Betting-Who Should I Bet On?

Shan Zhang Gao Qingyu's voice continued as name after name left his mouth.

All the students listened and memorized them seriously.

Everyone knew that there was more than a ninety percent chance that the prominent figures of this generation would come from among these hundred people!

"Second place, Huo Churan. Two hundred and eighty-five points."

"Third place: Ding Ziran! Two hundred and eighty-one points."

"Fourth place, Qiu Yunshang! Two hundred and eighty points."

"Fifth place, Xie Gongping, two hundred and seventy-nine points."

"Sixth place, Mo Ganyun, two hundred and sixty-nine points."

"Seventh place, Ximen Xuri, two hundred and fifty-one points."

"...Tenth place, Jing Shuanggao, two hundred and forty-two points!"

"...One hundredth place, Kang Zijian. Two hundred and one points."

Fang Che was somewhat surprised.

Kang Zijian had actually made it onto the very tip of the tail end. What a coincidence.

Huo Churan and the others went up one after another and stood beside Fang Che. Every one of them looked at him with complicated emotions.

Ding Ziran, Huo Churan, and the others ranked near the top looked at Fang Che with even greater hostility.

This was the guy who beat us by cheating?

He could cheat while earning points, but how would he cheat once they were on the arena, fighting with real blades and guns?

I'll definitely beat him until he makes a fool of himself in front of everyone!

Huo Churan especially felt this way.

His face was pitted and extremely rough. His looks were below average, placing him at the very bottom of the plain-and-ugly category.

He was seething with anger. When I fight him, I won't hit anywhere else!

I'll make a special point of hitting that face!

Someone muttered thoughtfully, "The names of this year's students have something in common with those of every previous class."

"What?"

"The names of the students ranked near the top might not sound pleasant, but they all have a special charm. They're distinctive and far from ordinary."

Those who heard this thought it over carefully and were astonished to discover that it really was true.

Fang Che, Qiu Yunshang, Ding Ziran, Huo Churan, Xie Gongping, Mo Ganyun...

Compared with the names of prominent figures from the previous classes, such as Jun Hefang, Hua Kaixie, Dong Yunyu, and Wu Zhibing...

As they thought about it, they could not help inhaling sharply.

"Now that you put it that way, it does seem... somewhat reasonable?"

"But this seems like metaphysics, doesn't it? Are you saying that choosing a good name can..."

"Not necessarily."

"..."

The discussions continued below.

The proceedings above carried on normally.

"The rules for the freshman top-hundred tournament are as follows."

The person speaking now was the academy supervisor, Lu Jiaoshan. "There will be five arenas, with battles taking place in rotation. The top three and top ten will be determined, while everyone else will be collectively considered part of the top hundred."

"The reward for the top hundred is one Martial Master Realm High-Grade Soul Pill, ten Martial Master Realm High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, and ten academic credits."

"The reward for fourth through tenth place is one Martial Master Realm Top-Grade Soul Pill, ten Martial Master Realm Top-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, one High-Grade Meridian Expansion Pill, one High-Grade True Essence Pill, and thirty academic credits."

"The rewards for second and third place are one Soul Pill, ten Qi Gathering Pills, one Meridian Expansion Pill, and one True Essence Pill. Mm, all the pills are top-grade. Fifty academic credits."

"The champion will receive two Top Grade Soul Pills, twenty Qi Gathering Pills, two Meridian Expansion Pills, two True Essence Pills, and one hundred academic credits. They will also receive one Champion Gold Medal."

"From the day the champion is decided, any student from the same class may challenge the champion if they wish. Whoever wins will take the gold medal!"

"Whoever holds the gold medal will be the target! If they remain undefeated for one month, there will be another reward! Every month will bring another one! Remain undefeated for half a year, and the reward will double! Another doubling after one year! If they remain undefeated until graduation, they may enter the School History Museum."

The freshmen below erupted in an uproar.

These rewards were undeniably generous.

But they also came with a burden.

Of course, there were people who considered the Champion Gold Medal a burden. But there were also people who yearned to obtain it!

And neither group was small.

Different people saw things differently.

Finally, the academy supervisor made a statement that left everyone somewhat confused.

"Gambling is forbidden within the academy, but betting on arenas like this is not prohibited. However, you may bet only academic credits!"

