The cultivator who stopped to look at Gu Zheng was an old man. He looked very thin, and his small eyes were sizing up Gu Zheng.
"Daluo Jinxian's cultivation is at the early stage."
The voice of the artifact spirit sounded in Gu Zheng's mind.
"Fellow Daoist, Sun Cheng greets you!"
The thin old man smiled and cupped his fists to Gu Zheng.
"I'm Bai Zhu!" Gu Zheng cupped his fists in return.
"Fellow Daoist, you look very unfamiliar. You must have just arrived at the Immortal Camp?" Sun Cheng asked.
"Yes, I just arrived today!" Gu Zheng said.
"Fellow Daoist, you should be heading to the Yaoguang Peak. How about we go together?"
"Sure!"
Gu Zheng did not refuse Sun Cheng's invitation.
As it was his first time in the Immortal Camp, Gu Zheng wanted to find someone to understand more about the Immortal Camp.
Through the conversation with Sun Cheng, Gu Zheng learned that this was not Sun Cheng's first time in the Immortal Camp.
In fact, the Immortal Camp did not only accept the cultivators from the Untainted Land. After all, the operation of the Immortal Realm required maintenance every day. And the maintenance of an Immortal Array required a large number of cultivators. The number of cultivators from the Untainted Land was far from enough. Therefore, the Immortal Camp would recruit maintenance personnel all year round.
As a reward for the maintenance personnel, they would usually be able to stay in the Heaven Realm for a longer period of time. However, this kind of job was considered a lucrative one among the cultivators in the Heaven Realm. It was not something that ordinary people could apply for. And with Sun Cheng's cultivation at the early stage of Daluo Jinxian, he was able to work in the Immortal Camp several times. This was enough to show that this person was quite good at socializing.
Gu Zheng felt that Sun Cheng was the kind of person who was good at currying favor and had a wide range of friends. Just like how he stopped Gu Zheng and invited Gu Zheng to go together. It seemed like a simple thing, but it could be said that he had a little friendship with Gu Zheng.
Towards people like Sun Cheng, Gu Zheng more or less still had some repulsion.
From Gu Zheng's point of view, people like Sun Cheng didn't have any so-called true friendship. They made friends with people with a certain purpose.
"Please take care of me in the future, Fellow Daoist Bai!"
After asking some questions about Gu Zheng, Sun Cheng looked at Gu Zheng with admiration.
Even though Gu Zheng already said that he was a thousand years old in response to Sun Cheng's questions, especially regarding age, in the eyes of Sun Cheng who was already three thousand years old, he was still a good seedling with a bright future.
"Fortunately, the mask given to you by Lord Gokusen no longer has any flaws. Otherwise, if he could see your age, I don't know how to praise you!" The Artifact Spirit laughed.
"He is praising me for nothing. I naturally know what his intentions are."
Gu Zheng smiled and then said to Sun Cheng, "Dao friend Sun is too humble. How could I dare to take care of you? I've only been here for a day."
"You can't say that. I see that Fellow Daoist is a piece of gold. Even if you've only been here for a day, you still have to shine! Take Shang Hong for example. Even though he just came to the Immortal Barracks not long ago, he's already a well-known figure in the Immortal Barracks. "Sun Cheng smiled.
"Oh? Shang Hong? Who is that? "Gu Zheng asked curiously.
"Although Fellow Daoist has only just arrived, you can't possibly not know who Shang Hong is, right?"
Sun Cheng was in disbelief. In his opinion, even if Gu Zheng had just arrived, as long as he chatted with the cultivators in the same cave abode, he would definitely have heard of Shang Hong.
"I really don't know! After coming to the immortal camp, I was brought to my residence by Immortal Official Geng. After strolling around, I met Fellow Daoist. I haven't interacted with anyone before this. "
After hearing Gu Zheng's explanation, Sun Cheng nodded and then excitedly told Gu Zheng about Shang Hong.
The reason why Gu Zheng wanted to go to the Yaoguang Peak was because of the Illusory Battlefield on the Yaoguang Peak.
Sparring was forbidden in the immortal camp, but sparring in the Illusory Battlefield was allowed as a form of entertainment. After all, it was only a strand of the cultivator's spirit that entered the Illusory Battlefield. The spirit could transform into the appearance of the original body and fight with the techniques of the original body. Even if there were casualties, the loss would only be a strand of spirit.
