Chapter 56: Discovering a Conspiracy

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Discovering a Conspiracy

At that moment, an excited Jin Sanbao pulled Yi Xiaoyao over.

"Yi Xiaoyao! Xuan Mo and I made a killing!"

Jin Sanbao’s face was flushed with excitement, and even the usually stoic Xuan Mo wore a faint, undisguised smile of happiness.

Before Yi Xiaoyao could ask, Jin Sanbao blurted out, "While you were fighting Sharon in that duel-bet, I dragged Xuan Mo with me to bet on you to win. The odds were ten to one! I can’t believe you actually won! Now, Xuan Mo and I each have five thousand Star Points!"

Hearing this, Yi Xiaoyao felt happy for them, but at the same time, he was also quite touched.

After all, no one else had believed he could defeat Sharon. Yet, Jin Sanbao and Xuan Mo had chosen to trust him and bet on his victory. Such trust was truly rare.

But Yi Xiaoyao wasn’t good at expressing his emotions, so he just grinned and said, "Well, congratulations to you both."

Jin Sanbao chuckled. "Yi Xiaoyao, keep up the duel-bets! We’ll keep betting on you to win!"

Yi Xiaoyao gave a helpless smile. He glanced at the surrounding crowd; just from the way they were staring at him like he was some kind of monster, he knew there was no chance of another duel-bet.

Still, Yi Xiaoyao called out anyway, "Is there anyone else willing to take on a duel-bet with me?"

In an instant, everyone, their faces showing lingering fear, backed far away from this "monster," Yi Xiaoyao.

This was well within his expectations. Yi Xiaoyao just smiled, not minding it at all. In any case, he already had enough Star Points.

"Let’s go."

Yi Xiaoyao said to Jin Sanbao and Xuan Mo.

Just as the three of them were about to leave, someone suddenly called out Yi Xiaoyao’s name from behind.

"Yi Xiaoyao. This year’s ’King of Newcomers.’ I’ve heard a thing or two about you."

Yi Xiaoyao turned to see a young man with a scar on his face.

"Shi Tong!"

"Didn’t he break the sect’s rules two years ago and get locked up by the Law Enforcement Hall for five years? Why was he released early?"

A commotion rippled through the surrounding crowd. Clearly, these older disciples all recognized the scar-faced young man.

Shi Tong’s gaze landed directly on Yi Xiaoyao, his face holding a hint of coldness.

"Weren’t you just asking if anyone was willing to take on a duel-bet? I’ll bet with you."

Hearing this, Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes shifted. "My duel-bets are limited to those below the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment."

Shi Tong grinned, then released his Cultivation aura—Third Realm of Foundation Establishment.

"Is this acceptable now?"

"It is. How much do you want to bet?" Yi Xiaoyao nodded.

Shi Tong’s smile grew even wider. "I heard you like to bet big. So, let’s bet ten thousand Star Points. How about it?"

Yi Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected that not only would someone still dare to challenge him, but they would also dare to bet so much. This planted a seed of doubt in his mind.

One had to remember, Sharon from just before couldn’t even produce five thousand Star Points, yet this Shi Tong could put up ten thousand.

But on second thought, everyone’s resources were different. Besides, the Cultivation aura Shi Tong was emitting was indeed that of the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment, so Yi Xiaoyao quickly dismissed his doubts.

Moreover, when Yi Xiaoyao had defeated Sharon, who was also at the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment, he had only used seventy percent of his strength and hadn’t even used the Nine Swords of Slaughter. Therefore, he was confident he could defeat any other cultivator at the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment.

"I accept your duel-bet."

Yi Xiaoyao said with a faint smile. Although he already had enough Star Points, he wouldn’t mind having more.

"Excellent! Make your move!"

Shi Tong laughed loudly, and without any further nonsense, he drew his sword and attacked.

SWOOSH!

A flash of sword light instantly appeared before Yi Xiaoyao, the Spiritual Power on its edge exceptionally sharp.

’So fast!’ Yi Xiaoyao was startled. He immediately unleashed his Destructive Sword Qi. Sword Qi swirled around the Bloodthirsty Sword in his hand as he swept out with the Angry Wind Sword Skill.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! ...

Hundreds of strands of Destructive Sword Qi rode the angry wind, surging toward Shi Tong. This was the same move he had used to defeat Sharon, and Yi Xiaoyao intended to defeat Shi Tong with it as well.