The moment these words came out, all eight thousand freshmen erupted.

There was actually such a thing? Academic credits were incredibly important! One academic credit could be exchanged for a High-Grade Qi and Blood Pill of one's rank!

Outside, a High-Grade Qi and Blood Pill for Martial Masters cost nearly fifty thousand taels of silver, and one might not even be able to buy one! Using academic credits as wagers was practically high-stakes gambling! From the day they entered the academy, every student had ten academic credits.

From then on, within the Martial Academy, gold and silver were not recognized. Even Core Spirit Crystals and the like were not accepted.

Only academic credits!

That included food, cultivation, and every other expense. If someone truly could not earn enough, they could take out a loan. Borrow one academic credit, and after graduation, they had to repay resources worth two academic credits.

That was resources worth one hundred thousand taels of silver.

Of course, they could also borrow from someone, provided someone was willing to lend to them.

Certain upperclassmen who were deep in debt began to stare with gleaming eyes.

The chance to win it all back had come! In the blink of an eye, all the information on the top hundred had been piled up in front like a small mountain.

"The arena battles will begin tomorrow morning. At that time, betting venues and staff will appear. Let me advise you all: bet cautiously!"

When academy supervisor Lu Jiaoshan said this, his words carried a deep, meaningful implication.

But the gamblers had already gone red-eyed.

After the dismissal was announced, the hundred people onstage had not even left before the booklets below were snatched up.

"Give me one!"

"Give me one too!"

"Damn, I'm going to make a fortune!"

"..."

Lu Jiaoshan watched the scramble below expressionlessly.

He rolled his eyes endlessly inside.

The academy head looked like such a refined and scholarly person. Why was he so sinister? On the very first day of enrollment, he had buried such a huge pit for all the freshmen! These bets would be recorded in their files! In other words, everyone who participated in the gambling would bear a stain. Those who played around with small bets would ultimately be forgotten.

But those who placed large bets and then suffered crushing losses would have it recorded in their files after another evaluation by the Martial Academy.

Even if those people were exceptionally capable after graduation, they would never be appointed to jobs overflowing with lucrative perks!

Because they had already been labeled here.

Too addicted to gambling! So the elimination had actually begun on the very first day they entered the Martial Academy.

And afterward, countless people would certainly lose all their academic credits. They needed credits to eat and cultivate... so from that moment on, they would have no choice but to fight desperately!

That would also benefit their improvement in martial cultivation.

In any case, these measures had both advantages and disadvantages.

But even if that counted as an advantage, it could not conceal the academy head's sinister nature. That much was certain!

When Fang Qingyun's classmates wanted to find Fang Che for a chat, they discovered that Fang Che had already vanished.

They were somewhat disappointed.

Then they grew excited again.

"Qingyun, Qingyun, who do you think we should bet on?"

Everyone asked Fang Qingyun with great enthusiasm.

Fang Qingyun's honest, square face showed a troubled expression. "You know I never gamble. I didn't place any bets last year either."

"That's why you had a much easier year than we did!"

Everyone sighed.

"Didn't you suffer enough last year? And you still want to gamble this year?"

Fang Qingyun said, "Old Du, Old Wu, Old Liu, you spent an entire year repaying your debts. You only finished paying them off a few days ago."

"It's fine!"

The three shook their heads like rattles. "As long as we win this year, all our losses can be made up!"

Fang Qingyun shook his head. "I'm not giving you any advice. Decide for yourselves."

With that, he hurried away.

Over the past few days, he had suddenly felt that his memory had improved tremendously. His cultivation had also become much faster. Some of the obscure techniques he had previously been unable to master now came naturally to him.

His enthusiasm for cultivation was soaring, and he had no time to bother with anything else.

Fang Qingyun left.

The rest gathered together to study the information.

"Who should we bet on?"

"Of course, our cousin!" the six girls chorused in unison.

As members of the Looks-based Faction, they were simply this forthright!

The boys, however, hesitated.

"But our cousin... his first place was basically obtained through cheating. We haven't seen his true strength."

"What cheating? If he had no strength, could he have cheated?"

"But it was just taking a shortcut."

"Exactly!"

