Jiang Chen paid no heed to what the onlookers were thinking. His gaze was deep and piercing as he locked eyes with Wang Teng, refusing to give the man even the slightest chance to look away.
One was an alchemist of no particular renown. The other was the young lord of one of Liuli Royal City's most powerful great clans.
To ordinary people, the two were clearly not on the same level. Yet this guest alchemist king of the Wei family stared Wang Teng down without a trace of fear.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen slapped his forehead and laughed. "I almost forgot — that shop across the way doesn't seem to be the property of the Royal Court Great Clan. Young Lord Wang can't make the call on his own, can he? Oh well, since Young Lord Wang can't afford the gamble, just pretend I never said anything."
Jiang Chen's change of tone made the hearts of every spectator sink.
What was going on?
Judging by his words, this guest alchemist king of the Wei family really was picking a fight with the Royal Court Great Clan? It wasn't some kind of undercover act after all?
The provocation was hardly sophisticated, but it struck Wang Teng like a blade to the chest — impossible to ignore.
Moreover, in all of Liuli Royal City, how many people dared tell the Royal Court Great Clan "you can't afford it"?
Would the Royal Court Great Clan ever be unable to afford something?
True, this particular shop wasn't the Royal Court Great Clan's property. But the Royal Court Great Clan had no shortage of ways to get what it wanted.
Wang Teng kept telling himself to stay calm, yet Jiang Chen's attitude still ignited a flare of fury in his chest.
He let out a cold laugh and fixed his eyes on Wei Tianxiao and his son. "Wei Tianxiao, no wonder your Wei family has been half-dead all these years — it seems you've failed at raising your own household. Since when does a guest alchemist king get to make decisions on behalf of the Wei family?"
Wei Tianxiao was normally a cautious and meticulous man, but even he was calm now. He knew there was no turning back, and the Royal Court Great Clan was clearly using this opportunity to crush his family once and for all.
Even setting aside Jiang Chen's promise of the Longevity Pill — even without it, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.
He steeled himself and said with a faint smile, "Young Lord Wang, if you can't afford the gamble, you're welcome to say so. The Wei family won't force anyone. As for Alchemist Zhen, I have already granted him full authority before this. Our Wei family trusts those we employ, and those we don't trust, we don't employ."
Once again — "you can't afford it."
If someone else had said it to a different target, perhaps it could have been swallowed. But who was Wang Teng? To be told "you can't afford it" by a ninth-rank clan — where was the dignity in that?
Wang Teng was so furious he actually laughed. His eyes were glacial. "Fine, fine, fine. Your Wei family has guts! Since you insist on handing this shop over to me, Wang Teng, I'll be happy to accept."
Wang Teng still wasn't entirely sure what the Wei father and son were after. After all, staking a shop on a gamble was a move he hadn't anticipated. The stakes were enormous for the Wei family. In Wang Teng's view, they were probably bluffing, trying to force him into backing down.
But who was Wang Teng? How could he possibly refuse the wager?
Jiang Chen smiled coldly. "Don't rush to accept just yet. The winner and loser haven't been decided. If you want to stake the shop, you'll need to actually hold the title to Taiyuan Tower first. Otherwise, you'd be gambling with something that isn't yours — and in the end, whose would it count as?"
With that remark, it almost sounded as though the Wei family had the upper hand over the Royal Court Great Clan.
Wang Teng was seething. In all his time in Liuli Royal City, he had never encountered such brazen defiance. It was true that Taiyuan Tower's premises did not belong to the Royal Court Great Clan. The Royal Court Great Clan had merely leased the property through forceful means in recent times.
His gaze swept the crowd and found the building's owner — the head of another ninth-rank clan that answered neither to the Royal Court Great Clan nor to the Panlong Great Clan.
"Clan Head Teng, I, Wang Teng, am willing to pledge our Wang family's shop on the premium stretch of Shennong Street Market as collateral. If I lose this shop today, that shop of ours becomes yours. The location is better than this one, and it's larger." Wang Teng was truly enraged — he actually brought forward a superior family property as collateral.
But Clan Head Teng could not bring himself to feel happy about it. He wanted no part of this.
With a bitter expression, he said gloomily, "Young Lord Wang, it's not that I don't trust you. But in a matter like this, words alone aren't enough."
Wang Teng's fury spiked. Clan Head Teng's words made it abundantly clear — he didn't trust the Royal Court Great Clan. Would the mighty Royal Court Great Clan really lose to a mere Wei family?
The so-called stake, the so-called collateral — it was all just a formality. There was already a verbal commitment — what more did they want?
Young Master Ji Third saw this and chuckled. "Wang Teng, you're gambling with someone else's shop and being generous with what isn't yours — what a clever scheme. If you lose, you can just walk away with nothing to prove it. Are you expecting Clan Head Teng to come storming into your estate to demand the shop?"
It had to be said — Young Master Ji Third had a real talent for finding loopholes. His words were both elegant and fair, drawing a round of cheers from the crowd.
After all, there were twenty-eight great clans of various sizes in Liuli Royal City.
The other great clan powers might not match the Royal Court Great Clan, but that didn't mean the Royal Court Great Clan could cover the sky with one hand.
Wang Teng's attitude earlier had clearly been that of a bully leveraging his power. On that point alone, people were already somewhat dissatisfied with the Royal Court Great Clan's ways.
Wang Teng had originally thought his verbal commitment was more than generous toward Clan Head Teng. But after Young Master Ji Third's words, he now looked like a thug throwing his weight around.
Though burning with rage inside, he forced it down and shot a cold glance at Ji Third. "Old Third Ji, I, Wang Teng, am not the type to renege over something like this. But you, Young Master Ji Third — when the Wei family loses the shop, what will you use to console them then?"