Shi Tong’s expression changed drastically. Sword Shadows flashed around him but were all crushed by the Destructive Sword Qi. In the end, he stumbled backward, barely managing to evade the remaining Sword Qi.

Yi Xiaoyao was surprised for a moment. He hadn’t expected Shi Tong’s Swordsmanship to be so formidable; he’d actually managed to block most of the Sword Qi. This already surpassed the strength of an ordinary cultivator at the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment and was far stronger than Sharon had been.

However, Yi Xiaoyao seized the split second Shi Tong’s defense was wide open, and a demonic sword light flashed out.

"Nine Swords of Slaughter, First Form!"

RIP!

The sound of tearing air was immediately followed by Shi Tong’s cry of alarm.

To Yi Xiaoyao’s surprise, he had thought Shi Tong would undoubtedly be defeated by this killing blow. Yet, the Shi Tong before him, though looking a bit disheveled, had firmly blocked his Nine Swords of Slaughter.

"Yi Xiaoyao, you’re stronger than I could have imagined. But it’s over now!"

Shi Tong laughed smugly. Under normal circumstances, with his Cultivation at the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment, he should have had absolutely no way of taking the first form of the Nine Swords of Slaughter.

The reason he was able to take that blow from Yi Xiaoyao was because...

The surrounding crowd, who were just about to place bets with Jin Sanbao, all wore astonished expressions upon seeing this scene.

Jin Sanbao also stopped taking bets, because someone had cheated—and that person was Shi Tong.

"This Shi Tong... he actually broke through to the Fourth Realm of Foundation Establishment in an instant!"

"No, it’s not a breakthrough! He must have used some kind of Secret Technique to hide his Cultivation. He was just forced to reveal his true Cultivation by Yi Xiaoyao’s attack, otherwise he would have already lost!"

"Even though I wanted Yi Xiaoyao to lose, Shi Tong’s cheating is just too shameless!"

The words of the crowd explained everything. Shi Tong wasn’t at the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment at all.

Yi Xiaoyao’s expression instantly turned ugly. ’No wonder I felt during their exchange that Shi Tong’s strength was beyond the Third Realm of Foundation Establishment. So the man had been cheating!’

Facing an opponent at the Fourth Realm of Foundation Establishment, Yi Xiaoyao had no confidence in victory. After all, he was only at the First Realm of Foundation Establishment. Even if he could challenge those at higher levels, there was still a limit.

A flash of rage crossed his eyes. Seeing Shi Tong before him, now exuding a massively increased momentum as he conjured countless Sword Shadows to envelop him, Yi Xiaoyao gritted his teeth and burst forward with all his might.

Shi Tong paid no mind to the scornful words of the others and snorted coldly at Yi Xiaoyao.

"Are you still going to put up a useless struggle? Foolish!"

Now that Shi Tong had exposed his Cultivation at the Fourth Realm of Foundation Establishment, he no longer held back. He began to forcefully oppress Yi Xiaoyao, using his advantage in Realm.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG...

They clashed for dozens of moves. Every one of Yi Xiaoyao’s Sword Shadows carried tens of strands of Destructive Sword Qi, and each time their attacks met, his Dark Spiritual Power would frantically devour his opponent’s Spiritual Power. Though his Cultivation wasn’t high enough to suppress Shi Tong, he held his ground, undefeated!

Not only was the crowd shocked, but even Shi Tong himself hadn’t expected that Yi Xiaoyao, at the First Realm of Foundation Establishment, could actually hold him, a cultivator at the Fourth Realm of Foundation Establishment, to a stalemate for so long without losing.

"It’s unbelievable! Yi Xiaoyao still hasn’t lost!"

"If Shi Tong hadn’t cheated, we probably never would have known Yi Xiaoyao’s true strength reached this level."

"This Yi Xiaoyao is too strong! Even a cheating Shi Tong can’t do anything to him. He really is a monster!"

But just then, Yi Xiaoyao suddenly retreated and said coldly, "I forfeit."

Everyone was shocked and confused. Why would Yi Xiaoyao, who was clearly holding his own, suddenly forfeit?

Yi Xiaoyao didn’t say anything, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. He had his reasons for forfeiting.

Although he would lose ten thousand Star Points, he was certain that those ten thousand points would soon return to him—and he might even earn double that amount.

Because he had discovered a conspiracy.