At nine o'clock, the group entered the arena together.
The valley was spacious, with a five-meter-deep pit dug out in the center. The floor of the pit was paved with concrete.
Around it, the seats were arranged in tiers, looking somewhat like a football stadium.
"This is the Beast Arena. In a bit, the two wild beasts will be released from that tunnel over there."
Shawn Shi pointed to the top edge of the pit, where there was a pitch-black cave, about a meter high. It was too dark inside to see clearly.
After a short while, a middle-aged man in a leopard-print T-shirt swaggered over from the side.
He was about 1.8 meters tall, bald, and his body was crisscrossed with countless scars.
"That's Luke Lu. Guy runs the show here."
Shawn quietly explained to Evan Lin.
Luke Lu stepped forward, looked around, and spoke calmly: "Let's skip the nonsense. I'll briefly introduce tonight's points prizes."
"The first prize, which I bet you all know already, is the two-hundred-year Drunken Plum Herb. I shelled out a fortune for it from a Taoist up on Kunlun Mountain. Because it’s so old, its medicinal punch is off the charts—just one Drunken Plum Herb packs the power of five roots of Changbai Mountain Ginseng from the same vintage!"
"If an Outer Strength expert takes it, they’ll reach peak Outer Strength instantly. If an Inner Strength expert takes it, it’ll boost their cultivation by at least one full tier!"
Luke Lu spoke slowly, his tone deep and steady.
"Nine hundred sixty points—if you assume everyone gets their points at the cheapest rate, ten points for a hundred grand, that’s still nine point six million! And plenty of people exchanged points at over a million or even ten million! So really, this Drunken Plum Herb is selling for tens of millions?" Yvonne Zhu frowned, her mind racing, stunned by the math.
Hearing Luke Lu’s words, someone in the crowd cried out in surprise.
Cultivating Inner Strength is much harder than Outer Strength. That’s because Inner Strength comes from within, requiring coordination of muscles and internal organs, which is far tougher than just tempering bones and meridians.
Most people, after breaking through Outer Strength and stepping into Inner Strength, get stuck at the early stage and can’t make any further progress.
But with this Drunken Plum Herb, just one dose can rocket your cultivation—no wonder everyone here is practically drooling.
Next, Luke Lu listed several more items on the points platform, but compared to the Drunken Plum Herb, the rest were clearly inferior.
After a brief silence, Luke Lu finally spoke again.
As soon as he said it, the crowd erupted.
"Nine hundred sixty points!" someone exclaimed in shock.
"Nine hundred sixty points for a single Drunken Plum Herb? Sure, it’s legendary stuff, but that’s nuts!" Chester Zhang shook his head. "Bet you anything, no one’s walking out of here with it tonight."
"Boss, what's the move?"
"That’s where Luke Lu’s business savvy comes in. When you add it all up, every item on his points board sells for way more than its cash value," Bryce Gu nodded.
"Gotta go with the liger. That beast's a straight-up monster—ligers are famous for tearing tigers and leopards to shreds. The lynx? No shot." Shawn bragged, all confidence.
"Yep, I’m with you—liger all the way." Chester Zhang grinned.
"Uncle Bryce, should we go full send on the liger?" Yvonne Zhu asked, eyes bright.
Bryce Gu gave it a beat, then nodded, "Let's start with ten points and see how it goes."
"Alright, first beast match of the night—Lynx versus Liger!"
Luke Lu swept his gaze around the arena and spoke coldly.
"Yo, Evan, what’s your play?" Shawn Shi finally turned to Evan Lin, curiosity all over his face.
"Lynx. All in."
"Thirty points. Full send." Evan said, voice flat and unshakable.
Evan Lin turned his head and looked down.
At the bottom of the pit, two dark tunnels opened as two cages were pushed out.
Inside one iron cage crouched a three-meter-long liger. A liger is the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger—a big cat that looks part lion, part tiger, with its body covered in tiger stripes.
The liger was a mountain of muscle. After getting bulldozed into place, it slowly rose inside the cage, its icy eyes sweeping the arena with pure king-of-the-beasts swagger.
ROAR!
The liger opened its jaws and let out a thunderous roar.
The roar shook the whole arena.
"Nice!"
"Whoa, look at that beast! Straight-up savage!"
"Ligers are the biggest cats out there! This round is in the bag!"
The spectators in the stands were all fired up at the sight of the liger.
In the other cage was a lynx, about a meter long, with a sturdy body but a very short tail. It looked like a super-sized housecat.
The lynx rolled around in the iron cage, agile and quick, its claws flashing cold light.
It wasn’t nearly as big as the liger and didn’t seem very strong. Aside from the occasional low growl, it didn’t do anything impressive.
"That lynx isn’t even half the size of the liger and looks weak as hell. No way I’m betting on it—this round’s a lock for the liger!"
"Exactly. I think so too. If this was in the forest, maybe the lynx would have the edge, but out here on open ground, it’s clearly at a disadvantage."
The crowd started sharing their opinions.
"Alright, everyone, place your bets—minimum ten points."
As soon as Luke Lu finished speaking, staff began moving through the stands, recording bets.
"Boss, what should we bet on?"
Tony Dong looked at Shawn Shi, waiting for his answer.
"We should bet on the liger. It looks super fierce, and ligers are known for ripping tigers and leopards apart. Compared to that, the lynx is way weaker." Shawn said confidently.
"Yeah, I think so too—definitely betting on the liger." Chester Zhang nodded.
"Uncle Bryce, should we bet on the liger?" Yvonne Zhu looked at Bryce Gu and asked.
Bryce Gu thought for a moment, then nodded, "Let's start with ten points."
Because of the arena rules, you can’t buy more points midway. However many points you bring in is all you’ve got—if you lose them, you’re out.
So even the Zhu family members had to be extra careful.
"Sir, what are you betting on?" Shawn Shi turned to Evan Lin, who hadn’t spoken yet, sounding curious.
"The lynx. All in."
"Thirty points. Full send."