The round-faced cultivator had just breathed a sigh of relief, a flattering smile spreading across his face as he prepared to offer some sycophantic words, when Li Nanzhu's crisp voice rang out again.
"Why don't we bet on which sect will take first place?"
These words were like a sudden clap of thunder, causing the several Qingxia Sect disciples to freeze instantly in place.
The smile on the round-faced cultivator's face hardened, and the purple-robed cultivator's fingers gripped the hem of his robe so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Didn't she say it was a difficult choice? Why was she still betting?
"This… this…" The round-faced cultivator's voice carried a hint of a sob, and the cold sweat he had just wiped away began to bead on his forehead once more.
Just as they were about to break down, they suddenly realized the meaning behind Li Nanzhu's words—among the nine participants, eight were from the Water Moon Sect, and only Jiang Yifan represented the Five Elements Dao Sect!
The purple-robed cultivator's eyes widened. His expression shifted from despair to astonishment, and then from astonishment to wild joy.
He pinched his thigh hard, fearing he was dreaming.
"Junior… Junior Sister, do you mean…" The round-faced cultivator's voice was trembling, "Betting on the top sect? Not on the individual winner?"
"That's right." Li Nanzhu smiled with innocent radiance. "Eight of the nine participants are from the Water Moon Sect, and one is from the Five Elements Dao Sect. We'll bet on which sect the final winner belongs to, how about it?"
The disciples looked at each other, the wild joy in their eyes nearly overflowing.
How was this a losing bet? This was clearly a gift from the heavens!
Eight against one—this was practically handing them spirit stones!
"Is—is that true?" The purple-robed cultivator's voice cracked, a greedy light flickering in his eyes. "Junior Sister, are you serious?"
Li Nanzhu's brow furrowed, and her face suddenly dropped. "What? Weren't you speaking so confidently just now? Are you scared now?" She stomped her foot angrily. "Surely you're not the type who can't afford to lose?"
"No, no!" The round-faced cultivator waved his hands hurriedly, a flash of craftiness crossing his eyes. "We were just confirming…"
He quietly observed Li Nanzhu's huffing appearance, feeling secretly delighted.
This little girl was clearly forcing a bet just to save face; she was acting entirely on impulse!
"Then…" the purple-robed cultivator asked tentatively, "should we establish a contract? Just so…"
"Yes, yes, yes!" another disciple chimed in quickly. "A contract would be more official!"
They exchanged looks, terrified that Li Nanzhu would calm down and regret it. This was a bargain delivered to their doorstep; it would be foolish not to take advantage of it!
Li Nanzhu seemed to grow even angrier, her face turning bright red. "Fine, let's do it! Who's afraid of who!"
She angrily pulled a blank contract talisman from her storage bag. "If any of you dare to back out…"
"We won't, we won't!" the disciples said in unison, scrambling to crowd around her.
A flash of spiritual light sparked from Li Nanzhu's fingertip as she quickly wrote out the terms of the bet. The disciples scanned them greedily, and once they confirmed everything was correct, they impatiently bit their fingers and pressed their prints onto it.
"It's your turn, Junior Sister." The round-faced cultivator suppressed his excitement as he handed the contract talisman back to Li Nanzhu.
Li Nanzhu took the contract talisman in a huff and pressed her own print as if acting out of spite.
The moment the contract was established, a golden light flashed, and the paper split into six copies, one for each person.
"Are you satisfied now?" Li Nanzhu snorted, picking up Suisui and turning to leave.
The disciples clutched their contract talismans, unable to hide their smiles any longer. The purple-robed cultivator whispered, "That silly girl, she actually signed a contract just to win an argument…"
"Shh! Lower your voice!" The round-faced cultivator made a silencing gesture, but the glee in his eyes was unmistakable. "We've made a huge profit this time!"
"When she loses, she'll have to give us a total of six hundred mid-grade spirit stones!"
They didn't notice the meaningful smile that curled on Li Nanzhu's lips as her back was turned to them.
Feng Qingping watched Li Nanzhu skip back and shook her head helplessly. "Have you played enough?"
Li Nanzhu blinked, the anger on her face long gone. "Who knows?"
Duan Xianxing leaned in. "Is six hundred mid-grade spirit stones a bit too little? Should we add more?"
The corner of Li Nanzhu's mouth twitched involuntarily, and she almost broke her expression.
She shot a helpless glance at her seventh senior brother, who sometimes had no concept of the value of spirit stones, and whispered, "Seventh Senior Brother, do you know what a hundred mid-grade spirit stones mean to them?"
Mu Wenyan gave a helpless smile and took over the conversation. "In a third-rate sect like the Qingxia Sect, an outer sect disciple's monthly stipend is at most three or four mid-grade spirit stones. A hundred mid-grade spirit stones is enough to bankrupt them."
Li Nanzhu nodded. "Any more and they wouldn't have dared to bet." She glanced at the Qingxia Sect disciples who were grinning foolishly while holding their contract talismans. "This amount is just right. It's enough to teach these loose-tongued fellows a lesson without scaring them off."
Duan Xianxing scratched his head, finally realizing. "I see! I thought…"
"Did you think everyone was as rich as us?" Feng Qingping teased.
Duan Xianxing rubbed his nose and coughed lightly, turning his gaze back to the arena.
As for the outcome of the bet?
There was no need to think about it.
Because the one standing before the refining table was Jiang Yifan.
He was the most outstanding refinery master of their Five Elements Dao Sect.
In the arena, Jiang Yifan had already begun processing the second batch of materials. He took out a piece of scarlet sun crystal and melted it in the small furnace on the right.
At the same time, the purple cloud iron in the left furnace was being processed simultaneously.
"He actually has enough divine sense to control both?" a young disciple exclaimed.
On the judges' platform, the attention of the elders returned to the competition.
"This technique…" the grand elder of the Shenmu Sect marveled, "is indeed exquisite."
However, Elder Ming Deng of the Water Moon Sect let out a cold snort. "Flashy. Refining requires focus; trying to do two things at once will only affect the quality."
Despite his words, his eyes couldn't help but drift toward Jiang Yifan, and the others tacitly refrained from exposing his stubbornness.
As for the other disciples—
The alchemy furnace in front of Liu Qingyang was also glowing with a strange light, but it wasn't about to be completed; he had just finished the preliminary processing of the materials.
He adjusted the heat with hand seals from time to time, fine beads of sweat already appearing on his forehead. At first, he had the leisure to steal glances at Jiang Yifan, but now he was completely occupied.
Only Chu Chenzhou's progress was comparable to his.
However, Chu Chenzhou was clearly a step ahead, currently entering the material fusion stage as the spiritual light in his furnace grew brighter.
"Now that's a normal speed." Elder Ming Deng nodded with satisfaction. "I wonder if this child, Chenzhou, will try to push for a tier 5 mid-grade artifact this time."
"Tier 5 mid-grade? So the rumors that Martial Nephew Chu can refine tier 5 magic tools aren't just hearsay?"
Hua Xiangrong's round fan stopped in mid-air, a flash of surprise in her beautiful eyes. "To be able to refine tier 5 at such an age, the Water Moon Sect truly produces many talents."
Chang Yan narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Chu Chenzhou's furnace. "Looking at the trajectory of that spiritual light, it is indeed the sign of a tier 5 magic tool."
"Then it seems we should congratulate Martial Nephew Chu in advance."
After all, once a tier 5 magic tool emerged, no matter how well the others performed, they were destined to miss out on first place.
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