Shen Qingyuan: I'm Betting on Chuan'er to Win Too
Pei Xuan was quite pleased with himself after defeating Chu Zhan. As he stepped down from the arena, he deliberately passed by Qin Chuan and said arrogantly, "Don't worry, Martial Uncle Qin. You're next."
"Sure. I'll be waiting for you," Qin Chuan replied with a smile.
"Hmph, keep pretending. In a moment, First Senior Brother..."
"Second Senior Brother, watch what you say," Jiang Lin snapped, stopping Xie An from saying those words and giving others something to use against him.
"Xie An, haven't you been beaten enough? I wonder if you can even take part in the alchemy competition. I'll be waiting for you there." Jin Pang deliberately poked at Xie An's sore spot. In his current condition, Xie An definitely couldn't participate in the alchemy competition three days later.
"Y-you... I'm going to kill you!!! Cough, cough..." Xie An was so worked up that he began coughing violently. Jiang Lin stopped him in time, telling him not to act rashly.
"Second Junior Brother, Third Junior Brother, let's go. There's no need to waste our breath trying to win an argument. I'll defeat the enemy with my strength." Pei Xuan looked perfectly composed, not regarding Qin Chuan as an opponent at all.
Jiang Lin followed Pei Xuan. With no one to help him, Xie An could only glare daggers at Qin Chuan and Jin Pang before hurrying after Pei Xuan and Jiang Lin.
"Pah! We'll see who's really capable in the arena. Martial Uncle Qin will beat certain big talkers until they piss and shit themselves." Jin Pang spat at the retreating backs of Pei Xuan and the other two.
"Let's go, Brother Jin." Qin Chuan was confident he could defeat Pei Xuan. If the Heavenly Dao weren't protecting the protagonist group, he could take the Tianquan Sword right now and hack most of its members to death before they had fully developed.
"Hehe, Brother Qin, you go prepare for your next fight. I have something else to do."
Seeing Jin Pang's mischievous grin, Qin Chuan knew he was up to no good. He nodded and replied, "Go ahead, Brother Jin. I'll be fine on my own."
"All right, all right." Jin Pang vanished in a flash, while Qin Chuan chose an empty spot to spend some time alone.
The final match wouldn't begin for another half hour. Because Pei Xuan had just made a high-profile show of defeating Chu Zhan, who was at the Late Golden Core Stage, and then confronted Qin Chuan, everyone was now discussing which of the two would take first place.
"I'm sure Senior Brother Pei will take first place. He's a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator and a sword cultivator, and he just defeated Chu Zhan. Qin Chuan is only at the Early Golden Core Stage. There's no way he can match Senior Brother Pei."
"I'm betting on Senior Brother Pei too."
"What if Qin Chuan is hiding his strength?"
"Qin Chuan is only at the Early Golden Core Stage. No matter how much cultivation he's hiding, there's no way he can defeat Senior Brother Pei at the Late Golden Core Stage."
"But he just defeated Senior Brother Jiang, who's at the Late Golden Core Stage."
"Uh... Senior Brother Pei is much stronger than Senior Brother Jiang. I still don't think Qin Chuan can beat him."
"Speaking of which, what peak is Qin Chuan a disciple of? He can defeat someone at the Late Golden Core Stage while he's only at the Early Golden Core Stage, but I've never heard of him before. Have any of you?"
"I haven't."
"Neither have I."
Now everyone's attention shifted from who would win between Pei Xuan and Qin Chuan to who Qin Chuan was, which peak he belonged to, and why they had never heard of him before.
Jin Pang wasn't idle at the moment either. He gathered a group of second-generation cultivators and said, "I'm telling you, Qin Chuan is bound to win. The odds on him are already ten to one. Just follow my lead and bet on him, and you'll have all the spirit stones you could ever need."
"I'm only telling you because we're brothers. I've already bet everything I have on Qin Chuan."
The twenty or so second-generation cultivators looked at one another, all hesitant. They thought Pei Xuan had a better chance of winning.
A pretty boy covered in magical artifacts, with seven or eight jade artifacts on his head that made him look like an illegally built structure, was the first to speak up. "Thanks, Brother Jin. I'll go bet a hundred thousand spirit stones on Qin Chuan right now."
The pretty boy was Gu Hao, the legitimate grandson of a chief manager of the Wealth and Peace Merchant Guild.
The Wealth and Peace Merchant Guild was the largest merchant guild on the Origin Spirit Continent. It did business throughout the twelve human provinces and never took part in conflicts, content to focus on trade. It was on good terms with every major power on the continent.
Though the Wealth and Peace Merchant Guild disliked outside conflicts, its internal struggles were fierce. Gu Hao's branch was close to the Pure Void Sect, so he had been sent there to become the disciple of the Second Elder, who did not participate in factional struggles.
Gu Hao's cultivation talent was nothing special. He had only reached the Golden Core realm by using his vast wealth to pile up pills, and he was Jin Pang's biggest financial backer.
