Chapter 1363 - An Extravagant Gamble
A mask-like smile hung on Le Tian’s face, tempting him patiently like the boss of a casino.
The “innocent and pure” Li Qingshan who was as delicate and pretty as a young man served as the standard, ignorant youth in the story, embarking on a path of no return. He even blinked his eyes seriously.
“Senior brother Le, since it’s a gamble, you need to give me an idea at least, right?”
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“Yeah. Let’s go with a decade then!”
When he mentioned that, Li Qingshan was not particularly fazed, but the direct disciples all responded differently.
Ruan Yaozhu became mildly angered. “Senior brother Le, I can’t just turn a blind eye if you want to abuse him like this!”
Others might not have known, but she knew very well as a direct disciple just how difficult it was to become a direct disciple in the Myriad sect.
Logically speaking, as long as they made sufficient contributions, they could slowly make their way up to direct disciple even if their cultivation was insufficient. However, it was very difficult to make contributions unless they underwent the fifth heavenly tribulation and became Human Sovereigns. The contribution made by Human Sovereigns casually completing a mission or two could surpa.s.s everything that a Soul Nascence cultivator did over the span of a decade.
That was unless Li Qingshan was close to the fifth heavenly tribulation in the first place, but he was only at the third heavenly tribulation right now. He was dreaming if he thought he could become a Human Sovereign within a decade.
Ren Aoyou also smiled. “Oi, Le Tian, you’ve gone a little too far with that. That’s not like you.”
Le Tian was infamous for his penchant for gambling, and he won most of his gambles too. The reason why others were still willing to gamble against him was because his bets were always very fair. He would never use underhanded tricks. Even if the loser was unconvinced, they would try and find a way to redeem themselves instead of avoiding any further gambles against him. Taking advantage of Li Qingshan’s lack of understanding of the Myriad sect and coming up with a completely unfair gamble definitely was not something he would usually do.
“I’m just kidding.” Le Tian rubbed his head. “For some reason, I don’t feel safe at all even with a decade.”
“You have far too high of an opinion of me, senior brother. Please forgive me over the fact that I can’t accept a gamble like that.”
Li Qingshan replied seriously as if he was rather unconcerned, but he rejoiced inside. He had already begun contemplating whether to accept the gamble or not earlier. He did not understand the rules and customs of the Myriad sect, but he was aware that so-called direct disciples had just undergone the fifth heavenly tribulation!
He really had no confidence at all that he could undergo the fifth heavenly tribulation within a decade.
Right now, he was only half a step away from the fourth heavenly tribulation. Once he faced it and reached the fifth layer with the Ape Demon Transformation, then the transformations of the ox, tiger, turtle, and phoenix would immediately return to the fifth layer too. By then, the fifth heavenly tribulation would probably be close.
“Alright, alright. That was just a joke.” Le Tian said in a hurry, “We’ll go with five decades then. With your talent, you should be very confident with five decades!”
However, most Soul Nascence cultivators could not face the fifth heavenly tribulation even with five centuries. They might not even face the fourth heavenly tribulation. They would be stuck at the bottleneck until the end of their lives, or they would be directly reduced to ash by the tribulation lightning. However, with Li Qingshan’s performance in Magnetic Field mountain, a time limit like that could be regarded as fair.
Li Qingshan was absolutely certain that given the current situation, if he still could not face the fifth heavenly tribulation after five decades, he was better off finding a piece of tofu and killing himself with that. If he could not even achieve such a thing, why bother with the Nine Heavens at all? Why bother with facing Qiongqi?
However, he made sure to appear very doubtful as if he was thoroughly considering this proposal. He bowed. “Sorry, senior brother Le, but I still don’t think this gamble is very good!”
As he said that, he made his way towards the ship. Ruan Yaozhu smiled. Not all men were like Le Tian.
Le Tian was rather surprised. With his understanding of Li Qingshan, he would have agreed to the gamble no matter what with how long five decades were, yet he actually refused!
With a flash, he blocked Li Qingshan’s path and studied him closely.
“What do you want then? Do you want more time? After all, five decades is a very long time even to people like us. If the progression of the gamble is too slow, it’ll be very boring. I can increase the odds instead!”
Li Qingshan sighed. “But I have nothing to wager!”
Le Tian said immediately, “I can lend it to you!” Which casino boss did not deal in lending money?
Li Qingshan let out another sigh. “Sigh, just how long are several decades? I can’t afford the rolling interest.”
“Kid, so you want me to lend it to you for free? If you die in a heavenly tribulation, who am I supposed to find to get my money back?”
“Y’know, gambling always comes with some risk. There’s something senior brother Le said that I agree with very much. A gamble that goes on for too long is unavoidably boring. I don’t want any higher odds either, as I’ll be taking advantage of you. How about this?” Li Qingshan smiled. “Thirty years, one to one odds!”
All of a sudden, he had almost cut the time limit of five decades in half. This confidence, or perhaps arrogance, of his made the direct disciples all glance at him. Going from a formal disciple to a direct disciple in three measly decades had probably never occurred throughout the history of the Myriad sect.
In comparison, it was instead easier to go from Soul Nascence to Yang Soul, but even geniuses of startling talent required the support of a tremendous amount of resources, coupled with constant arduous cultivation, to even have a chance. During this process, they definitely would not have the time or energy to complete sect missions.
Ruan Yaozhu wanted to speak up and convince Li Qingshan out of it, but gazing at how high-spirited he was, she recalled everything that happened in Magnetic Field mountain. As such, she bit her lip and remained silent, shaking her head gently.
Ren Aoyou smiled. “Kid, I personally thought I was crazy enough, but I didn’t expect you to be even crazier than me! Do you know just how great the risks involved are?”
