Betting a Bet !

Sam could barely resist the ferocious animals' overwhelming evil aura, but he knew passing this floor was impossible.

He couldn't even deal with the eight little brothers clustered around them, forget about the two second-level severe beats. Even if his physical state were restored, the situation would be unsustainable! He'd even depleted the majority of his true essence.

He knew in his heart that, even reaching the fifth floor, his abilities would inevitably fall short of that sixth-grade brilliance  Hen Portia. Hen Portia defeated these ten terrible monsters and won half a year ago.

-Hshhhh! 

Sam sighed with emotion as he gazed at the terrifying monsters' overwhelming presence.

She was a girl with a sixth-grade talent, a girl who was both gorgeous and haughty.

By his conservative estimate, Sam guessed that he needed to increase his cultivation over an entire level and at least achieve the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation to stand a chance. 

Only then could he have a possibility of passing, and that was considering a life and death-struggle to his life's limit.

But Hen Portia had already passed through this hurdle half a year ago.

Unsurprisingly, the middle-aged examiner was so sure that passing was impossible.

If it were impossible to get through, he would slaughter as many ferocious beasts as possible.

Sam was not about to give up without a fight. 

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to refine his combat skills while dancing on the brink of death, the sensation of his strength. He will be tested in a life-or-death situation where any mistake could be catastrophic. 

This was a very unique and priceless experience.

"Come on!" 

Seeing the vicious beasts rush at him, Sam shouted and stabbed his knife outwards at a silver tiger. 

His mind was clear; he knew he had no chance of injuring the two second-level vicious beasts, so his goal was their eight little brothers. 

Some had thick meat and fur that he could not hope to penetrate this late in the game, so he chose those with high attack power but equally low defense, like this silver tiger.

"Pah!" 

A knife stabbed into the silver tiger's abdomen. At the same time, Sam felt a tremor pass up his arm. The silver tiger's thick flesh held the knife tight, and Sam almost let go.

"Damn!"

A whip-like tail lashed out at Sam's belly in a split second. 

This was an attack from the two second-level vicious beasts. Its speed was quick like lightning and sharp as a knife; a strike from this would bisect any average martial artist. Sam twisted in the air and barely dodged the tail, but it still scratched his thigh and left him bruised and lacerated.

Sam felt as if someone had branded his thigh with a heated iron bar; it burned with an aching pain. He grimaced. Even a gentle touch felt like his skin was sloughing off.

During this time, the eight first-level vicious beasts surrounded Sam. 

He was in the center of a deadly circle in the blink of an eye. As long as these vicious beasts attacked together, they would instantly tear Sam apart.

"Not good!" 

Sam was very clear; as long as these vicious beasts pounced on him together, there was nowhere he could run. 

In that crucial moment, Sam kicked his feet against the ground and thrust his knife at the silver tiger; he who struck the first blow had the advantage!

"Roar!" 

The silver tiger howled in rage and charged towards Sam. The wicked and terrible monsters in this dream country had no fear in their hearts.

"Poh!"

The knife jabbed straight into the silver tiger's throat. 

However, Sam was also caught by its claw and drew a gaping hole in his abdomen. His Second Stage Flesh Training's true essence barely protected him from being eviscerated in one strike.

"One down!" 

Sam clutched his bloody abdomen, which was dripping red. 

He had finally suffered a severe wound, and his true essence was at less than a single percent. He didn't think the fifth floor would be so difficult; compared to the fourth floor, it was at least ten times the trouble.

…

"A quarter of an hour! Sam has already been on the fifth floor for a quarter hour. This Sam is still persisting on the fifth floor, it's truly unbelievable."

"Mm. Although he could only be running, he probably does not have much true essence left. Even running for a quarter hour is an achievement."

"There will probably be some great forces that will try to recruit Sam. Jonas, you had talked about him earlier, is your Warlord Haven's not interested in the boy?"

"Hmmm"

Jonas smiled but did not say anything. 

This group of fellows did not know as he did that behind Sam was an incredible master. He probably came here for his own experience. 

Perhaps this mysterious master of his would soon bring him back to the mountains for painstaking cultivation. How could his Warlord Haven possibly hope to attract him?

But Jonas did not say anything to those foolish people around him. 

"Elder Sun, you had a somewhat high opinion of him," said an older surnamed Xu, playing with two jade balls in his palm.

As Xu continued saying, "I applaud Sam's accomplishments, but with only a grade-three talent, he most likely had a chance encounter of some kind and ate some rare and costly item, which resulted in a rise in his strength. As for his future achievements...ha-ha, I don't see the use in flattery."

The elder surnamed Xu heard these words and knew they held some truth.

If a person's luck was good and blessed by the heavens, he might be able to eat some precious and rare object or material and experience an increase in his cultivation or strength. 