A hundred thousand spirit stones was nothing to Gu Hao; he considered it a way to do Jin Pang a favor. The others naturally understood this, so they remained hesitant.
At that moment, Jin Pang dropped another bombshell. "Qin Chuan is from Supreme Mystery Peak. He's that person's disciple. There's no way he's weaker than Pei Xuan."
"Is that true!? That person actually took a disciple!?" one of the second-generation heirs exclaimed, hurriedly lowering his voice again.
"Brother Jin, are you saying Qin Chuan is the Glazed Glass Immortal Venerable's disciple?" Gu Hao could no longer remain calm either. His task upon entering the Pure Void Sect was to befriend the strongest disciples of its younger generation, and the Glazed Glass Immortal Venerable's disciple was the biggest, biggest, biggest fish of all.
His original first choice had been to befriend Yun Yao's three disciples, but who would have thought that all three would be so arrogant that they looked down on him, treating him like trash? There was no need for him to keep fawning over them. The Pure Void Sect had plenty of other talented disciples with powerful backing, like Jin Pang.
"Mhm." Jin Pang nodded slightly, confirming it. There was no need to hide the fact that Qin Chuan was the Glazed Glass Immortal Venerable's disciple; anyone could find out with a little checking.
Gu Hao's eyes lit up at once. Growing even warmer toward Jin Pang, he immediately declared, "I'll go bet on Martial Uncle Qin to win right now. The Glazed Glass Immortal Venerable's disciple certainly can't be lacking."
"I'm going too."
"Me too."
"..."
"I'm going too."
The other second-generation cultivators immediately declared that they would bet on Qin Chuan too. Whether they truly believed he could defeat Pei Xuan or wanted to use this to curry favor with him was unclear.
"Rest assured, everyone. Martial Uncle Qin will certainly win." Jin Pang smiled with narrowed eyes. He knew better than anyone that these second-generation cultivators only looked simple and foolish on the surface; underneath, they all had countless schemes.
Of course, some really were fools, but those truly foolish ones had long since been swindled out of everything.
The group of second-generation cultivators all had their own thoughts and subtly steered the conversation back to Qin Chuan. Jin Pang merely played tai chi with them, refusing to give a straight answer.
Time passed slowly, and at last, seeing that the final martial match was about to begin, he stopped playing tai chi with them. "Betting will close soon. Everyone, hurry and place your bets. I'm going to cheer for Martial Uncle Qin too."
"After Martial Uncle Qin wins a resounding victory, I'll introduce everyone to him, and we can give him a proper celebration."
"All right, I'll go place my bet first."
"Me too."
"We'll celebrate for Martial Uncle Qin afterward."
Having received the answer they wanted, the second-generation cultivators stopped pestering Jin Pang and hurried off to place their bets. They understood what he meant: betting on Qin Chuan to win was their stepping stone to meeting him.
Shen Qingyuan, who was secretly following Qin Chuan, had also devoted a sliver of her attention to Jin Pang. She listened to what he said and heard everyone else insist that Qin Chuan couldn't defeat Pei Xuan. Almost all the bets at the betting stand were on Pei Xuan to win.
She felt somewhat indignant on Qin Chuan's behalf. Her Chuan'er was so formidable that he would surely defeat Pei Xuan. These people truly had eyes but failed to recognize a pearl.
"I'm going to support Chuan'er." Thus, Shen Qingyuan changed her appearance and went to bet on Qin Chuan.
"A hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones on Qin Chuan to win?" The disciple handling the bets was taken aback.
"Mhm." Shen Qingyuan handed over the filled storage bag.
"Are you sure you mean Qin Chuan???" the disciple asked again.
"Mhm." Shen Qingyuan nodded once more.
The disciple took the spirit stones and, after counting them, handed Shen Qingyuan a token. "This is your proof of the bet. Keep it safe."
Shen Qingyuan left with the token, while the other disciples couldn't help discussing it. "Could Qin Chuan have some trump card? Someone actually bet a hundred thousand spirit stones on him to win?"
Before the disciples could continue, twenty-odd second-generation cultivators rushed over. Gu Hao shouted, "Two hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones on Qin Chuan to win!"
"Ten thousand low-grade spirit stones on Qin Chuan!"
"Fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones on Qin Chuan!"
"..."
One second-generation immortal after another bet on Qin Chuan, stirring ripples in the hearts of the other disciples. Could there really be something extraordinary about him?
So the other disciples followed the second-generation cultivators and bet on Qin Chuan as well. Some gambling addicts even went all in on him. The odds on Qin Chuan winning had now risen to twenty to one; if he won, they would make a fortune, and if he lost, they would just have to scrape by for a few months.
By the time they were done, fewer spirit stones had been placed on Pei Xuan than on Qin Chuan. After all, the odds on Pei Xuan were already one to a thousand, and almost everyone believed that First Senior Brother Pei Xuan would certainly take first place in the martial competition.