The Illusory Battlefield on the Yaoguang Peak was very popular in the immortal camp. When people sparred, there would naturally be people placing bets. Therefore, there were many people watching.
Shang Hong became famous in the Illusory Battlefield. As a late stage Daluo Jinxian cultivator, he had only been in the immortal camp for a month, but he had already set a record of 25 consecutive wins. Now, he had a very high payout in the Illusory Battlefield.
The reason why Sun Cheng compared Gu Zheng to Shang Hong was because Shang Hong was also very young. He had only cultivated for 1300 years.
"The person who will be sparring with Shang Hong today has already served in the immortal camp for almost three months. He previously had a record of 12 consecutive wins. His name is Shentu Lingfeng. His cultivation is also at the late stage Daluo Jinxian." Sun Cheng said.
"When will Shang Hong and Shentu Lingfeng's battle be today?" Gu Zheng asked.
"In 15 minutes. Fellow daoist has seen their sparring. There will be plenty of time to gather at the plaza." Sun Cheng said with a smile.
"This Shentu Lingfeng, how many sparring sessions has he participated in?" Gu Zheng asked again.
"He has participated in a total of 12 sessions. Usually, he doesn't go to the Yaoguang Peak. I guess this sparring session with Shang Hong can be considered a commemoration of his service!"
Sun Cheng's voice paused, and then he said with a smile, "Fellow daoist, don't tell me you want to bet on Shentu Lingfeng winning?"
"I won't necessarily bet. Moreover, I don't know the strength of both sides."
Gu Zheng liked to gamble, but he only liked to gamble with certainty.
Sun Cheng nodded and said, "Although the odds of betting on Shang Hong's victory are very low, if fellow daoist wants to bet, I suggest you bet on Shang Hong! According to my observations, Shentu Lingfeng is not Shang Hong's match. "
Sun Cheng's voice was very low. It could be considered as selling a favor to Gu Zheng.
"Thank you, fellow daoist Sun. We'll talk about whether or not we'll bet when the time comes! However, I still want to ask fellow daoist Sun something. Do you think there's any shady dealings in this gamble? "
Gu Zheng looked at Sun Cheng. Sun Cheng shook his head and said with a smile, "First of all, the immortal camp has announced to the public that the gamble of the 'Illusory Battlefield' does not allow any shady dealings. If anyone is found to be cheating, then they will be severely punished! Moreover, the 'Illusory Battlefield' on the Yaoguang Peak is a mysterious space personally refined by a Saint Immortal. It can be said that the immortal camp is completely aware of whether or not there's a situation of going easy! Secondly, there's a rule in the gamble that ensures that the banker won't lose! That is, in this gamble, the total amount of celestial coins in the prize pool is only so much. Even if the banker loses, at most the side that lost the bet will pay out all the celestial coins! Combining these two points, I feel that there shouldn't be any shady dealings in this gamble, right? "
Sun Cheng was very tactful. Even if he didn't think there would be any shady dealings in this gamble, he still gave the right to judge to Gu Zheng.
"Looks like there isn't any shady dealings." Gu Zheng said with a smile.
Circling around the 'Illusory Battlefield', Gu Zheng chatted with Sun Cheng for a while. Then, the two of them flew to the Yaoguang Peak.
The 'Illusory Battlefield' on the Yaoguang Peak was in the belly of the mountain. After Gu Zheng and Sun Cheng entered the belly of the mountain, they quickly saw a huge square. Roughly forty immortal cultivators were sitting cross-legged in a corner of the square. In the center of the square sat a rather young man wearing embroidered clothes. This person was Shang Hong.
The 'Illusory Battlefield' wasn't a private gamble. The banker was the immortal camp.
Leading Gu Zheng towards the immortal official in charge, Sun Cheng's face was full of smiles from afar.
"Greetings, Immortal Official Huo!"
Sun Cheng greeted Immortal Official Huo, who was wearing an immortal armor but was not even five feet tall.
"Brat, you came again? Are you going to gamble this time, or are you going to spectate? "
The small old man Immortal Official Huo seemed to be very familiar with Sun Cheng. While smiling and talking to Sun Cheng, he glanced at Gu Zheng.
