Wang Zhengfei was so furious at Ke Minglu that he nearly had a stroke.
As a disciple of Myriad Beast Sect, Wang Zhengfei had always been treated with respect wherever he went.
Even when he was unreasonable, others didn't dare say anything, much less treat him like this.
Yet Ke Minglu dared to act so arrogantly!
Although Ke Minglu was a Spirit Severing Stage powerhouse, he still had matters that required Myriad Beast Sect's help!
For example, it seemed his son wanted Myriad Beast Sect to help form a contract with a spirit beast.
Thinking of this, Wang Zhengfei suppressed his anger and said coldly with a dark expression, "Elder Ke, our Myriad Beast Sect has always been reasonable. I would hate for this matter to affect the relationship between our sects. After all, our elders have always said that mutual assistance is the only way for everyone to go further."
Ke Minglu heard the threat behind those words.
Mutual assistance?
Assistance my ass!
Myriad Beast Sect had always relied on its monopoly to swagger everywhere.
Anyone who displeased them would be threatened.
Previously, after he had ruthlessly plucked a large amount of benefits from Cui Yi'an, Ke Chongzhen had been targeted by Myriad Beast Sect.
And now they're trying the same trick again?
Ke Minglu sneered inwardly but smiled outwardly, "Of course we should help each other. That's exactly why I'm helping you right now!"
He pointed at Cui Yi'an, "Old Cui, did you hear that? Hurry up and give us an explanation. If I don't get a satisfactory answer, don't blame me for tearing this place down!"
Cui Yi'an's face turned dark, "How can you be so unreasonable!"
Ke Minglu raised an eyebrow, "That's not fair of you to say. Am I the one making trouble? It's clearly your negligence that caused this mess! After all, this competition is your responsibility!"
To compete for the position of Sect Master, Cui Yi'an had been pulling out all sorts of tricks.
This artifact refiner competition was something he personally volunteered to handle.
If it succeeded, his peak would gain tremendous prestige.
But if something went wrong, the responsibility naturally fell on him.
"Enough. I won't waste any more words with you." Ke Minglu delivered his final verdict. "My request isn't high. Just compensate Xiao Jiang with some mental distress compensation."
Mental distress compensation.
The moment those words came out, Cui Yi'an's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.
The last time something happened with Ke Chongbo, Ke Minglu had said the same thing.
In the end, Cui Yi'an had lost a huge amount of precious materials.
And now again?!
Last time it involved Ke Chongbo, and Cui Yi'an had indeed been partly at fault, so he had endured it.
But who exactly was this Xiao Jiang?
"That's right, that piece of Flame Ice Crystal Stone you obtained earlier would work perfectly," Wen Yan said with a gentle smile. Her tone was pleasant, but the request nearly gave people heart attacks.
"Flame Ice Crystal Stone?!" Cui Yi'an almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
The Flame Ice Crystal Stone was a century-old ice crystal that sealed a flame seed within it.
Ice crystal stones were excellent artifact-refining materials.
And the flame inside could be absorbed by cultivators with a fire spiritual root.
After absorption, their fire spiritual root would improve, allowing them to cultivate faster.
Although the flame within the crystal wasn't large, it's still extremely precious.
Such a treasure wasn't easy to obtain.
Cui Yi'an had originally planned to give it to the winner of this competition.
But who could've thought that Wen Yan, smiling kindly, had proposed such an outrageous demand!
"You!" Cui Yi'an's face turned black with anger.
This couple were outright bandits!
"I also think that's a good idea," Ke Chongzhen said with a smile as he stepped forward.
Cui Yi'an: "…" Damn it!
This whole family were bandits!
Ke Minglu then looked toward Wang Zhengfei, "As for your junior sister sending that centipede to attack Xiao Jiang… considering the face of Myriad Beast Sect, just compensate with one spirit beast egg."
"What?!"
Wang Zhengfei gasped, staring at him in disbelief, "A spirit beast egg?! Are you saying you'll compensate me with a spirit beast egg?!"
He thought he had heard wrong, Ke Minglu should've been the one to compensate them with a spirit beast egg instead.
Spirit beast eggs weren't easy to obtain!
"Young man, how are your ears already failing at such a young age?" Ke Minglu said seriously. "Of course you're the one to compensate Xiao Jiang!"
"You…!"
"Didn't you say earlier that you found a spirit beast egg? You even said it probably contained an ordinary spirit beast, nothing strong, just something for fun. Since that's the case, giving it to Xiao Jiang shouldn't trouble you at all."
Wang Zhengfei felt a metallic taste rising in his throat.
He really did have a spirit beast egg, but he didn't know what spirit beast was inside.
And the reason he said it was ordinary was just to show off modestly.
Any sensible person knew that the spirit beast inside an egg was rarely weak, once mature it would at least become a third-rank spirit beast!
Spirit beasts below that level rarely wasted energy laying eggs.
How did Ke Minglu have the nerve to say this so matter-of-factly?!
"Elder Ke…" Wang Zhengfei's face darkened. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
He looked toward Ke Chongzhen, "Senior Ke, do you agree with your father's opinion?"
Ke Chongzhen smiled faintly, "I also think my father makes perfect sense, I support him."
Wang Zhengfei's expression changed dramatically, "Are you sure?!"
Suppressing his anger, he forced a stiff smile, "I almost forgot to mention, Elder Zhang of our Myriad Beast Sect will be coming out of seclusion in a few days. At that time, he can help you complete your contract."
Facing the threat, Ke Chongzhen's smile didn't change, "Oh, I forgot to mention, there's no need. I've already resolved the matter with the contract."
"What?! Impossible!" Wang Zhengfei nearly jumped up. "Who helped you complete the contract?!"
He had still been calm before, after all, he had been confident that mentioning Elder Zhang and the contract would force Ke Minglu to back down.
But Ke Chongzhen had already succeeded in forming a contract?!
That's impossible!
Aside from Myriad Beast Sect and perhaps a few ancient reclusive experts, who else knew how to perform the contract ritual?
Over the past thousand years, Myriad Beast Sect had monopolized the process.
Anyone who wanted to contract a spirit beast had to go through them.
Even though there were factions inside the sect, everyone agreed on one thing:
The contracting method had to remain in their hands!
That's their greatest leverage over other cultivators.
Yet now Ke Chongzhen has silently completed a contract?!
Had some elder from their sect secretly done it?
Wang Zhengfei's expression shifted repeatedly, looking extremely ugly.
But Ke Chongzhen continued smiling calmly, "I've already formed the contract, a certain senior helped me. As for who it was, I'm afraid I cannot say. In any case, we won't need to trouble Myriad Beast Sect anymore, thank you for your concern."
Hearing the obvious sarcasm in his words made Wang Zhengfei's expression even worse.
Not only him, even Cui Yi'an was stunned.
After all, Ke Chongzhen's inability to contract a spirit beast had something to do with him.
But now?
"Alright, bring out the items." Ke Minglu smiled like a benevolent Buddha while extending his hand mercilessly. "Hand them over. It's getting late, we still have to go back and rest."
Cui Yi'an and Wang Zhengfei looked at each other, grinding their teeth.
But seeing the three Spirit Severing experts from the Ke Family standing there, they could only grit their teeth and take out the "compensation".