Chapter 508: If We’re Going to Bet, Let’s Make a Bigger Bet
Jiang Chen’s fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of his chair, following his own rhythm as he sat back. Even in the face of gazes flicking at him from all corners of the room, he was completely at ease.
“Stop pretending to be so mighty and mysterious, Jiang Chen. Answer the challenge if you have the guts, or bow your head if you don’t!” Rong Zifeng barked in laughter and looked on with contempt.
“Rong Zifeng, do you have any self respect at all?” Mu Gaoqi leapt to his feet, his voice rising in anger, “A sky origin cultivator of such an age, and yet you feel no shame in challenging us minor origin cultivators?”
Rong Zifeng smiled sinisterly. “Don’t worry, Mu Gaoqi, I won’t bully you. Come on up. If I can’t handle you in one move, then just count that as my incompetence. As for Jiang Chen, if you can even take three of my moves, then you can count that as me losing!” It was a thoroughly provocative tone.
“So what if you lose?” Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “You’re just flapping your lips. I have no interest in playing such a boring game.”
“Then what do you want to do?” Rong Zifeng snorted derisively.
“Since you want to play, let’s really play then. Whoever loses gets the hell out of the Sovereign Area.” Jiang Chen responded decisively.
Everyone snapped to attention when these words rang out. Jiang Chen was vicious alright! Although Rong Zifeng was putting up such a tough front, he didn’t actually dare agree to such a large bet.
“What? You were talking so tough just now, was that just for show? Did your balls turn into raisins when we upped the stakes a bit?” Jiang Chen flicked a mocking glance at Rong Zifeng.
Shen Qinghong frowned. “We’re all geniuses in the Sovereign Area. There’s no need to go so overboard for some light sparring. In my eyes, placing some bets are fine, but there’s no need for words such as leaving the Sovereign Area, spoken in the heat of the moment.”
The genteel Jun Mobai also agreed this time. “Indeed, a small bet will liven up the proceedings, but it’s likely that even the higher echelons will be displeased if the bets are too large.”
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “Rong Zifeng, I know you can’t afford to lose. How about this, tell me what you can afford to bet?”
Rong Zifeng was already beyond incensed from Jiang Chen’s provocative words. “Jiang Chen, don’t think I don’t dare bet against you! I’m just afraid of someone whining to the Palace Head once they lose. Since you want to bet, then let’s bet Origin Fostering Pills and spirit stones. Do you dare take me up on that?”
“Come come, tell me how much you can bet.” Jiang Chen gave an indifferent chuckle.
Rong Zifeng gnashed his teeth. “Two hundred upper rank Origin Fostering Pills and five hundred upper rank spirit stones! Do you have the guts to match that?” This wasn’t an insignificant sum to Rong Zifeng, it was one to two years worth of his stipend.
“That little?” Jiang Chen smirked disdainfully. “Too little, not interested.”
Rong Zifeng’s expression grew cold as he spoke frostily, “Jiang Chen, you’re just a foreign disciple. How much wealth can you possibly have to stand here blustering in this manner?”
“You can come laugh at me later if I can’t afford the bet. Don’t get muddled now, right now it’s me who’s looking down on your capital.”
Rong Zifeng wanted to say something else, but Shen Qinghong suddenly interjected. “In that case, let’s increase it by fivefold. Zifeng, I’ll pay for you if you don’t have enough.”
Jiang Chen laughed heartily. “Good, good! It’s the ostentatiously wealthy senior brother Shen alright! The supreme geniuses of the Sovereign Area are generous indeed.”
Shen Qinghong grew unaccountably irked by these words. He got the distinct feeling that Jiang Chen was somehow mocking him, insinuating that his cultivation level was the result of investing obscene amounts of wealth in himself.
“Come! Take out a thousand upper rank Origin Fostering Pills and three thousand upper rank spirit stones!” A follower immediately went to prepare the bet when Shen Qinghong waved his hand.
When Rong Zifeng saw that Shen Qinghong had somehow ended up backing him, he was inwardly delighted and leered at Jiang Chen. “Jiang Chen, I’m borrowing from senior brother Shen for now. You’ve made a great fuss till now, don’t tell me you can’t take out this piddling amount of capital?”
Jiang Chen had been making a great deal of things precisely because he’d been setting up this moment. What he lacked most at the moment were spirit stones! The Nine Gates Incineration Formation needed a staggering amount of spirit stones, and he could only fill up the void by half with what he had on hand. The three thousand upper rank spirit stones would partially fill the rest of the void. If he could collect another two or three thousand spirit stones, he would be able to operate the formations for approximately five years.
Shen Qinghong’s followers quickly brought forward a thousand Origin Fostering Pills and three thousand spirit stones. Although this was a sizable sum of money, it was still a pittance compared to his overall net worth. “Junior brother Jiang Chen, do you have enough pills and stones? Do you need to borrow some in advance from your humble brother here?” Shen Qinghong purposefully put on a courteous front. Once Jiang Chen used any of his resources, he’d never be able to escape from Shen Qinghong’s gasp!
“Thank you for your concern, senior brother. Although I can’t compare to senior brother Shen’s immense wealth, I can still afford to play with this kind of a small bet.” Jiang Chen took out a thousand upper rank Origin Fostering Pills and three thousand upper rank spirit stones as he spoke. These spirit stones counted as nearly two thirds of his current wealth.
He lightly placed the forfeit on the table and looked at Rong Zifeng with a deep gaze. “Well, how are we betting? Is it by the three moves you were just boasting about, or do we come up with another plan?”
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“Three moves are indeed a bit inappropriate. That’s not quite fair.” Shen Qihong shook his head, plainly not wanting to risk a potential loss for Rong Zifeng.
