The Soul Battle ended.
The four went to register their scores. Xiang Chengxian had twelve wins, ten losses, and ninety-one points, earning him the title of Iron Soul Master.
Ma Hongjun had three consecutive wins and three points.
Dai Mubai had two losses and one win, while Oscar had one win and one loss, with zero points.
"Great Soul Master Ma Hongjun, hello. I am the person in charge of the Seventh Soul Arena. May I speak with you further?"
A middle-aged man approached and spoke politely to Ma Hongjun.
"Oh, sure!"
Following the middle-aged man, they arrived at a VIP room.
"Arranging for your Mario duo to face the Ghost Axe duo today was a decision I made privately. Although this is within the rules of the Soul Arena, it's not very reasonable. Newly formed duos are generally not arranged to face powerful and established duos like Ghost Axe.
To be honest, I run the betting pools outside the Seventh Soul Arena. Today, your victory over the Ghost Axe duo made me a fortune."
The middle-aged man's face was beaming with smiles, like the boss of an underground organization.
The betting in the branch arenas isn't as transparent as in the main arena, making it highly manipulable. Furthermore, as the arena owner, he could easily pull off many underhanded maneuvers, like today's Mario vs. Ghost Axe match.
The middle-aged man pulled a gold card from his pocket and handed it to Ma Hongjun on the table.
"There are 10,000 gold soul coins in here. Consider it compensation for what I arranged for you today."
"Why? You didn't need to do this at all. Didn't you say it didn't violate the rules of the Soul Arena?" Ma Hongjun said, somewhat puzzled. 10,000 gold soul coins was no small sum; the sudden gift made him suspect the middle-aged man had ulterior motives.
"I hope to cooperate with you. For your future Soul Arena matches, you can contact me directly, and I'll arrange them all in my seventh Soul Arena."
The middle-aged man exuded an air of authority, appearing to have everything under control.
This is similar to the underground boxing of his previous life. Find a promising but weak fighter, arrange for several established powerhouses to win a few matches against him, and once his reputation is built, fix the fights. The outcome is decided by the mastermind behind it all.
In fact, the middle-aged man had already used this method to win over many Soul Fighters. Before Ma Hongjun, the Ghost Axe Duo had already received a thousand gold soul coins from him.
This is why he made the Seventh Soul Arena the most profitable among the arenas.
However, his brilliance lies in not rigging matches; every match is a real confrontation within the rules of Soul Fighting.
He is adept at observation, arranging for unknown but highly skilled Soul Fighters to be matched with established Soul Fighters with high win rates. For example, arranging Mario against the Ghost Axe Duo resulted in almost everyone betting on the Ghost Axe Duo to win, allowing him to make a fortune.
In fact, the Ghost Axe duo had already partnered with him after winning their first Soul Battle. For the first nine matches, they arranged for popular duos to fight each other. Once the Ghost Axe duo gained popularity and more people bet on them, he would find opportunities to arrange for new, promising duos like Mario to face them. Before the audience understood the strength of either side, he would open betting and make a fortune.
This is the advantage of having inside information; he would study every newcomer to the Soul Arena, seizing the opportunity during their rise to fame to make a killing. With
so many newcomers every year, he could always find a few. These betting matches were very profitable. Like today's Soul Battle between the Mario duo and the Ghost Axe duo, he earned over 100,000 gold soul coins.
Ma Hongjun was the most obvious potential star. He only approached Ma Hongjun after Ma Hongjun displayed his extraordinary talent with yellow and purple soul rings. With Ma Hongjun's strength, he could quickly rise to fame in the Soul Arena. He
wanted to seize this brief opportunity to rake in a lot of gold soul coins.
The middle-aged man, Zhang Gan, was a member of a Soul Fighting Clan. Earning profits was a function of the Great Soul Fighting Arena; the more profit, the greater the value. Zhang Gan's elaborate schemes stemmed not only from profit but also from his ambition to climb the ranks.
After understanding Zhang Gan's methods, Ma Hongjun readily agreed. It was a win-win cooperation; he only needed Zhang Gan to arrange the Soul Fighting matches, which involved facing popular and powerful opponents—perfect for his desire to improve his combat experience.
Finally, the agreement was reached: Zhang Gan would arrange Ma Hongjun's Soul Fighting matches, and Ma Hongjun would receive 30% of the profits.
This was already 20% higher than the others Zhang Gan had approached. Ma Hongjun's strength guaranteed victory in the matches, making his risk much lower than others.
