Chapter 293 - 278: Recalling Old Times, Betting on the Match

Chapter 293: Chapter 278: Recalling Old Times, Betting on the Match

"I wonder, in the palaces of heaven..."

"What year is it this eve?"

...

Zhu’Er’s clear and graceful voice rang out in the room, the familiar melody falling upon Jiang Zuo’s ears.

Jiang Zuo’s thoughts were instantly transported back to his past life.

Countless memories, like scenes in a revolving lantern, flashed before Jiang Zuo’s eyes.

As Jiang Zuo was immersed in the past, his Sea of Consciousness began to change quietly, without him even realizing it.

The song wasn’t long, and Zhu’Er quickly finished singing it once through.

She looked at Jiang Zuo and found him just sitting there, motionless and lost in thought.

His body, however, was exuding a faint aura—one that was at once serene, sorrowful, world-weary, and yet sweet.

Watching this, Zhu’Er was momentarily stunned.

As if influenced by Jiang Zuo, she couldn’t help but begin to sing softly again.

Again and again she sang, each time a little softer than the last.

As she sang, she too found herself drifting into a state of deep contemplation.

When she was startled back to her senses, she discovered she was alone in the room. The guest had left behind a small bag of Spirit Stones, but he himself had vanished without a trace.

Zhu’Er was instantly filled with regret; she didn’t even know the gentleman’s name.

「Yunyuan Immortal City.」

Although it was late at night, the streets were still bustling and lively.

’I can’t believe just listening to a song would cause my Divine Sense to surge so much.’

Jiang Zuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Ever since eating those three Spiritual Fruits and achieving Great Success with his Divine Sense Transformation ability, his Divine Sense had seen little progress for a long time.

But tonight at the Red Dust Immortal Tower, listening to Zhu’Er sing "Shuidiao Ge Tou," it was as if he had an epiphany. His Divine Sense had soared, and the radius of his Sea of Consciousness had suddenly expanded by a full ten percent.

’I’m afraid the Divine Sense of most Manifestation Realm Venerables might not even be stronger than mine now.’

Jiang Zuo had a vague feeling about this.

He only had the first layer of the Divine Body Freedom Technique, and Jiang Zuo had basically reached the limit of its Cultivation.

He could still practice his Visualization Technique, but the Visualization Technique could only strengthen the objects visualized within his Visualization World.

Its effect on improving his Divine Sense was already minimal.

This was all because his Divine Sense had, for various reasons, become too strong.

No matter how much he cultivated the first layer of the Visualization Technique, the improvement was negligible.

For his Divine Sense to soar like this tonight was a truly unexpected delight.

’This is probably similar to achieving Clarity of the True Self.’

’But I probably won’t have such good luck next time.’

Jiang Zuo sighed.

The events of the past would gradually fade with time. No matter how much he wanted to remember, it would likely be impossible.

This was probably the power of time itself.

However, there’s always a way out, and Jiang Zuo wasn’t one to dwell on it.

Looking on the bright side, if something like this happened again, wouldn’t his Divine Sense just surge once more?

...

That night, Jiang Zuo spent over three thousand Spirit Stones at the Red Dust Immortal Tower, and most of it was spent on that old man, Xu Wang.

And after that night, Xu Wang’s attitude toward Jiang Zuo undoubtedly became much more attentive.

He didn’t know if it was because of Xia Ziyi’s promotion, but over the next few months, a few more Cultivators came looking for Jiang Zuo’s help taming their Spirit Beasts—and they were all female Cultivators.

They were all second-rank Spirit Beasts, and he once again completed their requests one by one without much effort.

At one hundred thousand per person, his Spirit Stone count suddenly increased by over seven hundred thousand.

Still, the number of people seeking him out to tame Spirit Beasts was far too low.

But Jiang Zuo wasn’t in a hurry.

A month later, Jiang Zuo went to the Inner City to register for the annual Immortal City tournament.

Every year, during the last month, Yunyuan Immortal City holds a grand tournament.

There was no age limit for participants, but their Cultivation could not exceed the Three Flowers Realm.

The entire process was free of charge.

The top three competitors would win tickets for next year’s Cloud Abyss Flying Ship.

First place would receive three tickets.

Second place, two tickets.

Third place, one ticket.

Cultivators who had won a prize were barred from participating again for fifty years.

The tickets were valid for one year and could be used by the winner or sold to others.

A single ticket was worth at least fifty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.

Winning the championship meant an instant reward of one hundred fifty thousand Spirit Stones.

Even for a Three Flowers Realm Cultivator, this was a considerable sum.

Therefore, a significant number of Three Flowers Realm Cultivators signed up to participate each year.

Many Cultivators below the Three Flowers Realm also registered for the sake of gaining experience.

And every year in the eleventh month, when the tournament began, Yunyuan Immortal City entered its liveliest time of the year.

People would bet on who would win each day’s matches and who would ultimately take first place.

All of these could be wagered on at the casinos within the Immortal City.

For Jiang Zuo, the first-place prize was just small change.

