182: Chapter 181 Yang Xinyue's High-Stakes Gamble!!

Meanwhile, in Nanshen City, G Province.

A building resembling a towering, piercing sword stood proudly in the city center, overlooking the entire metropolis.

The exterior of this building was entirely constructed from unknown, exotic blue-black crystals, and its surface was embedded with many peculiar metal devices.

On one side of the building, the large characters "Commercial Alliance Headquarters" shone brilliantly. Directly in front was an extremely wide light screen, which was broadcasting the contestants of this national competition entering and exploring the mystic realm.

A refined middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and slicked-back hair stood on the top floor of the building. Through the transparent crystal curtain wall, he quietly watched the ant-like crowds down below.

Standing behind the refined middle-aged man was a suit-wearing—leopard?

Yes, that was a bulky male with a human head and a leopard body, standing about three meters tall.

The leopard-headed male spoke, "Master, the revenue-sharing plan has already been negotiated with the official personnel. We can take thirty-five percent. Although we didn't secure the optimal forty percent, it's still half a percent higher than our minimum expectation."

However, the refined man took out a fist-sized gold ingot and tossed it to the leopard-headed male. Like a cat, the leopard-headed male directly swallowed the gold ingot. Its pair of leopard eyes instantly narrowed, revealing a look of satisfaction. Its bulky body was trembling slightly, as if it felt so comfortable that it was almost about to cry out.

It looked just like a big cat wearing a suit, forcing itself to stay calm after sniffing catnip, which looked quite comical.

A moment later, after the leopard-headed male calmed down, the refined middle-aged man finally asked, "Well done, Nanshan. How did the matter of contacting that Commander Yin from the Thunder Department go?"

The leopard-headed male quickly put away his previous unseemly behavior and said with a serious expression, "That Commander Yin closed his doors and refused to see me. I didn't even make it into the Thunder Department's military camp when I went to the extraterritorial region before being driven back."

The refined middle-aged man took a deep breath, "Ten percent of the profits from the national competition's betting pools! As long as he doesn't interfere, a full ten percent is given to him, Yin Tianzheng. Is that still not enough?"

The leopard-headed male replied, "It's not that, Master. Yin Tianzheng entrusted his communicator to bring a message for me to relay to you, Master."

The refined middle-aged man turned around, a trace of light igniting in his eyes.

The leopard-headed male known as Nanshan said, "A person with a blank destiny is unprecedented. If Ma Huateng wants to enter the game, let's talk again after he gets a title."

Meanwhile, in Gaoping City.

Yang Xinyue sat in front of the large plaza screen, watching the footage of Sun Po on the big screen.

She knew that Sun Po's strength went far beyond this; standing still at this moment must mean he was brewing some ultimate move.

Suddenly, a hawking shout reached her ears.

"Come, come, come! The Tencent Group's latest product, Guess the Champion!!!

To whom will the championship of the first-ever global competition fall?!!

Place your bets on-site!! Betting closes in one hour!! Seven days later, settlement will happen concurrently as the competition ends!!"

Yang Xinyue looked in the direction of the voice and saw a huge, highly technological vehicle appear right beneath the plaza screen.

This vehicle was not very tall, but it was extremely large, resembling a mobile stage.

On top of the vehicle was a giant radar-like device, and that radar-like device continuously rotated, projecting the figures of various contestants fighting in the mystic realm into the air.

Among them were scenes of Qin Wudao's [Black Dragon] spitting a water tornado to sweep up all the purple monsters and shred them into minced meat, as well as scenes of the Black Pharaoh surrounded by swirling yellow sand, turning all approaching monsters directly into mummies.

The combat scenes of Li Tiance, Liu Jianren, the Donkey Cart Brothers Song Changli and Song Changsheng, Yuan Zongli, Jiang Cha, along with the sword-eating swordsman, the youth driving the mechanism giant, and the scholar surrounded by a giant scroll on his side, were also projected in three-dimensional imaging above the vehicle.

In addition, combat footage of foreign contestants such as Red-Bearded Eric, Wizard Harry, Black Dragon Knight Nefarian, Onmyoji Yusei Seimei, and Ninja Hattori Reishin was also projected.

This vehicle had no idea where it was hidden previously; it seemed to have popped out of nowhere and appeared right at the central location directly beneath the plaza screen.

In this instant, the gazes of all the citizens were attracted by this high-profile staging vehicle.

On the stage atop the roof, several staff members wearing the same uniform were shouting and hawking strenuously, and in the middle of the stage were stacks of chips.

Behind the chips were holographic avatars of each participating contestant, and beneath each holographic avatar was a screen.

Yang Xinyue noticed that these staff members and the surface of the vehicle both had an eye-catching Penguin logo, and she knew that this was the handiwork of the richest man in the country, Ma Huateng.

