A Wager

For a moment, the entire crowd erupted in an uproar. Everyone stared at the low-grade Spirit Artifact, heaping praise upon it.

Fu Boren beamed with delight. His gaze swiftly swept across the crowd, and when he spotted the Tianyin Peak disciples, he paused slightly before asking.

"Elder Xu, Peak Master Shen didn't come today?"

At the front of the Tianyin Peak disciples, a palace garb woman with a graceful figure smiled. "Peak Master Shen expended too much mental energy deducing an array some days ago. She is currently in secluded cultivation within the peak, healing her injuries."

"She expended too much mental energy? Peak Master Shen has truly worked hard. How about this? I have a bottle of Spirit Nurturing Fluid here. I'll have to trouble Elder Xu to pass it on to Peak Master Shen!" Fu Boren immediately showed concern and hurriedly said.

As he spoke, he drew a finger-length jade bottle from his robes and tossed it to the palace garb woman with a concerned expression.

"Then I shall thank Martial Brother Fu on Peak Master Shen's behalf!" the woman in palace attire said with a smile.

Seeing this, several other Peak Masters and Elders also took out items of their own and handed them to the woman in palace attire with concerned expressions.

Tianyin Peak was not the strongest, but its Peak Master was proficient in arrays and was also the number one beauty of the Yun Ge Sect.

She was deeply favored by the Elders and Peak Masters!

The woman in palace attire accepted everyone's goodwill with a smile, refusing none who came.

At that moment, from the Yuntai Peak group, an old man with a thick curly beard called out with a laugh, "Martial Brother Fu, you've really been hiding your light under a bushel! Without making a sound, you managed to produce a low-grade Spirit Artifact."

Fu Boren replied with a smiling face, "Martial Brother Chen, you flatter me. I only know this little trick. Your attainments in the art of pill refinement are the truly extraordinary ones. Without you supporting us, where would we get so many spirit pills and miraculous medicines to consume?"

"Besides, being able to refine this Purple Lightning Sword was all thanks to Elder Chaoyang of Chaoyang Peak. I just didn't expect Elder Chaoyang not to personally lead the team here today either."

As he spoke, Fu Boren turned and glanced toward the Chaoyang Peak disciples. Among the crowd, only one Elder led the group. Meeting Fu Boren's gaze, that Elder merely smiled faintly and did not speak.

"Hmph! You old bastard, now you're showing off in front of me. You refined that low-grade Spirit Artifact using my Purple Lightning Stone, didn't you? Give me back my Purple Lightning Stone!" Lu Mingshi rolled his eyes and snapped at Fu Boren irritably.

Fu Boren shook his head with a smile. "The Purple Lightning Stone is already gone! But Martial Brother, are you interested in another wager? I'll stake this Purple Lightning Sword. What do you say?"

Lu Mingshi had been about to fly into a rage, but upon hearing that, his eyes widened. In disbelief, he said, "Another wager? With this low-grade Spirit Artifact?! You old bastard, what are you betting on?"

"Simple! We'll wager on which of our two peaks gathers more and better materials in this trial. If we lose, the Purple Lightning Sword is yours. If you lose, give me that intact piece of Hundred Year Cold Jade in your hand. How about it?" Fu Boren pursed his lips, clearly displeased by the form of address, but he did not get angry. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Lu Mingshi waved a large hand and said indignantly, "Pah! You wish! Our Luofu Peak already has fewer people. No matter how many materials we gather, how can we withstand your sheer numbers?"

"If you want the Hundred Year Cold Jade in my hand, just say so. But let me tell you, don't even dream about it."

Fu Boren was not angry. He simply smiled and said, "Martial Brother, there's no need to be so angry. Of course I can't do something so unfair."

"For this trial, as long as the materials gathered by your Luofu Peak exceed one-tenth of what our Tianhua Peak gathers, you win."

"Your Luofu Peak may have fewer people, but surely Martial Brother doesn't lack even this much confidence, does he?!"

Lu Mingshi frowned slightly, quickly turning back to sweep his gaze over his own people before looking toward the Tianhua Peak group.

