14: Broken Jar

“Why aren't you speaking?”

The Martial Artist frowned in displeasure and asked again.

His attitude was even more obvious.

There was no need to say so much to Shen Xi, yet he patiently pressed on.

He was waiting for Shen Xi to name his price!

“What he can give you, I can give as well. Isn't it just collecting heavenly spirit stone without injury? I can do that too.”

Shen Xi's single sentence was a trump card, shocking Wang Xiangui speechless.

“You, how did you know…?”

At this moment, Wang Xiangui's back was already drenched in sweat.

His only bargaining chip with the Martial Artist was injury-free collection.

He had thought Shen Xi was unaware of this, but to his surprise, the other party knew everything, even his own negotiating chip.

How could he compete with Shen Xi then?

The stealth potion was in Shen Xi's hands!

One could say that from the very beginning, Wang Xiangui had been trying to get something for nothing.

He wanted to use the Martial Artists to eliminate Shen Xi, then reclaim the stealth potion, and then use the potion's effects to claim a portion of the heavenly spirit stone from the Martial Artists.

His original plan was flawless, until Shen Xi directly exposed the truth.

Wang Xiangui immediately lost his usefulness.

“Oh? Is that so? Why should I believe you?”

The Martial Artist indeed put down his great saber, his hostility towards Shen Xi significantly reduced.

For the Martial Artist, neither Wang Xiangui nor Shen Xi mattered; he would side with whoever could provide a method for injury-free collection.

“Brother Li, he's just stalling for time. Kill him immediately! I promise, as soon as he dies, I will do my utmost to help you collect heavenly spirit stone.”

Wang Xiangui was getting anxious.

If this continued, the situation would completely reverse.

“Brother Wang, don't be so anxious! Let's hear what this fellow has to say first. Don't worry, we wilderness folk value our word the most. Since we've already reached an agreement, it's impossible for us to cooperate with him.”

The Martial Artist spoke casually, but his gaze remained fixed on Shen Xi.

He was waiting for a result, a result that would allow him to make his final decision.

“These are the heavenly spirit stone I've collected during this time.”

Shen Xi took out the heavenly spirit stone he had collected over the past three days, weighing over twenty catties.

Seeing the heavenly spirit stone, the Martial Artist's eyes immediately lit up, and he began to believe Shen Xi's words.

One must know that every heavenly spirit stone was guarded by a demonic spirit, and each collection would trigger a berserk attack from the demonic spirit.

Because of this, collecting heavenly spirit stone was an extremely dangerous endeavor. It was possible that the demonic spirit of any given heavenly spirit stone could become too powerful to contend with, killing the collector.

Yet Shen Xi was able to collect so many heavenly spirit stone consecutively without incident. Unless he was incredibly lucky, then he must have mastered the method of injury-free collection.

If they cooperated with Shen Xi, the death rate would definitely drop significantly.

“Brother Li…”

Wang Xiangui still wanted to struggle.

Beside him, Shen Xi added, “Why don't you ask him if he has any heavenly spirit stone on him?”

Hearing this, the Martial Artist immediately looked at Wang Xiangui.

Wang Xiangui instantly made a face as if he had eaten a dead rat.

How could he have heavenly spirit stone?

As soon as he arrived at the Forbidden Ground, Shen Xi had taken all his stealth potion and storage bag.

He had collected quite a few heavenly spirit stone, but in the end, they were all given to Shen Xi.

“It seems he doesn't.”

The Martial Artist immediately realized this, his expression growing even colder.

One had a large amount of heavenly spirit stone, while the other couldn't even produce a single heavenly spirit stone.

Who possessed the method of injury-free collection? Wasn't it obvious?

“Brother Li, I just…”

Wang Xiangui still wanted to explain, but he was directly interrupted by the Martial Artist: “Wang Xiangui, you dare to deceive me? I will make sure you die without a burial place.”

Seeing that the Martial Artist was about to turn hostile, Wang Xiangui simply went all out.

“Shen Xi, since you won't let me live, I won't let you have an easy time either. At worst, we all die together!”

“Li Chengfeng, do you want to know the method for injury-free collection of heavenly spirit stone?”

“The answer is in Shen Xi's storage bag. Inside, there's a bottle of amber-colored potion called stealth potion. Just apply a drop, and for one minute, you can deceive the demonic spirits' perception. Even when collecting heavenly spirit stone, it won't trigger the demonic spirits' attacks.”

“As long as you kill Shen Xi, the stealth potion will be yours.”

Wang Xiangui was throwing caution to the wind.

He knew the Martial Artist wouldn't let him go, but he also didn't want Shen Xi to have an easy time, so he revealed the secret of the stealth potion.

This way, both he and Shen Xi lost their usefulness. With the Martial Artist's personality, he naturally wouldn't continue cooperating. If they both died...

No!

His chances of survival would be greater.

He had no use, and nothing valuable on him. The Martial Artist might just let him go like a fart.

But Shen Xi was different. He had just displayed over twenty catties of heavenly spirit stone, and he also had the most important stealth potion. The Martial Artist would definitely not let him go.

As expected.

Upon hearing Wang Xiangui's words, the Martial Artist's eyes sharpened considerably.

He looked at Wang Xiangui with a hint of amusement, then at Shen Xi, before speaking: “Kid, it seems our cooperation won't work out. However, if you honestly hand over the stealth potion and heavenly spirit stone, I can spare your life.”

“Alas!”

Shen Xi let out a long sigh.

Hearing the sigh, Wang Xiangui suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Every time he heard Shen Xi sigh, nothing good ever happened.

The first sigh, Zhang Meng and Shi Long died, and his own life was in Shen Xi's hands.

The second sigh, he was chased by monsters and almost lost his life.

This time, would another accident happen with this sigh?

No, impossible!

The Martial Artists' strength was not ordinary. Even if Shen Xi was also in the Initial Stage of Yuanqi, he couldn't be their opponent.

The outcome of this battle was determined from the start; Shen Xi couldn't make a Heaven-Defying comeback.

Thinking this, Wang Xiangui breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Instead of worrying about Shen Xi making a Heaven-Defying comeback, he should consider how to sneak away. He didn't want to die at the hands of the Martial Artists.

“Feeling helpless and sighing, are you? Hahaha, this is the rule of the wilderness, the Law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak. You can only blame yourself for being too weak to protect your own things. But you should be glad you met me; I can still spare your life. If it were anyone else, you wouldn't just lose your things, but your very life as well.”

The Martial Artist laughed triumphantly. This feeling of controlling others' lives and deaths made every pore on his body tingle with satisfaction.

Especially Shen Xi's action of reluctantly handing over the stealth potion and heavenly spirit stone to save his life, despite his unwillingness, further satisfied the Martial Artist's vanity.