A Wager Gone Wrong

"I, Dong Meirong, challenge Young Master Wei to a race to the top! "

Her voice boomed in everyone's ears. Not because of the amplified volume, no, but because of the sheer audacity in her words. Who was dumb enough to challenge the young master of the Long Clan and the third prince of the Imperial Haven Empire?

A talent that only explored the outside world twelve times in twelve years, yet his actions resounded throughout the Imperial Expanse. At a day old, he completed Qi Condensation to establish his foundation, entering the Foundation Establishment Realm.

A year later he formed his core, becoming a full-fledged Core-Formation expert at the age of one. In the next three years, he rushed through the Core-Formation and formed his soul seed at the age of six, entering the Soul-Formation Realm. His seed sprouted at eight, giving birth to his Nascent Soul.

He became the second youngest Nascent Soul cultivator five eras ago. A few months later he reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and took his first Heavenly Step, cementing him as a full-fledged Transcendent Talent. The Twelve Heavenly Steps were completed in record time, taking him about a year to complete them. He tackled his Heavenly Door at eleven and broke past it six months later to become a full-fledged Mortal Transcendent. He stayed in the Mortal Transcendent Realm for four years and broke past it to enter the Saint Realm at the age of fifteen. Only one other person beat him to the Saint Realm, and that was Qian Jian, a full-fledged anomaly in his own right.

Long Wei failed to hide the amusement in his eyes. A challenge? He reached behind him, grasping a cup of tea that appeared in Elder Cai's hands just as he grabbed the air. He drew it to his lips and sipped. The blazing hit temperature that put most naturally formed mortal volcanoes to shape fell onto the tip of his tongue. Only a slight tingle registered on it. But the medicinal properties gushed out, rushing to his meridians and dantian. All the faint traces of Immortal energy were absorbed quickly by his abysmal dantian.

"This isn't real right? I must be dreaming?"

"Unfortunately you are not a young master. That young talent simply doesn't have a functioning brain, " Elder Bohai shook his head. Of all people to challenge, it just had to be the young master. He didn't know what emotion to feel. Was he to feel sorry for her in general or just for her lack of intelligence?

"This doesn't happen to be one of those exceptions you were talking about, right? " Long Wei gently placed the cup on the table beside him and tapped a catchy rhythm along its edge.

"... "

"So it is," Long Wei rose from the seat and walked to the railings for a better view of the idiot that made his day.

Their eyes locked for the first time. And the ice-cold indifference he saw in those sparkling blue eyes couldn't hide the blazing hatred hidden beneath the surface. He felt it on every pore of his skin like sharp daggers attempting to slice through his rock-hard natural defences. She had a pair of thick silky eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes and a button-nose, all perfectly arranged on her round face. Only their arrangement wasn't something he'd call pretty by any means. Perfect? Yes, everything was where it was supposed to be. Beautiful? Never in a million Chaos Cycles. 

"Young Lady-"

"Don't bother yourself Elder Mo, let her explain herself," Long Wei interrupted the irritated Elder Mo, "I don't think she is stupid. She must have a good reason for challenging me, a complete stranger, to a duel that only has downs for me. So. Explain yourself Miss Meirong. "

Down below, in the section made for the participants brave enough to continue to the rest of the trials, whispers and gossip travelled from one ear to the next. Just when they thought things died down, someone took to the stage and challenged Young Master Wei to a race to the top within the trials.

"Isn't that the Peak Minor God talent chick? She has guts alright. I give her that, " said a young lady dressed in pink from head to toe.

"Nah. This is fun. Way more fun than the trials my brother went through at Immortal Leaf Academy. Everything was standard there. Not this. Do you think Young Master Wei will accept?" a young man in his twenty's said.

"I honestly don't know. This is simply a losing battle for the young master. He accepts then wins. And nothing substantial has changed. He accepts and then loses. He loses some face and possibly his chance at the throne for disgracing the Imperial Family, " Shi Ya answered the young man's question in an icy tone," I'm more interested in her reason for challenging him. It just seems so out of the blue it barely makes sense. You don't challenge Young Master Wei without having some type of plan to carry you, especially when you are only a Heavenly Door Realm cultivator. "

"Not everything needs to be logical in life, " Liang Heng said, "Sometimes a bit of fun is necessary. And that lady knows how to shake a storm."

