The one year bet

"So, what's the bet"

Fang Qiu had already come up with this bet back on the silver eagle, he lived in the forest up until half a year ago and throughout the years he tried out every type of weapon he could get his hands on and got proficient at most. For instance his first big fight against the wolf he used a sword he picked up in the woods from some deceased hunters years before, and for other battles he used spears, bows, daggers, etc.. His place where he stayed with his old man back then even had a warhammer they got from god knows where.

Yet his main issue right now was that he was proficient at too many weapons and had no resources to grow stronger here in the city. And since he was not too familiar with the fighting styles of space or light element cultivators he decided to bet against the old man in order to have the resources to use any fighting style he decided on.

"The bet is as follows: I will let you, my master pick any weapon for me and I will use it to get a hundred win streak in the battle arena." Fang Qiu confidently replied.

The battle arena was the only place that allowed fighting in the city and it had very big rewards for those that reached a one hundred win streak. Fang Qiu used this bet to push himself and set a goal for the coming year, but more importantly it was to gain access to lots of money and resources from the old man.

The other three had their own methods to get money and buy the cultivation resources they needed, but Fang Qiu did not have any such method. so he decided to risk things with a bet.

"What are the specific conditions of the bet? What is the time limit? What if you lose and what if you succeed? Can I have you fight using a spoon as a weapon? And why did you specifically want do do this bet?" The old man smilingly replied.

The old man needed Fang Qiu to establish the general lines of the bet such that no loopholes remained, and the last question was purely to satisfy his curiosity towards his new disciple.

"The time limit for the bet will be one year." To most cultivators one year wasn't a lot, many wouldn't even increase a small realm in their cultivation over the period of a year, let alone manage to master any weapon the opponent chooses to get a hundred wins in the battle arena.

"You can pick any weapon, but your choice has to be logical and fitting for my elements since I plan to use it as my main fighting style going forward in my cultivation journey. All three of my senior brothers and sister will be the judge whether the chosen weapon has a logical reasoning behind it. So a spoon obviously wouldn't be approved by my senior brothers and sister."

As for why I specifically want to do this bet, as you are aware by now I grew up in the forests where every day was a struggle to survive, some preys required different weapons or approaches to increase my chances of hunting them, one failed hunt could mean starving for a while so over the years I got proficient using almost any weapon I could find from old hideouts and corpses.

But cultivators have to choose one weapon to master since many of their skills are based around that fighting style and mastering tons of skills for every weapon and fighting style would take me way too long. And most elements are more suited to a specific element. Hence why I want master to pick a weapon for me, since this will likely be the most optimal choice. And this bet will also give me the resources to master it faster since this disciple has no easy way too get rich fast."

It wasn't explained in the best way possible considering Fang Qiu's limited knowledge on skills and cultivation, but it was enough information for the old man to understand Fang Qiu's past more and to realise why Fang Qiu asked for this bet. "It seems this disciple of mine didn't blindly challenge me to a bet but thought everything through.

Even if he loses his bet against me he will still have gained a lot of fighting experience from his battles in the arena.

And with my experience as an older cultivator I will certainly pick a weapon that fits his elements best since I wouldn't want to ruin my own disciple's future by picking him a bad weapon. This is the main reason he wants to do this bet for sure since he doesn't know his elements well enough. But I have seen hundreds if not thousands of light and space element users in battle.

He knows I will pick him the best weapon for his dual element combination, whilst he himself would never be able to make the right choice since he lacks the fighting experience using skills and elemental proficiency." All of these thoughts flashed past the old man's brain in a fraction of a second and he truly had to give it to his disciple, this was indeed a smart way to kill two birds with one stone.

"I agree to this bet, now all that remains is the wagers, what if you win and what if you lose the bet?"

"Fang Qiu had already thought of this long ago aswell, the winning condition was very important to his plan of earning lots of resources. The old man that raised him in the woods was the most sly person Fang Qiu ever met, he taught him everything from human nature to human behaviour, he even taught him how to be many steps ahead and always be prepared for anything. So obviously he also taught Fang Qiu how to be a very adept strategist, which Fang Qiu made full use of for this bet.

