Chapter 24: Placing Bets
The medicinal gra.s.s in the field were all growing well and approaching maturity, so there was no need to keep constant watch over them anymore. Su Tingyun had also been thinking about the task Liu Feizhou handed her, so she followed the small road and found her way out of the inner courtyard, returning to the medicinal fields outside the valley that encircled Heaven Jade Pavilion.
The medicinal field that was allocated to her had been pretty close to the inner courtyard that the alchemists stayed in, so Su Tingyun was able to return to her field in a few steps after she got out. As of now, her field was still empty and that rotten b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Niu Hanshan, was still around as well. However, the field that originally belonged to Qi Suzhen now belonged to the beautiful female cultivator, Lady Bai, that took the initiative to ask Master Dan for help last time. Her original field had been next to Qi Suzhen"s, so now that she had been able to take over Qi Suzhen"s field, it could be counted as having profited from a disaster.
Niu Hanshan had already noticed Su Tingyun reappearance.
His eyes widened round as bells as he stared with shock at the old madam whose cultivation had advanced. He examined her closely and confirmed that she really wasn"t injured at all, nor had she been used as a medicine wight. On the contrary, her cultivation level improved and she also got much younger. Earlier, Niu Hanshan had gone to the manager to apply for taking over the old lady"s field but not only did the manager refuse his request, he even got lectured. He had still felt indignant about it and it was only now that he realized the old lady had managed to grab onto an Alchemist"s big thighT/N. Wonder where she got that luck from?
The two couldn"t communicate with the arrays that separated the medicinal fields. However, Su Tingyun noticed Niu Hanshan"s nod and slightly bowing motion. All she felt was that it was strange. How come Niu Hanshan"s att.i.tude went through such a huge shift after just a month? However, she didn"t want to bother paying attention to him as his moral character was seriously too lacking.
The social gathering place of Spirit Herbalists was at Spring Water Pavilion. Su Tingyun decided to go there and try her luck, but in the end, she saw that a lot of people were gathered before she even got close. As of now, she was already pretty good at using the secret art of Wind Manipulation. After easily getting up, someone came up to greet her.
"Grannie Wei, you"ve returned?" Someone greeted Su Tingyun. She didn"t remember what that person"s name was. In any case, it was one of the people that mocked and ridiculed her during the incident of the infected fields. This person"s att.i.tude had taken a huge turn as well. Su Tingyun also didn"t want to offend anyone and was just about to make some insincere small talk when she was pulled by someone. After that, two people stood forward in front of her and encircled her into a little group to the side.
The person that pulled her was that middle aged woman, Xu Niangzi. She laughed as she said, "Grannie Wei has such good luck to be chosen by an Alchemist. Your cultivation has advanced and you"ve already broken through to the Spirit Condensation stage. You looked even younger than me now."
Even though Xu Niangzi was a middle aged woman, she was still attractive with a sweet and fair body. As for Su Tingyun"s body, it was black, robust, tall and big. Being flattered like this, Su Tingyun couldn"t help but feel something like Xu Niangzi was saying blind things with her eyes open.
"Not at all, not at all."
Originally, everyone thought that she had been taken to be used as a medicine wight. Who would have expected that she not only came out perfectly intact, her cultivation had even advanced? She had clearly obtained the favor of an Alchemist. Even though they didn"t know how, nor did they know which Alchemist it was that took a liking to Wei Yun, everyone had brains and knew they had to establish a good relationship with her now. "Those people"s medicinal fields had all been contaminated and they were punished by the Alchemists. We were the only ones that didn"t get punished, so they"ve been taking it out on us."
The person that spoke was Uncle Zhang of the cultivation pair. He sighed. "Luckily Grannie Wei has come out now."
The young man to the side, Xu Zhen, asked, "Grannie Wei, did you learn how to refine pills?"
Su Tingyun shook her head and Xu Zhen looked disappointed for a moment. However, he also understood that refining pills wasn"t something that could be easily learned. He just gave a quiet sigh. At this time, Su Tingyun discovered that the Old Wax Head from earlier was looking at her with even more pa.s.sion. The other party only restrained himself a little after she expressed annoyance on her face.
"Why is it so lively here? Are they discussing a big matter or something?" Su Tingyun asked.
"Next month, Master Dan"s four disciples will be having a compet.i.tion. The winner will become Master Dan"s Star Disciple. They"re making guesses on who will win."
"They say that Master Gu and Master Liu made a bet…"
Su Tingyun didn"t expect for the incident of the two making a bet to spread so quickly. This was clearly something Gu Hao divulged himself. After all, he was so confident of his ability to win. Doing this would be able to boost his reputation and increase his influence, as well as give Liu Feizhou a couple fierce kicks.
