Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

Meanwhile, on the other side, while everyone's attention was focused on the fiery red rabbit horse, Duan Xingchen's eyes gleamed with a dazzling light as he pointed at the distant racetrack and exclaimed, "I can't be dreaming, can I?!"

"What--"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuetian and Ye Yuchan immediately turned their gazes in that direction.

Then, they saw something that should never have happened.

On the racetrack, it's unclear whose horse started it, but the galloping horses, while passing a bend, suddenly clashed violently, and the two collided head-on.

The impact caused the horses behind to be thrown into the collision as well, like bumper cars. One after another, horses crashed into each other. Although some of the horse handlers reacted in time, the speed had already reached its maximum, making it extremely difficult to stop them.

And so—

"Ahh-!"

A series of mournful cries rang out, while gasps of surprise echoed throughout the horse racing convention hall.

—There was a rear-end collision.

Even Ye Yuchan herself couldn't believe it when she heard it, but on this huge racetrack, first one of the most favored champion horses suddenly went on strike, and then several other horses with a significant advantage were involved in rear-end collisions, one after another, like a small mountain.

The only horse that remained unaffected was one whose movements, while not slow, were certainly not fast either.

A mysterious plaque engraved with numbers floated above its head, while the seemingly ordinary horseman stared in shock at the small mountain made of horse bodies, thankful that his own steed wasn't that fast.

This lucky guy, who was too slow to start and thus fell behind the main group, slowly and leisurely rode his horse around five laps in front of the stunned onlookers.

After five laps, the jockeys who had been involved in the crashes and rear-end collisions finally regrouped and prepared to chase after their horses. However, the gap was simply too large, and the winner of the horse race was already decided. They could no longer reverse the situation.

And so, in the very end, the young, ordinary horseman rode his old, frail horse across the finish line without the slightest pressure.

The winner of the first round of horse racing –

Number seven.

……

There was no cheering.

There was no wild laughter.

There was no sound.

The person who bet on the number four Red Rabbit steed stared blankly at the Emperor's Horse still standing at the starting line.

Those who bet on other numbers were still reeling from the car accident... oh no, the horse rear-end collision.

As for those who bet on number seven...

"This is the power of the shadows!"

Duan Xingchen stared at the small gambling ticket in his hand, his expression filled with excitement.

Ye Yuchan silently gazed at her junior sister. She had been 100% certain that Duan Xingchen had been deceived, but now she was starting to waver.

What kind of horse race is this?!

Not only did one person disconnect at the start, but there was also a rear-end collision... No one would believe it wasn't rigged, right?

—Although the initial disconnection could be explained by the unlucky streak of Pigsy (a character from Journey to the West)...

But the subsequent rear-end collision... no matter how you look at it, it seems a bit too fake!

"So this is what you meant by 'it's all arranged'??"

Sitting some distance away, Chen Ran had a gloomy face and an exceptionally cold expression.

The old man beside him, bowing respectfully, wiped the sweat from his brow and hurriedly explained, "No, young master... this... this old man really didn't know such a thing would happen!"

"What's the deal with that horse trainer you brought? Wasn't he supposed to be one of the top ten horse trainers in the Lantian Empire? How come he was thrown off before he even got comfortable riding the Red Rabbit?"

"He is indeed a renowned horseman... I'm not mistaken!"

The old man was almost in tears. He really hadn't done anything underhanded. In order to make a profit, he had used a lot of connections to find this extremely famous horse trainer. He had even paid a lot of money out of his own pocket for it. How could he possibly do anything underhanded in this kind of thing?

Seeing his expression, Chen Ran knew that he hadn't made any moves in secret, so he snorted and said, "I don't think you have the guts to take down that useless horse trainer. I'll take over personally."

"Ah?!" The old man was startled upon hearing this: "Young master, you're going to personally tame that wild red rabbit horse?"

"No way?" Chen Ran coldly glanced at the old man: "When my knees were still good, I was already the best horseman in Jinglin City. This mere Red Rabbit steed is no match for me."

"This...this isn't appropriate..."

The old man still felt something was amiss; after all, this Red Rabbit and Fiery Steed seemed to have a serious problem today…

Even the top ten horse tamers in the Lantian Empire couldn't tame it, so how could Chen Ran... possibly manage it?