If they compared total quantities, he felt there was no chance of victory.

But if it was only one-tenth, it was not entirely impossible. Moreover, for this trial, he had specifically instructed the Transmission Elder to secretly cultivate a group of people.

At that thought, his heart began to pound. The Purple Lightning Sword—a low-grade Spirit Artifact!

The Hundred Year Cold Jade was also a good thing, but compared to such a treasure, it still fell a little short.

"Are you sure?" Taking a deep breath, he raised his head and stared at Fu Boren.

"Of course. With all these Martial Brothers and Martial Sisters as witnesses, are you afraid I'll go back on my word?" Fu Boren said with a loud laugh.

Turning his head, Fu Boren swiftly swept his gaze over the Peak Masters and Elders of every peak, then continued, "Martial Brothers and Martial Sisters, would you be interested in serving as witnesses for Martial Brother Lu and me?"

The others exchanged smiling glances and nodded in agreement.

They might not have been interested in participating in such a wager, but they certainly had the heart to watch the excitement.

Still, in everyone's minds, Luofu Peak did not seem to have much hope of winning.

Tianhua Peak had the most people and the greatest strength. Its standing within the Yun Ge Sect had not been built in a day or two.

"Martial Brother Lu, did you see that? Are you going to wager or not?" Fu Boren asked with a smile, looking at Lu Mingshi again.

"Hmph! Do you really think I'm afraid of an old bastard like you? Fine, I'll wager with you!" Lu Mingshi raised his brows and said with a cold snort.

After saying that, he shot Fu Boren a disdainful look and turned toward everyone on the flying boat.

"You all heard the wager with Tianhua Peak just now, didn't you?"

"Losing a few things is a minor matter, but our Luofu Peak... cannot be looked down upon."

"For this trial, all of you had better put your backs into it. Whether or not you can surpass Tianhua Peak, the five people who find the most materials will not only become Official Disciples—I will also give each of them an additional chance to enter the Treasure Pavilion and choose a treasure."

After swiftly throwing out those words, Lu Mingshi turned his gaze toward Han Yu and Xiao Yue again.

In his heart, the two he valued most were naturally these two personal disciples.

But the others still had to be encouraged. After all, even if each person found only one additional material, it would still amount to something considerable.

The people aboard the flying boat were once more stirred into high spirits by Lu Mingshi's words.

Every peak had its own Treasure Pavilion. The worst treasures allowed inside were High-grade Magical Artifacts, and there was no shortage among them of profound cultivation methods and secret arts.

In the past, such an opportunity would never have fallen upon miscellaneous disciples like them.

Even Su Shi'er could not help looking forward to it. To cultivators, one more good treasure or a good cultivation method was equivalent to gaining half a life.

With everyone's reactions taking in through the corner of his eye, Lu Mingshi finally continued controlling the flying boat as it descended.

Everyone quickly disembarked from the flying boat and, like the disciples from the other peaks, waited patiently.

They did not wait long before six streaks of light flashed through the sky. Immediately afterward, six flying swords carrying more than thirty people descended from the heavens and landed in the center of the valley.

Of those six flying swords, only one carried a single old man.

He wore white robes whiter than snow, Dark-patterned Cloud Sleeves, and a Daoist topknot. His face was covered in wrinkles, and he had a foot-long white beard. His gaze was deep and distant, and he possessed the bearing of an immortal with Daoist bones.

The other five flying swords each held seven young disciples at Qi Refining Stage Six. With their cultivation, they were fundamentally incapable of controlling swords in flight.

Yet at that moment, they truly were flying upon swords. To the watching crowd, the sight was exceedingly wondrous.

These people were the Elder and disciples of Tianshu Peak, the Yun Ge Sect's main peak.

Speaking of numbers, among the Yun Ge Seven Peaks, Luofu Peak was not actually the smallest. The main peak, Tianshu Peak, had even fewer people.

But in terms of strength, Tianshu Peak was not lacking in the slightest. To enter Tianshu Peak, one needed at minimum a High-grade Single Spirit Root.