Chapter 152

White River Region, with a surging river flowing through hundreds of caves, the river's momentum surging, often seeing white wave patterns, hence its name.

The largest cave in White River Region, White River Cave, spans nearly a thousand li; thanks to ample water sources, the land is extremely fertile and yields abundant produce. Among the dozens of large regions within a radius of tens of li, White River Cave is also one of the blessed lands of happiness.

The Gongsun family is the White River Cave, and indeed the uncrowned king of the entire White River Region.

Unlike other forces that build sturdy fortress cities, the Gongsun family's ancestral home is built on a gently sloping mountainside rock face, with halls and stone towers arranged in a staggered pattern, surrounded by abundant vegetation.

From the mountaintop looking around, the White River's waves surge; the banks are neat fields, and when a strong wind blows, the various crops in the fields surge like waves—a scene that can be called superb, inexplicably giving a feeling of abundance.

Inside a square, ancient and heavy stone hall, the current head of the Gongsun family, Gongsun Hao, sits squarely in a large chair. Before him floats a thick bronze mirror, square, with sides several zhang long; within its surface, mist and clouds roil, faintly revealing a woman of exquisite beauty.

"My sons Ying and Xiong are dead." Gongsun Hao, who cultivated a magnificent beard that hung down to his abdomen, tapped the metal chair's armrest heavily with his finger, producing a booming "dong dong" sound that made the entire hall tremble.

"You must know, Ying and Xiong differ from other descendants; they are a pair of twin brothers with considerable talent. To the Gongsun family, many elders regard them as auspicious omens." Gongsun Hao's finger tapped at a steady, unchanging pace.

"So, since they died, the Wa Valley must give us an explanation." Gongsun Hao heaved a deep sigh: "Compared to the deaths of Ying and Xiong, Gongsun Xiu being killed by the Wa Mother... this matter, we might as well not pursue."

A flash of cold light crossed Gongsun Hao's pupils.

As a family elder, to be sent out to run errands for a few juniors—his status in the Gongsun family is obvious. When young, Gongsun Xiu was merely an unvalued collateral branch member of the Gongsun family, often the target of Gongsun Hao's bullying.

For a family like the Gongsuns, an unimportant person given the title of Elder is in reality no different from a servant; a collateral clan member... dead is dead, truly few elders would take him to heart.

However, the deaths of Gongsun Ying and Gongsun Xiong must bring the Gongsun family sufficient benefits.

As long as there are sufficient benefits, no clan member is beyond sacrifice. This is the truth of this cruel world: aside from true direct blood relatives, who cares about their life or death?

That pair of auspicious twin brothers, Gongsun Ying and Gongsun Xiong, are not even his own grandsons—dead is dead; as long as they can be exchanged for sufficient benefits, Gongsun Hao sincerely rejoices that they have finally died.

With the deaths of that auspicious twin pair, the path forward is cleared for Gongsun Hao's direct descendants; the resources they enjoyed now belong to his own grandsons—what a wonderful thing!

The beautiful woman in the mirror spoke.

She appears to be just over thirty, still young, without even a wrinkle at the corners of her eyes. Yet when she speaks, her voice is hoarse and aged, giving the sense of a candle in the wind, ready to sputter out at any moment.

"Wa Qing'er, Wa Xiao xi, and the several dozen most outstanding maidens you've been watching... we have never spoken of letting them marry." The beautiful woman said softly: "On the dueling arena, those two children wager their lives; we wager the marriage rights of these maidens."

"Clear pricing, no deception." The beautiful woman said in a low voice: "For example, the marriage right of Wa Qing'er—what price are you willing to put up as a wager? Given Wa Xiao xi's potential, you surely have investigated; her marriage right should be a wager at least a hundred times that of Wa Qing'er."

The beautiful woman's expression was sincere, her tone full of a steadfast, reliable sense of solidity.

"As for the other maidens, according to their talent and aptitude, they all have a price. Gongsun family, how many can you afford to wager on?"

Gongsun Hao narrowed his eyes.

The benefits of a Wa clan maiden need not be said; any Wa clan maiden possesses ineffable benefits, especially for her marriage partner... the smallest benefit is equivalent to gaining an extra life!

Especially the few most outstanding maidens of this generation of the Wa clan, and even more so Wa Xiao xi, this monstrously talented maiden—without doubt, her future offspring are destined to be stunningly extraordinary in some aspect.

Males belong to the paternal clan for upbringing; females belong to the Wa clan for nurturing.

Those males will surely shine brightly, greatly strengthening the paternal clan's strength.