But that sort of superiority by ingesting these things had its limits and would slowly be worn down by time until it vanished and became not too rare.

The elder surnamed Xu rationally said, "This Sam is good but his cultivation speed will not be able to follow him in the future. He'll be easily overtaken."

Several elders echoed this. Jonas faintly smiled and said, "There's no need to say anything more. Sam's future achievements, everything will be seen in the future."

As Jonas's voice fell, he looked up and saw the fifth floor of the Exquisite Sagol begin to tremble. The runes flashed, and suddenly, a person's shadow was ejected and floated downwards like a slip of paper.

"That boy Sam finally came out!"

In exchange, Sam had killed a silver tiger on the fifth floor, taking a severe wound. 

However, even on the verge of death, in his dying moment, he had brought down a wind wolf and finally killed two first-level vicious beasts.

He was already proud of this result. It had to be known that on the fifth floor, being able to kill two vicious beasts while being surrounded was incomparably more complex than on the fourth floor.

In the distance, Lily looked at Sam as he was caught by people waiting for him underneath the Exquisite Sagol. 

She now knew in her heart why she felt a tiny tremble. She pursed her lips and, without a pause, turned around and quietly left.

"Mm? Sam is already awake?"

Death in the dream realm is only the imagination of the mind. 

The candidate's actual body would be shot out of the Exquisite Sagol upon death, but they would have already thought they were dead. Thus, they would be unconscious for some time. 

But Sam had unexpectedly awakened so quickly, and his complexion only showed a bit of paleness. This caused the elders of the Seven Profound Martial House to feel a bit startled. 

Compared to Oliver, he had still been unconscious even after a while. This disparity came with such a pure heart for martial arts.

"This Sam should be the first place candidate of this entrance exam." 

Elder Sun said.

"You say that but the award for first place is a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill. You do not think it is wasted on a boy with a mere grade-three talent? How much of it do you think he would be able to absorb? The final assessment does not depend on just the results but also on the candidate's own talent." 

Elder Xu responded to Elder Sun's proposal in a hoarse voice.

Elder Sun said, "It is true that we must also account for talent, but that is only if there is a close tie in the final results of the exams. This Sam took first place in all three trials, how can his assessment not be first in the final assessment? Otherwise everyone would only think that we are corrupt and unfair. Regarding the waste of the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill, it's only use is for the main sect to attract top tier talents to come to the Seven Profound Martial House entrance exams. Can it be that you thought the main sect would create just a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill to enter into the main sect as a core disciple?"

"Moreover, as far as I know, aren't Elder Xu and the head of Yuelu City's Family good old friends?"

As Elder Sun finished his words, Elder Xu's eyes twitched, and he let out a cold humph, 

"Sun Sifan, I was only considering all angles of the exam for the sake of argument. If you wish to guarantee this Sam as the first place candidate, then I have no objections. How about we make a bet? We shall see six months from now who is stronger between Oliver and this boy Sam and who will enter the Heavenly Abode. How about it?"

Elder Sun felt shocked by Elder Xu's words and was somewhat speechless. 

Elder Sun began to feel an angry stirring in his heart. He was only trying to act impartially for this entrance exam. He did not think much of Elder Xu and did not usually have dealings with him. He also could not get used to his self-serving nature and only tried to advance his interests by helping with this entrance exam, ultimately leading to this struggle.

But even as Elder Xu challenged him, Elder Sun did not dare to meet it. 

Sam's talent was limited and only in the third grade. It was a genuine possibility that Elder Xu was correct in his guess that Sam had some fortuitous encounter and ingested some rare herb or something of that nature, thus resulting in his accomplishments today. 

But Oliver, in comparison, was a rare person within a hundred thousand people with a superior fourth-grade talent. In that case, it could be Sam that would be left in his dust.

Seeing Elder Sun backing down, Elder Xu sneered and said, "How could you not accept? If you really think that this Sam should be first place then we might as well make a bet. I remember that Elder Sun has a treasure of the human-step…"

As Elder Xu mentioned this human-step treasure, Elder Sun's complexion twisted. 

Human-step treasures were scarce and valuable in the Starlight Haven Kingdom; not even with several tens of thousands of gold would you be able to purchase one. The Seven Profound Valley handed down and granted this and was Elder Sun's most valuable belonging. 

How could he use it in a gamble, much less with such an uncertain chance of success?

Seeing Elder Sun so dumbfounded, Elder Xu looked smug and arrogant. He knew that Sun Sifan would not dare to take up this bet naturally, so he said this because he wanted to ruin Sun Sifan's prestige and reputation.

But at this moment, Jonas opened his mouth and said with a smile, "How about I take up that bet with Elder Xu?"