“Wow, what a fragrance!”
Xue Ying sniffed hard, her expression showing delight.
“Yeah! This is the best chicken I’ve ever eaten in my life!”
Qiu Jue tore off a piece of meat and bit into it, loudly praising it.
It was naturally delicious; it would be strange if it weren’t.
Li Tan didn’t stay idle either, directly pulling off a chicken leg.
“That’s strange; why do I feel a warmth in my dantian?”
Qiu Jue paused mid-bite, somewhat puzzled as he touched his stomach.
Xue Ying nodded as well. “Yes, I feel the same. Li Ge, is this really pheasant meat?”
Li Tan nodded without batting an eyelash, chewing on the chicken leg as he said, “That’s right, it’s pheasant meat. Didn’t I just say earlier that animals near the immortal sect grow by absorbing spiritual energy, so it’s not strange at all that it can nourish the dantian.”
“I see. You really know a lot, Li Ge.”
Xue Ying looked suddenly enlightened, completely believing in a string of nonsense that any person with a bit of basic cultivation knowledge would scoff at.
Qiu Jue, however, thought more deeply. His expression turned somewhat serious. “Then why did the wild rabbit I caught yesterday look so ordinary?”
Li Tan earnestly asked in return, “Have you eaten it yet?”
Qiu Jue shook his head.
Li Tan asked again, “Who told you that if something looks special, its meat will definitely be extraordinary? Not every animal can have the fortune like this chicken.”
Indeed, not every chicken could grow up eating spiritual herbs like these two, only to be mysteriously roasted and eaten by someone.
“I see!”
Perhaps because of their previous experiences, Qiu Jue firmly believed this obviously dubious explanation.
The mountain breeze disturbed the still water, blowing the campfire left and right. Happy times always passed quickly. As the sky gradually darkened, Li Tan and the others left one after another and returned to their quarters to begin cultivation.
However, Li Tan didn’t stay in his room for long before he left again, wandering around aimlessly.
So much had happened in the past few days that he felt restless and unsettled. Once he was quiet, he couldn’t help but think about many things.
It was just that time of the month when men tend to get easily irritated, so Li Tan decided to simply waste another evening to clear his mind.
From the bamboo forest to the building area, Li Tan casually observed his surroundings.
Evening at Tianlang Sect, even the servant disciples’ area was very quiet at night, with almost no one outside. Although these servant disciples had bleak prospects, most of them still seemed to harbor dreams of turning their fate around.
Turning left then right, from a nearby house came vague sounds of noise and commotion. Curious and with nothing better to do, Li Tan walked over, found the door unlocked, and pushed it open to enter.
Inside the house, a large crowd surrounded a central area, all craning their necks to look inward, occasionally shouting loudly. Not a single person noticed the “rising star” Li Tan.
Not being noticed suited him just fine, so he squeezed through the crowd’s gaps and soon understood what everyone was doing.
They were surrounding a table, with one person sitting on each side. On the table were playing cards.
This activity was very common in the mundane world, and in hidden alleys of every city, there were always places known as casinos.
This room was clearly a gambling den for the servant disciples’ entertainment.
Certainly, its existence was likely not recognized by Tianlang Sect. If such a place appeared in the outer or inner sects, it would probably be completely eradicated in a few days. However, regarding servant disciples, the elders of Tianlang Sect simply turned a blind eye.
“The banker is changing!”
A man shouted loudly, and immediately the crowd buzzed like bees whose hive had been shattered, all of them extremely excited.
Most of the people who placed bets used copper or silver coins. Li Tan found this rather boring, but still followed the trend and threw out the last gold coin in his pocket.
He quickly won a fortune, and the rapid profit was so fast that it was no wonder so many people couldn’t help but become addicted.
However, Li Tan’s resistance was quite strong. He didn’t show any interest at all, just watching the commotion out of boredom. As he collected his winnings and was about to leave, a man sitting at the big table suddenly shouted in surprise: “Li Tan, it’s Li Tan!”
