Chapter 120: The Buddha Fights for One Incense Stick

  ……

  Time flies, and it's almost a month again, passing by in a flash.

  Gaoyang Pu Zhao, the two high peaks of Changchun Valley, Bingfeng Peak and Huolong Peak, both fell silent today, like two majestic and awe-inspiring heavenly gods, gazing down at the last alchemy competition in Changchun Valley.

  Today will produce a young generation of alchemists in Changchun Valley, and a new generation of masters of Changchun Valley will be born.

  This time is different from usual, so it was decided to be held in the Changchun Valley where the spiritual energy is strongest and most mysterious, at the Dou Dan Tai in the valley center, where the nine tripods are embracing one.

  Chen Mo arrived at the scene and saw many valley medicine masters gathered together, seemingly doing something. The atmosphere was lively, with an air of high-pitched excitement.

  As she walked closer to the crowd, she saw Ye Lianxiang sitting alone at a carved flower table, casually trimming her bright red fingernails.

  And her maid was shouting continuously: "Everyone has placed their bets, Lin Junqian, a third-grade alchemist, with a record of strength that is the pride of Changchun Valley. According to reliable sources, Lin Junqian had already refined fourth-grade elixirs some time ago, and this time he is most likely to win."

  Some pharmacists who admired and respected Lin Junxian nodded in agreement, took out different amounts of gold tickets and bet on him.

  The maid shouted even more vigorously, slapping her chest loudly: "Jiang Chen is also a third-grade pharmacist, and his strength is comparable to that of Lin Junxian. There is a great possibility that he has hidden his strength, and it is also very possible that he will win the championship."

  The ups and downs of the speech, the temptation to persuade the pharmacists in the valley to take out their gold tickets one after another, and bet on them. The golden tickets falling like snowflakes, shining brightly, dazzled Chen Mo's eyes, making him greedy for more.

  On the large table, there were two pieces of golden Xuan paper with the names "Lin Junqian" and "Jiang Chen" written on them in bold letters. The papers with their names were placed at the very top, and a large amount of gold notes were piled up on each paper. Chen Mo's name was written on a piece of rough-edged paper, casually placed at the corner of the table. There was nothing under the paper, making it look desolate and somewhat bleak.

  "Hmm" Chen was suddenly enlightened, realizing that Ye Lianxiang was setting up a trap to gamble on Dan. Judging from the situation, Lin Junqian and Jiang Chen were highly anticipated. The odds between them were almost even, with Lin Junqian slightly favored. As for himself, he was clearly the least expected to win, relegated to being a mere prop and foil, with odds set at 1:15, and not even anyone betting on him.

  It seems that in order to keep a low profile, refining a second-grade elixir in the end has indeed "dazzled" everyone's eyes.

  Buddhas fight for one stalk of incense. People fight for a breath of air.

  Chen Mo rubbed his forehead and sank into thought for a moment. Can't boost someone else's morale, extinguish one's own prestige? Since no one is betting on oneself to win, then bet on oneself, and also take the opportunity to make some extra money.

  Qing cleared his throat and said: "I bet on Chen Mo winning."

  A loud "crack" sound. The intricately carved large table shook slightly. Chen Mo was left with only 20,000 taels of gold. All of it was staked on the paper contract.

  The overbearing voice suppressed the noise by a lot. After a moment of silence, he saw that everyone was looking at him with mocking and sarcastic expressions.

  Chen Mo smiled lightly: "Can't I bet on myself winning?"

  Ye Lianxiang didn't even bother to trim her nails, and instead shot Chen Mo a fierce glare, her eyes brimming with resentment. At the critical moment of the preliminary round, it was all because of this bastard's sudden loud shout that she ended up refining an inferior elixir. What's even more infuriating is that this bastard actually made it into the finals with just an ordinary second-grade elixir. It's simply humiliating.

  He's been looking for trouble several times, but couldn't find it, and now it has come knocking on his own door.

  Suppressing the urge to beat him up, she glanced at him with her peach blossom eyes and stood up elegantly. In a deliberately shrill voice, she said: "Of course, it's fine... however..." Her eyes looked down on those 20,000 gold tickets with disdain: "A poor ghost is still a poor ghost, even placing a bet makes you hesitant. Do you want this princess to show mercy and lend some to you?"

  The hypocritical voice made Chen Mo's skin crawl. The Ye Lianxiang in front of him covered his mouth and smiled slyly, smiling as cunningly as a fox spirit. Borrowing money from himself, he was naturally certain that he would lose, and wanted to take the opportunity to strike back.

  After a moment's thought, the princess raised her voice again and said: "Isn't it because you don't have confidence in yourself and don't dare to borrow? You are Mu Shifu's high disciple, how can her high disciple lose? What do you think, fellow disciples?" Provoking and instigating, she instantly stirred up the surrounding pharmacists who followed suit.

  Chen Mo's face turned solemn, as if he couldn't bear the stimulation. He said in a loud voice: "Alright, since Princess you have a kind heart. I, Chen Mo, cannot reject your good intentions. You can lend me 200,000 taels of gold. If you don't have that much, a little less is also fine."

  Although his tone was tough, his face was obviously a bit pale.

  Ye Lianxiang watched with a cold smile, thinking that country bumpkins were indeed unsophisticated and couldn't control their temper after just a few words. But this was exactly what she had expected: "Haha, you have guts." Her silvery laughter filled the entire room, unexpectedly, this kid actually dared to borrow, great, extremely good.

