Chapter 267: A Piece of Cake
The structure of Volt Wing City was as different as night and day compared to cities in the world that Lu Mingshu and the rest came from.
This was a city of immortals – a place where all the cultivators stayed. In a city of immortals, the cultivators formed gangs and held a small amount of power. With this, they had a footing in the city.
The ones with little power only cared about being able to feed themselves, while the ones who held more power would strive to take control of this city of immortals.
Thus, the ranking match was a grand occasion in Volt Wing City.
The ranking match to fight for control over the city was only held once every thirty years. Only the ten biggest powers or those who had cultivation above the Solid Pellet Realm could take part.
To the Tranquil Void Monastery, who was close to losing their gang entirely, that had nothing to do with them. What they were looking at was the normal ranking match that was held every year, which was the determining factor in how much they had to pay the following year in taxes.
There were three classes of taxes: the first-class paid the least and the third class paid the most. When Xiang Zichen’s master was still alive, they paid the second-class tax, but they downgraded to the third-class tax as soon as his master died.
To them, who were almost bankrupt, it was a heavy burden. Even without the tax, they could only survive for one more year before the gang fell apart.
This situation made Lu Mingshu and the other two feel like their brains were going to burst. How was it possible to save them?
Ling Wuxia had never met with such problems before. Who would dare to find trouble with Ancient Jade Summit? As for Lu Mingshu, she was technically in a sect, but for practical purposes, she might as well not be.
Surprisingly, Zhou Ruying was the one who gave better ideas.
“It’ll just go down the drain,” Zhou Ruying pointed out. “As you mentioned, the cultivation in this world is slow, so how many years would we have to wait until he can stand on his own? We can’t stay for that long. Besides, even with more money, their brains can’t be saved…”
They were the type to help others count the money after getting fleeced!
“So, it’s impossible to save the monastery?”
Zhou Ruying shook her head. “The best thing to do is disband the gang, find a bigger power, and rely on them. Look at Xiang Zichen, does he look like a sect master?”
Lu Mingshu and Ling Wuxia shook their heads.
“There’s no need to be a sect master. As long as he gets a little better and there’s a power for him to rely on, he’ll be able to protect himself.”
Lu Mingshu and Ling Wuxia were convinced by her.
“Then let’s…”
“Teach as much as we can.” Zhou Ruying sighed. “It’s difficult to create a master by teaching skills at the last minute, but what else can we do?”
All of them knew that, at this point, the Tranquil Void Monastery’s fate was in God’s hands. Xiang Zichen and Xiang Zimei weren’t gifted and didn’t have good aptitudes, but their world had a lesser chance of encountering a bottleneck in cultivation, so maybe it would be easier for them to breakthrough.
Thus, the three of them started training.
To their surprise, training in this world’s vital energy went well, and the benefits were clearly there. The spiritual energy in this world was gentler than mystic energy, which was rather ruthless.
Maybe it isn’t such a bad thing to be trapped here for some time.
…
“It’s starting! It’s starting!”
As soon as the ranking match began, the plaza of Volt Wing City was packed like sardines in a can. The surrounding restaurants were fully booked too.
Of course, the Tranquil Void Monastery wasn’t that rich, so they could only stand with the crowd.
After watching a few matches, Zhou Ruying could no longer stand it. “Why are the cultivators in this world so weak? When I was in the Inner Breath Realm, I could take down ten people on my own!”
“Their cultivation is too low. When they reach higher cultivations, you will know how scary the people in this world can be.”
At the lower cultivations, their magic wouldn’t have taken form yet. With their speed, Lu Mingshu and the rest would surely win. But as soon as these cultivators passed the Solid Pellet Realm, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy. Lu Mingshu saw one such cultivator in the Heavenly Wheel before, and even with her world’s martial arts, she knew she would lose for sure if they fought.
“Hurry, it’s our turn now!” Xiang Zichen nudged Zhou Ruying.
“Yeah, I know, don’t panic.” Zhou Ruying patted him. “Remember to lay a bet.”
Xiang Zichen and his two juniors went to lay a bet while the Lu Mingshu trio went up to compete.
The first match was against a gang similar to the Tranquil Void Monastery.
Zhou Ruying went up first and finished her opponent in three attacks. Lu Mingshu went up right after her and finished it with one attack.
There wasn’t even a need for Ling Wuxia to compete.
For the next fight, it was Zhou Ruying and Ling Wuxia.
Third fight…
Facing lower-level cultivators, it was better for a martial artist to just go straight up. Before the other party could cast any spells, they were already attacked. As for those who used weapons, they were extremely reliant on their spiritual energy, so their actual skills were full of mistakes.
“Let’s go!” In the casino, Xiang Zichen and his juniors won another round. The took the spirit stones and ran outside.
Zhou Ruying made it clear to them that they should not bet more than two games. With their age, people would surely target them, and they would end up losing it all.
Meanwhile, Zhou Ruying and the rest won the fifth fight and could proceed to the next round.
At this time, Xiang Zichen and his juniors came running over.
“Seniors, Seniors!”
Looking at Lu Mingshu and the rest eating melon seeds out of boredom, Xiang Zichen was all smiles. “Look at all this money!”
From owning only ten spirit stones, he now had five hundred!
However, the trio didn’t seem to be fascinated by it.
Five hundred spirit stones were the equivalent of only five mystic stones, which was basically nothing to them.
“Keep it up, and remember to put down a bigger bet.” Zhou Ruying pointed at his spirit stones. “Also, go get some clothing that a servant would wear.”
“For what?” Xiang Zichen looked at her in confusion.
“With how you look right now, you’re just a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. However, if you dress like a servant, betting big won’t make you a target since people won’t know who your master is, and they won’t dare to offend someone if they don’t know how powerful they are,” Lu Mingshu pointed out.
“Oh….”
“We can’t win so fast during the next round or people will be suspicious,” Zhou Ruying told the other two girls.
“We know that.” Ling Wuxia rolled her eyes.
It was normal for them to win quickly during the first round, but the next round would be harder as the opponents would be stronger. There would also be more people watching, so winning as quickly as before would attract more attention.
They only wanted to earn some spirit stones and go home. There wasn’t any benefit to attracting attention.
After loafing around for a while, the next round was about to start.
Entering this round symbolized that they would pay the second-class taxes.
After one more round, they could pay first-class taxes.
…
In front of the notice board, Daoist He was looking for the Tranquil Void Monastery’s ranking while grinning from ear to ear.
He started from the bottom.
Oh? It’s not there? Hahaha, did that kid not even go up for the first round?
The bulky man suddenly nudged him. “Brother He, look!”
“What is it?” Daoist He didn’t even spare him a look.
“Tranquil Void Monastery!” the bulky man shouted. “They got into the second round!”
“What did you say?” Daoist He looked at the bulky man in shock. Indeed, in the second-round name list, “Tranquil Void Monastery” was written, and the gang leader’s name, Xiang Zichen, was right below.
“It can’t be!” Daoist He squinted his eyes and reread the name list. “That kid’s ability… does he have a helper?”
“Brother He, you might lose this time!” The bulky man blinked his eyes.
Daoist He’s expression was unreadable, but after a while, he started laughing. “Ah, it’s not a big deal. Even if they have a helper, can they make it to the last round? The gambling contract says that they need to win one fight for all rounds!”