Stepping off the sky skiff, Chen Xu saw a sea of heads moving before him. If he hadn't known this was for the Tianxin Assessment, he would have thought he had arrived at a famous tourist attraction.
"Greetings, everyone. Are you here to participate or to watch? If you are here to watch, our Sifang Chamber of Commerce has specially modified sky skiffs that serve as both residences and excellent viewing positions."
"Your Sifang Chamber of Commerce certainly has a lot of tricks. So tell me, what is the price for those modified sky skiffs?" Chen Xu asked curiously.
"For the outer circle, it is 1,000 spirit stones per night. The middle circle is 5,000 spirit stones per night. As for the inner circle, if you want it, you can book for the next session. This session is already sold out."
"Pardon me for my intrusion," Chen Xu said, cupping his hands as he prepared to leave.
"Guest, please do not think it is expensive. Look at how many people are around us. There are even fewer houses on the ground. Those restaurants near the arena are no cheaper than the sky skiffs."
Chen Xu shook his head, and the man stopped pestering him.
"The assessment begins the day after tomorrow. I will go and register first. You seniors and Big Brother Chen can wander around the island," Shen Mengqi said. "Senior Wu and the others booked rooms at Tinghai Pavilion in advance. We can just gather there tonight."
The group nodded, and Shen Mengqi left on her own.
Since this Sifang Island was operated by the Sifang Chamber of Commerce, based on the things they had come up with earlier, there should be plenty of interesting things to see. Chen Xu happened to want to take a look.
Wang Sen and Zhao Yifang, the two sword cultivators, departed together. Shi Jing and Zheng Hong each walked off in their own directions.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, I heard that this Sifang Island has the Tower of Three Excellences. Are you interested in going to see it?" Ma Ku remained behind and extended an invitation to Chen Xu.
"Oh? Which three excellences?"
"Excellence in Music, Excellence in Discourse, and Excellence in Gambling."
"Tell me more," Chen Xu said, his interest piqued.
"As the saying goes, money makes things easy. Every time the Tianxin Assessment is held, the Sifang Chamber of Commerce spends a great deal of money to invite musical masters from the Yinjue Alliance to perform in the Tower of Three Excellences. This is the Excellence in Music. The Sifang Chamber of Commerce is spread across the Immortal Island and backed by the four great sects, so everyone gives them some face. Their disciples spread across the world act as their ears, collecting news from everywhere. Every ten years, they publish a ranking that discusses the world's geniuses."
"As for the Excellence in Gambling, as the name suggests, it is about setting up betting pools for the upcoming assessment. With the Sifang Chamber of Commerce acting as the bookmaker, no one worries about them failing to pay out."
"Fellow Daoist Ma, shall we go take a look together?"
"Let us go."
The two of them moved through the crowd, navigating the rare gaps between people. After squeezing through for a long time, they finally arrived beneath the Tower of Three Excellences.
Two large stone steles stood outside the Tower of Three Excellences, densely packed with names and evaluations. Beneath the steles, two people wearing the robes of the Sifang Chamber of Commerce were shouting loudly.
One pointed at a stele, recounting the deeds of the geniuses recorded on it, while the other held several booklets, shouting, "This year's Immortal Island Genius Registry! Five spirit stones per copy! First come, first served!"
"Give me two copies!"
"Right away! Here you go. Once they leave my hands, you are responsible for them."
There were quite a few buyers, one after another.
Chen Xu looked at the names recorded on the two stone steles.
Xiao Haotian of the Xuanhuo Sect. Born with a divine anomaly, he possessed a companion flame within his body. He joined the Xuanhuo Sect the year before last and successfully reached the foundation establishment stage within a hundred days.
Ling Qian of the Shuanghua Sect. The daughter of the Shuanghua Sect's master. She possessed a rare variant ice spirit root. Rumor had it she was perfectly compatible with the sect's technique, the Ice Blossom Mantra. She reached the foundation establishment stage in a hundred days.
...
Wangshu, a rogue cultivator. On the Eastern Sea, he had subdued rampaging foundation establishment stage sea beasts multiple times.
"Fellow Daoist Ma, I remember the Tianxin Assessment is only for those below the foundation establishment stage. Why are there foundation establishment stage cultivators recorded on this stele?" After reading both steles, Chen Xu counted about 300 records. Most were at the qi refining stage, but some were at the foundation establishment stage, and others had unknown cultivation levels.
Ma Ku shook his head, indicating he did not know either.
"The two of you must be seeing the Tianxin Assessment for the first time. The information on these steles is only basic. As long as the Sifang Chamber of Commerce believes someone's strength, realm, or deeds are sufficient, they will record them. For more detailed content, you must buy their Immortal Island Genius Registry. The registry specifically marks which geniuses will participate in the Tianxin Assessment."
Hearing the passerby's explanation, Chen Xu realized the truth. As expected of businessmen, they put up two free steles to whet people's appetites. If you wanted to know more, you had to spend spirit stones on their registry.
"Thank you for clarifying, Brother. I have another question. I wonder if you could answer it?" Having met a helpful local, Chen Xu planned to ask one more thing.
"Please speak, young friend," the man nodded.
"I heard this Tower of Three Excellences has music, discourse, and gambling. I see the discourse now, but I do not know where the music and gambling are."
