Chapter Twenty-Four: The Big Gamble

  Ishikawa was taken aback for a moment, never expecting this capable disciple to say such words, which were absolutely kind reminders.

  Ishikawa naturally understood the meaning behind these words. If he were at the first level of Qi Refining, Ishikawa would never have gone to the mine cave so foolishly. Now Ishikawa's true cultivation is at the sixth level of Qi Refining, a true Pre-Heaven cultivator.

  Moreover, he had two treasures on him, the True Shield and the Tianyuan Puppet, which would be more than enough to deal with cultivators of the same rank.

  "Thank you, senior brother, for your guidance. I've been troubling you for a while now, and yet I still don't know your name." Shi Chuan knew that these concerns might have arisen from the fact that he was Yun Changlao's entry-level disciple. However, Shi Chuan still felt grateful in his heart.

  "My surname is Li and my name is Kai, you can just call me Brother Li. No need for formalities, little brother."

  Ishikawa bowed his hands and said: "Thank you, Master Li, for your guidance. When I have the chance, I will definitely invite Master Li to sit in the tea room."

  Li Kai hesitated for a moment before saying: "Shi Shidi, I have another request, and I hope you can help me with it."

  "Teacher Li, please go ahead."

  Li Kai's face turned difficult, and he opened his mouth to say: "Actually, I have a paternal cousin who is also in the mine. The Li family has declined, and we are the only two with spiritual roots left in the family. My talent is slightly better, so I barely managed to stay within the inner sect. However, my cousin's talent is too poor, so he had no choice but to go to the Ling Mine Cave to complete the sect's task. His name is Li Fu, and if Master Shi can see him, please take care of him."

  "I'm afraid this person thinks I'm just a supervisor, but actually I want to go into the cave to collect raw ore." However, Ishikawa still agreed.

  ……………

  After leaving the execution chamber, Ishikawa thought that Li Kai had one sentence that was particularly right, which is, you must bring enough elixir.

  Ishikawa's purpose for this trip was to collect a large amount of raw ore in order to withstand Lin Feng's relentless attacks. As for how much he needed, Ishikawa had no idea.

  At this moment, a strange inner door disciple walked towards him and said: "Shi Chuan, Junior Brother Shi Chuan, Yun Lao asked you to go over there. Just now four or five senior brothers were all looking for you."

  "Looking for me?" Ishikawa's expression changed slightly, he really couldn't think of what Yun Lao wanted with him.

  ………

  Yun Lao Dong Fu.

  "See you later, Master." Ishikawa bowed and left.

  "Shi Kawa, do you know why I called you here?" Yun Lao said with a expressionless face.

  "The disciple is ignorant and hopes for the master's instruction." Ishikawa replied respectfully.

  "I heard that you've been on a roll these past few days, but as a mere Qi Refining stage cultivator, don't you think you should tone it down a bit?" Cloud Old Man's face was still as expressionless as old tree bark.

  Ishikawa couldn't help but secretly sigh in frustration, he didn't think of a way to gain fame, it's just that Yun Changlao's prestige was too high, suddenly taking an outer sect disciple at the first level of Qi Refining as his apprentice, Ishikawa had no choice but to become famous.

  Since Yun Changlao asked, Shi Chuan had no choice but to reply: "Master is the first elder of Shuilingmen, and I, an outer door disciple, was actually accepted as a disciple by Master. I feel very flustered, how dare I go out and show off?"

  "You're also afraid of him. I heard you want to fight against Hua Xiong?" asked Yunchang.

  "It's because of this matter, how can it be good." Ishikawa secretly lamented in his heart, he also didn't know how the matter had spread so quickly, even Yun Changlao knew about it.

  Others may not know the inside story of Ishikawa, but Ishikawa himself is clear. Ishikawa was only under house arrest within Shui Ling Men. Hua Xiong, on the other hand, was a legitimate inner disciple of Shui Ling Men.

  Comparing the two, Ishikawa felt he was in the wrong.

  Yun Lao saw Ishikawa remain silent, and coldly said: "A mere Qi Refining stage one layer cultivator dares to compare with a Qi Refining stage four layers cultivator, your courage is truly not small."

  Immediately, Yun Zhong Lao's tone changed, and he said with some pride: "However, by doing so, you haven't tarnished my reputation. If you didn't dare to accept the challenge, I would have thought that everyone under Cloud Middle Heaven was afraid of death. In this case, I'll give you a Spirit Dan, which you can take before the fight to temporarily increase your strength. Also, here's a mid-grade flying sword for you to take as well. This battle, only victory is allowed, not defeat."

  Ishikawa was stunned by Yun Changlao's words behind him, he didn't expect that Yun Changlao could still give him Dan medicine and a magic weapon.

  Medium-grade flying sword, but Ishikawa is not uncommon. The Xuan Tie sword refined by Ishikawa is at least a high-grade artifact. Yun Changlao will absolutely not let Ishikawa win with just this one sword.

  The value of this elixir is self-evident.

  This dan medicine was crimson all over, and inside it, a faint red glow flowed quietly. It seemed to be filled with extremely powerful spiritual energy.

  "Thank you, Master. I will do my best not to disappoint your expectations." Shi Kawa suspected that Yun Lao might have given him the two treasures just for the sake of appearances, but he couldn't quite understand why it was only for the sake of appearances.

