Hefty Bet

At that moment, Zhao Dengtian wanted nothing more than to eat Jing Yan alive.

He was breathing heavily from rage. His face and neck had flushed a deep red, and his gaze was locked dead on Jing Yan.

"Oh, right. Zhao Piece-of-sh*t, if you dislike me that much, why don't you bet on Li Tianfu? You still have a few minutes to place your bet before the time is up, after all." Jing Yan narrowed his eyes all of a sudden, and his tone became considerably milder.

Jing Yan knew that Zhao Dengtian was loaded.

It would be great for Jing Yan if Zhao Dengtian bet against him. The higher the bet Zhao Dengtian placed on Li Tianfu, the higher Jing Yan's odds would become for the upcoming battle.

Zhao Dengtian's eyes flashed when he heard Jing Yan say that.

He took a deep breath and looked at Administrator Li behind him.

"Administrator Li, what are Li Tianfu's odds right now?" While Zhao Dengtian was a spendthrift who liked nothing more than to blow Spiritual Stones wherever he went, but he was still far from brainless.

The administrator took a look at the crystal with the odds on it, before he answered the question.

"Young Master Zhao, Li Tianfu's odds are now at one to 25."

"One to 25..." Zhao Dengtian's face darkened. "Why are the odds so high, huh? Does this Jing Yan have any chance of winning whatsoever? Those idiots only managed to pull the odds up to one to 25?"

"It's just one to 25!" he thought angrily. "D*mn, you call those odds high?"

The administrator felt like berating the man before him right there and then, yet he had to remain polite with the young master at all times. He stifled his grumbling and kept silent.

"Alright, place a bet of 5000 Spiritual Stones for me!" Zhao Dengtian waved flamboyantly as he made the wager right then and there.

He then instructed the bearded elder by his side to hand over the Spiritual Stones.

The elder counted on his fingers, then took out a black ring. Although it was just a tiny black circlet, it was incredibly valuable. That type of ring was called a Meru Ring.

Even the lowest class of Meru Ring was worth a fortune. Few among even the members of the three major clans were wealthy enough to carry such a ring on their person.

Jing Yan once carried a low class Meru Ring, but the family took it back when his rank began to fall.

It had been a sensible thing for his family to do. A Third Heaven warrior carrying a Meru Ring around in the streets was practically asking to be robbed. Meru Rings were simply too precious, and the chance to steal one from a weak warrior would be too tempting.

The elder who pulled out the ring was actually a bookkeeper in the Zhao Clan. The Patriarch himself had asked the elder to follow Zhao Dengtian around. The objective was apparent—to keep tabs on Zhao Dengtian the spendthrift. The Patriarch definitely knew what his youngest son was like. Zhao Dengtian could blow his wealth in no time, no matter how man Spiritual Stones he was allowed to carry.

The elder hesitated only a moment after hearing Zhao Dengtian's order. Then he went ahead and took out the 5000 Spiritual Stones.

From his perspective, Zhao Dengtian's decision to place the bet had been sensible.

Li Tianfu's odds were low, but he was practically guaranteed to win. The odds of one to 25 meant that if he bet 5000 Spiritual Stones, he would earn 200 Spiritual Stones when Li Tianfu won.

Jing Yan suddenly began to laugh.

Zhao Dengtian glared at Jing Yan.

"Boy, you're known as the number one spendthrift in all of Dong Lin City, but you only bet 5000 Spiritual Stones in a battle that you're sure to win? Gosh, it looks like you're a fake after all." Jing Yan continued to chuckle as he spoke.

"Why did you say? You dare to claim that I don't have the money to spare?"

"Alright, just you wait," Zhao Dengtian growled. The spendthrift had been throwing his weight around Dong Lin City for more than a decade, and no one ever dared to say that he was poor.

He didn't really mind people saying that he lacked actual fighting prowess, as his talents were indeed lackluster. Despite having a sea of resources to spare, he was still unable to get past the Seventh Heaven. However, he took serious offense to people saying that he was poor.

Zhao Dengtian threw his paper fan on the ground and stomped on it, before yelling at the elder emotionally, "Twenty thousand. I'm betting 20,000 Spiritual Stones! Sh*t, I'm not going to lose this one!"

"Young master... Well, umm..." The elder hesitated that time around.

There were indeed 20,000 Spiritual Stones stored inside the Meru Ring, but those Spiritual Stones were meant for purchasing resources at the First Tower of Dong Lin.

Zhao Dengtian's clan had given him the task of purchasing massive amounts of resources at the First Tower of Dong Lin.

The First Tower of Dong Lin was the largest exchange of resources in the city. Furthermore, that place belonged to the City Lord's Office. With enough Spiritual Stones, a customer could purchase any low level resources imaginable in the First Tower. Even spirit herbs at levels four and five could be purchased there.

The 20,000 Spiritual Stones belonged to the family and not Zhao Dengtian personally.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Zhao Dengtian became even angrier when he saw the elder hesitate.

He thrust his hand out and grabbed the elder's palm, seemingly intending to jerk the Meru Ring off of the elder's hand.

"There's no need to rush, young master. I'll take the Spiritual Stones out right away," the elder said, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Hmph!" Zhao Dengtian only grunted with satisfaction.

The elder then took out the Spiritual Stones stored within the Meru Ring.

A pile of white Spiritual Stones appeared on the ground in an instant. The number of Spiritual Stones was so staggering that the Vital Qi in the room became dense and heavy.

In truth, the elder didn't take out the Spiritual Stones because he was afraid of Zhao Dengtian being angry, but because he didn't think that anything could go wrong with the bet. They would earn a few hundred Spiritual Stones from their bet of 20,000 Spiritual Stones.

The elder thought that the bet would be risk-free. If they were actually in danger of losing the Spiritual Stones, he wouldn't have agreed to it even if Zhao Dengtian tried to take the stones by force. Furthermore, the elder's prowess was actually far above that of Zhao Dengtian, so there was no way the young man would have been able to take the ring from him.

The pile of Spiritual Stones on the ground glittered dazzlingly. The light was so blinding that even Jing Yan was astounded.

He never actually expected Zhao Dengtian to have that many Spiritual Stones with him.

Jing Yan was actually quite surprised that Zhao Dengtian had decided to bet 5000 Spiritual Stones against Jing Yan. After that, Jing Yan had continued to insult the spoiled brat out of habit. He hadn't truly hoped that Zhao Dengtian would place a higher bet on Li Tianfu.

"I really prodded him into wagering 20,000 Spiritual Stones!" Jing Yan thought.

That amount of Spiritual Stones was quite a fortune even to a large clan. The Jing Clan, for instance, had a net annual profit of only 200,000 Spiritual Stones.

It was utterly unthinkable for any member of any clan, especially a younger one, to be carrying 20,000 Spiritual Stones around for personal use.

Jing Yan flashed a beaming smile after the shock wore off.

"Administrator Li, place all 20,000 Spiritual Stones on Li Tianfu at once! I'm not letting anyone say that I'm penniless!" Zhao Dengtian waved his arm forcibly as he barked the order at the administrator.

"Right, at once," the administrator answered immediately.

As an administrator at the Extreme Combat Association with considerable authority, the man was wearing a Meru Ring of his own. He collected all of those Spiritual Stones and walked out of the room excitedly.

The bet was truly enormous.