Chapter 210: The Gamble
Han Li suddenly thought of the other young woman that he had encountered inside the forbidden area and couldn’t help but glance in the direction of Spirit Beast Mountain. In the end, he discovered that Han Yunzhi was cutely sitting cross-legged on the ground, her expression very even. There did not seem to be anything unexpected, causing Han Li to let out a sigh of relief.
Near the closed tunnel entrance, those from the Masked Moon Sect appeared increasingly unsightly from worry.
As for the people from the other sects, although they outwardly appeared to be anxious for the Masked Moon Sect disciples, flower of happiness had contrarily bloomed in their hearts. After all, the Masked Moon Sect was State of Yue’s strongest sect and had long attracted the jealousy of others. These few were naturally happy to see an opportunity to weaken its power.
Perhaps because their wishes had gone awry, the opposite of their desires occurred; when the pa.s.sageway was only a quarter hour away from closing, a white shadow flashed within the pa.s.sageway, and a group of ten or so Masked Moon Sect disciples walked out in an orderly fas.h.i.+on. Their leader was the extremely alluring beauty Nangong.
Seeing them walk out, the Senior Eccentric Qiong’s reaction was acceptable, only letting out a long sigh. That Celestial Ni Chang couldn’t help but pounce at her, tugging on the arm of the beautiful Celestial Nangong. She began to ask her questions with extreme concern, her face revealing an expression of anxiety.
The other sects felt puzzled upon seeing this.
This was no surprise. Although Nangong Wan had met with these Core Formation cultivators several times, she had worn a veil and never revealed her true appearance. Thus, these people did not actually know that the beautiful, flowery young woman before them was actually the “Celestial Nangong” that they had met with numerous times.
Seeing this woman had safely returned, Han Li was also very pleased. After all, she was the first person he had joined bodies with. Even if he clearly knew that there was no way to continue their relations.h.i.+p, in his heart he still couldn’t help but worry about her.
However, the smiles on Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest’s face had become somewhat forced. This was not unexpected; ignoring how many spiritual medicines the Masked Moon Sect had harvested, even the number of people that had walked out of forbidden area alive had surpa.s.sed the combined numbers of the people from their two sects. How could this not cause the two of them to be extremely depressed!
“All of the disciples should have emerged by now. The ones who didn’t appear...” muttered the leader of the Spirit Beast Mountain, clearing his throat.
But before he had finished his sentence, a person came scrambling out of the tunnel that was just about to close. It was actually that old, crafty Xiang Zhili from Yellow Maple Valley; only, the Giant Sword Sect and the young Daoist Priest originally harvesting the spiritual medicines with him had disappeared without a trace.
The old man had just crawled out of the pa.s.sageway when thunderous vibrations came from the direction of the forbidden area; next, an azure light flashed, and the pa.s.sageway fragmented, finally disappearing completely.
At this time, even if there were still people inside the forbidden area who had yet to come out, it would only be a dead end for them. This was because any disciple who had not exited in time in the past never appeared again even at the next opening of the forbidden area. They had all disappeared for an unclear reason, and this was also the reason why other people were not willing to waste time.
However, the fact that this old, crafty Yellow Maple Valley tenth layer cultivator could actually escape at the very end was truly beyond expectation. They couldn’t help but size up Xiang Zhili.
“Brother Li, I didn’t expect that your esteemed valley actually had so many talents! Not only eleventh layer cultivators could walk out of the forbidden area, even tenth-layer strength disciples can preserve their lives and exit. Your esteemed sect truly uses the correct method of teaching your disciples, I am truly in admiration!” Seeing that only two people from his sect had left the forbidden area, and that the barefooted male whom he had high hopes for had not come out while two low-level disciples from the Yellow Maple Valley had come out and preserved their own small lives, the cultivator from the Giant Sword Sect couldn’t help but feel his anger rise. He said these two sentences mockingly.
When Martial Ancestor Li heard this, his face fell. He also reckoned that Han Li and Xiang Zhili had both stayed in hiding and did not reveal themselves, wanting to seize any opportunity available. He could not help but bitterly glare at the old, crafty man, but he still had no choice but to protect the two of them with his words:
“The cultivation technique of these juniors is too superficial. Being able to preserve their own lives can also be considered to be their own good fortune; as for what method they used, the others and I, as their senior generation, have no need to add on any blame!”
“Hmph!”
The Giant Sword Sect expert, seeing Martial Ancestor Li put on such an act, found it extremely objectionable and wanted to say something else. However, Senior Eccentric Qiong opened his mouth, somewhat impatiently.
“What is there for you two to argue about? Since the person could survive, this is the skill of the junior generation; do you want them to stubbornly charge forwards even if they clearly know it is impossible! However, little fellow Li! Quickly examine the results of the bet. The earlier we know, the earlier our hearts will be at ease; do you want the elderly me to wait here for even longer?”
This old man was clearly taking advantage of his age, but Martial Ancestor Li and the man from the Giant Sword Sect actually really did not dare to make this person unhappy. They could only glance at each other before laughing the matter off. Otherwise, if this old freak started holding a grudge against them, they would have some really bad luck!
Thus, under Senior Eccentric Qiong’s urging, Fu Yunzi of the Clear Void Sect and Martial Ancestor Li could only pinch their noses and move closer to him. Then, each of the disciples from the three sects that had come out of the forbidden area individually displayed the harvest that they had in order to determine the winner and loser of the bet!