"Zhang Hao is acting as banker and letting people place bets so everyone wants to join in on the fun." Xu Zhen cast a disdainful glance at Zhang Hao who being surrounded to the side as he spoke in a soft voice.
"If those Alchemists found out we"re betting on them as a topic, wouldn"t it be troublesome?"
"Zhang Hao has a bit of connection to Master Gu. He definitely only dares to do this because Master Gu had incited it. As for Master Liu, if he lost, how would he have the chance to come after these people? Wei-, Lady Wei, no need to worry. Do you want to also place a bet?" The person that s.n.a.t.c.hed the chance to answer was Old Wax Head. As he spoke, he sneakily glanced at Su Tingyun with a foolish smile on his face.
His thoughts were clearly written on his face and attracted a round of ridicule from Xu Niangzi as she poked fun.
Although Su Tingyun was pretty speechless in reaction to this, she couldn"t do anything to him and actually had to politely thank him. She was an old grannie so she shouldn"t blame the old grandpa for yearning for her ah… But, she had better find some time to clear things up with Old Wax Head. She really doesn"t like old grandpas ah!
"Master Gu has been a disciple for a long time and his abilities are the strongest as well. However, they say that Master Liu"s natural apt.i.tude is the highest despite his young age. He had just entered discipleship for two years but he can already refine fourth rank medicinal pills."
"Since Master Liu dared to make that gamble, he probably has some confidence. Wonder who you guys will place your bets on?"
Su Tingyun smiled, then headed straight towards Zhang Hao.
The moment she walked over, that side parted to make a gap for her. When Zhang Hao saw that it was her, he started speaking a little more politely, "Old Lady Wei, why, Master Gu"s odds are two to one and Master Liu"s odds are ten to one. Who do you want to bet on?"
He had secretly sent someone to sing the praises of Liu Feizhou"s natural apt.i.tudes as these people in reality did not know much about those disciples. They thought that, in any case, they were all Master Dan"s disciples so they probably weren"t that different in terms of ability. That was why there weren"t an overwhelming number of people that placed their bets on Master Gu willing. On the contrary, due to the fact that Liu Feizhou was handsome, quite a few female cultivators bet on him winning. Zhang Hao had one hundred percent faith in Master Gu. The more people that placed bets on Liu Feizhou, the more that he would profit from this so Zhang Hao"s mood was currently quite good.
Su Tingyun didn"t have any a.s.sets of her own since her gold, silver, pearls and treasures were completely worthless in the celestial world. As such, she had no way of making a little extra income. She took out that high grade spirit stone Liu Feizhou had given her and it immediately drew a wave of sharp inhales.
"A high grade spirit stone?" Zhang Hao"s eyes went wide as he stammered, "Who are you betting on?"
"Liu Feizhou!"
Zhang Hao was wild with joy, but he forcefully suppressed his smile and said dejectedly, "Old Lady Wei, you"ve been staying with the Alchemists for so long, could it be that you have some inside news? If it"s really like this, I"m going to lose terribly."
With this, many of the people that had still been hesitating placed their bets on Liu Feizhou one after another, causing Zhang Hao to be inwardly ecstatic. However, he still needed to make a face as if he wanted to cry. It was truly painful to endure.
After placing the bet, her main business was completed. Su Tingyun currently had nothing else to do so she went to the Book Repository of Heaven Firmament Peak. This place wasn"t far from the valley entrance. It was a tower that was built leaning on the cliff and only people that had cultivated to the Spirit Condensation Stage were able to enter. The books and jade scrolls in the bottom level of the Book Repository could be freely perused, but spirit stones had to be spent for the levels above.
Su Tingyun didn"t have spirit stones so she just wandered around on the bottom level and flipped through some jade scrolls on general knowledge about the cultivating world. As she nestled in the Book Repository reading, in a secluded corner of the building, a woman lightly scolded, "You"re hopeless! Serves you right to suffer an entire lifetime and be trampled beneath people"s feet."
"Think about it, after the task is done, would you still have to worry about how your days will be in the future?"
"Here, take it. There"s even an array boardT/N2 inside, make good use of it." The woman took out a spatial universe bag that was about the size of a palm. After the man took it, he carefully cupped it in his hands.
…
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Yours Truly
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
T/N – for the array board, I did search it up because I only have a vague recollection of seeing it mentioned in some other novel before. What searching it up on Bing in China with all its internet restrictions brought up a daoist board with the eight trigrams on it. Not completely sure it"s right tho cause all I could get out of the internet was those pictures…
On the other hand, I have a definition of eight trigrams from when I came across it in Black Bellied Prince"s Consort: The ‘Eight Divinatory Trigrams’ represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, either “broken” (representing yin) or “unbroken” (representing yang). They are related to the ‘Five Phrases’ and also used in astronomy, geography, etc. Sample) ☳ , Nature = Thunder, Personality = emperor support Yumeabyss’s Patreon!
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