But at this moment, Jonas opened his mouth and said with a smile, "How about I take up that bet with Elder Xu?"
"Mm?"
Elder Xu was startled as he heard this. He did not think Jonas would open his loud mouth and speak such words at that time, with such a smiling expression and happy laugh, as if he won the bet before even competing for the stake.
That moment caused Elder Xu's confidence to shake a little.
Was it possible that this boy Sam had some hidden card up his sleeve that he did not know of? But he could not reason why this medium third-grade talent could exceed the superior fourth-grade talent, Oliver.
He had also spoken such high and haughty words in the presence of so many peers. He had already jumped on the tiger; how could he get off now? So Elder Xu could only clench his teeth as he said, "Good, of course, what would Mister Jonas like to bet?"
Jonas smiled and said, "For something of this nature, a casual bet should be alright. It's best not to harm friendly relations; I think a treasure of the human-step should be fine."
Human-step treasure! Could this still be called something casual?
The corners of Elder Xu's mouth twitched. Jonas had been a famous inscription master for so many years that he was undoubtedly the one with the most wealth out of everyone present.
Elder Xu clenched his teeth and said, "Good, then I will bet a low-grade human-step treasure, a spatial ring."
The spatial ring was a type of interstitial storage treasure. You could carry it anywhere and use it to store any goods you wanted. This treasure was difficult to refine, so its value was several times higher than at a similar grade.
A human-step low-grade spatial ring would be approximately the same worth as a middle-grade human-step treasure.
"Great." Jonas readily agreed. He laughed casually, giving off a feeling of self-satisfied assurance.
The matter of Sam as the first-place candidate was thus decided.
However, the inspection had already carried on for most of the day and was already a late hour. The results would be announced tomorrow afternoon; besides Sam as first place, the second through tenth place spots also had to be assessed.
The age, results, and talent of these remaining candidates must be discussed between the Seven Profound Martial House elders to decide.
"Portia, let's go greet Sam." Jonas said as he stood up.
Although Sam had awoken by now, Jonas was sitting with the Seven Profound Martial House elders, so Sam naturally did not walk toward them.
"Okay Master !" Hen Portia nodded.
As the Seven Profound Martial House elders had talked, Hen Portia had shown etiquette and courtesy for her elders and sat silently and peacefully at one side. But the truth was that Hen Portia was on equal footing with these elders in terms of status within the Seven Profound Martial House.
This was because Hen Portia was the most talented core disciple who, if in the future all things went smoothly with no major accident, would enter the Seven Profound Valleys and become an official disciple.
This was the greatest glory. It must be known that even the Heavenly Abode's number one senior apprentice, Jadely, had no chance of entering the Seven Profound Valleys. His only slight glimmer of hope was if he could reach the peak of Body Transformation – the Pulse Condensation boundary- in a short time.
But reaching that distant boundary was easier said than done.
Jadely was twenty years old and was only at the peak of the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation.
In the evening, Sam and Jonas chatted with each other before Sam returned to his bedroom that the Seven Profound Martial House had prepared for all candidates. He rested in the bedroom and meditated.
On a quiet night, I was passed.
It was the second day's afternoon, and the weather was clear and beautiful.
Many important figures were gathered in the Seven Profound Martial House contest field. Among them were the 53 candidates who had successfully passed.
Today was the announcement of the results.
After an evening of debating, the final results had been decided.
When Sam arrived at the field, the people gathered there sent him frequent looks filled with envy, jealousy, and even some admiration.
Sam had become famous after a single night. Reaching the fifth floor of the Exquisite Sagol, even the senior apprentices of the Heavenly Abode paid attention to him.
"Congratulations."
At this time, a slightly cold voice sounded.
Sam followed it to see Oliver standing nearby, holding both hands to his chest with a fake smile.
"Your luck is truly good. A mere medium third-grade talent could reach the fifth floor, ah, incredible, incredible!"
Oliver spoke very loudly, and the people around them heard him.
They were surprised that Sam was only a third-grade talent. Although a third-grade skill was one-in-a-hundred cream-of-the-crop talent, this could be considered only ordinary in the Seven Profound Martial House,
They thought that Sam was at least a superior fourth-grade talent; how could it be that he was just a medium third-grade talent?
The surrounding people immediately began talking, and Oliver heard this all with a smile on his face. Yesterday, he had especially sent his lackeys to look up Sam's talent.
"You, the one called Sam, I do not know when a stray dog like you managed to eat some rare herb in your childhood and nor do I care, but if you think that you can rely on this to pressure me and win against me, then go and daydream some more! You just have a bit of good luck and you think your combat prowess is good? Using inborn divine strength to deal with the clumsy, stupid beasts of the Exquisite Sagol is easy, but if you want to challenge a real human? Humph, with your stupid little basic skills you probably learnt from some cow, you think you can actually defeat a real person?"
The truth was that yesterday in the Exquisite Sagol, Oliver had also killed the two Iron Armor Bears on the fourth floor, but he had been fatally wounded and thus kicked out.