The reason he was participating in this tournament was, of course, to make a name for himself.

The tournament would be held in the Martial Arts Arena at the very center of the Immortal City. The area around the arena was quite open, with no tall buildings.

Any Cultivator who wanted to could find a spot to watch the matches.

The final match would attract at least thirty percent of the entire Immortal City’s Cultivators as spectators.

For Jiang Zuo, this was the perfect opportunity to gain Beast Taming Reputation.

At the same time, Jiang Zuo also planned to go to the various betting houses in the city and place bets on himself to win the championship.

He had already done some research. Given his initial-stage Three Flowers Realm Cultivation, the odds for him winning the championship right from the start were as high as twenty to one.

There were five relatively famous casinos in the Immortal City.

Jiang Zuo visited them one by one, placing a hundred-thousand-Spirit-Stone bet at each one, betting on himself to win.

When the casinos received Jiang Zuo’s bets, the expressions on their faces all changed.

But they had set the odds themselves. Refusing Jiang Zuo’s bet would be a matter of the casino’s credibility.

Despite having a very bad feeling about it, the casinos could only grit their teeth and accept the bets, then immediately change the odds on Jiang Zuo winning to prevent others from following suit.

The tournament began soon after, using a one-on-one elimination format.

Depending on the number of registrants, a Cultivator might have to fight several matches in a single day at the beginning.

But no matter how many people there were, the entire tournament would determine the top three within a week.

This was because a large number of the participating Cultivators were low-level.

For the first two days, Jiang Zuo simply summoned some second and third-rank Spirit Beasts and won his matches without having to lift a finger himself.

Jiang Zuo’s fighting style, relying entirely on Spirit Beasts to win battles, was quickly noticed by many of the spectating Cultivators.

This was especially true since Jiang Zuo summoned a different Spirit Beast to fight every time he won.

Information identifying Jiang Zuo as a Beast Tamer and Spirit Beast Doctor soon began to circulate among many people.

In the blink of an eye, six days passed.

Jiang Zuo hadn’t made a move himself, simply summoning one Spirit Beast after another, and had made it all the way to the final match.

However, few of the spectating Cultivators believed Jiang Zuo could win the championship.

Because Jiang Zuo’s opponent in the finals was a Puppet Master, Lu Tianyi.

Like Jiang Zuo, Lu Tianyi had also fought his way into the finals by relying on the puppets he had crafted.

But according to rumors, Lu Tianyi still had a top-grade, fifth-rank puppet that he had yet to use.

On the seventh day of the competition, the final match was held.

Jiang Zuo and Lu Tianyi stood face-to-face in the Martial Arts Arena.

At the referee’s signal, Lu Tianyi flicked his hand and summoned a massive puppet over ten meters tall!

"It really is a fifth-rank puppet!"

"Looks like the championship is in Lu Tianyi’s bag."

A roar erupted from the crowd around the Martial Arts Arena.

With the appearance of a fifth-rank puppet, the battle had lost all suspense.

How could a Three Flowers Realm Cultivator possibly defeat a fifth-rank puppet?

"Fellow Daoist Gu, just concede. This puppet of mine doesn’t know how to hold back once it starts fighting."

"It would be a shame if your Spirit Beasts were injured."

With a fifth-rank puppet at his disposal, Lu Tianyi was supremely confident.

"Is that so? In that case, I’d like to see for myself," Jiang Zuo said with a smile.

Under the gazes of tens of thousands of Cultivators, Jiang Zuo summoned Great Black.

"A fifth-rank Spirit Beast!"

"Now this is going to be a good show!"

The moment Great Black appeared, gasps of astonishment rippled through the crowd of spectators.

This initial-stage Three Flowers Realm Cultivator actually had a fifth-rank Spirit Beast.

This was simply outrageous!

"Hmph! Controlling a fifth-rank Spirit Beast is no easy task!"

Great Black’s appearance had caught Lu Tianyi completely by surprise.

However, the higher a Spirit Beast’s rank, the more disobedient it would become if its master’s Cultivation couldn’t keep up. Even if it didn’t rebel, it would be extremely difficult to control.

In comparison, controlling a puppet was much simpler.

"Is that so?"

Jiang Zuo smiled faintly and summoned the golden giant wolf.

"Another fifth-rank Spirit Beast?"

"Who is this guy? How can he control two fifth-rank Spirit Beasts while only at the Three Flowers Realm?"

One fifth-rank Spirit Beast was one thing.

But when the golden giant wolf also appeared in the Martial Arts Arena, the spectating Cultivators could no longer contain themselves, crying out in shock one after another.

"Two fifth-rank Spirit Beasts?"

Lu Tianyi was stunned for a moment, then became furious.

"So, Fellow Daoist, do you still want to fight?"

"I don’t have the best control over these two. If we really fight, I’m afraid your puppet might get damaged. You should think it over carefully, Fellow Daoist."

Jiang Zuo said with a faint smile, turning Lu Tianyi’s own words right back at him.