Bai Xiaochun’s pupils constricted as his theory was confirmed. Abandoning his act, he chuckled coldly and took the jade pendant into the back room.
Shortly thereafter, he emerged, and the jade pendant had a second golden design on it. When people outside the shop saw it, cries of shock rose up into the air.
“Twelvefold enhancement! Heavens!!”
“I haven’t seen a competition like this in years! Call everybody over to watch! This is definitely going to shake all of Arch-Emperor City!!”
The shouts and cries of the crowd were now causing Chen Xiong to feel a bit of pressure, and it was even possible to see some hesitation in his eyes. However, he continued to glare at Bai Xiaochun as he said, “I'm still not happy. Keep going!”
Bai Xiaochun could tell how determined this pink-robed young man was. Inwardly, he gave a cold harrumph and thought, “You just wait. I'm gonna scare you to death!”
Spinning in place, he headed into the back room and came out moments later to reveal three golden designs on the pendant!!
Before anyone could react, Bai Xiaochun loudly said, “Soul Aide, calculate the bill!”
Bai Hao couldn’t help but shiver. Never before had he ever experienced anything like this, and yet, it was without the slightest hesitation that he replied, “The cost is 4,096,000 portions of soul medicine!”
By this point, it wasn’t just Borough 89 that was being rocked by the event. Word was spreading into the other boroughs, and it was even possible to see people hurrying over from those locations to join the commotion.
Chen Xiong was trembling, and a bit of panic could be seen in his eyes. He almost couldn’t think straight. This was definitely not what he had planned for. He had placed all his hopes on the possibility that the jade pendant would be destroyed.
“This guy's skill in the art of spirit enhancement is shocking!” he thought.
However, he still gritted his teeth, looked up at Bai Xiaochun, and then slowly said, “I'm still not happy. Keep going!”
The audience was completely bowled over. By this point, they could tell that this was no ordinary bet, and that there was some specific reason that Chen Xiong kept saying he wasn’t happy.
“Still not happy, huh?” Bai Xiaochun thought. “Alright mister pinkster. You just wait to see how I scare the living daylights out of you!” He returned to the back room, and after the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he came back out. This time, when the audience saw the jade pendant, they devolved into a massive hubbub.
“Four… fourteenfold!!”
“A fourteenfold spirit enhancement! How is this even possible?! Heavens….”
Even as everyone clamored, they also spread word to their friends, who began to hurry over in shock. Not bothering to wait for Bai Hao to calculate the bill, Bai Xiaochun proudly announced, “8,192,000 portions of soul medicine!”
He was of the opinion that personally saying it himself was a lot more impressive.
Bai Xiaochun’s words were like a death knell to Chen Xiong. He felt like his mind and heart were being struck by countless bolts of lightning, and his face was as white as a sheet. He staggered backward as if physically struck, gasping, his eyes completely bloodshot. Although he had told himself he was prepared for the possibility of a fourteenfold spirit enhancement, he was still completely shaken. Furthermore, the amount of soul medicine at stake was immense. That was especially true when he contemplated how he had already spent nearly 15,000,000.
He was already starting to regret this little plan of his, and was even thinking of giving up, but as the saying goes, if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off. There were simply too many people in the audience now, with more showing up by the moment. There were probably tens of thousands of people lining the street outside.
Sticking his chin up proudly, Bai Xiaochun said, “Well, dear customer, are you happy now? At the moment, there isn’t enough soul medicine in this soulhoarding pagoda to pay me the 8,192,000 you owe me. If, after we settle accounts, you’re still not happy, then I’d be happy to continue!”
When Bai Hao heard this, he stood there stunned and feeling a bit hesitant. From what he could tell, his Master had actually calculated the bill wrong, and had only included the most recent spirit enhancement, not the combination of everything up to this point.
Although he wanted to point this out, there were simply too many people in the area. Considering he was supposed to be a simplistic soul slave, there was no way he could speak up now. Sighing, he mentally did a facepalm.
Gasps were also audible among the audience. Quite a few people had odd expressions on their faces as they too came to the conclusion that Bai Xiaochun had calculated the bill wrong. However, this pink-robed young man was obviously a noble chosen, and none of them wanted to offend him. Many people were looking at Bai Xiaochun furtively, wondering what would happen next. As for Chen Xiong, he was obviously a bit surprised at Bai Xiaochun’s proud front. However, he still couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on. Although he refused to believe that his opponent would actually miscalculate the bill… he patted his bag of holding and threw out another soulhoarding pagoda.
“There are 4,000,000 souls in there. I… I'm still not happy. Keep going!!” This was all of the soul medicine that both he and the other chosen had been able to come up with. It was a huge amount, the type that could form the reserve savings of a great clan!
At this point, Bai Xiaochun proudly said, “The cost for going from a fourteen to a fifteenfold spirit enhancement is different. It doesn’t cost double. It costs ten times as much! That means that if I succeed, you will owe me… 81,920,000 portions of soul medicine!” Even Bai Xiaochun seemed a bit jumpy to speak such a number out loud. After a moment of silence, he added, “Are… are you sure you can afford that much?”
Please go to
install our App to read the latest chapters for free
Chapter
727: I Absolutely Detest Cheaters
The number Bai Xiaochun had just spoken left Chen Xiong teetering on the verge of passing out. Gasps could be heard among the other soul cultivators looking on. After all, there was a huge difference between a fourteenfold spirit enhancement and a fifteenfold one.
Fifteenfold spirit enhancements brought with them the power of a deva, and could help cultivators who were in the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage to gain enlightenment of heaven and earth. Spirit enhanced treasures like that were incredibly valuable, and usually were possessed only by clans who specialized in spirit enhancement, or the powerful noble or aristocratic clans. Treasures like that which did exist would rarely be brought out into the open.
Such items were not common at all, especially because the success rates with high-level spirit enhancements were so low. One needed only look at the fact that the Giant Ghost King, upon rewarding Bai Xiaochun and simultaneously entrusting him with an extremely important mission in the Necromancer Kettle, only gave him a sixteenfold spirit enhanced spear.
The reason for that was not because he was being stingy. Rather, it was because items with fifteenfold spirit enhancements or higher were just too rare. Besides, most were only suitable for use by devas.
Because of their rarity, it would be difficult for anyone to say with certainty how much soul medicine it would be worth to raise something from a fourteenfold to a fifteenfold spirit enhancement. Bai Xiaochun’s quote of more than 80,000,000 portions of soul medicine seemed dramatic, but everyone present realized that if he succeeded, the resulting item would be of great help to anyone wishing to rise to the level of a deva!