The story of this Ma Huateng could also be called legendary. He was originally just a commoner Card Maker with mediocre talent, but later, relying on himself, he stepped into the ranks of Ace Card Makers before the age of forty and founded a company named "Tencent".

This "Tencent" company was the undisputed number one company in the Yanhuang Ancient Country, standing as a leader in many industries, including the gambling industry.

He also united numerous businessmen to create an organization named the Commercial Alliance, serving as the leader of the Commercial Alliance.

This Commercial Alliance involved all walks of life in the Yanhuang Ancient Country. Although it was not a major noble family, it already possessed the scale of a major noble family.

Moreover, the Commercial Alliance often took care of commoner Card Makers and responded quite actively to various official policies, enjoying a very good reputation among the public.

In the past when there were competitions, some small betting stalls would also be set up to attract people to place bets.

But such betting stalls were small in scale while carrying significant risks. It wasn't that people feared the gambling den owners running away with the money, but rather that sometimes the number of people was too large, easily causing chaos in placing bets and redeeming prizes.

Tencent's formation this time was big enough, practically blocking the path of those small gambling dens.

Yang Xinyue looked at Sun Po's holographic avatar on the stage vehicle and pondered secretly, "To be able to make such a big fuss and bring out this strange stage vehicle for betting, they must have obtained official permission. Since there is official endorsement, why not? ——"

The more Yang Xinyue thought about it, the more tempted she became. She opened her payment software, looked at the eight-figure balance lying in her account, and her heart rate accelerated by a few beats.

"The chance for this lady to achieve financial freedom has arrived!!"

Yang Xinyue walked quickly toward the stage vehicle, and as she walked, she could still hear people nearby discussing, "Definitely bet on Qin Wudao! Qin Family's dragon, Li Family's phoenix—who hasn't heard of that? In that ballad, Qin Family's dragon is ranked right at the very front. I'm going all-in on Qin Wudao!"

"You're actually going all-in based on a ballad someone made up just for the rhyme? Go ahead and bet; seven days from now, there'll definitely be a spot for you on the rooftop."

"That Black Pharaoh didn't even summon any cards, yet his body is wrapped in a wisp of yellow sand, and any approaching monsters just die. It feels divine! I think this ability is invincible!"

"How many people are even in the Lion Tribe Alliance? The number of our Yanhuang Ancient Country contestants alone can bury them to death."

"Why is Sun Po from our city still standing still? Even though his surface strength is super strong, he still has zero points up until now. I don't even dare to bet on him."

"I'll bet five thousand yuan. When the [Huzhang] possessed me, it was little brother Sun Po's [Yinshen] that saved me back. I'll just treat it as showing some support."

"That's right, he still has that [Yinshen]. Summoning it to deal with those few monkeys shouldn't be a problem, right? He must still have a trump card. I'll also casually bet five thousand yuan."

During the time Yang Xinyue was pondering, many of the citizens watching the match had already surged onto the stage vehicle.

"I want two hundred thousand in chips! Throw it all on Qin Wudao!!"

"I want five thousand in chips! Put it on Sun Po!!"

"Thirty thousand in chips!! Bet on Black Dragon Knight Nefarian!!"

"Sun Po, five thousand in chips!!"

——

As people placed their bets, the screens also updated in real-time with each contestant's odds and betting information.

Sun Po still had zero points at this moment. No matter how strong his surface strength was, it was hard to give people peace of mind. Most of the people on-site who bet on Sun Po were citizens of Gaoping City who survived the [Huzhang] incident, and the amounts they bet were basically the minimum five thousand chips.

Such betting was happening in front of the big screens in every city, and Sun Po's odds quickly became extremely exaggerated because many citizens from other provinces or even other cities had never heard of Sun Po.

In their eyes, Sun Po was just a commoner Card Maker who seemed to have very strong surface strength. This commoner Card Maker summoned cards, but started dazing after seeing monsters, and his points fell far behind; the hope of winning the championship had become increasingly dim.

Especially since this competition was broadcast nationwide, the big screens in all cities could see these geniuses exploring the mystic realm, and ordinary people who were not Card Makers could naturally see it too.

In the eyes of these ordinary people, Sun Po's performance at this moment was completely a joke.

Right at this moment, a cold female voice and two elderly voices sounded one after another.

"Bet on Sun Po, five million chips."

"I'll bet eight hundred thousand chips, placed on Sun Po."

"Two million chips, help me bet on Sun Po."

The surroundings instantly quieted down for a moment. When the citizens looked at the three people in front of Sun Po's chip pile, it became even quieter.

Then came whispered voices. "Isn't that President Chen? President Chen is this optimistic about Sun Po?"

"And that girl holding an ancient sword, she looks so familiar too."