Jun Mobai smiled. “We can’t really bet on basis of actual strength when it comes down to a sky origin realm facing a minor origin realm, can we? The way I look at things, how about five moves?”
Lin Bi’er looked meaningfully at Jiang Chen. “Five moves seems rather fair.”
Three of the four kings had spoken, and the last, Nie Chong, shot a sharp look at Jiang Chen. “This Jiang Chen isn’t exactly weak since he was able to defeat Yan Hongtu. He has the strength of the peak of the earth origin realm. I say at least ten moves should be allowed for fairness.”
“Mm. Ten moves it is.” Shen Qinghong nodded.
Jiang Chen maintained a faint smile on his face throughout this exchange. He didn’t care in the slightest what number these folks ended at. Even though Rong Zifeng was at eighth level origin realm, when it really came down to a fight, Jiang Chen wasn’t afraid of his opponent. He was at the peak of the minor origin realm. If he really exerted his full strength, he’d have no problem fighting Rong Zifeng to a standstill, even if he didn’t win. If he went so far as to bring out his trump cards, he’d even have a thirty percent chance of winning.
Therefore, no matter whether it was three, five, ten, or even a hundred moves, Jiang Chen didn’t care in the slightest. Rong Zifeng would never beat him.
Having received Shen Qinghong and Nie Chong’s support, Rong Zifeng felt greatly emboldened. “Ten moves it is then. Jiang Chen, I will absolutely crush you within those ten moves. All our peers here can be my witness.”
“Come, let’s meet in the ring!” Rong Zifeng’s body flickered as he was the first to dash out.
Shen Qinghong also stood up. “Sparring is a great event in our Sovereign Area. Let’s go watch, everyone!”
Jun Mobai smiled slightly. “Enormous forfeits for a duel between geniuses. This is indeed an entertaining event. Junior sister Ling, let’s go take a look!”
Ling Bi’er responded faintly. “I can hear. I don’t need your invitation.”
Nie Chong smirked distantly as he leaped into the air and transformed into a streak of light, disappearing into the unknown before people’s eyes.
The two geniuses that had been promoted through the martial dao competition looked at Jiang Chen with some gratitude and pity. “Jiang Chen, if you lose, we’ll shoulder some of the cost for you.” The two geniuses knew that Jiang Chen’s match was also shielding them from disaster. Otherwise, with Rong Zifeng’s proclamation of one versus four, it would be an incredible blow to them if they lost.
Mu Gaoqi also put himself forth eagerly. “I’ll take on a third!”
However, Jiang Chen just laughed leisurely. “Don’t you guys even think about it!”
Mu Gaoqi and the other two were dazed as they saw Jiang Chen’s figure already dashing forward. His long laugh was carried on the wind back to them, “This Rong Zifeng comes bearing gifts with open hands. You guys want to share in the spoils? No way!”
Mu Gaoqi started as he finally understood Jiang Chen’s meaning. Brother Chen was actually full of confidence and had never even considered the possibility of him losing! The other two geniuses also blinked and started laughing ruefully. They increased their speed and sped towards the ring, not wanting to miss even one moment of the match.
Shen Qinghong was obviously accustomed to holding such matches as he even had a special ring built for just this kind of occasion. Rong Zifeng was currently standing in it, adopting a mighty and glorious pose that spoke of his unparalleled power. He was releasing the aura of the sky origin realm without holding back. His aura covered the entire sky over the ring, giving others an exceedingly stifling feeling.
“Brother Chen, you must be careful. Although he’s not one of the four kings, his original ranking in the Sovereign Area was number six. He’s quite strong.” Mu Gaoqi sent a quick reminder to Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen nodded lightly and walked up the steps to the ring.
The aura of the sky origin realm was not to be underestimated. The entire ring was suffused with an enormous sense of pressure, making Jiang Chen feel quite repressed.
“Mm? What’s this? An art of gravity?” Jiang Chen felt a tremendous weight settle on him as he set foot into the ring, seemingly restricting his movements.
Rong Zifeng’s gaze was piercingly cold as he gazed at Jiang Chen as if he were looking at an idiot. “Jiang Chen, I don’t know what kind of backdoor deal you made to make Palace Head Dan Chi value you so highly, but it’s high time that I rip that lying, thieving mask to pieces and let everyone understand that a country bumpkin is forever only a country bumpkin. You’ll never be on the same level as true geniuses!” The grave authority in his tone made it seem as if he were the ruler in the ring; as if his every word and gesture was an imperial edict.
“True genius?” Jiang Chen suddenly let loose with a peal of laughter. “Do you mean you? Sorry, I don’t see any genius in front of me, just a piece of garbage busy dallying in his own daydream.”
Rong Zifeng’s face stilled as he circulated his aura, appearing as an enormous mountain in front of Jiang Chen. His talents lay in the earth attribute, and all of his arts and methods lay in that area as well. “Jiang Chen, you can still talk tough even when facing death! My Great Earth Flood will restrict your movement by two thirds! Let’s see how you can still act cocky then!”
“Great Earth Flood” was one of Rong Zifeng’s arts of gravity. Once deployed, it would increase gravity in the surroundings by several folds, becoming a restrictive force that would greatly hinder his opponent’s movements.
Rong Zifeng rubbed his hands together once and turned a piece of paper scribbled with runes into nothing. Suddenly, dots of light the color of yellow soil formed a meter tall air current of stardust. It was a current of air generated by the art, but it was obvious that this dust wasn’t ordinary dust. Each particle was incredibly dense, and moved as if it could form an enormous restraining effect.