The other three were so engrossed that even though they didn’t know what the outcome was going to be, they were already agonizing over it. Loki and Ant Hill were already regretful, while Money Body was already angry.
Money Body was angry at nearly everyone. He was angry at himself for bringing up the bet. Next, he was angry that Loki was suggesting a better bet and accepting his bet. Then he was angry at Ant Hill for bringing up her incompetent crystal ant as an option.
The only person he wasn’t angry with was Nether Flame. But a single person that he wasn’t angry with was not enough to prevent him from trying to glare holes through Ant Hill’s body.
He concentrated all of his anger on her because he thought this was all her fault. After all, none of this would have happened if she hadn’t opened her ugly big mouth to suggest using her crystal ant. So she started all of this nonsense that might put him in big trouble.
Being stared at by an angry rank 8 cultivator was an unpleasant experience when you are a rank 6 cultivator. Ant Hill could attest to this fact. She would also say that she didn’t like the experience at all and would have preferred that she hadn’t been greedy for contribution points.
Unfortunately for them, it was too late to have regrets. In this current situation, the best she could do was mollify her angry ally.
So she sent a private message to Money Body, saying, "I don’t know what is happening. But I can confirm that the crystal bug is still alive."
"I gave it the order to prioritize caution, as you said. So it is probably taking so long because it is being cautious."
Her explanation was reasonable, and Money Bag couldn’t fault her for being cautious. But he still didn’t stop glaring at her with a gaze full of anger.
He also said to her, "Are you blaming me for this?"
She quickly shook her head and said, "No, sir. I was just trying to explain the delay. This is all my fault."
Her admission of guilt didn’t do any good in mollifying him. In fact, he seemed to become more incensed after she admitted that this was all her fault.
He already thought that she was to blame for all this, and that is why he is so angry with her. So by admitting that she truly is at fault, she was confirming the reason for his anger and making his anger worse.
So he said to her with a grave voice, "For your sake, I hope your crystal ant succeeds."
She nodded in agreement and opened her mouth to speak. But just as she wanted to assure him that everything would go well and her crystal ant would succeed, she sensed something from the crystal ant.
What she sensed stunned her. She stood there frozen while a loud roar of anger came from the world some distance away.
When they heard that roar of anger and saw Ant Hill’s behavior, they all knew what had happened. This elicited different reactions in all three of them.
Nether Flame was still sighing and shaking his head in pity. But he had also taken to muttering about the unreliability of untested methods.
Loki first had a look of surprise on his face. He was surprised because he didn’t expect her to fail after Money Body helped her and because the crystal ant had failed faster than it did in the previous timeline.
These two things made him say to himself, ’The only thing that has changed in this timeline is that Money Body enhanced the power of the crystal ant. Now that the ant failed faster than before, it must be because of what Money Body did. It seems I was worried for nothing.’
Then the look of surprise on his face morphed into a big smile. He didn’t say anything to float about his victory, but even the simple smile on his face was insufferable to Money Body and Ant Hill.
Ant Hill’s face had fallen. She looked like she was forced to swallow a bug, and her stomach was rioting in protest of the ungodly act of eating one of her own.
As for Money Body, his reaction was unexpected. Instead of becoming angrier than he already was, he calmed down, and the anger on his face disappeared as if it had never been there.
The rank 8 money cultivator smiled at Loki as if something unpleasant hadn’t just happened to him. Then he said magnanimously, "It seems you were right, and we shouldn’t have trusted something untested from a third-rate ant breeder. With that kind of foresight, you appear to be a better leader than I am."
Loki immediately shook his head as he said with humility, "It was just a lucky guess on my part. I guessed that we shouldn’t be so quick to rely on her ant when we have other tried and tested methods in hand."
"Who could have foreseen that she would fail so spectacularly despite having what appeared to be a better candidate for the job? It isn’t your fault that you had faith in her. It is all her fault for squandering and letting down your faith in her."
But Money Body also shook his head and said, "Stop being so modest. No matter how it appeared or who is to blame for this outcome, the fact remains that you said we shouldn’t use her option, and you were right."
While the two of them were flattering each other, or at least, one of them was trying to flatter the other one, so that the other one would let down his guard and not hold a grudge, Ant Hill and Nether Flame didn’t dare to say anything.
In fact, the two of them wanted to be anywhere but here, bearing witness to a rank 8 cultivator trying to butter up a rank 6 cultivator. Nether Flame even groaned in dismay. This was because he thought that this sight was not good for his long-term health.