My name is Wei Qing, and I want to fight the Xiongnu.

"Stupid!"

Cao Ying cursed under his breath, and with a flick of his right hand, he tightened the gossamer-thin glove inside his sleeve.

Then, without looking at Miao Ga, he returned to the high platform and looked at the students, saying, "Today's gambling game was started by me, Cao Ying, and the money earned went into my pocket. You are free to call me despicable and shameless, and I will not interfere or retaliate over this trivial matter."

However, some things can be said, and some things cannot.

I, Cao Ying, lost both my mother and father at a young age and was raised entirely by my elder brother. I am a motherless wretch. But before you speak such words to me, consider whether you can withstand the retaliation of the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion!

Chapter 30: Brother, we're rich!

After Cao Ying finished speaking, there was complete silence.

The student who was sentenced to death by Cao Ying turned pale. He didn't know Cao Ying's situation, nor did he know that Cao Ying had lost both her parents at a young age.

He was just making a careless remark; it's not a capital offense!

However, no one spoke up for the student; they all chose to remain silent.

Open killing is not allowed within the Imperial Academy, but Cao Ying does not need to kill within the Imperial Academy. He is not Wei Qing; he has no power but has influence.

Miao Ga originally wanted to speak, but he didn't know what kind of poison it was, and even with his superior strength, he was struggling to hold on, so he had to take his leave first.

Cao Ying was in a good mood when she saw the annoying guy leave. She looked up at the Hundred Battles Pavilion and saw that Wei Qing had already passed the thirty-sixth floor and entered the thirty-seventh floor, and was moving even faster.

"Gentlemen, let's continue the game. Didn't quite a few people want to raise their bets earlier? Now's your chance, or you'll miss it."

There was still no response, and the students who had placed their bets earlier had regained their composure.

There's no going back now; it's too late to undo what's done.

But I haven't lost yet; getting past the fortieth floor won't be so easy!

That's a hurdle; even among the elites who have been trained at the Imperial Academy for more than nine years, not many can pass the fortieth floor.

Wei Qing might not be a good candidate!

Cao Ying watched as these people remained undeterred, a cold smile playing on his lips. The fortieth floor?

You're all underestimating Wei Qing!

If it weren't for some unexpected events, this bet should have been about whether Wei Qing could get past the fifty-ninth floor!

It can only be said that we really owe a lot to Miao Ga; without him, we wouldn't have earned so much.

Should we send him a banner as a token of appreciation later?

Unfortunately, he probably won't accept it.

After the farce ended, everyone's attention returned to the crystal monument.

Waiting for the outcome of the bet.

Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine...

As expected, Wei Qing passed through the thirty-ninth floor without any major incidents, starting with the speedrun, and then faced the challenge of the fortieth floor.

Once you pass the fortieth floor, you will be qualified to serve as one of the Eighth Colonel!

The "Four Expeditions and Four Garrisons" represent the positions of eight generals, while the "Eight Colonels" represent the eight types of colonels in the royal city of Chang'an.

Zhonglei Colonel, Tunqi Colonel, Bubing Colonel, Yueqi Colonel, Changshui Colonel, Huqi Colonel, Shesheng Colonel, Huben Colonel.

The Commandant of the Central Fortress was in charge of the area inside and outside the Northern Army Fortress;

The Commandant of the Cavalry was in charge of the cavalry.

The infantry captain was in charge of the troops stationed at the gate of the Shanglin Garden in the southwest suburbs of Chang'an;

The Yueqi Commandant was in charge of the Yue cavalry;

The Commandant of the Changshui Cavalry was in charge of the cavalry in the northwestern suburbs of Chang'an.

The Commandant of the Hu Cavalry was in charge of the Hu cavalry of Chiyang, but this position was not held regularly.

The Archery Captain is in charge of the archers;

Tiger-like officers are in charge of light chariots.

Unlike the border colonels, each of the eight colonels had seven hundred soldiers.

Commanding seven hundred men... that was too easy for Wei Qing.

In dreams, or rather, in the long river of time, Wei Qing once commanded an army of fifty to sixty thousand men, and if you include the logistics troops, the number could be as high as one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand.

For him, commanding a mere seven hundred men was a piece of cake.

Outside the Hundred Battles Pavilion, all the students, whether they had placed bets or not, stared intently at the crystal tablet.

At this moment, each day feels like an eternity.

Every second felt incredibly long.

Even Cao Ying was not immune to the influence of the outside world and became somewhat nervous.

In this tense atmosphere, Cao Ying also felt that time was passing very slowly.

Unfortunately, the external situation did not affect Wei Qing inside the Hundred Battles Pavilion; the fortieth floor posed no challenge for him at all.

He had no idea about the unannounced evaluations people were making of him; if he had known, he would have been completely baffled.

