Chapter 340: The Bold Ye Lu
Seeing that Luo Wu was quite humble, Yu Luo didn’t continue chatting with him and refocused on the competition stage.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and the competitors seemed to have gotten smarter. Instead of exhausting themselves by fighting individually, they began to form teams—either in pairs or groups of three—to gang up on a single opponent.
Since the battle had already been dragging on for so long, even seasoned martial artists were beginning to feel fatigued. If everyone fought one-on-one, the exhaustion would be evenly distributed, but if two or three people ganged up on one, it became significantly more difficult for that person to hold out.
One by one, contestants were forced off the stage until, after another quarter of an hour, only ten fighters remained. As soon as the last competitor was eliminated, Hu Liu struck the final gong, signaling the end of the first preliminary match.
The moment the gong sounded, another round of drums and gongs erupted, marking the conclusion of the first battle.
The two-hour match had left not only the fighters but also the spectators hungry and exhausted. Many in the audience clutched their stomachs, eagerly waiting for the match to end so they could feast.
Just the first preliminary match had taken this long, and with nine more matches to go, Yu Luo couldn’t help but grin uncontrollably.
If every match followed this pace, the preliminary rounds—originally planned to finish in two days—would take at least an extra day.
As the crowd dispersed, Yu Luo was about to tell Chi Jinchen that he didn’t need to return in the afternoon, but before she could, Yu Haojie suddenly invited both him and Ye Lu to a banquet at the restaurant.
To Yu Luo’s surprise, Chi Jinchen, whom she had expected to decline, actually agreed immediately.
“Since City Lord Yu has already prepared the feast, it would be impolite for me to refuse,” Chi Jinchen said smoothly.
Watching Chi Jinchen accept so effortlessly, Yu Luo was shocked. But even more flustered than her was Ye Lu.
Taking the opportunity, Yu Luo quickly excused herself, saying, “In that case, my mother and I will return home first.”
After bidding farewell, Yu Luo left the tournament grounds with Ye Jiamei, while Yu Haojie, oblivious to his daughter’s concerns, happily took the two handsome young men to the restaurant.
That afternoon, Ye Jiamei didn’t return to the tournament grounds. Yu Haojie, having spent time drinking with the two young men, also didn’t show up again.
Yu Luo, along with a few subordinates, occupied the guest seating area, remaining there until nightfall before returning to City Lord’s Manor.
The day had seen only three matches, meaning the remaining seven preliminary rounds would take at least two more days—if nothing unexpected happened.
However, there was someone even more impatient than Yu Luo.
After experiencing the first day’s battles, many contestants started forming alliances, leading to faster matches than before. Yu Luo’s calculations were completely thrown off.
By the end of the third day, the preliminaries were finished. From ten matches, a total of 100 contestants advanced to the semifinals.
That same day, the rules for the semifinals were announced:
Each match would have 10 fighters; Each match would last one hour; If no winner was determined within an hour, all contestants in that match would be eliminated.
After two and a half days, the semifinals concluded, and the top 10 fighters advanced to the finals.
Originally, Yu Luo had assumed that the thousands of eliminated contestants would immediately leave Luo City out of disappointment.
However, to her surprise, not only did they stay, but even more people arrived, having heard about the competition and wanting to watch the excitement firsthand.
Meanwhile, Ye Lu had been so busy that he was practically running himself ragged. It wasn’t until the day of the final match that Yu Luo finally saw him again.
“You’ve been missing for days! I thought you’d gone back to Dongfeng Kingdom!”
Yu Luo had just stepped into the tournament venue when she spotted Ye Lu, personally helping a few men move tables.
Seeing Yu Luo, Ye Lu’s eyes lit up. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and led her over to a large red cloth-covered banner on the table.
“Xiao Luo, look!”
“A betting station?! You actually went through with it?” Yu Luo’s expression darkened. “I was thinking about not allowing betting so people wouldn’t waste their money on gambling. After much consideration, I decided not to open a betting station, but you… you just went ahead and did it?”
“I know!” Ye Lu said excitedly. “I asked Tao Ming, and he said it wouldn’t be a good idea to open betting for the first Martial Arts Tournament, in case it scared people off from returning in the future. But I’m not afraid! Who knows who will win or lose? Xiao Luo, don’t worry—I’m funding this entirely out of my own pocket, not from the money bank!”
Seeing Ye Lu’s overconfident expression, Yu Luo gave him a skeptical look.
After all, Ye Lu had previously struggled to pay off his debt, even selling off his properties in the capital just to invest in the money bank.
So where did he suddenly get the funds to set up a betting operation?
“Be honest with me—how much money do you have? What if someone bets tens of thousands of taels, and you’re offering up to five times the payout? Can you afford that kind of loss?”
Seeing Yu Luo’s suspicious gaze, Ye Lu immediately held up five fingers, puffing out his chest.
“This amount! I refuse to believe I’ll lose it all—some people are bound to bet incorrectly, right?”
“Five thousand?” Yu Luo asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ye Lu’s face immediately fell. He waved his hands frantically. “Xiao Luo, you underestimate me! It’s fifty thousand taels!”
Yu Luo: !!!
“Where did you get that much money?!”
Ye Lu had spent the past few days in Luo City, and while his subordinates had arrived and started opening shops, there was no way he had made that much money so quickly.
With an exaggerated sigh, Ye Lu leaned in and explained, “Honestly, my gambling house has been making a fortune these past few days—I’ve already earned tens of thousands of taels.
Plus, remember that batch of sweet melons and tomatoes I bought from you? They were sold at double the price before even reaching the capital!
Also… I borrowed a little from some friends. Don’t worry—I’ve got this covered.”
Yu Luo’s eye twitched.
“Are you crazy, Ye Lu?! You borrowed money to start a betting station?! Your profits are one thing, but if you lose, you’ll have to pay back the debt too!”
Since they had no idea which fighters would win the finals, borrowing money for gambling seemed completely reckless.
Frustrated, Yu Luo directly called him out, making it clear that she had no faith in his plan.
Ye Lu, however, grinned mischievously.
“Xiao Luo, you’re worried about me, aren’t you? Even if I lost all fifty thousand taels, knowing that you care about me this much, I’d still be happy!”
“Shut up!” Yu Luo snapped. “It’s clear you’ve already made up your mind, but don’t set the payout rates too high. Lower the risk, even if it means earning less profit.”
With that, she ignored him and headed toward the guest seating area, leaving Ye Lu grinning like a fool behind her.
