Chapter 191 - 188: Wager Battle

"It’s not a matter of whether it’s worth it or not."

The elder who had suggested an auction earlier stepped forward. "Mo Qianqian, forget about a wager. Even if you were to hold an auction, it’s impossible to produce such a thing.

"There are hardly any Spirit Masters in the entire Realm of Chaos. The only hope of producing it would be to spend at least six months to a year throwing all our resources into finding the medicinal ingredients and locating someone to refine and upgrade the pill."

Hearing this, Mo Qianqian frowned. It seemed this item really couldn’t be produced on such short notice. He was confident there were quite a few Spirit Masters within the various empires. The Great Shang Dynasty had them, for instance, and a concerted search would undoubtedly turn them up. However, that would indeed demand significant time and a steep price. Without an on-the-spot transaction, any promises were simply unreliable.

"Since you don’t have it, then we’ll wager a thousand bottles of Chaos Qi. A thousand bottles isn’t asking too much, right?" Mo Qianqian spoke up.

The crowd fell speechless.

"Fifty drops of the Liquid of Chaos is the absolute limit of what we can offer," Wu Zonghai said.

"Source of Chaos? What’s that?" Mo Qianqian looked in confusion at Lao Liu’s master, Jiang Wanzhong. He had also obtained two small jade bottles filled with liquid from the yellow-robed, white-haired elder of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Could that have been the Source of Chaos?

Hearing Mo Qianqian’s words, the crowd was rendered speechless once again. Mo Qianqian truly was a newcomer to the Realm of Chaos; he didn’t even know what the Source of Chaos was.

"Ten bottles of Chaos Qi can be refined into one drop of the Liquid of Chaos," Jiang Wanzhong explained. "Fifty drops is equivalent to five hundred bottles of Chaos Qi."

Mo Qianqian’s eyes lit up. Five hundred bottles of Chaos Qi! If he could consistently rely on it for breakthroughs, that amount would be enough to sustain him throughout the entire Third Realm. Naturally, it was impossible to depend entirely on Chaos Qi to advance forever, but holding onto this stuff was like holding onto pills—it was hard currency.

If he won, he would get fifty drops of the Liquid of Chaos. If he lost, he would just hand over a fake coffin to fool them. Either way, he wouldn’t lose out on this deal. As for asking for a thousand bottles, he had just been shouting blindly.

In truth, he was also pondering another issue. If he won, would the Imperial Alliance really pay up? Even if they didn’t cause trouble for him after a victory, Cyan Cloud Mountain and the others certainly wouldn’t just give up, right? When the time came, the Imperial Alliance would at best just withdraw to the perimeter and wait to reap the spoils.

There was also the matter of Black Dragon City. Mo Qianqian was worried about them, too. He was even debating whether it was better to win and take the fifty drops of the Liquid of Chaos, or to lose and hand the item over. If he handed the item over, his immediate danger would be temporarily resolved, as everyone’s firepower would be redirected toward the Imperial Alliance.

"Deal! However, you have to hand over the challenge fee first." Unable to figure it all out at once, Mo Qianqian decided to agree for now. Setting aside winning or losing, he had to get his hands on the challenge fee first.

"Very well, Mo Qianqian. You said it yourself, and everyone present heard it!" Wu Zonghai declared. He wasn’t just speaking to Mo Qianqian; he was broadcasting this to the entire crowd. The implication was clear: if Mo Qianqian lost, the item belonged to the Imperial Alliance.

With that said, Wu Zonghai retrieved five jade bottles from his storage bag and tossed them straight at Mo Qianqian. "Five drops of the Liquid of Chaos!"

Mo Qianqian caught them, a look of delight immediately spreading across his face. One drop of the Liquid of Chaos was equivalent to ten bottles of Chaos Qi. Moreover, when refining a volume equivalent to ten bottles at once, directly refining the Liquid of Chaos would undoubtedly yield far better results.

"Everyone, step back a thousand zhang and let your fighter come forward!" Mo Qianqian shouted clearly, giving his spear a sharp flick.