  She waved her hand and a maid brought out a 200,000 taels of gold IOU note, betting on the bottom line of Chen Mo's name.

  "Thank you, thank you." Chen Mo bowed his hands in gratitude, but inside he was clear and transparent. As the saying goes, "No good banquet, no good gathering", looking at her powdered face, originally charming and affectionate, now seemed to be smiling but not smiling, with eyes full of ferocity and cruelty.

  As expected, Ye Lianxiang leaned in close to him and sneered: "You little brat, this princess's money didn't fall from the sky either. Borrowing with a deadline of one month, if you can't repay it by then... don't blame me, okay?"

  "Oh, to repay debts is only natural...” Chen Mo smiled lightly and watched as the princess, with her enchanting figure, finished threatening him before turning around and returning to her seat, a smile spreading across his face as if he had already become her captive.

  Others were secretly laughing and shaking their heads, everyone knew that Ye Lianxiang was not as gentle and charming as she seemed on the surface. Those who had fallen into her hands would rather die than suffer. Chen Mo borrowed 200,000 gold coins from her, if he won it would be fine, but if he lost, it would be like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth, no one knew how the princess would torture him, what an idiot, fool.

  Young people, just can't sit still.

  A person's value lies in having self-awareness. The fact is right in front of you, who dares to buy Chen Mo's win?

  Don't think that just because you got lucky in the preliminary round, you're invincible. Even with Mu Lingwei backing you up, how can you refine higher-grade elixirs in such a short period of time? Unless there's a miracle, like snowflakes falling in June or cicadas chirping in winter.

  Everyone thought they were smart when suddenly two crystal-like spirit stones, like shooting stars crossing the sky, fell on a piece of paper with Chen Mo's name written on it.

  "I also think Chen Mo will win."

  A clear and lively voice came, like a mountain stream, making the noisy scene suddenly quiet. The many medicine masters in the valley were extremely shocked, their first reaction was, is there really someone more stupid than Chen Mo? They looked at the two spirit stones emitting a sacred aura and took a cold breath.

  Ling Stone, born from the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, can help warriors increase their cultivation speed and break through bottlenecks. Even in a big battle, it has the effect of reviving one's energy. However, Ling Stones are rare and difficult to obtain, extremely precious, with each one selling for millions of gold coins.

  At this moment, Ye Lianxiang's eyes were shining brightly, staring at the two spirit stones with a hint of envy and admiration. In her heart, she was secretly laughing coldly - Master Mu and his disciple truly had a deep relationship, so deep that they were willing to give away two spirit stones for free. Since you're willing to spend a fortune to help your disciple save face, how could this princess possibly refuse?

  Only Mu Lingwei was seen in a white dress, floating gently down from mid-air with Xiao Ba in her arms, landing in front of everyone. Her autumn-water-like eyes were gentle and calm, but this time they had an added hint of cleverness. When she glanced at Chen Mo, she deliberately raised the small branch on her wrist that looked like a bracelet.

  Originally, Chen Mo was still somewhat moved by the trust of his master, but his face began to stiffen, and his heart felt a sudden surge of fear, remembering the words his old master had said when he was angry: "Chen Mo, if you can't win against Dou Dan's title, I'll skin you alive."

  My heart suddenly felt a chill and I didn't dare look at Master's eyes that could speak.

  Xiao Ba lazily hid in Mulingwei's arms, and with a fox-borrowing-tiger's-mighty roar, he gave Chen Mo a glance, as if saying that if you don't win, you'll be miserable.

  This stirred up a strong desire in Chen Mo to stew it, as this thing had already become the master's spoiled favorite, fawning and flattering shamelessly, desperately trying to please the master, and refusing to leave its feet. It's said that the master was too kind-hearted, always feeding it one piece after another, making it so fat that oil was dripping from its mouth, even growing a double chin.

  Why hasn't Master come to feed me yet? It's really making people jealous.

  As soon as Mulingwei appeared, she immediately attracted everyone's attention, regardless of status or temperament. She was always high above, like a fairy in the heavenly palace, making people dare only to gaze from afar.

  While Ye Lianxiang looked at Mu Lingwei, her eyes were filled with intense jealousy. That hateful Mu Lingwei, every time she appears, she steals the spotlight. And these men who lack vision, don't they know what a woman's true charm is? How hateful!

  Ding~ding~ding~

  A few deep and distant bell sounds rang out, reminding everyone that the final round of the Dou Dan competition was about to begin.

  The crowd dispersed, and the elders took their seats in the front row. Chen Mo also stepped onto the Dou Dan platform.

  On the Dou Dan platform, a primordial aura of chaos spread out in all directions. Nine small tripods continuously emitted a misty white vapor that rose up and was constantly absorbed by the dark giant stone on top of the massive tripod.

  The three people who had participated in the competition earlier were now standing tall and majestic.

  Mulingwei sat on the elder's seat like a fairy who had just emerged from the dust, with no contention in the world. It seemed that she didn't take this Dan Dou to heart.

  Xiao Ba lay on her feet, dozing off. After returning to Changchun Valley, it resumed its usual pig life, eating and sleeping, living a happy and carefree life as a beloved pet.

  Lin Junqian and Jiang Chen stood side by side, their eyes flashing with hidden excitement. Standing not far from them, Chen Mo was completely ignored.

  In fact, in everyone's eyes, Chen Mo was very inconspicuous, completely just a foil. If it weren't for all sorts of coincidences, what qualifications did he have to stand on this Dou Dan stage?

  ……(。。)