Chapter 684 Fate Gambling House
The architectural layout of Xiaoyao City is not as orderly and straight as that of Lingxiao City, but rather, as the name "Xiaoyao" suggests, the streets are winding and intricate, and lakes, mountains and rivers can be seen everywhere.
The defensive formations were chaotic and disorganized, and the architectural styles were bizarre and varied.
Being there, Li Weiyi felt like she was going to get lost.
It's true that you can get lost; Xiaoyao Capital is too vast. The senses of a martial artist at the Longevity Realm will be blocked by a dense array of formations. The power of the Five Elements will even cause changes in the celestial phenomena.
For example, the radiance emanating from the Heavenly Fire Demon Cave before us makes even the sun, moon, and stars appear dim.
It is precisely because of the existence of the Heavenly Fire Demon Cave that the South City has become a paradise for psychic cultivators.
...
The vehicle came to a stop at the edge of the spatial rift in the Heavenly Fire Demon Cave.
Chang Shu and Li Weiyi got out of the car wearing masks.
The servants drove their carriages past them and went to park.
"Fate Gambling House!"
Li Weiyi looked ahead at the long cloud bridge connecting the spatial rift. At the end of the cloud bridge was a palace gate made of dark golden boulders, built in the world of heavenly fire, protected by layers of formations, stable and luxurious.
Just as Changshu said in the car, hundreds or thousands of cultivators come and go here every moment, like a tide of people, which is quite a sight.
The two walked on the cloud bridge, surrounded by cultivators from various realms. Most of them, like the two, concealed their faces and figures, hiding their identities.
Chang Shu looked up at the four large gilded characters above the palace gate, her eyes shining, and sighed softly, "When I was young, besides cultivation, this was my only hobby."
"I haven't been here since I took over the family business."
"The grand event of announcing the results is approaching, and cultivators from all realms are gathering. Who, young or old, doesn't want to win big with a small investment and gain several times or even ten times their current wealth? The only problem is that making money is very difficult. The larger the family, the greater the expenses. There are hundreds of millions of mouths to feed every day, and every single Yongquan coin is earned through hard work."
"By opening the gambling den in the Heavenly Fire World, the Path of Fate can suppress and isolate the cultivators' senses to the greatest extent possible."
"The worst thing about gambling is having your secrets revealed and the outcome discovered beforehand."
As soon as she finished speaking, Chang Shu strode towards a wall with six mythical beast patterns hanging on it, took out dozens of low-grade spirit crystals from her bag, and placed her bet.
His movements were so smooth and skillful that it was hard to believe he hadn't gambled for years.
Dozens of feet away, roars of beasts and cheers rose and fell, creating a noisy and bustling atmosphere.
Li Weiyi looked over there.
Inside the array's shroud of light was a gladiatorial arena, roughly a mile long and wide, where six strange beasts were locked in fierce combat. The surrounding stands were filled with cultivators of various attire, cheering and shouting, their eyes burning with fervor and their emotions running high.
The battle is over.
All five strange beasts lay dead in pools of blood, except for one fire eagle that resembled a roc, which survived.
"Why!"
Chang Shu stood outside the array's veil of light, sighing with regret: "The Azure Fire Eagle Beast has poor defense and limited attack methods. How could it possibly survive to the end? That dead leopard ruined my life."
Li Weiyi stood aside, secretly embarrassed: "Uncle Shu, didn't you say that every Yongquan Coin was saved up? Dozens of low-grade spirit crystals are worth hundreds of millions of Yongquan Coins."
Chang Shu recovered from her loss and waved her hand, saying, "Gambling isn't a waste. If you win, you can multiply your winnings several times over. That's how you make money. It's just a few dozen low-grade spirit crystals. A little gambling is harmless fun."
Once you reach the Longevity Realm, you almost always use spirit crystals as currency.
In other words, once a practitioner enters the martial arts world, they use Yongquan coins as their currency.
Spirit Crystals, Spring Coins, and Copper Coins may seem to be interchangeable, but in reality, they isolate people in three different worlds, making exchanges extremely rare.
Giving a spirit crystal to an ordinary Dao Seed Realm martial artist could be a disaster. Giving it to a Five Seas Realm martial artist wouldn't even allow them to use it or absorb its power.
