Divine Kingdom, Sacred City.
Three more days passed.
Outside the towering Yinlong Inn, a youth in a plain robe, holding a white cat, slowly emerged.
This youth was naturally Xu Mu.
"I was cooped up in my room for three days, and I can finally get some fresh air," Xu Mu said, looking at the bustling crowds around him, a hint of contemplation in his eyes. Where should he go?
"Good sir, Elder Jiang Yao specifically warned you not to leave this inn before the Myriad Races Assembly. Are you sure you're not afraid of your identity being discovered?" asked Xiao Qiongqi, yawning.
"Heh, I'm not showing off, and I've changed my appearance. Even you have completely transformed into a tabby cat. Who would discover us?" Xu Mu said, looking at Qiongqi solemnly, "Besides, if I don't go out, you can't go out either. Don't you feel suffocated?"
"It's indeed a bit," Qiongqi replied, nodding. He had stayed in the inn with Xu Mu for the past three days, never stepping out of the room, and was almost suffocated.
The prosperity of Sacred City might hold things they had never witnessed in their lives. The thought of it made Xu Mu and Qiongqi's hearts itch. How could they resist?
"Moreover, Charles has been urging me. His body is almost forged," Xu Mu thought, then headed east along the street with Xiao Qiongqi in his arms.
Before leaving the inn, he had specifically asked for a map of Sacred City, so he knew this direction led to the most prosperous commercial street, where anything could be bought.
"Full-stage magical artifacts, elixirs, one-time consumable items sold at a discount. Fifth-tier Domain Lord Wind-Fire-Thunder Talismans, a package deal for only 9.99 million gold."
"Alchemist Guild, free introductory alchemy classes, taught by fifth-tier Domain Lords."
"Swordsman's Paradise, auction of top-grade Longquan famous swords, starting bid of ten million gold..."
Xu Mu walked into the street, casually observing the cultivators setting up stalls around him. They behaved like ordinary citizens buying groceries, but the items on display were enough to make Xu Mu gasp.
"High-end items are often sold in the most ordinary ways," Xu Mu said with a smile as he walked, then spent a large sum to buy a skewer of candied haws made of immortal pills.
"Young Master Zhan from the Zhan family in the north versus Liu Yu from the Xingchenhe sect in Tiannan. The house offers odds of 1:1.25. Betting starts now!"
In front of the martial arts arena, countless people crowded, some even flying into the air on demonic beasts to watch, completely blocking the road.
Xu Mu squeezed through the crowd with difficulty, then looked back at the two young figures standing opposite each other on the stage and the surrounding cultivators who were betting wildly, shaking his head in amazement.
The amounts these cultivators casually bet were almost equivalent to his entire fortune. It was simply terrifying.
"Brother, want to play a round? I have exclusive insider information on these two, which can help you analyze the outcome and win money!"
At this moment, a young man dressed in simple, plain cloth approached Xu Mu and asked in a hushed tone. He then produced an unknown magical artifact, which projected images of the two figures, with secret data, cultivation techniques, realms, and combat habits annotated around them. They were indeed the two soon-to-be-fighting geniuses on the stage.
"I'll pass," Xu Mu said without hesitation, waving his hand to refuse. He didn't look back no matter how much the young man tried to persuade him.
If he had ample time, he wouldn't mind playing a round, or even fighting himself. However, now he had more important things to do. Charles was urging him incessantly in his mind, as he was about to have his own body!
"Alas, another fish got away," the young man said, shaking his head when Xu Mu ignored him, then looked for his next target.
Meanwhile, after Xu Mu left the martial arts arena, the density of people on this section of the street visibly decreased. He successfully found a place selling raw iron ore and, using a very large Immortal Flower vine, bought a mountain-high quantity of iron materials, which he then stored in his spatial ring.
"Not enough, still not enough. Why didn't you buy more!" Charles grumbled dissatisfiedly in Xu Mu's mind.
"Come on, this is more than enough. Let's build a simple body for you first, and then I'll buy whatever else you need," Xu Mu said, giving Charles a sideways glance, then returned the way he came.
By now, nearly an hour had passed since he arrived at this street.
When he passed by the martial arts arena again, the fighters on stage had already changed many times.
"Good sir, I'm hungry," Xiao Qiongqi said at this moment.
"Oh," Xu Mu smacked his lips, then used the remaining silver to buy two skewers of candied haws made from precious elixirs and handed them both to Xiao Qiongqi.
Xiao Qiongqi, in his current tabby cat form, opened his mouth, which wasn't exactly a gaping maw, and swallowed the immortal pill candied haws whole, like a date.
"Burp~" he let out a satisfied belch.
Xu Mu smiled faintly. However, at this moment, he was unaware that he and Xiao Qiongqi had already been targeted by a certain youth.
The youth, hiding in the shadows, exchanged a glance with his companion, then walked directly towards Xu Mu.
Xu Mu was just about to leave the martial arts arena when, in the next second, a familiar face appeared in his vision.
"Brother, it's me again. Are you sure you don't want to take a gamble? It's almost a guaranteed win!" The young man said with a full smile, taking out the magical artifact and pointing at the data on it.
Xu Mu was about to refuse when the person beside him didn't give him a chance to speak and directly introduced, "Brother, I've decided. We'll give you a free analysis opportunity."
"Look, the two people currently on stage are Xin Zhi from the Xin family in Tiannan, and Monk Kongming from the Lesser Thunder Sound Temple in the west."
"Both of their realms are at the peak of the second stage. Xin Zhi's awakened ability is ice-based, and he's skilled in using talismans, making him a long-range ability user. Kongming's ability is thunderous sound, and he uses Buddhist scriptures to augment thunderous attacks. Ice versus thunder, the latter has a significant advantage."
"According to the current odds, if you bet 20,000 gold, you can earn 35,000. If you bet 200,000, it's 350,000. This is practically picking up money. Are you sure you don't want to try it?"
The man became more and more excited as he spoke, and the person beside him nodded repeatedly.
But as Xu Mu listened, a strange smile appeared on his lips.
He was certain that the two people on stage were decoys.
Analysis, guaranteed wins – these were all schemes to swindle money. He might win a few rounds if he paid, but as he played more and the odds became higher and the house gained enough profit, they would manipulate the match for either side to win and then abscond with the money.
Xu Mu had heard of such tricks many times from the Wine Immortal Daoist's idle chatter.
"Alright, I'll bet."
Xu Mu thought of this and suddenly realized he seemed to be short on money. So, he smiled and took out the remaining 100,000 gold he had.
"First bet, I'm betting on the monk, Kongming, to win!"