Chapter 32: Typical Mu Qingtong
Seeing Wei Shutong so serious, Xia Feng knew it was hard to explain, so he could only shake his head helplessly. "Old Wei, stop trying to persuade me. I know what's going on. And you know my temper. You want me to bow down to Yan Xujia? That's impossible! I won't be named Xia if I don't beat the crap out of him!"
Wei Shutong stared at Xia Feng for a moment, then his serious expression vanished. He patted Xia Feng on the shoulder and grinned. "Not bad. You didn't disappoint me."
"Take this," he said, tossing a stone over.
Xia Feng was stunned. "No, Old Wei, are you testing me again?"
"It's not really a test. I just wanted to see what choice you'd make," Wei Shutong said with a smile. "Since you've chosen to fight, I'll help you."
He pointed at the blue-and-white sparkling stone on the table. "This is the Unbreakable Stone. If you use it in a life-or-death situation, it can greatly increase the chances of your spiritual weapon awakening."
"Ah?" Xia Feng stared at the stone in disbelief. Well, it seemed he didn't need to buy it himself.
"Although I don't have high expectations for you, I still hope you remember one thing."
"What?" Xia Feng looked up.
"It doesn't matter if you win or not. Being handsome is a lifelong thing!" The middle-aged man with slicked-back hair said passionately, his expression serious and powerful. "Even if you lose, lose standing tall!!"
Xia Feng: "."
...
In just five days, the popularity of the fair duel had reached unprecedented heights.
Although Boundless Academy strictly prohibited private fights between students, the teenagers were full of energy, and disputes arose every few days. For this reason, the academy and the Empire's Church of Justice had established the "Fair Duel" system in the Fair Arena.
The Fair Arena opened one day each month for students to resolve disputes. As long as both parties placed stakes within the bounds of imperial law and signed a fair contract, under the watchful eye of the Just Star God, no one could escape the contract's sanctions.
Thus, the eighth of every month was known as Justice Day.
Justice Day had been quite popular over a decade ago, but with the academy's improved rules and regulations, disputes had decreased, and the event had faded from public attention.
But today, Xia Feng stood in front of the French window in the waiting room, looking out at the massive oval arena filled with a surging crowd. For the first time, he experienced what a sea of people truly meant.
Even behind the soundproof glass, he could feel the cheers from outside.
The arena was the size of three football fields. Over thirty micro high-speed drones hovered in the sky, their detection eyes emitting a faint red light as they scanned the arena. The images they captured were projected onto a massive sky curtain a hundred meters high.
Three arc-shaped sky curtains formed a semicircular dome, with faces of audience members flashing across them. When people saw themselves on the screen, some cheered, some blew whistles and made funny faces, some kissed and hugged, and others even wrestled. The director, perhaps disgusted, quickly switched the camera.
A woman's face appeared on the screen—a beautiful woman wearing half-frame gold-rimmed glasses. When she noticed the camera, her eyes curved slightly, and she smiled softly.
"Hiss—wow, this senior is so beautiful! Wait, she looks familiar," a pink-haired girl exclaimed, immediately captivated.
"Of course she's beautiful. That's Goddess Mu!" a boy next to her said, pumping his fist, eyes shining. "She's my goddess! Her smile is so gentle!"
"Oh, I remember now!" the pink-haired girl realized. "I saw her at the National Top 100 Spiritual Song Contest yesterday. I voted for her."
"Spiritual song?" someone asked, surprised. "Goddess Mu went to a spiritual song competition? And made it into the top 100?"
The pink-haired girl didn't expect everyone around her to know Mu Qingtong. She happily recommended, "Yes, you can watch the latest live broadcast replay. Goddess Mu advanced to the top 100! Although her singing…"
She paused, a trace of embarrassment on her face. "Her pitch is a bit off, but aside from that, it's quite nice."
"."
The moment Mu Qingtong appeared, many in the audience recognized her. Spiritual song competitions were hugely popular, and people loved following the emotions in the songs to feel the stories and emotions the singers conveyed.
What Xia Feng didn't expect was that Mu Qingtong had actually made it into the top 100. It was impressive enough for her to make it through the preliminaries with her tone-deaf voice, but how had she reached the top 100?
"Wow, Goddess Mu is so handsome. I love her so much~"
Many staff members in the waiting room stood in front of the window, staring at the sky in fascination and chatting.
Xia Feng was pushed from the front row to the back by them. He looked at the unprofessional staff, his eyelids twitching slightly.
Well, he finally understood. The spiritual song competition used a universal voting system, so whether Mu Qingtong sang well or not wasn't the point. The key was her stunning beauty, which attracted both men and women.
But Xia Feng still didn't understand why this world-destroying witch had entered the competition.
The director outside was relentless. After spotting the peerless beauty, he kept the camera fixed on her, refusing to cut away.
Because of this, the arena's energy reached a new peak, with waves of noise and constant screams.
"Ahhh~ I want to be pushed against the wall by Sister Mu~"
This was a fan.
"Lord Mu Qingtong! Please step on me harder!"
This was an M.
"Shaha~Shaha~"
This was… well, experience it for yourself.
Buzz—
Xia Feng's phone vibrated. He looked down to see a text from Wei Shutong.
[Cheap Adoptive Father: I found the account that promoted the fair duel's popularity. It's a private ID called "Red Peach." This person operates strictly, leaving no traceable information.]
Red Peach? The moment Xia Feng saw the ID, he knew who it was.
Mu Qingtong. When he was chased by Holy Department agents on Bloody Street a few days ago, she had been wearing a red heart mask.
But he didn't understand why she was making such a big deal out of this. Did she want to see him humiliated?
Buzz—
[Cheap Adoptive Father: Another strange thing. Your odds in the underground casino are now 1 to 100, but your fiancée bet 100,000 on you to win.]
Xia Feng: "."
"Alright, Mu Qingtong, you're playing like this, huh?" Xia Feng held his forehead, his eyelids twitching.
One hundred thousand, with odds of 100 to 1—if he won, Mu Qingtong would walk away with 10 million.
Did she really trust him that much?
No, that wasn't the point. The point was that she was hyping this up behind the scenes, expanding the betting pool, and planning to rake in everyone's money in one go.
Typical Mu Qingtong.
Xia Feng guessed that if she weren't worried about the casino going bankrupt and not being able to pay out, she might have bet even more.
(End of this chapter)