Chapter 151: Admitting Defeat

Even though there were those where were unwilling, the end was still the end.

The exam candidates gazed at the rankings on the screen. Everyone had their own reaction to their rankings. Some felt joy, while most were filled with dejection, regret, and even despair. No matter how complicated their emotions were, they left the plaza one after the other.

After agreeing to meet in the Hidden Dragon Institute, Su Chen also said his goodbyes to Jin Ling’er and Wang Doushan.

Unlike the others, Su Chen didn’t walk over to the Su Clan, instead making a beeline for the exit of the plaza.

To him, the existence of the Su Clan was of no importance. He already gave them plenty of face by attending this exam under their name. As for whether or not he would stand together with the Su Clan to receive congratulations from other clans...... that would never happen.

Su Changche and the others had their eyes fixed on Su Chen as they watched him leave the plaza, not even sparing them a glance.

“Hmph, ungrateful bastard,” Su Changqing angrily harrumphed, acting as though Su Chen had always received his affection.

Su Changche said in a low voice, “He still refuses to come back to our Su Clan. Feihu, can you try and call him over? He’ll probably give you some face.”

Su Feihu laughed. “Perhaps he would. So what?”

So what?

Everyone was stunned.

Su Changche said, “In the end, we’re all from the same clan. If we can come together, why disperse?”

Su Feihu said, “Father, why didn’t you say this before the exam began? Su Chen needed your support so many times, but you never helped him in his hour of need.”

“I......” Su Changche wanted to say something, but was unable to find his voice.

Su Feihu replied, “There are two kinds of people that are the most loathsome. The first are those who leave you alone in your hour of need. The second are those who come back after you no longer have need for them. Father, the Su Clan is already the first kind of person. Let’s not be the second kind, okay?”

These words infuriated the Su Clan members present.

Su Changche, however, was moved. “Feihu, you’re saying that if we try and curry favour with him, he’ll only be further annoyed with us?”

Su Feihu replied, “That’s right.”

“So we should just let him go and wait to rope him back in later on?” Some people weren’t satisfied with this conclusion.

“It’s the only way to get his respect,” Su Feihu casually replied.

After leaving the plaza, Su Chen leisurely walked down the mountain.

He hadn’t gotten very far when two people dashed towards him.

One came from the left, the other from the right, squeezing Su Chen in the middle.

The first grabbed Su Chen from behind, instantly preventing him from moving.

The dense Origin Energy emanating from his body indicated he was at least a Blood Boiling expert.

Not far away, a larger group of people surrounded him, enclosing Su Chen in their midst. He was given no opportunity to escape.

One of them said, “Be quiet and come with us!”

Su Chen gently smiled. “Relax. I won’t yell.”

The person controlling Su Chen from behind was surprised by his calm demeanor. He couldn’t help but say, “Prince Su knew we were coming?”

Su Chen sighed as he walked with them. “If I don’t go on this trip with you, you won’t give up, right? Tell me, where is Sang Zhen waiting for me?”

“......”

In the time it takes to boil a pot of tea, Su Chen met with Sang Zhen, who was sipping tea underneath a tree atop a mountain peak.

Standing next to him were Night Demon, Qingbai, and the others.

Upon seeing Su Chen’s calm and composed appearance, Sang Zhen sighed. “It seems our plan failed.”

“Even if that’s the case, you still want to try, right?” Su Chen replied with a smile.

“Naturally.” Sang Zhen waved his hand, and two people stepped forwards, pulling out the Origin Rings and Origin Formation Disks on Su Chen’s body.

Sang Zhen glanced at the Origin Energy Disk. He found the four Sark’s Energy Nuclei sitting inside.

He scanned the contents of the Origin Ring. Unsurprisingly, he could not find the Corpse Spirit Flowers.

He lifted his head and carefully observed Su Chen. “You were prepared a long time ago?”

Su Chen shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not that surprising. The moment I exited the exam grounds was when you were most confident of the Corpse Spirit Flowers’ location. If you didn’t make a move now, you might not have gotten another opportunity.”

Su Chen had anticipated very early on that they would try to pull off something like this.

The Immortal Temple was, in the end, the Immortal Temple. Although they appeared to have accepted Su Chen’s conditions, agreeing to hire Su Chen as a reward for the job, they had already come up with a much simpler plan. They would wait for Su Chen to exit the exam grounds, capture him, and forcibly take away everything he possessed.

At the moment Su Chen exited the exam grounds, he would definitely be carrying everything on him. With this tactic, they could forcibly seize the Corpse Spirit Flowers instead of spending a few years to train him for no good reason. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t train and foster him. Given how smart he was, if he joined the Immortal Temple, they would definitely help him grow. But that was the investment into a new recruit, not the reward given to a shameless brat!

When Sang Zhen saw Su Chen standing there, completely unperturbed, he knew his plan had failed.

Indeed, he couldn’t find a single Corpse Spirit Flower on Su Chen’s body.

“He definitely hid the Corpse Spirit Flower inside the Red Peak Range. Instead of taking it out himself, he let someone else take it for him,” Aaron said angrily. “This brat really is slippery.”

“The question is, who helped him? There are over ten thousand exam candidates here. Who knows who it was?” Qingbai shook his head helplessly.

