Chapter 522: A Gamble
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After a series of intense battles, the results of the first of the knockout round were finally confirmed. s.h.i.+ Mu was ranked 36th on the list.
This was the result s.h.i.+ Mu aimed for. After confirming that he had successfully entered the second round, he conceded to an elder disciple who was in his last stage of cultivation.
Among the new disciples, Zhao Ji’s journey was like an oak tree. He had eventually defeated several elder disciples and became the undisputed leader. Throughout all of his matches, including the last one, he never had to resort to using the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art to win, which everyone had expected.
Zi Ling performed equally well in her battles with her famed magical techniques, which landed her at 11th place in the rankings.
Among those s.h.i.+ Mu knew of was Qing Zhangtian, who ranked 27th. Jiang Shuishui placed 40th and Chinizi ranked 87th in the ranking.
One of the upsets that surprised s.h.i.+ Mu was the Wu Brothers of the Wu Clan. It shocked him that both of them ranked 105th and 107th. They barely made it into the top 108.
s.h.i.+ Mu had thought something like that might happen eventually. After all, the two brothers had always fought side by side. Their individual strength was no match for the rest of them. In this grand champions.h.i.+p, they were not allowed to join hands in their fights, which resulted in them falling behind in the rankings.
If one were talking about strength, Lu Jing should have been able to enter the top 108. Nevertheless, he was out of luck when he came up against an opponent like s.h.i.+ Mu. Having lost that fight, he placed 120th in the end, disqualifying him from the second round of the champions.h.i.+p.
As for Ma Long, she had bad luck ever since the first round where she battled an elder disciple who possessed great strength. In the following battles, her performance was mediocre, and she wound up being 912th among all disciples of the Holy Land of Qinglan. At such a rank, she was in danger of losing her rights as a disciple and being banished from the Holy Land.
The schedule of the grand champions.h.i.+p was tightly arranged. After the end of the first round, there was only a single day of peace before the second round of the champions.h.i.+p began.
Going by these results, the top 108 winners of the first round would compete among themselves, so it was considered one of the most antic.i.p.ated rounds in the grand champions.h.i.+p. The number of people watching the battles this time had greatly increased as well.
The cyan block that was initially placed in front of the Qinglan Ranking had been replaced by another cyan block that was many times larger than any other platform. It was placed high so that everyone could watch the battle.
About half an hour before the battles began, the square hall had filled with crowds of people. They all surrounded the three floors of cyan blocks. No one was able to move among the crowds.
However, there was still n.o.body at the high platform behind the ring. The disciples that were kicked out of the knockout rounds came over to watch the battle, still high on fighting spirit and pa.s.sion.
At the corner of the crowd, s.h.i.+ Mu stood still at his tracks.
Cai was on his shoulder, gazing at the lively scene before him excitedly.
“Hey s.h.i.+ Mu, this platform is really big! Wow! Look at the water-attribute spirit women over there! Speaking of which, which one of them will be your opponent? You better not mess this up in front of everyone!”
“Be quiet or you’ll end up in the spirit bag,” s.h.i.+ Mu said as he gently tapped Cai’s head.
Cai’s body trembled at s.h.i.+ Mu’s words. He immediately kept its mouth shut, but his beady little eyes continued to skim over his surroundings.
s.h.i.+ Mu brows were slightly wrinkled. He originally had no intention of bringing Cai along, but the bird had insisted and gone on whining for hours. He had no choice but to bring him along just so he would stop and be quiet.
He heard a sharp female voice come from the side.
“Big brother s.h.i.+ Mu, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
s.h.i.+ Mu turned to see who it was. It was none other than Ma Long, looking at him with a big smile on her face.
“Lady Ma Long, congratulations on pa.s.sing the round,” s.h.i.+ Mu said.
“Compared to your results, mine are not even worth mentioning. Today is the survival round. With the abilities brother s.h.i.+ Mu possesses, you will definitely do well,” Ma Long said confidently as he looked at s.h.i.+ Mu. She then s.h.i.+fted her gaze to Cai, perched on s.h.i.+ Mu’s shoulder.
“These top disciples are natural geniuses with great talents. I won’t say that I’ll win for sure, but I’ll try my best,” s.h.i.+ Mu said with a grin.
“s.h.i.+ Mu, look at how lively this place is. It looks like someone is taking bets. Let’s go take a better look, shall we?” As s.h.i.+ Mu and Ma Long were conversing among themselves, Cai suddenly muttered in s.h.i.+ Mu’s ear.
As soon as both s.h.i.+ Mu and Ma Long heard the bird’s suggestion, they immediately turned their heads toward the direction he spoke of.
There were a few tables not far away and on them were numerous betting slips. Several individuals in green robes were seen standing in front of the tables. The situation seemed to be serious.
“This… the Holy Land of Qinglan is considered one of the most authentic sects, yet they allow such behavior openly?” s.h.i.+ Mu said.
“Oh, how ignorant of you! The management of the disciples of Qinglan is far more important than one could understand. It may be gambling, but it’s harmless. In fact, it boosts their morale. Naturally, the elders of Qinglan are not all that bothered.” Suddenly, a figure appeared next to s.h.i.+ Mu. The person was none other than Qing Zhangtian.
“Brother Qing, you sure move like a silent ghost. If anyone ended up as your enemy, they would have to be extra careful,” s.h.i.+ Mu said with a smirk as he turned to him.
Qing Zhangtian nodded at Ma Long in greeting. “Brother s.h.i.+ Mu, it appears that you’re extremely relaxed. I guess you’ve prepared yourself well?” He said, smiling.
s.h.i.+ Mu shook his head and said, “Brother Qing knows how to joke around. As far as I know, most of these elder disciples have been immersed in the Holy Land for more than a hundred years now. However, it is not comparable to the new disciples in the first round. Although I possessed a decent amount of strength, it doesn’t seem to have been enough.”
“s.h.i.+ Mu, the gambling looks interesting. Let’s go take a gander,” Cai suddenly interjected.
Qing Zhangtian glanced at Cai and said, “This parrot seems to be brother s.h.i.+ Mu’s spirit pet. To have a spirit pet with such vast knowledge is a rare and unusual occasion.”
Cai returned Qing Zhangtian’s stare and then turned away arrogantly.
s.h.i.+ Mu shook his head and said.
“This parrot has no other skills aside from being noisy and greedy. It is embarra.s.sing.” s.h.i.+ Mu laughed.
“Haha! If brother s.h.i.+ Mu is interested in gambling, let’s go take a look at it together. I’m itching to try my luck as well and earn some spirit stones in the process. Oh, I forgot to mention that the person in charge is a thousand-year disciple and his credibility is fully guaranteed,” Qing Zhangtian stated as he walked toward the tables.
s.h.i.+ Mu’s eyes flashed and he followed right behind Qing Zhangtian with Cai cheering in antic.i.p.ation on his shoulder.
Seeing this, Ma Long turned around and decided to come along as well.
They were countless people surrounding the tables. However, there was nothing related to gambling on them.
Qing Zhangtian came over with s.h.i.+ Mu and Ma Long as they squeezed through the crowd and ended up separated.
A middle-aged man with a bulky figure loudly announced, “Everyone, today is the survival round, and we were unable to release the contents of the rounds in advance over the past few days. However, I can a.s.sure you that as soon as someone issues a challenge, we will immediately start the betting here! I promise that there will be a bet for every round to satisfy your needs!”
“Great!”
“If brother Duan Muguang says so, we will surely trust in it!”