As Tang San spoke, he retrieved a jade box from within his Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moonlit Night storage device and opened it.
At that moment, an enchanting radiance burst forth. Everyone turned their gaze to the jade box in Tang San's hands, their breathing quickening with anticipation.
A hint of arrogance flickered across Tang San's lips. After spending so much time training with Tang Hao, he had long realized that his true origins far surpassed these "commoners."
The mention of soul bones was merely a passing remark in his gamble plan, but when his father heard it, he agreed that securing the championship soul bones through a bet would be ideal. If they could win without him lifting a finger, all the better.
Thus, Tang Hao casually tossed out a soul bone as his stake in the bet!
Every time Tang San recalled last night's scene, his eyes gleamed with pride. How domineering his Title Douluo father was—how could these commoners ever compare?
At this point, Tang San began his explanation: "As you can see, this is a soul bone—a ten-thousand-year soul bone, though not as valuable as the three in His Holiness Pope's possession. It originates from a power-type spirit beast known as the Mighty Gorilla. This soul bone is called the Mighty Gorilla Left Arm Bone. Given that Mighty Gorillas are inherently power-focused spirit beasts, I needn't elaborate on how exceptional this left arm bone is. Surely, the senior experts here understand."
The seasoned soul masters present couldn't help but nod in agreement. Though this soul bone had barely crossed the ten-thousand-year mark, its inherent power attribute and origin made it equivalent in value to an ordinary arm bone of around thirty thousand years. Undoubtedly, it was a premium-grade soul bone.
As for why Tang Hao possessed this soul bone but hadn't given it to Tang San for absorption?
Naturally, Tang Hao believed that such a mere ten-thousand-year soul bone was unworthy of his extraordinary son with dual martial souls. After all, even his own ordinary Title Douluo soul bones were no less than twenty thousand years old each. Such "trash" soul bones simply weren't fit for Tang San.
However, using it as a betting chip now was just right.
Tang San raised the soul bone in Ye Wen's direction.
"Ye Wen, if you agree to my terms and your team wins the match, this soul bone will be yours.
Do you have the courage to accept my challenge?"
Ye Wen's expression turned somewhat peculiar. Was this seriously necessary? Just for a normal match, Tang San wanted to use one of his God-King techniques—"Dare to Gamble"?
Whether or not Tang San submitted to Ye Wen wasn't particularly interesting to him, as both sides were bound to face life-and-death struggles in the future. However, that soul bone was undeniably tempting.
After some thought, Ye Wen decided to pass the question to Bibi Dong in the audience.
"Your Holiness Pope, can the rules of the competition be changed?"
For a moment, Qian Renxue was rendered silent. She had little interest in these childish games. If asked whether the rules could be altered, she honestly didn't know.
However, her sharp mind quickly recalled how Chi Huo Academy had exploited a loophole in the rules earlier by forming a joint team between two schools.
Qian Renxue lightly tapped her slender fingers on the luxurious throne and, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, slowly said:
"There is no precedent for this in previous competitions. However, considering Chi Huo Academy's exploitation of rule loopholes, I was already planning to revise the rules for future tournaments. This presents a perfect opportunity to add a new clause:
"If both parties agree, certain restrictions can be lifted from the competition rules.
What do those present think?"
The high-ranking figures seated around Qian Renxue exchanged glances. Ning Fengzhi's eyes flickered, but he refrained from voicing an opinion since both Ye Wen and Tang San were among his investments, making it awkward to take sides.
Other influential figures hesitated, wary of Bibi Dong's power. They wanted to speak but dared not. Eventually, Qian Renxue grew impatient and said:
"Since none of you can decide, let's ask the participants directly.
Captain of the Tian Dou Team, will you accept Shrek Academy's captain's gamble?
Personally, I lean toward refusal. After all, with your strength, those three soul bones are practically guaranteed to be yours. But if the rules are broken, who knows what might happen? Losing three higher-value soul bones for the sake of one wouldn't be worth it."
The audience immediately saw the logic in this. Tang San was clearly trying to entice greed with a single soul bone to tip the scales in his favor.
Using one soul bone to gamble for three—no matter how you looked at it, the odds favored Tang San's side.
But Ye Wen chuckled softly and replied, "Thank you, Your Holiness Pope, for your insight. However, I must admit I'm quite interested in the soul bone in Shrek's captain's possession. Since he can set conditions, I assume I can as well?"
Qian Renxue gave an indifferent nod. Deep down, she never doubted that Ye Wen's team would lose. Her earlier words were merely to increase Ye Wen's goodwill toward her.
At this moment, Ye Wen turned his gaze to Tang San and said, "It's been a while, Tang San. I never imagined someone with such a useless Blue Silver Grass martial soul could reach this level. As your former classmate, I'm genuinely happy for you."
Tang San forced a smile and muttered the same, but inwardly, he seethed with jealousy toward Ye Wen.
Sure, he had a useless martial soul, but so did Ye Wen! Moreover, Ye Wen had started with only half a rank of innate soul power—far worse than himself. Yet now, in every aspect—career, family, everything—Ye Wen utterly dominated him.
For someone like Tang San, who dreamed of being unmatched in the world, this was the epitome of a "life winner." Living in the shadows, how could he not feel envy and resentment?
Still, upon hearing Ye Wen accept his gamble, Tang San couldn't help but feel elated. Imagining his hidden weapons wreaking havoc, he couldn't stop grinning. He was curious, however—how would Ye Wen restrict his side?
Ye Wen then stated, "I agree to your gamble. You may use forces outside of your soul master abilities, but I'd like to add a condition: these external forces must directly relate to your soul master cultivation and cannot include methods that even civilians could use to kill soul masters with a flick of their fingers. Do you agree?"
Upon hearing this, Tang San's smile froze. He realized his intelligence had been leaked.
His gaze darkened. Then, Tang San recalled that although he had never used the Zhuge Crossbow against Ye Wen's group, he had indeed displayed small hidden weapons like throwing knives and sleeve arrows during earlier conflicts. It was entirely possible Ye Wen had deduced the existence of more powerful hidden weapons from this.
Tang San sneered inwardly. However, he had never intended to use devastating weapons like the Zhuge Crossbow in the first place. After all, this was a competition—if he killed someone, he wouldn't win the match and would expose his trump card. He wasn't stupid.
Thus, Tang San promptly nodded and said, "Agreed."
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