"Come, come, come, the betting for the New Blood Martial Competition has opened!"

"Elder Chen Hai's newly accepted chief disciple, Zhuge Long, reached the third level of Qi Refinement after just one month of cultivation, and now after a year has passed, he's already at half-step Foundation Establishment realm!"

"The personal disciple of Nishang Peak's Peak Master, Zuo Fenghua, has practiced the Nishang Sword Technique to perfection. At the ninth level of Qi Refinement, he's absolutely a hot favorite to win the championship!"

"The personal disciple of Yunhai Hall's Hall Master, Xiao Yan, obtained the ancient inheritance 'Strange Fire' sword technique during his external training. Each time he absorbs a type of strange fire, his strength increases by one level. After half a year of cultivation, he's at the seventh level of Qi Refinement, but he definitely has the strength to kill enemies across realms!"

"The son of Yunlong Peak's Peak Master, Nan Wen, has mastered the Thunder Fire Sword Technique to perfection."

In Dragon Spring Town at the center of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect.

As the New Blood Martial Competition approached, all the major gambling houses began calling out, attracting disciples of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect to come and place bets.

When you placed bets, these gambling houses would also sell you information about contestants, making you feel more confident when betting, even making you feel like you were the one controlling the odds.

Little did they know that the intelligence you knew, others also knew.

You thought you were the one controlling the odds, but in reality, you were just a leek waiting to be harvested.

On this day, Xiao Mo walked into the largest gambling house of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect.

The gambling house had a dedicated area specifically for this New Blood Martial Competition.

The names of some participating contestants were written on plaques and hung on the wall, with odds written below them, updated every hour to facilitate Dragon Spring Sword Sect disciples placing bets at any time.

Xiao Mo searched and searched but couldn't find the name he was looking for.

"Fellow Daoist, may I ask why the name I'm looking for isn't here?" Xiao Mo asked a nearby staff member.

"Oh, fellow Daoist, you must be a cultivator who entered the sect not long ago, right? If the name you're looking for isn't on the wall, it means the person you're looking for isn't a championship favorite," said the steward named Xu Xin. "I wonder which name fellow Daoist is looking for? I can help you look through my records."

"Lingqian Peak, Jiang Qingyi," Xiao Mo slowly said.

"Lingqian Peak's Jiang Qingyi, let me search," Xu Xin took out a box and probed inside with his divine consciousness.

"Found it."

Xu Xin pulled out a plaque from the box.

"Lingqian Peak's Jiang Qingyi, seventh level of Qi Refinement. Initially couldn't get started for a long time, but later seems to have obtained some opportunity. In this one year, she progressed to the seventh level of Qi Refinement. Her strength is quite decent, with hopes of entering the top fifty, but to talk about winning the championship, she's still far from it."

"What are the odds?" Xiao Mo said indifferently.

"As for odds, entering the top fifty has odds of one to two, top thirty-two has odds of one to three, top sixteen has odds of one to ten, top eight..."

"Just tell me directly what the championship odds are," Xiao Mo interrupted.

"Haha, fellow Daoist, no one has bet on Jiang Qingyi to win the championship.

Let me explain our gambling house rules to you.

We have several different pools.

One type of betting pool is called the championship pool, where you only bet on the champion.

And you can only place bets before the New Blood Martial Competition begins.

If you bet on this Jiang Qingyi to win the championship, and only you bet on her, our gambling house deducts one percent as fees, and all the spirit stones in the prize pool go to you.

But Fellow Daoist, you should also know that our pool is very large. If you want to bet on such a dark horse candidate, you need to wager at least fifty high-grade spirit stones.

This is a lot of money, a lot of money.

I know you want to support your friend, but friendship is friendship, money is money. No one wants to go against money.

Don't you agree, Fellow Daoist?"

Xiao Mo glanced indifferently at this steward and didn't waste words with him. He directly threw out a bag of high-grade spirit stones, "A total of fifty high-grade spirit stones, all betting on Jiang Qingyi to win the championship."

When Xiao Mo returned to Lingqian Peak, it was already noon, and the aroma of food wafted from the courtyard.

Xiao Mo walked into the courtyard just as Jiang Qingyi came out of the kitchen carrying dishes.

Since Jiang Qingyi came to Lingqian Peak, she had been the one cleaning Xiao Mo's courtyard and room, and she prepared all three meals daily.

Initially, the food Jiang Qingyi cooked wasn't very good but she learned quickly. Gradually, Jiang Qingyi's cooking skills became better and better.

After nearly a year had passed, Jiang Qingyi's culinary skills were no inferior to those of chefs in some restaurants in Dragon Spring Town.

"Master, you're back! The food is just ready. Please sit down and eat," seeing her master return, Jiang Qingyi's eyes lit up.

"Good." Xiao Mo nodded and sat on the stone stool.

The dishes on the table naturally weren't ordinary food from the mortal world, but the flesh and blood of spirit beasts and vegetables rich in spiritual power, which had considerable benefits for cultivation.

Jiang Qingyi finally brought out a plate of water spinach and filled a full bowl of rice for Xiao Mo.

The master and disciple sat facing each other, eating their meal.

Before long, a crow arrived at the peak of Lingqian Peak, flying while shouting, "Elder Xiao, there's a letter for you."

With that, the crow dropped a letter from the air.

Xiao Mo caught it, opened it to look, then put it away.

"Master, what was in the letter?" Jiang Qingyi asked.

"Nothing much, just a receipt for my bet."

"Bet? Receipt?" Jiang Qingyi blinked and immediately understood. "It's for betting on the New Blood Martial Competition, right? Recently, it seems many people are betting. Master, who do you think will win the championship?"

Xiao Mo smiled and looked at his disciple with a gentle smile, "What do you think?"

"Eh?" Jiang Qingyi was stunned.

"No, no, no. Master, how can you bet on me? I can't do it," Jiang Qingyi hurriedly waved her hands.

Although she would definitely perform well in this New Blood Martial Competition for her master's sake, she really had no confidence in winning the championship.

"You are my disciple. If I don't bet on you, who should I bet on?" Xiao Mo smiled.

"Then Master, how much did you bet?" Jiang Qingyi nervously looked at her master.

"Not much," Xiao Mo picked up his rice bowl and took a bite.

"That's good then."

"Just fifty high-grade spirit stones."

"Ah?" Jiang Qingyi was startled and suddenly stood up. "Master, your monthly spirit stone stipend is only twenty high-grade spirit stones!"

"That's true," Xiao Mo smiled gently at Jiang Qingyi. "But how can my disciple have no one supporting her?"

"But Master, this is way too much!" Jiang Qingyi already had some housekeeper-like qualities.

"It's fine, it's fine." Xiao Mo gently patted her head. "In ten more days, this month's stipend will come down. We won't starve to death. However, when the competition starts, I'll have to go bet another half month's stipend on other betting pools to support my disciple."

"Master..." Jiang Qingyi's helpless voice echoed through the mountains. "You really can't bet anymore..."