Including Qin Muling, there were a total of nine cultivators participating in the gambling game.
The points offered by each family varied, with the most formidable being an unremarkable gray-clothed old man, short and chubby, at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. His aura was somewhat scattered, indicating that his foundation was not very stable.
He alone scored seventeen points, while the other cultivators had varying scores. Unfortunately, Qin Muling’s luck seemed to be bad this time, as he only scored three points, undoubtedly placing him at the bottom.
As a result, the five jade chips in front of Qin Muling were easily taken by the other party, but he didn’t seem to mind and continued to throw out five chips.
“Friends, please excuse me for my poor performance!”
The gray-clothed old man let out a hoarse and unpleasant laugh, while the others had different expressions, some indifferent, some gritting their teeth, and some with a dark look in their eyes.
With their level of cultivation, a couple of hundred high-grade spirit stones were not a lot, but losing money was never a happy thing.
The second round began, and the cultivators placed their bets, with the chips ranging from fifty to two hundred spirit stones.
This time, Qin Muling’s luck was slightly better, as he scored six points, still at the bottom.
The most formidable in this round were the two sisters with outstanding looks, who scored fifteen points and collected all the chips with smiles on their faces.
“Young lady from the Yang family, your luck is quite good!”
A white-clothed cultivator with the cultivation of the first level of the Nascent Soul Realm smiled slyly, his eyes glancing over the full chest of the other party, with a hint of concealed resentment in his tone.
This guy had a strong gambling nature, betting two hundred high-grade spirit stones at once. Naturally, he was particularly unwilling to lose.
The beautiful female cultivator glanced at him and said lightly, “Friend from the Zhe Yin Mountain, if you feel financially strained, you don’t have to continue. The Yang family abides by the rules and does not engage in unfair practices.”
The white-clothed cultivator blushed and said angrily, “Don’t provoke me with your words. I don’t believe I will keep losing! Stop the nonsense and continue!”
Qin Muling glanced thoughtfully at the sisters from the Yang family. It seemed that they were from the Yang family?
On the surface, they appeared to be at the middle stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, but in reality, they were already at the sixth level of the Spirit God Realm. It was no wonder they dared to be so confident, but this had nothing to do with him.
The third round began, and Qin Muling remained calm, still betting fifty high-grade spirit stones.
For him, hiding his abilities was only temporary. As long as he wanted, winning it all back would be easy.
This continued for more than twenty rounds, and Qin Muling kept losing, but each time he only lost fifty spirit stones, leaving him with most of his chips still intact.
The one who won the most in the field was the pair of sisters from the Yang family. Excluding their original capital, the chips in front of them had accumulated to nearly five thousand spirit stones.
“Young friend, something seems off about this situation!”
Beside Qin Muling, a sturdy man with a simple face gently tugged at his sleeve and quietly communicated with him through divine sense. “How come it’s only the two of them who keep winning, while the rest of us keep losing?”
Apart from Qin Muling, this guy was one of the most miserable losers in the field, so it was no wonder he found it unacceptable.
“Perhaps, but I don’t think my luck will continue to be this bad.”
Qin Muling responded indifferently.
Since the sisters from the Yang family were involved, they were probably cheating. As seasoned gamblers who had been immersed in this field for many years, ordinary cultivators couldn’t compete with them.
The sturdy man looked puzzled, rubbed his head, and looked at the chips in front of the sisters from the Yang family. He still felt dissatisfied, so he took out a large bag of spirit stones from his Space Bracelet and handed it to the maid beside him to exchange for chips.
Qin Muling keenly sensed a faint bloody smell and a trace of grudge from the bag of spirit stones. The source of it was obviously not very righteous.
Clearly, there were not many independent cultivators who were willing to make an honest living among them. Instead, there were countless fugitives who resorted to robbery, murder, and other illegal activities. This sturdy man, who had reached the Condensing Elixir Realm, seemed simple on the surface, but he was not a good person either.
The gambling continued.
“This time, I’ll bet three hundred spirit stones.”
After losing a few more rounds, Qin Muling seemed a little impatient and spoke to the other cultivators.
The sisters from the Yang family’s eyes flashed with a hint of joy, and they said with a smile, “Friend, you’re straightforward. We’ll also bet three hundred.”
The gray-clothed old man squinted at them, expressionless. “Three hundred it is. Old man still has some savings, so I’ll bring them out to play with you.”
