Chapter 196: Arrogant to the End

Everyone turned their heads, and their expressions changed.

When Liu Wenchen saw it was Jiang Fan, he immediately became annoyed. "Is he an idiot?" he exclaimed. "He knows the Giant Sect means trouble, yet he still runs here?"

Wen Hongyao's heart skipped a beat, and she slapped her thigh. "Isn't this child walking right into a trap?" she cried.

Zhao Wuji also looked speechless. "Does he think he's here to save the day? Instead of hiding, he brazenly runs in!"

Tie Bubai, who was sitting with his legs crossed, had a glint in his eyes. He hadn't held out much hope of taking Jiang Fan. After all, anyone with sense would hide. He merely wanted to seize the opportunity to extort something. Unexpectedly, this guy was not afraid of death and stepped forward!

Jiang Fan gracefully walked inside, cupping his hands in greeting to Liu Wenchen and the elders.

"Disciple Jiang Fan greets Master and all the elders."

"What are you doing here? Get out!" Liu Wenchen frowned and reprimanded him. He didn't want Jiang Fan to be truly taken away and deliberately tried to send him away.

Wen Hongyao and Zhao Wuji both gave him meaningful glances, urging him to leave quickly. Otherwise, the situation would become unmanageable.

Jiang Fan stood still and said, "Master, I heard the Giant Sect is looking for me. They say I caused Kong Wushuang's unconsciousness. As your disciple, I disagree, and I've come specifically to clarify the matter."

Liu Wenchen was so angry he felt smoke coming from his head. Clarify what?! Are the people from the Giant Sect reasonable? Moreover, they're holding the Nascent Soul Jade Talisman; they're not here to be reasonable at all. They're just using an excuse to extort the Azure Cloud Sect. Can't he see that? Jiang Fan's foolishness was making his lungs feel like they would explode.

Tie Bubai, however, couldn't help but laugh. He had thought that someone who could defeat Kong Wushuang, a peer, would be formidable. He didn't expect him to be so foolish; he couldn't even grasp the situation.

He leisurely said, "Clarify? Apologies, this old man has no interest in that. I'm merely here to inform you. Now, are you coming with me, or will your sect pay 500,000 spirit crystals to redeem you?"

500,000 spirit crystals? Jiang Fan sneered inwardly. The Giant Sect's intentions were as clear as day! If they extorted 500,000 from one sect, they'd break even after four sects! It was practically pure profit!

He calmly said, "I'm not worth 500,000 spirit crystals. You might as well just take me." As he spoke, he walked cooperatively towards Tie Bubai. As long as he could get within three *zhang*, the little qilin could act.

Tie Bubai furrowed his brow. What use was Jiang Fan? A disciple without a spiritual root wouldn't even fetch a few spirit crystals if sold by weight.

Everyone's expressions changed when they saw Jiang Fan willing to sacrifice himself rather than burden the sect. Liu Wenchen frowned, weighing the pros and cons. Wen Hongyao, however, became anxious. How could such a prodigy in the field of medicine be taken away by the Giant Sect? Furthermore, the Grand Elder favored him greatly. If the Grand Elder found out that she allowed Jiang Fan to be taken away like this, she would definitely not be forgiven.

"Sect Master Liu," Wen Hongyao declared, "my Medicine Peak will pay these 500,000 spirit crystals. But from now on, Jiang Fan will belong to my Medicine Peak. What do you say?"

All the elders were stunned. If the sect were to pay 500,000 spirit crystals, it might barely be acceptable. At most, all the peaks would have to tighten their belts for a year, which wasn't a big problem. But for a single peak, it was different. The entire peak would have no spirit crystals to distribute to disciples for several years, let alone to purchase cultivation resources. Not only that, the peak master would likely have to fork over most of their life's savings. Although the Medicine Peak was wealthier than some others, it certainly couldn't bear such an enormous cost!

What they didn't expect was that Zhao Wuji also spoke up, saying, "Let me pay instead. In exchange, Jiang Fan will be a disciple of my Free and Easy Peak from now on." Although 500,000 would result in severe losses for his Free and Easy Peak and himself personally, if the Grand Elder Huang Zhantian found out, he would surely be overjoyed.

What surprised them even more was that Li Qingfeng, who had always shown the most disdain for Jiang Fan among all the elders, also spoke after a dry cough: "If Elder Wen and Elder Zhao are having difficulties, my Sky Sword Peak will cover the cost. Of course, it won't be for free. From now on, Jiang Fan will be a disciple of my Sky Sword Peak."