Several girls suddenly flew into a rage. "At most, you can call it taking a shortcut! How can you call it cheating? Don't you know how to speak?"

The boys instantly cowered. "Right, right, he took a shortcut. It wasn't cheating."

Several of them exchanged glances. Let's discuss this separately. Don't discuss it with the girls. There's no reasoning with them! Exactly!

"Let's go! Let's go..."

Fang Che returned home.

Sun Yuan had already arrived.

During this period, Sun Yuan had traveled nearly ten thousand li.

Within a radius of several thousand li, Sun Enshrinement had robbed, burglarized, and extorted more than a dozen lineages in succession! His disciple's aptitude was fine, his various offensive techniques were fine, his cultivation method was fine, and his cultivation resources were fine.

So what was still lacking? Treasure Medicine to assist soul cultivation.

Treasure Medicine to assist physical cultivation!

As a King-level expert, Sun Yuan naturally knew all this. His greatest regret in life was that he had possessed nothing when laying his foundation, resulting in his lifelong achievements stopping at the King level!

Since he had placed all his hopes on his disciple, Sun Yuan was naturally willing to pay any price to make up for his disciple's deficiencies!

For this purpose, Sun Yuan had practically robbed every small lineage affiliated with the One Heart Sect!

After all, these people were obedient, convenient, and easy to rob.

Robbing opposing lineages, on the other hand, could easily provoke a siege. This was his personal action, and with major matters constantly occurring within the sect, he could not afford to make a mistake.

So this time, Sun Yuan robbed only his own people! While robbing the fourteenth family, he received a message from the sect: "The Martial Academy Tournament is about to begin. What are you doing?"

Sun Yuan then hurried back in a panic.

"Master, you're here. Come inside and sit. Night Dream, brew some tea."

By the time Night Dream acknowledged him, the master and disciple had already entered the study.

"Che'er..."

Sun Yuan was immensely gratified. "You're already at the fourth layer of the Martial Master realm. I'm truly delighted. This time I came here because I have some instructions from the sect..."

"Master!"

Fang Che interrupted him. To Night Dream, who was entering with the tea, he said, "You may leave. I'll serve Master myself. Close the door."

"Yes."

Night Dream lowered her eyes and left.

"It's better for this girl to know less. It's dangerous for her, and dangerous for us too. We should be more cautious."

Fang Che spoke.

Sun Yuan was deeply comforted that his disciple was cautious to this extent, even refusing to let his personal maid know anything!

Patting Fang Che on the shoulder, he said, "Seeing that you can be this cautious, I'm relieved. After I report this, the sect master will surely feel much more at ease about assigning you your next mission."

Yesterday, when I said this was my first time writing a book, you all laughed at me. I was speaking from the heart. Right now, I'm completely blind when it comes to Qidian. I don't understand any of the rules. All I know is to keep my head down and write my own story. In fact, I'm probably worse off than a newcomer in this regard.

I don't know whether it's popular or not, and I don't know what I should do.

I don't have many years left in which I can write books. Right now, I only want to do everything I can to write one book that I can feel satisfied with.

I want to write what I believe is my best work. Even if the results are poor, I will have a clear conscience.

I want to be able to tell myself: at the very least, I didn't fool you all with this book.

That will be enough.

Then, after I retire, I won't have any regrets.

So in this book, I've basically avoided padding wherever padding was possible. I'm simply writing each chapter seriously. Whenever something feels wrong, I go back and revise it. Several earlier chapters have undergone major revisions several times.

My old flaws and writing habits are still there, but I feel that I've changed quite a lot.

After this book goes premium, I'll always keep at least two chapters in reserve. Let me make this clear in advance: if my reserve drops below two chapters during the serial updates, I'll ask for leave. I'll give myself at least one day to think, so that I won't rush out an unsatisfactory chapter when I have no ideas. I'll notify everyone ahead of time then.

We don't have that many days to walk this road together.

I'll cherish this time very much.

We have only a few days together, so let's write and cherish them.

Many years from now, I hope that when you occasionally remember me, you'll be able to say: this author really did take his work seriously. Besides Evil Lord Arrogates the World, his representative work also includes Lord of the Dark Night. That book may not have performed as well as his earlier ones, but he wrote it with extraordinary sincerity.