Sage of Humanity

The treasure pond, with tens of thousands of treasures of varying quality, is a culmination of countless years of accumulation. It is foreseeable that the accumulation here will only grow because although many participate in the betting games, few manage to win. This results in more treasures going in than coming out.

The aura of treasures fills the treasure pond, which the powerful ones find normal, as many have seen it more than once. However, the Divine Sea Realm cultivators, who came with their elders to the Reincarnation Tree but are not qualified to participate in the Divine Sea competition, are dazzled.

A female cultivator unfamiliar with the world gasped, "So many good things—how much spirit jade would they sell for if one could take them out and sell them?"

Her senior brother chuckled, "Junior sister, you may not know, but the value of these treasures in the pond can generally be judged by the number of starlights they have. Look closely at those treasures—don't they each have a different amount of starlight?"

The female cultivator examined them and nodded, "Yes, there are ones with a single starlight, some with two, and others with three!"

"This is Tree Elder's classification of the treasure levels, which is slightly different from the current orthodox division in the cultivation world, but there's not much difference. A treasure with one starlight is a 1-star treasure, two starlights make it a 2-star, and so on... A 1-star treasure is worth approximately ten thousand spirit jade, a 2-star is three times that of a 1-star, and a 3-star is three times the 2-star."

The female cultivator exclaimed, "Then a 3-star treasure is worth ninety thousand spirit jade?"

"Theoretically, yes." The male cultivator nodded.

After a moment of deeper observation, the female cultivator excitedly said, "Brother, brother, look, there are even 4-star treasures inside!"

Indeed there were, albeit not many—just a few pieces. Among the tens of thousands of treasures in the pond, one wouldn't notice them without careful scrutiny.

The female cultivator calculated the price of the 4-star treasures on her fingers, ending up with a mind-boggling number. They hailed from an average large domain and had long heard of the arduous quests for spirit jade by those powerful ones stepping out into stellar space. Yet this was a necessary resource for cultivation above the Constellation Realm; every cultivator venturing into stellar space would experience it.

As it seems now, a single 4-star treasure here would wear down a strong one from their home world for decades or even a hundred years.

Only top-tier domain powerhouses could afford to use 4-star treasures as a stake.

As they spoke, the Sun Blaze Realm expert who first opened his mouth had already taken out a treasure, smiled slightly, and said, "The betting game begins now, and this old man will start things off. You may act as you please."

With those words, an ancient inkstone appeared in his hand and was directly cast into the treasure pond.

As soon as the ancient inkstone entered the treasure pond, starlights appeared on its body, surprisingly reaching four, which drew exclamations from many. The female cultivator marveled, "Brother, another 4-star treasure."

The male cultivator nodded, "The first to act will naturally not be stingy. Such powerful ones are always concerned with face. Moreover, this one should be a senior from the Yellow Dragon World. The Yellow Dragon World always considers itself the center of stellar space and is also the strongest domain controlled by our human race. Naturally, they must set a good example."

The female cultivator nodded thoughtfully.

Laughter rang out, "Fellow Daoist Fong, what a grand gesture, opening with a 4-star treasure—this old one cannot compare and can only modestly follow suit."

With the laughter, another treasure fell into the treasure pond, shining with the light of a 3-star.

Subsequently, various treasures flew into the pool from all directions, making the starlight brilliant for a time. Yet, most were just 1-star or 2-star treasures; few were 3-star, and as for 4-star, only the initial one appeared.

To most of the powerful ones present, the process of participating in this betting game was more for amusement rather than to win anything specific. Naturally, they wouldn't wager heavily. After all, at their level of cultivation, even winning something wouldn't yield much benefit, while losing it could be quite a setback.

Of course, there are always exceptions to everything; there were also those who came with the mentality of winning, as winning could bring them many benefits.

Everyone could observe the characteristics of the treasures through the treasure pond and investigate clearly which Divine Sea Realm the owner of a treasure wagered on.

For example, the first Sun Blaze Realm of the Yellow Dragon World would certainly bet on the victory of their home world's successors. With their status and position, he would not wager on others.

Gradually, the number of treasures falling into the treasure pond became scarce; those interested had basically all participated.

Until, at some moment, an unassuming bead from among the crowd flew into the treasure pond. In an instant, the glowing treasure pond experienced a tumult; wherever the bead passed, numerous treasures seemed to have a mind of their own and retreated.

This extraordinary phenomenon left everyone astonished, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Upon taking a closer look, they were stunned because the seemingly unremarkable bead emitted one, two, three... a total of nine starlights!

Even the knowledgeable powerful ones couldn't help but widen their eyes, let alone the Divine Sea Realm observers, who burst into exclamations.

In the vast treasure pond with tens of thousands of treasures, the presence of only a few 4-star ones was already minuscule, let alone a sudden intrusion of a 9-star level one, which was an intensely powerful visual impact.