Sun Cheng laughed loudly. "Since I'm going to spectate, I'm going to gamble as well! Immortal Official Huo, what are the odds for this match? "
"Shang Hong wins, one to one. Shentu Lingfeng wins, one to ten!" Immortal Official Huo said.
"Same rules. Bet on Shang Hong winning, one bet!"
Sun Cheng handed the celestial coins to Immortal Official Huo. The so-called one bet was four blue celestial coins.
On the way here, Gu Zheng had already learned that Sun Cheng was originally quite poor, but through the 'Illusory Battlefield' bet, he had accumulated a sum of celestial coins. Although Sun Cheng did not reveal how many celestial coins there were, according to Gu Zheng's guess, if what Sun Cheng said was true, then there should be over a hundred celestial coins. It could be said to be a considerable amount of wealth.
"You must have won at least 40 blue celestial coins from Shang Hong, right? Why are you still so cautious when betting? "
Immortal Official Huo, who was registering Sun Cheng, said with a hint of disdain.
Sun Cheng didn't seem to care about Immortal Official Huo's disdain. He laughed loudly and said, "Better safe than sorry!"
"What about the viewing qualifications? How many do you want? "Immortal Official Huo asked.
The so-called viewing qualifications also required money. One blue celestial coin per qualification.
"Two!"
Sun Cheng took out two blue celestial coins to pay the viewing fee on behalf of Gu Zheng.
"Fellow Daoist Sun, I have celestial coins here!"
Sun Cheng didn't say anything when he saw Gu Zheng hand over a blue celestial coin to Immortal Official Huo. Immortal Official Huo was a newcomer.
"What's your name, newcomer?"
Immortal Official Huo paused for a moment before continuing, "It's quite rare for Sun Cheng to take the initiative to pay the viewing fee for you!"
Immortal Official Huo ridiculed Sun Cheng as he sized up Gu Zheng with a curious gaze.
"Atractylodes Atractylodes."
Gu Zheng reported his name and said, "Since you're willing to pay the viewing fee for me, it means that you feel that we hit it off well, Fellow Daoist Sun!"
Immortal officials weren't all very strong. For example, Immortal Official Huo's cultivation was only at the late stage of Jin Xian. If it weren't for his status, Gu Zheng didn't believe that he would dare to speak to Sun Cheng in such a manner. It was also because of Immortal Official Huo's disdainful and ridiculing attitude that Gu Zheng felt somewhat disgusted with him. Therefore, he spoke up for the awkward Sun Cheng.
Immortal Official Huo smiled noncommittally. "Since you have celestial coins, do you want to bet?"
"I'm not betting. I'm new here and don't understand a lot of things. I'll just watch," Gu Zheng said with a smile.
"Greetings, Immortal Official Huo!"
At this moment, another cultivator came over and greeted Immortal Official Huo from afar.
"You can go in now."
Immortal Official Huo said to Gu Zheng and the others before greeting the new cultivator.
As they walked towards the square, Gu Zheng and Sun Cheng heard that the new cultivator had bet on Shentu Lingfeng's victory. Moreover, he had placed four bets at once!
"How ruthless! Four bets at once. If he wins, it'll be forty blue celestial coins! "Sun Cheng transmitted his voice to Gu Zheng.
"It'll be quite painful if he loses. Sixteen blue celestial coins at once!" Gu Zheng said with a smile.
As he chatted with Sun Cheng on the way, Gu Zheng gained a better understanding of the illusory battlefield.
If one wanted to spar in the illusory battlefield, they had to record their own moves in advance. This way, when their spiritual will was in the illusory battlefield, they would be able to use their own moves. Without recording their moves, they wouldn't be able to use them in the illusory battlefield.
It was because of the characteristics of the illusory battlefield that people still dared to bet on Shang Hong's victory even though he had such a high chance of winning! After all, the moves that the previous challengers had displayed did not represent all of his moves. Perhaps he would record some new moves this time.
Moreover, since it was a spar, both parties would have an agreement that some mystiques couldn't be used. For example, the mystique of the immortal domain was forbidden in the illusory battlefield. Otherwise, if Daluo Jinxian, who had the immortal domain, came to defend the arena, it would be difficult to take him down without the help of a Quasi-Sage. This would lose the meaning of the illusory battlefield.
