Chapter 68 Provocation

Just as Yun Bai was preparing to leave in low spirits, the door of a quiet room not far away was pushed open with a "clang."

Wang Er strode out with his head held high! His aura was surging, his spiritual power was rounded and restrained, and every movement carried a brand-new sense of power—he had successfully achieved a Breakthrough to the Late Stage of the First Realm!

The Cultivation Technique Wang Er practiced was a military technique called the Blood Tiger Technique, a hard Qigong improved by the military. The military emphasized rapidly arming oneself to gain powerful combat capabilities. Therefore, the characteristic of this Cultivation Technique was that one had to endure extreme pain during Cultivation, while simultaneously gaining extraordinary Cultivation speed during the Innate stage.

According to military records, the average time to advance from the early stage to the Late Stage of the First Realm while practicing the Blood Tiger Technique was half a year, which was several times stronger than the well-known Dao sects' Cultivation Techniques!

Wang Er was glowing with health and brimming with triumph.

He had achieved his Breakthrough to the Late Stage of the First Realm in the early hours of last night, and had spent the latter half of the night regulating his breath and adapting to his new cultivation base.

He caught sight of Yun Bai, whose aura was listless and whose complexion looked terrible. He raised an eyebrow, clearly sensing the decadent fluctuation of spiritual power on the other party, and a flash of schadenfreude crossed his eyes.

"Yo, isn't this Brother Yun Bai? What's the matter, looking at your complexion, was your Breakthrough not very smooth?" Wang Er deliberately raised his volume, his tone mocking.

Yun Bai was in a terrible mood and didn't want to engage with him at all; he just wanted to leave this place that had caused him heavy losses as quickly as possible. He said sullenly, "Congratulations to Brother Wang on your Breakthrough."

Seeing Yun Bai concede, Wang Er became even more smug, and a thought suddenly flooded his mind—take advantage of his vulnerability!

A bright idea struck him, and he blocked Yun Bai's path, cupping his hands and saying loudly, "Brother Yun Bai, why the rush to leave? We two brothers can be considered to have become friends through fighting. Last time we sparred, I was careless and underestimated the enemy, and was bested by your punch, which has always been a source of regret for me. Meeting again by chance today is surely an arrangement of fate; why don't you and I spar again? It would allow me to make up for my previous regret, how about it?"

Yun Bai frowned; what mood was he in to fight now?

Yun Bai could see that Wang Er had successfully achieved a Breakthrough to the Late Stage of the First Realm, and thinking of his own predicament, he felt even more depressed and irritable.

He suppressed his heavy thoughts, trying to give the other party a way to save Face: "Brother Wang, you exaggerate. Last time, I was only able to gain the upper hand because you did not use your full strength, while I went all out; it was a matter of intent against lack thereof. In terms of true cultivation base and fist strength, I am ashamed to say I am inferior."

Yun Bai immediately guessed the other party's desire to regain his standing. Therefore, his words were half-true and half-false, admitting that Wang Er's power was stronger while also giving the other party the Face of having been "careless."

"Hahaha, Brother Yun Bai understands me after all. I've decided to make you my friend! I just want to spar with you a little; I hope Brother Yun Bai can give me, Wang Er, some Face, hahaha." Hearing this, Wang Er felt comfortable, and it seemed as if the spiritual power flowing within his body became even smoother.

This Yun Bai was quite sensible. He had originally thought that if Yun Bai refused again, it would be difficult for him to force the issue, and he would have saved enough Face.

Just as the two were talking, the stone door of another quiet room opened. Jiang Shuanger, dressed in simple and elegant Alchemy robes, with a slightly tired but still stunningly beautiful Face, walked out.

She was also in a bad mood. The second-grade white pill she had refined this time had failed again, and she had almost forgotten how many times she had failed. This exhaustion and frustration made her incredibly irritable.

Jiang Shuanger immediately saw the two in a standoff, especially Wang Er's aggressive posture and Yun Bai's clearly unwilling expression.

Jiang Shuanger already had a terrible impression of Wang Er because of her Senior Brother Zhang Huai, and now she was even more furious.

She stepped forward quickly, her crisp voice filled with undisguised disdain: "Wang Er! Do you have no shame? Who was it that was knocked flying by one of Yun Bai's punches in front of everyone during the martial arts hall assessment? Now that you've had a small Breakthrough in cultivation, you dare come here to show off and bully someone whose cultivation is inferior to yours?"

She turned to look at Yun Bai, with a hint of exasperation, "Yun Bai, why are you afraid of him? You won against him last time based on real ability! Why be polite to a person like him?"