Feng Li kept to himself. His eyes were closed as he constantly regulated his Dao Heart. The chief told him the truth of cultivation. A stable Dao Heart was the true foundation of every cultivator. The more stronger and stable it was, the further down the cultivation path you could go. One of the Dao Heart's mysterious properties was its ability to further strengthen a cultivator's potential in the long run, to a point where some mortals that never had a chance to cultivate shifted their latent talents enough to begin cultivating. He needed to hit the top hundred to gain access to better resources faster, shortening the amount of time he'd need to catch up to his older cousin.

"You have something that belongs to my best friend. And I want to bet for it," Dong Meirong said.

Her spatial ring flickered and a marble with a miniature galaxy inside appeared within her palm. She placed it neatly on it and spread out her hand for Long Wei to see perfectly. Its sparkling surface thrust a memory hidden deep within Long Wei's mind to the forefront. At that moment he knew. He couldn't say no to the competition, even if it meant disgracing his father. Except for his most trusted people, that being his mother, father and the two elders behind him, no one else needed to know. And those he trusted could only be told when absolutely necessary.

"You mean this?" Long Wei pulled out a similar marble from his spatial ring, pinching it between his index finger and thumb.

"Elder Bohai, this just got troublesome, " he whispered through his spirit sense, "Not taking this deal could prove disastrous."

"Not again young master," Elder Bohai said massaging his temple, " What did you do? "

"I'd rather not explain this instant. Just know, she needs to die.. . Soon," Long Wei said.

" Yes, I'll put my bead on the wager. If I win. I take yours. If you win, you take mine. How is that? Or are you too afraid to accept a challenge from a junior in the Heavenly Door Realm, Young Master Wei, The Almighty? " Dong Meirong spelt out the most popular title used to describe Long Wei, bending the sounds to mimic the cooing of a baby.

"No need for the aggravating tactics. I'll accept your wager, but I'll wager something else instead. This bead? You can have it, ," Long Wei threw the bead to the girl.

"Hmph"

The entire world dropped a few shades of colour. Large amounts of force swept up from the gold and blue pavilion next to his, sending every mortal reeling backwards. Long Wei remained where he stood, thanks to Elder Bohai letting faint ripples of his God Domain shield him from it. Dong Meirong moved back several paces until she slammed into the Immortal Slaying Mirror. The galaxy bead he threw halted in the air and the one in her hands rose into it. Both beads shot towards the pavilion neighboring Young Master Wei's, where the Vice Sect Master of the Spectral Haven Sect sat.

"A pair of Immortal Grade Cosmic Beads. The perfect artefact to usher the growth of your Heavenly Castle within the Pseudo-Immortal Realm.

" As punishment for interrupting the trial with a petty squabble, I'll arrange a special competition during the survival portion of the entrance exams. These two beads will be the prize. Anyone below the Immortal Realm will be given a chance to vie for these two beads. Two separate scores will be kept. One for those going through the ceremony. And the other for those who wish to compete for these beads. Those already taking the exam will be able to vie for both first place in the tournament and these beads, while you Transcendent talents and a few Core Court disciples within the Mortal Realms will be given this opportunity too. How is that? "

The Vice Sect Master's voice was thick and laced with untold power. Long Wei realized there was nothing more he could do to not involve the rest of the Transcendent talents. The Vice Sect Master had spoken. And his status couldn't move ancient cultivators like him with mere words, especially as a mortal.

"I don't see a problem at all Vice Sect Master. All will be as you arranged, " Long Wei said while swearing in his mind.

The Immortal Bead was a treasure so rare, only twenty of them could exist in every Era. If he won the competition and gained two Cosmic Beads, then very few people would care for his status, most would want to steal the treasure for the chance of gaining immense benefit for their future path in the Immortal Realms. He wouldn't have taken care of the hot potato in such a way should the sect master not have forced the competition in that direction. His plan was to give her the beads and snatch them later when no one else was paying attention. But this.

Why allow all transcendent talents to battle for the beads? What was the Vice Sect Leader thinking?