If it weren't for their status, the Wa clan could not tolerate such a thing happening; Gongsun Hao truly wishes to go and marry Wa Xiao xi himself.

Even so, the Wa clan actually put Wa Xiao xi's marriage right up as a wager, making it impossible for Gongsun Hao not to be moved.

If we can win this wager, this marriage right... should belong to him as the family head, right?

Gongsun Yuan is Gongsun Hao's biological grandson, but not his most beloved grandson.

The grandson whom Gongsun Yuan dotes on most has a mother who is also a woman of the Wa Valley, and whose talent is terrifying—far more terrifying than Gongsun Yuan's. However, such an elite junior would certainly be taken in by the Gongsun ancestor to personally cultivate nearby; he could not be allowed to run about outside.

That grandson is five or six years younger than Gongsun Yuan, yet his cultivation level is three realms higher. Only a few in the Gongsun family know this news; those unqualified don't even know of his existence.

That grandson is truly one of the Gongsun family's foundations; Gongsun Yuan can only be said to be the banner the Gongsun family waves outward to intimidate all directions.

If Wa Xiao xi could be married to that most favored grandson of mine... a strong-strong union, what kind of monstrous offspring would they produce?

A surge of heat rose in Gongsun Hao's chest; he suddenly noticed some loopholes in the beautiful woman's words, and he said in a deep voice: "Given your Wa clan's ways, could it be that you intend to put Wa Xiao xi's sole marriage right up as a wager for everyone?"

The beautiful woman laughed: "Gongsun family head, how could the Wa Valley possibly do such a thing?"

"The marriage rights of Wa Xiao xi, Wa Qing'er, and those maidens go to the highest bidder. For example, Wa Xiao xi's marriage right—you all hurry and bid; whoever places the highest wager, if Gongsun Yuan wins this match, Wa Xiao xi's marriage right belongs to that household."

"The marriage right of Wa Qing'er ranks second... Of course, you can only wager on Gongsun Yuan winning..."

The beautiful woman listed, one by one, the rankings of the maidens the Wa clan has put forward as wagers this time.

Gongsun Hao drew a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The names of the Wa clan maidens spoken by the beautiful woman are precisely the candidates that the surrounding great clans and powers have been eyeing for a long time. Each possesses astonishing talent, their bloodlines pure and strong, and their offspring will reap great benefits.

The great clans and powers have sent so many elite juniors to mingle in the Wa Valley, yet after these past several years, no one has heard of anyone succeeding.

As the Wa clan opens its ancestral sacrifice grand ceremony and opens the ancestral land secret realm for exploration, according to Wa clan rules, if a fortunate person obtains some great treasure from within and runs out, and they happen to select a maiden to seek marriage... that would be another trouble.

Gamble, why not?

"Wa Xiao xi, my Gongsun family has decided. Twelve third-grade essence fruits 'Nine Marvelous Cloud Dragon Fruit' from our Gongsun family's 'Cloud Dragon Nine Manifest Tree'—how about that?" Gongsun Hao laughed with conviction.

Third-grade essence fruits—these are heavenly prices; although Wa Xiao xi is extraordinarily talented, she can forever belong only to the Wa Valley; she could never become a person of the Gongsun family.

Wagering twelve third-grade essence fruits on Wa Xiao xi's future offspring—how could this not be a sufficiently massive wager?

The beautiful woman fell silent for a moment, as if listening to something; after a while she shook her head: "Not enough; the master of the Six Paths Palace has placed a wager seventy percent higher than yours... the Six Paths Palace also has taken a liking to Xiao xi, so..."

A flash of cold light appeared in Gongsun Hao's eyes—those violent madmen of the Six Paths Palace?

Their power is already strong enough; if in a few years they gain several more monstrously talented freak disciples, will the other great powers still have to survive?

Gongsun Hao drew a deep breath, glanced at the few core elders holding real power in the Gongsun family standing in the hall, gritted his teeth and began to raise the bid, quickly increasing it.

Meanwhile, the beautiful woman leisurely spoke another passage that made the Gongsun family elders' hearts bleed.

"By the way, this wager—even if Gongsun Yuan wins this duel, these resources must still be handed over to us Wa Valley as betrothal gifts. If you can take away Xiao xi maiden's marriage right, you've taken a huge advantage!"

The beautiful woman smiled with a face like blossoms; the Gongsun family elders and the senior figures of several great powers all felt heavily blocked in their hearts.