Among the three, one was tall with an ancient sword in her arms and a cold expression. She was actually the young miss of the Xu Family, the number one noble family in Gaoping City, and also Sun Po's opponent in the municipal tournament—Xu Xiu.

As for the other two old men, one was extremely fat with narrowed eyes, while the other had a square face, looking righteous and very serious.

They were precisely Principal Zhu Chang of No. 2 Municipal High School and President Chen Wang of the Gaoping City Card Association.

The two of them looked somewhat awkwardly at Xu Xiu, and Xu Xiu's face was also blushing red.

Although she wasn't entirely clear about what stage Sun Po's strength had reached now, she believed that the person chosen by the legendary Six-Ears could never be defined by any noble family or commoner status, nor would he be weaker than people like Li Tiance or Qin Wudao.

Although she hadn't entered this special national competition, it didn't prevent her from using her pocket money to place a bet and make a huge fortune.

She originally planned to keep a low profile after placing her bet, then blend back into the crowd and continue watching the match at home. Who would have known that the bet amount was too large, and she happened to run into Zhu Chang and Chen Wang, who also had huge betting amounts. It instantly drew the attention of the surrounding people, making things truly rather awkward.

The other two old men didn't have it much better. Seeing that all three of them were wearing casual clothes, they knew they all intended to sneak a bet and slip away.

Looking at his old companion in the distance among the crowd, Chen Wang felt the most grief in his heart.

This wasn't public funds; this was all his own private stash saved up over so many years! He had originally hoped to buy the dip and pick up a bargain, but now look at this—no matter how much he earned, he wouldn't be able to hide it anymore.

Zhu Chang didn't mind it as much, but he noticed Yang Xinyue not far away and asked enthusiastically, "Teacher Yang, you should be the one who has the most confidence in your student. After all, you understand him best. How much did you bet?"

At this moment, Yang Xinyue had already cursed these three people eighteen times in her heart. Originally, her thirty-plus million was already conspicuous, but being messed with like this by them made it even more conspicuous.

Although the odds were calculated based on the total national bets, even a mosquito's leg was meat. With these few people placing such bets, it would soon induce the surrounding Gaoping City citizens to follow suit and increase their bets, which would somewhat lower Sun Po's odds, but at this point she couldn't care about that much anymore.

Yang Xinyue said with casual indifference, "Just a little bit, just a little bit."

Then she said to the staff member, "I'll buy thirty-eight million in chips and bet on Sun Po."

Although Yang Xinyue's voice wasn't very loud, the screen below the contestant's holographic avatar displayed the amount in real-time. Even Sun Po's original 23.754% odds were smashed down by more than two percentage points by this total of over forty million in bets.

Thus, the Gaoping City citizens who were originally busy betting on other contestants gradually began to converge toward Sun Po's side.

Zhu Chang fell silent for a long while, looked at Yang Xinyue, and asked, "Teacher Yang, is it still too late for me to go back and get some more money?"

Of course, everything outside the mystic realm could not affect the participating contestants inside the mystic realm.

Although these purple monsters were the lowest-level monsters in the mystic realm, their intelligence seemed to be much higher than the purple monsters within the domain.

Or rather, these monsters seemed to be under some kind of command; when charging, they were fiercely fearless of death, and when retreating, they were completely decisive without any hesitation.

Seeing that they couldn't shake the contestants relying on numbers, they seemed to stop making futile attempts and quickly retreated.

Whether they were beast-like monsters, demons, mechanical creatures, or beetle-like monsters, they maintained uniformity on this point.

From the monsters charging like a tide to the monsters retreating like an ebb tide, all of this only lasted for about half an hour.

In this half hour, Qin Wudao obtained the most points, reaching 537 points, while the Black Pharaoh was slightly inferior, also obtaining 523 points.

Ranking third next was unexpectedly Li Tiance, who obtained 279 points. It had to be said that Li Tiance really had some chops; under the zero-point bonus state of a full three-person team, he stubbornly surpassed a slew of experts like the Donkey Cart Brothers, Yuan Zongli, and Black Dragon Knight Nefarian.

And the fourth person also exceeded everyone's expectations—it was unexpectedly Sun Po's other teammate, Liu Jianren.

Liu Jianren, who transformed into the [Red Dragon], seemed to have a slaughter efficiency even a notch higher than Qin Wudao's [Black Dragon] card, also obtaining 284 points under the zero-point bonus state.

Sun Po's teammates were so awesome, yet Sun Po and [Wuzhiqi] were still standing face-to-face with those apes acting like fools—no, Sun Po had even sat down.

This made the audience in front of the screens completely disappointed in Sun Po. Even the Card Makers believed that even if Sun Po's cards had strong hard power, under the condition of losing the initiative, it would be very difficult for him to make a comeback.