"Let's talk about money!"

Elder Qi brazenly sat down, perfectly composed, and even took a sip of tea. As soon as the tea touched his lips, his eyes lit up. The tea's flavor was exceptionally fine. I've never tasted anything like this before!

Elder Qi couldn't help but take another sip.

The corners of Zhao Ling and Wei Haojie's mouths twitched in secondhand embarrassment for Elder Qi. You should have just stuck to the agreed-upon compensation. Look at you now, making a fool of yourself!

"Money..."

Su Xuan could see that Elder Qi was just bluffing and found the old man rather amusing. He had no intention of giving him money. "I can't give you any money for now," he said. "My arm is broken, and I need to save up for treatment. If there's anything left over after that, I'll compensate you."

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Elder Qi nearly shot to his feet again. I didn't chop off your arm! What the hell do you need treatment for? You're so damn unreasonable!

"Elder Qi, let's be frank." Su Xuan leaned forward slightly. "You are people of the jianghu who abide by its rules. Am I not doing the same?"

Elder Qi's face was grim as he waited for Su Xuan to continue.

"I believe I was more than fair with Zhai Defeng," Su Xuan said, leaning back. "If I had truly wanted to kill him, I guarantee you would never have known who did it, nor would you have ever found his body. Besides, he came to my home to kill me. What would you have done in my position?"

Su Xuan didn't mind intimidating him a little. "Take you, for instance. I could make you disappear from my house as if you were never here. And your Five Poisons Sect... how many members do you have? I could wipe out your entire sect with what I consider spare change."

When he finished speaking, the air fell silent.

Under the table, Elder Qi's hands began to nervously wring each other. He lifted his head and surreptitiously glanced around.

Old Housekeeper Liu stood behind Su Xuan with a placid expression, looking at him as if he were just an ordinary passerby.

In the courtyard, a giant panda ambled about lazily, but its gaze kept drifting toward him, as if it might pounce and take a bite at any moment.

He then looked up to the second floor of Su Xuan's mansion. On a balcony stood two children, both smiling down at him. Their eyes, however, were cold, as if he were nothing more than a toy to them.

But what unsettled him most was Wang Xuehan, a stunningly beautiful young woman. She stood under the eaves wearing an apron, her gaze fixed tenderly on Su Xuan as if she were simply waiting for him to come to dinner. It was as though the current situation was perfectly normal to her, as if Su Xuan making people disappear was a common occurrence...

A chill of dread crept into Elder Qi's heart. He suddenly understood why Zhao Ling and Wei Haojie were always so deferential to Su Xuan. He was trying to bargain with a tiger!

"If you think one billion is too much..." Elder Qi's tone was unsteady. "Then how about five hundred million? Give me five hundred million, and we'll call it even."

Su Xuan shook his head.

"Then three hundred million." Elder Qi raised his hand. "Three hundred million has to be enough, right? Give me three hundred million, and I'll leave immediately!"

Su Xuan shook his head again.

Zhao Ling and Wei Haojie sighed in unison. If only he had spoken nicely from the beginning, instead of insisting on taking an arm. Now it's clear Su Xuan won't pay a single cent!

"Su Xuan, this mansion of yours is said to be worth over a billion!" Elder Qi said, his voice grim. "And we're talking about a human life. Is three hundred million really too much to ask? Besides, did you really think I'd dare to come here without an ace up my sleeve?"

Before he finished speaking, Elder Qi suddenly lifted his robe, revealing four or five small black jars hanging from his belt.

As soon as Zhao Ling and Wei Haojie saw the small jars, they instinctively took a few steps back, their faces filled with dread.

"Elder Qi, let's talk this out! Please don't play with your Ascension Pot!" Zhao Ling urged hastily.

"That's right, Elder Qi! Su Xuan is actually a very reasonable person. There's no need for things to get to this point!" Wei Haojie quickly chimed in.

"Ascension Pot?" Su Xuan, however, seemed interested in Elder Qi's jars. His eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me your Five Poisons Sect also dabbles in explosives that can blast people into the sky."

"Heh!" A wave of confidence washed over Elder Qi. He lifted his chin and said, "This is no crude explosive. It's far more powerful. If I smash just one of these pots, this mansion of yours, worth over a billion, will cease to exist. Not a single blade of grass will grow here for the next ten years!"

"If I smash all these pots, everything for several miles around will be completely destroyed!"

"This Ascension Pot is our Five Poisons Sect's defining treasure, our ultimate trump card! It is the very foundation that allows our sect to stand firm in the jianghu!"

Elder Qi's old face beamed with pride, exuding an air of looking down upon the world.

But Su Xuan's next words made Elder Qi's eyes fly open.

"Smash one, if you dare," Su Xuan said nonchalantly.

"You think I don't dare?" Elder Qi immediately took an Ascension Pot in his hand. Perhaps because he knew its true power all too well, beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

"Don't do it, Elder Qi!" Zhao Ling and Wei Haojie both took another step back.

With a calm expression, Su Xuan repeated, "Go on. Smash it."

Elder Qi's hand began to tremble. "Su Xuan, there's no need for this to become a life-or-death struggle! Two hundred million! If you're willing to pay two hundred million, we can forget this ever happened! What do you say?"

"If you're a man, you'll smash it," Su Xuan said.

"You think I don't dare?" Elder Qi cried, raising the Ascension Pot higher.

"You don't dare," Su Xuan stated flatly.

Trembling all over, Elder Qi shouted, "I'm really going to smash it!"

"Then please, begin your performance," Su Xuan replied.

Suddenly, Elder Qi deflated like a punctured ball, lowering his upraised hand.

But as he lowered his hand, his expression suddenly changed. He went pale with absolute terror, as if a catastrophe had struck. He stared at his palm—the Ascension Pot was gone!

Did it slip from my hand? It's all over! I'm doomed!

GASP!

Elder Qi's eyes flew wide open again.

He watched, stunned, as the Ascension Pot floated toward Su Xuan, held aloft by an invisible hand.

Su Xuan reached out, and the pot landed gently in his grasp.

Seeing this, Old Housekeeper Liu chuckled to himself. That's a new little trick the Young Master picked up, heh heh!

With the Ascension Pot in hand, Su Xuan turned to the still-shaken Elder Qi. "Now I have an Ascension Pot. What do you suggest we do?"

Elder Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and stared intently at the pot in Su Xuan's hand. "Su Xuan, you have to hold that carefully! I wasn't bluffing. That pot is incredibly powerful. If it breaks, we're all dead!"

But Su Xuan's next words left Elder Qi utterly dumbfounded...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.