Fulfilling the Wager

"Three Blood-Coagulating Pills."

Ye Xingchen repeated it, his tone calm, leaving no room for negotiation.

Li Gui stared fixedly at that hand, bloodshot veins crawling across his eyes as his dark face trembled.

Give them? Those were three Blood-Coagulating Pills—his savings from half a year!

Refuse? With everyone watching, how would he ever survive in the outer sect afterward?

"N-No way!"

Li Gui abruptly raised his head and pointed at Ye Xingchen as he roared, "There has to be something wrong with this! I don't believe a newcomer who's just entered the sect can forge a Profound-Rank Spirit Artifact!"

"Impossible?" Ye Xingchen raised a brow and withdrew his hand. "With everyone watching and Elder Mo here in person, tell me—what exactly is impossible?"

"I...!"

Li Gui was struck speechless. The facts lay right before him; how could he deny them? How could he wriggle out of this?

"Li Gui is absolutely right!"

In the crowd, Zhao Kai's eyes shifted, and he immediately joined in. "Think about it, everyone—how many days has Ye Xingchen been in the Artifact Refining Hall? At most, four days! A newcomer who's only been here four days, holding a broken hammer, actually refined scrap iron into a Quasi-Profound Rank artifact? If we don't get to the bottom of this, how can anyone be convinced?"

Those words truly struck the hearts of most people—jealousy.

Admitting someone else was a genius was no different from admitting that they themselves were useless.

Compared to that, finding a flaw and tearing apart the illusion of genius made them feel much better.

"That makes sense. Rising a level in four days is way too absurd."

"I think so too. That hammer technique looked strange. Who forges iron like that?"

"Redo the match!..."

At that moment, the tide of public opinion abruptly shifted to Li Gui's side.

Seeing people speak up for him, Li Gui immediately grew smug. "Kid, hear that? Everyone's eyes are sharp! This round doesn't count!"

Ye Xingchen looked at that rabble, a trace of ridicule flashing through his eyes.

This was human nature.

When you were only a little stronger, others would envy you.

When you were far stronger, others would slander you.

"Enough."

An aged yet majestic voice exploded above the Artifact Refining Hall like muffled thunder.

The previously clamorous crowd instantly fell silent.

Elder Mo slowly rose to his feet, his hands behind his back as he descended the platform step by step. Though the old man was hunched, with every step he took, his presence grew heavier, pressing down until everyone found it difficult to breathe.

The pressure of Foundation Establishment Late Stage was released without reservation.

He walked straight to the black iron warhammer, his withered fingers lightly brushing over its surface.

"You say there was a problem with his forging?" Elder Mo looked at Li Gui, his gaze cold as a blade.

Cold sweat instantly poured down Li Gui's forehead as he stammered, "E-Elder, this disciple merely feels..."

"Feels what? That this old man is blind? Or that the rules of my Artifact Refining Hall are merely for show?"

Elder Mo snorted coldly.

"An ordinary iron hammer—no formation, no spiritual energy enhancement." Elder Mo's voice spread through the entire hall. "The method Ye Xingchen used was the Artifact Refining Hall's most basic Chaotic Wind Hammer Method! He made his body a bow, wielded the hammer with his intent, and drove force through metal and stone!"

"As for your claim of rising a level in four days..." Elder Mo glanced at Zhao Kai, his eyes full of disgust. "In the path of artifact refinement, the accomplished are the teachers. If he was capable of learning it in three days, that is his talent! If you have the ability, then go practice forty-nine hammer strikes and show this old man!"

Zhao Kai shrank his neck and retreated into the crowd, not daring to make another sound.

Elder Mo turned around and looked at Li Gui, his tone beyond dispute. "A loss is a loss. Disciples of my Artifact Refining Hall may train if their skills are inferior, but if even their backbone bends, then get out. Do not stay here and disgrace yourselves!"

Those words were exceedingly harsh.

Li Gui's body trembled. He knew that if he dared continue making trouble today, he would likely be expelled from the Artifact Refining Hall tomorrow, perhaps even have his cultivation crippled and be driven from the sect.

"Yes... this disciple knows his mistake."