"Uncle Shu, I'm leaving!"
Li Weiyi was preparing to leave; time was tight, and there were still many things to do.
"Not going to play a couple of rounds? Oh well, it's good to stay away from this stuff, sigh!"
Chang Shu sighed again before admonishing, "If you want to leave, I won't stop you. But I must remind you that the dangers you will face are not only from the Taiyin Sect, but also from the Eastern Palace."
Li Wei frowned: "Your Highness?"
Changshu nodded and, as she walked, transmitted her voice to inform them: "When an immortal falls, all things come to life; when the emperor dies, a new emperor will rise."
"Why was the Demon Lord able to reach the realm of Martial Emperor? Wasn't it because he intercepted the Demon Emperor's Dao that he broke through that crucial step? This is common knowledge, but it can't be said openly!"
"How similar is the Demon Lord's current state to that of the Demon Emperor back then? In his twilight years, his blood and energy are waning."
"To others, even a sick dragon is still a dragon, and daring to touch it is a dead end. Moreover, getting close to the Demon Lord's true form is as difficult as ascending to heaven."
"But if the Crown Prince leads a large number of transcendent experts to seize the palace and launch an attack, the Demon Lord may not be able to withstand it. Only if the Crown Prince obtains the Demon Lord's Dao will it truly be a benefit, allowing him to ascend to the heavens in one step. Other transcendent experts are far inferior; if they obtain it, it will only bring disaster."
"Whether His Highness the Crown Prince wants to break through to a higher realm or to repair his foundation, he may have to take a risky approach. However, he is currently unsure of the Demon Lord's condition and is subject to checks and balances from various parties, so he dares not act rashly."
Li Weiyi never expected Chang Shu to be so bold as to be so disrespectful to Yu Baxian in Xiaoyaojing.
It is clear that the demon lord was indeed a skeleton in a tomb, and the people below no longer held him in much reverence.
Li Weiyi's expression turned serious. The situation was more dangerous than he had imagined: "Uncle Shu means that the Crown Prince does not want the Grand Palace Master to use the Spring of Life for bidding. He wants to drag the Demon Lord into an even weaker state. And the most direct way is to kill me before the results announcement ceremony."
"This is highly likely."
Chang Shu changed the subject: "But you must not have any illusions that the Crown Prince will let you go in the battle for immortality. Right now, he absolutely dares not show the slightest rebellious intention. Even if he wanted to kill you now, it wouldn't be his people who would do it."
"Since my Chang family has no heir apparent, we can only be loyalists. The Demon Lord must rely on the power of the Chang family to fight against potential threats from all sides."
Li Weiyi knew that the last sentence in Chang's book was telling him not to worry that the Chang family would kill him before the battle for immortality.
A voice came from the Myriad Worlds Hall of the Destiny Gambling House: "The odds for first place on the 'Land of Immortality Ranking' are out, and you can place your bets today. Remember, this first place refers to the first place on the day the results are released, New Year's Eve. Changes to the rankings after that will not be counted."
“Let’s go! Nephew, let’s go take a look. There are quite a few cultivators betting on the ‘Longevity Land Ranking’ each year. It’s much more interesting than beast fighting, and there are often stories of people getting rich.”
Chang Shu pulled Li Weiyi along, taking three steps at a time, rushing towards the Wanxiang Hongchen Palace.
One can imagine that this Mr. Shu must have been a passionate young man in his youth.
The entire Myriad Realms Red Dust Palace is divided into three levels, and the gambling games are all related to the "Longevity Land Ranking" and the Hundred Realms Competition. Different gambling games have their own counters.
Li Weiyi wandered around and observed.
It was discovered that there were even bets on whether the Life Spring would ultimately participate in the race to cross the river, which was simply outrageous.
"The ancient truth indeed has the lowest odds, with payouts of 2 for every 1 bet."
"Good deeds come first, then bad deeds come second, with a compensation of 2.5 points."
"Tang Wanzhou is third, payout is three times the original amount."
...
The lower the odds, the stronger the team.
The odds rankings are essentially the pre-ranking of the "Land of Immortality" by the Fate Gambling House. Of course, the odds will change based on changes in information and performance over a period of time.
