"The game's started! How long can Xiaotian last this time? Less than five breaths, payout is 3 to 1! More than five breaths... more than thirty breaths, payout is 1 to 10! If Li Tou loses, the house wins everything! Place your bets now!"
On the deck of the Dafu, as soon as Chen Lao Er shouted loudly from the bow, a group of idle sailors immediately crowded around, shouting all at once:
"I'll bet thirty spirit stones that Xiaotian won't last five breaths."
"Pah, have you forgotten the lesson from last time? I'll bet forty, betting at least ten breaths."
"A little gambling is harmless, ten dollars, thirty or more in interest!"
Seeing everyone's enthusiastic participation, Chen Lao Er was overjoyed and quickly collected personal betting funds and betting information.
Deep-sea whaling takes at least a year to complete a round trip. There are usually few entertainment activities on board, and out of sheer boredom, gambling naturally becomes a way for everyone to pass the time.
After everyone had placed their bets, Chen Lao Er gave Zhao Sheng, who was leaning against the side of the boat, a wink.
Zhao Sheng nodded knowingly, straightened up, stretched, and walked slowly to the center of the deck. He shouted towards the second deck, "Cangtou, come down and let's spar!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a tall, slender figure suddenly flew off the deck and landed gently opposite Zhao Sheng.
The newcomer had a cold and stern face, dressed in a black outfit, with a three-inch-long jade-white flying sword hanging on his shoulder, the blade crackling with electricity.
"Five breaths, two!"
Li Mu looked at the grinning Zhao Sheng, uttered a few words expressionlessly, and then two beams of white light suddenly flew out of his hand, landing precisely in the arms of Chen Lao Er, the warehouse manager.
The term "sailor" refers to the chief sergeant on a ship, who is usually the most capable fighter on board besides the captain.
Cangtou Li Mu is a sword cultivator at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, and was once an outer disciple of the Tianyang Sword Sect.
Chen Lao Er reached into his pocket, his expression changing slightly, and shouted to the crowd, "Li Tou has bet two mid-grade spirit stones on himself! Anyone else want to place a bet? Time is limited, don't miss out!"
"I'll add eight more spirit stones!"
"Me too, I'll put my coffin lid on, twenty spirit stones!"
Seeing Li Tou's confidence, everyone increased their bets, and Chen Lao Er was busy again.
After placing the bet, Chen Lao Er secretly held up two fingers to Zhao Sheng, who blinked in response.
"Old man, please have mercy!"
After saying that, Zhao Sheng flicked his right hand, and a water-splitting dagger, more than a foot long, with a gleaming cold light at the tip and resembling an iron rod, appeared in his hand.
"Watch out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mu made a sword gesture, and the Jade Thunder Sword suddenly transformed into a white light, shooting out swiftly and striking Zhao Sheng's shoulder like lightning.
Zhao Sheng narrowed his eyes to a slit and stood still, but just as the flying sword was about to strike him, his shoulder suddenly swayed slightly.
Whoosh!
The Jade Thunder Sword narrowly grazed his skin and slid past him.
"Wow!"
Among the onlookers, someone who witnessed this thrilling scene couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
Li Mu didn't care that his sword missed its mark. He had fought this kid several times, and if the other party couldn't even dodge a single sword strike, he would have been too lazy to fight back.
The Jade Thunder Sword soared into the sky, tracing a semi-circular arc.
At that moment, the midday sun was blazing, and the flying sword suddenly merged with the dazzling sunlight, becoming almost invisible.
In an instant, sunlight poured onto Zhao Sheng's face, along with a faint, deeply hidden sword light.
Zhao Sheng looked up, and his eyes squinted as he was hit by the dazzling sunlight.
However, at that moment he suddenly raised the water-splitting dagger in his hand and plunged it into the bright sunlight.
bite!
With a metallic clang, Zhao Sheng flashed back three feet.
At the same time, the Jade Thunder Sword was instantly blasted out of the sunlight and flew off at an angle.
"Good!" The crowd couldn't help but shout "Good!" Some sharp-eyed people even saw that Zhao Sheng's thrust had actually hit the tip of the flying sword with incredible precision, and then sent it flying.
Such precision, eyesight, and reaction speed are hard to imagine for a fifteen-year-old.
However, reality is even stranger than imagined!
