In particular, few had foreseen that the originally silent, seemingly uncaring Asura Holy Man would participate in it too.
Earlier, in the Spiritual Conference, the Asura Holy Man did not react too strongly to the defeats of Huo Ming and Huo Chen despite the other Huo Family cultivators' vexation. It was as if he did not care at all.
Zhuge Guang was slightly surprised. He smiled and looked at Huo Xiu and said, "Oh, is the head of the Huo Family interested too? Why not you begin?"
Huo Xiu nodded his head. The air before him began to vibrate slightly as a shining green treasure appeared in it.
It was a skull fashioned from emerald. It was extremely small and delicate, comparable to the fist of an infant. Glossy green light shone off it as it appeared very exquisite.
The emerald skull did not give off any aura or spiritual energy. Everyone on-scene looked at it, puzzled. This item was not famous like the Eight-Veined Ginseng. Everyone stared at it for a good long while as no one could recognize its origins.
However, the Blue Pavilion Holy Man, Cao Wei and the other Immortal Soul stage cultivators looked at it with solemn expressions. They viewed it much more seriously than the Eight-Veined Ginseng.
Only a few people could feel that death aura that the emerald skull emitted. It was extremely faint. Cultivators in the Immortal Soul stage themselves took a lot of effort to sense it. However, the aura of death was extremely pure and concentrated, as if it had come straight from the hell itself. It was the pure epitome of death itself.
What made them more shocked was that the fact this skull was actually a magic treasure embryo.
Zhuge Guang said, shocked, "Master Huo, do you intend to use this as your collateral?"
Huo Xiu's expression was calm as he nodded his head. "Exactly, this magic treasure embryo, the Emerald Skull, shall be my collateral."
With that, everyone knew that this seemingly-unimpressive skull was actually a magic treasure embryo. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
The item that Huo Xiu produced could be said to be the most valuable collateral in the entire conference.
Even while they were supposedly held in check by their seniors, everyone's emotions ran amok. Some of the Nascent Soul elders themselves found it hard to control their emotions.
By using such a valuable item as collateral, it was evident that Huo Xiu was not after any ordinary thing.
Tuntun asked Zhu Yi, who was by her side, "What does he want to bet with us?"
By joining this wager, Huo Xiu shocked everyone. However, what he did next was even more shocking.
He looked at Cao Wei and said quietly, "I bet that Shi Tianhao of the Celestial Sect will win. I wish to bet a piece of the Dark Polar Blaze Stone with you. Do you take up the bet?"
Tuntun opened her eyes as she looked at Huo Xiu. She did not expect that his target was Cao Wei, not Lin Feng.
One must remember that Huo Chen lost to Wang Lin in this conference, while Huo Ming was defeated by Zhu Yi. For many people, it would appear as if the enmity between the Huo Family and the Celestial Sect had been set.
However, looking at it now, it appeared that Huo Xiu, an Immortal Soul stage cultivator, would not bear such petty grudges. He completely disregarded the victories and losses of his Foundation Establishment, Aurous Core and Nascent Soul stages disciples.
For Huo Xiu, it was not shameful that his disciples had lost to others. It just meant that they were not skilled enough and required more practice.
Lin Feng and Cao Wei both had calm expressions. Upon hearing Huo Xiu's words, Cao Wei agreed after a while. "Sure, I accept."
The signature move of the Heaven Lake Sect was known as the Dark Polar Blaze Mantra, and the Dark Polar Blaze Stone something that capable cultivators of the Immortal Soul stage would try with all their efforts to form with their innate mana.
In terms of value, it was definitely incomparable to a magic treasure. However, it could be compared to a magic treasure embryo. It could not, however, be cultivated into a magic treasure.
Shi Zongyue looked at Huo Xiu and asked, "Do you wish to borrow the powers of the Dark Polar Blaze Stone to further improve yourself? I feel that you are almost at that level already."
"The Dark Polar Blaze Stone is both blazing hot and icy cold. It's good stuff to use to practice one's swordsmanship."
Huo Xiu's face was calm as he said nothing. However, he did not dismiss Shi Zongyue's guess.
Zhuge Guang smiled, "In comparison to Master Huo's Emerald Skull, my item does seem insignificant."
He looked at Lin Feng and said, "I hope Master Lin will not mock me. I wish to offer my Eight-Veined Ginseng as collateral against your Ethereal Heart Cauldron. How about it?"
The two items could not be easily compared in terms of value. The Ethereal Heart Cauldron could be a powerful object in the hands of someone who specialized in pill cultivation. It could reduce the amount of medicines required and increase its success rate to maximise pill output.
However, the Eight-Veined Ginseng too was extremely valuable. With this item, it was equivalent to extending one's life by a few thousand years. One would hence gain more time to cultivate improve oneself while enjoying one's time in this world.
Lin Feng smiled slightly and responded, "For such a wager, how could the Gambling Holy Man not join in? It would truly be a shame. Since the Gambling Holy Man has such tastes, then how could I possibly refuse?"
At this point in time, the many cultivators from the major powers were all in a bit of a daze.