Sadly the old man passed away once Fang Qiu turned fourteen due to a fatal would from years before. So From then on Fang Qiu had to struggle to survive every single day.

"During this year you have to allow me to use any amount of your resources in order to get as strong as possible. If I win the bet I don't have to return anything and don't owe you anything and all the resources still on me or used by me will become mine."

The old man was secretly shocked at the appetite of this new disciple of his. Any amount of resources? Was this kid going to drown his enemies in spirit stones? The old man also was an adept schemer so he casually replied "first of all, you can only use my resources to increase your own strength. Secondly, you cannot give the resources to others or sell them. And most importantly you cannot use the resources or money to cheat in the bet in any way, so no bribing the arena opponents or anything of the sort.

And finally, instead of letting you freely use my resources I will give you 1000 low grade spirit stones. This is more than enough for even a revolving core realm cultivator to spend lavishly and buy whatever he needs for over a year, let alone a qi refining brat like you. But if you spend it all you get no more!"

These rules were mainly made up by the old man to avoid cheating as much as possible and to avoid Fang Qiu from trying to take as many resources from the old man as he could.

"And more importantly, what if you lose?" The old man replied this time revealing a formless pressure that made Fang Qiu feel as if the entire world around him was crumbling. "It seems the old man really doesn't like losing bets." Fang Qiu thought to himself, but how could he be any different!

Meanwhile the other three disciples were pitying Fang Qiu, the most valuable things they ever tried betting against their master was just some small insignificant things, but their new junior brother dared to make a huge bet against the crazy gambling addict old man they called Master only a few months after becoming his disciple?...

*sigh*

"Life sure was about to become much more interesting with this new junior brother of theirs..." they all thought simultaneously whilst trying not to walk too close to those two gambling addicts.

____

"If I lose, I will pay you back the 1000 spirit stones. and I will also swear to the heavens that you will be my only master in this lifetime!" Fang Qiu solemnly replied.

Most cultivators accepted new masters once their master had nothing left to teach them or when their master passed away. This was normal, and especially for someone like Fang Qiu. As long as he didn't perish along the way he would certainly get many offers from powerful sects and cultivators in higher worlds, and how could his master even start to compare to those immortal beings? So Fang Qiu making this wager meant that he was prepared to never accept a different master again even if the old man passed away. The old man's name would be etched in the annals of history as the only master of the most recent owner of the 8th rank core spirit! This was an irresistible temptation for the old man and was also the only thing Fang Qiu could think of to make the old man agree to his bet, he was a dirt poor cultivator after all.

"AGREED!"

____

"I swear upon the heavens to agree to this bet!

After they both made their heavenly oaths thunder crackled twice in the sky as if the heavens were agreeing to their bet.

"What! Did someone just make a heavenly oath?" Many bystanders started exclaiming upon hearing the crackles of thunder in the sky, swearing upon the heavens meant you can't break your promise, or you would die in body and soul never to reincarnate again.

These extreme consequences meant that not many people dared to casually make heavenly oaths, yet two random cultivators in line just did? Many were shocked internally but after a few minutes the line went back to normal. Heavenly oaths were uncommon but they happened occasionally. It was human nature to be curious though.

Right after making the oath Fang Qiu turned to the old man with a big smile as if he already won. "Great master, what weapon will you choose for me?"

The old man turned to Fang Qiu with a smile that made Fang Qiu lose his own smile, why was the old man looking like he already won the bet? "Didn't I make sure to avoid any loopholes and make sure everything was perfect. This crazy old bastard must be trying to scare me, there's no way I left myself a loophole!"

"Hehehe Little Fourth, trying to gamble with me...you are way too young.

As for your weapon, I'm sure you already used it many times in the forests during your life...."

The old man gave the brightest smile he could muster and continued:

"You will become an archer using a bow and arrow." Your seniors are all close range fighters so a long range cultivator with healing abilities and strong movement will be a perfect fit for the team. Long range physical attacks are also very fitting for your element and many famous archers have space element powers. Is this a valid reason my dear disciples?

All three of them looked at Fang Qiu with pity before saying "agreed".

Internally Fang Qiu's mind had already broken down, an archer...with only one arm!

"FFFFFFFUUUUUUU*********"