Forty floors?

Why do you look down on me like that!

It was easy and comfortable, without any obstacles, just like the previous twenty floors, I passed through them effortlessly.

As the number of levels Wei Qing had traversed behind the name of the crystal tablet increased from thirty-nine to forty, Cao Ying seemed to hear the cries and despair in the hearts of countless people.

Hold it in, you can't laugh!

"Hahahaha!"

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, Cao Ying couldn't help but burst into unrestrained laughter in front of countless students.

All he wants now is for Wei Qing to come out so he can say to him: "Brother, we've struck it rich this time!"

A bet of 170,000 to 180,000 in one go, minus the winnings of Chen Ajiao, still leaves 120,000 to 130,000 points.

Paying a quarter of the tax to the Imperial Academy also yields nearly 100,000 points.

On the other hand, the students who lost the bet seemed to have lost their souls.

Those with more money gamble big, while those without money gamble small.

The key is the points, not the money.

If you lose money, you can ask your family for it. But if you lose your points, your future studies, cultivation, and even finding a master will become a huge problem.

In addition, the competition within the Imperial Academy is fierce. You started half a year behind. Three years later, when the Imperial Academy holds the qualification assessment for staying on as an academy student, what makes you think you can compete with your classmates?

Not everyone is as prodigious as Wei Qing, or as extraordinary as Cao Ying.

"Marquis Pingyang... regarding the points for the bet... can I use money instead...? If I use money as the bet, I won't have to pay taxes..."

Yes, whether you use points for trading or gambling, you have to pay a 1/4 tax.

The reason why the Imperial Academy is subject to such a heavy transaction tax is because it discourages students from trading points.

But if money is used for transactions, then the Imperial Academy has no jurisdiction and dares not interfere.

The Imperial Academy did not dare to extend its reach to the imperial court.

Even when Prime Minister Xiao was in charge, it was the same.

Cao Ying thought about exchanging money for points and didn't rush to refuse. If Wei Qing really made it to the 59th floor, he could earn another 100,000 points. In the future, there would be 1,200 legions waiting for him to harvest. If all went well, he could probably accumulate 300,000 points within a month.

Even if there are many things to redeem, you can't use up all these points in a short time.

Rather than saying that it's better to exchange it for money, it will be more convenient to buy things from Xu Youdao later.

Thinking of this, Cao Ying smiled and said, "It's not impossible. When I set up the betting game before, I also said that if we didn't have enough points, we could sell Pingyang Prefecture and use the money to pay off the debt. None of you objected."

Now that you're reluctant to give up your points and are planning to pay me back with money, it would be too heartless of me to refuse outright.

However, I'll discuss this with Wei Qing later. He's the legion commander, and I'm the deputy legion commander, so I'll listen to him. As for the Xiongnu barbarians, forget about them; they should just obediently hand over their points. We can wait for news about the others for now.

But I must remind you all, since you've lost the bet, don't even think about reneging. Anyone who dares to renege on their debt to me, Cao Ying, even if they're a descendant of the Liu Lü royal family, will suffer the consequences!

After Cao Ying finished speaking, some were happy while others were sad. Many people had already begun to look for ways to get help, hoping that Wei Qing would show mercy.

As for the matter of defaulting on the debt, he didn't even think about it. Just as Cao Ying said, he was even prepared to sell Pingyang Prefecture in order to fulfill his promise.

If you dare to renege on a debt with someone like this, you probably don't know what death means!

Chapter Thirty-One: Step on Him!

Wei Qing had no idea what the fortieth floor meant; for him, this was just the beginning.

After learning about the Hundred Battles Pavilion from the old man, Wei Qing set a goal for himself: to first pass the 60th floor and then choose to quit, leaving his score at the 59th floor.

It's a bit of a shame that I lost 10,500 points.

Therefore, after passing the fortieth floor, Wei Qing continued to ascend, but his speed obviously slowed down considerably.

The difficulty increases significantly with each subsequent level beyond the fortieth.

At this moment, news of Wei Qing breaking through the fortieth floor once again swept through the Imperial Academy's message board.

Initially, people could accept this result, but after Cao Ying made a bet, many people felt that it was simply unbelievable that Wei Qing could pass through the forty levels.

Humans are strange like that; they're always prone to preconceived notions.

Inside the command academy, in a luxurious pavilion, several Xiongnu barbarians were gathered together.

These people aren't very old, but they're not young either; they're all around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with the oldest not exceeding thirty.

Like Muga, they were not only students but also lecturers, and even more so, leaders of the Xiongnu barbarians within the Imperial Academy.

A Xiongnu barbarian with a snow lotus tattoo on his face, sitting on the left, said, "It seems that Muga suffered a loss. To be able to outmaneuver Muga, it seems that Cao Ying is not an incompetent person."