121: Shock the old demon

He was extremely fond of gambling, but had terrible sportsmanship; whenever he lost, he would immediately turn hostile. Over time, no one in the entire Demonic Path circle was willing to gamble with him. During this Demonic Path gathering, many Loose Cultivators who were unaware of the situation arrived, so he set up this stall. On the surface, it was a market for trading, but in reality, it was just to satisfy his gambling addiction.

Given his cultivation, he didn't care at all about the Magic Treasures in the hands of these Demonic Path Loose Cultivators; he simply wanted to satisfy his strange hobby. Now, hearing the brand-new way to play proposed by Yang Kai, he became deeply interested and nodded in agreement, "Fine, we'll do it as you say."

Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. He knew that while Fried Golden Flower had an element of luck, it had more variables than simply betting on big or small. However, he also knew these dice were definitely rigged, so he took six brand-new dice from his Storage Pouch and placed them on the table. "Use my dice."

The Old Demon glanced at the dice, and seeing nothing unusual about them, nodded in agreement, "Very well. You shake first."

Yang Kai picked up the dice, weighed them in his hand, then put them into the cup and shook it rapidly. He knew his cultivation was shallow and didn't dare to use any tricks to change the numbers in front of this Old Demon. A moment later, he inverted the dice cup on the table and, without lifting the lid, looked at the Old Demon.

Seeing this, the Old Demon snorted coldly, picked up the dice cup, and also shook it rapidly. This time, he did not use his cultivation to forcibly change the dice numbers; this round was played purely on luck.

When the lid was lifted, the Old Demon's three dice were "two," "four," and "eight"—a scattered hand.

Yang Kai's three dice were "five," "six," and "seven"—a sequence.

"You lost." Yang Kai's tone was calm, but carried a hint of imperceptible smugness. "Senior, why don't we stop here for today? The items I lost earlier shall remain with you."

The Old Demon's face turned livid as he stared fixedly at the dice on the table, clearly unwilling to believe he had lost. He gritted his teeth and said, "Again! I was just careless a moment ago!"

Yang Kai sneered inwardly, knowing the Old Demon had taken the bait. He picked up the dice cup again. This time, after shaking it, he lifted the lid immediately—the three dice were "three sixes," a Leopard!

Yang Kai was very confident in his own luck. To prevent this Old Demon from cheating in the second round, he opened the lid first.

The moment the Old Demon saw the numbers, his pupils contracted sharply, and his face was filled with shock. He snatched the dice cup and shook it frantically, continuously injecting Devilish Qi into the cup, attempting to shake out a higher number. But no matter how hard he tried, when he finally lifted the lid, the three dice were still a scattered hand.

"Impossible! This is impossible!" The Old Demon slammed the table, and the runes on the black stone table dimmed instantly. "You must have tampered with the dice!"

Yang Kai spread his hands, looking innocent. "You saw the dice with your own eyes, and you were watching right next to me when I shook them; how could I have tampered with them? It's clearly just your own bad luck; you want to welsh on the debt after losing?"

The Old Demon was rendered speechless by Yang Kai's words, his face alternating between green and white. He knew that if he welshed on the debt, it would be laughed at by other Demonic cultivators if word got out, but he was truly unwilling to accept the loss just like that. He stared fixedly at Yang Kai, a flash of ruthlessness appearing in his eyes, as if he were calculating whether to just take action.

Yang Kai, however, was not the least bit flustered. He slowly raised his right hand, a flash of light appeared in his palm, and a silver skull suddenly appeared. The skull emanated a cold, silvery-white luster, and a faint, eerie aura lingered around it, completely different from the Devilish Qi of ordinary Demonic cultivators.

"Do you recognize this?" Yang Kai pointed at the silver skull, his tone calm yet carrying an unquestionable deterrent power. "I am an Outer Sect Disciple of the Bone Sect, and I am here on official Sect business. If you wish to take action, you might want to weigh the consequences first; can you bear the cost of offending my Bone Sect?"

The Old Demon's gaze remained fixed on the silver skull, then he gave a disdainful laugh and said, "You take your Bone Sect too seriously. Do you think a mere name can scare me off? This would only carry weight if one of your Bone Sect Elders said it. If I were to slap you to death right here, do you think your Bone Sect would turn hostile against me for your sake?"

Yang Kai's heart sank. He hadn't expected this Old Demon to have such a significant background that even the Bone Sect, one of the Four Saint Sects of the Demonic Path, couldn't suppress him. This was going to be difficult.

"What? Resigned to your fate? Then obediently hand over all your Storage Pouch and Magic Treasures. Otherwise, if I have to take action, your end will be extremely miserable." A twisted, excited gleam flashed in the Old Demon's eyes. With his cultivation, he could have completely forcibly seized all of Yang Kai's Magic Treasures, but he just wanted to go through this process to obtain a certain kind of pleasure.

Just at this moment, Yang Kai leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharp as a knife, and stared at the Old Demon, saying, "You are a Senior in the Demonic Path. If you try to welsh on the bet now that you've lost, I'm afraid other Demonic cultivators will laugh their heads off if word gets out, right?"

"You dare insult me!" The Old Demon was trembling with rage, and the Devilish Qi on his body churned like boiling water. The tent fabric was ripped by the Devilish Qi, making a flapping sound, and the runes on the black stone table began to flicker wildly, as if they would burst at any moment. He stretched out his withered hand, intending to grab at Yang Kai, the Devilish Qi condensed at his fingertips turning into sharp claws, accompanied by a sharp sound of tearing air.

"Hmph! Kill me then! As a Disciple of the Bone Sect, the Sect will naturally know the news of my death the moment it occurs. If I die here, everyone will know the reason, and you can just wait for your reputation to be ruined!" Seeing the Old Demon so enraged that he was hopping mad, Yang Kai immediately understood he had bet correctly and adopted an even tougher stance on the surface.

The Old Demon's Devilish Qi claws stopped abruptly less than three feet from Yang Kai's face, his withered fingers trembling slightly, with madness and hesitation intertwined in his eyes. He had lived for over a thousand years, and what he cared about most was his reputation in the Demonic Path circle—although no one was willing to gamble with him anymore due to his inability to accept losing, he still held onto the airs of a "Senior of the Demonic Path." If he were to kill an "Outer Sect Disciple of the Bone Sect" just because he lost a gamble, it would surely become a laughing stock among the Elders of the Four Saint Sects, and it would give those Demonic cultivators who already despised him new grounds for ridicule.

"Reputation ruined?" The Old Demon repeated these four words through gritted teeth, the black light on his Devilish Qi claws flickering. "You're just a small Outer Sect Disciple; who would care if you died? If the Bone Sect really wanted to investigate, I could just push the blame onto a conflict between Loose Cultivators; do you really think they would come to investigate me specifically for your sake?" Although he said this, his arm slowly retracted, clearly beginning to have second thoughts.

The tight string in Yang Kai's heart relaxed slightly, but on the surface, he still maintained an unyielding appearance, saying coldly, "Senior, you are mistaken in saying that. Many people saw me enter this place. If I were like those self-degrading Demonic cultivators outside, it would be one thing, but if I die here, the Sect will definitely discover my disappearance when they gather the Disciples in the future. By then, when they follow the trail and find this place—this underground market is full of your Devilish Qi, plus there are those Loose Cultivators you forced to lose their bets who can testify—do you think you can wash your hands of this, Senior?"