He had probably been lurking nearby the whole time. Xie Fang didn't know what he was hiding from, but it likely had something to do with Daoist Hongjun.
"If that's the case, let's settle this before he gets back. What do you think?"
These people could hardly have been more eager to agree. If Master Zi Huo really had taught Xie Fang this skill, then they would surely be scolded for trying to take it from him.
There was some truth to what Xie Fang had said. Master Zi Huo hadn't handed the skill over to them all this time because he didn't trust them.
After all, they weren't cut from the same cloth. They hadn't studied the same discipline, so they were outsiders. Yet they had insisted on learning from him, and now, after all this back and forth, they had ended up right back where they started.
"Then we won't force you. You don't look like you have much money on you, so why don't we use this Alchemy Furnace as the stake?"
"That's right. We're being considerate. We just don't want you to end up unable to pay your debts and cause Master Zi Huo trouble."
"Then, to make things fair, what will you put up against me?"
They couldn't help but freeze at his question. They had never once imagined they might lose to a snot-nosed brat.
Xie Fang's eyes shifted as he prepared to set a trap for them.
"How about this? I won't make things difficult for you. Master Zi Huo has already passed this place down to me, so it's technically my territory. As the exchange, if I win, you have to return it to me."
The people before him readily agreed. What was there to fear? It wasn't as if anything could