If the treasure pond was a pond and the treasures were fish and shrimp swimming in it, then the suddenly appeared bead was like a giant shark barging in.

In an instant, two incredible thoughts crossed everyone's mind.

What is this thing?

And who placed the bet?

No one doubts whether the Reincarnation Tree has made a mistake. As a supreme treasure of stellar space, it's impossible for it to make an error in marking the value of treasures. Since it's labeled as nine stars, then it certainly is nine stars.

Meanwhile, the voice of the Reincarnation Tree reached Yang Qing's ears: "Dragon Monarch, this gamble is merely a pastime, why do you need to be so serious?"

Yang Qing, with a lazy demeanor, responded, "I'm a bit strapped for resources lately and need a large amount urgently. The only thing I can offer is this, so I had to bet it. Otherwise, Tree Elder, could you lend me a few good items? I'll return them once I'm better off."

This was the real reason he brought Lu Ye here, and of course, it was timely as well.

If it had not been for this very moment, he wouldn't have been able to bring Lu Ye here even if he had wanted to.

After being sealed for ten thousand years, he urgently needed vast resources to restore himself. Relying solely on searching the stellar space himself would waste an unknown amount of time. Here was a ready-made opportunity, a chance to make a fortune.

It can be said that with the nine-star quality of the bead, if Yang Qing won the bet, the treasures in the treasure pond would likely decrease by several tenths instantly. Then, casually selling them elsewhere would provide him with the resources needed for his restoration.

Hearing this, the Reincarnation Tree remained silent.

Can the Dragon Race borrow something and return it? These words could only be taken lightly, moreover, it had nothing to lend. Although there were many treasures in the treasure pond, technically they did not belong to it. They were shared possessions of all races in this stellar space, merely kept under its custody.

"Dragon Monarch, I must urge you to reconsider. This item is significant and cannot be lost!"

Yang Qing impatiently replied, "I will decide what to do with my own belongings, old fellow, stop worrying about it!"

The Reincarnation Tree sighed. It certainly knew what Yang Qing intended. If he won, he would certainly make a huge profit, and if he lost, with so many powerful beings present, who would be capable of taking the item from him? At that point, the Dragon Race would certainly resort to unscrupulous means.

At that time, as the symbol of fairness and justice, should it step forward to uphold justice?

If it did, it would only offend Yang Qing. If not, its credibility would suffer. This bet placed by the Dragon Race on its valuable treasure posed a great dilemma.

But upon further thinking, even if Yang Qing lost, it seemed no one would have the right to take this bead from the treasure pond, as one needed to offer a bet of equivalent value to take it away.

Currently, apart from this bead, the most valuable bet item was a four-star treasure from the Yellow Dragon World. Even with a hundred more, they wouldn't equate in value to the bead.

Thus, Yang Qing was fearless. When his wager reached a certain high value, no one could take it away.

Even if he wagered this bead, should he lose, it would merely remain in the treasure pond.

The Reincarnation Tree almost foresaw what Yang Qing would do then, definitely asking to "borrow" the bead from it.

This guy came to make a cost-free trade.

Understanding Yang Qing's intentions, the Reincarnation Tree no longer tried to dissuade him.

Over there, some discerning experts had vaguely recognized the bead's true nature.

"Could it be the legendary Dragon Ball?"

In the stellar space, there were numerous treasures resembling this bead, but those of such value could only be a Dragon Ball!

With this thought, the many powerful individuals present broke into a cold sweat.

To be able to produce a Dragon Ball as a bet, doesn't it mean the person is a Dragon Race member? Or had once slain a True Dragon?

Either way, it was not something these people could afford to provoke.

Although Yang Qing had always been extraordinary, among the powerful beings present, whose aura wasn't? He was merely one among the crowd, but once he revealed the item suspected to be a Dragon Ball, he instantly became the center of attention, and many figures around him subtly distanced themselves.

Just like the Dragon Ball's position in the treasure pond, it occupied the center while numerous treasures floated around it, like stars surrounding the moon.

No one dared to entertain any ideas, as the Reincarnation Tree had thought, when a wager's value reached a certain level, it was absolutely safe. Because no one had the ability to place a bet of equivalent value, there would be no possibility of it being taken away.

But there was still one thing that piqued the curiosity of the crowd. Which Divine Sea Realm cultivator was this suspected Dragon Ball item betting on?

Generally speaking, the bets were placed on juniors from one's own domain, with rare exceptions. The ones who came here cared about reputation and wouldn't lower themselves to bet on juniors from other domains just for the sake of winning the wager, as it would boost others' morale while diminishing their own.

Upon close examination, the information on the bet showed through the Dragon Ball.

Nine Heavens World, Lu Yiye!

The entire audience was in an uproar.