10: All in, I bet on the fall of the prodigy

Directly feeding the Pill Formula to Qian Wuya would not make him believe it.

Opportunities that came knocking would only invite the deepest suspicion.

Lu Yuan needed a medium.

A medium that could make this poison, named “hope,” reasonable, fervent, and unquestionable.

His gaze pierced through the wooden window of the inn, landing on the magnificent mansion on the other side of Tianfeng City.

The Li Family.

Another major Foundation Establishment Family in Tianfeng City.

And also the Qian Family's sworn enemy.

In the Exchange's intelligence files, a piece of information was highlighted.

【Li Family's Young Lord, Li Hao, holds a grudge against Qian Baobao for stealing his wife and considers him his lifelong enemy.】

A perfect spark.

A perfect “malicious short seller.”

Lu Yuan's figure vanished from the inn, silently merging into the vast and shadowy underground network of Tianfeng City.

The black market.

A man wearing a grotesque ghost mask received a Jade Slip from an even more inconspicuous figure, seemingly blended into the shadows.

“An ancient incomplete Pill Formula, reliable source, only trades for Spirit Stones.”

The hoarse voice carried no emotion.

The ghost-masked man weighed the Jade Slip, his Divine Sense sweeping over it, an uncontrollable greed flashing in his eyes.

He was the biggest intelligence dealer in Tianfeng City, a nexus of countless secrets.

And also the “underwriter” Lu Yuan had chosen.

After completing all of this, Lu Yuan returned to the inn, and the light screen in his mind unfolded silently, cold and precise.

He spent a full 1 karma points.

Purchasing a new contract, pointing to the future.

【Call Option: Within twelve hours, Li Family's Young Lord ‘Li Hao’ will purchase the ‘Blood Burning Foundation Forging Pill’ Pill Formula at a high price from a black market merchant, mistakenly believing it to be a sinister item that can destroy Qian Baobao's Dao Foundation.】

【karma points balance: 1.0】

The trap was set.

He was not gifting a Pill Formula.

He was “issuing” a weapon.

A deadly weapon that would grow legs and desperately run into the enemy's hands.

Three days later.

Tianfeng City's largest auction house, Wanbao Tower, was bustling with people and spiritual light intertwined.

Lu Yuan sat in the most inconspicuous corner, his aura restrained to the extreme.

He looked at the two distinct areas in the VIP section.

On one side was Qian Family's Clan Chief, Qian Wuya, who was looking at his somewhat timid son, Qian Baobao, with loving eyes.

On the other side, Li Family's Young Lord, Li Hao, had sinister eyes and a cold sneer on his lips, indicating his plan had succeeded.

The auction proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Until the grand finale item appeared.

The auctioneer's voice suddenly rose, full of Incitement.

“Next up, a mysterious ancient Pill Formula Jade Slip! According to the seller, it contains the supreme mystery to make Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators advance by leaps and bounds! Starting bid, one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!”

As soon as the words fell.

“Fifteen hundred.”

Li Hao's voice immediately rang out, carrying the arrogance of someone determined to win.

Qian Wuya frowned slightly, not paying much attention.

“Sixteen hundred.”

A wealthy merchant in the next seat habitually raised the price.

“Three thousand!”

Li Hao did not hesitate, directly doubling it, his gaze sweeping provocatively towards Qian Baobao like a sharp arrow.

The entire hall was in an uproar.

Qian Wuya's face darkened.

He sensed something was wrong; this Li Family brat was targeting his son.

“Thirty-one hundred.”

He spoke slowly, his voice low.

“Five thousand!”

Li Hao smiled even more brightly, not concealing his malice.

The alarm bells in Qian Wuya's heart rang completely.

Was the Li Family insane?

To pay such a high price for a Pill Formula of unknown origin.

No.

This Pill Formula must be strange.

Li Hao wants to use it to frame Baobao!

A thought exploded in his mind, making all the hairs on his body stand on end.

Something that the Li Family would go to such lengths to use as “poison,” conversely, what if it wasn't poison?

