The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

Seeing that Li Huayuan agreed so readily, Fu Yunzi couldn't help but feel suspicious and hesitant.

"What? Are you scared, you old Taoist priest?" Li Huayuan said sarcastically upon seeing this.

"Hmph." Fu Yunzi's face was ugly as he took out a white porcelain bottle from his storage bag at his waist.

The porcelain bottle floated in the air, emitting a hazy glow.

"This is the inner core of a level-five demonic beast, the Bloodline Flood Dragon," Fu Yunzi explained. "As for the rules of the bet, they are the same as last time. First, we will look at the quantity of spiritual herbs brought out by our two disciples, then the quality of the herbs, and finally the number of disciples who survive."

"If I lose, this demon core will be yours, enough to raise the strength of your silver-armored horned python to another level."

"If Benefactor Li loses, you shall forge two more pieces of iron essence for this humble Taoist within twenty years."

Upon hearing the words "Bloodline Flood Dragon's Inner Core," Li Huayuan was also quite surprised and asked, "Bloodline Flood Dragon! You actually managed to find a level five demonic beast?"

Fu Yunzi tugged at his beard, a smile playing on his lips, and explained, "That's right, it took me a great deal of effort to find this Bloodline Dragon and kill it."

"Just enough to gamble on the two pieces of iron essence you forged."

Li Huayuan was tempted, but then his eyes darted around and he said, "I am willing to offer three pieces of iron essence, in addition to this inner core, I also want to gamble on the essence of the Bloodline Flood Dragon."

Fu Yunzi's pupils contracted sharply, his face showing a conflicted expression. He replied, "The essence of this Blood Thread Dragon is meant to be refined into the spirit of my natal flying sword. How can I gamble with it?"

Li Huayuan then retorted sarcastically, "What? You don't want three pieces of iron essence?"

"Li is a man of the Three Yangs Body, and the quality of the iron essence he refines far surpasses that of the goods in the market."

"Very well!" Upon hearing this, Fu Yunzi stood with his hands behind his back and said, "I'll take your bet."

"Everyone, give each other a high five and make an oath!"

After saying that, he reached out his hand to give Li Huayuan a high five.

Seeing this, Li Huayuan also reached out his right hand to meet it.

But the next moment, a pair of dirty hands suddenly appeared out of thin air and swore an oath with Fuyunzi.

"Who is it?" Li Huayuan and Fuyunzi were both startled, their faces turning ashen.

The disciples from both factions watching from a distance were dumbfounded, secretly shocked by what kind of escape technique this was, that it could silently sneak into such close range.

Immediately afterwards, an oddly dressed old man appeared out of thin air.

The old man was dressed in a tattered blue shirt, had short hair, and carried a faded blue cloth bag at his waist. His face was so greasy that his true appearance was unrecognizable.

"Senior Qiong!" Fu Yunzi and Li Huayuan bowed respectfully upon recognizing the old man's appearance.

"What senior? I dare not accept that title." Old Monster Qiong waved his hand and chuckled, "I only broke through to the Core Formation stage a few years earlier than you."

"Count me in on this bet."

"No, no," Fu Yunzi hurriedly replied. "Senior has been in the Core Formation stage for hundreds of years. I dare not associate with Senior Qiong, much less gamble with him."

"Hehe." Old Monster Qiong chuckled, took out three talismans from his pocket, and said, "I'm not going to take advantage of you with these old bones."

"If the combined spiritual herbs from your two families surpass those of our Hidden Moon Sect, then you have won."

"The stakes are these three Invisible Needle Talismans."

Upon seeing the three talismans, Fu Yunzi and Li Huayuan both swallowed hard, exclaiming in surprise, "Invisible needles?!"

"Senior Qiong is actually willing to use this treasure as a wager?"

The two of them had long admired this "invisible needle."

Legend has it that this treasure was made from the essence of five metals and combined with the invisibility escape technique of the Old Monster Qiong. It comes without a trace and goes without a trace, and can injure Core Formation cultivators invisibly. It is extremely powerful.

"Deal!" The two immediately agreed to the bet.

Immediately afterwards, Li Huayuan impatiently announced to the disciples of Huangfeng Valley, "You all heard my bet."

"Perhaps you feel that I am disrespecting you by betting your lives."

"But let me tell you, the cultivation world is a dog-eat-dog world."

"The so-called 'fellow Daoists' are used to address cultivators of similar strength; you are only worthy of being called ants."

"The bet we just made was very important to me. If we win, I will certainly not treat you unfairly."

"All the disciples who helped me win this time will be rewarded, and the one who made the greatest contribution will be allowed to become my disciple after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage!"

These words left Han Li, Chen Qiaotian, and the other Qi Refining stage cultivators speechless and extremely shocked.

Yang Qingyuan, however, seemed uninterested, after all, he had already become Lei Wanhe's disciple.

"Yang Qingyuan, come out!" Li Huayuan also saw Yang Qingyuan's expression and frowned slightly, fearing that the other party would not be willing to help.