The battle had yet to begin. After Gu Zheng and Sun Cheng arrived at the square, they sat cross-legged beside the people who had come first.
Sun Cheng was familiar with many people. He hurriedly greeted the people who had come first. Gu Zheng's spiritual will entered the battlefield first.
The scene before him changed, turning into a desert under a bloody sunset.
As a spectator, Gu Zheng appeared on a high platform at the edge of the desert.
Perhaps because the spar wasn't going to start for a while and Shentu Lingfeng hadn't arrived yet, there was only Gu Zheng on the viewing platform.
However, as the arena master, Shang Hong was already in the desert. He sensed that someone had appeared on the viewing platform and his gaze drifted over.
"Newcomers?"
Shang Hong asked Gu Zheng.
"Yeah!" Gu Zheng said.
"Did you place a bet?" Shang Hong asked again.
"No, I don't know anything. It's not good to bet blindly," Gu Zheng said.
It was a simple conversation, but Shang Hong's gaze towards Gu Zheng was filled with fighting spirit.
"You're very special!"
Shang Hong looked at Gu Zheng and licked his lips.
"Oh? How special? "Gu Zheng frowned slightly.
"You're very calm. I don't see any fear in your eyes!"
Shang Hong paused and then stared intently at Gu Zheng. "What cultivation level are you at?"
"What do you think?" Gu Zheng shrugged and smiled.
Shang Hong smiled too. "I don't like guessing, but I'm beginning to look forward to you coming to the illusory battlefield to challenge me! Don't worry, if your cultivation hasn't reached the late stage of Daluo Jinxian, I'll suppress my cultivation level to the same level as yours when you spar with me. As for the divine abilities I have, you can find them from the immortal officials outside. If you're worried that any of my divine abilities will pose a great threat to you, we can negotiate in advance and set some restrictions. "
Gu Zheng had heard about Shang Hong's battle lust from Sun Cheng, but he didn't expect that he would attract Shang Hong's attention as soon as he entered the illusory battlefield.
"Challenge you? I'm not interested for now! "Gu Zheng shook his head and smiled.
Shang Hong frowned. "I hate that smile of yours."
"Sou …"
A light flashed beside Gu Zheng, and Sun Cheng also entered the illusory battlefield.
"I wanted to introduce two friends to you, but you came in first." Sun Cheng smiled at Gu Zheng.
"Rat Sun, is this person your friend?" Shang Hong asked Sun Cheng.
"Aiyo, I thought you were meditating, so I didn't greet you. Please forgive me!"
Sun Cheng looked at Shang Hong with a smile. His attitude was very humble, and his hands couldn't help but tremble.
Shang Hong waved his hand impatiently. "Rat Sun, let me tell you, I want to spar with your friend, but he doesn't dare to accept because he's afraid of battle. Persuade him for me! Don't worry, this is the illusory battlefield. Even if he's killed by me, he'll only lose a strand of spirit sense. You'll get 10 blue immortal coins as a reward! "
Sun Cheng glanced at Gu Zheng, then looked at Shang Hong and said, "Don't joke around, Fellow Daoist Shang. How can something like a spar be forced?"
Shang Hong pulled a long face when he saw that Sun Cheng dared to refuse. "Rat Sun, don't be so shameless!"
"You're really interesting. If you want to spar with me, you don't have to drag others in? Just wait! When I'm in a good mood, I'll spar with you. "
Even though Gu Zheng had a good temper, he was still pissed off at Shang Hong! Although he didn't say the exact time, he already had the intention to teach Shang Hong a lesson.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh …
The illusory battlefield flashed again and again. Many of the spectators outside came in.
"Fellow Daoist Shang!"
"Fellow Daoist Shentu is already here. He's recording his methods outside. Looks like he's going to use some trump card this time!"
"Fellow Daoist Shang, what do you think are your chances of winning this time?"
The spectators who came in all started to talk when they saw that Shang Hong wasn't meditating.
Shang Hong looked at Gu Zheng with a cold smile and began to talk to the new spectators. His cold gaze made the new spectators pay more attention to Gu Zheng.
"Fellow Daoist Bai, how did you offend Shang Hong?" Sun Cheng transmitted a message to Gu Zheng with a bitter smile.