Could it be... a true treasure!

Qian Wuya stared intently at his son's mediocre Aptitude, then at Li Hao's smug face, his heart almost stopped beating.

He could not lose.

Nor could he let his son lose any possible opportunity, even if that opportunity was only one in ten thousand!

“Eight thousand!”

His voice was already hoarse.

“Ten thousand!”

Li Hao stood up, looking down at Qian Baobao from above, his face full of mockery.

“Qian Wuya, is your son's future only worth this much Spirit Stones?”

These words were the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Qian Wuya's eyes were bloodshot, and the string named “reason” completely snapped.

“Thirty thousand!”

He didn't say it; he roared it, his voice filled with the madness of betting everything.

The entire auction house was dead silent.

Li Hao was stunned; he didn't expect Qian Wuya to be so crazy.

His goal was only to disgust the Qian Family and make them bleed heavily, but he wasn't prepared to spend thirty thousand Spirit Stones on a Pill Formula of unknown authenticity.

His father's allocated budget was also far from that much.

His face flushed, and he finally sat down sullenly, the malevolence in his eyes almost solidifying and dripping down.

“Congratulations, Clan Chief Qian!”

The auctioneer brought down the gavel, his face beaming.

Lu Yuan watched this scene quietly from the corner.

A perfect asset transfer.

Li Hao played the role of the foolish “malicious bidder.”

Qian Wuya became the “taker” consumed by greed and fear.

And he himself was the issuer who set all the rules but remained hidden behind the scenes, unknown to anyone.

Qian Family Mansion.

Great Master Zhang, the Qian Family's chief Alchemist, held the Jade Slip, his brows tightly furrowed, almost twisted into a knot.

“Clan Chief, this Pill Formula... is too overbearing. Forcibly boosting cultivation may damage the Foundation, which is no different from drinking poison to quench thirst.”

Qian Wuya stood by, his face constantly changing.

“How confident are you?”

“The Pill Formula's description is exquisite, its logic self-consistent, and it even cites various ancient classical theories that have long been lost to corroborate its principle of ‘breaking and then establishing.’ This old man... this old man dare not assert that it is 100% harmful. I can only say that this method is risky, with extremely high risks.”

“Enough.”

Qian Wuya interrupted him.

He could no longer listen to any “risk warnings.”

He only saw that after his son took the first “Blood Burning Foundation Forging Pill,” the cultivation Bottleneck that had troubled him for several years loosened immediately!

The progress in a single night was comparable to several months of arduous cultivation in the past!

He looked at the long-lost confident smile on his son's face, that heartfelt joy made him ecstatic as well.

All doubts were completely corroded by this deadly poison named “hope.”

On the Exchange light screen in Lu Yuan's mind.

A dramatic change in a line of data announced the perfect closed loop of his second plan.

【Target: Qian Baobao.】

【Event: Foundation Establishment failure within one year.】

【Put option price: 0.1 karma points / unit. (Odds 1:1000)】

The price had fallen to rock bottom.

Because in the eyes of the entire Tianfeng City, with the blessing of the “Divine Pill,” Qian Baobao's success was a foregone conclusion.

The entire market had fallen into irrational frenzy.

And this was the best time for greed.

In Lu Yuan's pupils, golden data streams rotated at an unprecedented speed, constructing a complex deduction model pointing to destruction.

All his assets were mobilized.

【Available karma points: 1.0】

【Collateral: ‘Condensing Green Pill’ (Value 0.5 karma points)】

He did not hesitate.

Because this was not gambling.

This was a certain arbitrage based on precise calculations.

“All in.”

“Buy put options for [Qian Baobao Foundation Establishment failure].”

A cold voice issued the command in his mind, devoid of emotion.

【Transaction confirmed.】

【You have successfully purchased 15 units of ‘Qian Baobao Foundation Establishment failure’ put options.】

【karma points balance: 0】

【Collateral locked.】

All his capital, all his retreats, were staked here.

Only to bet on that young man.

The inevitable fall of the future.