parentshiftbook Chapter 240: Betting
Chapter 240: Betting
Zhang Ping glanced at Xiang Chunyuan and his group out of the corner of his eye, but didn't even lift his eyelids. He remained leaning against the railing as if the passing of people was just a passing breeze.
A few people sat down in an empty spot in the corner. The creaking of the wooden stools being dragged and the soft rustling of clothes instantly broke the silence of the corner.
"Brother Lun, do you think this guy can beat the monster?"
Beside Lin Lun, a pretty female cultivator leaned slightly forward, her hair almost brushing against his sleeve. Cultivators have keen senses; at such close proximity, with their foreheads less than a fist's width apart, it's impossible for them to lower their guard unless they completely trust him.
"Probably," Lin Lun replied casually, his fingertips tapping the table unconsciously, his gaze constantly drifting towards Xin Yuhan diagonally in front of him. He happened to catch Xin Yuhan glancing to the side, her gaze landing on Zhang Ping not far away.
He looked over and recognized that these were the people who had come on the same flying boat.
"We won! Lun-ge? Lun-ge, look!"
After an unknown amount of time, a deafening roar of cheers suddenly crashed over him, causing even the teacups on the table to tremble slightly. Lin Lun was jolted back to his senses. He looked down at the center of the arena, where the cultivator's longsword had pierced through the foreheads of the demonic beasts, the blade reaching the hilt. Dark red blood splattered down the grooves onto the yellow sand, creating tiny droplets.
"We won! My spirit coins have doubled!"
"Damn it, what a stupid monster! It doesn't even know how to protect its vitals! All my spirit coins have gone down the drain!"
"Hehe, I've made a profit..."
The entire stadium erupted instantly, with ecstatic roars and furious curses mingling together. Some people jumped up and threw their money bags into the air, while others, with red eyes, slammed their fists against the railing. All sorts of human emotions were magnified infinitely in this small stand.
Xiang Chunyuan leaned down slightly and lowered his voice to Xin Yuhan, saying, "I need to tell the others later not to touch this kind of gambling. I've seen too many cultivators lose everything because of it."
Don't assume that cultivators have a more stable mind than ordinary people. When they get carried away, they can be even more insane than the average person. He had personally witnessed someone lose all their personal defensive spiritual items in one night, and even dared to dismantle and sell their own spiritual energy and blood essence for chips. He was genuinely afraid that his hot-blooded young companions would lose their composure under the influence of the atmosphere.
Xin Yuhan nodded, turned to the female cultivator beside her and said a few words, which quickly reached the ears of Lin Lun and the others.
Just as the group pledged not to gamble, the final match arranged by the organizers in the arena came to a close. From the high platform, the organizer's voice, amplified by spiritual energy, resounded throughout the arena, announcing the start of free-for-all duels.
The cultivators present could either voluntarily challenge opponents or take on the monsters provided by the organizers.
With such a high reward in sight, it wasn't even half an incense stick's time before some cultivators signed a life-or-death agreement.
A burst of pale golden light suddenly exploded in mid-air, instantly transforming into a giant subtitle ten feet high. The information of both sides in the battle was clearly condensed in the light, and even their appearances were revealed. Everyone in the audience could see it clearly.
No one expected that the first match of this free-for-all would be between two cultivators at the early stage of the Divine Integration Realm.
One of them was named Yang Shi, and the other used a pseudonym, Sirius.
"The market is open! The market is open!"
The sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out. Half an hour before the battle was to begin, the arena had officially opened. A portly middle-aged cultivator held a drumstick and gently struck the spirit drum in front of him. The deep sound drowned out the noise of the entire arena.
"One to three odds! Bet on Yang Shisheng, one to three odds!"
The moment the odds were announced, the cultivators who had been discussing the matter erupted in chaos, their faces filled with astonishment.
Someone pushed their way to the front of the stage and asked loudly, "Master Yuan, these are all cultivators at the early stage of the Divine Integration Realm. How dare you offer such vastly different odds?"
The portly middle-aged man simply stroked his beard and smiled, saying unhurriedly, "Everyone, feel free to place your bets. Let alone these spirit coins, even if you wagered your entire fortune, my Tongtianbao Money House could afford to pay you out."
He spoke frankly, but offered no explanation for the odds. The cultivators who were initially interested withdrew and dared not place bets, waiting for the organizers to introduce the two men's backgrounds before the battle began.