There are ten jade plaques bearing personal names in total.
According to the representative of the Destiny Gambling House, only these ten people are qualified to be number one on the "Land of Immortality" list.
Li Weiyi walked over and found her name on the sixth sign.
"Li Weiyi, bet one and pay out eleven."
Upon closer inspection, the odds for the top three "Gu Zhenxiang", "Shan Xianzhi", and "Tang Wanzhou" are all very low, indicating that the three are quite evenly matched.
The odds for the fourth option, "Meng Quyi," suddenly increased to 8 to 1.
The fifth one, "Mo Duan Feng," has odds of 1 to 10.
The highest odds are for the Du'e Temple "Shenji", which is ranked tenth, with odds of 299 to 1.
After looking around, Chang Shu walked to Li Weiyi's side and said with a smile, "Nephew, not bad. The Destiny Gambling House has a good eye. Knowing that you have a great chance of reaching the top, they ranked you sixth."
"The 'Longevity Ranking' was compiled by Wanlilou. Isn't the Destiny Gambling House afraid that someone might have bribed the compilers of the ranking in advance to obtain inside information? Perhaps, Wanlilou has set a trap for them?" Li Weiyi asked with great curiosity.
Chang Shu was very experienced: "You've come to the right person! First of all, the backer behind the Destiny Gambling House seems to be the evil organization Destiny Path, but in reality, Thousand Mile Mountain is the biggest financial backer."
"Secondly, on the day the results are announced, many martial arts practitioners will inevitably be dissatisfied with the rankings and challenge them. If Gu Zhen could hold onto first place, there would be no chance for the nine of you, and this bet would not have happened."
"That's the allure of gambling; until the very last moment, no one knows what changes might occur."
Li Weiyi browsed through the materials related to "Li Weiyi" on the counter.
There must be a wise person behind the Destiny Gambling House who has conducted a rigorous analysis. From Li Weiyi's rapid rise in cultivation over the past few years, to his magical artifacts, Taoist techniques, and unique skills, to the assessment of that battle outside the Immortal Forest.
As Li Weiyi read, he secretly marveled at how impressive the other party had completely dissected his strength. For example, there was a sentence that read, "Based on his martial arts cultivation speed, and with the assistance of the Sacred Thought Star Pill and the Netherworld Soul Essence resources, it can be predicted that Li Weiyi's mental power cultivation is around the mid-stage of the fourth realm, and can be overestimated to the peak of the fourth realm."
Another weakness analysis: "Li Weiyi's strongest combat techniques, the Twelve Fundamental Martial Arts Combination Technique and the Martial Thought Combination Secret Technique, both require a long time to execute. Compared with Gu Zhenxiang, Shan Xianzhi, Meng Quyi, and Mo Duanfeng, he relies too much on the Dragon Soul Source Light, his Longevity Scripture is too simple, and his cultivation foundation is relatively weak."
The concluding assessment is: "Unique magical energy, exceptional comprehension, unparalleled cultivation speed, no obvious weaknesses, suspected to be a full-golden vein. There is a chance that he will break through to the peak of the fourth realm in the last twenty days and become the greatest challenger of the Ancient Truth."
The document contains only one error and one omission.
What's missing is the Wind, Fire, Thunder and Lightning Array that Li Weiyi crafted.
The incorrect information is that Li Weiyi is not at the mid-stage of the fourth realm, but rather at the mid-stage of the third realm.
That's already quite impressive. Every cultivator has their own hidden methods, and the Destiny Gambling House couldn't possibly know everything about them.
Chang Shu stood aside and laughed, "Nephew, do you know what's going on in the streets? Some old guys from Thousand Mile Mountain analyzed that you might not be in the fourth realm, but in the third realm."
"The reason is the combat power you displayed in the Five Seas Realm and the fact that you broke through to the Longevity Realm in such a short time. Even with the help of the Silkworm and the Netherworld, you have only cultivated in the Longevity Realm for a maximum of more than ten years."
"Do you know why they later denied that?"
"Why?" Li Weiyi sighed inwardly at how many powerful people there were in this world, especially those who made money from information and intelligence. They were all very knowledgeable and could see the whole picture from a small part.
(End of this chapter)
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