Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen: The Wager

In the morning, Xiang Tiansheng was lecturing seven people in the lecture hall, evidently to accommodate Ning Ze and the others, explaining common knowledge for cultivators.

"The path of the Statesman and the path of the Qi Practitioner are both divided into nine realms and ten stages. Why are they divided this way? This was observed by the ancients from the nature of heaven and earth, divided by the Dao. Now that you are learning from me, you must first enter the path of the Statesman. The path of the Statesman emphasizes the use of techniques, and is intimately connected to a person's conviction and spirit soul."

"The entry realm for the Statesman is 'Lin Xing', the utmost priority for every Statesman cultivator. To enter the Lin Xing realm, one must observe conduct, understand purpose, and through imitation and learning, comprehend one's own Statesman path, laying the foundation for the path of techniques. Many cultivators do not understand the significance of the Lin Xing realm, merely imitating others' strengths without contemplating the path, ultimately becoming slaves to techniques. Remember, do not learn techniques purely for power; the path of the Statesman is the path of all beings, you must understand this sentence."

When speaking the last sentence, Xiang Tiansheng emitted a startling aura, wanting to carve this sentence deeply into Ning Ze and the others' minds; the lecture hall stirred without wind, blowing the seven people's faces askew. Everyone's pupils dilated, seeing Xiang Tiansheng release his aura for the first time, shocked speechless.

After everyone calmed down and carefully contemplated Xiang Tiansheng's words, the lecture on the path of the Statesman was deeply engraved in their minds. Ning Ze still had many doubts, and asked first: "Mr. Xiang, what specifically are the nine realms and ten stages of Qi Practitioners and Statesmen, how does a Statesman cultivate, and who is stronger between Statesmen and Qi Practitioners?"

"The first few realms of the Statesman are Lin Xing, Bing Shi, and Li Dou, corresponding respectively to the Qi Practitioner's Body Forging, Qi Refining, and Meridian Condensing. As for the later realms, you will understand when you reach them; do not aim too high. The Statesman cultivates the power of mind and will, penetrates the heart and spirit, comprehends principles, and accumulates cultivation to higher realms; you can simply understand it as cultivating spirit soul power. As for who is stronger between the two, each has their strengths; the key lies in the person. Enough, there are many things you must understand yourselves; the Training Hall has many books, you can go read them." Xiang Tiansheng's gaze grew somewhat desolate, his voice gradually weakening as he explained further, clearly not wanting to entangle on these issues.

Fu Qing and Yuan Li's expressions were also somewhat unsightly; their family backgrounds evidently knew more.

Afterwards, Xiang Tiansheng tested each person's spirit soul power. The Training Hall instantly turned into a battlefield; the sounds of golden spears and iron horses rang in their ears, thick bloody smell mixed with gunpowder smoke rushed into their nostrils, blades and axes hacked down, immediately frightening two people into unconsciousness.

The ground began to shake and tremble; cavalry in heavy armor surged forward, as if to crush everything before them; Fu Qing and Yuan Li could not hold on and also fainted.

After the cavalry passed, the dust settled; countless arrow feathers blocked out the sun and attacked, penetrating all obstacles; Pang Dun and Han Xian directly fell into a coma. After the arrow rain washed the ground, the vast battlefield was a mountain of corpses and sea of blood. Ning Ze clutched his head with both hands, knelt on the ground, his eyes gradually rolling back, saliva flowing uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.

Xiang Tiansheng stopped the test; the lecture hall returned to its original state; everything just now was an illusion created by his mind-will power. He hadn't expected Ning Ze's spirit soul to be anomalous, his consciousness never fading; continuing the test might harm Ning Ze. Silently watching Ning Ze for a long while, Xiang Tiansheng finally narrowed his eyes, took a token from his pocket and placed it into Ning Ze's pocket.

"You give this to him, what about your disciples? Aren't you afraid they'll come trouble Ning Ze?" The fortune-telling old Daoist walked into the lecture hall, took out the token again, carefully running his fingers over the token's patterns.

Xiang Tiansheng still kept his eyes tightly shut, took the token back, sighed and stuffed it into Ning Ze's pocket again, saying: "My disciples, let them fight for it themselves; those who can't win are trash. As for Ning Ze, isn't there you protecting him?"

By the time the seven woke up, it was already afternoon. Ning Ze's head ached as if splitting, like someone had struck him a few times with a hammer from behind. Recalling the morning's scene, it seemed he had persisted to the end.

