Chapter 1151: The Bet

At this moment, two faint, invisible silver rays shot straight towards Wang Jiyu, accompanied by a slight thud from the ground.

Wang Jiyu was already prepared; a red light flared around his body, and he leaped high into the sky.

RUMBLE! A yellow giant ape, roughly a zhang tall, burst out of the ground. It bared its teeth, its eyes were bloodshot, and its body was covered in yellow fur.

With a few muffled thuds, two silver flying needles were blocked by Wang Jiyu's protective spiritual light.

The sky suddenly darkened as a red fiery cloud, over a hundred zhang wide, abruptly appeared high above. The crimson cloud churned violently, emitting an overwhelming heatwave.

A deafening roar echoed from high above as the crimson fiery cloud churned violently, and scorching red raindrops poured down, heading straight for Wang Jiyu. Simultaneously, the yellow giant ape clawed at the ground with both hands; a yellow light flashed, and two yellow earth spears, each a zhang long, materialized in its grasp. With a flick of its wrist, the two spears shot out, also aiming for Wang Jiyu.

The two yellow earth spears arrived instantly, striking Wang Jiyu's protective spiritual light with two muffled thuds. The dense red raindrops then pelted Wang Jiyu's spiritual light, causing it to shatter instantly.

Just then, a small red lock on Wang Jiyu's chest suddenly flared with a dazzling red light. Countless red runes flew out, transforming into a thick red barrier of light that enveloped his entire body.

This was a prototype defensive magical treasure, which Wang Qingqi had asked Wang Qingqing to help refine. At a critical moment, it saved Wang Jiyu's life.

The dense red raindrops pelted the red light barrier, creating a series of crackling thuds.

At the foot of the mountain, a beautiful middle-aged woman with striking features and a short, stout elder in a yellow robe frowned deeply.

"A prototype magical treasure! He's a core disciple of the Wang family!"

"Then we absolutely cannot let him escape, otherwise, there will be endless trouble."

Wang Jiyu broke out in a cold sweat, his eyes filled with killing intent. While he had extensive combat experience, it was limited to fighting demonic beasts. He always hunted demonic beasts through teamwork, using puppet beasts to eliminate them, and never needed to rely on individual bravery. This meant his personal strength wasn't particularly high, and he wasn't suited for solo combat.

His spiritual power surged frantically into a red banner, causing its red light to intensify dramatically. A dazzling red light shot out, transforming into a crimson fiery cloud, over a hundred zhang wide, which enveloped the middle-aged woman and the elder.

They were startled and quickly dispersed, flying in different directions. The crimson fiery cloud split into two, forming two enormous crimson fire pythons that lunged at them.

The elder in the yellow robe quickly conjured a yellow shield, which instantly expanded and blocked his front.

The middle-aged woman conjured a blue orb, which released a blue water curtain, blocking her front.

BOOM! A deafening roar erupted, and the yellow shield was engulfed by surging flames.

The blue water curtain also blocked the crimson fire python, releasing a large cloud of white mist.

A whooshing sound filled the air as dozens of glowing crimson flying daggers shot forth.

Two screams rang out. Their defenses were like paper, shattered to pieces by dozens of red flying daggers. Their bodies were riddled with countless red flying daggers, and they perished.

The yellow giant ape realized something was wrong and tried to flee. A muffled thud came from the ground, and a red sword light shot out, instantly slicing it in two as a rain of blood splattered.

It was Ouyang Mingyue.

By this time, the crimson fiery cloud had also vanished.

"Aunt Mingyue, it's you!" Wang Jiyu exclaimed. "Your grandson thought it was someone else!"

Wang Jiyu let out a long sigh of relief and said with a smile.

"You usually fight demonic beasts, and you've fought cultivators less often, right?" Ouyang Mingyue advised earnestly. "Be careful. Foundation Establishment cultivators who can enter this secret realm to seek treasures are not ordinary cultivators. Your luck won't be this good every time."

She had participated in major battles, and her combat experience was far richer than Wang Jiyu's. Demonic beasts had limited tactics, unlike cultivators who possessed numerous methods.

If not for the prototype defensive magical treasure, Wang Jiyu would have died long ago.

"Your grandson has taken note," Wang Jiyu replied. "Where is Uncle Youwei?"

"I don't know. The secret realm is vast," she replied. "My husband is probably somewhere else. Let's first rendezvous with the others!"

Ouyang Mingyue had grown up receiving strict education and valued teamwork. Both immortal sects and cultivation families emphasized teamwork rather than individual bravery. No matter how strong an individual was, if besieged by dozens of cultivators of the same rank, they would only meet a bitter end.

After collecting the treasures from the enemies' bodies, Wang Jiyu gave a portion to Ouyang Mingyue. The two then walked down the mountain, disappearing into a green bamboo forest.

Outside the secret realm, on the desolate island.

Wang Qingling and six other Core Formation cultivators gathered together, exchanging cultivation insights.

The Wang family had too few Core Formation cultivators, sending only Wang Qingling. However, others did not dare to underestimate her.

They were absolutely no match for a third-tier flood dragon in a one-on-one fight.

"Madam Wang, Fellow Daoist Lu, Fellow Daoist Jin," said Daoist Master Qingyue, "waiting here endlessly isn't getting us anywhere. How about we make a wager? We'll see whose disciples survive the most. This Daoist will offer this top-grade third-tier Ice Lapis Flood Dragon's inner core as the stake. Madam Wang, if your ice flood dragon consumes this inner core, it will certainly aid its advancement, as both are ice-attribute flood dragons."

Daoist Master Qingyue spoke while taking out a palm-sized green jade box. Upon opening it, an egg-sized, milky-white inner core was revealed inside.

Wang Qingling's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a hint of hesitation appeared on her face. The Wang family was known for producing sets of puppet beasts, and when several Foundation Establishment cultivators teamed up, few cultivators of the same rank could stand against them. Daoist Master Qingyue still wanted to make a wager; could it be that the Foundation Establishment cultivators sent by the Rogue Cultivator Alliance had something special about them?

This wager was hard to predict, full of many unknowns. Each person's position was random; if one had bad luck, it was even possible to appear directly in a demonic beast's lair.

"A third-tier Ice Lapis Flood Dragon's inner core?" inquired Venerable Golden Blade. "I'll offer a top-grade third-tier Fire Toad's inner core as my stake."

Venerable Golden Blade took out a red jade box, inside which was an egg-sized red sphere.

"I'll use a top-grade third-tier Ape Eagle's demonic core as my stake," said Lu Hengbin.

Lu Hengbin also joined the wager, taking out a top-grade third-tier demonic core as his stake.

Wang Qingling hesitated briefly and also took out a top-grade third-tier demonic core as her stake, as she was very interested in the top-grade third-tier Ice Lapis Flood Dragon's inner core.

Everyone was confident in their juniors. Of course, it wasn't true that the stronger an individual's personal strength, the greater their chance of survival; luck was also a part of strength.

If one had bad luck and appeared directly in a demonic beast's lair, it was practically a dead end. The secret realm hadn't been maintained for over a thousand years, and it was highly probable that third-tier demonic beasts would appear. This added a degree of uncertainty to the wager, and no one dared to claim a guaranteed victory. Such a wager was relatively fair.

Four Core Formation cultivators placed their bets, but there would only be one winner.