Hearing the words "herbal knowledge," Tang San fell into hesitation again. Beside him, Xiao Wu watched him dither and grew impatient. "Tang San, are you fighting or not? If not, hurry up and get back to smithing. Don't get in the way while I beat Ye Chen!"
"Fine. I'll fight!" Tang San glanced at Xiao Wu, then turned to Ye Chen and said solemnly, "Let's go to the back hill. It's not convenient to fight in the dormitory."
"Sure." Ye Chen made his terms clear first. "But Tang San, I'll restate our bet. If I win, you have to give me the complete herbal knowledge, and you can't fake anything."
Tang San replied confidently, "I have no reason to fake it."
"Is that so? Then there's no need to rush." Ye Chen suggested, "Why don't we wait until you've written up the herbal knowledge as a transcript, then have our match?"
Before Tang San could answer, Xiao Wu spoke up. "No! Ye Chen, I want to fight you now. Once I've knocked you flat, I'll be the boss of Dorm Seven!"
"Xiao Wu is right," Tang San chimed in. "Ye Chen, let's have our match first. If you win, I'll naturally honor my promise. And if you lose, I won't have wasted time writing it all down."
"No." Ye Chen's reply was firm as iron. "Tang San, write the herb transcript first. Once it's ready, we can have our match. Otherwise, forget it. I've beaten you so many times already—you're long since my defeated opponent. I have no reason to agree to another match with you, and no reason to apologize to your teacher either. Your teacher has no real ability in the first place; I was only telling the truth."
Tang San felt deeply uncomfortable after hearing that. He didn't know why Ye Chen was interested in herbal knowledge. He only knew that if Ye Chen refused to fight him, then the Blue Silver Hidden Weapon he'd finally spent two months developing would have no chance to prove itself.
What's more, if he couldn't win even once, he'd obsess over how to beat Ye Chen and let it interfere with his future Soul Power cultivation. He also wouldn't be able to avenge his teacher's humiliation.
But the herbal knowledge had come from his past life in the Tang Sect. Should he really teach it to an outsider?
When Tang San still hadn't answered, Ye Chen picked up his uniform and headed for the bathroom. The match was abandoned just like that.
Five days later.
As soon as the class bell rang, the work-study students went off to do odd jobs and earn their living expenses.
Ye Chen stayed in the classroom to read. With graduation and his departure from the academy drawing near, he wanted to learn more basic knowledge about Soul Masters and Soul Beasts.
Once all his classmates had left, Tang San took a book to Ye Chen's seat and said calmly, "I've prepared the bet you asked for. Tomorrow's our day off, so let's have our match on the back hill."
Ye Chen took the book Tang San handed him and examined it. Four words were written on the cover: Herb Transcript.
It seemed Tang San couldn't resist having a match with him after all. He'd spent the past few days writing the herb transcript and had only just finished it.
After skimming a few pages, Ye Chen frowned and asked, "Tang San, is the herbal knowledge in this transcript accurate?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Tang San retorted. "Do you think I'd give you false herbal knowledge?"
"Of course not. I trust your character. But there's definitely a problem with this description of Cinnabar Lotus."
Ye Chen pointed to the herb transcript in his hands. "Look. Plants like Cinnabar Lotus prefer shade and cold, and counteract heat. They're highly effective for treating fire poison. A heavenly treasure with such powerful cold properties should grow in a frigid place. But in this transcript, you've got both its effects and where it grows reversed."
Tang San's expression changed abruptly. "So you understand herbal knowledge?"
"Of course I do. Why else would I be interested in your ability to use poison? You refused to teach me that, so I said I wanted the complete herbal knowledge instead." Ye Chen asked tactfully, "Tang San, did you write it wrong on purpose, or by accident?"
"By accident, naturally." Tang San took back the herb transcript and flipped through the other pages. After checking them several times, he put on an air of carelessness. "For the past five days, I've been writing this transcript late into the night. I must have been tired and mistakenly put some herbs' effects under the wrong entries. I'll check the transcript carefully a few times, then correct it and make sure everything is accurate before using it as our bet."
"Fine." Ye Chen offered a reminder. "Tang San, you can't be so careless again. Getting herbal knowledge wrong could have serious consequences. I don't want to use the information you give me to find medicine and save someone, only to end up killing them."
"Don't worry. I guarantee I won't make the same mistake again." With that, Tang San left the classroom with the herb transcript.
With the Purple Demon Eye to help him, how could he have put herbal knowledge under the wrong entries?
Tang San had thought Ye Chen knew nothing about herbs, so he'd planned to write whatever came to mind and fool him. He hadn't expected his clever trick to backfire.
Fortunately, Ye Chen hadn't assumed that he'd deliberately written the herbal knowledge incorrectly. Otherwise, he would have thought Tang San's character was questionable.
If word of this got around Nuoding Academy, Tang San's reputation would be ruined, and his teacher would become a laughingstock.
After weighing everything, Tang San didn't dare be careless again. Over the next five days, he wrote a new herb transcript.
After reviewing it, Ye Chen found that the new transcript included some of the heavenly treasures mentioned in the original story, with effects that matched. It seemed Tang San hadn't faked anything this time.
However, the herb transcript only contained knowledge about heavenly treasures. It didn't mention a single Immortal Herb, which meant Tang San was still holding back some of the complete herbal knowledge.
In the end, Ye Chen refused to fight on the grounds that Tang San hadn't been sincere enough. After a day of inner turmoil, Tang San finally decided to add the herbal knowledge about Immortal Herbs to the transcript.
After reviewing the herb transcript again, Ye Chen still found that Tang San had held something back. Although he'd added quite a bit of knowledge about Immortal Herbs, he'd left out the top-tier ones mentioned in the original story, including Lovesick Heartbreak Red and Ten-Thousand-Year Nine-Grade Ginseng King.
In truth, it was understandable that Tang San wouldn't write down all the herbal knowledge.
After all, in the original story, he hadn't even passed down the complete version of the Mysterious Heaven Skill to the Tang Sect he'd founded. Clearly, he always kept something in reserve and was extremely cautious.
After thinking it over, Ye Chen decided to stop pressuring Tang San to write out the complete herbal knowledge.
The herb transcript, which now contained considerable knowledge about Immortal Herbs, became the bet for their match.
The next day, at noon.
In a grove on the back hill of Nuoding Academy.
In the middle of an open clearing, Tang San handed the herb transcript—their wager—to Wang Sheng for safekeeping. Ye Chen also swore on his Martial Soul that if he lost, he'd kneel and apologize to Yu Xiaogang.
Just as the two confirmed their respective bets, thirty noble students led by Xiao Chenyu ran over to watch. They formed a large circle with Wang Sheng and the other six work-study students.
Three people stood facing one another inside the circle.
Two were Tang San and Xiao Wu, and the third was Ye Chen.
At that moment, Tang San and Xiao Wu stood together, facing off against Ye Chen. The air between them was taut with tension.
Yet in a corner no one could see, there was another spectator.
The spectator wore a black trench coat and leaned against a large tree, arms folded across his chest. He watched Ye Chen, Tang San, and Xiao Wu with an expressionless face.
A closer look would have revealed that the spectator in the black trench coat was Tang San's father, Tang Hao.
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