Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao
chapter-1048

Chapter 1048: Accepting the Challenge

A fierce person had recently appeared in the Imperial Capital.

His name was Wu Ziren, and his cultivation level was only at the medium extreme of the Mountain River Tier. However, he had a winning streak of 19 matches at the Iron Blood Stadium, and this stunned the entire Imperial Capital.

There was nothing special about someone winning a match at the Iron Blood Stadium. However, winning anything above three matches was insanely hard as the Iron Blood Stadium would send elites to battle anyone who reached a winning streak of three or more matches. They would do everything in their ability to end the competitors’ streaks.

No one was exempt from this, not even Zhao Lun or Sha Yuan. Neither of them had received preferential treatment when they had battled at the Iron Blood Stadium.

Moreover, one was fully responsible for their own life and death once they entered the Iron Blood Stadium to battle. It was extremely normal for one to be severely wounded during battle, and it was even possible that one would be killed.

Someone ferocious enough to achieve a 10 match winning streak would only appear every one year or so, and someone brilliant enough to achieve a 15 match winning streak would only appear once every 100 or so years. Meanwhile, someone prodigious enough to achieve a 20 match winning streak would only appear every 1,000 or so years.

Thus, being able to reach a 19 match winning streak, Wu Ziren naturally caused a huge stir in the Imperial Capital.

Moreover, Wu Ziren suddenly surprised everyone by issuing a challenge to Ling Han and inviting him to battle at the Iron Blood Stadium. He wanted to use Ling Han as a stepping stone on his way to a 20 match winning streak.

The residents of the Imperial Capital were instantly filled with fervor and anticipation.

Ling Han had also shot to fame through a single battle, back when he had insta-killed Bai Yuansi and crushed Zhao Lun when battling at the same cultivation level. It had seemed as if he was going to surpass Zhao Lun and become the strongest cultivator of the younger generation.

Could Wu Ziren challenge Ling Han’s lofty status?

The battle had yet to begin, yet bets were already being placed.

The gambling businesses had already released the odds for the two of them. As before, these odds weren’t directly related to who would win or lose. Rather, these odds were related to who would win, and in how many exchanges. This was because an elite had claimed that Wu Ziren’s strength was definitely no weaker than that of Ling Han. Thus, the odds for the various betting options were quite attractive.

For example, the payout for Ling Han being able to defeat Wu Ziren in 10 exchanges and Wu Ziren being able to defeat Ling Han in 10 exchanges were three and four, respectively. This rate was extremely high, yet it was still nowhere near the insane payout rate of 100 from before.

After all, Ling Han was no longer an unknown and untested youth. Meanwhile, Wu Ziren had also displayed his overwhelming strength. Neither of them could be considered a pushover.

The Iron Blood Stadium was very proactive, and they voluntarily came forward with an attractive proposition for Ling Han—they would pay him 20,000 True Origin Stones as long as he accepted the challenge. If he were to win, they would reward him with an additional 100,000 True Origin Stones.

Ling Han was swayed by this rich offer.

He made some calculations in his mind. Right now, he only refined one cauldron of Jade Heaven Pills every two days, with cauldron yielding 10 pills and each pill selling for approximately 2,000 True Origin Stones. In other words, he earned around 10,000 True Origin Stones per day. If he accepted the challenge, just his appearance fee alone would be double what he earned per day. Moreover, there was even a chance for him to win an additional 100,000 True Origin Stones.

‘I’ll fight!’

Although it looked like he was robbing money by selling extremely expensive pills every day, he still needed to pay rent for his store, no? This was the Imperial Capital, after all, and each inch of land was worth its weight in gold! In addition, he had opened this store with Shui Yanyu, so he naturally needed to share the profits with her as well. The main reason for this was to show the Shui Clan his capability.

Furthermore, he still needed to learn the last pill recipe, the Level Four Divine Pill—the Mysterious Azure Pill. This would require a huge amount of wealth, and if he didn’t have a significant income each day, this would merely be an intangible dream.

From this, one could imagine how very expensive it was to raise an alchemist.

However, he was unfamiliar with Wu Ziren, and didn’t know how strong Wu Ziren was, either. As such, he didn’t know how many exchanges it would take for him to defeat Wu Ziren. With this in mind, he didn’t place any bets.

He was confident that he would win, yet he was unsure how many strikes he would need to defeat his opponent.

