âHow much money? To use such a vulgar word to weigh my household, it seems you really are a poor ghost,â sneered Ye Qian.
Long Chen curled his lips. âDespite your eyes looking like that, they at least managed to see that truth. So tell me, how many points are you worth? If itâs not enough, Iâm not interested.â
The three hundred thousand points in his hands were not enough for these medicinal ingredients. The cheaper ones were already twenty thousand points, with the more expensive ones being over a hundred thousand points.
He guessed that some of these ingredients might be unique items. Due to not being able to produce more of them, they became especially precious. Based on what he had seen, there were many of them that he wanted, so he needed more points to buy them. For Ye Qian to challenge him to an alchemy battle was perfect.
âPoints? Hahaha, if you want to calculate according to that, I have at least one hundred million points. Do you want to gamble?â sneered Ye Qian.
âWhat kind of gamble? What are the stakes?â asked Long Chen.
âItâs very simple. There are eight hundred and seventy-three twelfth tier pill formulas within the divine families. You can pick any one. As for the stakes, I know that youâre a poor ghost, so I wonât want your points. All youâll have to do is kneel in the divine familiesâ plaza for three days and bark like a dog. Howâs that?â Ye Qian was extremely confident.
âBig brother Long Chen, donât bet with him. You donât have any chance of winning,â said Wan Qing. She had witnessed Ye Qianâs terrifying alchemy arts. She was much weaker than him and had seen that he had been holding back. She hadnât even managed to get him to bring out his full abilities.
Although Long Chen had also taught her alchemy arts, and the Pill Fairy herself felt great admiration for his alchemy technique, he was not a pure alchemist. He spent the majority of his time cultivating. He was under immense pressure just to survive.
On the path of alchemy, being stagnant meant going backward. No matter how great Long Chenâs alchemy arts were, having not used them for so long, there was no way they could have made any real advances.
Based on Wan Qingâs estimate, at best, Long Chenâs current skill in alchemy was only one level greater than hers. That level was not enough to challenge Ye Qian.
âWhat? Even fairy Wan Qing is worried about you losing. It seems you really are a spineless coward,â sneered Ye Qian.
Long Chen smiled and told Wan Qing, âAlthough I havenât focused on alchemy the past few years, itâs enough to handle him. If my hands have gotten rusty, then I can just take off my shoes and use my feet to beat him. That will show him what a true expert is.â
âYouâŚâ Ye Qianâs expression darkened. Long Chen was looking down on him far too much. Ye Qian admitted that in terms of martial might, he was a far cry from Long Chen. But he had absolute confidence in his alchemy. Long Chen was nothing to him in that regard.
The Elders of the Divine Pill Division also turned gloomy. Long Chen really was so arrogant as to not care about the divine familiesâ alchemy arts.
On the other hand, the Pill Doyen was still standing there expressionlessly. If you were to look at him, he wouldnât seem like some supreme Pill Doyen. He seemed more like an ordinary elder who had come to watch something interesting.
âThen does that mean you agree to the bet? Letâs go to the Divine Pill Division for the competition,â said Ye Qian, gesturing.
âSlow down. Although winning should be easy for me, on the off chanceâŚâ said Long Chen.
âOn the off chance that you lose? What, you donât dare to bet? Did the mighty Long Chen gain his fame by going back on his word?â snorted Ye Qian.
âShut up. Do you think Iâm that Ye Lingfeng of your Ye family?â responded Long Chen disdainfully.
âNonsense. I might be surnamed Ye, but Iâm not a member of the Ye family. Donât think yourself clever,â sneered Ye Qian.
âAh, no wonder that fellow wanted me to kill you just now. So youâre not from the same family. If you had just said that earlier, I might have given you some more face. Little fellow, how did you end up offending that idiot for him to want you dead? Did you give him some infertility pills?â asked Long Chen.
Ye Yaochenâs expression sank. âLong Chen, donât try to sow dissension where none exists!â
âLong Chen, donât play this game with me. You arenât a good person either. Are we betting or not?â demanded Ye Qian. From this sentence, one could tell that Ye Qian detested Ye Yaochen on the same level as Long Chen.
âWell, continuing from where you interrupted me, of course I couldnât possibly lose, but what about the off chance that we end up drawing?â asked Long Chen.