"Brother Chun, it's 1 to 3 odds! How about we try our luck? Let's just put in a few thousand spirit coins to test the waters, and if we lose, we'll just consider it a loss!"
Lin Lun and his fellow young cultivators, having been strictly disciplined in their families since childhood, had seen quite a bit of the world, but had never played such a life-or-death gamble in a large gathering of tens of thousands of people. With deafening noise in their ears and high odds of 3 to 1 before them, their adventurous spirits were already itching to try something new. The group huddled together, their voices barely concealing their excitement.
"No!"
When Xiang Chunyuan saw the group about to walk towards the betting area, he immediately stopped them, his brows furrowed tightly.
He knew Lin Lun's personality all too well: he loved to show off and craved new and exciting things. If he let Lin Lun get involved today, he might accidentally go completely crazy.
"It's just a little bit, not much betting, what's there to be afraid of?" Lin Lun pouted, his face full of dissatisfaction, but he didn't stop walking.
Xiang Chunyuan felt a headache coming on.
Most of the group had met along the way, and he was only considered a leader because of his superior strength, best family background, and the fact that he had taken the lead in recruiting others. In reality, he had little influence over the others. He wouldn't bother with anyone else who wanted to gamble, but Lin Lun was a member of the Hongxuan Lin family, with close ties to his maternal grandparents' family and business dealings with the Xiang family. If something really happened, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.
He tried to stop him, but Lin Lun wouldn't listen and still led his companions to squeeze into the betting area.
Xiang Chunyuan could only wave his hand helplessly, while Chong Xinyu shook her head, her face full of helplessness.
Xin Yuhan didn't reply, her gaze sweeping over the noisy betting area before finally settling on another person.
Zhang Ping had gotten up from his meditation at some point and was walking slowly toward the betting table.
Xin Yuhan frowned slightly. She watched Zhang Ping walk all the way to the betting table, his appearance clearly indicating that he also wanted to participate in the gambling.
"This person..."
A sense of disappointment inexplicably welled up in her heart. She had seen his poems written on the flying boat before, which were elegant and profound, and she had thought he was a person of refined character who was not tainted by worldly affairs. She never expected that he would also be addicted to this kind of life-or-death gamble.
"Yuhan, what's wrong?"
Xiang Chunyuan noticed that her expression was off, and following her gaze, he immediately recognized Zhang Ping.
"Hey, isn't this the person who rode with us on the airship earlier?" He remembered that this person was staying in the luxury suite on the top floor of the airship, and had even glanced at them from the window a few times.
"Are you going to place a bet too?" Seeing Zhang Ping'an standing quietly to the side, waiting for the crowd to disperse before slowly taking out spirit coins and handing them over, Xiang Chunyuan chuckled lightly and then didn't think much of it.
He was just an ordinary cultivator whose mind was captivated by the atmosphere of the scene.
Xin Yuhan could see clearly that Zhang Ping was completely different from the other cultivators around him, whose faces were red and necks were thick with excitement and whose eyes were filled with fanaticism. His face remained calm and composed from beginning to end, without the slightest excitement or hesitation, as if he were standing in another world.
He didn't look like he was there to gamble at all.
Zhang Ping was unaware of the stares from those around him. He stood in front of the betting platform, his gaze passing over the crowd and landing on the two people who had already entered the arena.
His pale blue eyes shimmered slowly, as if dissecting something, or perhaps confirming something. Only when an impatient voice urged him from behind did he avert his gaze, turn around, and make way for her.
"Stop dawdling! The game's about to start!" A man waiting to place his bets squeezed forward, muttering in dissatisfaction.
The old woman in charge of collecting spirit coins raised her eyes and said slowly, "That young man just now bet 30,000 spirit coins on Yang Shisheng."
"Thirty thousand spirit coins?!"
The man's eyes widened instantly, then he sneered, his face full of disdain: "You've got some nerve! You're probably just an arrogant fool!"
Not only him, but the cultivators around who heard these words also turned their heads, their faces full of disbelief.
Just now, the two people in the arena had already stood still, and everyone could see clearly that the cultivator named Yang Shi had an empty right sleeve that fluttered gently in the wind, indicating that he was a disabled person with a missing right arm!
For cultivators, losing an arm is almost equivalent to losing most of their combat power, let alone in a life-or-death battle.
At that moment, the organizer's introduction was transmitted throughout the venue through spiritual power: Yang Shi's right arm was severed by Sirius three years ago, and the two had formed a blood feud. Today's match is a life-or-death struggle.
The entire audience erupted in an even greater uproar than before.