While Yan Xiaolong was babbling on his balcony, a jade-slip floated toward him and everyone else in the arena. Looking at it, he saw it was a slip used for betting. Most of the crowd ignored the jade-slip while the core disciples on a higher floor played around with it. 

 

"Gambling is allowed in the sect?" Yan Xiaolong knew that gambling was common in the world of immortal cultivation, but did not knew that it so allowed in the sect. There were many restrictions and rules on gambling, especially on betting spirit stones. A bet on spirit stones is only valid if there are two parties and both parties match each other in the amount of spirit stones for the bet.

 

"For special occasions only. Generally, people would bet on these kind of matches." Zhong Yun put away the jade-slip. "Although, it seems no one will bet anything on this match. It is definitely going to be a one-sided match. The core disciples will certainly gamble among themselves for fun, but no one will actually placed spirit stones to make a profi-"

 

Just when Zhong Yun was about to finish speaking, he saw Yan Xiaolong placed roughly a million spirit stones on the betting jade-slip. "Y-Young Master!?" 

 

"Little Yun, how many spirit stones do you have on you?" 

 

"Me? Around thirty thousand..." The servant was in shock to see that his young master was placing every spirit stone they both had into the betting jade-slip. "Y-Young Master, I think you should-" 

 

"Go get every spirit stones we have both have. I don't care from where. Savings, checking accounts, emergency funds, piggy banks, pockets, or under the bed. Get me as much spirit stone as you physically can." Yan Xiaolong said with red eyes. "NOW!" 

 

......

 

While the contestants were warming up, the crowd was talking among themselves. Before every fight would be a five minute break for the audience to place their bets. Suddenly, one minute before the timer was done, their jade-slip was notified. 

 

"Huh? T-That is two million spirit stones!" 

 

"It's all on Tai Shan! Who in the hell put down so many spirit stones!?" 

 

"It's Scumbag Yan! That lad gone mad!" 

 

Everyone in the audience stared at Yan Xiaolong who was standing proudly on his balcony. Some people even noticed a red-faced Zhong Yun breathing loudly behind him, though, no one was sure if he was tired or abashed.  

 

"Did he hit his head? Crap, that's a lot! I'm going to put in a thousand spirit stones!" 

 

"I'm going to put in my life savings!" 

 

"I'm going to be rich! You're going to rich! We're going to rich! Thanks, Scumbag Yan!" 

 

Even the core disciples were madly placing their spirit stones into the betting jade-slip. Most disciples only put around a thousand spirit stones, but some went as high as fifty-thousand spirit stones. Not everyone was as rich as Yan Xiaolong was, not even the vast majority of core disciples. Overall, in less than thirty seconds, Yan Xiaolong's bet was matched by everyone else.

 

No one else placed their bets on Tai Shan. They could not even imagine it.

 

Zhong Yun stood next to Yan Xiaolong again. "Y-Young Master, t-this bet..." 

 

Yan Xiaolong only smiled. 

 

......

 

Down below in the arena, the contestants were ready to fight. Jin Wu took a golden spear from his interspatial ring and pointed it at Tai Shan. 

 

"Well? Draw your weapon, Tai Shan. Don't keep the crowd waiting. Or else, roll back into your mother's womb to cultivate for a few more years." Jin Wu spat out harsh words. Although his appearance was valiant, he was actually a cruel person. 

 

"I will draw it when I need it." Tai Shan said calmly. His words received further boos and jeers from the audience. A few outer court disciples tried to cheer for him, but their noise was cancelled out by everyone else. 

 

"Peh! You are nothing, but a poser. Although you've been lucky with every fight you had, your fortunate days end here!" Jin Wu rushed forward and thrust his spear with killing intent. Based on their conversation, it was not difficult to guess that these two had met before, and even had an altercation some times ago. 

 

"Sunny Stabbing Strike!" The golden spear in Jin Wu's hand screamed with a chilling vibration. It moved quickly like the light of the sun as it stabbed toward Tai Shan's chest. It was a simple, brutal attack. 

 

Backed with the spiritual qi of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, it could easily destroy hills and drain lakes. The crowd watched with great anticipation to see it pierce through Tai Shan's chest. Moreover, the crowd watched in greater excitement and shock when they saw the latter actually raised his hand to block that attack. 