âWhat a huge joke. You canât possibly lose, but a draw? If itâs a draw, Iâll give you twenty million points. Itâll be up to you to have that ability,â sneered Ye Qian.
âAlright, since you want to lose so badly, Iâll bet.â Long Chen laughed confidently.
Wan Qing grew uneasy, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
The Pill Doyen simply smiled, while one of the elders behind him shook his head. âThis Long Chen is so reckless. He canât possibly beat Qian-er.â
This elder was the division head of the Divine Pill Division. He oversaw everything occurring in the Divine Pill Division, and his position was only second to the Pill Doyen. The Pill Doyen rarely bothered with the Divine Pill Division, so it could be said that the division head was the ruler of the Divine Pill Division.
The division head was Ye Qianâs master, and he was well aware of Ye Qianâs alchemy arts. There were many areas where Ye Qian had already surpassed him. In terms of alchemy, Ye Qian could only be rated as monstrous, so he was of the same attitude as him. Long Chen couldnât possibly win.
The Pill Doyen said, âYouâre wrong. Qian-er has already lost.â
âWhat?â The division head looked at him in shock.
âSenior Pill Doyen, may I ask you to be the judge in this matter? I donât want someone to lose and then renege on the deal.â Long Chen cupped his fists to the Pill Doyen.
âIt just so happens that I have nothing else to do. Itâs been a long time since the last pill competition in the Divine Pill Division. Iâd like to watch it. Lu Feng, spread the news. The competition will begin in two hours. Anyone who wishes to watch may enter the divine pill plaza.â
Lu Feng, an assistant to the division head, nodded and left. The crowd began to grow excited for the show.
âLong Chen, Iâll watch how you embarrass yourself. Iâll await the show in the divine pill plaza.â Ye Qian sneered and walked away.
âThis child has no manners.â The Pill Doyen indifferently shook his head.
âSenior, let me apologize. Qian-er is still young and is immersed entirely in alchemy. He truly is lacking in manners. Iâll give him a proper lesson later,â said the division head.
âBeing arrogant isnât a bad thing, but past a certain point, itâs not a good thing.â
The Pill Doyen shook his head and left. The fact that Ye Qian hadnât even greeted him before leaving was clearly rude. The division head hastily followed behind him.
The crowd immediately flowed out to the plaza. Even some of the people overseeing the wares were unable to stay still. They also wanted to go watch. Hence, they hastily looked for people to take over, with some offering to pay a large price to have them take over their shift.
âLong Chen, Iâll look forward to seeing you crawl like a dog. Hehe, itâll definitely be marvelous,â laughed Ye Yaochen.
âThe shape of your face isnât bad,â said Long Chen with a faint smile.
âYouâŚ!â Ye Yaochen was infuriated but also afraid. He was truly afraid of Long Chenâs slap. He had never witnessed anyone within thirty meters of Long Chen managing to escape his slap.
Countless people had seen his slap, but for some reason, the people he struck were unable to dodge it. Although this move had no killing power against an expertâs tough body, the mental damage was truly frightening.
Despite being a fourth step Netherpassage expert, Ye Yaochen was maintaining a certain distance from Long Chen. For Long Chen to say that the shape of his face was not bad, that was clearly a provocation. But he had no intention of getting any closer, so he gloomily left.
With him gone, the only ones remaining beside Long Chen were Wan Qing and Shen Chengfeng. Neither of them were happy.
Wan Qing shook her head. âLong Chen, are you really confident?â
Long Chen laughed and rubbed her head. âFoolish girl, do you think Iâd do something if I wasnât confident? Years ago, I was capable of teaching you alchemy. Years later, Iâm still able to teach you. Just watch as I show you what true alchemy arts are.â
Wan Qing relaxed slightly and smiled sweetly. After that, the three of them walked out of the treasury. The eighth legionâs warriors were awaiting them, all of them looking at Long Chen oddly.
âEnough with the stares. Do you have the drums and gongs?â asked Long Chen.
âYes.â
âGood. Youâll be holding another performance today. Help me display the song that made the eighth legion famous.â Long Chen laughed, causing the eighth legionâs warriorsâ expressions to grow even odder.
Shen Chengfeng didnât know whether to laugh or cry. Was Long Chen really not the slightest bit afraid? He had bound himself and the eighth legion to Long Chen, so he could only follow to the end.