Anyway, no matter what, the Wa Valley's this round is a guaranteed gain... all they can hope for is that Gongsun Yuan wins this match cleanly and swiftly; so many resources have already been sent out, what they need is the marriage right, the marriage rights of these Wa Valley elite maidens!

On the dueling arena, Wu Tie and Gongsun Yuan have already stood facing each other; Wu Tie's wager has been counted out, and as soon as Gongsun Yuan produces enough of a wager, they will immediately begin battle.

However, the scar-faced girl sent over a bracelet containing cultivation resources and wealth in such terrifying amounts that Gongsun Yuan himself could never possibly produce that much material.

The Gongsun family elders have already learned of this; several Gongsun family experts are escorting sufficient wealth through a transmission array to rush to Wa Valley.

However, these Gongsun family experts have deliberately slowed their pace of travel.

They wanted to stall for time, to gain enough time for the Gongsun family and the Wa tribe to bargain.

Whether it was the Gongsun family, the Six Dao Palace, or the many major powers among the dozens of great regions surrounding Wa Valley, they were all nervously employing secret arts to continually outbid the Wa Valley's Elders, while at the same time anxiously tallying their own storehouses.

The price must overwhelm all competitors, yet we can't possibly ruin ourselves just for a potential future monstrous heir, can we?

This delicate balance is enough to make the top brass of these major powers rack their brains.

The stakes rose like water lifting a boat, climbing segment by segment, quickly reaching a terrifying number that shocked the Wa Valley's Elders.

On the arena, the total stake Wu Tie produced had already been tallied clearly.

Several Gongsun family experts also arrived with large troops, summoning Gongsun Yuan to the arena's edge, handing over the stake they brought, and sternly instructing him: in this duel, only victory is allowed, no defeat!

If he loses, Gongsun Yuan will not only forfeit his life, but also the Gongsun family's vast wealth.

If he wins, Gongsun Yuan can not only take Wu Tie's life, but also secure Wa Xiaoxi's marriage rights for the Gongsun family… Of course, that huge stake will still belong to Wa Valley, but the marriage rights to Wa Xiaoxi will definitely belong to the Gongsun family.

Gongsun Yuan's eyes gleamed as he handed three large bracelets to the scar-faced girl standing at the arena's edge, telling her to have people tally their contents.

Wa Xiaoxi's marriage rights?

Gongsun Yuan was thoroughly moved by this news.

Gongsun Yuan, eyes glowing, stepped up to Wu Tie, lowered his voice and said: 'I will slay you before all these people, then I will marry your sister Wa Xiaoxi… hehe, she will surely hate me to death, but I don't care.'

Gongsun Yuan, with a hint of licentious intent, laughed softly: 'Actually, as a scion of a wealthy clan like me, who would willingly fawn and grovel to win the favor of Wa tribe women? With their nasty tempers, who could stand it? Isn't it just for the benefits their bloodline power brings?'

'I will kill you, then I will marry Wa Xiaoxi… Rest assured, I will strive to let her bear children. After all, given her talent, her child—also my child—will surely be a genius among geniuses.'

Gongsun Yuan chuckled: 'I will make her keep bearing children, never giving her even a moment's rest… Rest assured, I will definitely be able to do that.'

Meanwhile, the scar-faced girl hadn't finished tallying the valuables, but here Gongsun Yuan had already successfully provoked Wu Tie.

Wu Tie's heart flared with inexplicable anger; he had no idea that Wa Valley had actually taken Wa Xiaoxi as a stake!

He and Gongsun Yuan were only betting their lives; why drag Wa Xiaoxi into it?

With fury blazing in his chest, Wu Tie let out a low roar; the White Tiger Split appeared in his hand, he gripped it tightly and thrust the spear at Gongsun Yuan's chest.

Gongsun Yuan gave a cold snort, flicked his hands, drew a distinctive heavy demon-subduing pestle, and struck it against the spear shaft of the White Tiger Split.

With a tremendous bang, Wu Tie and Gongsun Yuan both staggered, stepping back dozens of steps before barely managing to steady themselves.

On the platform atop the cliff, over ten thousand spectators shouted in unison.

Many people waved their cosmos bags, shouting hoarsely, seeking the counterpart of their bets.

No one favored Wu Tie; everyone wanted to bet on Gongsun Yuan's victory.

Immediately, a Wa Valley steward stepped forward, without hesitation swallowing everyone's stakes, accepting any amount they bet on Gongsun Yuan's victory, Wa Valley taking it all.

Beside Wu Tie's ear, Wa Mu's voice suddenly sounded: 'Old Four, give me a little bit to kill this brat.'