Song Ning noticed that Zhang Mo and Qiu Yue stood at the sub-stage of inter disciples. On behalf of the inter disciples of Tianhe City, they participated in this match.
The surrounding disciples got excited. As Li Mu gave the order, the match started.
As the match began on the stage, Sun Mu started a gamble.
"Conventions! Would you like to have a try, brothers and sisters? Small gambling is rewarding, just one spiritual stone," cried Sun Mu.
It wasn't banned by explicit order, but being too much of a show-off was not good.
"Four areas, Tianhe City wins!" A disciple took a spiritual stone out directly.
"Me, too."
"So do I."
Most disciples of Tianhe City bet money on the outcome.
"Sun, what does it mean? What is win and what is loss?" Song Ning didn't take a bet but he felt curious.
Sun Mu gave him a stare and walked past him, pretending to hear nothing.
"Sun Mu, you will make a lot of money this time." An ordinary disciple threw a spiritual stone to Sun Mu, "The eastern, Cloud Mountain wins; the western, Tianhe City; the southern, Sunset Mountain; the northern, Tianhe City."
"Ok, I have noted down." Sun Mu took a pen out of nowhere and took notes on a piece of paper.
Actually the gambling rule was simple. A gambler just needed to guess which school would win in four match sub-stages. If a gambler's four answers were totally right, he would win back double wagers; if any one of his answers was wrong, he would lose.
"Sun, I would like to …" said Song Ning.
However, Sun Mu walked away.
"I want to bet three spiritual stones on Tianhe City," said Song Ning.
Sun Mu squeezed his way out of the crowd swiftly and came to him. He bet three spiritual stones on Tianhe City, he must lose because Tianhe City didn't have quality to make a clean sweep.
"Bring your spiritual stones." Sun Mu stretched out his hand.
Song Ning handed his spiritual stones over Sun Mu. Sun Mu took them and wrote the name of Song Ning on paper, then left.
At this time, the match stage were witnessing four fierce competitions. From the eastern area to the western, the southern and the northern, competitions dropped in intensity. Therefore, most people were watching the eastern and the western sub-stages but ignoring the rest sub-stages.
Soon the disciples of Tianhe City stopped cheering, because their school lost in four areas.
It could be better if they just won in one area. Complete defeat brought shame on the elders.
Half hour later, the match ended. The match result was announced on that very day with two disciples of Cloud Mountain wining and two of Sunset Mountain wining. Tianhe City was drowned.
The elders of Tianhe City couldn't accept the result, so did its disciples.
The elder Li Mu's face was ghastly pale. After announcing the result, he said immediately, "There will be challenging matches tomorrow. Winners of the four areas could be challenged once by each school. If you succeed, you would still win a reputation for your school. You'd better think carefully tonight. If you want to issue your challenge, you must register tomorrow."
When Li Mu finished speaking, Taoist Red Maple stood up, "The match ended today, Fang Yu, you arrange the disciples of other two school to have a rest."
The first match ended with unpleasant result. Song Ning followed the crowd back and he heard different voices along the way. They sighed, felt helpless or angry, but none recommended themselves. They all understood that the elect must be an outstanding disciple of his rank, so their self-recommendation was good for nothing.
As Song Ning came to the outside of his room, his door opened. He pushed the door and entered only to find Qiu Yue sat on his bed with her face blushing. "Song Ning, close the door and I have something to tell you."