She said her words loudly for the other branch sect leaders to hear, as if she was saying such things out loud only to mock them and make them angrier.
John raised his eyebrows as he heard these words, and a quick glance at the expressions of the others nearby told him that there was clearly a reason his master had said such a thing. However, the reason didn't matter to him, and he quickly replied with a large smile on his face.
"Don't worry, with how all the other youths are staring at us with disdain and mockery, I was going to beat the shit out of everyone here anyways," John replied without hesitation.
The branch sect leaders, especially the hefty woman, became incensed upon hearing John's words. They nearly lashed out at John, but stopped themselves at the last moment, as stooping to his level would be unbecoming of a branch sect leader.
"Since you and your boy are so confident, why don't we raise the wager to one hundred million spirit crystals?" the hefty woman suddenly said in a fit of rage.
A small smile broke out on Lilian's face, which she quickly hid as she turned to face the woman.
"If you insist, I suppose I can't refuse," Lilian replied while shrugging her shoulders in a self-defeated manner. The other branch sect leaders would never have agreed to a large sum of one hundred million spirit crystals before, but with their anger clouding their judgement, they were more than willing to do so now.
John watched all this take place and rolled his eyes upon realizing what had just happened.
'It seems like my master just conned these Elders out of quite a bit of money. I'll have to talk to her afterwards and get a cut of the winnings, otherwise I'll feel like I lost out on a good opportunity."
He couldn't help but feel a bit bad for these other people, as they had already lost the bet, they just didn't know it yet.
With the wagers agreed upon, the final sum of spirit crystals in the betting pot was six hundred million spirit crystals. Three hundred million was bet on Aaron, one hundred million was bet on the blonde girl, and the last two hundred million was bet on John.
The required money was quickly added together in a pot, and given to the man with the scar on his face. He was by far the longest standing branch sect leader of the group, and everyone knew him to be an honorable man. With this in mind, they knew the prize pool was in safe and honest hands.
"Good, with that matter handled, I'll bid you all farewell," Lilian said to the group as she turned around and walked back to her group of disciples with John in tow.
The other branch sect leaders looked at Lilians confident stride as she walked away, and some couldn't help but frown at the sight.
"Why do I feel like we just got scammed?" the other woman in the group said, who appeared to be in her thirties and was quite attractive. She had long brown hair and her face was soft and warm, as if she was a bubbly aunt.
By all reason, Lilian should never have bet on John, as his cultivation was too low.
They knew she was not a stupid person, yet her confidence was clear for all to see. With all this in mind, the woman figured something fishy was going on.
"How could we have possibly been scammed?" branch sect leader WhisperWind replied with confidence. "The boy she bet on has a cultivation at the Middle Meridian Forging Realm. While he does seem quite impressive, I highly doubt he can fight above his realm against another genius."
Further discussion quickly broke out amongst the group regarding the bet, while Lilian walked back with John to their group.
"You're going to give me some of the winnings, right?" John said to his master while glancing sideways at him.
"Hoh? You dare ask for such a thing?" Lilian replied with an amused yet slightly cold voice, as if she was trying to scare John to reconsider.
"I mean, I could always lose and come second place in these exams, and then later on become the top disciple. It makes no difference to me," John replied with a casual tone while shrugging his shoulders.
Whether he became the top disciple right now in a few weeks made now difference to him. He knew these placements didn't really matter, as the true geniuses of the main Heavenly Lightning Sect were the ones that were raised here since young. Those that came from branch locations did not concern him, as he knew they would be second rate to anything this sect produced directly.
As such, his placements in these exams didn't concern him too much. Lilian frowned as she heard this, but knew she had no grounds to argue as she could tell John truly would throw the bet if she was stingy with him.
An exasperated sigh escaped Lilian's lips as she held her hand to her forehead in a frustrated manner.
"Fine," Lilian replied after a moment of silence. "I'll give you five percent."
"Fifty," John replied instantly, as if he didn't even consider her offer.
"Fifty? Did I manage to take an idiot under my discipleship?" Lilian replied while staring at John. "There's no way that's happening...ten percent."
"Forty," John replied once more with a calm tone and a small smile on his face. He could tell his master was fond of money, and ached to part from it. This was his small way of getting back at her for all those vicious beatings she had given him.
"Fifteen percent," Lilian replied.
"Thirty percent," John replied quickly once again.
Lilian frowned at John's response once more, but quickly calmed herself.
"Twenty percent, and that's my lowest offer. I'd rather give up all the money than be haggled further with a brat like you," Lilian replied.
Her tone made John realize she was serious, and he fell into contemplative silence for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.
"Agreed," John replied with a smile on his face. His response caused Lilian to sigh slightly, although she still felt like she had lost out to John despite her getting eighty percent of the winnings.
Before Lilian could reply, a loud voice boomed out over the open field in which all the disciples stood.
"Welcome, everyone, to the Heavenly Lightning Sect."
Everyone in the field turned their eyes to the sound of the voice, and quickly spotted a singular man walking towards the groups in the field from one of the valleys behind him. The man appeared to be in his forties, and had a clean shaven face with sharp facial angles. He walked with his two hands behind his back, while a smile permanently lingered on his face.
His cultivation was shrouded to all the disciples, revealing that he was most likely in the Dao Transformation Realm or above.
"I am Elder Yelore, and I will be in charge of this year's branch disciple entrance exam."
Elder Yelore's eyes swept over each group of youths as he inspected them closely, before he nodded his head in an approving manner.
"It seems like this year's batch of disciples is even more talented than last years. I look forward to seeing how each of you performs in this year's entrance exam. Now, all the disciples who wish to participate, please follow me."
"Without any elaboration, Elder Yelore turned around and began walking back into the forested valley where he came from. The disciples from the other groups all quickly rushed behind him, each disciple eager to be the closest to the front as possible.
Lilian stood before her group of disciples and glanced over them before giving a very brief statement of encouragement.
"Good luck."
Without elaborating further, her figure flashed and disappeared from the sight of the youths, while John shook his head slightly at his master's antics.
'She always tries to act lofty and mysterious by disappearing like this all the time.'
Paying no more attention to his master, John began to walk in the direction of Elder Yelore, and was quickly followed behind by all the other disciples. Even the other direct disciples like Mason and June followed behind John, as they had already acknowledged him as the de facto leader of their disciple class.
Their group was the last to fall in line, and was therefore at the back of the pack. Adam and Chase both quickly caught up to John and walked beside him, as they eagerly began to discuss the entrance exam.
"What do you think the test is going to be?" Adam asked with great curiosity. "Hopefully it's a formation test. I'd easily come first place if that was the case."
"Or a Pill Dao test," Chase chimed up with a small smile on his face.
"I highly doubt a sect specializing in combat will test either of those things," John replied dismissively. "Besides, the scrolls we received detailed that although the tests vary from year to year, they focus on one main thing...combat strength."
