Chapter 80

The massive mouth, however, was a manifestation of spiritual energy, forming a ghostly bite; while the bone shield was constructed from hard, withered bones. If one were to truly compare their strengths, it would be difficult to say which was stronger.

The massive mouth missed its first bite, and Qin Longhua clearly had no intention of wasting time, dispersing the spell directly. As for Wu Hao, his bone shield did not disappear but instead transformed into numerous withered bones, standing around him, always on guard.

Clearly, Wu Hao's approach was absolutely correct.

Although Qin Longhua had dispelled the spell, he then produced a Ten-Thousand Ghost Banner in his hand. With a wave, the ghosts and ghost soldiers stored within the banner immediately emerged, circling around Qin Longhua. Then, about half of these ghosts and ghost soldiers charged towards Wu Hao.

"Ha ha ha ha! I knew you had this move! Bone Sword—Break it!"

As Wu Hao spoke, the withered bones around him, sharpened at their tips, were infused with spiritual energy, and they surged forward, clashing with the howling ghosts and ghost soldiers in the air.

The power attached to the withired bones was clearly not weak. Upon contact with the ghosts and ghost soldiers, nearly one-tenth of them were severely injured. Then, the remaining ghosts and ghost soldiers split off, blocking the bone swords and surrounding them to devour them. The rest continued to charge towards Wu Hao.

Wu Hao remained calm, quickly mobilizing his spiritual energy. A fierce smile appeared on his face, and his left hand suddenly struck upwards!

"Great Bone Claw!"

As he spoke, the flesh on Wu Hao's left hand instantly disappeared, turning into stark white bones. They suddenly grew a hundred times larger, enveloped in a wave of deathly energy, and struck the charging ghosts and ghost soldiers, killing them outright!

On the other side, Qin Longhua remained calm, rapidly channeling his spiritual energy. Green flames bloomed around his body, and he transformed into a fireball, charging towards Wu Hao!

The two of them each had their own spells, exchanging attacks, and for a moment, neither had the upper hand.

Beside them, Qin Longhua's ghost controlled the dark green small bell, which was also battling the skeleton beast summoned by Wu Hao.

The ghost, carrying the small bell, continuously released layers of dark green toxic gas from the bell, while the skeleton beast roared loudly, breaking through the toxic gas and engaging the ghost in close combat.

This struggle between the two was on a completely different level from the previous battles. Hu Donghan watched with great interest.

Just as he was enjoying the spectacle, he heard someone beside him say, "Hu kid, do you think this is finally getting interesting? To be honest, the conflict between these two has some connection to our Earth Fire Hall."

Hu Donghan turned his head and saw that it was Bu Yun who was speaking.

Hu Donghan asked curiously, "Oh? Why is that?"

Bu Yun smiled and said, "To put it simply, since you can cultivate the Lu Jie Grass, the chances of the sect successfully refining the Six-Transmutation Golden Pill have greatly increased, so we need to acquire more of the spiritual herbs required for the Six-Transmutation Golden Pill. About two months ago, our sect's procurement disciples received two batches of spiritual herbs, which they had to fight the Skeleton Sect to obtain. Later, the Skeleton Sect, seeing that our sect's disciples were not well-prepared, sent people to try to seize them."

"Then, our sect's Battle Hall disciples immediately mobilized to provide support, and a conflict ensued, with casualties on both sides. It is said that Qin Longhua's younger brother, who was also a Battle Hall disciple, unfortunately died in that conflict, and the one who used the final killing move was Wu Hao. Hence, this conflict arose..."

"I see." Hu Donghan nodded, but he didn't show much reaction.

On the contrary, Duetian Laozu, who had been closing his eyes and ignoring everything, suddenly opened his eyes and made a strange "hmm" sound, then said, "So this kid is fighting because of our Earth Fire Hall! I can't just stand by and do nothing... Have the bookies opened their betting yet?"

Hu Donghan was still a bit confused, but Bu Yun said, "The betting has already opened. The Ghostly Soul Sect is at 2:1 odds, and the Skeleton Sect is at 0.8:1 odds."

Duetian Laozu, upon hearing this, immediately looked furious: "What?! Those righteous bastards, are they looking down on our Ghostly Soul Sect? Bet ten thousand high-quality spirit stones on the Ghostly Soul Sect winning!"

"Uh..."

Well, hearing this, Hu Donghan finally understood. It turned out that this was all about betting!

When Duetian Laozu said he "couldn't stand by and do nothing," Hu Donghan thought he was going to seek justice from the Skeleton Sect! But it turned out he was just going to bet... However, wasn't gambling forbidden in the Ghostly Soul Sect? Those who gambled were locked up, and those who opened betting were whipped.

Uh...

Well, considering Duetian Laozu's status, even if he did gamble, the Law Enforcement Hall would probably just pretend they didn't see it.

Bu Yun agreed and then turned to look at a group of alchemists and weapon masters who were about to start fighting: "The Hall Master is leading the betting. Does anyone want to join in?"

Immediately, the alchemists and weapon masters, as if injected with adrenaline, shouted loudly: "I want three hundred high-quality spirit stones!"

"I want five hundred!"

"Three hundred? You dare to ask for that? I want a thousand!"

"Eight hundred!"

"A thousand five!"

...

Soon, everyone in the Earth Fire Hall had placed their bets. Bu Yun tallied the numbers and then turned to Hu Donghan, asking, "Hu kid, do you want to join in?"

"Uh... I'll pass."

Hu Donghan turned to look at the Law Enforcement Hall disciples who were looking around nervously. He was speechless—weren't you the Law Enforcement Hall? There are people gambling right here! Can you at least not pretend to be blind?

Of course, this scene in the Earth Fire Hall was also seen by Dugu Long and Shihun Laozu.

After seeing this, Dugu Long just smiled helplessly, while Shihun Laozu cursed under his breath, "Old pervert," and then both of them turned to instruct their disciples to place bets—

The Ghostly Soul Sect indeed had laws against gambling, but the punishment for gambling was the lightest of all crimes!

Anyone who gambled, if reported, would be ordered to meditate in seclusion for five days to a month. But what kind of punishment was that? Cultivators meditate for ten days to half a month every time. This rule was practically nonexistent.

Moreover, to be placed in seclusion, someone had to report it—without a report, the Law Enforcement Hall disciples wouldn't bother to lock people up.

In the end, the Law Enforcement Hall disciples were also human and couldn't possibly manage every single thing. Any matter reported within the Ghostly Soul Sect would be thoroughly investigated, but if two people agreed to a private duel and no one discovered or reported it, the Law Enforcement Hall wouldn't go out of their way to uncover it.