Martial Peak

Chapter 1316, Bargaining

Listening to this young woman’s words, if he were to take Qian Yue’s Primordial Yin right now, the price to redeem her would undoubtedly be much lower. Just as Yang Kai and Qian Yue had previously concluded, but how could Yang Kai possibly do this?

In this situation, Yang Kai could do nothing but hold his nose and accept it! This caused him to feel quite depressed in his heart.

With a cold face, he continued, “I cannot accept your proposal, so your demand is reasonable.”

When the young woman saw him compromise, she immediately smiled happily and said, “Without even mentioning the resources Yue’er has consumed for her cultivation so far, just the Dual Cultivation Technique she has cultivated is a core secret of our Joyous Union Pavilion. Since Young Lord has plans to redeem her, I believe there is a need to discuss how to deal with this particular problem, yes? Or could it be possible that Young Lord intends to purchase our Dual Cultivation Technique as well?”

Yang Kai’s face changed slightly, suddenly recognizing that he had ignored this problem, but he quickly realized something and immediately retorted, “Surely you must be joking. Although this Dual Cultivation Technique is indeed your noble establishment’s core secret, as far as I know, there should be many hidden dangers with using it, correct?”

Hearing this, the young woman shot a cold glare towards Qian Yue, seemingly believing she had revealed something she should not have.

Yang Kai quickly interjected though, “You may rest assured, Lady Yue’er did not tell me anything about your Dual Cultivation Technique, I simply know that there is no Secret Art which is so convenient in this world. The Dual Cultivation Technique of your noble establishment is indeed quite unique, but it must surely have its drawbacks as well.”

The look on the young woman’s face became a bit complicated, but she didn’t try to deny Yang Kai’s assertion, simply nodding a moment later and saying, “Being able to see through this point, Young Lord is also a person of great insight it seems. En, our Joyous Union Pavilion’s Dual Cultivation Technique does have hidden dangers, but this kind of thing is not a secret. Many people know about it and even the guests who come here for this service are aware.”

“Oh?” It was Yang Kai’s turn to be surprised this time, “Could you explain a bit more?”

“Certainly. In any case, if you go outside to inquire a bit, you will be able to learn of it anyway. The hidden dangers of using our Dual Cultivation Technique to break through a bottleneck is that your cultivation will never again increase.”

“I see!” Yang Kai gently nodded, “Since they know about this danger, why come here to break through a bottleneck in the first place?”

“Because the customers who feel they have no hope of breaking through in their lifetime naturally don’t care about such detriments. If they come here, perhaps they can advance another step. If it were Young Lord in their place, and you were unable to break through your bottleneck even after hundreds of years, and you learned our Joyous Union Pavilion might provide that opportunity, how would you choose?”

Yang Kai thought for a moment before nodding in agreement, “I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to resist such temptation.”

“That’s right. Our Dual Cultivation Technique does indeed have hidden dangers, but it is still a rare and powerful Secret Art. Young Lord wants to redeem Yue’er, and Yue’er knows how to cultivate this Dual Cultivation Technique, so who could say for certain that Young Lord doesn’t have ideas about this Secret Art?”

“You’re well aware of the truth, so why try to press me over this?” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “I’m not stupid enough to destroy my great future with a mere dual cultivation session.”

The young woman laughed lightly, “I am certainly not pressing Young Lord, it is simply necessary for this Mistress to remind Young Lord about this point. However, if Young Lord still insists on taking Yue’er away, there is room for negotiation.”

“I’d like to hear the details!” Yang Kai raised his brow.

“If Yue’er had cultivated the most core principles of our Dual Cultivation Technique, even if Young Lord offered an extraordinary price, this Mistress would not dare to let her go. Fortunately, Yue’er has not been cultivating this technique for very long and has not studied its core concepts yet. As such, some accommodations can be made. This Mistress has two proposals for Young Lord to consider.”

With that said, she looked to Yang Kai and waited until he signaled her to continue before stating casually, “The first proposal is very simple, Yue’er simply needs to abolish her Dual Cultivation Technique.”

As soon as this was said, Qian Yue’s face turned pale and her tender body shivered.

Yang Kai could not help but frown. Although this Dual Cultivation Technique was something Qian Yue had been forced to cultivate after coming to Joyous Union Pavilion, she had nevertheless incorporated it into her cultivation. If it were to be abolished, it would affect her negatively. If her luck was good, it would simply cause some damage to her foundation which could be restored with enough time and resources, but if she was unlucky, it may leave her permanently crippled.

Naturally, Yang Kai immediately shook his head, “This option is unacceptable, tell me about the second one.”

The young woman seemed to have expected this and continued with a smile, “The second option is, Young Lord simply must pay a bit more.”

“Enough to cover the expense of the first parts of Yue’er Dual Cultivation Technique, right?” Yang Kai asked pointedly.

“That is indeed what this Mistress is proposing. Does Young Lord have any issue with this option?”

“Your proposal is reasonable, so I have no problems with it,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.

The young woman’s expression filled with happiness as she nodded, “Young Lord is really a straightforward person. But if it is like this, the price Young Lord must pay will not be small.”

“What kind of price does your noble establishment want then?” Yang Kai stared at her fixedly.

The young woman frowned slightly and thought for a moment before reporting a number.