He shook his head, finally clearing up a little, feeling something in his pocket. Ning Ze took it out to look — a token, ornate patterns, runes hooking and linking inside; could it be from Xiang Tiansheng?

Ning Ze didn't think further, examined his own condition, and discovered he was different from usual; his ears and eyes were more acute. At a distance of several dozen meters, he could actually see an ant's movements; is this the benefit of cultivation? Thinking this, Ning Ze felt he should first go see the Training Hall's collection of books.

Following the hall guards' directions, Ning Ze arrived at a cliff cave. After a round of reporting, Ning Ze entered the book repository. Finding books recording the world, he flipped through page after page of paper, Ning Ze greedily immersed himself in absorbing knowledge.

Unexpectedly, Wu Feng had also entered the cliff cave, one after the other. After Ning Ze finished reading, Wu Feng walked over, his expression without arrogance, only calm and indifference, saying: "You all should be from some small place, otherwise why would you read this kind of book. Ning Ze, you're very unlucky to be caught up in a big shot's contest."

Ning Ze picked up another book, opened it and said: "You came specially to find me, not just to say this, right?"

Wu Feng spread his hands, raised an eyebrow, and replied: "You're very smart, and very talented. Leave Xiang Tiansheng, follow us, I guarantee you'll stay alive. Perhaps you don't understand well; to express my sincerity, I'll tell you one thing: Fubo City is going to change."

Ning Ze's hand turning the page paused, he turned his head: "Big shots' contests I can't control; I just want to cultivate properly. You tell me this news, aren't you afraid I'll turn around and blab? If I don't side with you, will I be killed to silence me?" Finished speaking, he went back to reading.

Wu Feng didn't continue pestering, took a book and walked out, saying: "Last night's matter you were very lucky, but luck isn't always there. You're a smart person; the match in two days you must lose, otherwise..." Ning Ze didn't respond to him, his page-turning speed noticeably slowing.

Outside, Lan Wumin was waiting for Wu Feng; seeing Wu Feng come out, he stepped forward to ask: "How? Did he agree?"

Wu Feng smiled and shook his head, replying: "I told him the news, let him weigh it himself." Hearing this, Lan Wumin grew anxious; Wu Feng continued: "Regardless of whether he agrees, the result is the same; I actually hope he turns around and tells, then killing him would be justified. After all, keeping a genius on our side isn't too good, right?"

Besides the first day lecturing in the hall, Xiang Tiansheng spent the remaining two days tempering the seven people's bodies. Since that day, no one came to find Ning Ze again; Ning Ze soaked in the book repository cliff cave every day reading.

Three days passed in a flash; big shots streamed into the Training Hall continuously, basically the entire upper echelon of Fubo City came. They'd long heard Mr. Xiang was a Military School expert, but no one had truly witnessed his strength, plus Wu Feng and the others fanning the flames behind the scenes. Spectators and those with ulterior motives came one after another to watch the duel.

Ning Ze followed Xiang Tiansheng to the match location, a spacious training ground in the Training Hall; a huge debate sand table was moved to the center. Only now did Ning Ze discover the Training Hall actually had quite a few disciples, nearly a hundred, plus over twenty teachers, nearly surrounding the training ground so tight water couldn't leak through.

On the high platform, the Training Hall Master was hosting Fubo City's City Lord — Fubo, clad in military armor, sitting majestically upright in the main seat, a gentle smile chatting amiably with others. On the right was the slightly thin, sharp-eyed City Guard Commander — Wu Wangshu, scanning like a hawk; Ning Ze was glanced at, feeling like being pricked by a needle. The left seat was a young man, precisely the Xiyue Cave Third Young Master met at Juman Hall.

Sun Linhai and Wu Yuan were already waiting at the training ground, attaching extreme importance to this match. Wu Feng also stood to the side, the three muttering something. Seeing Xiang Tiansheng arrive, the surroundings grew lively, everyone discussing who would win this match.

But Xiang Tiansheng had no good mood, already quite dissatisfied with this match, and without much nonsense directly told Sun Linhai to hurry up and start. Sun Linhai wasn't annoyed either, shook his head, quite the gentlemanly bearing, a faint smile on his face, stepped forward and cupped fists to request the Training Hall Master's permission.