  Anyway, Ishikawa can easily defeat Hua Xiong with his own strength, and Yunchang's doing so has given Ishikawa an excuse to defeat Hua Xiong.

  Ishikawa casually mentioned his plan to go to the mine, after all, it would take some time to get there, otherwise, he didn't want to be misunderstood by Yun Lao.

  "Master, I just went to the Execution Hall and received a mission to go to the mine cave..."

  "Mine cave?" Yun Lao's face changed slightly, but he immediately recovered and said coldly: "The sect's mission is something everyone must complete. If you want to go, then go. I'll give you a letter of introduction. When you arrive at the Ling Mine Cave, it will be useful for you to have someone in charge."

  This made Ishikawa even more surprised, and Ishikawa had prepared some excuses, such as provoking people too much and not having a spiritual stone. Unexpectedly, Yun Lao actually agreed so lightly, and even wrote a letter to secure a small position for Ishikawa, which was something Ishikawa never thought of.

  Ishikawa bowed respectfully before leaving.

  Yun Lao looked at the distant figure of Ishikawa and muttered to himself: "Mine cave, haha, mine cave, not bad, how come I didn't think of it before..."

  …………

  The three-day appointment arrived quickly, and during these three days, Ishikawa had already inquired about the location of the mine cave and the route. The journey was not far, and if he rode his sword, it would take only three to five days. Moreover, he happened to pass by the Xiuzhen small town. Ishikawa could conveniently purchase a sufficient amount of elixirs.

  The news of Ishikawa and Huahuo's duel had spread throughout the Shuiling Gate, and by the time it was due to take place, most of the inner sect disciples below the fifth layer of Qi Refining had arrived. Even some cultivators above the sixth layer of Qi Refining came to watch the commotion. Many outer sect disciples who needed to work every day also sneaked out to watch, seeing this as a competition between the inner and outer sects.

  According to the psychology of the masses, this duel was a foregone conclusion because the difference in their cultivation was too great. One was at the first level of Qi Refining and the other was at the fourth level. Even using one's knees could think of it, Shi Chuan would definitely lose.

  However, Ishikawa's special status as Yun Changlong's entry-level disciple has given some people certain expectations of him.

  There were even some who set up gambling stalls, betting on the outcome of Shi Chong and Hua Xiong's fight. These inner disciples were originally young masters from large families, and it was inevitable that they would bring some worldly bad habits with them. Someone started this, and many people responded.

  By the time Ishikawa found out about this, the odds on Ishikawa had already become 1 to 10. Nevertheless, there were still many people who bet on Ishikawa losing.

  "Shi Shidi, Shi Shidi, I have a question." Shi Chuan was under a tree with his eyes closed, cultivating his spirit, when he suddenly heard someone intentionally lower their voice, but it still sounded like thunder.

  Ishikawa opened his eyes to take a look, and it was actually Cui Changsheng, the elder who preached on that day, who had returned with questions. This person's honest behavior left a deep impression on Ishikawa.

  "So it's Master Cui, what instructions do you have?" Ishikawa cupped his hands, these superficialities still had to be done.

  Cui Changsheng said mysteriously, "Shi Shidi, what are your chances of winning this time? I'm planning to bet on you losing. These ten pieces of spiritual stone are my entire fortune. If I lose them all, I'll be in trouble."

  Although Cui Changsheng deliberately lowered his voice, his natural loudness still carried far and wide, and several zhang away, one could still hear him whispering to Shi Chuan.

  The disciples around him couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Ishikawa was also speechless, this person is too thick-skinned, coming to buy Ishikawa's loss, but still asking Ishikawa first.

  But Ishikawa suddenly turned his eyes and thought to himself: such a good opportunity, if he didn't make a profit, it would be a waste. As long as he took out some spiritual stones, he could easily multiply them by tenfold in the blink of an eye; where else could he find such a good deal?

  Ishikawa pulled out a storage bag and quickly stuffed it into Cui Changsheng's bosom, leaning over to whisper in his ear: "Brother Cui, I'm giving you these spirit stones, but they're all mine. Don't tell anyone about this, just say they're all yours."

  Cui Changsheng nodded slightly, but when he touched the storage bag given to him by Ishikawa with his hand, his divine sense immediately detected that there were actually 100 pieces of spirit stones in this storage bag. For a Qi-refining fifth-layer disciple, these 100 pieces of spirit stones were undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

  Choi Chang-seong's face turned red and his breathing became slightly rapid.

  Cui Changsheng was about to say something, but Ishikawa hastily whispered: "Brother Cui, don't say anything. After the martial arts competition is over, you can go and collect your prize money. I will naturally visit you this afternoon."

  Choi Chang-sheng shook his head and then nodded vigorously. He seemed to still be in a daze. How could Ishikawa be so confident that he would definitely win?

  Where did Ishikawa get so many spirit stones from? Apart from Yun Changlao, a Qi Refining stage one cultivator like Ishikawa seemingly had no source of spirit stones.

  Seeing Ishikawa being so confident, Choi Chang-seong also had his own calculations in mind. He originally bet on Ishikawa to lose, but now that Ishikawa has suddenly invested so much, he must be confident in himself.

  Thus, Cui Changsheng suddenly lost confidence in his own decision.

  Cui Changsheng bought 100 pieces of Ling Shi and won, then hesitated for a moment, divided his own 10 pieces of Ling Shi in half, buying five pieces of Ishikawa win and five pieces of Ishikawa lose.