Chapter 617 - The Battle Among the Sixteen
Ye Futian looked at the gamble fight arena and said, “I want to know the cultivation levels of all the people here.”
“Alright.” The elder commanded them, “You all, say your cultivation levels.”
Immediately, the eight experts on the gamble fight arena reported their cultivation levels. Of the Li Futu couple, one of them was a Grade One Noble, the other was a Grade Two Noble.
Yu Ming, Grade One Noble.
Di Zhou, Grade Three Noble.
Xie Ji, Yan Jiu, Nan Hao and Bing Yi. The three of them had taken part in the admission examination battle three years ago, so Ye Futian knew a little about them.
“Li Futu is from the Fire Emperor Palace and is extremely strong. In the region around Alchemy City, only Di Gang’s reputation exceeds his. Yu Ming is an elite armorer and specializes in matrices. Be careful. Li Futu’s wife is Xiang Zhiqin’s sister and Di Zhou is Di Gang’s younger brother. Although he is only a Grade Three Noble, he is also rather formidable,” Zhong Li introduced them to Ye Futian.
“There are two Grade One Nobles in the gamble fight arena, while we only have one Grade One Noble. Moreover, only Xu Que is a Grade Two Noble, the rest are Grade Three and Grade Four Nobles. We are in too much of a disadvantage in our cultivation levels. I would like to borrow the strength of someone else, is that alright?” Ye Futian looked at the elder and asked.
“Who?” the elder asked.
“Huang Jiuge,” Ye Futian replied and his gaze landed on Huang Jiuge. He smiled and asked, “We’re already at the Alchemy Casino, aren’t you interested?”
Huang Jiuge had a shocked expression. He was surprised that Ye Futian would invite him as an ally in battle. He looked at the people on the gamble fight arena, he also wanted to try it out, so he replied, “Sure, I’ll join you in battle, but you have to settle the wager yourself and accept the result of the battle.”
“Of course, if you still wanted the spoils of victory, I wouldn’t have looked for you.” Ye Futian smiled brilliantly. Huang Jiuge was speechless. Was this how wretched this guy was?
“What about the other people participating?” the elder asked again.
“Me, Yu Sheng, Xu Que, Huang Jiuge, Yun Shuisheng, Yuan Zhan, Yi Xiaoshi and Phoenix,” Ye Futian replied. “One Grade One Noble, two Grade Two Nobles, three Grade Three Nobles, and two Grade Four Nobles.”
“Do you have any objections?” the elder asked the people on the gamble fight arena.
“None,” Li Futu replied nonchalantly.
“Sure.” Yu Ming also nodded his head. The others had no complaints as well. They had two Grade One Nobles, Li Futu and Yu Ming, giving them a huge advantage. Li Futu’s battle ability was undisputed and Yu Ming was an expert in matrices. Xiang Zhiyan was also very strong. Coupled with the other five, they felt that their lineup was extremely strong.
“Then it is settled. I will give all of you two hours to plan your tactics. The battle will begin in two hours, and the victor will be able to take all the ritual implements with them,” the elder smiled and said. Many people snorted at his words. Giving them time to plan their tactics? More like giving the casino time to open up their betting house. However, this match was really something to look forward to. Out of these 16 people, half of them were geniuses from elite factions while the other half had seven Holy Zhi Palace disciples and Huang Jiuge. A battle of such grandeur got the crowd really excited. Who would win this battle?
The elder walked to one side and had a quiet discussion with some people. This battle was a group battle and was extremely complicated, so they needed to seriously consider the odds.
On the surface, Li Futu’s group had a stronger lineup with higher cultivation levels. The most prodigious duo from the Holy Zhi Palace—Ye Futian and Yu Sheng—were only Grade Four Nobles, but their battle strength could definitely not be considered the same as a normal Grade Four Noble.
Huang Jiuge, Xu Que, Yuan Zhan, Yi Xiaoshi and Phoenix could be compared with Di Zhou, Yan Jiu, Xie Ji, Nan Hao and Bing Yi. The former five should be slightly stronger, but the difference would not be that big. If Xiang Zhiyan was added to the latter five, it would be enough to make up the difference.
What would be left was Li Futu, Yu Ming,Ye Futian, Yu Sheng, and Yun Shuisheng. Li Futu’s battle ability should be higher than Yun Shuisheng. After all, Yun Shuisheng was not that famous in the Holy Zhi Palace. Yu Ming was a matrix sorcerer. Apart from his own battle ability, he could set up matrixes to boost the battle ability of his entire team. If his whole team’s strength went up a notch, it would immediately resolve Di Zhou, Yan Jiu and the other three’s weakness and turn it into an advantage. Therefore, Li Futu’s lineup was likely to be stronger when considering the entire picture. What was left would operate the betting house. Soon, the odds were released. The casino had offered a one-to-one payout for both sides.
The whole casino was in an uproar and countless people rushed to place their bets. Although the elder in charge of the betting house was there, there were people repeatedly coming forward to report the situation. Today’s match had attracted an innumerable number of experts, and the bets would reach a shocking amount, which was why he had specially allocated an hour for people to place bets.
80 percent of the bets are on Li Futu’s team. If Li Futu’s team wins, we will incur a huge loss, the elder frowned as he thought. The initial opening of the betting house was to assess the situation. As he had expected, because the strongest two members of the Holy Zhi Palace had the lowest cultivation levels as Grade Four Nobles, the majority of the crowd did not favor them, especially with Li Futu and Yu Ming’s reputation in the Alchemy City region.
In such a scenario, the casino needed to balance the odds well. If they felt that Ye Futian’s team would win, it was worth the gamble. However, they did not feel that Ye Futian’s team could win; this was different from Yu Sheng’s fight with Yan Jiu.
