Chapter 24: Brothers FightThe Academy's decision was quickly relayed: the advancement assessment was postponed for three days due to an unforeseen reason, and would resume once the Spirit Beasts in the Colosseum had recovered.During these three days, most students' minds were not entirely focused on the upcoming assessment. After all, the assessment was only a matter of time; what truly ignited the Academy's public opinion were two major events.The first, naturally, was the sensation caused by Huo Yuhao.It was said that Yan Shaozhe, the head of the Spirit Department, and Qian Duoduo, the head of the Soul Tool Department, argued fiercely in their office over Huo Yuhao, even taking their dispute to the Sea Gods Pavilion, which directly triggered a Sea Gods Pavilion meeting!For a mere second-year student to alarm the Sea Gods Pavilion was an extremely rare occurrence in Shrek Academy's history!Huo Yuhao's potential and importance were instantly elevated to an unimaginable degree. And with that came a subtle shift in everyone's perception of Dai Youheng.Previously, many people secretly mocked Dai Youheng as Huo Yuhao's "bootlicker," acting subserviently and without dignity. But now, public opinion had actually begun to reverse! Many started to exclaim in wonder, saying that Dai Youheng had "a discerning eye" and "far-reaching foresight," having long recognized Huo Yuhao's extraordinariness, and thus invested early, clinging to this future golden thigh!Hearing these discussions, Dai Youheng was utterly dumbfounded. What kind of situation was this? One plants the tree, and others enjoy the shade?The messy things that bootlicker had done had, by some strange twist of fate, earned him a reputation for "foresight"? It was utterly absurd.The second major event that everyone talked about with relish was the constantly escalating, astonishing wager between Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin. Some even set up private betting pools on top of their wager, betting on who would ultimately win.Due to Huo Yuhao's astonishing recent performance, which led to two department heads vying for him, and Dai Huabin being the highest-ranked attack system Spirit Elder in the second year, whose strength could not be underestimated, the odds in the betting pools were surprisingly close, showing a state of evenly matched strength.When Dai Youheng learned about this betting pool, his eyes immediately lit up. How could he not get involved in such a sure-win opportunity? He immediately found the bookmaker and unhesitatingly bet one million gold coins on Huo Yuhao to win!This huge sum immediately caused a sensation. Everyone was once again astonished by Dai Youheng's level of support for Huo Yuhao, which had reached a point of almost going all in!The moniker "bootlicker" seemed to be confirmed again, but combined with the previous "discerning eye" theory, it became perplexing.Dai Youheng paid no attention to others' discussions. Why not bet on a game he knew he would win?If he could return to his original World, travel back to the 2014 World Cup semi-final, that Germany-Brazil match, he would definitely bet his entire fortune on 7-1, Germany winning over Brazil! Even if he didn't like Germany, why refuse free money?When he finished his cultivation for the evening and returned to his dorm room door, he found Zhou Sichen standing outside alone, somewhat ill at ease, not having gone inside."Sichen, why aren't you going in?" Dai Youheng asked.Zhou Sichen saw him as if he had seen a savior, and quickly lowered his voice, "Youheng, you're finally back! An older student came inside, his aura is too strong, and he seems to be in a very bad mood. I couldn't handle it, so I came out for some fresh air."Dai Youheng raised an eyebrow and pushed the door open.Inside the dorm, a tall, handsome young man, whose face was currently clouded with gloom, was sitting on his bed, exuding a suppressed anger.It was his "Big Brother," the White Tiger Duke's eldest legitimate son, Dai Yueheng!As soon as Dai Yueheng saw Dai Youheng enter, he immediately stood up, his gaze sharp as a knife, and spoke in a cold tone, "Youheng, you're finally back. Shouldn't you give me an explanation regarding your wager with Huabin and your actions this afternoon?"He walked closer step by step, the oppressive feeling he brought far exceeding what Zhou Sichen had felt, "I heard you bet another million gold coins on that Huo Yuhao? Who exactly is he? Is he worth you repeatedly favoring him, even at the cost of damaging our Dai Family's interests and reputation?"Dai Youheng instantly understood that this was a confrontation.Clearly, the matter of Dai Huabin losing his Spirit Bone and kowtowing to Huo Yuhao, as well as his own act of placing another huge bet on Huo Yuhao, had reached Dai Yueheng's ears.In Dai Yueheng's view, Dai Huabin was the legitimate heir, his own family, while Dai Youheng had always sided with outsiders, helping them to slap his own family's face.A thousand-year Spirit Bone and some gold coins might not be much to the Dai Family. But if this matter spread, what would other nobles think?They would think that the White Tiger Dukes Mansion had discord between its legitimate and illegitimate lines, and that the brothers were fighting among themselves! This would disgrace the entire Duke's Mansion.One must know, the current Dai Family was no longer the family from ten thousand years ago that held the Star Luo throne and practiced cruel, 'raising gu' style internal competition.As the eldest legitimate son, Dai Yueheng valued the family's stability and external image more. He hoped Dai Youheng would understand the bigger picture, voluntarily return the Spirit Bone to Dai Huabin, apologize to him, and suppress this storm to maintain the Dai Family's superficial harmony of "brotherly love and respect."Facing Dai Yueheng's questioning and implied command, Dai Youheng merely chuckled lightly, his smile containing undisguised mockery, "Explanation? What explanation do you want? Discord between legitimate and illegitimate lines? Does it need others to think so? When have the legitimate and illegitimate lines of the Dai Family ever truly been harmonious?"He looked calmly into Dai Yueheng's somewhat startled eyes, "You, Dai Yueheng, barely manage to have some older brotherly demeanor, at least you put on a good show. But Dai Huabin? You're not unaware of how he has always viewed me and Luoli, are you? That undisguised contempt and bullying, isn't that disgracing the Duke's Mansion?""What?" Dai Youheng's tone turned cold, "The filth hidden in the dark before, now it's brought into the open, and you feel disgraced? But Dai Yueheng, what is the fundamental difference between a disgrace that comes from speaking the truth and one that never existed? It's just self-deception.""As for asking me to return the Spirit Bone?" He scoffed, "You don't have the right. I advise you, instead of wasting your time managing me, you should prepare a few more Spirit Bones for your good brother Dai Huabin. With his explosive temper, he can't stand the slightest provocation, and he'll bet on anything when his head gets hot. Even if you give him a hundred Spirit Bones today, do you believe he won't lose them all tomorrow because of another wager?""You...!" Dai Yueheng's face turned ashen with anger at these merciless, even rebellious words, his chest heaving violently. He had never expected that this illegitimate younger brother, who had always been somewhat submissive at home, even fearful of him, would dare to defy him so boldly today!
