The man in white robes was not arrogant—he had never been from the start. Far from arrogant, he had always remained tranquil, leisurely sipping his little tipple in perfect contentment. He had been this way even when winning twenty consecutive rounds, and he was exactly the same during the adverse game earlier. Now, facing Bai Yuanrui's king-overlord game while being in his own severely adverse position, he was still drinking his little tipple with that same relaxed ease.
He seemed utterly indifferent to whether it was a king-overlord game or an adverse game, as if everything happening here had nothing to do with him.
Beside him, Elder Yan had been silently observing, his brows deeply furrowed. Though he did not know the identity of this white-robed man, he guessed he must be a master gambler—and an exceptionally profound one at that.
When the Taiji Array began its third rotation, starting to condense and manifest its profound mysteries, Elder Yan saw the white-robed man place his right hand on the gambling cup once more. With a light flick of his five fingers, a flash of radiance appeared. Five spiritual formulas, like five electric centipedes, condensed from his fingertips and instantly seeped into the cup.
Five spiritual formulas again!
Elder Yan had spent two centuries in the gambling house and had seen all kinds of gambling masters, but he had never encountered one as bizarre as the man before him.
Soon, the Taiji Array condensed and manifested its profound mystery: the Five Elements Paying Homage to the Origin Mystery. This mystery was even more profound and marvelous than the previous Six-Harmony Dragon-Spring Arcane Wonder. Being able to deduce it was already no easy feat; deducing four or five layers of its mystery could already qualify one as a master.
Of course, for Bai Yuanrui, who occupied the Five Elements King-Overlord position, deducing it shouldn't be too difficult. As for the white-robed man in the Eight Trigrams array position, however, it was likely…
"Hmph! Just wait to die!"
Bai Yuanrui was both excited and agitated. Clearly, he had great confidence in this round. Just as he was about to open his cup, the voice of the white-robed man opposite came once more: "Hold on a moment."
"Oh? Hold on?" Bai Yuanrui snorted coldly and laughed. "It's too late for regrets now. I told you today I'd not only bankrupt you but make you kneel and beg me!"
"I want to raise the wager."
Gu Qingfeng's offhand remark about raising the stake caused everyone present to freeze.
Raise the wager?
The crowd doubted their own hearing. Typically, after the Taiji Array assigned positions, determined the arcane law, and manifested the mystery, those who proposed raising the wager were almost always in favorable games. Of course, it wasn't unheard of for someone in an adverse game to actively propose raising the stake.
Such cases weren't many, but they weren't few either.
However, they had never encountered a situation where the banker was in the king-overlord position, yet the opponent in the adverse game actively proposed raising the stake.
This… this was simply… simply defying all reason!
Gu Qingfeng's single sentence about raising the stake instantly threw Bai Yuanrui, who had been excited and agitated moments before, into a panic. He stared at the white-robed man opposite, trying once more to discern something from Gu Qingfeng's face. He wanted to know whether this person was merely putting on a bold front, pretending to be calm, or if he was truly this confident.
Yes, he wanted to know.
The last time, he had seen nothing. This time was the same.
The white-robed man opposite remained exceptionally tranquil, sitting there leisurely with a lazy posture, legs crossed, sipping his little tipple, watching with a faint smile. Even his tone was just as bland as he asked, "Well? Do you agree?"
"You…" Bai Yuanrui couldn't make up his mind and dared not respond immediately.
Bai Yuanrui had been very confident he could win this round, but facing this mysterious, bizarre, relaxed, and content Gu Qingfeng, his confidence began to waver, dissipating bit by bit.
"Let him raise if he wants! Bai Shao, we're in the king-overlord game, he's in the severely adverse game. Are we afraid of him raising?" Jin Jun urged from the side. He simply couldn't believe Bai Yuanrui, occupying the king-overlord position, would lose to Gu Qingfeng in a severely adverse game.
Bai Yuanrui's thoughts raced like lightning. He wanted to consider carefully, but his mind was too chaotic. Finally, gritting his teeth, he asked in a hardened voice, "How much do you want to raise?"
Gu Qingfeng tossed over the five-million Chizitou Spirit-Stone Card in his hand, then threw over another five-million spirit stone card from his storage pouch. This one million was what Fei Kui had exchanged earlier for ten fragments of Blue-Imbued Frost Crystals. Now, Gu Qingfeng tossed it all over.
Seeing the Chizitou Spirit-Stone Cards on the gambling table, worth a full fifteen million, everyone was dumbfounded.
It wasn't that they had never seen high-stakes gambling, but they had never seen such a bizarre game where the banker was in the king-overlord position, yet the opponent in a severely adverse game dared to raise the stake by ten million. Moreover, the crowd truly hadn't expected this seemingly unremarkable young man to have so much money. Yes, he was unremarkable.
