Everyone among the crowd halted their breaths; even the elders at the elder's seating area had the same reaction too.
They never thought Qin Nan would accept the bet.
He did not just accept the bet; he even laid out the words which were suggesting that he would definitely win the bet.
Isn’t this… way too cocky?
Nangong Cheng’s expression turned incredibly cold instantly; he did not expect Qin Nan to be so ballsy as to confront him directly in front of the crowd.
Before he could speak, a huge laugh could be heard coming from the elder's seating area. The one laughing was none other than Cheng Biao.
Cheng Biao rose up from his seat and glanced down at Qin Nan before saying, “Such a remarkable talent we have here, to assume he’ll come first and beat my disciple. If that’s the case, let me join the bet too. I’ll bet four hundred thousand Xiantian Pills on Nangong Cheng. Are you willing to accept it?”
The words were said in a harsh tone, which was reinforced by a pressuring Martial Emperor aura emitted toward the crowd.
Every disciple completely lost their thoughts at this moment, while staring with their eyes opened wide; they never expected things to go this far, that even the first elder would get involved.
At that instant, they all had the same single thought… Things are about to get serious!
After a period of ten breaths’ time, they finally collected their thoughts, with their gazes locked onto Qin Nan.
They were keen to know what decision the wild-talking Qin Nan would make at this moment.
One hundred thousand Xiantian Pills, plus four hundred thousand Xiantian Pills; it was indeed a crazy bet!
Will Qin Nan insist on keeping to his words and behave pridefully by accepting this enormous bet?
Meanwhile, Qin Nan, being the eye of the storm of this whole incident, could feel his heart dancing wildly with joy; he did not think the first elder, Cheng Biao, would participate in the bet and give him four hundred thousand Xiantian Pills.
If Qin Nan’s Martial Heart had not improved previously, he would be dancing on the spot now.
Qin Nan took a deep breath trying to calm himself down, before saying, “First elder, is four hundred thousand Xiantian Pills a bit too much? I don’t have enough pills to place my bet. How about you bet two hundred thousand Xiantian Pills? I have a storage bag on me, which I think has the value of around two hundred thousand Xiantian Pills!”
After hearing the words, the crowd of disciple was dumbfounded.
Did Qin Nan just accept the bet?
Did he really accept the bet which he was sure to lose?
“There’s no need for that. I’ll bet four hundred thousand Xiantian Pills.” Cheng Biao raised his hand and calmly said, “If you win, these four hundred thousand Xiantian Pills will be yours. If you lose, you don’t have to pay me four hundred thousand Xiantian Pills. In fact, I want you to kneel on your knees at this dojo for ten days and ten nights. So, what do you say?”
Upon hearing this, a smile instinctively appeared on Nangong Cheng’s dull face, as he glanced toward Qin Nan with a scornful expression in his eyes.
Everyone held their breaths, and they clenched their fists unnoticedly.
The disciples now knew that the reason Cheng Biao had interfered was to put Qin Nan to shame.
Under such circumstances, will Qin Nan still dare to accept?
Qin Nan’s eyes flickered coldly, as he let out a hollow laugh and said, “I was trying to let you save two hundred thousand Xiantian Pills; since you don’t appreciate my kindness, let it be. I’ll accept the bet!”
After learning the first elder’s intentions, Qin Nan did not have any mercy with his words, as he challenged Cheng Biao directly!
Everyone’s expression changed greatly at that moment, staring at Qin Nan with disbelief.
Is this guy out of his mind?
He dares to challenge the first elder in public?
Even Xiao Leng and Chu Yun—who had witnessed Qin Nan making miracles one after another— were utterly stunned witnessing this, their hearts beating rapidly.
Challenging Nagong Cheng was only a matter between disciples.
But to challenge an elder was a completely different level, not to mention the fact that it was the first elder of the outer disciple, Cheng Biao, who possessed great authority.
The other elders who initially planned to be spectators all had their expressions changed slightly.
As for Cheng Biao, he was startled after hearing the words; he initially planned to take part in the bet as he was not fond of seeing Qin Nan’s scornful behavior, thus he wanted to teach him a lesson. However, he had not expected a mere outer domain disciple to challenge him directly in front of the crowd at such a grand occasion.
It was Cheng Biao’s first time to experience something like this!
“Well, well, well!” Cheng Biao burst out laughing loudly, not out of joy, but furiousness, “Never had I expected to meet such a disrespectful person among the outer domain disciples. I have to see where you get your confidence from, to think that you’re able to defeat my disciple! Let the trial continue, so we can check the answers and reveal the results!”
The words caused everyone’s heart to skip a beat; they all knew that Cheng Biao had become angry.
Following that, the lively dojo turned silent immediately.
The remaining three hundred plus disciples took turns to identify the ingredients and pills, without making any sound in the process.
The atmosphere of the scene turned heavy, like the calm before a storm.
One hundred!
Two hundred!
Three hundred!
After half an hour, the remaining three hundred plus disciples had all completed the first round of the trial.
However, the trial this time was different than the previous ones, as the crowd was dead silent, with everyone’s eyes staring at Qin Nan and Nangong Cheng!
“The answer checking stage starts now.” At this moment, the elder in charge of declaring the results rose from his seat and said without hesitation, “There is a total of one hundred marks in this round; those with less than thirty marks will be disqualified, and those with more than thirty marks will advance to the next round. The top five of this round will have their marks added to their final score in the end after next round. The results are as follow!”
Besides this elder, there were also few other elders in charge of checking the answers, who all started to mark the papers.
Following this, voices declaring the marks began to be heard.
“Luo An, thirty marks. Right on the verge.”
“Ding Mao, seventy marks. Advance to the next round.”
“Zhou Lixiang, sixty five marks. Advance to the next round.”
“Wang Zitao, twenty three marks. Disqualified!”
……
As names were being read out by the elders, some of the disciples advanced to the second round, while the others were disqualified.
However, these disciples did not show any joy nor sadness on their faces, as they all stared at the elder with serious faces.
After around a hundred plus disciples, the elder in charge hesitated slightly, as he said, “This paper belongs to Nangong Cheng…”
The words caused everyone to have their eyes open wide and halt their breaths while listening carefully, as if they did not want to miss a single word.
As for Nangong Cheng, he clenched his fists tightly, showing a hint of nervousness.
“The mark Nangong Cheng obtained…” The elder began to speak, with an excited tone, “Ninety nine marks, placing him temporarily first!”