Chapter 159 - The Trial of Cultivation
Through the Martial Mirror, everyone could see that Qin Nan and the others had reached the third round.
The scenery of the third round was entirely different than the previous two rounds; they were now in a huge cave of a hundred meters square.
The Spiritual Qi was rich in the cave, to the extent that it had almost solidified. From a distance, it seemed to be clouds. Besides, within the clouds of Qi, there were five futons which were specifically used for meditating placed on the ground.
The examiner of the third round was an old lady, whose head was covered in white hair. Her shoulders bowed due to her age, and she held a walking stick in her hand and walked with a limp, approaching the crowd at a slow pace.
The old lady glanced at the group of five before she let out a hideous smile and said with a hoarse voice, “First of all, I’d like to congratulate you for reaching the third round. As you can see, this cave is filled with Qi, suitable for cultivation. Hence, the trial of the third round is about your cultivation speed.”
The old lady let out a laugh before she continued, “There are five futons in this cave. Each of you will be seated on a futon and try to absorb the Qi as fast as you can. The time limit is the period it takes for three incenses to burn. Attacking other participants is forbidden. The one who absorbs the most amount of Qi will be the winner. By the way, there is only one winner in this round!”
The words caused Qin Nan and the rest to be stunned.
Absorbing the Qi?
A competition regarding the speed of cultivation?
……
……
Meanwhile, at the peak of Autumn Mountain, the crowd was left speechless.
It was clear what the trial was about after listening to the explanation from the old lady.
The real focus of this third round was not the speed of cultivation, but the ranks of their Martial Spirit!
Everyone knew that in the Canglan Continent, only those who had awakened their Martial Spirits could communicate with the Heaven and Earth to absorb Qi. One could only absorb Qi with the help of his Martial Spirit. Therefore, to absorb a greater amount of Qi, one would need a higher ranked Martial Spirit!
“Damn it, I didn’t expect this to be the third round!” Zhang Taiyi’s expression was the first to change, causing his face to be twisted.
The others began to wear pitiful expressions after recovering from the shock.
This was because, everyone knew that Qin Nan’s Martial Spirit was only eighth-grade Huang ranked!
How could an eighth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit stand a chance against Huang Que and Wei Hao’s tenth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit when it came down to the speed of cultivation?
Not only was Qin Nan’s Martial Spirit mismatched against Huang Que and Wei Hao’s Martial Spirits, even Huang Long and Wang Ruoling with ninth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirits were stronger than his, granting them a faster cultivation speed!
Since the third round emphasizes on the speed of cultivation, doesn’t this mean that Qin Nan is sure to come last?
“HAHAHA, what a surprise, what a surprise indeed. The focus of the third round is on the speed of cultivation.” Elder Fang laughed in high spirits, as he said, “I initially thought Qin Nan would be able to pass three rounds in a row, and enter the legendary fourth-layer of the Martial Serendipity Pavilion. It seems to be impossible now!”
The elders of the Disordered Flames Sect and Qing Nu Sect began laughing too, joining the gloat.
Qin Nan’s performance in the previous two rounds was absolutely shocking, who managed to turn the tide even when he seemed to be hopeless. Hence, the elders were quite worried that Qin Nan would be able to pass three rounds in a row, allowing him to enter the fourth round.
It was something the elders would not want to see; hence, when they learned that the focus of the third round was on the speed of cultivation, they almost leapt into the air out of excitement.
The crowd could not help but shake their heads.
“Sigh, not that I don’t believe in Qin Nan, but this third round is such a misfortune for him. With Qin Nan’s eighth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit, his cultivation speed is surely the slowest.”
“Yeah, I initially planned to bet on Qin Nan, but he seems to be the worst bet by the looks of it.”
“Qin Nan is too unlucky; if it was something else instead of competing the ranks of Martial Spirits, he would surely win!”
“Well, I think I’ll still bet on Wei Hao in this round.”
……
Those who had the thought of betting on Qin Nan before changed their minds instantly, as they began to make a decision between Huang Que and Wei Hao.
The reason being, Qin Nan was guaranteed to lose in the third round!
The white-shirt lady in the palanquin spoke in a gentle tone, “This round is quite interesting. The odds for Huang Que are one to one; Wei Hao, one to one. Huang Long, one to three. Wang Ruoling, one to three. Qin Nan, one to ten. Feel free to place your bets now!”
Qin Nan’s odds dropped from one to two in the previous round, to one to ten in the current round. It was rare to see such odds in a bet.
The lower the chance of winning, the higher the bets were!
In other words, the white-shirt lady of the Trading Alliance did not believe in the possibility of Qin Nan winning the round. If not, she would not declare Qin Nan’s odds to be one to ten.
The rogue cultivators were not surprised either, as they began to place their bets while immersed in their chatter.
At that instant, Princess Miao Miao’s words took everyone by surprise, “The princess bets three million Martial Emperor Pills on Qin Nan winning the third round!”
The words caused the crowd to be astounded, their eyes open wide.
A bet of three million Martial Emperor Pills on Qin Nan?
Is this girl out of her mind?
It’s obvious that Qin Nan is going to lose in this round!
Not only were the rogue cultivators startled, even Zhang Taiyi, Elder Fang and the rest of the elders lost their thoughts completely, as they began to doubt if they had misheard it.
Princess Miao Miao was aware of the reaction of the crowd, and her face straightened as she said, “Hey hey hey, what are you all looking at? The princess has the right to bet on who she wants, why would you care? I’m telling you that I am rich, and I’m ruthless with my money, so it’s none of your business even if you don’t agree with my bet!”
……
The crowd who were immersed in a loud chatter felt silent after hearing this.
Yeah, it’s a fact that she is rich, and she has the right to bet on who she wants. Why would they care?
That being said, if they weren’t afraid of the little girl’s mysterious identity, they would transform into bandits on the spot and rob the hell out of this ruthless rich little girl.
The white-shirt lady in the palanquin hesitated for a while before asking in a slow pace, “Princess, are you sure you want to bet three million Martial Emperor Pills on Qin Nan? Of course, the reason I’m asking this is just for the sake of confirming.”
“Hehe, how sensible of you to call me Princess, HAHAHA!” Princess Miao Miao was incredibly joyful and waved her hand as she said, “Of course, the Princess would definitely bet on Qin Nan, since he is my servant. If the princess doesn’t trust him, who else would believe in him?”
Princess Miao Miao said with a confident tone, as if Qin Nan was extremely important in her eyes.