Chapter 587: Bound
Reminded by Qin Nie, Hua Qianchi immediately caught on to that lifeline and nodded. "Right, it was just a joke. Daoist Fang, there's no need to take it so seriously."
Everyone looked at Hua Qianchi with raised brows.
However, Hua Qianchi was too focused to consider much. This bet involved the dignity of the Nine Yang Dao Sect; he would rather lose face and be called dishonest than let the Nine Yang Dao Sect’s reputation be utterly destroyed!
"You’re being a bit shameless, aren’t you? How can the agreed-upon bet turn into a joke when it’s time to fulfill it?" Li Daoye sneered. He looked at Qi Fa. "As the son of the prefect, surely you will speak a fair word."
Qi Fa pondered and nodded. "If you had signed a contract, I could say something fair, but since it was only a verbal agreement... Hua Qianchi not wanting to admit it leaves you powerless."
At this point, Qi Fa looked at Hua Qianchi with a strange smile. "Hua Qianchi, have you considered this carefully? Doing so might affect your reputation in the Azure Dao Manor."
"Qi Fa, what reputation do I have? I’m just a nameless practitioner in the cultivation world," Hua Qianchi smiled as he peered at Fang Chen and Li Daoye, "But what I said earlier wasn't entirely a joke. I will give you one hundred mid-grade spirit stones."
This statement carried a hidden meaning, suggesting that they should be content with the offer and not bring up the other terms of the bet.
"Daoist Fang, it seems this person is determined to go back on his word," Li Daoye said, looking at Fang Chen with a sigh.
Chu Lan's eyes flickered slightly, but she was stopped from speaking by the sharp gaze of the head of the Immortal Qin Clan.
The head of the Immortal Qin Clan glanced at Qin Nie, Qin Xuan, and the others and said, "You young ones waste your time on Immortal Origin Stones instead of focusing on your cultivation. Playing around and losing your purpose... How will you shoulder the responsibilities of the Immortal Qin Clan in the future? Come with me!"
With that, he turned and walked away. The others looked at each other and had no choice but to follow him.
Seeing that Qin Nie and Qi Fa had left, Hua Qianchi didn't want to stay and embarrass himself further. He casually spoke to Fang Chen and Li Daoye, “I will gather a hundred mid-grade spirit stones in a month. You can come to the Nine Yang Dao Sect to retrieve them when the time comes.”
He had to retrieve the spirit stones at the Nine Yang Dao Sect?
The people around exchanged looks. It seemed that Hua Qianchi was only offering a false promise and didn't have the intention to fulfill even that end of the bet.
As Hua Qianchi turned to leave, he was surprised to see Fang Chen standing at the door, with his gray-white eyes locked onto him.
Hua Qianchi's eyes held a trace of mockery. "Is there something else?"
"Daoist Hua, the bet has not been fulfilled."
Li Daoye chuckled and said, "It seems you were right earlier. You called Fang Daoist a blind cat, but you are a dead rat."
Hua Qianchi felt countless eyes on him, filled with either schadenfreude, ridicule, or pity.
Provoked by Li Daoye’s words, he let out a thunderous roar and charged at Fang Chen, leaping towards him with a fierce intent!
The roar reached the ears of the Immortal Qin Clan's patriarch and others, who had yet to leave the Immortal Origin District. They stopped and turned around, looking toward the commotion.
Boom!
The store’s door was instantly smashed, and a figure was hurled outside before crashing on the street. Due to the inertia, the figure slid across the ground, scattering the stalls on either side of the street.
Black-clad cultivators rushed over, about to scold the intruder, but seeing their own patriarch present, they hesitated, unsure of how to proceed.
In the Immortal Qin Clan, the maintenance of order among cultivators was naturally overseen by the Immortal Qin Clan, and these black-clad cultivators were experts trained by the Immortal Qin Clan.
"Isn't that Senior Brother Hua? How did this happen!" Qin Xuan exclaimed in shock.
The Immortal Qin Clan members beside her all wore peculiar expressions, glancing instinctively toward Qin Nie.
Qin Nie frowned, shifting his gaze from Hua Qianchi to the two figures behind him.
"Qin Nie, it seems that the technique of the Grand Thousand Dao Sect is quite formidable; He defeated Hua Qianchi," Qi Fa said, examining the golden ropes on Hua Qianchi with a gloating smile.
"Do you dare to fight me fair and square?! Argh!"
Seeing his embarrassing and awkward situation exposed to the Immortal Qin Clan members, Hua Qianchi’s face turned bright red, his anger boiling over as his expression became frenzied.
Suddenly, a dusty foot descended from the sky and landed on his face, forcibly silencing his enraged shouts.
"Weren't we just fighting fair and square? You couldn’t even withstand one of my moves." Fang Chen looked down at Hua Qianchi. "Now, will you honor the bet?"
He couldn't even handle one move?!
Qin Xuan and the others were shocked. Hua Qianchi was a leading figure among the younger generation. Even Qin Nie would struggle in a fight against him.
Although the Nine Yang Dao Sect lacked an ancestor in the Dao Union Realm, it was still a prestigious and well-established sect, with a heritage as profound as that of the Immortal Qin Clan. How could a prodigy from such a sect lose to a cultivator from the Grand Thousand Dao Sect!?