However, Chen Ran's mind was made up, and he couldn't persuade him at all: "Don't say any more. I know what I'm doing. Besides, I've seen the original owner of this Red Rabbit Horse's skills. I'm no worse than him. You can go ahead and raise the odds with peace of mind."

"So, how should we proceed with this round?"

"Raise the odds for me higher." Chen Ran was very confident about this: "Anyway, half of these horse handlers are my men. Winning is too easy."

"understood."

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately understood.

As long as Chen Ran isn't thrown off by that fiery red rabbit, everything will be fine.

……

"As expected, that old man wasn't lying to me."

Duan Xingchen breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the tens of thousands of gold coins that had suddenly appeared in his storage ring.

Compared to our Xingchen girl, Jiang Yuetian was sighing and complaining.

"How could this happen..."

—His utterly despondent appearance suggested he was beginning to doubt himself.

"Could there really be someone manipulating this competition?"

Ye Yuchan rubbed her chin, staring at Duan Xingchen with some curiosity.

"Xingchen, did that person tell you what the result of the next match would be?"

"No... I don't have any." Duan Xingchen shook his head. "However—"

Before she could finish speaking, she caught sight of a familiar figure.

She saw an elderly man with a cane walk up from the edge of the VIP section. He looked somewhat haggard, but he was still smiling.

Upon seeing the old man, Duan Xingchen immediately stepped forward.

"Sir, the number seven you mentioned really did hit the jackpot!"

“Young lady, what I say is certainly true.” The old man smiled kindly, trying his best to hide the embarrassment in his eyes: “That’s why I’ve come here specifically to tell you the winner of the next horse race.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Yuchan's eyes immediately lit up.

Originally, this girl didn't plan to gamble. After all, it's a harmful and expensive activity, so it's best to avoid it if possible.

But if this person truly knows the truth...

Isn't this a great opportunity to make a quick buck?

But Duan Xingchen was still thinking about what the old man had said earlier. His gaze fell sympathetically on the old man's seemingly rotting right leg, and he asked softly, "Then, sir, what was the result of the next horse race...?"

"This time, you should bet on number eight."

"Number eight? Sir, are you sure?"

"determine."

The old man smiled mysteriously, "You can rest assured, the information I reveal is definitely accurate."

"Alright, then I'll listen to the old man and bet on number eight."

"Thank you, young lady." The old man smiled and patted Duan Xingchen on the shoulder, saying, "With a kind person like you, even if I can't get the Red Rabbit back, I can certainly make the City Lord's Mansion suffer a heavy loss."

"it is good!"

Duan Xingchen stared at the old man with a face full of sympathy and watched him slowly walk away.

On the other hand—

"Number eight?"

Upon hearing Ye Yuchan's words, Jiang Yuetian frowned.

Ye Yuchan rubbed her hands together expectantly: "How is it? Senior brother, didn't you have those materials? Does this number eight have the makings of a champion?"

"Well... I really don't know." Jiang Yuetian shook his head: "This number eight is very mysterious. Even my well-informed friends only know that he is a newcomer."

"A newcomer... wouldn't the odds be incredibly low?"

"It's alright, they'll be out soon. Let's first find out who the horse handler for number eight is, and then decide what to do."

Jiang Yuetian's judgment was correct.

While the alleged shady dealings might indeed be true, gambling is unpredictable, so it's best to take a look at the so-called newcomer before deciding whether to place a bet.

Ye Yuchan nodded in agreement, then looked at the newly renovated arena.

hum~

Fifteen more beams of light flashed, and fifteen horsemen appeared on the racetrack.

In fact, the horseman and horse are different for each round, but Red Rabbit seems to be an exception. Somehow, Red Rabbit appeared on the track again.

What shocked Ye Yuchan even more was that the horse driver of the Red Rabbit Horse had changed!

—Chen Ran!

The son of City Lord Chen Feng actually took to the stage himself!

Subconsciously, Ye Yuchan felt that this was the real conspiracy!

With the city lord's son personally taking the stage, the other horse handlers would naturally go easy on him if they didn't want to offend the entire Jinglin City. Moreover, there was a possibility that some of these horse handlers were actually from the city lord's mansion.

That's not even the most shocking thing.

When Jiang Yuetian and Duan Xingchen saw a certain figure, they were so frightened that they jumped up from their seats.

If you ask why—

"This venue is quite big..."