Nevertheless, Wang Teng was worthy of being a young lord of a great clan. Even though his heart was seething with reluctance and rage, pushed to the very edge of explosion, he still hadn't lost his reason.
Especially after seeing some of Third Young Master Ji's discreet arrangements, he understood that Third Young Master Ji had unexpectedly held his tongue—clearly waiting for Wang Teng to lose his composure.
The moment Wang Teng flew into a rage, Third Young Master Ji would seize the opportunity and press the attack relentlessly.
That would only drag himself into his opponent's trap.
Though he was seething with resentment, Wang Teng still kept his expression dark and his tone indifferent: "I accept my losses. However, what Patriarch Tong said just now isn't entirely without merit. I'm not questioning the judges here—I'm questioning this Pill King from the Wei family. This man's background is a complete mystery, yet he suddenly shows up stirring up trouble in our Liuli Royal City. Doesn't everyone find that strange? I suspect he may well be a spy sent by an enemy faction into our Liuli Royal City. Otherwise, how could such an alchemy genius have been completely unknown before?"
This pot of dirty water was, in truth, flung rather clumsily.
However, smearing Jiang Chen was still far better than offending the judges.
Third Young Master Ji, who had been holding back this whole time, burst into hearty laughter upon hearing this: "Now that's the funniest joke I've heard in years! Wang Teng, you're saying all this, but really you're just throwing a tantrum. I knew you couldn't afford to lose—and sure enough, nobody had you figured wrong."
Third Young Master Ji secretly felt it was a pity. He had been hoping Wang Teng would make a scene—perhaps even renege on the bet. He hadn't expected the fellow to be cunning enough to ultimately swallow his pride and pay up.
"Ji the Third, this doesn't seem to concern you," Wang Teng forced down his displeasure.
"How does it not concern me? Alchemist Zhen is my friend, and the Wei family is a household under the Panlong Grand Clan. If I don't stand up for justice on their behalf, am I supposed to let you bully them at will?"
Third Young Master Ji had firmly seized the upper hand, and his tone was leisurely.
Wei Tianxiao could no longer contain himself either: "Young Lord Wang, if you've already said you'll accept your losses, then quit beating around the bush. Alchemist Zhen's background has nothing to do with this wager. Liuli Royal City has stood tall on the Divine Abyss Continent for tens of thousands of years. Factions of every stripe have always mingled here, and the city hasn't exactly collapsed. If you want to resort to fear-mongering, we have no interest in listening to your nonsense."
Third Young Master Ji turned to the judges with a smile: "You are all distinguished masters of alchemy. The wager's outcome is decided—surely Taiyuan Tower can honor the bet now?"
Perfected Pill King Yu nodded calmly, then fixed his gaze on Wang Teng.
"Young Master Wang, the wager is settled. If you acknowledge us as judges, hand over the stakes immediately. If you do not acknowledge us, we will simply handle this according to the rules. As martial artists, we act with clear consciences—we settle matters swiftly and cleanly. There's no need to drag in irrelevant issues!"
Perfected Pill King Yu's words carried a note of warning and reproach.
He truly looked down on Wang Teng's conduct. Moreover, Perfected Pill King Yu had a high opinion of Jiang Chen, and emotionally, he was inclined toward Jiang Chen's side.
"That's right—accept your losses. Why the nonsense?"
"Enough already! If you couldn't afford to lose, why make the bet? If I recall correctly, Taiyuan Tower was the one that proposed the wager in the first place, wasn't it?"
"It was, wasn't it? A grand great clan like that, losing and then turning hostile—how utterly classless!"
There were tens of thousands of spectators, and once they erupted in clamor, accusations rang out from every direction, so many that it was impossible to tell who was saying what.
There was nothing wrong with watching the drama unfold—after all, most of them were neutral martial artists. But even neutral people had a sense of right and wrong. They had watched the Royal Court Grand Clan act arrogantly from start to finish. They were the ones who started the trouble, the ones who issued the provocations, and the ones who proposed the stakes.
They had clearly been trying to bully Taiyuan Pavilion, only to have the Wei family's Pill King turn the tables, only to lose everything they'd put on the line. And now they wanted to renege? Now they wanted to muddy the waters?
The spectators would not have it.
You could be arrogant. You could lord it over people. But you could not openly trample public opinion, could not openly flout rules that everyone recognized.
Accept your losses—if even this most basic rule couldn't be upheld, no one could stomach it.
This wasn't about sympathy for the underdog. If Taiyuan Pavilion had lost, they would have said the same thing: honor the bet.
Public fury surged, each wave of denunciation louder than the last.
In that moment, even if Wang Teng had a belly full of rage, there was nowhere to vent it.
Face still dark, he turned and ordered: "Get it organized. Pull our people out. Give them the premises."
The owner of the Taiyuan Tower shop—the head of the Teng family—immediately panicked: "Young Lord Wang, if you hand over the shop to them, my Teng family..."
Wang Teng's face was black as iron, his eyes locked on the Teng patriarch like a death stare.
But the Teng patriarch refused to yield an inch. This was no small matter. The shop was the Teng family's lifeblood. If Wang Teng simply walked away, the Teng family would bear catastrophic losses.
A storefront on Shennong Street was worth its weight in gold—one of the Teng family's core assets. If it was simply gone, even if Wang Teng suffered heavenly punishment for violating his Heaven and Earth Oath, that wouldn't do the Teng family a single bit of good.
So no matter what, he had to get a concrete answer from Wang Teng.
Even if Wang Teng's glare could devour a man, he had no choice but to steel himself and hold his ground.
"Patriarch Teng, do you think I'm the sort of person who reneges on his debts?" Wang Teng did his best to suppress his fury, fighting to keep it from erupting.
"Wang Teng, it looks like you're not afraid of the Heavenly Judgment—could it be you really intend to renege?" Third Young Master Ji asked with a grin. "With this many people around, why bully Patriarch Teng? Just hand the shop over cleanly, and everyone will think you're a man of your word."
"Exactly! If you just walk away, is Patriarch Teng supposed to chase after you all the way to the Royal Court Grand Clan to demand the shop back? You can't bully people like this!"
"Wang Teng, our great clans can't afford to be this shameless."
Those who dared to speak up were mostly scions of the other great clans. The Royal Court Grand Clan might be domineering, but the other great clan powers were no pushovers.