Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

"The game has begun! How long can Little Tian last this time? Below five breaths, odds of three to one! Above five breaths... above thirty breaths, ten to one! If Mr. Li loses, the banker sweeps! Place your bets now!"

Aboard the Da Fu vessel, with Cabin Head Chen Laoer's loud call, a bunch of idle sailors immediately gathered around, shouting in a cacophony:

"I bet thirty Spirit Stones, Little Tian can't last five breaths."

"Pah! Have you forgotten the lesson from last time? I put down forty, betting at least ten breaths."

"A small bet keeps things fun, ten pieces, above thirty breaths!"

Seeing everyone eagerly join in, Chen Laoer laughed joyfully, adroitly collecting individual bets and recording the information.

Whaling in the ocean, a round trip taking at least a year, there's not much entertainment on the ship. Driven to boredom, gambling naturally became the crew's way of passing time and having fun.

Once the bets were placed, Chen Laoer gave Zhao Sheng a look from where he leaned against the ship's side.

Zhao Sheng nodded knowingly, stood upright, stretched languidly, and slowly walked to the center of the deck, shouting to the second deck above, "Leader Chen, come down for a bout!"

No sooner had his voice fallen than a lithe figure suddenly leapt from the deck above, landing lightly opposite Zhao Sheng.

The newcomer had a cold countenance, dressed in dark martial attire with a three-inch Jade White Flying Sword hanging over his shoulder, its blade crackling with electric light.

"Five breaths, two pieces!"

Li Mu, looking at the grinning Zhao Sheng, spat out a few words expressionlessly, and suddenly two streams of white light flew from his hand, landing precisely in the Chest Head Chen Laoer's embrace.

The so-called Leader was the head sailor on the ship, generally the best fighter besides the captain himself.

Sword Cultivator Li Mu was a Qi Cultivation Perfection practitioner, once an Outer Disciple of the Sky Sun Sword Sect.

Chen Laoer felt in his chest, his expression shifting slightly as he shouted to the others: "Mr. Li has placed a bet of two Mid-grade Spirit Stones on himself! Who else wants to raise? Limited time, no waiting!"

"I will, add another eight Spirit Stones!"

"Me too, risking it all, twenty Spirit Stones!"

Seeing Mr. Li's confidence, the crowd bet more eagerly, and Chen Laoer was busy again.

After the bets, Chen Laoer covertly held up two fingers to Zhao Sheng, who blinked in acknowledgment.

"Leader Chen, please show mercy!"

Having said that, Zhao Sheng flicked his right hand, and suddenly held a Water Dividing Needle over a foot long, its tip gleaming coldly, as if an iron rod.

"Be careful!"

As soon as he spoke, Li Mu pinched a sword formula, and the Jade Thunder Sword transformed into a streak of white light, shooting out like lightning towards Zhao Sheng's shoulder.

Zhao Sheng narrowed his eyes to slits, his figure unmoving in place, but at the moment the flying sword nearly reached him, his shoulder suddenly jolted slightly.

Whoosh!

The Jade Thunder Sword narrowly missed his skin, gliding past.

"Wow!"

Among the onlooking crowd, someone witnessed the close shave and couldn't help but let out a gasp of amazement.

Li Mu was unperturbed by the missed strike. He's sparred with this youngster multiple times; if the other couldn't even dodge a single strike, he would've been too lazy to make a move long ago.

The Jade Thunder Sword soared into the sky, drawing a semicircular arc.

At this time, the Noon sun was fierce, and the flying sword suddenly merged with the blinding sunlight, becoming nearly invisible.

Instantly, the sunlight poured onto Zhao Sheng's face, bringing with it a hint of sword light hidden in its depths.

Zhao Sheng looked up, squinting from the dazzling sunlight.

However, in that moment he abruptly raised the Water Dividing Needle in his hand, jabbing it directly into the blinding light of the sun.

Ding!

With a metallic chime, Zhao Sheng's figure flickered, retreating three feet.

At the same time, the Jade Thunder Sword was shaken out of the sunlight, flying out at an angle.

"Bravo!" The crowd couldn't help but exclaim in praise, with the keen-eyed ones seeing that Zhao Sheng's thrust accurately hit the flying sword's tip, diverting it away.

Such precision in movement, eye power, and reaction speed were hard to imagine coming from a fifteen-year-old child.

However, reality proved even more bizarre than imagination!