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan stepped out from the crowd, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "What are your instructions, Elder?"

Li Huayuan crossed his arms and instructed, "I know you have already become a disciple of Senior Brother Lei."

"In this way, if you can bring out more than thirty spiritual herbs, I will allow you to take one of these eight stakes. If you can bring out more than forty spiritual herbs, I will allow you to take two of them."

Yang Qingyuan was very tempted by the reward. He had already promised Lei Wanhe that he could bring out as many spiritual herbs as possible, so now he could have the best of both worlds.

Fu Yunzi and Qiong Laoguai, who were standing nearby, were also very puzzled when they saw Li Huayuan rewarding a Qi Refining stage disciple alone. They both scanned Yang Qingyuan with their divine senses.

"A lightning spiritual root!" Fu Yunzi's hand trembled, nearly tearing out a beard, as he exclaimed, "Benefactor Li, has your Yellow Maple Valley gone mad?"

"They actually allowed a disciple with a lightning spiritual root to enter the Crimson Forbidden Zone."

"Aren't you afraid he'll perish in the Bloodstained Forbidden Zone?"

"Moreover, Benefactor Li actually wants him to pick more than thirty medicinal herbs. Isn't he afraid that this young benefactor will die from greed?"

"The spiritual herbs in the Crimson Forbidden Land are becoming increasingly scarce; it has been hundreds of years since anyone has been able to bring out so many."

"To gather more medicinal herbs, we must go to those extremely dangerous places."

Yang Qingyuan bowed slightly and said, "This junior is willing to take the risk and give it a try."

Old Monster Qiong was quite surprised to see this and replied, "What courage."

"A cultivator with the lightning elemental root can overpower three cultivators of the same level."

"No wonder Li Huayuan insisted on betting against Fuyunzi; he had been prepared all along."

"Too bad, you still can't win, hehe..."

Li Huayuan was also surprised and uncertain when he heard Qiong Laoguai's words. He wondered what kind of trump card the Hidden Moon Sect had kept that made Qiong Laoguai so confident.

However, the bet has already begun, and no one can back out now.

A little while later, cultivators from the Hidden Moon Sect, Spirit Beast Mountain, Heavenly Palace Fortress, and Blade Transformation Valley arrived one after another.

As for Old Monster Qiong, he vanished without a trace before the Core Formation female elder of the Hidden Moon Sect arrived.

Yang Qingyuan also took the opportunity to observe the disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect, wanting to see if Nangong Wan was present.

However, after looking around, he couldn't find any trace of Nangong Wan. Instead, he saw an acquaintance, "Yan Nanjiao," who was his enemy from the Ascension Conference years ago.

Enemies meeting are bound to be extremely hostile.

Yan Nanjiao gritted her teeth, wishing she could kill Yang Qingyuan with her eyes, indicating that a fierce battle was bound to take place after entering the Blood Forbidden Land.

The Core Formation elders of the seven major sects met, discussed the matter thoroughly, and then each used their own methods to carry their disciples straight to the entrance of the Crimson Forbidden Land.

Yang Qingyuan also noticed that the group was getting closer and closer to Yingchoujian.

Fortunately, after flying for several hours, the seven major sects' teams stopped in front of a wide, boundless loess slope, still hundreds of miles away from Eagle's Sorrow Gorge.

Without saying a word, the burly Core Formation cultivator from the Giant Sword Sect waved his hand and unleashed a sword light of earth attribute towards the sky.

The sword light condensed into a stone sword, soaring into the sky and growing to a hundred feet in size amidst the wind, piercing straight into the clouds.

But then, a blinding blue light shone in the sky.

The azure light grew brighter and brighter, then transformed into countless enormous wind blades that shattered the stone sword.

"The Eight Gates Wind Formation." Standing in the crowd, Yang Qingyuan was lost in thought as he saw the wind blades in the sky.

According to the records on the formation diagram, if no one is in charge of this formation, it will enter a period of decline every once in a while, but once Yang Qingyuan sets up the Life Gate Formation, this situation can be changed.

It will be impossible for the seven major sects to take advantage of the situation to open the Crimson Forbidden Land again.

At that moment, Li Huayuan, Fuyunzi, and the other six Core Formation cultivators from various sects all made their moves, unleashing magical treasures such as flying swords, rulers, seals, ribbons, and canes.

The seven magical treasures complemented each other, forming a circle, and rushed directly towards the wind blade formation, shattering the countless wind blades and forcibly opening a passage.

"Hurry up!" Fu Yunzi, covered in sweat, ordered the group.

The Qi Refining stage disciples of the seven major sects dared not slack off and flew into the passage in batches.

Yang Qingyuan stepped onto the green leaf magic artifact and entered the passage together with Han Li, Chen Qiaotian, and other disciples of Huangfeng Valley.

The passage was only twenty feet long. Yang Qingyuan flew for only a few breaths before successfully reaching the exit, but then he was immediately struck by a dizzying sensation.

When he came to his senses again, all he saw was a silent desert.