Upon exiting, Flander was already standing with the three, seemingly in a good mood!
Zhang Gan's expression immediately darkened upon seeing Flander.
"You guys are together!"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"No wonder, he bet on you to win, making me lose a lot of gold soul coins."
"Tell him not to bet on my side again, otherwise all the gold soul coins he wins will be ours."
...
The five of them walked out of the Great Soul Arena. It was already dark. Soul battles consume soul power and physical strength, so they went to a restaurant across the street.
This restaurant was very popular. The first floor, where ordinary people dine, was already full. The second floor, where soul masters dine, was also lively. The third floor was for VIPs, costing at least 100 gold soul coins.
Today, Ma Hongjun offered to treat them, and with his gold card in hand, he wanted to be generous.
There were fewer people on the third floor, but coincidentally, they ran into acquaintances.
At the table next to them, the five people already eating were all acquaintances they had faced that day:
Gan Shuang, Bei Han, Zheng Jie, and the Mad Lion duo.
"It's just a shame the Ghost Axe duo isn't here.
" "What a coincidence, you guys are eating here too!" Ma Hongjun greeted them with a smile.
Gan Shuang glared at him resentfully, and the other four also looked unfriendly. Seeing that Gan Shuang was sitting in the main seat, instead of the strongest Soul Master Zheng Jie, it was clear these people were Gan Shuang's group. Ma Hongjun had slashed Gan Shuang's chest, so naturally they wouldn't give him a friendly look.
The atmosphere was somewhat strange. Flander started eating first, sitting down in the main seat.
"What are you looking at? Order, we're all hungry!"
Ma Hongjun chimed in.
"Sit, sit, sit, everyone sit!"
Unlike Gan Shuang, Bei Han glared at Xiang Chengxian and said, "Xiang Chengxian, are they from your Xiang family? Did you instruct them to humiliate Gan Shuang?"
"Boring!"
Xiang Chengxian glanced at them, said two words indifferently, and ignored Bei Han.
"You..."
Bei Han was so angry she pointed at Xiang Chengxian, speechless.
"Stop talking, Ahan!"
"Let's go."
Gan Shuang finished speaking, pulled Bei Han, and the five of them got up and went downstairs.
"Just leaving like that, without even finishing our meal!"
Ma Hongjun scratched his head and said!
Downstairs, Bei Han still looked resentful.
"Sister Shuang, the Xiang family went too far!"
"No, today might just be a coincidence. Xiang Chengxian's relationship with the Xiang family isn't good right now, and she's isolated and helpless. It's impossible for her to target us.
Besides, that old man with glasses who sat down first was very strong, and he looked a lot like my grandfather."
"You mean, a Soul Saint?"
"Possibly!"
"The Xiang family doesn't have a Soul Saint, so what is Xiang Chengxian doing..."
"That's why I said it shouldn't have anything to do with the Xiang family."
"That's good!"
"I just don't know if Xiang Chengxian will participate in the family Soul Battle at the end of this year. She's very strong, and there are three other teenagers with her. If they help the Xiang family, our two families might not be able to maintain their victory."
On the third floor, Xiang Chengxian was very silent, so Dai Mubai naturally had to step in and offer some advice.
"Chengxian, do you know them?"
"The Gan family, the Bei family, and the Xiang family—the three major families of Soto City—there must be some conflicts between them," Flander said calmly.
Xiang Chengxian continued,
"Yes, the three major families. The Gan family and the Bei family are extremely close. Actually, although they are called two families, they are no different from one family because of the complementary relationship of their martial souls. They have always maintained a marriage alliance and acted together, suppressing the Xiang family.
Every year at the end of the year, the Soto City Family Soul Battle is fought by the Bei family and the Gan family, so the Xiang family has never won.
They are probably working on their family's soul battle team, and today they just happened to meet us, so they suspect that you and I are the Xiang family's soul battle team.
But in fact, since I left the Xiang family a few years ago, I have rarely interfered in family affairs.
Let them misunderstand, anyway, I don't participate in the soul battle."
The dishes were served, and everyone started eating!
Tonight, they would stay in Soto City. Flander returned to his antique shop.
Ma Hongjun and the other three stayed at the Rose Hotel.
The Shuang'er sisters must miss him too!
The red sea of the Rose Hotel has now become the Shuang'er sisters' room.
Ma Hongjun entered, pushed open the bedroom door, and a woman's fragrance filled the room.
The air was very dry, needing a little moisture!
The woman exclaimed, "Who is it?"
Ma Hongjun: "It's me, your young master!"