Page 69: I guarantee you'll get rich

The martial grounds were filled with screams of supportive chants and jeers. Other female sect members have made a sort of cheering squad and shrieks every time they see a handsome guy on the stage. On some parts, people were crying because they have lost a huge sum of their fortune while others were jumping with glee knowing that they have won.

Long Bai and Mo Shan just reached the crowded martial grounds. They tried to find a good spot but all the good ones are already taken. What's left is the area close to the betting area where only few were standing because it was 12 meters away from the central platform. Although it was like that, it was positioned in a slightly elevated area so there would be no problem watching from them. The only thing is that anyone who will watch from there won't be able to enjoy the thrills of watching a close live fights.

Checking all the area, that portion was their only choice. The two walked towards the place while still trying to see who were fighting. In all three platforms, the ones fighting were the inner disciples. The personal disciples must have been saved for the later portion after them.

As the two reached the area, the betting stall was standing out too much that it's not easy not to notice it. Long Bai took interest in it and tried to ask how it works. After learning that it was the betting stall for the later fights and that they can still put their wager, Long Bai was piqued even more. The stall keeper explained that if he wanted to bet on those who are fighting right now, he must proceed to the other stalls.

Mo Shan who was also listening have his eyes glittering. However, after looking at the participant's images on the board, his face returned being skeptic. He must have no idea who they were in the first place. Long Bai was watching Mo Shan's expressions change ever other second which made him laugh. With his expressions, Long Bai thinks that Mo Shan was hesitating putting his own resources on gambling.

Mo Shan's thinking is expected since the chances of winning was low. Considering that there were more than 5 in the list and also bet on the place which they would fall to at the end of the tournament. From the board, Yue had the most supporters but the amount was too low compared to Chen Weimin's amount. The number of people who put their bet on Chen Weimin was just half of Yue's number but the amount in Weimin's name was doubled compared that of in Yue's name. One speculation that Long Bai can make is that maybe the ones who put their faith in Yue were mostly commoners while in Weimin's name were people from his household. On the bottom list, he saw Ling Tian and Ah Mu's name with an exchange rate of 1:4. Compared to Yue who have 1:2 rate, the two at the bottom is more profitable. Long Bai checked his cosmic pouch and was able to count 2500 shards in it. With this amount, he can put bets to all three of them. Now, he just need to think how to divide it. He can't just think about winning but also show his support to all three of them. After all, some percentage of the winnings will go to the person himself. In case for example Yue wins at first place, the merchant union will give a percentage for them since they used them to earn resources.

After thinking for a few minutes, he placed 1000 red shards each on Yue for 1st place and Ling Tian for third place. For the 500 shards left, he was thinking if Ah Mu should be placed on the fourth but thinking back, Ah Mu can become clumsy most often especially when there's a girl involved. Looking back on the board, he might be fighting Hu Luli or the Zhou girl which are both young and pretty.

'Hmm. This Ah Mu really sometimes make things difficult for me. Anyway, with these two girls, I believe he will be distracted easily. Hayst. I'll bet he'll be placed 5th.' Long Bai made a nod confirming his thoughts. Without waiting any further, he placed his bet with the decision he came up in his mind.

Mo Shan saw Long Bai taking out a lot of his shards and was shocked with his wealth.

"Alchemist Bai, are you a rich kid? Throwing away thousands of shards is really a waste. Are you perhaps addicted to gambling?"

"Hahaha"

Long Bai can't help but laugh at Mo Shan's last words. Where did that came from based from his previous action? But thinking about the shards he have, he could have more if he didn't use them for his cultivation. Still, thinking back, it was not a waste that it was used for his growth.

"Alchemist Mo Shan, this is not gambling but earning. Trust me, I know these three will make it with these spots. If you want to earn something, put some also on the table but I suggest these three."

Mo Shan gave a questioning look but after seeing Long Bai's confidence, he was slightly being convinced.

"Alchemist Bai, among the three, who do you think would have the highest winning rate? I'm going to bet on that person."

With the three, Long Bai don't even need to think about it. Ah Mu can be taken out of the picture although he have the highest defence. In a fight, the better skills and talent can overcome strong defences. The question would just be pertaining to Yue and Ling Tian.

Ling Tian is more of a balanced fighter but when he gets aggressive, he sacrifices his defence to gain more attack patterns and force. Yue on the other hand is an agility-dexterity type of fighter. Add the fact that she has a faster cultivation rate due to her superior essence core, she would definitely hold the upper hand. Long Bai also believes that Yue have a better comprehension of the skills he taught to them due to her great compatibility with it. The martial skill was originally a defensive martial art that is based on speed so it matches Yue's tastes and orientation.

"If it's about the highest winning rate, that would be Yue. However, if you want to earn more, I suggest you put your bet on Ling Tian getting the third place."

"Then why didn't you put all of your bet on him? Won't you win more if that's the case?" Mo Shan asked.