This made Oliver feel aggrieved. If only he could have lasted one more breath, he could have entered the fifth floor.
If he had entered the fifth floor, he would have had the same result. Oliver could not believe that Sam achieved anything on the fifth floor even though he had been there for a quarter of an hour.
Oliver believed he would only have had about 10% of his true essence left and would only have run away like a little dog with his tail between his legs to pass that time.
Oliver's fault had been that he was too eager for quick success and to pass the fourth floor immediately.
The result was that he had to resort to desperate, all-out tactics. He would not have been fatally injured if he had slowly taken his time to deal with the two Iron Armor Bears.
Moreover, the most crucial part was that in the Exquisite Sagol, he could not use his rare equipment!
Without his treasures, Oliver could not fully utilize the power of his secret family skill, the 'Nine Paths of Truth.' Its might would be significantly reduced, which would cause his striking ability to fall, resulting in him having a hard time passing the fourth floor.
But treasures and equipment were not forbidden in battles of martial artists, just like pills. They belonged to the superiority one's family would bring and were also a part of a martial artist's total strength.
Oliver touched his saber and looked at Sam with a face colored with absolute contempt.
"If I could only use the Nine Truth Saber, then killing you would be easier than killing a chicken!"
Oliver viciously thought in his heart, though he did not say these words aloud.
"How could I possibly lose to you! Not even in the future, but even now I would win!"
The thick tension in the air was palpable. Sam did not respond to or dispute Oliver's words, as he did not want a needless conflict. He was also disinclined to pay any attention to this Oliver.
"Stop. My family's son is speaking with you. Are you deaf? Are you stupid? Can you not hear?"
A lackey bossily said as he stood by Oliver's side.
The servant's speech was coarser than the master's.
Sam stopped his footsteps, calmly turned around, and gave the man a shiver-inducing glare.
"This is the Seven Profound Martial House contest field. How could a little lackey like you who is only at the First Stage of Body Transformation come on?"
"You….!"
The scolded lackey turned red in the face with anger and shame.
According to regulations, he did not have the qualifications to enter.
The atmosphere was strained, but at this moment, an elder of the Seven Profound Martial House walked up on a stage and said,
"Quiet. We will now announce the results of the entrance exam."
The people downstage naturally silenced themselves. Even the lackey could only curse in his heart, and he silently stood there.
The elder took out a long list and said, "For this examination's results, candidates were judged on the results of the three trials, their age, and their talent. All three factors were considered and discussed for the final assessment by the elders. Now we will announce the first ten as follows. Tenth place,Zyan Malik, prize: ten Soul Gathering Pellets. Ninth…"
The elder slowly announced the results unhurriedly until he reached second place…
"Second place, Oliver, prize: a Golden Snake Scarlet Pill. First place, Sam, prize: a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill. The results have been announced. Congratulations everyone. If there are no objections, then we have invited Elder Sun to hand out the awards."
"Wait a moment! I have an objection!" Oliver raised his hand.
The Seven Profound Martial House's Elder Xu was his father's good friend, so he knew the assessment results. This time, he objected because of Elder Xu's advice.
"Mm? What objection do you have?" said the elder who had read the announcement as he frowned.
Oliver smiled and stepped out to the front of the square.
His voice was clear and resounded as he said, "As far as I know, Sam's talent is only a mere medium third-grade. My talent is superior to fourth-grade. The elder earlier said that the results for the final assessment take into account the three trials, age, and talent. The final decision-making is in the elder's hands, but the subjective factor is just too big. I refuse to accept the choice for first place candidate."
To Oliver, the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill was something he could not give up. If he had this pill, he was confident that he could break through the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation before he was eighteen years old and even reach the peak of the Fourth Stage before he was twenty.
With such strength, he wouldn't necessarily lose to the Heavenly Abode's senior apprentice, Jadely.
If this happened, no one in his family would doubt his status anymore.
At this time, Elder Sun stood up and, with a cold snort, said, "You dare to question the final assessment of the elders?"
This cold snort was filled with true essence.
As it came out, those in the periphery were shocked with an icy chill as the temperature dropped several degrees.
Oliver could not bear the brunt of this disdainful pressure and was forced back several steps.
"Sun Sifan, an elder like you is bullying the young?" Elder Xu said as he also stood. He did not initially like Sun Sifan either.
By now, Oliver said, "Elder Sun, please calm down. I do not dare to question the elders' decisions, but I only think unfair is unfair. In the third exam,ination trial, I also killed both vicious beasts. It was only because I was too hasty for a victory that I became fatally-could not was unable to step into the fifth floor. If I had prog, I slowly then I too would have achieved the fifth floor."
"Therefore I cannot do anything else but refuse to accept this result. I do not believe my strength is worse than Sam's!"
"Then what do you want?"
"Simple. I want to fight Sam. If I lose, I will completely admit defeat. But if I win, then I want the first place candidate spot to be turned over to me!"
Oliver suddenly swiveled to Sam and, with provocation in his voice, said,
"Sam, do you dare!?"