“Adjust the odds,” the elder said decisively. Soon, the news had spread that the odds had been adjusted. Li Futu’s side had their odds adjusted to two-to-one, while Ye Futian’s side was one-to-two. Evidently the odds favored Li Futu’s side heavily.
“These b*stards,” those who did not manage to place their bets in time cursed. They had wanted to place bets, but they did not expect the odds to change so quickly, and it had changed to a difference of two times.
It looks like the Alchemy Casino is also optimistic about Li Futu’s victory, the majority of the crowd must be betting on them, even at a two-to-one payout, many people thought as they continued to place their bets.
After Li Futu’s group heard about the odds, their expressions did not change. This was well within their expectations. However, Ye Futian’s group was surprised. It looked like the majority felt that they would lose.
As time passed, information continued to be transmitted to the elder. Soon, the odds changed again. Li Futu’s group had changed to four-to-one, while Ye Futian’s group was now one-to-four.
“B*stard, I’m not betting anymore,” someone shouted in a rage. There was no point in betting on a four-to-one payout, there was too little to earn.
“Why not?” a voice sounded. The person who had shouted raised his head and saw a handsome teen smiling at him, it was Ye Futian.
“One-to-four, you can bet on us,” Ye Futian smiled and said. His gaze then turned to the elder on the viewing stand and he asked, “Senior, can we place bets as well?”
“You can only bet on your own victory,” the elder replied. This was to prevent people from losing intentionally; however, this was an uncommon sight for geniuses like Ye Futian. From a values standpoint, those who participated in the gamble fight were not allowed to place bets, but it was inevitable for participants to get others to place bets for them. Therefore, the Alchemy Casino would supervise the participants to ensure that they did not lose intentionally. If the casino found any such cases, they would not live to walk out of the casino.
“Yu Sheng, seventh brother, don’t you all have ritual implements? The opportunity has come,” Ye Futian smiled and said. One-to-four, it seemed like they would be able to be well-equipped with ritual implements after this.
Alchemy City is a good place indeed, Ye Futian exclaimed in his heart.
“If that is so, I will partake, too,” Huang Jiuge smiled and said.
“Did you not consider me when you allocated the ritual implements?” Xu Que smiled and asked Ye Futian.
“You’re from the Tingxue House, after all, why would you lack ritual implements?” Ye Futian replied, looking at him disdainfully.
“Then why did you ask me to battle?” Xu Que saw Ye Futian reply with a matter-of-fact expression.
“Do you know how rare it is to get a chance to battle. I’m thinking of you. Moreover, you can place a bet now,” Ye Futian replied righteously.
“…” Xu Que was speechless. As expected, it was impossible to reason with a shameless person. He could only place bets using his own treasures.
“Does anyone have something good that I could borrow to place bets?” Ye Futian asked the people around him.
“…” Yun Shuisheng glared at Ye Futian. Her impression of Ye Futian had gotten better, but now it had reverted to the first time they had met: shameless.
“I’ll lend you this,” a gentle voice sounded. A brilliant flame illuminated beside Ye Futian and the cries of a phoenix could be heard occasionally. A horrifying aura was released and countless gazes looked towards Phoenix. At that moment, Phoenix was covered in an exceedingly beautiful phoenix feather dress that perfectly fit her body. It got further from her body bit by bit and eventually flew into a storage ring which Phoenix then passed to Ye Futian.
“Little sister.” Yun Shuisheng shouted, “Aren’t you scared that he’ll lose your treasure?”
“Isn’t it just one-to-four? If I lose, I’ll pay for it, if I win, I want a portion of the winnings,” Phoenix smiled gently and said.
“Thanks.” Ye Futian nodded, then turned to the elder and asked, “How much is this ritual implement worth?”
“You can pick four ritual implements from the Alchemy Casino,” the elder replied.
“Okay.” Ye Futian nodded his head. The Alchemy Casino had a gargantuan organization behind them and its wealth was beyond imagination. Alchemy City was definitely the richest place in the Barren State. The surrounding people were all watching and as they saw Ye Futian confidently betting all his treasures, many people started to waver.
Let’s just gamble that they can win, many people thought this as they continued to place their bets.
Two hours passed by quickly and the elder nodded after hearing the final report. After the two rounds of changing the odds, the situation had been reversed. With the bets that the casino had taken in now, if Li Futu’s team won, the Alchemy Casino would earn a huge sum, but if Ye Futian’s team won, the casino would incur a huge loss.
Evidently, the Alchemy Casino expected Li Futu’s team to win. The Alchemy Casino knew about Li Futu and Yu Ming’s strength. Moreover, Di Zhou was also very strong. Li Futu’s team had no reason to lose this grand gamble fight.
“Please take your places,” the elder looked at both parties and said. Immediately, Li Futu’s group stepped onto the gamble fight arena.
Ye Futian’s group also moved rapidly into the arena. The group of 16 people: the geniuses from the Holy Zhi Palace versus the prodigies from all over the Barren State.
Everyone got into position in an instant. Li Futu, Yan Jiu, Nan Hao and Di Zhou stood at the front and were responsible for the assault. Bing Yi, Xie Ji and Xiang Zhiyan stood into the middle, supporting the team with their spells and Yu Ming stood at the back, preparing his matrices.
Ye Futian’s group also got into their positions. Yu Sheng and Yuan Zhan stood at the front, Xu Que on the left, Huang Jiuge on the right, Yi Xiaoshi, Phoenix and Yun Shuisheng at the back. Ye Futian’s position was right in the middle!