Chapter 231: The Price

Ye Yuan looked at Yao Qian with a smile on his face.

Yao Qian's face was as dark as water; he stood there, unsure whether to stay or leave.

The elders filed out of the alchemy room with strange expressions, though sympathy was not absent from their odd looks.

“Eh, Elder Ouyang, aren't you leaving? Do you want to apprentice yourself to him along with Elder Yao?”

Ouyang Ming actually wanted to leave too, but he and Yao Qian were close friends, so he couldn't just walk away.

Besides, Yao Qian had been dragged into this because of him; leaving would be too disloyal.

Ouyang Ming's face flickered with uncertainty, unsure how to respond.

The bet was between Ye Yuan and Yao Qian alone. Sect Leader Luo had ordered everyone out to save Yao Qian's face, and it was not appropriate for others to interfere.

“Elder Ouyang, what are you still standing there for? Let's go!” Luo Qingfeng called out to Ouyang Ming before he had even left.

Ouyang Ming looked at Yao Qian awkwardly. Yao Qian took a deep breath and said, “You go out first. I know what I'm doing.”

“This…” Ouyang Ming felt a sense of relief, though he couldn't show it on his face.

Yao Qian nodded, and only then did Ouyang Ming follow Luo Qingfeng out, looking back every few steps.

Once everyone had left the alchemy room, Yao Qian sneered, “Ye Yuan, making a quasi-Dan King apprentice himself to you—aren't you afraid of shortening your life?”

Ye Yuan smiled. “Isn't that what you want? I don't mind, so why should you?”

Yao Qian choked, his eyes blazing with fury.

Ye Yuan pretended to be startled. “Oh my, Elder Yao, you're not thinking of killing me to silence me, are you? The Sect Leader is right outside—that wouldn't be good.”

“Tell me, what are your conditions?” Yao Qian suppressed his anger and said in a low voice.

“Huh? What conditions? I don't understand what you mean, Elder Yao.” Ye Yuan looked bewildered.

Yao Qian was furious inside. This guy was clearly playing dumb, yet he had to play along.

“Stop pretending. Name your terms! As long as you don't make me apprentice myself to you, anything is acceptable!”

“No way! Having a quasi-Dan King as my disciple would make me so proud. Why would I set conditions?”

Yao Qian couldn't help but picture a scene: “Did you know? Yao Qian, a quasi-Dan King, is my disciple! Pretty impressive, huh?”

“Pfft!” Yao Qian's chest tightened, a sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

If that really happened, he would rather die!

Ye Yuan was trying to drive him to the wall!

No matter how he thought about it, Yao Qian couldn't understand how Ye Yuan had solved a puzzle that had baffled the Boundless Realm's alchemy world for thousands of years.

If he hadn't known how deadly the Tendon-Corroding Blood Poison was, how would Yao Qian have dared to make that bet with Ye Yuan?

But Ye Yuan had actually neutralized the poison!

No matter how much he regretted it, Yao Qian couldn't turn back time. Now he was caught in a dilemma. One wrong move, and he would be utterly disgraced!

“Oh my, Elder Yao, what's wrong? Hmm, it seems the treatment of our elders at Nethercloud Sect is really good—when you have too much blood, you can just spit some out. Yes, yes, I must train harder to earn an elder title!”

Ye Yuan showed no mercy, rubbing salt into the wound.

Yao Qian had only been overcome by rage; spitting blood was no big deal for a Sea of Energy realm expert. Besides, as a quasi-Dan King, he could easily replenish his lost qi and blood with some pills.

Sure enough, unable to hold back, Yao Qian spat out another mouthful of blood.

Ye Yuan was about to speak again, but Yao Qian, ignoring the blood, quickly said, “Ye Yuan, tell me, how can we cancel this bet!”

If Ye Yuan kept talking, he would really die from blood loss today.

A Sea of Energy realm expert being talked to death by anger—that would certainly cause a sensation across the entire Boundless Realm!

Seeing that the time was right, Ye Yuan blinked and said, “Elder Yao, are you sure you don't want to be my disciple? Honestly, being my disciple is not bad. I don't take just anyone!”

This wasn't Ye Yuan bragging. In his past life, countless alchemists had wanted to become his disciple, but he hadn't accepted a single one.

Ji Qingyun found teaching disciples too troublesome and a waste of time, hindering his research on the Dao of alchemy.

Yao Qian didn't speak; he just shook his head firmly. He was on the verge of breaking down.

“Alas, what a pity. I won't be able to show off anymore.” Ye Yuan looked regretful.

“Quick… quickly state your terms!”

By now, Yao Qian was prepared to bleed heavily.

“Elder Yao is truly generous, knowing that sect disciples have a hard time. As an elder of the Alchemy Hall, you must have quite a few contribution points, right?” Ye Yuan asked with a smile.

Yao Qian's heart tightened. “How many points do you want?”

Ye Yuan held up two fingers.

“Twenty thousand?” Yao Qian relaxed a little. Twenty thousand points was already a lot for a core disciple.

“Elder Yao, are you trying to send a beggar away?”

“Two hundred thousand?”

Yao Qian's eyes widened. That was really asking for a lot!

Ye Yuan shook his head again. “Two million!”

“Two million? Why don't you just rob me? Where would I get that many points?” Yao Qian was startled.

Two million was an astronomical figure even for Yao Qian!

Only when he had saved up for the Purple Sun Soul Art had he accumulated over a million points.

Although elders had high status, their expenses were also high. He usually kept about five hundred thousand points on hand.

Two million points was four times his total assets!

Seeing Yao Qian's expression, Ye Yuan realized his asking price might be too high.

He had originally wanted two million—one million four hundred thousand for Jiang Yunhe to exchange for the Purple Sun Soul Art, leaving him with six hundred thousand points, which should last a long time.

It seemed that plan was about to fail.

“How many do you have?”

“I only have three hundred thousand!”

“In that case, no deal.”

“Wait!” Yao Qian quickly said, “I… I can scrape together one million! But two million is really too much. Even an elder couldn't have that many! Two million points—even if I never used any points, it would take me ten years to save up! You can ask any other elder if I'm telling the truth.”

Ye Yuan rubbed his chin, still somewhat dissatisfied. But since Yao Qian had said so, it was probably close to the truth. Still, he was sure Yao Qian had underreported his points.

“One million two hundred thousand, not a point less.”

If he wanted to cancel the bet, he had to pay a price. That price was working for free for others for the next few years.

Yao Qian was silent, his face shifting between emotions.

Seven hundred thousand points meant he wouldn't be able to do anything else for the next five years; he would basically be paying off debts.

And to truly recover, it would take at least seven years!

But compared to being Ye Yuan's disciple, he would rather live in debt!

Finally, Yao Qian gritted his teeth and said, “Fine! Deal!”