Su Chen’s plan was simple yet practical.

The Immortal Temple even sent people to keep an eye on Iron Cliff, Li Shu, and the others, but none of them had entered the Red Peak Range.

They didn’t know where the Corpse Spirit Flowers were!

Without Su Chen’s cooperation, the Corpse Spirit Flowers would never appear!

“Haa, it looks like you’ve won again,” Sang Zhen said helplessly.

All of the hostility directed at him began to slowly fade away.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Sang Zhen waved his hand, and the person holding onto Su Chen released his grip. “I hope this little incident didn’t offend you. Our cooperation can still continue.”

If they couldn’t find the Corpse Spirit Flower, their previous proposal was still in effect!

Su Chen laughed sarcastically. “I can not take offense. But the actions of your organization have destroyed the integrity of our agreement. It’s quite inappropriate, actually. If you guys are willing to ruin the integrity of our agreements on a whim, I’m very worried about our future cooperations.”

Sang Zhen squinted his eyes. “Oh? What does Prince Su mean?”

“If the organization has offended me, there must be some display of reconciliation, right?” Su Chen asked. As these words left his mouth, he took out a piece of paper. This piece of paper was prepared just for this moment, and on it was a list of items he required.

When Copper Deer saw it, he almost jumped into the air. “Hundred Fog Cypress seeds, hundred Carnivorous Forest seeds...... One rapid growth technique, one lie-detection Origin Skill...... You motherfucker, why don’t you just rob us blind?”

Su Chen had requested many things that belonged to Copper Deer. It was no surprise that he was infuriated.

Even Sang Zhen was so angry that he laughed. “You seized a large shipment of our goods, and now you still want us to pay you?”

“Should I not?” Su Chen countered. “You broke the agreement in the first place, so you should make some reparations.”

“Do you dare say you didn’t deceive us when we were dealing with the Shadow Mountain Troops?” Copper Deer rebuked.

“Yes!” Unexpectedly, Su Chen admitted it immediately. “But you didn’t catch me! If you had, the spoils from the Shadow Mountain Troops would all belong to you. I would’ve confessed and done everything for free!”

Su Chen clearly enunciated each word as he spoke. “If you lose, you have to admit defeat. Those are the rules! Can the Immortal Temple not afford to lose this much?”

“You!” The flames of their fury almost set the surroundings ablaze.

At this moment, someone said, “Agree to his terms. He’s right. If you lose...... you have to admit defeat!”

——————————————

Meanwhile, in a pitch-black, hidden alley.

Lin Jingxuan carefully made his way through the alley until he found a small door at the end of it.

He pushed open a heavy door, then another, and finally he arrived at a sinister, stone room.

In this room sat a person. It was Zhou Hong.

Zhou Hong squeezed out a smile when he saw Lin Jingxuan enter. “You’ve finally arrived. Where’s the stuff?”

Lin Jingxuan pulled out a ring from his bosom and placed it in front of Zhou Hong.

Zhou Hong received the ring without even glancing at it. After stowing it away, he stared at Lin Jingxuan and said, “Did you open it?”

Lin Jingxuan chuckled. “I wouldn’t dare disobey Young Master Su and sneak a peek.”

However, he was cursing loudly in his heart. Damned slave, using your master to threaten me. Once I break free from Su Chen’s control, I’ll take care of you.

“No?” Zhou Hong smirked. “Let me ask you, do you feel really cold right now?”

Lin Jingxuan was shocked. “H-how did you know?”

Zhou Hong harrumphed. “When Young Master told you what to do, did he tell you the items inside the jade box were poisonous?”

Lin Jingxuan shrunk his neck, silent.

Yes, Su Chen did tell him that. But he ignored it, because he thought it was just a trick. In his head, Su Chen wanted to use him, but didn’t trust him. That was all..

Zhou Hong tossed him a mirror. “Take a good look at yourself.”

Lin Jingxuan caught the mirror. When he caught a glimpse of himself, he went into a panic.

His face was incredibly pale, and his lips were a dark purple. He looked like a tuberculosis patient. His previous grace and poise quickly disappeared.

He yelled at Zhou Hong, “It was my fault! I shouldn’t have peeked. Young Master Su must have anticipated this, right? I admit I was wrong! Please, give me the antidote, save me!”

He was scared witless.

Zhou Hong said coldly, “Consider yourself lucky. You only took a few glances, maybe even touched it. If you dared to steal one or two and hide them on your body, then even Young Master himself wouldn’t be able to save you.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a vial.

This was the antidote Su Chen had prepared.

Lin Jingxuan was about to reach for it when Zhou Hong pulled it out of reach. “You disobeyed Young Master’s commands and looked at his goods. Do you really think a few words of apology will suffice?”

“What?” Lin Jingxuan was stunned.

Zhou Hong stood up and advanced, holding a thick wooden staff in his hand. “Young Master has already sent down the order. Lin Jingxuan disobeyed the master’s commands. The punishment is eighty strokes! Lin Jingxuan, kneel and take your punishment!”

“You......!” Lin Jingxuan glared at Zhou Hong.

“If you want to live, obediently take your spanking 1,” Zhou Hong said coolly. “Young Master said......”

“If you lose, you have to admit defeat!”

1. https://youtu.be/Jkt7kHACy_k?t=41s