Gritting his teeth, Li Gui took out the warm porcelain bottle from his robes. It had originally been the resource he intended to use to break through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining.

Smack.

The porcelain bottle was slammed viciously onto the forging table before Ye Xingchen.

"Take it!"

Li Gui's eyes were crimson as he glared viciously at Ye Xingchen, then turned to leave.

"Hold it."

Ye Xingchen picked up the porcelain bottle, removed the stopper, and sniffed it. After confirming it was genuine, he tucked it into his robes and said unhurriedly, "Senior Brother Li, have you forgotten something?"

Li Gui halted, his back stiffening.

The surrounding disciples held their breaths as well.

Everyone remembered that wager—the loser had to kneel and call the other person Grandpa three times.

Li Gui slowly turned around, his fists clenched so tightly they crackled, killing intent filling his eyes. "Ye Xingchen, leave a line of mercy, and we may meet again in the future. You already have the pills, so don't push your luck too far!"

"Push my luck too far?"

Ye Xingchen smiled, but the smile never reached his eyes. He slowly walked up to Li Gui. Though he was far thinner than the burly Li Gui, his bearing did not fall short in the slightest.

"If I had lost, would you have let me leave after merely handing over the pills? Would you have left me a line of mercy?"

Ye Xingchen asked in return.

"If others respect me one foot, I respect them one yard. If you want to step on my head to climb higher, then be prepared to be trampled into the mud by me." Ye Xingchen's voice suddenly turned cold. "In this world, there is no such thing as taking all the advantage without suffering any loss."

"If you refuse to say it, then I'm afraid you will not be walking out through the Artifact Refining Hall's doors today."

As soon as Ye Xingchen's words fell, Elder Mo added blandly, "The Artifact Refining Hall values its promises. Since you made a wager, you must fulfill it even with tears in your eyes."

Elder Mo had already made his stance clear. If Li Gui did not fulfill the wager, he would be breaking the rules, and his end would be even worse.

Thud!

Li Gui's knees smashed heavily into the hard ground, the impact of his kneecaps making a teeth-aching sound.

He lowered his head, his entire body shaking violently as he forced the words out through clenched teeth:

"G-Grandpa."

"Too quiet. Didn't you eat?" Ye Xingchen dug at his ear.

"Grandpa! Grandpa!!"

After roaring those two cries, Li Gui sprang up from the ground, shoved aside the people blocking his way, and charged out of the Artifact Refining Hall like a wounded beast.

That retreating figure was utterly miserable.

The Artifact Refining Hall was filled with sighs and murmurs. Who could have imagined that Li Gui, who had run rampant in the Artifact Refining Hall for years, would suffer such a crushing setback at the hands of a newcomer?

Ye Xingchen remained calm, as though everything that had just occurred had nothing to do with him. He turned around, his gaze passing over the crowd and landing precisely on Zhao Kai, who was preparing to sneak away.

"Senior Brother Zhao, stay awhile."

Zhao Kai's body stiffened. He turned around reluctantly and said, "What? I'm not from your Artifact Refining Hall."

Ye Xingchen walked up to Zhao Kai and thanked him with a smile. "Many thanks to Senior Brother Zhao for having such a 'keen eye for talent' and strongly recommending that I come to the Artifact Refining Hall."

"If it were not for you, I truly would not have obtained these three Blood-Coagulating Pills, nor trained this strength."

Zhao Kai's face darkened, his eyes icy. "Ye Xingchen, don't get cocky too soon. No matter how well you refine artifacts, you are merely an ironworker! In this world, fists ultimately do the talking!"

"The outer sect's monthly assessment is in half a month. Then we will step onto the arena, where life and death will be decided! I want to see whether you can use that hammer of yours to smash someone to death then!"

"Fine." Ye Xingchen took a step back, his smile brilliant. "Then we shall wait and see. I hope that when the time comes, Senior Brother Zhao's bones will be a little harder than that piece of scrap iron."

Zhao Kai snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve, and left.

Ye Xingchen watched Zhao Kai's departing back, the smile in his eyes gradually fading.

"The monthly assessment..."