136: Business consent

Facing Bai Changkong's aggressive stance, Jiang Hanwen was indifferent.

Could he lower the price?

Of course he could!

Money was nothing to him; if he lost it, he could earn more. Even a month of reading time, with his current speed of reading ten lines at a glance, would be completely sufficient.

But reading was one thing; he couldn't reveal any trace of impatience.

Impatience was a weakness. His persona in the Great Stronghold was that of a Loose Cultivator in hiding, so he couldn't lose his composure.

If the Bai Family guessed the predicament he was currently facing, they would never do business with him.

Instead, they would directly open their book tower to him, on the condition that he serve as a Guest Elder for the Bai Family, risking his life for them.

Jiang Hanwen would definitely not agree to such terms.

However, to understand the underlying reasons and for his future Breakthrough, he had to figure this out.

Ultimately, he might have to leave this place where he could safely bide his time.

Regardless of winning or losing, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

The timing was about right; they needed to give each other a way to back down gracefully.

"How about we make a bet? Whoever wins between them, we listen to the winner?" Jiang Hanwen pointed to the two people in the distance, who were in a heated battle.

Bai Changkong narrowed his eyes, the smile slowly fading from his Face.

"Please!" Jiang Hanwen pointed to the middle-aged man on the left wearing a red banner and said, "I think his fire Dao is superior."

Bai Changkong nodded in agreement: "He won the previous few encounters, but this time, it's different!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two people fighting fiercely in the distance suddenly stopped.

Clearly, Bai Changkong cheated by directly transmitting a message.

But—

The next second, a pure orange fireball flew from Jiang Hanwen's hand, sweeping up the residual flames on the ground and surging towards the man with the spear.

No sooner said than done.

With a crisp, ethereal 'ling' sound, the teacup lid in Bai Changkong's hand flew out. A sharp beam of water light attached to it, transforming into a millstone-sized water blade disc, emitting a 'chang chang' sound as it cut through the air.

Bang!

Water and fire clashed, erupting in a huge white mist three zhang high, obscuring their vision.

"Swish!"

Jiang Hanwen and Bai Changkong simultaneously vanished from their seats, each leaping away from the pavilion.

"Clan Chief Bai, that's not honorable; cheating is surely not glorious," Jiang Hanwen said.

"This concerns a major Family matter, my Face, Bai, is nothing," Bai Changkong's expression was normal, without a hint of embarrassment.

"Since that's the case—"

Clang!

A heavy metallic clang sounded.

An eight-foot-long three-pointed, double-edged halberd appeared in Jiang Hanwen's hand. The silvery-white spear tip emitted a chilling cold Qi, reflecting the golden sunlight, adding to its sharpness.

Bai Changkong was not intimidated either. A long sword appeared in his hand. The sword body was four feet long, entirely pure black, with golden patterns extending like tree roots along the pure black sword lines towards the sword tip.

"If I win, six thousand five hundred taels, and I read for a year!" Jiang Hanwen gripped the long spear tightly.

"If you lose, six thousand, three months!" Bai Changkong looked coldly at Jiang Hanwen, meeting his challenge head-on.

"Come!" As soon as Jiang Hanwen finished speaking, he stomped his foot and charged forward with his spear.

Bai Changkong held the black sword. He twirled the sword, and dozens of layers of completely transparent water screens enveloped Jiang Hanwen.

A cold gleam arrived first, followed by the spear striking like a Dragon.

The halberd in Jiang Hanwen's hand transformed into a high-speed rotating drill, creating a gust of wind. It was unstoppable, the sharp cone piercing towards Bai Changkong, shattering the water screens, sending countless water droplets flying.

Just as the two were only a zhang apart, the water droplets that had just fallen to the ground, at some unknown point, turned into sharp ice thorns, densely packed, stabbing towards Jiang Hanwen's back.

Jiang Hanwen stomped his foot forcefully, and a high wall condensed from earth Spiritual Qi blocked behind him.

He supported the wall with one hand. The next second, fire light surged, like a rocket thruster. Under the reactive force, the long spear in his hand gained fierce acceleration, and with a 'chua' sound, it flew out of his hand towards Bai Changkong.

Bang!

The ice wall in front shattered, and the long spear's momentum didn't decrease, continuing to charge forward.

"Clang!"

With a crisp, head-on collision, Bai Changkong retreated with the force, his brows instantly furrowing.

His right hand, holding the black sword, hung naturally. If anyone looked closely, they would notice a hint of crimson at the base of his thumb and forefinger—it had split open.

Jiang Hanwen was not having an easy time either. The piercing ice blades had penetrated the earth wall. He barely managed to dodge using the explosive force of Blazing Sun Burst, looking somewhat disheveled.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh ~

Bai Changkong's right hand rose again, the black sword dancing in the air, cutting through it like tofu.

Streaks of crystalline blue lines condensed in the air, sharpening and turning into ice, surging towards Jiang Hanwen indiscriminately like a violent storm, much like the concept of 'Myriad Swords Returning to the Sect'.

A huge orange fireball devoured the ice crystals.

"Boom!"

Water and fire clashed. After the head-on collision, neither of them felt relaxed, and mist permeated everywhere.

"Bang!"

The heavy halberd slammed onto the ground, shaking it.

But under the halberd was only a statue made of ice, no one was there.

From the milky white mist, Bai Changkong's voice came:

"Shopkeeper Jiang, don't be so irritable."

"Boom!"

A fire bullet flew from Jiang Hanwen's palm. Three breaths later, the fire bullet exploded on the ground, hitting nothing.

Jiang Hanwen wanted to fight up close, but Bai Changkong always controlled the distance, just wearing him down.

After sparring for a quarter of an hour, Jiang Hanwen put away his halberd and jumped back into the pavilion.

"Whoosh ~"

A strong wind swept from Bai Changkong's center, dispersing the mist.

In a white robe, not a single leaf clinging to him, Bai Changkong leisurely walked back into the pavilion, a smile playing on his lips:

"Shopkeeper Jiang, you yield."

"Clan Chief Bai's demeanor is extraordinary. Three months it is, then," Jiang Hanwen sighed, with three parts regret in his helplessness.

"I only barely won; I can't let Shopkeeper Jiang suffer alone. How about this: as long as you can continuously provide goods, my Bai Family's book tower will always be open to you."

Having won the spar, Bai Changkong was not aggressive. Instead, he did him a favor, giving Jiang Hanwen Face.

After drinking some tea and chatting for a bit, and meeting two of Bai Changkong's nephews, Jiang Hanwen left the training ground.

Just after he left, a dark blue-robed figure slowly walked into the pavilion.

"Father," Bai Changkong said, pointing to the cup:

"Six thousand taels. From now on, we won't have to spend a fortune to endure that Qiu fellow's temper."

Bai Feng sat down with a stern Face:

"He didn't use his full strength."

Bai Changkong smiled slightly: "I didn't use talismans either."

"No!" Bai Feng shook his head, looking seriously at his son, sharp cold light shooting from his thin eyes.