"Hahaha! The Excellence in Music is inside the tower. Who wouldn't want to hear a piece from the musical masters of the Yinjue Alliance? But there are only so many seats in the Tower of Three Excellences, so the Sifang Chamber of Commerce set an entry fee of 50 spirit stones. Heh, they really know how to run a business."
"As for the gambling, that is on the other side. They built a separate tower just for people to place bets. After all, not many people will spend 50 spirit stones to hear a song, but many will spend 5 spirit stones to place a bet."
"I see. Thank you, Brother." Chen Xu cupped his hands in gratitude. The man waved his hand and vanished into the crowd.
"Fellow Daoist Ma, should we buy a registry as well so we can study it together tonight?" Chen Xu looked at Ma Ku. After all, he was not a cultivator and did not usually carry things like spirit stones.
"That sounds good. It is best to know ourselves and our enemies." Ma Ku took out five spirit stones and bought a copy of the registry. He flipped through a few pages before handing it to Chen Xu.
Chen Xu waved it away and said, "Let us look at it together tonight. I do not know much about the supernatural system of cultivation, so I would not be able to make much of it."
Hearing this, Ma Ku put the registry away. "Shall we go see the Excellence in Gambling?"
The two of them walked behind the stone steles. To their surprise, it was even more crowded here. If not for several members of the Sifang Chamber of Commerce directing the flow, it would have been impossible to move at all.
They finally managed to squeeze inside. Entering the building, they found the interior was a separate space that was much more spacious.
"Please line up according to the signs. Anyone entering the building must place at least one bet. Those who do not wish to bet, please leave immediately." A voice repeated the announcement continuously above the hall.
Hearing that he had to place at least one bet, Chen Xu quickly borrowed five spirit stones from Ma Ku.
He then joined one of the lines.
"Why do we have to enter one by one to place a bet?" Seeing a small room at the end of each line, with one person entering as another left, Chen Xu could not help but feel curious.
"This is how the Sifang Chamber of Commerce protects the privacy of the bettors. Those small rooms are equipped with Earth-rank isolation arrays that can even block the divine sense of a Golden Core True Person. There was once someone who placed a massive bet and won, only to be killed by bandit cultivators on the road. Afterward, the Sifang Chamber of Commerce added these rooms to ensure the safety of their guests."
So that was it. He hadn't expected there to be bandit cultivators specialized in robbery in the world of the Immortal Island. On Blue Star and in Akhan, because both worlds faced dungeon invasions, humans were relatively united against external threats. It seemed that without external troubles, internal problems arose on the Immortal Island.
The betting process was very fast, and it was soon Chen Xu's turn.
As the person before him opened the door and left, Chen Xu walked in.
The room was quite simple. Plaques of some participants hung on the left wall. Behind a counter in front of him sat an old man, writing something with a brush.
"Five spirit stones per bet. The left wall displays the popular candidates provided by the Sifang Chamber of Commerce. If you have a preferred candidate, you may tell me the name."
Seeing Chen Xu looking around after entering, the old man realized he was a novice and spoke up to remind him.
"Shen Mengqi, one bet." Chen Xu took out the spirit stones and handed them to the old man.
Hearing Chen Xu announce an unknown name, the old man looked up and said, "Young friend, the Sifang Chamber of Commerce has operated for many years. While we do not get it right every time, we are correct eight or nine times out of ten. Why not choose a name from the wall instead of wasting your spirit stones?"
"Thank you for the reminder, Elder, but I will still bet on Shen Mengqi." Chen Xu was going to fight in the arena anyway, so there was no reason not to bet on his own team. There was always a chance they could win.
"Is it because you are in her team?" The old man made a guess based on Chen Xu's appearance.
"How did you know, Elder?"
"I have seen many like you over the years, but in the end, not a single one has succeeded." The old man shook his head, clearly not favoring Chen Xu's choice.
"What if I am the exception?"
Hearing Chen Xu say this, the old man took a stone coin from behind the counter. "This is a Heaven-Earth Coin commonly used in the gambling house. One side is carved with the word 'Heaven' and the other with 'Earth'." He then took out a stone cup and dropped the Heaven-Earth Coin inside.
"This cup is cast from Heaven-Loathing Stone, which can block divine sense." He shook the stone cup up and down before slamming it upside down on the counter. "Young friend, why not guess? Is the 'Heaven' side up, or the 'Earth' side?"
Chen Xu did not understand the old man's intent, so he answered randomly, "Earth."
The old man lifted the stone cup. On the counter, the word 'Heaven' was facing up.
"What a pity." The old man shook his head. "Do you still refuse to change your bet?"
Chen Xu was thoughtful, but he still decided to bet on his own side. "I will not change it."
Seeing this, the old man did not insist. He took out a piece of paper, wrote Shen Mengqi's name, and stamped the bottom. He then tore the paper in half, keeping one half and giving the other to Chen Xu.
"After the assessment, if you win, bring this paper back to exchange it for spirit stones."
"Thank you, Elder." Chen Xu took the paper and turned to leave.
Watching Chen Xu's back, the old man took out a tobacco pipe from under the counter and took a puff. "The world's heroes are judged by the world. Who knows the heart of Tianxin?"
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