While they were talking, the two exchanged seven or eight more blows. Despite Li Mu's lightning-fast swordplay, he couldn't harm Zhao Sheng in the slightest.
Five breaths had passed when Li Mu grew anxious and roared, "Kid, watch out! Sword Control Technique, Sword Light Splits!"
As the last syllable of "化" was still lingering, the Jade Thunder Sword suddenly blazed with lightning, its blade flashing and leaping, instantly splitting into two, then four, and finally eight.
Eight sword lights suddenly appeared, hovering in the air and forming a semi-circle around Zhao Sheng.
cut!
With the word "slash" uttered, eight sword lights flashed and disappeared, reappearing simultaneously and slashing towards Zhao Sheng's head, hands, chest, abdomen, and other eight vital points.
Seeing the sword light approaching, a flash of blue light appeared in Zhao Sheng's eyes. His body suddenly shrank into a ball and spun rapidly like a top. The water-splitting dagger in his hand shot out in all directions with lightning speed, making him look like a hedgehog.
Ding ding ding!
With a series of clanging sounds, Zhao Sheng suddenly darted out, skimming along the ground as slippery as a fox.
At this moment, Li Mu's face suddenly turned pale. His mental connection with the Jade Thunder Sword had been interrupted for a moment, which surprised him greatly.
Seeing that even the sword light splitting technique couldn't harm Zhao Sheng, Li Mu, in his desperation, forgot his limits and suddenly added 30% of his spiritual power to his hand.
At this moment, the Jade Thunder Sword seemed to have taken a powerful tonic, its sword light surged, and its speed instantly increased by three points, chasing after Zhao Sheng and unleashing a burst of stabbing attacks.
"Wait, wait! You fouled, you scoundrel!"
Zhao Sheng rolled over like a lazy donkey, dodging the flying sword strike in a sorry state. He then hurriedly shook his hands, pleading for mercy with a face full of injustice.
Li Mu was taken aback upon hearing this, only then realizing that he had forgotten to suppress his cultivation in his haste.
A hint of embarrassment flashed across his face. He reached out and summoned the Jade Thunder Sword back to his shoulder. Then he said in a deep voice, "You win this time, kid!"
After saying that, Li Mu resumed his cool expression, leaped up, jumped onto the second deck, and slipped into the training room.
"Oh dear! Li Tou is really ripping us off!"
"Damn, the bookmakers are winning everything! This is outrageous!"
"Did Li and Chen collude?"
"Get lost! You think Li Tou is as despicable as you?!"
When Li Mu conceded defeat, everyone complained, except for Chen Lao Er, who was all smiles.
Without a doubt, he made a huge profit this time.
Of course, Zhao Sheng also had a share in the bet.
If he weren't so short of money, Zhao Sheng wouldn't have been willing to cooperate with Chen Lao Er and run a gambling operation.
However, the spiritual energy in this ocean is too thin, almost like a spiritual desert. Without spirit stones, Zhao Sheng would hardly be able to cultivate.
In order to improve his cultivation level as quickly as possible, he had no choice but to reveal a portion of his strength.
Of course, this also had other advantages. Although his cultivation level was only at the third level of Qi Refining, no one on the Dafu ship dared to underestimate him.
Everyone understood that a fifteen-year-old cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining could expect to reach the Foundation Establishment stage if nothing unexpected happened.
If one also possesses strength far exceeding that of others in the same realm, becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator is not only a certainty, but also has a greater than 50% chance.
Therefore, after Zhao Sheng was rescued and brought aboard the Dafu ship, he was quickly accepted by everyone and even gained a relatively high status.
The natural order is balanced; there is good and there is bad!
Zhao Shengren was on the Dafu ship, seemingly unable to control his own destiny, but facing immense troubles.
As Zhao Sheng emerged from Chen Lao Er's cabin at the bow, having received a small share of three hundred spirit stones, he was about to climb the ship's ladder when a figure in a short skirt came down from above, her plump buttocks facing him.
Zhao Sheng looked up, as if she had accidentally seen something she shouldn't have seen under the short skirt.
Snap!
A slap landed lightly on Zhao Sheng's shoulder.
"Kid, what did you just see?"
At that moment, a gentle, soothing voice reached Zhao Sheng's ears.