Xue Ba waved a hand. "What are you afraid of? They have no other choice. Could they really refuse?" He had always been ruthless and hard-hearted. When an opportunity came along, how could he not take it and make a killing?
Ding Dian had his grievances, but he couldn't voice them. He wanted to advise Xue Ba again, yet couldn't think of how to put it. Just as he was growing anxious, his waist pouch suddenly stirred. He activated its restriction, and found that his spy on Yinghai Peak had sent word in time: Alchemist Li had come out of seclusion.
Before Ding Dian could respond, Xue Ba exclaimed, "Quick, find out whether Alchemist Li plans to issue any new Wind Fiend Tokens. If he does, have Dong—Zhong, never mind..." They still couldn't let anything about Dong Chao slip out.
Xue Ba was happily dreaming of making another fortune when a trembling voice came from the Ruyi Pearl. "Alchemist Li has announced that his attempt to refine the Thunder Fiend Pill failed. He won't be refining any more pills in the near future, and the outstanding Wind Fiend Tokens have been postponed indefinitely."
Xue Ba felt as though he'd been stuffed inside a giant copper drum, with someone pounding it mercilessly with an iron hammer as big as a millstone. Otherwise, why did his head and chest feel so stifled, so unbearably awful?
"Impossible! Long Er, did you hear that wrong? How could there be news like this? You—you'd better get back here right now!" Ding Dian roared, his voice hoarse with desperation. Blood had already trickled from the corner of his mouth.
While Xue Ba and Ding Dian reeled as if struck by a bolt from the blue, Huang Xing had already rushed to Xu Yi's cave abode. Xu