Chapter 308: Wager

Chen Lingxi headed east for a long time before he finally caught sight of the divine deer's phantom image, suspended tens of thousands of feet up in the void.

Its antlers reached the heavens, showering down rosy light.

He lowered his cloud, parted the water curtain, and returned to his cave to briefly adjust his breathing before setting out to find Yuan Lingyu.

Yuan Lingyu's cave dwelling sat along a clear stream six hundred li west of Slumbering Deer Peak. A few short pines grew out front, their drooping branches obscuring half the entrance.

Chen Lingxi stood before the cave. Before he could speak, a stream of spiritual sense flowed out from within. The cave doors immediately opened, and a pretty figure in a light yellow dress hurried out to welcome him.

"Senior Martial Brother! You've returned!"

Her eyes strikingly bright, Yuan Lingyu smiled and welcomed Chen Lingxi inside, personally brewing him a cup of tea.

She had gone to the Water Curtain Cave to look for him once before. Seeing the water curtain sealed shut and his qi completely contained, she had known her senior martial brother was in secluded cultivation and refrained from disturbing him.

Half a month later, she had visited again and found the water curtain unchanged, realizing he had gone out wandering. She had been quite worried about him ever since.

Now, seeing him return safely, all her worries turned to joy.

Once they were seated, Yuan Lingyu asked about his whereabouts over the past two months.

Chen Lingxi gave a few casual replies and drank half his tea before taking two Jade Bottles from his sleeve and placing them on the stone table.

"Junior Martial Sister," he said, his expression unusually solemn.

"Did you tell me before that you've cultivated the Heavenly Calamity Method Great Divine Ability for two years but still haven't found the gateway to it?"

Yuan Lingyu looked slightly puzzled. "That's true."

Chen Lingxi continued, "By chance, I obtained two opportunities related to the Heavenly Calamity Method.

"The first is a Yinghuo Moon-Reflecting Mushroom.

"This mushroom has lived for a thousand years, exclusively absorbing moon essence to reflect heavenly secrets. Once a cultivator of the Heavenly Calamity Method consumes it, they can catch a glimpse of the disaster dao's secrets."

He gently pushed the first Jade Bottle in front of Yuan Lingyu.

"The second is Disaster Energy Stone Marrow.

"By refining it into medicine, a cultivator of the Heavenly Calamity Method can catch a glimpse of the disaster dao's True Intent."

He pushed the second Jade Bottle over as well.

"Both opportunities are here. Junior Martial Sister, you may choose one to cultivate with, or combine the two.

"How to use them is for you to decide."

The cave fell quiet.

Yuan Lingyu stared at the two Jade Bottles. Her bright, crystalline eyes reflected the two faint streams of medicinal light, and she didn't look away for a long time.

After a long while, she slowly raised her head.

Her eyes carried many indescribable emotions...

She spoke no sentimental words, simply standing up to bow deeply to Chen Lingxi.

"Thank you, Senior Martial Brother."

Chen Lingxi accepted the bow and gave a slight nod.

"These two opportunities did not come easily, so please cherish them, Junior Martial Sister.

"If you can enter the gateway of the Heavenly Calamity Method, its killing power will be extraordinary—far surpassing ordinary Great Divine Abilities. I hope you achieve success soon."

Yuan Lingyu nodded emphatically and carefully stored the two Jade Bottles, tucking them close inside her sleeve.

She said no more that night. She simply took out a few spiritual materials stored in the cave, packaged two more packets of Clear Dew Tea for him, and respectfully saw him out, watching his dark-robed figure disappear into the night.

Once Chen Lingxi returned to his cave dwelling, Yuan Lingyu sealed her own cave doors and entered secluded cultivation, hoping to use these two opportunities to master the Heavenly Calamity Method in one breath.

Upon returning to the Water Curtain Cave, Chen Lingxi carefully applied Root-Protecting Water to the green bamboo out front before heading inside.

He sat cross-legged on the bluestone.

Above his Dao Platform, that newly formed jade-colored Profound Root was currently suspended quietly in the void.

