Chapter 73 – Gambling A Flame For A Flame
In addition to the three high level experts in this place, there was one person from the Beast Taming Sect, Elder Wu and Yang Chen, altogether six people. After He LianYun said those words regarding eliminating Yang Chen nobody said anything.
Though these people each treated Yang Chen differently, but all of them had one thing in common, that was that they had all shown contempt for him. The refining of a Heaven Seizing Pill, was that something even a trifling qi layer cultivator could participate in? Did he even deserve that chance?
To seize a flame from the body of someone was not impossible, naturally, the precondition was that the flame should be suitable with the person. It was not possible for dead people to possess a flame, so extracting it by force was also not possible, the only possibility was that the host would be willing to offer it. But among the people present, the lowest cultivation was the YuanYing initial stage, would a qi layer youngster even have the power to resist?
The three people did not conceal their desire to attack Yang Chen, greed filled everyone’s eyes. Although they did not need the flame for themselves, who didn’t have a few disciples in their sect? All of them wanted to obtain this flame for their younger generation. Most of all, this Geocentric Flame was the most suitable flame for pill concocting. It could only be encountered by luck and not by searching. If it were not that they already possessed even higher levelled flames, they would be ready to directly obtain it from Yang Chen’s body for themselves.
Elder Wu now regretted bringing Yang Chen here, what he thought was that Yang Chen would be able to refine and purify the blue-green zoysia to the best quality but he hadn’t expected the compatibility problems with these people and he furthermore also hadn’t expected that He LianYun would propose such a ruthless plan.
But Elder Wu was not willing offend these three pill concocting masters, they were the most top notch pill concocting masters in this mortal realm, he could not get the Heaven Seizing Pill refined for himself without the help of these three. But he was also extremely unwilling to sacrifice Yang Chen, after all he was the one who had brought him here, if he was killed by these people, then what about his face?
A difficult problem had presented itself to Elder Wu: on one side was the Heaven Seizing Pill, on the other side was Yang Chen. Although among these three people, only He LianYun had proposed this, the thoughts of everyone else were already stirred by He LianYun. If he did not appease these three properly, then there would not be a Heaven Seizing Pill, but if he sacrificed Yang Chen, what about his face? He did not know what to do next.
Elder Wu’s hesitation, naturally everyone could see it with their eyes, Yang Chen was also no exception. Yang Chen was already very grateful when he saw Elder Wu hesitating, after all his words were still the words of a qi layer youngster, if a qi layer youngster and three pill concocting masters were hostile with each other, anyone who had a brain would not even raise an eyelid.
But Yang Chen was not someone who would resign himself to death silently, since He LianYun had malicious thoughts towards him, Yang Chen also would not mind destroying his face to open his eyes.
“You’re speaking as if you had already refined the Heaven Seizing Pill! Or are you saying that, as long as I hand over the Geocentric Flame, Senior He would have certainty in success? Senior is a guest personally invited by Elder Wu, but so am I. If right now a Da Cheng stage pill concocting expert appeared, would Senior He also hand over his flame?”
Once he opened his mouth, Yang Chen’s words made the group of people slightly surprised.
“Moreover, is this Elder Wu’s villa or Senior He’s villa?”
Yang Chen asked with a smile, while attentively watching He LianYun.
“Or do you mean that Senior He could substitute Elder Wu for making decisions and managing things here?”
By the time Yang Chen had finished, He LianYun’s complexion had already turned unsightly. It was not wrong that Elder Wu had invited him, but this villa was not his territory. He had directly tried to call shots in Elder Wu’s territory, and even wanted to punish a guest invited by Elder Wu. This was already far from the way a guest should act, instead it was like he had become the master himself.
Elder Wu was also reminded by Yang Chen that this was his territory, the guests were invited by him, so who would dare to be rude in this way? They hadn’t even refined the Heaven Seizing pill yet and but already began to raise internal strife here. The most important thing was that this way of handling the situation was not beneficial for Elder Wu’s face. When he thought of this, Elder Wu’s complexion sank.
When all was said and done, Yang Chen was a guest, personally invited by Elder Wu, similar to these three. Even though their cultivation was different, in here their status was the same. Since all of them were visitors, if the voice of a guest overwhelmed that of the host, it was a shameful guest.
Although Zhu Peng’s and Deng Yi’s thoughts were somewhat provoked by He LianYun’s words, at this moment they didn’t have the same contempt for Yang Chen as before. A qi layer youngster could speak with confidence in front of four YuanYing, and a DaCheng stage expert, this could only be called extremely daring. They could not help but see Yang Chen in a new light.
“You!”