The Clear Void Sect’s Daoist Priests who had walked out from the forbidden area were only four in number. However, when the middle-aged Daoist Priest that had been the first to walk out of the forbidden area brought out his spiritual medicines, the faces of all the people present changed slightly.
“Fully mature three hundred year-old Blood Blue Pearls, two three hundred-year-old Sky Spirit Fruits, three four hundred-year-old Chalcedony Mushrooms……”
The Daoist Priest brought out eleven or twelve spiritual medicines in a row, individually placing them on the ground. The quant.i.ty was extremely high, greatly astonis.h.i.+ng the surrounding people. Only Fu Yunzi, who had made the bet, was lightly smiling with content, as if he was very satisfied by the stunned looks of the others.
Not only that, the spiritual medicines that the elders from Yellow Maple Valley and the male Masked Moon Sect disciples had placed earlier were far less, each person merely placing a few herbs.
Next, the harvest of the second Daoist Priest was finally not as excessive, but there were still seven or eight spiritual medicines, significantly greater than harvests under normal circ.u.mstances! This caused Martial Ancestor to begin to feel unsettled, and Senior Eccentric Qiong’s look of laughter was also retrieved; he became serious for the first time.
Hearing of the matter concerning the bet, the experts from the other four sects naturally became interested and individually came forward to take a look. When they saw this scene, they also quietly considered it amazing!
However, the spiritual medicines of the Chen Clan brother and sister pair after them finally allowed Martial Ancestor Li to be somewhat delighted, since their combined harvest neared twenty herbs, already roughly the same as those two Daoist Priests. The next Clear Void Sect disciple’s harvest was finally normal, only four herbs.
As for the Masked Moon Sect disciples, they maintained an average quant.i.ty; three people in a row had five or under herbs, causing the Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li to quietly sigh in relief.
However, the next youth from Yellow Maple Valley to place his spiritual medicines delayed for a few moments; with great shame he only pulled out three spiritual medicines. This caused Martial Ancestor Li to become so angry that his nose almost became crooked. He almost opened his mouth to berate him. This was because he did not have any belief that Han Li or the crafty old man could contribute much!
According to sequence, it should have been Han Li’s turn to go forwards, but who knew that crafty Xiang, with a stride, would grab the place in front of Han Li, respectfully pulling out two Purple Monkey Flowers. This caused Martial Ancestor Li to feel great surprise, and his expression instantly became somewhat more pleasant; however, it was merely somewhat more! Although he had one or two more spiritual medicines than the Clear Void Sect in front of him, as long as the other side’s last individual could bring out a normal amount of spiritual medicines, he would definitely lose. He had absolutely no hope that Han Li’s harvest would be too large, reckoning that Han Li at most would be like the crafty old man. Throwing two or three spiritual medicines would already be not too bad, and it could be considered the due diligence of these lower-level disciples.
Thinking to this point, Martial Ancestor Li couldn’t help but glance at Fu Yunzi, only to see the other person’s restless appearance; he was also currently glancing at him. The two of them slightly started, then immediately averted their gazes, continuing to closely follow the gambling game.
The last Daoist Priest to step forward was a white-haired elderly man. When he walked to the front, he calmly brought out one herb after another; his slow dilly-dallying manner caused all of the people to continuously roll their eyes.
However, when he had pulled out five spiritual medicines in a row and was still reaching into his storage pouch, Martial Ancestor Li’s expression instantly sank, while Fu Yunzi began to beam with joy. As for the Masked Moon Sect disciples, those two people were unable to endure anymore and walked over, expressing their interest.
Greatly beyond any expectations, this last white-haired Daoist Priest actually pulled out seven spiritual medicines in a row, causing all of the onlookers to feel greatly surprised.
When Martial Ancestor Li saw this, his expression had already become incredibly ashen, while the Daoist Priest excitedly turned his attention to the other Masked Moon Sect disciples, reckoning that his victory over the Yellow Maple Valley was already secure.
At this time, Han Li stepped forward. Other people only indifferently glanced at him before returning their gazes to the Masked Moon Sect, completely ignoring him.
Martial Ancestor Li also saw this scene, but he similarly did not glance at Han Li at all, reckoning that he had already lost his opportunity to make a comeback. This eleventh layer disciple’s appearance would only be to make a fool of himself; thus, he naturally would not give Han Li any face.
Han Li did not pay attention to the movements of other people, and even more didn’t have the idea of saving some ripe spiritual medicines and bringing out less.
This was because each sect’s ranks contained two other stewards, who had one or two smelling spiritual beasts by their sides. These kinds of squirrel-like strange beasts could smell out any hidden hundred-year-old or above spiritual medicines from a distance of thirty feet. Even if they were inside a storage pouch, they could not escape notice.
Thus, every disciple that exited the forbidden area, after voluntarily turning in all of their spiritual medicines, also had to be smelled by these small beasts once over before being allowed to leave. This was to prevent against disciples with malicious plans to smuggle a secret stash of spiritual medicines!
Arriving at the location, Han Li held a storage pouch in his hand that he had prepared a long time ago. Then, he rudely flipped his hand, dropping it on the table. After a burst of white light, a huge pile of roughly twenty or so multicolored spiritual medicines formed a huge pile on the ground.