Li Qingshan also smiled. “Even if I lose, at least it won’t cost me my life, so you can’t really call that a risk. Getting my hands on some resources prematurely is always good for cultivation, right? Of course, that’s only if senior brother Le is willing to lend it to me.”
Pi Yangqiu could not help but clap his hands. “Nice!”
With that, he had instead struck back at Le Tian. If Le Tian was only willing to lend him a very small amount of Green Jade bookmarks, then it would be absolutely nothing to a person like Li Qingshan in a few decades’ time. If he lent too much, then he could convert it into a tremendous amount of resources immediately to accelerate his cultivation. Even if he lost in the end, it was not truly a loss.
On top of that, Le Tian was at an absolute advantage right now, so if he refused to go forward with the gamble, he would be humiliating himself. As a result, he had to lend him the bookmarks no matter what now.
Le Tian smiled even wider. His eyes that had turned into slits flashed sharply. “How much would you like to bet?”
Sure enough, this kid is a gambler that I’ve settled on. Before he knew it, the gamble had already begun. Now, he had to regain the upper hand, so he had to push the wager involved to a terrifying level. He had to overwhelm him mentally so that he wavered.
This was the most common and most useful trick in gambling, and as a Human Sovereign, he possessed a definite advantage in this aspect.
Li Qingshan asked, “How much are you willing to lend me?”
With that, even the cold and composed Leng Yuan changed in expression. He realised this joke-like gamble might just turn out to be alarmingly extravagant.
Le Tian had not expected this either. Originally, he only wanted to win a gamble against Li Qingshan because he had lost one because of him. He never expected Li Qingshan to turn the tides against him.
The delicate, handsome man before him was no longer a small gambling chip that served in their games, but a gambler that stood on the other side of the table. He stood on equal footing to him or even gazed at him from above.
How much you’re bold enough to lend to me is how much I’m willing to gamble with you. Come, let’s test how bold you are!
“Interesting. Very interesting!”
Le Tian laughed aloud, even beginning to dance around a bit. He was ecstatic.
Li Qingshan stood with his arms crossed. Le Tian suddenly pressed up close with his face and extended a finger. “A thousand!”
Ruan Yaozhu was stunned. She had basically won against all four of them in her gamble of goodness and wickedness, yet the Green Jade bookmarks she had won did not come close to a thousand. Even to direct disciples, a Green Jade bookmark was very precious, let alone to a Soul Nascence cultivator like Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan extended his hand. “Hand it over!”
“If you lose, it’ll be two thousand. You’ll have to pay me on the spot, or…” Le Tian raised a finger and swept it across his neck gently. “No one owes me gambling debts!”
Li Qingshan gave him a toothy grin. “If I can’t pay you back, I’ll put my life in your hands!”
It would just stop itching when there were too many mosquitos. He would just stop worrying if there were too many debts.
Two thousand Green Jade bookmarks might have been a terrifying sum to others, but Li Qingshan still found it insufficient. It was not because he was actually br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence, that he believed he could become a direct disciple of the Myriad sect within thirty years. Even now, he knew very little about the rules of the Myriad sect.
However, according to Rāhu Xiaoming’s estimates, his agreement of five centuries with Demon G.o.d Qiongqi was bound by approximately the same time limit in the Human realm.
If he managed to deal with Demon G.o.d Qiongqi, then even if he lost this gamble, that was nothing for him to worry about. If Demon G.o.d Qiongqi managed to deal with him, then what was a senior brother Le Tian supposed to be? If you’re so capable, come and find me on Qingqi mountain for my debts, b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
Heh, probably even the master of the Myriad sect was not capable of that. It was possible to say that this gamble had given him great a.s.sistance in his agreement with Demon G.o.d Qiongqi. It was truly all upsides and no downsides.
This was not a matter of Le Tian being a fool and Li Qingshan being clever. No one would have thought a measly Soul Nascence cultivator would actually be connected to a Demon G.o.d, even shouldering a gamble that he basically had no chances of winning.
In summary, people should still hold lofty aspirations. Even if it would bring great problems, small problems would stop being problems when you have a big problem. If you could deal with the big problem, then the small problem would be absolutely nothing. If the big problem got the better of you, then the small problem would become nothing too.
Le Tian patted the three-legged golden toad, and it spat out a thousand Green Jade bookmarks, which he handed over to Li Qingshan personally. Li Qingshan counted the Green Jade talismans happily as if he had already won the gamble and was currently checking his winnings.
Suddenly, he felt a little uncertain. As a gambler, he understood exactly how terrifying that feeling was, but it also left him excited. Gambles that could not make him feel that way could not be regarded as gambles at all. They would merely be boring games!
Li Qingshan counted through the bookmarks carefully twice before asking Ruan Yaozhu to check through them for him to see if there were any “counterfeits”. Only afterwards did he place the Green Jade bookmarks in his sumeru ring happily.
“Joys without worry, oh knowing fate. Gambling on the outcome, oh a struggle against death!”
Le Tian sung aloud and returned to the three-legged golden toad’s back. With a croak, the golden toad leapt into the ocean.
“Hahaha, kid, hopefully you can win!’ Ren Aoyou laughed loudly before flying off.
“You’re on your own.” Leng Yuan warned him before leaving as well.
Pi Yangqiu went up and patted Li Qingshan on the shoulder. “We will see each other again.”
In the blink of an eye, only Li Qingshan and Ruan Yaozhu remained on the beach, as well as the nine-coloured deer.
Ruan Yaozhu scolded him. “You shouldn"t have gambled!”
Li Qingshan shrugged. “I’ve already gambled.”
“Oh men!” Ruan Yaozhu sighed. “It’ll take a good while before you get to the Myriad sect on the ship, so I’ll take you with me!”