The white-clothed cultivator from Zhe Yin Mountain looked ugly and snorted, “Bring me some more chips. I don’t believe my luck will continue to be this bad!”
As he spoke, he threw out a superb spirit weapon, a cold and sharp battle knife, and had the maid beside him estimate its value and exchange it for chips.
This time, the middle-aged cultivator with the cultivation of the seventh level of the Condensing Elixir Realm scored thirteen points, the sisters from the Yang family scored fifteen points, and the sturdy man beside Qin Muling scored sixteen points.
Qin Muling seemed to have finally turned the tide, scoring the highest of seventeen points and collecting all the chips thrown by everyone.
“Indeed, I knew I wouldn’t keep losing.”
Qin Muling smiled slightly, ignoring the murderous gazes of the surrounding cultivators.
The sisters from the Yang family looked at him in surprise, said nothing, and calmly sipped their spirit tea, waiting for the next round to begin.
However, this was just the beginning. Qin Muling was unstoppable from then on, continuously scoring the highest points and winning wave after wave of chips.
After two hours, the white-clothed cultivator from Zhe Yin Mountain had lost everything, staring at Qin Muling with a livid face.
The chips in front of the sisters from the Yang family had run out, and they had also used a lot of their own capital. The other cultivators were equally pale.
Only the chips in front of Qin Muling piled up like a mountain, not only winning back all the spirit stones he had lost before, but also gaining nearly twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones.
“Friends, do you want to continue?”
Qin Muling said with a smile, completely ignoring the murderous looks of the surrounding cultivators.”Since you are interested, I can only accompany you to the end,” the gray-clothed old man said calmly, taking out a bottle of Qingyu Elixir and handing it to the maid beside him. “There are ten Pure Spirit Nourishing Elixirs in here. I believe they should be able to exchange for some chips, right?”
The surrounding cultivators all looked over, and even the Yang sisters were slightly moved. The Pure Spirit Nourishing Elixir was a popular type of elixir that could enhance the divine soul and had a certain effect on treating injuries to the divine soul. For these casual cultivators, it was indeed a very precious resource.
Before long, the appraiser from the gambling house gave the valuation result, and the chips worth twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones were sent to the gray-clothed old man.
The honest-looking strong man also took out two decent-quality spiritual weapons, a round shield and a delicate golden hairpin. It was unclear where he got them from.
The other cultivators followed suit, exchanging chips with spirit stones, various magical instruments, elixirs, and precious materials, and then continued to open the gambling games.
Who said casual cultivators were poor? They all looked quite wealthy.
Qing Muling pondered in his heart. As a core disciple of the Supreme Dao Lineage, at their level of cultivation, their wealth could not be compared to them. Even if they had such wealth, they would not go to the gambling house to squander it. Every resource was spent on improving their own strength.
As for the people in front of him, each of them was living from hand to mouth, in a situation where they could be killed at any time, or kill others. Therefore, they were particularly generous with their spirit stones.
The golden dice lightly jumped and, after a moment, the result was revealed.
It was seventeen points again.
Qing Muling once again took away all the chips, and he didn’t plan to continue pretending.
So, half an hour later, all the cultivators’ tables became clean and tidy, with all the chips transferred to Qing Muling’s table, almost forming a small mountain.
“Friend, one must know when to stop,” the white-clothed cultivator from Zhe Yin Mountain stared at Qing Muling grimly. “Those who don’t know when to retreat will encounter disasters when they go out.”
Qing Muling retorted without hesitation, “Why do you say that, friend? This is a gambling house. Everyone is here to play, not to listen to your preaching. Could it be that you can’t afford to lose?”
The white-clothed cultivator was furious, his bloodshot eyes staring fiercely at the handsome and elegant young man opposite him, showing signs of wanting to start a fight.
He had already lost nearly twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones, which was not only all his personal savings, but also part of the sect’s public funds. He didn’t know how to explain it to the sect when he returned.
Already not a good person, he immediately felt the urge to turn hostile.
Qing Muling remained unfazed, his aura restrained but not released. A top-grade treasure-level flying sword was hidden in his sleeve. As long as the other party dared to make a move, he didn’t mind cutting him into pieces on the spot.
“Friends, please calm down,” the Yang sisters finally spoke. “This is the territory of the Yang family. Since everyone is here to play, they must abide by the rules of the Yang family, otherwise we sisters will have to apologize!”
As she spoke, her aura rose steadily, quickly reaching its peak.
With a cultivation level of the sixth stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, her deterrence was obviously sufficient for everyone present.
