Chapter 773: The Wager

"Using Wuguo as the stake? Priest Qingfeng, how could you think of that!" Wu Tie expressed his dissatisfaction to Qingfeng in as gentle a tone as possible.

Using Wuguo as the stake is undoubtedly a great insult.

But... countless thoughts flashed through Wu Tie's mind, yet he still couldn't come up with a suitable countermeasure.

"You can join in!" Qingfeng crouched on the ground, eagerly rolled up his sleeves, grabbed three dice, and threw them hard into the sea bowl. The three shiny, wet-looking dice clattered noisily in the bowl, spinning for a long time without stopping.

"Martial King, you can join too!" Qingfeng looked at Wu Tie with a chuckle: "You, you'll bet Wuguo; we'll bet treasures comparable to Wuguo. Tsk, whoever wins will strike it rich!"

Wu Tie's mouth twitched.

Wuguo, formed after the unification of the three kingdoms, is enormously vast—not mentioning those poor, remote backlands, just the prosperous prefectures with thriving populations number over two thousand, the populace counts in the trillions, the territory is huge; even a Divine Manifestation Realm expert relying solely on evasion-light flight would need over half a year to fly from today's eastern Wuguo to the western side.

Besides those rich, oozing mature prefectures, Wuguo's ordinary medium- and low-grade prefectures exceed thirty thousand, and the newly opened remote border prefectures number nearly a thousand. The combined populace of these medium and low-grade prefectures is also an astronomical figure.

Those remote, newly developed border prefectures have sparse populations, often no people for tens of thousands of li, their economy is quite backward, and their annual tax revenue can't even scrape together a few copper coins. Just like the former Great Marsh Prefecture, which had only a few hundred thousand inhabitants, such prefectures are extremely impoverished.

Yet despite their poverty, these prefectures' mines, forests, fisheries, and other natural resources are abundantly rich.

Every newly opened border prefecture is a natural treasure house; with sufficient investment, in three to five hundred years it becomes a prosperous, populous paradise.

"You speak lightly, Daoist Master, but my Wuguo's territory is vast, its people countless, its annual output an astronomical figure... what treasure could compare to Wuguo?" Wu Tie, with a hint of malice, reported all the data from Wuguo's Household Registry.

How many top-tier superior prefectures, how many medium and inferior ones, what is Wuguo's total population, how much gold, silver, yuan crystal, and medicinal pills are produced each year, how many soldiers, how many warships...

Qingfeng blinked, Fan Kun blinked, and the white deer, white crane, and white egret blinked desperately.

When Wu Tie spoke of how many prefectures Wuguo had, its annual output, tax revenue, etc., Qingfeng, Fan Kun, and the others' faces showed no change. Obviously, they had seen much of such territory and output.

But when Wu Tie revealed the rough estimate from Wuguo's Household Registry of the nation's total population, Qingfeng, Fan Kun, and even the Bai Lu brothers' pupils instantly gleamed bright.

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes and continued to report all the data from the Household Registry.

For example, within Wuguo's borders, besides the dominant human race, there are various other ethnic groups—ox people, wolf people, python people, snake people, rat people, dwarves, short people, giants… and so on, even including the Taotie clan, Hundun clan, Hundun clan, Qiongqi clan, and even the Wa and Xi clans of the underworld; Wu Tie reported all this information in detail.

Even if Wu Tie didn't mention these, Qingfeng and Fan Kun could soon investigate them clearly with their abilities.

Rather than that, it's better to speak openly here.

Wu Tie saw that Qingfeng, Fan Kun, and the others' eyes grew brighter and brighter, especially when he mentioned the underground Fuxi Divine Kingdom and the tens of thousands of big and small tribes under the Chiyang Shen Shan in the Southern Wasteland; their eyes literally sparked fire, usable as torches even at night.

"So, may I ask, what exactly is Wuguo worth?"

Wu Tie sneered, pointing at the sea bowl and dice Qingfeng had placed on the ground: "No matter what means you use to decide Wuguo's ownership... heh, it's a bet, you need to put up enough stakes... or, how about you fight instead?"

Wu Tie laughed brightly: "I am called the Martial King, and I believe that the one with the biggest fist is the boss. You three represent the three forces; whoever ultimately wins, I will honor him as boss and lead the whole of Wuguo to rely on him."

Qingfeng, Fan Kun, Bai Lu, and the others glanced at each other and simultaneously let out a cold snort.

Fan Kun said coldly: "Does the Martial King treat us as children to toy with? If we go all out, then the Martial King would reap the benefits like a fisherman? Heh, hehe, the Red Lotus, Blue Lotus, and White Lotus—the Three Teachings were originally one family... for the sake of a Wuguo, fighting... is impossible."

Wu Tie immediately stabbed a knife into Fan Kun's wound: "Ah, I see, Master, you're afraid... just now, Priest Qingfeng's single strike severely injured you; you dare not make a move, right?"

Fan Kun fell silent for a moment, he touched his head and said solemnly: "Indeed, monastics do not tell falsehoods; I truly dare not fight Qingfeng... I cannot beat him, that's a fact, I don't mind losing face."

Bai Lu also laughed: "As the monk said, my White Lotus Sect disciples conduct themselves upright and honorable, never engaging in hypocritical evasion... Indeed, Senior Brother Qingfeng's profound Dao and boundless magic mean we are unwilling to fight. It would harm harmony."

Bai Lu chuckled, took out from his sleeve a white jade cup the size of a fist, inside which could be seen a pinch of yellow earth the size of a thumb. This speck of earth glowed with divine light all over, giving an inexplicable sense of heaviness, stability, and solidity.

"One portion of Nine Heavens Soil." Bai Lu's face grew more solemn: "The value of this treasure is up to each person's judgment."

Fan Kun pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and pulled from his sleeve a thumb-sized, lotus-shaped silver relic: "One Primordial True Buddha Relic... its value, to our Buddhist sect, is priceless."

Qingfeng looked at the Nine Heavens Soil, then at the True Buddha Relic, and suddenly cursed a vulgar, lowbrow swear.

"Pale face, baldy, you're... pushing this poor Daoist to death... fine, fine, fine, I can't let you look down on the foundations of my Azure Lotus Observatory." Qingfeng gritted his teeth, heart aching until he grimaced, and carefully pulled from his sleeve a palm-sized fragment of broken metal.

A fierce sword qi burst from the metal sheet covered in light rust, making a few 'hiss' sounds; those standing too close—Wu Tie, Fan Kun, Bai Lu, and the others—were inexplicably slashed several times by the invisible sword intent.

Wu Tie, caught off guard, felt the sword intent lightly graze his body; intense pain surged, and he immediately cracked open seven or eight deep sword wounds down to the bone. Vast amounts of blood spurted from the wounds; Wu Tie desperately circulated his essence-blood energy to seal them, but deathly energy invaded the wounds, extinguishing all vitality nearby, leaving no chance of healing.

Fan Kun and Bai Lu's faces changed.

Fan Kun's head bore a gauzy green cap that appeared, a vast green light undulating, blocking the invisible sword intent.

Bai Lu and his two companions shouted in unison, vast spiritual light blossoming on their bodies, transforming into scrolls of ink-scented scriptures that warded off the sword intent's erosion.

Qingfeng smiled: "In ancient times there were four extremely vicious swords that dominated the three realms in slaughter... this is a fragment of one of them. As for its value, you can estimate it yourselves."

Qingfeng looked at Wu Tie with a smile: "Martial King, whether you agree or not, our stake is simply these three treasures we keep at the bottom of the chest."