"I didn't offend him. He found me an eyesore and came looking for me." Gu Zheng said lightly.
"If you offend Shang Hong, you'll be in trouble in the immortal camp! Although sparring is prohibited in the immortal camp, with Shang Hong's popularity, as long as nothing major happens, the immortal officials will turn a blind eye. "Sun Cheng said worriedly.
"If he wants to stir up trouble, I can only accompany him."
Gu Zheng smiled indifferently and turned to ask Sun Cheng, "Fellow Daoist Sun, you seem to be very afraid of Shang Hong!"
Thinking back to how Sun Cheng's hand had unconsciously trembled, Gu Zheng felt that Sun Cheng's fear of Shang Hong wasn't that simple.
"I won't hide it from Fellow Daoist Bai. I had a small conflict with Shang Hong previously and was taught a lesson by him. Later, I used my connections to settle this matter. Who would have thought that something like this would happen again today." Sun Cheng sighed.
"In the end, it's because of me that Fellow Daoist Sun got into trouble. I'm really sorry about that!" Gu Zheng said.
"I've already said that I want Fellow Daoist to take care of me. Now that I've gotten into trouble because of Fellow Daoist, if Shang Hong targets me, Fellow Daoist won't ignore it, right?"
Sun Cheng looked at Gu Zheng pitifully. His reaction surprised Gu Zheng a little. Gu Zheng thought that Sun Cheng would puff himself up at his own cost and say that he was fine. If there was really a problem, he would come and find him! However, Gu Zheng didn't expect that Sun Cheng would actually say what was on his mind.
"You think I can protect you?" Gu Zheng pretended to be surprised.
"My cultivation talent isn't very high, but I'm usually very accurate in judging people! Fellow Daoist, since you can attract Shang Hong's attention and don't look worried at all, you must have someone to rely on. As for whether Fellow Daoist can protect me, that's actually not important. What's important is whether Fellow Daoist is willing to protect me! "
Sun Cheng looked at Gu Zheng and smiled bitterly. His face was almost wrinkled into a bitter gourd.
"Since you're very accurate in judging people, then do you think I'm willing to protect you?" Gu Zheng said playfully.
"Fellow Daoist, don't play with me. If you're not willing to protect me, I should be in big trouble." Sun Cheng begged Gu Zheng.
Gu Zheng didn't directly answer Sun Cheng's question. Although Sun Cheng's straightforward words changed his impression of Sun Cheng, his initial prejudice against Sun Cheng still existed in his heart.
"Friends can't be made casually. Making friends too casually is not necessarily a good thing." Gu Zheng said lightly.
Hearing Gu Zheng's words, Sun Cheng's face became awkward. "At first, I did think that having more friends would mean more paths. But now, because of Shang Hong, Fellow Daoist Bai and I are already tied to the same boat. If Fellow Daoist Bai has a prejudice against me because I deliberately made friends with you at the beginning, then I have nothing to say. "
"Let's watch the sparring!" Gu Zheng said indifferently.
While Gu Zheng and Sun Cheng were conversing, Shentu Lingfeng had already entered the arena. The spectators outside had all entered as well. The sparring was about to begin.
"I've always wanted to spar with Fellow Daoist Shentu. Today, I've finally gotten my wish!"
Shang Hong sized up the green-robed Shentu Lingfeng with an extremely emotional expression.
"If not for your wager that moved me, I wouldn't have come to spar with you. After all, if I were to spar with you, I would be exposing my trump card. "
Shentu Lingfeng's words made everyone understand that he had a private wager with Shang Hong.
"Although the wager is good, Fellow Daoist Shentu needs to have the ability to win it!"
Shang Hong paused and said with a sharp gaze, "In other words, I hope that Fellow Daoist Shentu wins the wager from me, and not be beaten to death by me in this illusory battlefield!"
"Gong …"
Following Shang Hong's voice, a bell rang from the illusory battlefield. This was the signal that the sparring was about to begin.
"Fellow Daoist Shang is indeed savage. You're still not qualified to beat me, Shentu Lingfeng, to death in the illusory battlefield!"
Shentu Lingfeng's aura soared with his words. When he finished speaking, his robe and hair seemed to flutter in the wind under the influence of his aura.
"Gong …"
The second bell rang. After the third bell rang, the sparring could begin.
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