Chapter 122 — The Wager

Tao Shu'er, Yan Sui, and Hu Shan walked along the streets of Dongfu. The three of them loved nothing more than a crowd, and where in the Tianyue Realm was livelier than Dongfu?

Hu Shan rubbed his hands together, excitement written all over his face. "Excellent! Damn it, we waited so long, and that lousy preliminary Sword Trial is finally over! The real matches are what's worth watching!"

Tao Shu'er's peach-blossom eyes went dreamy. "Oh, yes! Gu Rongping is so handsome! I tell you, in the whole Tianyue Realm there's not a finer man than him! I'm simply in love!"

Hu Shan cursed her infatuation in his heart, then suddenly noticed that Yan Sui seemed to have been distracted all day.

"Old Yan, what are you thinking about?"

Yan Sui looked up with a start, came back to himself, and smiled wryly. "Thinking about how to earn crystal stones!"

"Earn crystal stones? Are you short on them lately? I've got some on hand—want me to spare you a few?" Hu Shan said generously. Having fought side by side before, the three had become fast friends.

Yan Sui shook his head. "I just bought a new flying sword, so my crystal stones are nearly gone. No rush—I'll earn them back slowly. When I'm truly out, I'll come to you."

"Eh? You bought a new flying sword? Let us see it, quick!" Tao Shu'er perked up at once.

Yan Sui produced a deep-blue flying sword. "Its name is Deep Ocean, third grade."

Hu Shan took one look and shook his head vigorously. "Doesn't hold a candle to your old Dripping Water Sword."

"Isn't that stating the obvious!" Yan Sui rolled his eyes in exasperation. Hu Shan's remark had stirred up an unhappy memory for all three of them.

Seeing this, Tao Shu'er hurried to change the subject. "Quick, tell us what way you've thought of to earn crystal stones!" Of the three, Yan Sui was only average in strength, but the best at business.

Sure enough, this was Yan Sui's favorite topic, and he perked up at once. "The Sword Trial, of course!"

"The Sword Trial? How do you earn crystal stones from that?" Hu Shan asked, puzzled.

Yan Sui explained patiently, "Other kinds of business are of course beyond our reach. But if we have spare money on hand, a small wager isn't a bad idea."

Hu Shan lost interest at once. "So it's betting after all. How dull," he said with disdain.

Tao Shu'er, on the other hand, was quite interested. "Ignore him, Old Yan. Tell us in detail."

Yan Sui grew even more animated. "Gambling is of course no good thing, but this Sword Trial is rather different from other kinds of betting."

"How so?"

"There's an element of luck in this Sword Trial, yes, but it's mostly a contest of strength, and therein lie patterns one can follow. A person's strength won't change much in a short time. Factor in the mutual suppression of spells, the quality of magic treasures, and so on, and though one can't judge the outcome with precision, one can broadly judge the trend."

Hu Shan sneered. "Then how do you know others' strength? How do you know their magic treasures?"

Yan Sui nodded. "That's the key to the matter. Strength is hard to judge, but the outside contestants have all fought several matches by now, so one can always form a rough estimate. As for magic treasures"—he said proudly—"I do have some eye for that."

"That you do. When it comes to judging magic treasures, Old Yan, there's no arguing." Hu Shan genuinely admired him for this.

"Heh heh." Yan Sui said smugly, "There are many ways to bet. Take the first match everyone's been talking about lately—Zuo Kan versus Chao An."

"What's there to compare? Chao An wins, of course!" Hu Shan said dismissively. "The Flayed Zombie may be formidable, but his cultivation is what it is. There's absolutely no way he beats a Condensed Vein expert!"

"True!" Yan Sui agreed, then changed tack. "But the most widespread wager right now is this one. People are betting on how many of Chao An's moves Zuo Yan can withstand."

"They can bet on that too?" Hu Shan was dumbstruck.

"Hey, the odds for within three moves are fairly normal. Past three moves, the odds start to soar," Yan Sui said.

"Don't tell me you placed a bet?" Hu Shan asked.

"Mm, I bet on seven moves." Yan Sui said proudly, "The odds are sixty to one."

"You think he can withstand seven of Chao An's moves?" Hu Shan looked astonished. "Chao An is no small fry—he's the most formidable young disciple of Chao Family Fort. Your confidence in the Flayed Zombie is far too great!"

Yan Sui mused, "How do you think Chao An compares to Chang Heng Shixing?"

"Naturally he's inferior!" Hu Shan said without a moment's thought. "What a formidable figure Chang Heng Shixing is! Back in his Foundation Establishment stage he already defeated a Condensed Vein cultivator."

"What!" Yan Sui was rather startled by the latter remark. "How come I never heard that?"

Hu Shan instinctively lowered his voice. "Not many people know. That Blood Spider Sword of Shixing's—he got it by killing someone and seizing the treasure! That's why the sect master ordered him to face the wall in penitence."

The other two were instantly alarmed.

"Looks like my crystal stones won't be going down the drain." Yan Sui's first thought was for his crystal stones. He laughed. "This betting pool wouldn't be nearly so lively to begin with. The main thing is that someone named Chao An for a direct wager—the other party put up a bottle of Moonlight Flowing Chalice, betting that Zuo Yan could last ten moves. That's what stirred the whole thing up."

"Moonlight Flowing Chalice..." Hu Shan's expression went blank, and he murmured, "What a squanderer..."

Tao Shu'er, who had been silent all this while, suddenly asked, "What are the odds for betting on Zuo Yan to win?"

Yan Sui was taken aback. "I think it's three hundred to one." He looked at her in surprise. "Don't tell me you want to bet on him winning? That's absolutely impossible!"

"Why not?" Tao Shu'er said indifferently. "I'll only stake a few crystal stones anyway—just for fun. Since Chang Heng Shixing could defeat a..."

Her words cut off abruptly, her gaze fixed. The two waited for a long while and heard nothing more, which struck them as very strange. When they saw her frozen expression and vacant stare, they couldn't help but follow her gaze—and both went rigid.

Someone was walking toward them.

Li Ying looked at her junior brother, who was keeping watch in the courtyard, and shook her head. It was nothing that he'd been placed in the first match—after all, she figured the sect master only wanted him to see a bit of the world. Who would have thought that these past few days the betting pool on just how many moves her junior brother could withstand would suddenly spread like wildfire?

Some fellow who had appeared out of nowhere had thrown down a bottle of Moonlight Flowing Chalice in front of everyone, betting that her junior brother could withstand ten of Chao An's moves, and set off an uproar at once. Nobody had cared much about this match before; now this betting pool had become the liveliest and most eye-catching of all.

Wasn't this just roasting her junior brother over a fire?

These past few days her junior brother had shut himself up in the courtyard, and she had no idea what he was tinkering with. She was frantic with worry—shouldn't he be seizing the time to practice his sword? A last-minute sharpening, even if not sharp, still gleams!

In all the time her junior brother had been at her shop, she had never once seen him practice his sword.

Did he think he could win with those useless,杂乱 low-grade talisman arts? She certainly had nothing against his studying talisman arts, but talisman arts were mostly used in alchemy and artificing—of little use in combat.

At a time like this, why was he still messing about with talisman arts!