Out of the nine elders present, three were willing to invest a massive sum of 500,000 for Jiang Fan. This left the remaining six elders completely dumbfounded. Liu Wenchen was astonished. How could his supposedly useless disciple be so highly regarded by so many elders? However, since Jiang Fan was his disciple, how could he, as the Master, remain indifferent and allow other elders to bear the expense?

"No need," he declared, "my Sovereign Peak can afford these 500,000!" He realized that Tie Bubai would never give up without taking a significant bite out of the Azure Cloud Sect. He would agree for now, and once this Nascent Soul Jade Talisman was used up, he would definitely get double the amount back!

Tie Bubai looked surprised and couldn't help but examine Jiang Fan up and down. He truly hadn't expected this well-known disciple without a spiritual root to be so popular. So many elders were willing to pay an exorbitant price to redeem him! His eyes darted. He felt that 500,000 was too little. He immediately said, "I've changed my mind now. One million spirit crystals!"

*Smack—* *Bang—* Liu Wenchen, Wen Hongyao, Zhao Wuji, and the other elders all slammed their tables and stood up! Especially Liu Wenchen! Not long ago, the Grand Elder had just been extorted with an inflated price. And now again?

"This is outrageous!" Liu Wenchen roared. Wen Hongyao, Zhao Wuji, and Li Qingfeng also glared furiously. This Tie Bubai was truly a scoundrel!

Tie Bubai said indifferently, "If you're not willing, there's nothing I can do. But then, I'll take Jiang Fan with me!"

Jiang Fan rubbed his nose. Oh, wow. He had only raised the price of the beast whip from 50,000 spirit crystals to 100,000. This rascal, on the other hand, directly hiked it from 500,000 to a million! This bad habit couldn't be indulged.

"A million? You might as well just take me!" Jiang Fan walked directly in front of Tie Bubai. He held out his hands and urged, "Come on, tie me up!"

Tie Bubai cautiously pressed down on the jade box on his lap and said, "Who told you to come closer? Step back!" At this point, Jiang Fan was only one *zhang* away from him. Hearing this, Jiang Fan retreated one *zhang*, reaching a distance of two *zhang* away! Tie Bubai frowned: "Step back further!"

Helpless, Jiang Fan retreated another *zhang*. He stopped precisely at the three-*zhang* mark. Only then did Tie Bubai's brows relax, and he forced a smile: "Kid, are you sure about this? The cultivators of my Giant Sect don't have very good tempers. When the time comes, to vent their anger, breaking all your bones and tearing your flesh will be the least of it. It's even possible they'll slice you up piece by piece. Aren't you scared?"

These words seemed to be directed at Jiang Fan. But in reality, they were intentionally said for Liu Wenchen and the elders who wanted to redeem Jiang Fan. Jiang Fan, however, was no longer paying attention to him. He secretly communicated with the little qilin: "Do it. Hey! Did you hear me? Do it!"

After communicating for a while with no response, he looked down and discovered the creature had actually fallen asleep! Oh, for goodness sake! Breaking down at the critical moment! Without changing his expression, he fiercely pinched its butt through the satchel. The little qilin woke up with a yelp of pain and wiggled its backside.

"Get to work!" Jiang Fan thought. "Do you still want your spirit pills?"

The little qilin quickly thought, "Yes, yes, yes, of course! I'll get it for Master right away!"

Tie Bubai didn't notice. He simply looked at the suddenly dazed Jiang Fan and frowned: "Did you hear what I said? Are you sure you want to come with me to the Giant Sect?"

Jiang Fan snapped back to reality. As he was pondering how to respond, the little qilin's voice appeared in Jiang Fan's mind.

"Got it! Easy peasy!"

Jiang Fan exclaimed inwardly, "That fast? You didn't take the wrong one, did you?"

The little qilin replied, "It's the jade talisman from the jade box in front of him. It has many seals on it. Isn't that right?"

Yes, that's it! Jiang Fan was secretly delighted. The jade talisman was in his hands! Tie Bubai was no longer a threat.

"I'm talking to you, are you deaf?" Tie Bubai snapped.

Jiang Fan took a few steps back, his face turning cold: "Old man! When you speak in my Azure Cloud Sect, lower your voice!"