“Alright, I didn’t mean anything else,” the white-clothed cultivator’s momentum suddenly weakened. Might makes right. This was the simplest and most straightforward rule of the cultivation world. If you couldn’t see the situation clearly, you would only end up losing your head.
The gray-clothed old man sighed and slowly stood up. “In that case, I won’t accompany you today! Take care, young friend!”
The other cultivators looked at each other and chose to leave one after another.
“There’s a good selection of spirit wine and snacks next door. If you’re not in a hurry, you can rest here for a while before leaving. It’s all free,” the Yang sisters said with a smile.
“Thank you for your kindness. We’ll meet again another day!” the gray-clothed old man said cheerfully, hastening his departure.
Everyone was an old hand in the cultivation world, and they all knew what kind of tricks there were. They were all clear in their hearts. Would they dare to spend the night here? It was hard to say if they could leave here smoothly tomorrow morning.
After the other cultivators had left, the Yang sisters looked at Qing Muling, who was still sitting in place, and a warm and charming smile appeared on their faces.
“Young man, are you going to continue playing, or do you plan to rest here? If you want to continue playing, we sisters can accompany you. If you want to leave immediately, that’s fine too, as long as you leave ninety percent of your chips behind!”
Qing Muling stared at her calmly. “It seems that your side is not so kind? You want to take away ninety percent of my chips with empty words?”
He had already won over a hundred thousand high-grade spirit stone chips. For a cultivator in the True Person Realm, this was a rare and huge fortune. If he conducted legitimate business, he wouldn’t be able to earn it in a hundred or eighty years, of course, excluding activities such as killing and robbing.
The Yang sisters didn’t blush. “I said this is the territory of the Yang family, and everything must be done according to the rules of the Yang family. Letting you hand over ninety percent of your chips in exchange for your safety, I think this is quite fair to you!”
“Do you want to defy the Yang family? Let’s see if you have enough strength!”
As she spoke, several auras of the Nascent Soul Realm and the Divine Soul Realm emerged from different corners, locking onto Qing Muling’s vital points.
“You really think highly of me!”
Qing Muling smiled. The gambling house was an important source of income, so the power here was relatively stronger. A cultivator who only seemed to be in the Condensing Elixir Realm obviously had no choice but to be at their mercy.
“How about it?”
The confident Yang sisters smiled with a twinkle in their eyes. “I think you are quite talented. If you are interested, why not stay and serve our Yang family? With a family as your backing in the future, you can roam freely within tens of thousands of miles. Isn’t that more comfortable than the precarious life of a casual cultivator?”
Qing Muling nodded. “Alright, as long as you promise to let me be the head of the Yang family, I will stay!”
“You…”
The two women’s faces changed slightly, their voices turning cold. “You ignorant brat, since you refuse to give face, don’t blame us for being impolite!”
With that, several auras of the Nascent Soul Realm and the Divine Soul Realm emerged from different corners, locking onto Qing Muling’s vital points.”Seize him!”
No sooner had the words been spoken than the space around suddenly solidified. A sprinkle of fine sand, twinkling like stars, fell silently from above, carrying a weight that seemed heavier than ten thousand jun, pinning Qing Muling’s figure in place.
It was a net-like supreme spiritual weapon, wielded by someone likely at the Spirit God Realm. However, for the current Qing Muling, this was nothing more than child’s play.
A terrifying pressure burst forth, immobilizing the spiritual weapon in mid-air, unable to move. Then, amidst the swirling gusts of wind, two towering, muscular, and golden-lit Dao Soldier puppets appeared in the room, wielding a heavy sword and a giant hammer. In a single round, they knocked the Spirit God Realm cultivator to the ground.
Subsequently, the remaining cultivators were all taken down by the Dao Soldier puppets, who then used a secret method to bind their Divine Souls, rendering them powerless to resist.
“True Person Realm Dao Soldiers?”
The Yang sisters’ faces turned ashen: “How do you have such a thing? Which major power’s scion are you, out here for training?”
In their region, a cultivator at the True Person Realm was already enough to establish a sect and be revered as an ancestor. To possess the cultivation of the True Person Realm meant one could venture into the wider world beyond; why would they need to stay here?
Qing Muling spoke indifferently: “I don’t need to explain anything to you. Take me to your family head. From now on, this territory is under my command!”
“…”
—————— Author’s Note ——————
Seeking monthly passes, recommendation tickets, and will resume double updates from tomorrow.