Its color was warm and smooth like jade, and the layer of faint golden patterns flowing over it had gradually solidified during his two days of quiet recovery.

'The Heavenly Statute Edict is complete, and my second Profound Root has been born.'

'What I must do now is use my Dao Origin to nourish this Profound Root day and night, letting it fully settle into the Dao Platform to strengthen my Plundering Dragon Dao Platform.'

Chen Lingxi thought.

Stepping from the Early Dao Foundation into the Dao Foundation Middle Stage required the second Profound Root to take root completely within the Dao Platform.

At that time, with two Profound Roots standing together, the Dao Origin contained within the Dao Platform would more than double!

'The Dao Foundation Middle Stage is already in sight.'

Chen Lingxi slowly closed his eyes and was just about to inject a wisp of Dao Origin into that jade-colored Profound Root.

Right then.

The sound of something tearing through the air drifted over from outside Slumbering Deer Peak.

'Someone else is here.'

Chen Lingxi opened his eyes.

He sensed two qi signatures piercing through the clouds and mist, heading toward the Water Curtain Cave.

The two qi signatures approached one after the other, one deep and one shallow.

The deep one was as steady as an abyss, carrying a restrained, sharp intent!

The shallow one completely exposed its sharpness, faintly exuding an undisguised arrogance!

Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes slightly.

These two qi signatures were actually quite familiar to him.

'Chu Zhuo of Illuminating Sword Profound Peak... the one who argued with Senior Martial Brother Shen Xiu'an that day.'

Chu Zhuo's thousand-foot giant sword had been like a towering mountain; it remained fresh in Chen Lingxi's memory.

'The other is the second-ranked on the First Profound Celestial Ranking, Xu Sanchi.'

Chen Lingxi had also seen this person on the Celestial Ranking.

'What are these two doing here?'

Somewhat puzzled, Chen Lingxi slowly stood up, parted the water curtain, and walked out of the cave dwelling.

Outside the water curtain, the daylight was perfect.

Those two figures slowly descended from the sea of clouds outside Slumbering Deer Peak, alighting at the bottom of the stone steps in front of the Water Curtain Cave.

Chu Zhuo was quite tall, with broad shoulders, a wide back, and a longsword worn at his waist.

His sword intent was like a bottomless ancient well—incredibly profound, yet faintly revealing traces of killing intent that made it terrifying.

Xu Sanchi, standing by his side, presented a completely different demeanor.

He was somewhat thin, with a handsome face, and dressed in white robes.

His sword intent flared outward, entirely undisguised, as if someone had stabbed an unsheathed sword right into the world, forcing the surrounding clouds and mist to retreat.

He was second on the First Profound Celestial Ranking, below only Zhu Mi. Chen Lingxi's ranking was still beneath Xu Sanchi's.

Right now, Xu Sanchi stood in place. His gaze lightly swept over the patch of green bamboo in front of the Water Curtain Cave before falling on Chen Lingxi's face.

Chu Zhuo was the first to cup his hands in greeting. "Is this Junior Martial Brother Yuan?"

Chen Lingxi returned the greeting. "I am indeed Yuan Zhiling. Senior Martial Brother Chu, for what matter have you come?"

Chu Zhuo took a jade box from his sleeve and offered it with both hands, his tone calm. "I have come today to ask for a favor."

His expression unchanged, Chen Lingxi accepted the jade box.

Chu Zhuo continued, "My martial nephew here, Xu Sanchi, has cultivated the Dao of the Sword for a long time and is now second on the First Profound Celestial Ranking.

"His aptitude is extraordinary, and his sword intent is nearly condensed.

"However, he has recently been stuck at a bottleneck he cannot pass, making it difficult to advance another step.

"Therefore, I wanted to find someone with extraordinary attainments in the Dao of the Sword for him, to discuss the sword with the sword, and to break through this bottleneck using the sword."

He paused briefly, his gaze landing on Chen Lingxi. "Many of us at Illuminating Sword Profound Peak saw you break the joint attacks of several people with a single sword strike in front of the Dragon Transformation Immortal Roll.