Immediately, all the surrounding gazes converged on him.
I’m really famous.
Li Tan muttered in resignation, calmly collecting all the money on the table under numerous curious eyes, then turning to walk out.
This was not a place to linger! But the person at the big table probably didn’t intend to let him leave so easily. He showed a somewhat provocative expression and said, “You’re leaving after winning so much money? Are you even a real man?”
Li Tan had no intention of stopping. “People who take advantage and push further usually don’t live long.”
A moment later, the man’s voice came again, “Wait!”
Li Tan ignored him, already reaching the door.
The man’s voice started to sound somewhat furious. “I told you to wait!”
Li Tan pretended to close the door.
“Dare you sit down and play a round with me!”
The man roared.
Li Tan slightly paused his steps. “I’m not interested in money and don’t want to waste time.”
“Then let’s not bet money. How about spiritual stones?”
This sentence successfully caught Li Tan’s attention. He turned back. “How much do you have? If it’s just one or two, forget it.”
The man looked somewhat eager. “How about half a year’s allowance?”
For servant disciples, normally, the monthly allowance was one spiritual stone, so half a year would be six spiritual stones. Li Tan still wasn’t very interested.
Seeing Li Tan about to leave again, the man quickly added, “New disciples receive only one spiritual stone monthly. Each year, it increases by one. I’ve been here for three years, so my monthly allowance is three spiritual stones.”
Three spiritual stones, for half a year, that would be eighteen. Honestly, Li Tan didn’t care much, but eighteen spiritual stones were enough for a day’s intense cultivation. Who would refuse free spiritual stones?
Li Tan walked back and sat in front of the man.
“Alright, I’m in.”
At this moment, the man’s face showed a mixture of confidence, joy, anticipation, and mockery.
The surrounding spectators burst into laughter, all betting on the man. From their conversation, it wasn’t hard to tell that this man was no ordinary player, having a reputation for ten consecutive victories. However, within half a quarter of an hour, after one round ended, these people and the man watched as Li Tan collected their spiritual stones one by one, their faces turning completely livid. The man was very unwilling and, determined, gritted his teeth and said, “This was an accident. Let’s play another round!”
Li Tan silently placed another bet.
This time, a few people bet on Li Tan’s victory. However, since spiritual stones were a luxurious bet, most people dared not place bets.
Another quarter of an hour later, Li Tan once again collected all the spiritual stones on the table under countless murderous gazes.
He earned more than fifty spiritual stones in these two rounds and was in a good mood.
“You… you must have cheated! T, how could I lose every time!”
The man was furious.
Li Tan responded while collecting spiritual stones, “If you say I cheated, then show me the evidence.”
The man angrily approached Li Tan, searching thoroughly for any evidence of cheating, inside and out, but couldn’t find even an extra strand of hair.
After all, spiritual perception was far beyond their comprehension at this level.
However, to use spiritual perception to cheat these cultivators at such a low-level gambling den—if some powerful figures in the cultivation world found out, they would probably frown and want to completely distance themselves from Li Tan forever.
Such a behavior was too shameful. But although it was shameful, Li Tan had already done it and couldn’t take it back. Those who had their spiritual stones taken from them and were heartbroken could do nothing but watch helplessly as their “sweat-and-blood stones” disappeared.
“Anyone else want to play?”
Li Tan looked around.
Immediately, the noisy room became deathly silent. Even the man who had lost two rounds to him wore a greenish face, clearly frustrated.
“Hey, are you all even men? You’re not going to play anymore after losing a little money?”
Li Tan deliberately looked at the man who had lost two rounds to him while speaking.
Having tasted the sweetness, Li Tan planned to spend more time at the gambling den, preferably gathering all the supplies he needed for a month’s cultivation in one go.
However, this thought was obviously going to be in vain. No matter how he tried to provoke them, he made no progress, so he could only pack up and leave.
But just as he was about to leave, bored, the door to the room suddenly slammed open with a bang.
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