He actually brought it out?
Mi Qi and Li Jiao exchanged a glance. Amidst their slight shock, there was far more disbelief.
Although Yang Kai had annihilated the Ask Passion Sect, seized its foundation, and acquired its accumulated wealth from over the years, they did not believe his ring truly contained five billion High-Grade Source Crystals.
The Ask Passion Sect was comparable in scale to the Li Long Palace and the Mi Tian Sect. While their annual revenue was staggering, maintaining such a vast establishment was equally terrifying in its consumption. Most of their income was used up each year, with only a small portion accumulating. Even the Mi Tian Sect and Li Long Palace currently possessed no more than one billion High-Grade Source Crystals in storage; the Ask Passion Sect was likely no different.
In other words, even if Yang Kai had obtained the Ask Passion Sect's wealth, that would only amount to one billion High-Grade Source Crystals. Add in the crystals from other treasures converted, and the total would be at most two or three billion. How could he possibly have fifty billion?
"It's not that I distrust Palace Master Yang," Mi Qi said in a deep voice, "but my brother Li and I do need to inspect this ring."
"Naturally, it should be inspected," Yang Kai nodded. "However... I would prefer to trouble Grandmaster Ji for the inspection. Surely you two trust Grandmaster Ji's integrity?"
"Of course." Mi Qi nodded quickly.
Li Jiao naturally had no objections either.
"Then, I'll trouble Grandmaster Ji." Yang Kai smiled faintly and tossed the ring to Ji Ying.
Ji Ying caught it and casually swept his spiritual sense inside. The next moment, his eyes went wide, his face filled with shock. He cried out, "This... this... this..."
As an Emperor Alchemist, he was not lacking in wealth. Countless people across the Northern Region sought his services, and each alchemy session brought immense profit. Fifty billion High-Grade Source Crystals was one thing—even ten billion wouldn't be enough to make Ji Ying so stunned.
Yet here he was, so excited he couldn't even speak clearly. His expression was one of utter disbelief, clearly having witnessed something utterly inconceivable.
Mi Qi and Li Jiao were startled by his reaction. What on earth was inside that ring to make Grandmaster Ji lose his composure like this? Their curiosity burned, but they felt it would be inappropriate to snatch it and look themselves.
They didn't think Yang Kai would let them see it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Ji Ying to inspect it in the first place.
"You... where did you get so many?" Ji Ying turned his head, staring at Yang Kai in shock.
Yang Kai chuckled and took the Space Ring back from Ji Ying, wagging his head as he said, "Can't say! Can't say!"
Ji Ying swallowed hard. He watched longingly as the ring was put away by Yang Kai, but knew this was likely the other's secret and didn't press further.
After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Palace Master Yang, if you lose this alchemy competition, I no longer demand your head. How about you give me half of those things instead?"
He had never intended to take Yang Kai's life to begin with; that was just a scare tactic. Now that he'd seen something even better, naturally the stakes had to change.
What was in the ring wasn't something else, but the million demon beast inner cores Yang Kai had brought back from the Desolate Ancient Ground.
Ten billion Source Crystals indeed weren't enough to move Ji Ying, but these million inner cores were different. Such a vast quantity of cores piled together, including no shortage of Tier Twelve ones—not only had Ji Ying never seen anything like it, not even the Ten Great Emperors had witnessed such a sight.
Moreover, inner cores had endless uses. Alchemists frequently needed demon beast inner cores as medicinal ingredients during alchemy. A single high-quality inner core was like a perfect catalyst, capable of producing an entire cauldron of exceptional spirit pills.
These items held far more attraction for Ji Ying than mere Source Crystals. No wonder he was so astonished.
"Grandmaster Ji wants them?" Yang Kai gazed at him with a playful smile.
Ji Ying's cheeks flushed slightly. He gave a dry cough and said, "What alchemist wouldn't want such fine goods?"
"If you want them, I can give you all of them," Yang Kai said, his smile unchanged.
"Really?" Ji Ying started. But he quickly recovered, his face darkening. "Don't tell me you want me, Ji, to refine pills for your Ling Xiao Palace?"
Yang Kai laughed heartily. "Grandmaster Ji is sharp-eyed."
Ji Ying snorted. "Palace Master Yang has quite the scheme, but unfortunately, Ji will not agree."
Yang Kai had anticipated this and wasn't disappointed. He nodded. "In that case, if Grandmaster Ji wins, I'll give you half of these things."
"Good, good, good! Those are your words. I hope Palace Master Yang will honor his promise." Ji Ying was overjoyed. In his view, this was practically Yang Kai handing him the inner cores.
He had never considered the possibility of losing an alchemy competition to Yang Kai.
"Grandmaster Ji, are those things in the ring really worth fifty billion?" Having listened from the side for a while, Mi Qi and Li Jiao still had no idea of the items' actual value. Unable to resist, Li Jiao asked.
"Fifty billion?" Ji Ying shot them a disdainful glance. "The things in that ring are enough to buy both of your Sects!"
"What?!" Mi Qi and Li Jiao were both aghast.
Enough to buy two great Sects? What kind of treasures were inside that ring to earn such a definitive statement from Grandmaster Ji?