Chapter 2098 — Take It or Leave It

After Old Master Zhao finished speaking, he frantically shot a look at Old Master You of the second-place family. Among that pile of fine treasures was one item the hidden Zhao family desperately needed, an item the hidden Zhuang family had contributed!

The hidden Zhuang family had done the hidden Zhao family a favor; this race had been fixed for the hidden Zhao family to win from the start, so that item would ultimately have fallen into their hands. But never in their wildest dreams had Wei Zhao come charging in out of nowhere like a Cheng Yaojin to upset everything!

Old Master Zhao was determined to have that item, so he hoped the hidden You family would exercise their exchange right and trade for it with Wei Zhao!

Han Tianba said nothing, merely casting a quiet, unreadable glance at Wei Zhao. After all, the victor was Wei Zhao, and by prior agreement every one of these treasures belonged to him; whether to exchange or not was entirely Wei Zhao's call.

Wei Zhao looked over what he had won. Not much of it was useful—mostly rare heavenly and earthly treasures that might come in handy for future pill refinement, but nothing of immediate value. What he did truly want was the hidden You family's Minor Qi-Gathering Pill and the hidden Pi family's body-tempering elixir!

But who would have thought those two families had actually won their matches?

Wei Zhao, however, did not speak up just yet. He quietly watched how the situation would unfold. Old Master Zhao kept shooting glances at Old Master You of the hidden You family, and the more Old Master Zhao seemed to be scheming for something, the less hurried Wei Zhao became. He said mildly, "Old Master You, you don't need to trade with me, do you? If not, then I'll trade with the hidden Pi family!"

"Cough, cough!" Old Master Zhao broke into violent coughing. He was terrified the You family would let the chance slip by. From the look of it, Wei Zhao had set his sights on something other than the hidden You family's Minor Qi-Gathering Pill, which was why he had offered to trade with the third-place family first!

Otherwise, why wouldn't Wei Zhao simply trade with the second-place hidden You family? Was there something wrong with his logic?

"Er, Mr. Lin, I'd like to trade for a treasure. Would that be all right?" The second-place family had the right to request an exchange from the first place and to compel an exchange from the third; so he spoke up and asked.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao feigned surprise and blinked. "What do you want to trade for?"

"I want to trade for that five-hundred-year mint flower in your hands," said Old Master You.

"Five-hundred-year mint flower?" Wei Zhao glanced at the treasure in his hand, then said coolly, "This thing is indeed of no use to me—but I still don't want to trade with you!"

"Uh..." Old Master You was taken aback. "If it's useless to you, why not trade it?"

"Exactly. The five-hundred-year mint flower is rare enough, but that Minor Qi-Gathering Pill is a fine thing too—it can push a cultivator straight from the peak of the late Mystic rank to the Earth rank. No amount of gold could buy that!" Old Master Zhao chimed in. "And this five-hundred-year mint flower is merely a tonic; it can steady a Heaven-rank cultivation a little. In terms of value, it falls well short of the Minor Qi-Gathering Pill!"

"Oh, but I'm not at the peak of the late Mystic rank. What use would the Minor Qi-Gathering Pill be to me?" Wei Zhao said indifferently. "As for the five-hundred-year mint flower, once I advance to the Heaven rank in a few days, I'll be able to use it..."

"In a few days?" Old Master Zhao sucked in a sharp breath of cold air. He could not tell whether Wei Zhao was bragging or truly about to break through to the Heaven rank so soon. But hearing him say it only made Old Master Zhao more anxious—his own Heaven-rank cultivation was still unstable, forced through with spiritual medicine, after all, and so not as solid as a natural breakthrough. He had to shore up his foundation, and this five-hundred-year mint flower was exactly what would do it.

"That's right. I level up very fast. Didn't you know?" Wei Zhao asked in return.

"Well... ha, of course I knew," said Old Master Zhao. "But a prodigy like you, Mr. Lin, surely has no need of such a thing. After all, it only steadies one's cultivation, and your strength advances a thousand li a day—you don't need steadying at all. Before you could steady yourself, you'd likely have leveled up again!"

"Oh, you're right about that!" Wei Zhao nodded.

"Right? So, shall we trade?" Old Master Zhao asked, a note of urgency creeping into his voice.

"No trade!" Wei Zhao refused flatly.

"Gah!" Old Master Zhao was beside himself with fury. It's useless to you, so why won't you trade? Though rage burned inside him, he dared not be careless in his manner; he could only swallow his anger and ask, "And why is that?"

"The Minor Qi-Gathering Pill isn't much use. Precious as it is, I can refine it myself, and the cost of those ingredients isn't worth this five-hundred-year mint flower!" Wei Zhao shook his head.

"This..." Old Master You reflected that Wei Zhao had earlier swindled two medicinal cauldrons; if that was so, Wei Zhao must be an alchemist. The Minor Qi-Gathering Pill was a second-grade pill—perhaps Wei Zhao really could refine it himself, and it was only natural he'd turn up his nose at it. With that thought, Old Master You said, "Then what would it take for you to agree?"

"Two Minor Qi-Gathering Pills. If you can produce them, I'll reluctantly make the trade," Wei Zhao said blandly.

"Two?" Old Master You let out a cold laugh at his words. "You've got a lion's appetite! The ingredients for one Minor Qi-Gathering Pill are indeed not worth the value of this five-hundred-year mint flower, but the ingredients for two already exceed it! And even if you had the materials for two Minor Qi-Gathering Pills, you'd be lucky to successfully refine two of them!"

"Take it or leave it!" Wei Zhao sneered back. "I'm first place, so I call the shots! You have the right to trade, and I have the right to refuse."

"Trade—we'll trade!" Old Master Zhao shot a look at Old Master You. Their hidden Zhao family had one more Minor Qi-Gathering Pill, originally meant for Zhao Qibing's future use, but right now the five-hundred-year mint flower was more important, so Old Master Zhao would rather make the exchange now and buy from the hidden You family later when the chance arose.

"Payment on one hand, goods on the other!" Wei Zhao said.

"Agreed!" Since Old Master Zhao had said to trade, Old Master You naturally had nothing more to say. The hidden Zhao family would surely compensate the hidden You family for their loss later!

Han Xiaopo was filled with boundless admiration for Wei Zhao. Too formidable, too brilliant—trading a single five-hundred-year mint flower for two Minor Qi-Gathering Pills? Why, the hidden Han family's treasury still held several of those five-hundred-year mint flowers, worth nowhere near as much as a Minor Qi-Gathering Pill!

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