Anyhow, he certainly didn’t want to reveal the secret that was Fast Technique.

He accepted the challenge. The Imperial Capital brimmed with fervent excitement when news of this spread. Everyone fought to buy tickets, and in the end, it became extremely difficult to obtain even one ticket. According to rumors, the Iron Blood Stadium was purposefully withholding tickets so that their price would gradually rise to an insane level. This would allow them to rake in a huge amount of wealth.

To put it simply, the battle between Ling Han and Wu Ziren had already transcended the state of just being a battle. Instead, it had become a grand cultivation event in the Imperial Capital, one that could bring great benefits to all parties involved.

Li Weiwei immediately ran to Ling Han’s courtyard, and asked. “Stupid blockhead, how should I bet this time?”

Ling Han chuckled, and said, “You’ve really become addicted to making huge winnings, haven’t you? You already won so much last time… Haven’t they blacklisted you yet?”

“Pfft! Do they dare reject my bet?” Li Weiwei said proudly. Then, she suddenly became serious again, and asked, “So, how should I bet??”

“No idea!” Ling Han shook his head, and continued, “I know nothing about my opponent, so how should I know?”

Li Weiwei persisted, and said, “Weren’t you overflowing with confidence when you claimed that you were invincible against those at the same cultivation level before?”

Ling Han nodded, and said, “I’m indeed confident that I’ll win this battle. However, I genuinely don’t know how many exchanges my victory will take.” Of course, this was under the condition that he didn’t unleash the Fast Technique or Ultimate Arrow. Otherwise, he was 90% confident that he would be able to achieve victory in a single exchange.

Li Weiwei shook her head, and grumbled, “Humph! How boring!” There was no option of just picking a vitor this time.

A thought occurred to Ling Han, and he asked, “Have you ever investigated this Wu Ziren before? Heh, Wu Ziren… There isn’t such a person ¹ ?”

Li Weiwei clapped her hands together, and said, “Wait for me! I’ll go investigate for you right away! Heh, are you extremely touched by my offer? The daughter of the Left Minister is running around and completing errands for you.”

Ling Han chuckled, and said, “Of course I’m touched! I must be touched!”

Li Weiwei nodded in satisfaction and left. She was extremely efficient—hmm, it was probably better to say that the office of the Left Minister was extremely efficient—and Ling Han received the information that he wanted in three days. Meanwhile, there was still one day left until his much anticipated battle with Wu Ziren.

“Blockhead, all of the traces point to the Dark Night Hall!” Li Weiwei became serious, and continued, “There’s a 70-80% likelihood that Wu Ziren is an assassin from the Dark Night Hall!”

“Heh, they’re finally making a move again!” Ling Han had found it strange that there had been no movement from the Dark Night Hall even though Zhou Gaoyang and Yin Yuanxiang had already been dead for the best part of half a year. So it turned out that they had come up with a completely new plan this time!

They were coming for him openly!

“Blockhead, how about you pull out of this battle? I’ll immediately send the necessary information to the Ministry of Justice and have them investigate this Wu Ziren!” There was a hint of killing intent in Li Weiwei’s eyes. Someone actually dared to scheme to kill her underling?!

Ling Han was slightly astonished. At this moment, Li Weiwei finally radiated with a domineering aura that members of super-elite families should all possess. He had always thought that this princess-like woman could only muck around.

“No!” Ling Han shook his head, and said, “Firstly, I’ve already accepted the challenge, so there’s no excuse for me to pull out of it. Secondly, I can earn 20,000 True Origin Stones, so why not pocket this money? Thirdly and lastly, the Dark Night Hall is coming at me openly, so I have to accept their challenge no matter what.”

“Stupid blockhead! You dimwit! You old miser!” Li Weiwei was extremely ticked off. In her eyes, this was a tremendously dangerous situation as their opponents had come fully prepared.

‘Why is he taking this risk? To prove that he’s a man?’

Li Weiwei felt a surprising lack of confidence as she stole a glance at Ling Han’s profile. She was a little afraid that Ling Han would catch her sight.

Ling Han smiled, and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t die! Since the Dark Night Hall wants to kill me, I’ll have them pay a price!” It was no easy task to raise a cultivator to the Mountain River Tier. The Dark Night Hall had already lost three, and if they lost one more, they would definitely feel extremely angry and distressed.

‘Who told them to target me?’