Chapter 226: You Come to Fight Me
“No, what’s going on? When did this formation appear?”
The Grand Elder of the Sword Sect stared dumbfounded at the formation that had suddenly manifested in front of Qin Bei.
Of course, it wasn’t just the Grand Elder who was stunned; most of the people present were left slack-jawed as well.
They weren’t new to the Imperial Mausoleum Trials.
They had seen the Demon Lord’s Hall before, too.
Or to put it accurately, everyone was aware of the current situation.
The Demon Lord’s Hall outside was just a facade; the real Demon Lord’s Hall was hidden within the tombstone itself.
They all knew this and weren’t surprised.
But the sudden appearance of this formation left them speechless.
In the past, as long as the trialists arrived here, they simply had to see that there was only a single space inside the tombstone, and they could just waltz right in.
Once inside, they would naturally encounter the Demon Lord.
But this time, there was an actual formation blocking their entry.
And it was an incredibly intricate formation at that.
Given the complexity of this formation, the Grand Elder of the Sword Sect felt it was questionable whether Qin Bei could unravel its mysteries and gain access to the real Demon Lord’s Hall.
Let alone doing it within a single day!
At this point, the Grand Elder thought that even a genius skilled in formations would struggle to crack this particular array within one day by the age of twenty.
This meant it was utterly impossible for Qin Bei to enter the true Demon Lord’s Palace in a day.
And the very bet he placed was on Qin Bei obtaining the Soul Pearl within that time.
Now, he couldn’t even see the Demon Lord who could provide him with the Soul Pearl, so how could he complete such a task?
Thus, his bet was doomed to failure.
That meant he wouldn’t only miss out on a tenfold return; he’d also lose the sword embryo he had nurtured for a hundred years, which would instead end up in the Ninth Prince’s possession.
“Damn it! This bastard must have known this situation! That’s why he set up such a deceptive wager!”
The Grand Elder of the Sword Sect glared at the Ninth Prince, who was still grinning like an idiot, infuriated.
He was here wallowing in sorrow, and this guy just starts laughing?
In the Grand Elder’s eyes, the Ninth Prince’s expression was nothing short of a mocking smirk.
A smirk poking fun at his age while he still learned how to gamble.
Fine, whatever. He was just messing around, but now he was greedy and ended up with nothing! Instead, he lost something essential.
To the Grand Elder, this wasn’t merely about profits; it was a matter of face.
The Ninth Prince was practically ridiculing him!
Others noticed the Ninth Prince’s expression too, not just him.
The Grand Elder of the Knife Sect, the Grand Elder of the Talismonger Sect.
Even the Beast Lion of the Beast Control Sect felt the same.
At this moment, they all thought the Ninth Prince before them was a swindler of the highest order.
“No wonder he agreed to my wager; turns out he had such a backup plan! How sinister!”
The Beast Lion felt like his brain was about to explode.
Two million high-grade spirit stones!
That wasn’t something he could whip out on command.
A significant portion belonged to his sect.
And just like that, he was conned by the Ninth Prince.
At this point, he harbored thoughts of killing the Ninth Prince.
Everyone present deemed it entirely appropriate to describe the Ninth Prince as despicable and shameless.
Meanwhile, the Ninth Prince felt utterly at ease after seeing the formation appear.
He glanced at the Emperor Xia seated at the head of the table and quietly mused.
“My brother is truly something else; his intel is on point—he even knows this old demon set up a formation. I really struck gold this time!”
And he wasn’t wrong.
The Ninth Prince had foreseen such a barrier.
However, he believed the formation was set by the Demon Lord in the Imperial Mausoleum.
In reality, it was Emperor Xia who had crafted the formation.
It was based on Emperor Xia’s observation that each time royal trial members were taken into this demon realm, acquiring the Soul Pearl was hassle-free.
Thus, he devised this formation to prevent the Demon Lord inside from casually handing the Soul Pearls to the trialists without a care.
Now, if one wanted to meet the Demon Lord, they had to crack the formation first.
The difficulty level indeed skyrocketed.
However, Emperor Xia never expected his offhand action would be used by his younger brother.
To con the old geezers before him out of their treasures…
“Now I’ve pocketed everyone’s betting money!”
The Ninth Prince thought to himself, unable to suppress the urge to chuckle.
But he knew this wasn’t the moment to laugh.
Otherwise, these old fogies would get jumpy.
So he forced it down.
Yet, the way he looked like he was suppressing laughter was suspiciously worse than just bursting out laughing.
At least laughing would show he was happy.
But now, his expression was downright mocking.
And most importantly, everyone saw it…
The Emperor Xia, who witnessed this entire spectacle, could only shake his head internally.
His younger brother! If not for the royal status, he’d probably have been dead countless times over.
This Prince Xiaoyao truly showcased his younger brother’s essence.
…
“If you want to laugh, then laugh loud! What’s this nonsense of holding it back? Are you mocking our ignorance?”
As the Beast Lion, who suffered the most damage this time and had no respect for the royal family, saw the Ninth Prince’s expression, he instantly lost his temper.
He was already miffed from suffering significant losses, and now he realized the Ninth Prince was actually laughing at him.
This was akin to being beaten up and then lectured. Or like being cleaned out and told “it is what it is.”
Who could take that?
“The Ninth Prince has acted incredibly unprincipled this time. We here are seasoned observers of the Imperial Mausoleum Trial. This formation only appeared this year. You knew that full well yet said nothing when you opened the betting table. Clearly, it was an attempt to con us!”
The Grand Elder of the Knife Sect joined the fray.
Everyone felt the Ninth Prince played a dirty game this time.
He was, after all, a member of the royal family.
Had he lacked this background, anyone bold enough to play tricks on this crowd would have been reduced to ashes by now.
“Hey~ You can’t just make such baseless claims. I had no idea! Matters like this should be clarified beforehand! This is blatant ignorance on my part; I simply set up the betting table because I thought everyone was bored and wanted to have a lighthearted gamble.”
After hearing the words from the Grand Elder of the Sword Sect, the Ninth Prince vehemently declared he was in the dark.
He still wanted to save a little face.
After all, his predicament had already become quite unpretty, and if he didn’t maintain some decorum, it would genuinely invite animosity.
But inwardly he thought, a bunch of smelly old men, what can you do if I fool you? Come and hit me? What are you going to do, fight me?!
…
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