Ren Jurong's hand shook as he held the storage bag full of such a massive amount of storage bag.
"Brother Yu, I would like to advise you against doing so. You won't get it back if you lose your match to—"
"You don't have to worry about that," Alex said. "Just bid it. That's what I want."
"But—"
"No buts," Alex said. "Or are you trying to refuse me for some reason? Can your establishment not pay this measly amount?"
The man got straighter. "Of course, we can pay. I was just trying to caution you against throwing away such an amount of money. We have many customers who bid wrong and get angry at us."
"Don't worry, I'm sane of mind. Even if I lose it, I have ways to bring more," Alex said. "Now, please go ahead and bid it. We should be leaving for the fight soon."
"Yes," the man said. "However, since you are bidding so much money at once, you will have to comply with some rules."
"What rules?" Alex asked. "There weren't any rules additional rules from what I remember previously."
"No, these rules don't take effect until one side of the fight bids such an exorbitant amount of money," the man said.
"Let's hear it then," Alex said.
"To ensure that this is not an exploitation of the hall's rules, your match will be viewed by a single referee of ours. He won't interfere at all, but he will make sure that nothing nefarious goes on between the two contestants."
"Also, your opponent will have to wear a talisman on their head so that you cannot speak to them through your spiritual sense," the man said.
"Anything else?" Alex asked.
"No, that is all. These two rules will take effect when someone bids over a million Spirit stones at once. Are you still intending to go ahead with the bid?" the man asked.
"Of course," Alex said. "Please, bid it all."
"I will do as you say then."
The man left the room and didn't return for a very long time. Alex wondered what sort of talk he must have been having with the people that ran this place and couldn't help but chuckle at the headache he would be causing them soon enough.
The man returned after a while and told him that it was time for his match.
Alex nodded and walked off with him. They arrived at the arena and instead of 4, there were 5 people in there this time around. The two staff along with the two fighters had come, but a referee had also come to watch over their fight.
Alex nodded to the man as a greeting and walked onto the stage.
"They are making me wear this stupid thing," the nearly elderly man that was his opponent spoke up. "Youngster, you must be quite rich to bring them out."
Alex looked at the talisman on the old man's forehead and smiled. "I'm sorry you have to wear that," he said.
"Haha! Don't be," the old man said. "I'm actually glad to be wearing this."
"Oh?" Alex was a little surprised.
"I get to keep whatever amount you bid once I win after all," the man said and started laughing loudly.
Alex took the talisman he was handed by the staff and pocketed it. He wouldn't be needing it anyway.
The referee walked to the edge of the arena and stood next to the wall. They weren't here to referee their fight, but rather whatever else went on between them after all.
"Let's fight, kiddo. I want that money of yours," the old man said as the other staff members started leaving.
"I'm sorry," Alex said as he brought out midnight. "You must've waited quite a lot of days for this match. You were unfortunately matched with me."
"I'll see about that," the man said and brought out a spear as he charged, but before he could get close, Alex swung his sword.
A massive Sword Aura, much more powerful than anything he had used in these matches before flew directly at the old man.
The old man was surprised and tried to dodge, but the attack was too fast and too strong. The spear he held broke into two and the man himself was sent flying with a long gash around his shoulder.
Fortunately for him, most of the attack was blocked by his armor. Still, the pain that shot through his body from the wound on his shoulder alone was enough to make him scream.
Had the attack landed when it was meant to, he would have died.
"You tried to kill me!" the old man shouted.
"No, I didn't," Alex said with his sword down. He knew he wouldn't have to attack again now.
"YOU WENT FOR MY NECK!" the old man shouted. "Had I not moved, I would have died."
"I know," Alex said. "That's why I used such a weak attack. I gave you ample time to dodge so that I don't hit any of your vitals."
"What?" the old man couldn't believe what he had just heard. "What did you say? That… that was a weak attack?"
"Of course," Alex said. "If you don't believe me, I can use my normal attack too."
Alex readied his sword to attack. The wind around him picked up, making his clothes flap in the violent wind. His Qi peaked and the old man could feel the devastation that would come if he were to try and face the attack.
"I yield!" he shouted as he brought out his talisman and crush it. "Don't attack, I give up."
The aura around Alex disappeared as if nothing and he put his sword back into his storage ring.
"Thank you for your time," Alex said and bowed toward the old man. Then, he turned around and left.
The man held his shoulder in pain and quickly pulled out some healing pills of his own to eat. Once he started healing, he walked away too.
Alex felt bad about leaving the old man bloody, but he didn't have any healing pills on him that he could just give away. Every single pill was above 90% in harmony, and giving a single one would clue people in on who he was, even if it didn't outright reveal it.
The man was coming in just as Alex was walking out, so they met at the doorway out of the arena.
"Brother Yu, you won?" he asked. His eyes drifted towards the referee to see if there was any sort of problem with the fights.
The referee was walking up to Alex as well.
"Jurong, have this person's cultivation base tested again. Make sure he isn't concealing anything," the referee said. "He is too strong for what his cultivation base is showing."
"Right away, senior brother," the man said and looked at Alex weirdly.
Alex just shrugged in return. "I told you, I'm stronger than you think. Let's go test me again?"
The man nodded and took Alex through the hallway, back to the room where he was tested again.
However, no matter how thoroughly the man tested him, there was no way that Alex was anything other than a Saint Foundation 1st realm cultivator.
"Can we leave now?" Alex asked.
"Yes, please come with me," the man said and took Alex back to the waiting room. After taking him there, the man left for a while, leaving Alex all alone.
Alex waited around for a few minutes before the man returned with a storage bag. He handed it over with unsteady hands and looked quite sour doing so.
Alex looked into the storage bag and while he couldn't count so many spirit stones at once, he could tell that the number had about doubled for sure.
"Thank you," Alex said. "I didn't realize it was this easy to earn money here. If my opponent happens to be weak next time as well, I wouldn't mind doubling it."
Alex showed the storage bag to the man, making him quite anxious. "Here, 20 thousand for my next match's deposit. Please call me when you have found an opponent for me."
With that, Alex left the Battle Hall and returned to his residence.
After the stunt he had pulled today, it was certain that his next opponent was going to be strong. Even if not for the threat of losing an astounding amount of money, the referee in his match should relay what had happened to the heads of the Hall.
That was why Alex had revealed so much of his strength after all.
He let Whisker come out and be free in his room while he took out a talisman from his storage ring. Someone had sent him a message not long ago and he hadn't had the time to check.
"Oh, it's the leader," Alex said and read the message. "Haha, he thinks I might have forgotten about the pills."
Alex put away the talisman and started cultivating. He had many things to focus on, so he couldn't waste any time.
For the next 3 days, he continued with his cultivation of Qi, physique, and eyes. It was only on the 4th day that his new match was finalized.
"Finally," Alex thought. "2 more days, and I would have had to forfeit the match."
He needed to return to the City of Many Flowers soon, so he was glad that his next match had been set.
And if the people managing the Battle Hall were any smart, they would certainly pick the hardest opponent for him so he couldn't bid and win so much money.
"Finally, I get to do what I came here for."