As they were talking, the two on the field went through another seven or eight rounds of combat, with Li Mu wielding his sword as fast as lightning, yet still unable to leave even a scratch on Zhao Sheng.

Five breaths had passed, and Li Mu felt a surge of urgency. He bellowed, "Brat, watch out! Sword Control secret technique, Sword Light Division!"

The tail sound of the word "hua" ("division") still lingering, the Jade Thunder Sword suddenly burst with electric light, its blade flickering and dancing. In a flash, it split into two, then four, and finally eight.

Eight beams of Sword Light stood suspended in the air, forming a semicircle and surrounding Zhao Sheng.

Slash!

Following the command, the eight beams of Sword Light vanished in a flash and reappeared, all striking simultaneously towards Zhao Sheng's head, hands, chest, and six other vital points.

As the Sword Light neared him, Zhao Sheng's eyes flashed with blue light, and his body suddenly contracted into a ball, spinning rapidly like a top. His Water Dividing Needle instantly thrust out in all directions, moving as quickly as lightning. He seemed to turn himself into a hedgehog.

Clang, clang, clang!

Accompanied by a series of metallic clashes, Zhao Sheng suddenly darted along the ground, slipping away like a cunning fox.

At that moment, Li Mu's face turned pale. He had just felt the spiritual connection with his Jade Thunder Sword break for an instant, leaving him inwardly startled and alarmed.

Seeing that even the Sword Light Division secret technique was ineffective against Zhao Sheng, Li Mu, in his urgency, forgot to hold back and forced another thirty percent of his spiritual power into his movements.

With this infusion, the Jade Thunder Sword seemed to have taken a potent tonic; its Sword Light intensified and its speed increased threefold in an instant, launching a barrage of attacks on Zhao Sheng's tail.

"Easy there, take it easy! Grey head, that's foul play!"

After rolling away like a donkey to narrowly dodge the flying sword's strike, Zhao Sheng quickly waved his hands, his face full of aggrieved innocence as he pleaded for mercy.

Upon hearing this, Li Mu was taken aback, and then he remembered that in his haste, he had forgotten to suppress his cultivation.

A hint of embarrassment crossed his face, and with a gesture, the Jade Thunder Sword swiftly flew back to his shoulder. Then, in a deep voice, he declared, "This time, you win, kid!"

Having said this, Li Mu regained his cool expression, leaped up, jumped onto the second deck, and vanished into the Cultivation Room.

"Hey! Mr. Li, this is outright trickery!"

"Damn it, the banker wins everything! The world is so unjust."

"Did Mr. Li rig the game with Leader Chen or something?"

"Buzz off! Do you think Mr. Li is as despicable as you!"

Li Mu's admission of defeat caused everyone to voice their grievances, except for Chen Laoer, who was all smiles.

Without a doubt, he made a killing this time.

Of course, Zhao Sheng also had a share in this gambling money.

If it weren't for his pressing needs, Zhao Sheng would not have been willing to work with Chen Laoer to hype up the betting game.

But in this vast ocean where the Spiritual Energy was so thin, nearly desert-like, without Spirit Stones, Zhao Sheng would hardly be able to cultivate at all.

To improve his cultivation as quickly as possible, he had no choice but to reveal part of his strength.

Of course, there were other benefits. Although his cultivation was only at Qi Refining Third Layer, no one dared to underestimate him on Da Fu.

Everyone understood that a fifteen-year-old Cultivator at Qi Refining Third Layer, barring any accidents, had the prospect of reaching Foundation Establishment.

If coupled with strength far surpassing his peers, his chances of becoming a Foundation Establishment Cultivator were not guaranteed, but they exceeded a fifty percent probability.

Therefore, after Zhao Sheng was rescued on board the Da Fu, he was quickly accepted by others, and even held a high status.

The Heavenly Dao is balanced; for every good, there is bad!

On Da Fu, Zhao Sheng found himself in great trouble, despite not being in control of his own destiny.

As he emerged from the cabin of Leader Chen and was about to climb the stairs with his three hundred Spirit Stones, he suddenly encountered a figure in a short skirt coming down from above, with two plump buttocks directly in front of him.
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Zhao Sheng looked up and, as if by accident, saw something under the skirt that he was not meant to see.

Smack!

A slap landed on Zhao Sheng's shoulder, neither too light nor too heavy.

"Little devil, what exactly did you just see?"

At that moment, a voice as gentle as water reached Zhao Sheng's ears.