"It is a way of support. Since I know the three of them, I need to support them, right?" Long Bai replied

With Long Bai's last statement, Mo Shan finally brought out 600 shards from his pouch and put it on Ling Tian winning on third place. Alchemists were supposed to be rich but it happened that most of them eight now are broke because of the test. They must have used a lot of their resources to practice by purchasing herbs for the ingredients. In Long Bai's case, his profits from the new pill are still with alchemist Mo. Since that is for business, he can't just go and carry all of it while he goes around to different places. The profit would be managed by alchemist Mo and plans to use the revenue for establishing their own manufacturing company. It is a wild dream but it might become true if the success that they are will continue.

Having their attention back on the platforms, they just saw how one of the participants flew out of the stage. Cheers erupted from the people. After clearing out that stage, a name present on the betting table behind Long Bai and Mo Shan was called. Immediately, the stall closed the betting table and stopped accepting bets.

It was Ling Tian against an inner disciple. Checking on the stats, Ling Tian was already on the 2nd level of visceral tempering layer while Ling Tian's opponent was also at the visceral tempering but one level higher. In terms of strength, Ling Tian was just a bit weaker. If it would be quantified, Ling Tian can carry 100 kg less than his opponent. That's how close it is for every level. This is why some who are on the higher level can still be defeated by someone who are a level lower or vice versa. Only when there's a huge gap between levels that the strength difference would be apparent but this would most likely be obvious if they are on different layers, stages, or realm.

An example of gap difference is when both are at the same cultivation layer like at the flesh tempering but one is on the early levels like the 2nd level while the other was at the late levels like 8th or ninth. For layer gap difference, a cultivator at flesh tempering is no match to someone at the visceral tempering. For stage gap difference, someone at the body tempering stage is no match to a soul tempering stage. And for the last, gap in terms of realm, an Earth realm cultivator is definitely no match against the immortal realm.

Back on the first stage, Ling Tian brought out a grade 2 double edged sword from his cosmic pouch, such the benefit of being trained under an elder of the sect. It was 20 centimeters less than a meter in length and the maximum width is 5 cm. The opponent on the other hand was already holding his grade 1 double edged sword. It was apparent that there is a difference in weapon quality. The sword has nothing to do with the strength of the user. Low grade weapons are just tempered to be stronger and sturdier while weapons starting at grade 4 quality are the ones with additional effects similar to a buff.

At the sound of the gong, both who were on the stage did not move at all. Instead, they were having a conversation. Everyone tried to listen to what they were talking about.

"Inner disciple Bohai greets personal disciple Ling Tian. It is an honor to receive pointers from an elder council's disciple. Its just that since you are a personal disciple, I'm afraid of hurting you if I go all out. You just joined the sect not ling ago while I have trained for more than 6 years. If we fight, I might be labeled as a bully. How should I approach such predicament?"

Inner disciple Bohai was thinking of not to be on an elder's bad side just in case. He who have experienced a lot inside the sect knows how some things work from the shadows. Offending someone who are backed up by some power could be the end of his life. He was trying to avoid such thing.

"Inner disciple Bohai, I might have just joined the sect early but I can say that I have made great effort to be qualified in this competition. I would suggest that we both give all we have so we won't regret it in the end. I give you my word that your fears won't become true. A defeat is defeat, and there's no more to it. If you defeat me, I won't make any qualms. That just tells me that I lack more training. That be said also in your terms. Look, your weapon may be a grade one but you have a higher cultivation than mine. Isn't this just fair?"

When the two had a consensus, they started to prepare their own stances to signal each other that they are ready. Ling Tian's aggressive nature won over him and made the first move. With a normal dash towards Bohai, he directed a stabbing motion. Although Bohai was holding a sword, he used an emission skill to disrupt Ling Tian's approach.

<Leopard's pounce>!

A white colored leopard's head manifested in front of Bohai's palm and shoot out towards the approaching Ling Tian. The skill Bohai used was the standard skill taught to inner disciples, a sky rank, mid grade skill.

With Bohai's skill clashing with Ling Tian's sword, a sharp metal sound rang in the area. Ling Tian on the other hand received the remaining part of the attack that was not destroyed by his sword and was pushed 5 meters from where the clash happened. There was no significant damage dealt to Ling Tian but Mo Shan who put his entire savings to him was almost tearing up.

"Haha! Disciple Ling Tian, don't blame me for being ruthless. Take another of my attack!"

Bohai did not hesitate to give another of the skill now that he saw a chance. With another blow of his skill, another pouncing white lump of essence with the shape of a leopard was directed at Ling Tian.

This time, instead of clashing with the skill, Ling Tian jumped 5 meters up in the air and released the same attack towards Bohai. Dust covered the platform for a few seconds and the spectators were waiting for it to disperse. After 20 seconds, a silhouette of a young man was seen as the dust started to clear up. When everything was cleared up, they saw Ling Tian standing without any scratch while on the ground was Bohai laying without consciousness. Everyone was silent except a single man who was shouting with glee at the back. Everyone looked towards that direction and saw Mo Shan screaming with all his might. Long Bai who was beside him noticed everyone's eyes on them. Such embarrassing or awkward situation, Long Bai moved a bit away from Mo Shan and acted as if he never knew the man.

"Go Ling Tiiiaaannn!!!! Make me riiichhhh!!!!"