He lacked the sharp, cold arrogance typical of colorful-spirit prodigies.
He lacked the noble aura of those with great status and background.
He lacked the overbearing pride of second-generation young masters.
He had none of it.
At a glance, apart from a set of clean, neat white robes, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about him.
If there was anything, it was only his leisure—an indescribable sense of leisure.
Bai Yuanrui shouted angrily, "You know perfectly well I don't have that much money on me! Are you deliberately raising by ten million?"
"What's this? Didn't you say there's no gamble in this world you can't afford to play?" Gu Qingfeng didn't even look at him, picking up a fresh fruit to eat as he said, "Can't handle a mere ten million?"
"You!" Bai Yuanrui's face turned green, then white, feeling his dignity insulted. Gnashing his teeth, he roared, "I said there's no gamble I, Bai Yuanrui, can't afford to play!"
With that, he turned to Elder Yan again. "Elder Yan, get me another ten million!"
"My apologies." This time, Elder Yan responded without even thinking. "The gambling house has rules. External loans are granted only once."
"Are you afraid I can't repay?"
"Bai Shao, this old man repeats: external loans are granted only once. That is the rule of Crimson-Letter."
When Elder Yan mentioned Crimson-Letter, Bai Yuanrui dared not speak further. He looked at the dozen or so people behind him, but they all shook their heads, indicating they had no money left on them. Jin Jun did the same.
For Bai Yuanrui, this was a deeply humiliating matter.
If word got out, he would certainly be unable to hold his head up before others in the future.
But! Ten million was simply too much. He couldn't produce it. Even if he sold all the valuable spirit treasures on his person, it would still fall far short.
"You see! It's not that I can't afford to play, it's that I can't come up with ten million on such short notice." After much deliberation, Bai Yuanrui spoke up. "I can owe it to you. If I lose this round, I will definitely repay every last coin to you. I am a disciple of Spirit Capital Sect. My father, my uncle, my grandfather—they are all elders of Spirit Capital Sect. If you're still not assured, you can have Elder Yan bear witness!"
Bai Yuanrui was a man who valued face. Even without money, he couldn't back down. Even if he would be punished by his family upon returning, he had to win back this breath of pride first. Moreover, he still didn't believe he would lose.
"The money—I don't need you to repay it."
When Gu Qingfeng's calm voice came, no one present could understand. What did he mean by 'don't need to repay'?
This was ten million!
"What do you mean!" Bai Yuanrui, as if realizing something, instantly flew into a rage. "Do you want my life in payment? Let me tell you… absolutely not…" Before he could finish, Gu Qingfeng cut him off, glancing at him with a smile. "Relax. I have no interest in your life."
"Oh? Then what do you want!"
"You've seen him before, right?" As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng pushed Fei Kui forward.
"So what if we've seen him?"
"The slaps on his face—you made him do that, right?"
"So what if we did?"
"Good." Gu Qingfeng asked, "Fei Kui, how many slaps did you give yourself?"
"Young Master, I…" Fei Kui seemed somewhat hesitant.
"Speak."
"They… they forced this humble one to slap… slap myself eighty-one times. They said… they said… they said it was to make it a grand completion."
"Fine." Gu Qingfeng nodded, looking at the two opposite him. "I raise by ten million. If I lose, all the money is yours. If you lose, I don't need you to repay it. Since you forced Fei Kui to slap himself eighty-one times, then let him slap you back."
Bai Yuanrui, Jin Jun, and the others finally understood. So this person had come to avenge that ugly earth-rat!
"Well? Ten million for eighty-one slaps. Worth it, don't you think? I believe these will absolutely be the most valuable slaps of your lifetime."
"You're looking for death!" Bai Yuanrui was so angry his teeth gnashed. In all his life, only he had used money to crush others. Never had he been crushed with money like this. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Qingfeng's voice suddenly came: "I'm asking you, do you gamble or not? If you gamble, open the cup. If you don't dare, then stop your useless blathering!"
"You!" Rage burned wildly in Bai Yuanrui's heart. Beside him, Jin Jun could no longer bear it, his face flushed red, eyes glaring as he shouted, "Gamble with him! I don't believe he can really win!"
With that, he immediately opened his gambling cup. His array position blossomed with nine layers of profound mystery.
"This is the Five Elements Paying Homage to the Origin Mystery. Even Bai Dashao, occupying the king-overlord position, only deduced nine layers. I don't believe your Eight Trigrams position can condense a mystery more profound than his…" Jin Jun's words trailed off before he could finish, because at that moment, Gu Qingfeng had already opened his gambling cup. Not one more, not one less—ten layers of profound mystery.