He Lianyun was shocked in his heart, but after one ruthless glare towards Yang Chen, he immediately turned towards Elder Wu and hurriedly said:
“Elder Wu, this junior did not mean it like that!”
Pill concocting masters were generally considered superior to cultivators. There wasn’t a person who would like to offend a pill concocting master with some potential, not to mention He LianYun whose name had already shook the whole world. But Yang Chen’s words were also correct, the Heaven Seizing Pill hadn’t yet been successfully refined and the success rate of the Heaven Seizing Pill was not very good. That was the only reason why these three pill concocting experts had gathered here to discuss things.
Historically, once the Heaven Seizing Pill was refined, it was a life changing, refining success for a pill concocting master. After refining the Heaven Seizing Pill, the pill concocting master would directly ascend, leaving behind only some incomplete records of the ingredients, thus the refining method still required everyone to gather and ponder over it.
If he really had certainty, then Elder Wu would have done anything that He Lianyun wanted, but the problem here was that, He LianYun did not dare to vouch for the success, therefore he did not have the confidence to be commanding in front of Elder Wu. Confronted with those words of Yang Chen, he had no other option than to give an explanation.
“Young friend Yang Chen is a guest, personally invited by this old man, before you say anything, think before you speak!”
Elder Wu was furious on the inside but he also knew that he could not offend He LianYun and these other pill concocting masters right now, so he could only say something like this.
He LianYun did not dare to say anything and only nodded, then he stood silently at his place. A trace of anger had already been incited in Elder Wu’s heart due to Yang Chen’s words, even if he was a high level pill concocting master, why would a Da Cheng stage expert, who was one step away from ascending, care about him? Later they would have plenty of chances to put Yang Chen in order, then why were they creating trouble for him at this critical moment?
Suddenly, Yang Chen said:
“However, Senior He’s words still make sense.”
Which shocked He Lianyun. Hearing Yang Chen approve of his proposal, he could not help but wrinkle his brows, not knowing what Yang Chen wanted to do.
“Since Seniors do not feel assured about this Youngster, this Youngster offers to show a small trick for controlling fire to reassure everyone.”
Yang Chen kept on looking at those pill concocting master with a smile and continued:
“If Senior He is also able to accomplish this, then Myself will submit the Geocentric Flame, what do you say?”
The gazes of those people were fixed on Yang Chen’s face, could it be that this youngster was an idiot? He had humbled He LianYun just a moment ago and now he surprisingly said this kind of thing?
A scowl immediately appeared on He LianYun’s face, a qi layer youngster who had obtained the Geocentric Flame by some luck, who did not know how high the sky and how deep the earth is, still wanted to challenge the power and prestige of a YuanYing expert? Did he really not know how to spell ‘to die’? Furthermore, he thought the minor accomplishments which a qi layer youngster like him could achieve would be incapable to be surpassed by a YuanYing stage expert?
“Since you yourself are courting death, then I have to accept it! Elder Wu, you can see how arrogant this youngster is, so I request Elder Wu to be the judge!”
He Lianyun said with an ashen expression, but his vision was towards Elder Wu. Just a moment ago, Yang Chen had used Elder Wu to ruthlessly sweep all his face and had surprisingly provoked him. He was a YuanYing stage expert, not someone who would continue to lose face in front of qi layer youngster.
“Yang Chen, refining the Heaven Seizing Pill is important!”
Elder Wu could not help but wrinkle his brows, so he couldn’t help but remind Yang Chen in an extremely serious tone:
“Youngster needs to stop before going too far.”
“Elder Wu, refining the Heaven Seizing Pill would require everyone’s sincere cooperation to work as one. The most important thing is that people should be used to the greatest extent, if these seniors did not know what this youngster was capable of, then they wouldn’t be able to assign tasks to this youngster any tasks which would make full use of me. So Myself just wants to let these Seniors know my abilities, that’s all.”
This kind of insistence could not be blocked by Elder Wu. Moreover, Yang Chen had even provided proper reasons for his actions, that made it all the more difficult to stop him. He had already made these three pill concocting experts unhappy when he had brought Yang Chen with him, but at this moment if he intervened again, then he would just be embarrassing those three.
‘You better do your best!’
Since the Heaven Seizing Pill was important, Elder Wu could only nod, but he still hadn’t understood why Yang Chen was doing this.
At this moment, Yang Chen laughed bitterly within his heart. Yang Chen had already heard about He LianYun’s nature and his skills in pill concocting in his previous life. Just a moment ago, he had completely offended him, so Yang Chen was convinced that after the refining of the Heaven Seizing Pill was complete, regardless of whether it was a success or failure, he would surely be chased by He LianYun, so it was better for him to settle this dispute in Elder Wu’s presence and use his influence, otherwise, he would never be able to have a peaceful day in his life again. Offending a YuanYing stage pill concocting expert wasn’t much different from offending the Greatest Heaven Sect in his previous life.
