Immortal of the Nine Realms

Long Ruo released the news, and within as little as an hour, the Sword Duel Palace spectator seats were sold out.

The palace had a seating capacity of thirty thousand, and with the price of each seat set at one hundred spirit stones, Long Ruo had earned a staggering three million low-grade spirit stones from this event alone.

Long Ruo smiled and said, ”Ticket sales are just for show. The real profit comes from the bets. If you want to place a bet, be ready to fork out at least mid-grade spirit stones.”

Fang Chen thought for a moment. The Sword Duel Palace was merely a personal venture of a second-branch disciple. Even so, its profits were astronomical.

The Long Family controlled so many cities and business ventures like these must be countless.

Fang Chen mumbled, ”No wonder the Long Family is able to support so many Loose Immortals. Meanwhile, the first branch, where Li Changsheng resides, has long declined. Even the nine cities under their control might only produce a single immortal crystal every seven or eight years....”

After making some calculations, he realized that these powerful families, like the Long Family, made money at a rate no ordinary cultivator could imagine, let alone compete with.

***

Four hours later, the Sword Duel Palace had been filled to its maximum capacity.

Xu Yan sat in the VIP seats, chatting and laughing with the others.

”These people are all palace masters of various Sword Duel Palaces in Yunlu City. Their backgrounds are no weaker than Lady Long’s,” whispered Fu Donghai to Fang Chen before giving him a sidelong glance.

”How confident are you in this duel? Little Eight is no ordinary foe—he’s nothing like Xue Zhong. Among the Long Family’s Ninth Sword Academy, I fear no one in his realm can match him.”

”His sword intent is related to thunder?” asked Fang Chen.

Fu Donghai nodded and replied, ”He is known for his Seven-Colored Thunder Sword.He practices the Seven-Colored Thunder Sword Scripture, which is on par with the Long Family’s thirty-six sword scriptures. His inheritance is naturally far superior to yours.”

Fang Chen pondered, ”Lady Long mentioned that the real profit in the Sword Duel Palace lies in the bets. Let me see the odds.”

”You can’t place a bet since you are participating in the duel. That is the rule,” reminded Fu Donghai.

Fang Chen chuckled. ”What if I bet on myself to win?”

Fu Donghai fell silent. Then he said, ”I’ll have to consult Lady Long.”

After a brief exchange via sound transmission, Long Ruo gave them a nod from her seat.

Moments later, a detailed list of the odds was delivered.

Fang Chen discovered that there were around fifty betting options, but the one with the highest payout was the option with him winning in a single sword strike. The odds were eight to one.

”I’ll bet on this option with five thousand mid-grade spirit stones,” announced Fang Chen.

Fu Donghai questioned, ”Five thousand? For this tier of Sword Duel Palace, the maximum wager in mid-grade spirit stones is five hundred.”

Fang Chen frowned. ”There are tiers to sword duel palaces?”

”Of course,” replied Fu Donghai. He explained, ”Otherwise, any random Sword Duel Palace could see tens of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones wagered, and chaos would ensue. Only the Upper Three Realm sword duels allow betting five thousand mid-grade spirit stones in one go.”

”Forget it. Five hundred will do,” Fang Chen conceded.

That was better than nothing. If he won, he’d gain four thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Who would refuse free money?

At the VIP seating, the palace masters who had arrived alongside Xu Yan began discussing the bet between the Long Family and the Sun Family.

One curious palace master said, ”Long Ruo, I heard the one who killed Sun Yi’s soul split is under your family’s banner now? He’s planning to enter the Sword Burial Heavenly Steps?”

Long Ruo smiled and nodded. She answered confidently, ”My father has tested his methods. It’s true that he did slay Sun Yi.”

She glanced at Xu Yan and sneered. ”Sun Yi is not only a direct descendant of the Sun Family, but also a disciple of the Great Sun Sect. Who knew he was so weak? He lost his soul split in some backwater town, and was even spanked like a child until he died. Isn’t that just pathetic?”

Xu Yan giggled and retorted, ”Haha, indeed! Junior Brother Sun has thoroughly embarrassed himself. The sect has already punished him for it. However, the Long Family had protected a mere sword cultivator and allowed him to enter the Sword Burial Heavenly Steps. Whether it’s the Sun Family or the Great Sun Sect, neither will let this go.”

Her eyes twinkled maliciously as she continued, ”Since you refuse to hand him over, then we will deal with it ourselves. If some of your disciples get hurt in the process... well, don’t take it personally.”

”You’re threatening me?” Long Ruo hissed with a faint smile.

”So what if I am?” Xu Yan scoffed.

Sensing the growing tension, a white-robed palace master in his thirties chuckled and advised, ”Ladies, there’s no need to quarrel. If you have grievances, why not settle them in today’s sword duel?”

Xu Yan laughed and replied, ”Very well. For you, Daoist Nangong, I will let this slide for now. By the way, I heard your elder brother recently broke through his shackles and ascended to Loose Immortal?”

Nangong Yuancheng nodded faintly and responded, ”Indeed. My brother has ascended to Loose Immortal, but the price to pay was steep. Six immortal crystals in total were spent. Two from the Holy Land, and the remaining four came from the Nangong Family. We’ll need to earn back those spirit stones in the coming years to fill the void.”

The gathered palace masters showed expressions of deep caution. One asked, ”Only six immortal crystals are required to become a Loose Immortal?”

Nangong Yuancheng’s elder brother was too talented. He had cultivated for less than eight hundred years, yet he had already reached this cultivation level.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would most certainly become aSecond Rank Loose Immortalin the future.

Just then, a subordinate approached Long Ruo and handed her a jade slip containing the final betting records.

She took a glance and her expression darkened slightly.

”What’s wrong? Are you realizing you’re about to lose everything?” sneered Xu Yan.

The other palace masters, including Nangong Yuancheng, smirked but remained silent.

Long Ruo swept her gaze across the room before laughing coldly. She said, ”I never expected so many people to place full bets on Little Eight’s victory.”

According to the rules, one seat could wager a maximum of five hundred mid-grade spirit stones. However, to bypass this limit, one could reserve multiple seats and have their subordinates place separate bets.

The betting records showed that ninety-nine percent of the stakes were on Little Eight winning.

Loose gamblers didn’t concern her as they only bet on the result with low odds, but the high-odds wager of five hundred mid-grade spirit stones showed countless full bets. If she lost, the payout alone would empty the family’s reserves and force her father to intervene.

Clearly, this wasn’t the work of loose gamblers. Xu Yan and the other palace masters were behind this.

Like a pack of hyenas, they were waiting to feast.

”Yes, I just glanced at the numbers. If you lose today, you’ll be in debt for the next few centuries,” mocked Xu Yan.

”Don’t be so sure of the outcome,” Long Ruo said as she looked at the remaining one percent of the stakes.

Upon seeing that Fang Chen had bet on him winning with the highest payout option, a bright smile appeared on her face.

Everyone was confused.

Why is she acting so calm?

”The time has come. Both fighters, please enter the arena!”

As the announcement echoed, Fang Chen and Little Ba stepped onto the dueling stage.

The audience erupted into thunderous cheers.

After all, Little Eight was on a ten-match win streak and made all of them mad rich!