At his words, the Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader and the others looked curiously toward Wu Zonghai’s group. Ying Qingling wasn’t present at the scene. She was likely waiting in the rear. They were all eager to see just how much this Ying Qingling had grown.

SWISH!

Right at that moment, a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old came flying over. He had sharp eyebrows and bright, piercing eyes. Dressed in a cyan shirt and wielding a black longsword, he exuded no outward aura, yet one glance was enough to tell that he was extraordinary.

"That fighter would be me." The cyan-clad young man smiled at Mo Qianqian, then glanced back at Wu Zonghai. "Alliance Leader Wu, the Imperial Alliance must keep its word on what was promised."

"Mu Chen!"

Seeing him, the crowd was thoroughly shocked, and many pairs of eyes instantly turned icy.

The person the Imperial Alliance had called upon wasn’t their own genius, Ying Qingling. It was the head of the Four Great Deviants, a man wanted by every major faction—Mu Chen!

"So this is the Imperial Alliance’s trump card? The person they brought isn’t Ying Qingling, but Mu Chen?"

"Why would Mu Chen agree to fight Mo Qianqian? Just what kind of benefits did they offer him?"

"These great powers really will stoop to anything. To achieve their goals, they’ll even collaborate with someone they themselves put a bounty on."

"Mu Chen is at the Eighth Level of Tongyou Realm, and even someone at the Void Spirit Realm First Layer would have a hard time taking him down. But then again, no one has ever seen Mu Chen kill a Void Spirit Realm expert. Does he actually have a chance of beating Mo Qianqian?"

The crowd erupted into a flurry of animated discussions. Killing intent even began to leak from several people in the crowd. Clearly, Mu Chen was highly unwelcome here. If they hadn’t wanted to watch him fight Mo Qianqian, quite a few of them would have already attacked.

"You’re Mu Chen?" Mo Qianqian was also taken aback. The head of the Four Great Deviants, with a bounty of one hundred bottles of Chaos Qi on his head—he had heard this name quite a few times by now.

"That’s right. I am fighting on behalf of the Imperial Alliance," Mu Chen said. "Mo Qianqian, come out and fight! If I lose, you get fifty drops of the Liquid of Chaos. If you can kill me, you’ll also get the hundred bottles of Chaos Qi from my bounty. But if you lose, hand over the Ninefold Coffin."

Mu Chen gave his longsword a flick, his long hair fluttering without any wind, a thick veil of confidence draped across his face.

"Quite confident, aren’t we?" Mo Qianqian looked toward the people from the Imperial Alliance and Cyan Cloud Mountain. "I’m afraid the moment I step out, they’ll make their move."

"Hmph." Wu Zonghai snorted coldly before his figure rapidly retreated a thousand zhang away.

The rest of the Imperial Alliance followed suit and fell back. The Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader also led his people in retreating to the side. For experts of their caliber, this distance wasn’t considered far. The main reason they hadn’t attacked yet was because of the Black Dragon.

Seeing that the forces of both factions, as well as the other groups, had retreated a thousand zhang away, Mo Qianqian finally took his spear in hand and gave it a sharp swing behind him.

"Mo Qianqian, be careful. This Mu Chen is not simple. For him to dare accept this challenge, he must possess a powerful trump card," Jiang Wanzhong cautioned.

"Don’t worry, General Jiang. He still doesn’t have what it takes to do anything to me." With that, Mo Qianqian’s figure blurred as he dashed forward.

Internally, he was already circulating the First Form of the Vast Spear Technique, causing billowing power to surge and roar within his body. A vast, righteous aura—supremely yang and unyielding, capable of vanquishing all evil—radiated from his form. Mo Qianqian’s overall presence was grandiose, his might peerless.

"To possess such might at the Third Realm Third Layer... you truly are a deviant!" Mu Chen couldn’t help but marvel. Standing his ground, he flicked his longsword, producing a resonant CLANG.

A similarly powerful aura erupted from his body, and a formidable coercion instantly swept out in all directions.