The stone of Mount Yujing, a branch from the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree, a pair of Demonic Commander stage Flying Snowy Plumes, the Dual Polarity Divine Flower, the Fire and Ice Fruit, the Emerald Skull, the Dark Polar Blaze Stone, the Murderous Soul Jade, the Ice Mirror, the Shaoshang Sword Artifact, the Matte Glowless Metal, the Eight-Veined Ginseng, the Ethereal Heart Cauldron, the Green Bronze Crucible of Emptiness and the Aurora Polar Mirror.
All of the items were precious beyond belief. If any small sect to obtain even just one of them, they would treasure it like crazy. They would be afraid to get it even slightly damaged.
Here, however, they were all collaterals in a wager. A wager that involved all of the Immortal Soul stage cultivators present. This whole scene could be simply described as madness.
Other than Zhuge Guang's bet earlier in his days against someone using a magic treasure as collateral, there were few wagers that were crazier than this.
Everyone's gaze fell upon the Hidden Dragon Gorge as they thought, "I wonder if the two people inside knew how important their battle had become."
In the Hidden Dragon Gorge, Xiao Budian and Song Qingyuan were battling intensely. Song Qingyuan had lost the upper hand to Xiao Budian, and it appeared as if he could not turn the situation around.
"Time's almost up, I think master had settled it on his side," thought Song Qingyuan. "It's time for me to act. If not, my disadvantage will grow and then, it may actually be impossible for me to turn the tables around."
Thinking about it now, Song Qingyuan summoned a spell as the Icy Blaze around him changed and turned into a pure icy freeze and a pure red-hot blaze. The two powers were at their extremes as they formed a whirlpool in front in front of him.
This was the exact spell that he had used to overcome the Northern Tribe cultivator Dou Kun earlier on, the Venus of Fire and Ice.
In the whirlpool, a huge power could be felt within it, slowly growing and becoming stronger. This power, however, was not pure. Xiao Budian could feel a semblance of life from it.
In one moment, the whirlpool was blazingly hot and in the other, it was deathly cold like ice. The two emotions combined together, and it felt as if a life would burst forth from within the whirlpool.
Xiao Budian looked at it carefully as he felt an eye, from within the whirlpool, glaring at him intensely.
In the next instant, a crazy force exploded from the center of Song Qingyuan's whirlpool as it flew towards Xiao Budian.
Dou Kun's physical prowess was no weaker than Xiao Budian's one, which right now was bristling with the powers of the storm and electricity. Even so, a direct hit from Song Qingyuan would render one severely injured and out of the fight.
However, Xiao Budian did not show any sign of fear as the Form of the Thunderstorm Demon and God suddenly disappeared and he reverted to his original form.
Facing Song Qingyuan's Venus of Ice and Fire, Xiao Budian slowly raised his right hand. At that point, he felt as if ten thousand tons had fallen upon his right hand. It was unimaginably heavy.
On his right hand, two rays of light, one green and one purple, spun. While it appeared to be small and thin, it brimmed with an unimaginable power.
Xiao Budian abandoned his Heaven-Shaking Thunderstorm, but it did not just dissipate. Instead, it was completely concentrated on his right hand.
Following that, Xiao Budian punched out towards Song Qingyuan's ice and fire whirlpool.
Out of the Hidden Dragon Gorge, Prince Xian of the Left of the Northern Tribes, whose physical martial skills were the best, opened his eyes wide in shock.
Every single other Nothern Tribe cultivator opened their eyes as they stared at Xiao Budian in the Hidden Dragon Gorge.
Looking at Xiao Budian's punch, its power was undeniable. It was as destructive as a hurricane and as wild as thunder. The punch itself appeared to have taken a physical form as its powers grew with each passing moment.
In the process of increasing, the thunderstorm continued to crackle out as a terrible energy took its place.
It grew non-stop and it collapsed non-stop. It destroyed ceaselessly, as it exploded ceaselessly. Its power grew with each passing moment.
"Heaven Hammer of the Eight Trigrams, Dual Hammers!"
Xiao Budian learned the secrets of this physical martial art move from Lin Feng. He combined the Heaven Hammer of the Eight Trigrams with his own understanding to form this new, terrifying move.
With this punch, it destroyed the wind and thunder. It destroyed the world and collapsed its two poles!
The powerful punch came into contact with Song Qingyuan's Venus of Ice and Fire. The ceaselessly-swirling whirlpool was destroyed in a single instant by Xiao Budian's punch.
The life within the whirlpool appeared to give out a painful wail, brimming with anger and resentment, but unable to do anything about its fate. It too was completely wrecked by Xiao Budian's punch.
Facing Xiao Budian's powerful punch, Song Qingyuan's expression was filled with shock. A thought surfaced in his heart, "Indeed, he preserved his energy in the battle against Mu Jihai. If not, Mu Jihai would have been destroyed by this one punch alone!"
With this, Song Qingyuan did not dare to hesitate anymore. With his left hand, he summoned an odd spell; his index finger and middle finger became erect like swords as he pointed them towards his forehead.
"I have to use my ultimate move, if not I'll lose for sure. I meant to leave it for Zhu Yi, but right now it appears that I cannot wait anymore."