Swordsman the Wanderer
Ch. 502 - Betting
However, according to the rules of the competition, participants who fail within the specified three hours are not allowed to leave the field. They had to wait until the three hours were over, therefore these participants could only remain in the square and watch the other participants continue to advance.
Another half hour passed.
In the silent square, silvery cries echoed, followed by a brilliant light that shot up into the sky.
Turning to its source, Ming Zhi's furnace was seen hovering high in the air as round pills resembling glowing jade beads flew out from the furnace. Immediately, the scent of medicinal pills permeated the square, intoxicating the many masters in the surroundings.
Within a few seconds, all of the spirit pills Ming Zhi had purified had flown out of the furnace and there were a total of twenty pills! Moreover, each pill emitted a glow of luster. No one doubted that these pills were of the highest quality and grade.
A disciple from the Alchemist Association in charge rushed to collect twenty pills from Ming Zhi, taking them to the host's place.
After verifying it, Chu Ling announced, "Twenty God Pills, all top grade, purification time; one and a half hours!"
All the crowd was in a rage.
Hearing the breaths and gasping sounds and all the exclamations, a trace of satisfaction appeared on Ming Zhi's face. He still did not use his dragon fire just now, only the fire that changed from his divine essence.
Ming Zhi then glanced at Zhang En, who was still refining his pills.
A moment later, another dazzling light burst into the sky.
Two hours passed, and the number of successful participants increased, but again, more people failed.
By the time the time reached two and a half hours, Zhang En had finally managed to refine his pill. To Zhang En, two and a half hours was neither too fast nor attracting too much attention, nor too slow so he was the last person to succeed.
Seeing that Zhang En had only managed to complete his pill refining after two and a half hours, the smile of ridicule on Ming Zhi's face deepened.
Soon, the three-hour time limit reached its end.
In the final seconds, no more than a hundred and forty participants escaped the stage of the preliminary.
There were ten thousand people participating in the competition, but no more than a hundred and forty people managed to qualify.
With the result of the preliminary round, the square had now become even more empty.
The next stage did not begin immediately. Instead, it was scheduled an hour later after the preliminary stage ended. One hour is a break for the participants who managed to escape to re-examine their strength.
....
An hour later. Chu Ping once again spoke, “I have explained the rules of the final round before, and I am sure that all is very clear about it. If there are no questions, then the competition will start!”
"WAIT!"
As Chu Ping finished his sentence, someone shouted. Turning to the origin of the voice, the one who shouted was none other than Ming Zhi.
Ming Zhi looked at Zhang En, coldly saying, “Zhang En, competing in this way is very unattractive. What if we both bet? If you lose, then you must return all the things you have taken from me when I lost the bet with you, as well as the Ice World treasure chest! Besides, if you lose, you also have to kneel before me and do kotow a thousand times. Also, when you meet me in the future, you should respectfully call me your Ancestor!”
Although his voice was not loud, everyone present heard every time the Ming Zhi ceremony loud and very clear.
A cold light flashed in Zhang En's eyes, his gaze fixed on Ming Zhi, "And if you lose?"
Ming Zhi was silent for a moment hearing this, then laughed out loud, “Zhang En, you think you can defeat me? Looks like you don't understand what the Fire Dragon represents. Didn't Senior Kun have told you? Ha ha haa.!” Ming Zhi's words and laughter were extremely arrogant as he replied to Zhang En's question.
Zhang En sneered, “Are you planning to bet like when we fought first, fishing for a tiger with your bare hands? If I lose, I have to give and do everything you just said. If I win, this means you want to do nothing? It's okay if you're an idiot, but please don't think that everyone in the world is an idiot like you!”
Ming Zhi's face flushed red, glaring furiously at Zhang En, “Alright! If I lose, this Golden Treasure, including ten thousand gold pills, becomes yours!” Ming Zhi said as he waved both hands and a huge golden cube appeared high up in the air. When the boundary around the golden cube was opened, spirit stones piled up as high as mountains, gold coins, spiritual herbs, and god pills could be seen within it.!
"Gold Treasure!" Surprised voices echoed around the square, eyes blazing with greed staring fixedly at the golden cube.
This Golden Treasure was the highest treasure left behind by the ancient God of the Sky Dragon Galaxy. The level and value of this golden treasure rivaled Zhang En's Ice World Treasure. The Gold Pill inside the cube was one of the ten Great God Pills.
Every god pill among all pills, grand god pills were extremely rare and priceless and their manufacture was extremely limited. Thus, grand god pills could hardly be bought even with money.
Zhang En then asked in an indifferent tone, "What else are you going to bet on?"
Ming Zhi was dazed for a moment, then she sneered, "You should do a thousand kowtows as an apology to me, and also you should call me your Ancestor!"
"Gee!" Zhang En nodded with a flat face, then he took out his Ice World Treasure, and some of the Ming Zhi treasures he had won during their fight decades ago.
Although Ming Zhi noticed that there was one thing of his possessions back then that Zhang En did not take out, he did not mind it.
Thinking of that time, a strong hatred radiated in Ming Zhi's eyes. He would pay back the humiliation that Zhang En had given him back then many times over on this day.
“Oh yes, purifying the pill within three hours is too long, our bet and the winner will be decided within one hour only. The one who can refine a high-tier god pill in an hour, and with the highest grade, will be the winner!”
Zhang En then added again, "And the pill refining process should not use a furnace!"
Hearing Zhang En's additional condition, a voice of shock could be heard from all the crowd present.
Refining a high grade god pill within three hours was impossible, not even a high level Alchemist Grandmaster dared to guarantee they could successfully do so within three hours.
Ming Zhi's expression darkened. If given three hours, he has full confidence to succeed, but it is a different matter if the time limit is set within the span of one hour.
Only an Alchemist who had reached a certain level of skill could do so.
"How, you don't seem to dare, do you?" Zhang En sneered.
"Agreed!" Ming Zhi's gaze turned cold. He naturally knew Zhang En's purpose in reducing the refining time to an hour and should not use a furnace.
However, he refused to believe that Zhang En's alchemy skills were better than him!
Listening to Zhang En and Ming Zhi's betting agreement, Chu Ping turned to look at their Great Elder, Master Kun, indirectly giving the final decision to the old man.
Master Kun nodded, agreeing to Ming Zhi and Zhang En's bet, adding a sentence in a cold voice, “Enable the Pill City Ancient God Killing Formation. When the outcome would be determined, whoever dared to interfere, no matter who it was, kill them mercilessly! ”
The expressions of the surrounding masters stiffened hearing Master Kun's orders..This Ancient God Killing Formation was renowned as an unavoidable killing formation.
The Heavenly Dragon Sect Master, Long Qin, looked grim. Master Kun's orders were a direct warning to him. When the outcome of Zhang En and Ming Zhi's bet came out, if he, Long Qin, dared to interfere when Ming Zhi lost, Ming Zhi lost, then he should not blame the Alchemist Association for ruthlessly slaughtering them if they interfered.
Svosh...!!
The formation curtain covered the entire city. Chu Ping then faced each other.the other participants in the plaza.l asked, “Does any of you mind? Otherwise, their bet will both start?”
All the participants naturally did not mind. Zhang En and Ming Zhi's side bets they feel are in their favor.
"Alright, the betting competition starts from now on!" Seeing that no one voiced any objections, Chu Ping declared in a loud voice.
SWOSH.. SWOSH... SWOSH!!! Suddenly, various colors of flames erupted in the place where Zhang En and Ming Zhi were.