achievement he got without using any resources, it was all his effort and his diligence.

But in the face of superior strength, that diligence and effort were both rendered worthless. A minute and a half after the battle started, Li Jueyong was crushed beneath the feet of his opponent, his head trampled into the stone stage and knocking him out cold, the opponent's simple judgment ringing in his ears before he lost consciousness.

”Not good enough, you should work a bit harder before you find me for a rematch.”

Li Jueyong was carried out of the stage on a stretcher, one of Li Yang's eyebrows raising in surprise at the unexpected loss. But in the end, he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and motion towards Mei Kongxu.

”Heh, a win for your side and a loss for my overconfidence in the shorty, your turn to ask a question.”

Mei Kongxu's eyebrow rose slightly at Li Yang's calmness, she had expected at least a bit of his carefreeness to vanish after his own younger brother got beaten so summarily. But her interest in Li Yang was only fleeting so she didn't take it to heart, casually picking another question and receiving a swift response.

”What would you do if a situation arose where you had to abandon one of your own desires? Would you abandon that desire to resolve the situation or would you struggle and lose just so that you could say you lost with pride?”

”Hah, what a pointless question, I'd do neither. I don't abandon what is mine, so if anyone wants me to give up something of mine then they will have to leave behind their lives. I'll struggle and win, maybe not in the first fight, maybe not in the second, but I'll fight as many times as it takes to come out on top with everything intact. Next battle, the kid from your sect is going to win, Hong Qing is a bit rash and doesn't bother thinking ahead.”

Once again, Li Yang's eyes flashed with boundless and casual arrogance, as if it was engraved into his very bones. Mei Kongxu remained silent for a moment with one eyebrow raised, eventually pointing at the youth from the Deepsea King sect that stepped onto the stage.

”Liu Fangye doesn't have any stamina or strong attacks, he will lose to the girl from your sect.”

The bets were placed and the battle started without any fanfare, both contestants unleashing all their skills for the audience. But Mei Kongxu was swiftly proven correct, the youth from her sect quickly starting to gasp for breath, not one of his attacks able to pierce Hong Qing's defence. He was quickly forced to concede, Li Yang clicking his tongue in an exaggerated manner.

”Man, Fairy Sister Kongxu is really doing her best to prevent me from asking you any tingling questions, you won't even give me a single win. But alright, a loss is a loss, one more question for you.”

Li Yang had already lost three bets in a row yet his cheeky smile remained the same, as if nothing could even get close to budging it. Mei Kongxu once again turned her head to inspect his eyes, peering deeply into them while asking her question, and once again receiving a swift and carefree reply.

”What would you do if the mere presence of a close friend led to your slow and agonizing death? What would you do if you found out that one of your close friends was considered a walking disaster that brought ruin wherever they went? What would you do to them, aid them or aid those who want to protect the world?

”That's three questions, but since I'm a certified gentleman I'll respond to them. I wouldn't do anything to them. I'll die by staying close to them? I just gotta get stronger or find something to prevent myself from dying. They're a disaster and bring ruin? So what, just gotta find something to help them keep that ruin in check. People have learned stranger things so why not something like this? And I said it earlier, didn't I? I don't abandon what's mine, and that includes my friends. If anyone wants to lay a hand on them, no matter the reason, then I will leave nothing but corpses.”

Casual and carefree arrogance that didn't care for anything, even Li Yang's posture was dripping with it as he spoke. If he decided to protect someone, then it didn't matter even if the world's strongest cultivator was against him, he would remain cocky and carefree while protecting them. Because it would be a choice he made, a choice he would stand behind. Mei Kongxu's eyes narrowed faintly as she looked deeply into Li Yang's eyes, her gaze eventually returning to its usual distant and forlorn state as she turned it back onto the stage.

New fighters entered the stage, Li Yang and Mei Kongxu continuing their betting matches and trading questions back and forth. Before long, a further 16 matches passed, the score of the betting ending up as nine wins for Li Yang and 11 wins for Mei Kongxu. The sparring matches were far from over so the betting should still go on for a while, but Li Yang stood up from his seat and stretched his entire body, raising his arms and using his hands to grab the opposite shoulder while stretching.

”Alright, I'm getting rather stiff, and the betting is getting too boring now that it's gone on for a while. How about we change things up a bit? We take turns going up on stage and challenging people, the one who wins the most matches gets to make a request of the winner. If I win, Fairy Sister Kongxu has to accompany me for a date through the city so that I can brag about my beautiful fiancee. What do you say? Scared you'll lose and end up falling for me when you see my excellent escorting skills?”

Mei Kongxu's eyebrows twitched again as Li Yang spoke, he simply didn't care for her lack of reaction and had kept teasing her throughout the entirety of the betting matches. She looked at him with a somewhat disinterested gaze, her eyes practically piercing through him before she gave a nonchalant nod of her head.

Li Yang grinned at her approval and then headed down to the stage, stepping onto it under the shocked gazes of the spectators. Li Yang had never taken part in these annual sparring matches before, using his young age as an excuse to not take part. Some had expected that he would get challenged now that he was above 15 and others could invoke the rite of passage, but none had expected that he would actually step onto the stage before getting challenged. Li Yang relished in the shocked gazes, his own gaze landing on Ping Shisui, the girl who beat Li Jueyong.

”The name was Fairy Sister Shisui, wasn't it? Sorry little beauty, but I'll have to ask you to come down here for a spanking, I'm the only one who's allowed to bully Lil Yongi.”