On the high platform, the Training Hall Master was a middle-aged man with eagle eyes and bear-like build, steady steps, thick muscles interpreting the righteousness of power in every movement; he scanned the crowd below, his voice like thunder: "Let it be said first: the match involves blades and swords without eyes, injuries are unavoidable, but please show mercy, do not harm the harmony."

Finished speaking, the three entered the debate sand table with their mind and spirit. Only now did Ning Ze know that when mind and spirit enter the sand table, the body still has perception. When he entered before, his mind-will power was too weak, fundamentally unable to perceive his body's existence.

Looking around, with such a lively event, Ning Ze discovered the fortune-telling old Daoist hadn't come along; just as he found it strange, he heard familiar shouting from not far away.

"Come come come, look look, place your bets, bet on Xiang Tiansheng to win pays 1.5, bet on Sun Linhai to win pays 2.5, draw kills all." Sure enough, the fortune-telling old Daoist took advantage of the bustle to ply his old trade, a circle of people already surrounding him.

Ning Ze sidled up to the fortune-telling old Daoist, helplessly asking in a low voice what the old Daoist wanted to do.

"You brat, this you don't understand? Cultivation costs a lot of money; taking advantage of the opportunity to scrape a final haul, fatten myself up, otherwise usually what's enough for cultivation." The fortune-telling old Daoist watched the constant stream of betted valuables, hands continuously gathering them in, grinning until his eyes nearly disappeared.

At this moment, Wu Feng, who had been watching Ning Ze's movements, walked over, directly betting a ginseng, entirely blood-red, veins clear, fresh blood seemingly dripping on its root hairs.

"I bet one blood ginseng, betting on Sun Linhai to win. Say, if I win, what will you pay me? This blood ginseng isn't something gold and silver can repay; do you have something to pay?" Wu Feng's eyebrows flicked, eyes half-narrowed staring at Ning Ze, clearly here to specifically target Ning Ze.

The fortune-telling old Daoist was displeased now, smacked his lips, pretended to casually pull out a small piece of meat, turned his face away: "Young man, looking down on Dao Grandpa, open your dog eyes wide and look, what is this." Thunder Python meat, flesh translucent, faint lightning flashing on it. Everyone exclaimed at the marvel!

This commotion alarmed the Xiyue Cave Third Young Master; the man flew down slowly from the platform, took the Thunder Python meat from the old Daoist's hand, gently stroked it in his hand, a trace of surprise flashing across his face, explaining: "Truly a fine treasure, even I'm moved. This is Thunder Python meat; hmm, still a Thunder Python that underwent lightning tribulation; perhaps this piece of meat can be called Thunder Jiao meat." Then he tossed out a flying sword, betting it on Sun Linhai.

Once these words came out, the people nearby boiled over. Everyone took out their heaven-and-earth treasures, spirit stones, spirit medicines, betting a pile. The fortune-telling old Daoist looked at the pile of treasures, hands trembling nonstop, touching this, examining that, laughing until his face wrinkles deepened.

"With this many treasures bet, your one small piece of Thunder Python meat probably isn't enough to pay." Wu Feng looked at so many bets, picking fault again, saying sinisterly from the side.

The fortune-telling old Daoist was instantly in a difficult spot, so angry his white beard blew up, glared fiercely at Wu Feng, what are you stirring up. This sentence hit his vital point; helplessly he turned to Ning Ze, revealing a smile uglier than crying, as ingratiating as could be. Ning Ze found it off-putting, rolled his eyes, slowly extended five fingers.

Seeing Ning Ze's lion's mouth demand, the fortune-telling old Daoist nearly cried in anxiety, looked back at the treasures, carefully extended two fingers, eyes sneakily watching Ning Ze's expression. Ning Ze smiled, turned and walked away, quite the "this young master's leaving, not serving you" attitude. The old Daoist hurriedly grabbed him, hastily agreed to Ning Ze's demand; this agreement seemed to drain all his spirit, he plopped down on the ground, putting on a pained mask.

Ning Ze considered, then took out another piece of Thunder Python meat, tossed it onto the betting table. Wu Feng didn't speak this time, a ruthless gaze swept over Ning Ze, threw down three pieces of gold stone to bet, turned and left. Actually Earth Magma Stones; Ning Ze had just learned from books these past days, this item is a supreme treasure for artifact forging. Watching Wu Feng leave resentfully, Ning Ze touched his wrist ring, smiled and let it go.

The Xiyue Cave Third Young Master watched this scene with great interest; his interest in Ning Ze grew even stronger.