"That Jade Tiger Rebellious Sea Sword Light possessed a violent killing power, One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Dharmas. From my observations, it bears quite a few similarities to the Thunder Pool Jade Tiger Marquis Lineage.

"Furthermore, since both you and my martial nephew are in the First Profound Realm of the Early Dao Foundation, perhaps you, Junior Martial Brother, could have a match with him.

"Not for victory or defeat, but solely to discuss the Dao of the Sword.

"What do you think, Junior Martial Brother?"

Hearing this, Chen Lingxi did not reply immediately.

He lowered his eyelids, his gaze falling onto the jade box, and injected a wisp of spiritual sense into it.

As soon as the jade box opened, a clear, translucent radiance flowed out from within.

The source of that radiance was a precious bead about the size of a knuckle.

The entire bead was a deep greenish-blue, with a layer of warm and tranquil spiritual light flowing over it.

Looking at it with the Method of Qi Observation, Chen Lingxi saw that a faint trace of sword intent was actually hidden inside the precious bead.

"This is a Sword Embryo Precious Pearl."

Chu Zhuo spoke, his tone candid. "This pearl can be fused into a cultivator's personal spiritual sword to elevate the weapon's grade and nourish its internal spirituality.

"If you are willing to have a match with my martial nephew, this pearl will belong to the victor."

Chen Lingxi closed the jade box, still considering it.

Xu Sanchi, standing to the side, finally spoke up.

He shook his head slightly.

"Martial Uncle Chu, this matter concerns my cultivation of the Dao of the Sword, so I also wish to add to the wager."

He took an item from his sleeve and rested it on his palm.

It was a small golden cage.

No larger than a fist, the cage was woven entirely from some kind of dark gold wire and densely engraved with countless overlapping runic patterns.

The runes connected and echoed one another, locking all qi inside.

There was nothing else inside the cage.

But when Chen Lingxi looked at it with the Method of Qi Observation, a patch of spiritual energy was faintly and slowly flowing within it.

"This is a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact of mine, called the [Sword-Nourishing Cage]."

Xu Sanchi said, his gaze falling on the patch of green bamboo in front of the Water Curtain Cave.

"I see that you are cultivating a few green bamboos in front of your cave dwelling, Little Martial Uncle.

"These bamboos are not of a low grade. If they could be nourished by my [Sword-Nourishing Cage], I imagine they would fully mature in just a few years.

"I will use this item as my wager for today's sword discussion."

He paused here, his gaze finally returning to Chen Lingxi's face as he suddenly asked, "But I wonder if you'd be willing to offer some stakes as well, Little Martial Uncle?"

In terms of seniority, Chen Lingxi was the disciple of True Person Xiangshu of Slumbering Deer Peak, making him Xu Sanchi's martial uncle.

Yet right now, standing in front of Chen Lingxi's cave dwelling, he was brazenly proposing a sword discussion and brazenly demanding that he put up a "wager" for the match.

Especially since... at this moment, the sword intent around Xu Sanchi was flowing ceaselessly, like a layer of sharp edges standing against the wind, faintly slicing apart the daylight in front of the Water Curtain Cave.

It was incredibly rude!

Chen Lingxi stood there in silence.

'Why is this Xu Sanchi acting so rudely?'

He hadn't been back on the mountain for long, and his second Profound Root had just been born. He was meant to use this period of time to rest and recover properly, slowly nourishing that jade-colored Profound Root until it was solid to prepare to plant it into his Dao Platform.

But right now, looking at Xu Sanchi standing at the bottom of the stone steps, looking at the undisguised, somewhat weary contempt at the corner of his mouth, a great deal of anger actually began to slowly well up in his heart.

'This person comes to my cave dwelling to discuss swords.'

'And with such contempt, such rudeness...'

Fury gradually blossomed in Chen Lingxi's heart.

He suppressed his surging anger and slowly spoke, his tone calm. "Martial Nephew Xu takes out a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact to add as a wager for our sword discussion!

"My seniority is higher than yours. Today, you offer a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact as a wager. If I cannot produce an item equivalent to your Sword-Nourishing Cage, how can I discuss swords with you?"

