Bets and Summons

An outer disciple who appeared to be around twenty waved at him.

Zhuang Xun’s eyes darted about, an idea forming in his mind. A slight smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

He walked over to the outer disciple and glanced at the crowd of disciples with varied expressions gathered around a gambling table.

Then he asked, “How do you play?”

“Brother, are you new here?”

“That’s right. Just arrived, wandering around with nothing to do.”

“Come, come! Let me introduce the two main fighters in this duel.” The outer disciple put his arm around Zhuang Xun’s shoulder with familiarity. “The guy is Liu Qianghua, an inner disciple, early Nascent Soul, quite a rising star recently…”

“The girl is Yang Jing. She just joined the inner sect, and her cultivation is on par with his…”

“Apparently they had some quarrel, so they’re settling it with a duel.”

“So, brother, want to take a bet? See how good your judgment is.”

Zhuang Xun pretended to ponder, then said, “Alright.”

He took out a storage ring and poured a pile of shimmering spirit stones onto the table. “One hundred top-grade spirit stones on Yang Jing.”

“…”

“…”

Clink, clink, clink…

The sound of clashing spirit stones silenced the reveling disciples.

Normally, their monthly cultivation resources were only about a thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Those who performed well might get some high-grade ones.

This guy came and bet a hundred top-grade spirit stones in one go.

Was he some rich young master from a cultivation clan?

“…”

Zhuang Xun noticed all eyes on him, thinking, ‘Bite, line and sinker.’

He said a line that was absurdly wealthy: “What’s up? A hundred top-grade spirit stones isn’t much. If you think it’s too little, I’ll add a thousand.”

The outer disciple who had brought him over stammered, “Brother… are you serious?”

“Spirit stones are just numbers to me. I’m here for fun.”

“Well…”

“Younger disciple, once something’s on the table, it can’t be taken back,” a tall, thin inner disciple at the mid Nascent Soul stage suddenly said.

“Of course.”

Zhuang Xun immediately identified the opponent’s spiritual energy circulation through his meridians.

He roughly understood the inside story of this match.

This guy was probably the host of the bet…

His energy circulation path was almost identical to Liu Qianghua’s.

They must be from the same lineage, trying to make some extra spirit stones this way.

They sure had their calculations figured out.

But that suited him just fine.

He had been feeling suffocated these past two days by Xuanyuan Luoshui’s rebellious behavior.

He needed to let off some steam using her sect’s disciples.

“Fine, it seems you’re a straightforward fellow,” the tall disciple chuckled, inwardly gleeful. (‘Translation: rich fool’)

He then sent a divine sense message to Liu Qianghua and Yang Jing in the arena: ‘We’ve got a sucker. Qianghua, get serious. Yang Jing, show weakness.’

Buzz!

But just as the disciple finished transmitting, a pressure suddenly descended, drawing the attention of countless disciples.

“As disciples of the Dao Sect, instead of going back to cultivate properly, you watch others fight and even set up gambling tables…”

“All of you, go back! Copy the Pure Sutra thirty times!”

An old man with a single white eyebrow, wearing a gray-blue Daoist robe, stepped onto the void above the floating island. His expression was solemn, his tone stern.

Zhuang Xun turned to look at the old man standing in the void, and then a divine sense transmission entered his ear.

[It’s Elder Xuandao! Everyone scram!]

When Zhuang Xun turned back, the disciples around the gambling table had vanished, all fleeing.

They didn’t even have time to collect the spirit stones on the table.

“…”

What the…

It’s just an elder. No need for this, right?

But then Zhuang Xun felt a qi lock onto him.

“…”

Alright…

Looks like he’d better scram too.

It wasn’t that he was afraid; he just didn’t want to draw attention on his first day.

Definitely not because of the cultivation gap.

The next moment, Zhuang Xun summoned his spirit sword, ready to fly…

“Damn! Let’s go!”

But as soon as he flew less than two li in the air, he hit an “air wall.”

Buzz…

“Disciple, you cannot leave.”

“The sect master has matters to discuss with you at the palace.”

Elder Xuandao simply gave a gentle push from afar…

Zhuang Xun was rapidly propelled by an unknown spatial force toward a palace on a distant immortal peak.

…

Tianling Peak

Bang!

“Ouch~!”

Zhuang Xun was slammed heavily to the ground. He got up, rubbing his backside. “Hiss… what’s this about…”

A fragrant breeze swept over.

Ziyin, wearing a purple gauze fitted dress, her hands behind her back, bounced out from the palace gate to stand in front of Zhuang Xun.

“Hehe… finally escaped?”

“…”

Looking at the woman before him, with a cold beauty’s fairy-like face but acting lively and cute, Zhuang Xun was momentarily stunned. Could this be the sect master of the Tai Xuan Dao Sect?

She didn’t seem like a sect master at all.

More like a girl next door.

“Sect Master.”

Despite his feelings, Zhuang Xun respectfully bowed.

No need to provoke her… or she might pull a face-changing trick he knew all too well.

“Luoshui calls you Master. By rights, you should be older than me…”

“Yet you still call me ‘Sect Master’. It seems you’re cut from the same cloth.”

Ziyin circled around Zhuang Xun, examining him, and nodded slightly, apparently satisfied with certain aspects.

“Order between senior and junior, propriety between superior and subordinate—it’s been this way since ancient times.”

“Alright~ Don’t lecture me. I’m tired of hearing it.”

Ziyin had no airs in private.

But on formal occasions, some things had to be taken seriously.

“Since you’re Luoshui’s master, you must know a lot, right?”

“…”

“Though that should be the case, with my limited insight, I’m afraid I can’t answer the Sect Master’s questions.”

Zhuang Xun vaguely guessed what she wanted to ask, but preferred to evade.

“Impossible! You must know something. Otherwise, how would you explain the four-line prophecy in the mirror?”

“Sect Master, what four-line prophecy? I have no idea?”

Dao artifact…

River of Forgetfulness Ancient Mystery Mirror…

That thing was really a bug.

Zhuang Xun vaguely remembered that when Xuanyuan Luoshui first found him, he was completely baffled.

He had no idea how she could locate him across such a vast starry sea.

And so accurately…

She had really messed him up.

Thinking about it now, it was all the fault of that mirror.

Without it, she would never have found him in a lifetime.

The Great Dao of Causality was truly his nemesis.

“Primordial Origin Body, Demon Seed First Appears, Great Dao Erased, Fated Love in Life…”

“This was what Luoshui exchanged for by staying in the sect for another hundred years…”

“If you don’t explain clearly, I won’t let you off easily.”

“…”