He LianYun evilly grinned while looking at Yang Chen. In his eyes, or rather in the eyes of everyone present, Yang Chen had already lost without any doubt. After losing the Geocentric Flame, Yang Chen wouldn’t have any reasons to remain here, so even if he could not kill Yang Chen right then, he could look for Yang Chen in the future and create trouble for him then. But right now he had a chance to vent some of his resentment on him.
“Senior, if Myself loses then Myself will hand the Geocentric Flame to you.”
Yang Chen turned towards He LianYun’s side and asked with a smile:
“I do not know what Senior proposes to stake if he loses? Senior you are a YuanYing stage expert, so in all likelihood you will not renege a debt to the younger generation?”
“I can lose? Don’t you think too highly of yourself?”
He LianYun grew angrier in his heart, as a pill concocting master, he was an expert in controlling fire, how could his fire controlling skills possibly lose to a trifling qi layer youngster like Yang Chen? But in front of these YuanYing stage experts and Elder Wu, he could not say this directly, otherwise he would appear too narrow minded.
Although this was something which all them mutually agreed on, it could still not be spoken publicly. But what Yang Chen said was also reasonable, since both parties had agreed on the wager, then if only one party put forward their stakes, that would indeed be quite unjust.
“You desire something?”
He LianYun smiled despite his extreme fury, while everyone else was completely calm. As pill concocting masters, apart from controlling fire, they were also required to be calm more than anything. When they reached a crucial point after starting to concoct pills with their furnace, this was a very essential quality.
“Since Myself must put forward a flame, then Senior should also do the same, what do you say?”
Yang Chen declared his own request and fixed his gaze on He LianYun.
“You want to bet your Geocentric Flame against my Real Sun Fire?”
Hearing this request, He LianYun almost spat blood because of his anger. Although the Geocentric Flame was the most suitable flame for pill concocting in the mortal world, his Real Sun Fire was at least two grades higher than the Geocentric Flame; this stake was simply not fair.
“Myself is only at the qi layer while Senior is already at the YuanYing stage! Has Senior already admitted defeat within his heart?”
But Yang Chen did not cower in the slightest because of He LianYun’s anger. The difference in their cultivation was very high, while his gains on winning were next to nothing. These words were precisely to provoke He LianYun and make him fall into his trap.
In his previous life, the flame that he had collected was precisely this Real Sun Fire, merely at that time he had only narrowly escaped. Since he had already offended He LianYun, he might offend him all the way. In any case, after this matter was over, He LianYun would surely try to kill him, so Yang Chen naturally had to obtain as many benefits as he could, for later.
“Good! Good! Good!”
He LianYun was unable to suppress his anger after being provoked by Yang Chen. He even repeated the word ‘good’ three times. Gnashing his teeth he said:
“You really are a courageous youngster! A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. Regardless of your cultivation, this old man admires your guts!”
Everyone was astonished again after He LianYun finished speaking. His eyes were shone in a cold light, similar to a bloodthirsty animal.
“Since a youngster like you is so excited, how could this old man not also be excited? Good, we’ll bet our flames!”
After he finished speaking, he turned towards Elder Wu and while cupping his hands, said:
“Elder Wu, it’s not that this old man is taking the advantage of his seniority, but this junior is compelling me to do this, therefore I request Elder Wu to bear the witness!”
Not just Elder Wu, even Zhu Peng, Deng Yi and Fan Shan from the Beast Taming Sect, did not understand why on the earth Yang Chen had gone mad. But since this situation had already developed until here, they couldn’t find an exit out of this embarrassing situation for either party.
Just as Elder Wu was feeling embarrassed, Yang Chen turned towards him and similarly cupped his hands:
“Elder Wu, this Junior requests Senior to be the witness!”
Knowing that this matter had already reached the point of no return, Elder Wu could only nod, but he also added one remark:
“No matter what, the stakes of this gamble can only be taken after the refining the Heaven Seizing Pill, the refining must not be delayed any further!”
He asked everyone to come here in order to refine the Heaven Seizing Pill, so he certainly did not want that one of two pill concocting masters lost his flame before the refining could even begin.
“As Elder Wu commands!”
Yang Chen and He LianYun both cupped their hands. Both of them clearly understood that Elder Wu had already yielded to the maximum limit, so they naturally did not have any objection.
“Youngster, I do not believe that you have spent enough time practicing the fire controlling skill!”
He LianYun looked at Yang Chen like looking at a dead man.
“I will wait for you to cup your hands and offer me the Geocentric Flame!”