He took two Spiritual Artifacts from his Vast Void Pouch.

One was an ink-black flying shuttle about three inches long.

The second was a scroll of blue-gray edict.

"These two items are both extraordinary. I will use them as my wager."

Xu Sanchi looked at the flying shuttle and edict in his palm and shook his head slightly.

The casual disgust finally vanished from his expression, replaced instead by a trace of undisguised disappointment.

"Little Martial Uncle."

"The Sword-Nourishing Cage is a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact," he said. "Do you know how precious a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact is?

"Even on Illuminating Sword Profound Peak, an ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator might exhaust a hundred years of their time and still fail to obtain a Spiritual Artifact like this.

"Although your two treasures are both extraordinary in their own ways, Little Martial Uncle, they belong merely to the Fourth Grade, and they don't even stand out among Fourth Grade items.

"Matching Fourth Grade against Third Grade is perhaps a bit inappropriate."

He said this, then stood up straighter.

The sword intent around him rose slightly. "If you cannot produce a wager equivalent to my Sword-Nourishing Cage, Little Martial Uncle, then I'm afraid I am unwilling to discuss swords either."

Chu Zhuo stood to the side in silence.

He looked at Chen Lingxi, his eyes quiet, betraying no emotion.

Chen Lingxi slowly let out a breath of foul air.

He didn't reply, simply raising his head to look at Xu Sanchi.

"What wager do you want?"

Hearing this, a gleam flashed in Xu Sanchi's eyes.

He took a slight step forward and said, "I heard that Martial Uncle Shen Xiu'an of Slumbering Deer Peak once personally sought out a rare opportunity for you, Little Martial Uncle.

"That opportunity is certainly not inferior to my Sword-Nourishing Cage.

"If you are willing to use that opportunity as your wager, Little Martial Uncle, it would be quite fitting."

Hearing this, Chen Lingxi shook his head and said, "Senior Martial Brother Shen hasn't even returned yet, so how can I know if that opportunity is even mine?"

"If Senior Martial Brother Shen doesn't bring that opportunity back, I'll just count it as my own bad luck. You have no need to worry about it, Little Martial Uncle, and my Third Grade Spiritual Artifact will remain on the table," Xu Sanchi said.

Chen Lingxi's anger surged even more violently, and he was just about to agree.

But immediately after, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

'My temperament has been tempered through the many tribulations of the Weiji Grotto-Heaven, and can already be called steady. So why am I losing my composure like this today? To actually generate such anger over such a trivial matter?'

Xu Sanchi coming to his door for a sword discussion, Chu Zhuo's proposal, the Sword-Nourishing Cage, the dispute over the wager...

None of these were major issues.

Yet he felt exceptionally furious.

Thinking of this, Chen Lingxi lowered his eyes.

When he looked up again, the anger in his eyes had sunk away.

'This is truly too strange. My mood seems to be tugged by something, making me generate this anger out of nowhere, almost agreeing to Xu Sanchi's demand.'

Chen Lingxi's thoughts flashed.

At this moment, Xu Sanchi and Chu Zhuo also saw Chen Lingxi's gradually calming eyes.

Chu Zhuo gave a slight shake of his head.

Xu Sanchi also sighed inwardly. 'I didn't expect this Little Martial Uncle's mind to be so firm. Senior Martial Brother Zhou's [Raging Tide Method] Great Divine Ability actually only lasted for such a short period of time.'

'If it could have held on just a little longer and made this Little Martial Uncle agree, perhaps I could have used this to...'

Xu Sanchi was feeling surprised.

But right at this moment, Chen Lingxi's eyes suddenly flickered. His gaze fell upon Xu Sanchi, and then, under Xu Sanchi's surprised stare, he actually nodded slowly.

"Alright!"

"We'll use that opportunity as the wager!"

Xu Sanchi was taken aback at first, but then blazing golden light erupted in his eyes.

The sword intent on his body instantly surged high, billowing sword qi flowing out from him. His eyes now seemed filled with hope.

It was as if he could immediately defeat Chen Lingxi and instantly obtain that opportunity!