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"I won't bet! Absolutely not. Do you think I'll fall for the same trick twice?" Granduncle Li shook his head like a rattle drum, rejecting the offer outright.
"Won't bet? Master Li's standards have become so high that even the inner core of a Bloodline Flood Dragon doesn't catch your eye?" The Daoist put on a look of surprise and disbelief.
However, Han Li thought it looked utterly fake.
"Bloodline Flood Dragon's inner core!" Originally determined to have nothing more to do with the Daoist, Granduncle Li's expression changed abruptly upon hearing the name of the item, and his voice trembled slightly.
"Indeed! I heard that Master Li once spent over thirty years in the dangerous shallows of the Panlong River in the Yuanwu Kingdom seeking this very thing, yet still left empty-handed. So this poor Daoist spent a great deal to specially acquire it for you!"
The Daoist spoke unhurriedly, looking relaxed, with an expression that said he had his counterpart completely figured out.
"Impossible! How could a Bloodline Flood Dragon be so easy to catch, let alone have its inner core preserved intact? Don't tell me you're just spouting nonsense and making fun of me?" Granduncle Li snapped out of his excitement, suspicion returning to his face.
"This poor Daoist is a man of the cloth and does not lie. You may see for yourself."
The Daoist didn't want to waste breath explaining. With a flip of his hand, a white sphere covered in tiny red blood vessels appeared before Granduncle Li's eyes, making them light up with desire, as if he wanted to snatch it away immediately.
"If Master Li's Silver-Scaled Horned Python consumes this core and secluded itself for ten or twenty years, it would surely leap from the mid Foundation Establishment stage to the late stage. With another century of bitter cultivation, even reaching the Core Formation stage is not impossible." The Daoist's words were filled with temptation.
Hearing this, Granduncle Li let out a cold snort, his face stiff, seemingly unmoved, but his flickering eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.
"To hesitate so long over such a rare stake, does Master truly have so little confidence in the strength of your valley's disciples?" The Daoist curled his lips, employing a goading tactic.
"Our Yellow Maple Valley's disciples don't need your Clear Void Sect passing judgment on them." Granduncle Li's face was unhappy.
Then he scanned the group of people behind the Daoist, immediately getting a rough idea of the Clear Void Sect disciples' strength. They should be about on par with the Yellow Maple Valley disciples.
"Fine, I'll bet! But... what treasure of mine have you got your eye on?"
After pondering for a moment, Granduncle Li felt the odds of this gamble were about fifty-fifty, and coupled with his extreme desire for the inner core, he finally nodded in agreement. But out of caution, he casually asked a question.
"Hehe, this poor Daoist isn't interested in your other treasures. I only hope that, if I happen to win the wager, Master Li will refine two more pieces of Iron Essence of the same size for me within the next twenty years. Master Li's True Fire refinement is famous throughout the seven great sects, so this should be a small matter!" The Daoist squinted his eyes and smiled, but his words carried a hint of cunning.
"Two more pieces of the same Iron Essence?" Granduncle Li's face looked terrible, and he almost jumped up immediately.
"You old ox-horn! You're planning to turn me into a laborer!"
"Not at all! If you win, you won't have to do it. That is the inner core of a fifth-rank demonic beast! Equivalent to a cultivator's early Core Formation stage, it's absolutely worth the price!" The Daoist shook his head and spoke confidently.
Granduncle Li's expression shifted between dark and light. After a good while, he finally slowly extended a palm and asked coldly, his voice frigid.
"Same rules as last time? First, we see which sect gathers the most spirit herbs. Second, the quality of the herbs. Finally, the number of people who walk out of the restricted area alive!"
"Of course, everything remains the same!"
The Daoist was overjoyed and quickly extended his own palm to slap against the other's, sealing the wager.
A crisp "Smack!" sounded.