Seeing Jiang Shuanger suddenly rush over to help, Yun Bai thought to himself, "Not good." It was ruined. Originally, Wang Er, this donkey with a bad temper, was about to be smoothed over, but Jiang Shuanger's sudden stab to the heart would surely make Wang Er furious, right?

Wang Er was exposed in public by Jiang Shuanger, especially just after achieving a Breakthrough and feeling triumphant, and he couldn't hold his head up.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw another group of people flooding into the State Religion, rushing towards the Spirit Pool. Some of these people were his good friends, and some were his subordinates in the military.

It turned out that the moment Wang Er achieved his Breakthrough, he had excitedly sent a message to General Yang Cang, the commander of Chu Prefecture. These people who had rushed over were all here to congratulate Wang Er upon hearing the news.

In front of everyone, the fire of his competitive spirit flared up! He slapped his thigh hard, pointed at Yun Bai and Jiang Shuanger, and his voice sounded slightly distorted from excitement: "Fine! Since Young Miss Jiang says so, let's make a big bet!"

He stared at Yun Bai and then glanced at Jiang Shuanger: "Just sparring is boring! Let's place a bet! I, Wang Er, swear here: if I lose this fight to Brother Yun Bai, I will voluntarily offer up 50,000 Spirit Stones!"

Although his family was wealthy, Cultivation consumed a huge amount of resources, and 50,000 Spirit Stones was already a significant fortune for him.

"50,000?" Jiang Shuanger sneered, flicking her jade hand, and a glowing jade pendant dangled from her fingertips, fully displaying her wealth, "This Young Miss has no interest in watching children play house! If we are going to bet, let's bet big! Yun Bai, let's fight him! If we lose, I, Jiang Shuanger, will pay the 100,000 Spirit Stones for you!"

"Wang Er, we bet 100,000! Do you dare to accept?" Jiang Shuanger put her hands on her hips, proudly lifting her fair chin.

When it came to wealth, as a member of an Alchemy family in Chu Prefecture City, she had never been afraid of anyone!

"1... 100,000?!" Wang Er's brow furrowed into a knot, and his heart pounded wildly.

Wang Er couldn't help but feel some regret.

This number was a bit beyond his expectations. His original intention was just to provoke Yun Bai into fighting to regain the standing he had lost, and to win a small amount.

But Jiang Shuanger's provocation, plus the gazes gradually being attracted from all around, left him completely unable to back down!

Refuse? With so many people watching, especially in front of Jiang Shuanger, how could he, Wang Er, continue to exist in the State Religion in the future? His Face turned red, the veins on his forehead jumped, and finally, he gritted his teeth, stiffened his neck, and roared: "Bet it is! 100,000 it is! But that depends on whether you, Yun Bai, dare to accept the challenge! Brother Yun Bai, do you only know how to hide behind a woman?"

In an instant, everyone's gaze, including Jiang Shuanger's provocative look and Wang Er's desperate ruthlessness, focused on Yun Bai.

100,000 Spirit Stones?

Yun Bai raised an eyebrow.

This was not a small amount.

He was currently stressed out over the cost of the soul-stabilizing pill for his younger sister, and this money might be a significant help! However, Wang Er had already achieved a Breakthrough to the Late Stage and held an absolute advantage in cultivation base; Yun Bai did not have absolute certainty of taking him down.

Since Wang Er was a "Mysterious-grade" talent valued by the military, his talent and means must not be bad.

Conversely, as for Yun Bai himself at this moment, because of the multiple upheavals of spiritual power in his body, his Meridians were still slightly twitching, his Dantian was withered, and his Golden Core was left with only a pale golden mass of Qi. His state was truly too poor.

If he were alone, as long as the other party wasn't too excessive, Yun Bai wouldn't mind losing Face and conceding to Wang Er.

But right now, Jiang Shuanger was backing him up; how could Yun Bai let a friend down?

Jiang Shuanger and Senior Brother Zhang Huai had not only helped him many times, but they had also taken care of his younger sister, Yun Qian, while he was in the Black Prison.

Outside the Spirit Pool, a group of people surrounded Yun Bai.

What the crowd didn't notice was that Elder Yin Xin, who had long been guarding the entrance to the Spirit Pool Formation, quietly opened his eyes, silently watching this good show.

Yun Bai was a "Mysterious-grade" talent designated by their State Religion; how would he respond to the repeated provocations from the military's "Mysterious-grade" talent? Elder Yin Xin observed with great interest.

At the center of the focused gazes, Yun Bai pondered for a moment and finally spoke.

"Wang Er, I think 100,000 Spirit Stones is still too little. Let's bet—200,000! What do you think?"

For his sister, for his friend, and for 200,000 Spirit Stones, this battle could be fought!