X-Dragon Era

After resting for a short while in the room, Xin Yun found himself with nothing to do and no desire to sleep. His condition did not need much adjusting. Although he was not at his peak state yet, this was exactly what Xin Yun wanted. The competition was a long process. If the climax came too early, it could lead to a lack of spirit during key moments!

However, Xin Yun seemed to be the only one with such a thought. His companions, though smart, did not have his breadth of experience from three lifetimes and didn't understand many things. Consequently, as soon as they entered the room, they all began meditating in an attempt to adjust their state to the best it could be.

With no other choice, Xin Yun had to leave the room alone and started wandering around Dou City. In his past life, Xin Yun had a period where he was very fond of gambling and had stayed in Dou City for over six years. Thus, he knew the city like the back of his hand, with absolutely no need for anyone else to guide him.

Leaving the hotel, Xin Yun headed straight for the betting station. The competition was set to start the next day, which meant... there were only ten hours left until the book closed. Because of this, Xin Yun was quite interested in seeing what the odds for the Fantasy Dream Team would be.

The World Academy Challenge, held every thirty years, attracted the gaze of all gamblers. Its allure was partly because such competitions were almost never rigged, and more importantly, the total bets were huge, allowing the wealthy to bet with abandon. This was crucial.

In regular routine matches, the truly wealthy were not interested. Once they put their money down, the odds would collapse instantly. What was formerly a 10:1 odd could change to 1:10 because of their betting, making even a win only a small profit of one yuan for every ten bet. And if they lost, they would lose everything. No foolish gambler would join in such a bet.

However, the World Academy Challenge was different. No one would fix a match here, and with the massive number of participants, even large amounts of money wagered by the wealthy would only slightly affect the odds. That's why such competitions were very popular with the rich. They didn't care about winning money; what mattered most was the thrill of the bet, seeking the excitement that regular small wagers could not provide.

Upon arriving at the betting station, Xin Yun's first move was to examine the charts on either wall. He wanted to check the Fantasy Dream Team's odds and also to look for any trace of the Nine Great Experts on the charts.

The charts totaled eleven, each listing 300 academies' participants, their names, and a brief introduction to their strength. For detailed information, one had to pay to purchase it from the betting station's information department, and it did not come cheap.

According to the final tally, a total of 3213 academies were participating in this competition. The charts simply listed the representative teams of each academy. Within a short time, Xin Yun found the position of the Mountain Sea Academy.

As the current number one ranked academy, Mountain Sea Academy was at the top of the first chart on the very first spot. Xin Yun's name was right there at the first place, followed by Yi Luo Xiang, Yan Qingying, Ming Xuan, and Po Kong.

Besides their names, the chart also listed their affiliations, like Xin Yun was from the Water Series, Yi Luo Xiang was from the Soul System, Yan Qingying was from the Spiritual System... Apart from the names and systems, their current rank was also provided. For the Dream Team, apart from Xin Yun and Po Kong who were both Crystal Five Stars, all the other three were Crystal One Stars.

In theory, the number one ranked academy should have favorable odds, but the Mountain Sea Academy had only attained the top spot in the last tournament. Not to mention others, but among the three top academies of the world, although they were currently ranked behind, they had a much more glorious history.

As previously mentioned, whether it's Mountain Sea City or Mountain Sea Academy, both were established by the three giants of Mountain Sea City. The giants were only seventy to eighty years old at best, which meant that the Mountain Sea Academy had been in existence for no more than fifty years!

On the other hand, the other three among the four top academies had a history of thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, and they had claimed the title of the world's number one academy numerous times. Compared to them, Mountain Sea Academy was just an emerging institute, still lacking much in terms of heritage.

Looking at the present, among the living experts, many had come from the other three academies—countless notable names. Whereas, Mountain Sea Academy had yet to nurture any world-class experts; not a single one, for they simply hadn't been around long enough.

Therefore, the odds for the Dream Team were not just low; they were extremely low. Betting on the Dream Team to win the championship now would yield odds of 1:47, astonishingly low! It seems that in the eyes of the gamblers, Mountain Sea Academy's strength was just that burst of energy, and once spent, it was all over.

Of course, the reason for such exaggerated odds was partly due to Mountain Sea Academy's lack of heritage, but more importantly, it was due to the realm of Xin Yun and his teammates: their levels were just too low. With three Crystal One Stars and two Crystal Five Stars, such strength was not reassuring.

In comparison, the minimum level for the other academies was Crystal Eight Star. According to the list of participants, 90% were Crystal Ten Star Martial Artists. Anyone ranked below five stars was found only on the Dream Team. Apart from the five members of the Dream Team, there wasn't a single person in any other team who was below Crystal Six Star.