Qian Yue’s tender body shook noticeably as she stood beside Yang Kai, her eyes flashing a trace of despair. The price was shockingly high. From Qian Yue’s meager understanding of Shadowed Star, she knew that such an amount of Saint Crystals would be enough to buy an excellent Origin Grade artifact. Even if she were to spend the rest of her life saving, she may not necessarily be able to accumulate such a sum.

Yang Kai’s calm and indifferent expression also gave way to one of frustration as he hesitantly stroked his chin.

Seeing this, the young woman smiled slightly, “Young Lord, there’s no point in trying to bargain this price down. Since this Mistress has reported such a number, you can rest assured that it is in line with our Joyous Union Pavilion’s policies and not something I can simply change at will. If you cannot afford the price, please give up.”

Her last sentence was spoken quite bluntly, as if she had already determined that Yang Kai was strong in will but weak in strength. She was not prepared to waste any more time with him.

Yang Kai let out a sigh and said, “Such a huge amount of Saint Crystals really makes things difficult for me.”

The young woman sneered but did not say anything further.

Quickly advancing the conversation though, Yang Kai continued, “Would your noble establishment be willing to accept some items as collateral?”

“Collateral?” The young woman’s brow rose slightly.

“Yes. artifacts, pills, materials, or other valuables,” Yang Kai replied, “These items are all important for this Yang, so I can only offer them as collateral. After returning home, I will raise enough Saint Crystals and return to redeem them. After all, no one simply carries such a large amount of Saint Crystals with them.”

“What Young Lord says makes sense, but it also depends on what you are willing to put up as collateral. If Young Lord were to simply toss out a few random items but never return, wouldn’t my Joyous Union Pavilion wind up suffering a loss?”

“You need not worry about this point, since I must offer something as collateral, they will definitely be important treasures, it is impossible for me to not return to redeem them.” Saying so, Yang Kai wore a look of struggle for a moment before waving his hand and taking out two jade bottles, two artifacts, and a Space Ring. Placing these items on the table between them, Yang Kai pushed them towards the young woman and said lightly, “Please see for yourself if this will be enough.”

The young woman gave Yang Kai a suspicious look but quickly nodded. Picking up the Space Ring first, she swept its contents with her Divine Sense. After discovering that there were some Saint Crystals in it, she put this ring back down without any change in expression; after all, the number of Saint Crystals in this ring was far lower than the price she had just quoted.

Next picking up one of the jade bottles, she opened it and took a sniff. In the next instant, her beautiful face changed slightly, and she quickly poured a pill out of the bottle onto her palm and began carefully inspecting it. After a moment, she showed a trace of surprise and muttered, “An Origin Grade Low-Rank Fire Cloud Pill, and its quality is extremely high. Which Alchemy Grandmaster refined this?”

Yang Kai wore a neutral expression, showing no intention to answer her.

The young woman’s expression immediately became more dignified than before, because in order to obtain such a bottle of Origin Grade Low-Rank pills, it was necessary to have a strong connection with an Alchemy Grandmaster and possess extraordinary status and wealth. Realizing this, she no longer dared look down on Yang Kai.

After all, Imperial City Sect, which was Joyous Union Pavilion’s secret backer was only a mid-rank Sect and they possessed no such Grandmaster.

Checking the other pill bottle, the young woman found it also contained Origin Grade Low-Rank pills, allowing her to affirm the speculation in her heart. These two pill bottles were incredibly valuable, not something that could be purchased simply by possessing enough Saint Crystals.

The two artifacts, on the other hand, were not as impressive, just ordinary Saint King Grade High-Rank artifacts. However, they were still worth a fair number of Saint Crystals.

“These two bottles are treasures I had to expend great effort to obtain and are very useful for my future cultivation, so you may rest assured I will come back for them,” Yang Kai said with a slight smile to the young woman.

The young woman nodded slowly; all of her previous suspicions being swept aside. In truth, these two bottles of pills were treasures that even ordinary Origin Realm masters might not necessarily be able to possess. A Second Order Saint King having them clearly indicated he had extraordinary connections and means.

What she did not know was that these pills were things Yang Kai had refined himself.

Seeing her fall into contemplation, Yang Kai did not say anything further, simply casting a glance of reassurance to Qian Yue. He could tell that this young woman was very interested in the offer he had made and shouldn’t try to put forward any kind of excessive request, so as soon as this transaction was completed, he would immediately take Qian Yue away from Black Crow City and never return.

As for the pills and artifacts he just handed over, how could Yang Kai care about such insignificant things?

The reason Yang Kai had not just taken out the number of Saint Crystals this young woman had asked for was simply out of an abundance of caution. Casually taking out such an astonishing amount of wealth would undoubtedly draw unwanted attention.

Having witnessed this entire process, Qian Yue could not help but smile.

After a long time, the young woman seemed to have made a decision and lifted her head to smile at Yang Kai, but just as she was about to speak, a look of surprise appeared on her face and she quickly took out a communication artifact and apologized, “Forgive me Young Lord, please wait a moment.”

Yang Kai smiled and nodded, indicating he did not mind.

The young woman poured her Divine Sense into this communication artifact and seemed to be communicating with someone, her expression fluctuating greatly as the conversation continued.

A moment later, she put away this communication artifact with a confused look before turning to Yang Kai and flashing an awkward expression.

Seeing this look, Yang Kai’s heart sank as he suddenly had a bad premonition.