 

"Oh boy, ready to see some red mist?" 

 

"Tai Shan is too crazy!" 

 

"We're all going to be rich!" 

 

However, contrary to everyone's expectation, Tai Shan actually blocked that attack. Afterward, he clenched his right hand into a fist and struck out. It was a punch without spiritual qi, only raw power. 

 

Boom! 

 

Jin Wu flew back like an arrow and crashed into the arena's wall, leaving a human-shaped hole in it. Tai Shan's left hand was still on the golden spear and he put it away into his interspatial ring. After that, he turned around and entered the contestant lounge. 

 

"Winner: Tai Shan!" The match ended in less than a minute. 

 

"BOO!!!" 

 

"What was that bullshit!? That wasn't even a fight!" 

 

"My money! My future!" 

 

The crowd exploded into frenzy of complaints and hate. Zhong Yun was in a similar state of disbelief, but without the anger. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. Meanwhile, Yan Xiaolong could feel his jade-slip double in value. Now, he had four million spirit stones. 

 

"NOOOO!!!!!" An ear-bleeding, heart-shaking screech came from someone a few balconies to his right. Yan Xiaolong and Zhong Yun looked over and saw Young Master Shen who was biting his lips so hard that they were bleeding. Yan Xiaolong thought for a moment before whispering something to Zhong Yun, and then walked over to Young Master Shen's balcony with a gentle, warm smile.

 

After they were kicked out from Iron Sword Peak, Young Master Shen and his goons were doing their best to earn as many spirit stones as possible. They received some allowances from the Shen Clan, but nothing more than pocket money as their punishment. It was at least enough to buy some new robes. 

 

They worked hard over a month just to keep their subscription into the Son of Heaven Society and came here to see if they could scam some outer court disciples, but instead placed their bets into the match between Jin Wu and Tai Shan. Now, they were penniless, again. 

 

"Woah, Little Shen, nice seeing you again.”

 

Young Master Shen was about to roar at the person calling out to him until he saw tentacles in front of his eyes. “Y-Young Master Yan, c-c-congratulations on your winnings...” 

 

Yan Xiaolong smiled and put his an arm around Young Master Shen. “Hey now, don’t look so down. How’s business nowadays?” 

 

“Going well, sir...”

 

“Great! Hey, I was meaning to hit you up again.” Yan Xiaolong transferred a million spirit stones and placed it into Young Master Shen’s interspatial ring. “Remember that sca-, er, loaning business you were doing? How about we collaborate for today? I think we can both... benefit.” 

 

......

 

Tai Shan was in the contestant lounge, sitting by himself. The other contestant stared at him in either amazement or animosity. There were over a hundred contestant left. On the first day, there would be the preliminary matches to determine the top sixty-four contestants. The next day would determine the top sixteen contestants. 

 

Although Tai Shan’s victory was impressive, he still had minor injuries so he cultivated to heal them. His body emitted a black- golden aura as he meditated. Beside the colors, the aura was rather unassuming to the lookers, but if anyone was a meter close to him, they would realize that a mysterious, oppressive field surrounded him. 

 

A large pile of spirit stones would randomly generate in front of him before disappearing. In fact, it appeared and disappeared so quickly that is was almost impossible for anyone else to even see them appear at all. 

 

In less than a minute, over a thousand spirit stones were refined. Tai Shan sighed. “Not enough. Not enough...” 

 

“Brother Tai Shan,” Someone beckoned. 

 

He turned his head and saw a scholarly young man look at him with a smile. “I am Zhong Yun. On the behalf of my Young Master, I would like to thank you. He felt grateful that he made good money from placing his bets on you and wanted to give this.”

 

Zhong Yun gave Tai Shan a bag that contained two hundred-thousand spirit stones. The latter looked surprise at the amount. 

 

“This...” It was the first time that Tai Shan had ever received so many spirit stones. Especially, in such a blunt fashion. 

 

“It’s not a lot, but my Young Master, Yan Xiaolong, would like for you to have this as a token of gratitude.” Zhong Yun thought to himself, “And an investment.”