I Can Transfer the Side Effects of Evil Skills

Chapter 497 - 307: Am I That Valuable?

Su Qingyu sighed softly. "I had high hopes for you, too, but I just heard some gossip before coming here. Many prominent figures in the Immortal Sect, including True Monarch Tianyan, have used celestial divination to predict this duel..."

"And the result? The vast majority believe you’re going to lose."

"Jiang Wanzhao must have also advised you to stay off the Dao Discussion Platform, didn’t she?"

Su Qingyu knew, of course, that Jiang Wanzhao had invested in Zou Feng.

Su Qingyu had guessed correctly. Jiang Wanzhao hadn’t shown up in person, but Leng Jing had already paid a visit to the Hongxing Inn.

The message Leng Jing delivered was simple: there was absolutely no need to face Li Dingjie on the Dao Discussion Platform.

The predictions of others could be dismissed, but True Monarch Tianyan’s divinations had rarely been wrong in several hundred years.

Even on the rare occasion he was mistaken, it was only a minor deviation in the details; the overall outcome was always more or less correct.

Names can be misleading, but nicknames never are.

True Monarch Tianyan’s "Tianyan" wasn’t just a name he was given for no reason.

Leng Jing had also informed him that if Zou Feng returned the one hundred thousand points of Immortal Fate to Li Dingjie, Jiang Wanzhao could pull some strings and find a way to void their contract.

It had to be said, the fact that Jiang Wanzhao was willing to interfere in such matters despite her busy schedule spoke volumes about how highly she regarded Zou Feng.

Back in the monster-bug caverns, the Evil King’s Flame Fiend Poison Dragon Wave that Zou Feng had unleashed, achieving such an absurd effect with the body of a mere Spiritual Energy Realm cultivator, had truly caught Jiang Wanzhao’s eye and left a lasting impression.

Unfortunately, Zou Feng could only appreciate the sentiment behind Jiang Wanzhao’s kind offer.

First of all, even if he wanted to return the one hundred thousand points of Immortal Fate, he couldn’t.

Because he had already gone all-in, having Teng County bet it all on him to win.

The payout was fantastic. The bookmakers must have gathered intel from various sources, as they had set the odds for his victory at 3-to-1.

Zou Feng was quite pleased with these odds, so he decisively decided to double down.

He immediately went to see Xue Cang and collected an advance on his salary for the next three years at the Dining Hall. Calculated at the highest rate, it came to ten thousand points of Immortal Fate.

He then shamelessly borrowed another twenty thousand from Xue Cang, scraping together a total of thirty thousand additional points of Immortal Fate.

In truth, Xue Cang had been reluctant to lend him this Immortal Fate, as it was a loan that would almost certainly never be repaid.

He had also tried his best to persuade Zou Feng to give up on the duel.

But he couldn’t refuse after Zou Feng guaranteed that if he lost, he would immediately get off the Dao Discussion Platform and save his own skin. He swore he would do everything possible not to die on the platform, and this finally persuaded Xue Cang.

However, Zou Feng had originally wanted to borrow another one hundred thousand directly, but in the end, he only managed to scrape together thirty thousand, much to his regret.

Now, hearing Su Qingyu mention that people were actually going to Li Dingjie to bid on his corpse, Zou Feng’s eyes instantly lit up.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Seeing Zou Feng was distracted, Su Qingyu stuck her foot out and wiggled it in front of his face.

Zou Feng snapped back to reality, then asked, confused, "Are these people dense? If they want to buy my corpse, why don’t they come to me directly?"

Su Qingyu stared blankly for a moment, then replied, speechless, "And pray tell, who would ever think that you would sell your own corpse?"

"Wait a minute. Didn’t you just agree to leave it for me? What do you mean you want to sell it now?"

’When did we agree on that...?’

Zou Feng shook his head. "Don’t be anxious, Palace Master. I just want to scrape together a bit more Immortal Fate to add to my bet. I’m not going to die in the first place, so how could there be a corpse to speak of?"

Hearing this, Su Qingyu sighed. "I never used to question your confidence, but are you really not the least bit worried about the outcome True Monarch Tianyan divined with the Grand Art of Astrology?"

"The Grand Art of Astrology?"

Zou Feng looked up at the sky and gave a disdainful smile. "My confidence comes from... above the heavens themselves!"

’Back when I first joined the Immortal Sect, even the Celestial Dao Cauldron failed to detect the List of Gods on my person. Could True Monarch Tianyan’s star-gazing divination possibly be more powerful than the Celestial Dao Cauldron?’

So, there was nothing wrong with what Zou Feng said. His List of Gods quite possibly did transcend the heavens.

If the List of Gods had to occupy a physical location, it would surely be suspended high above the sea of stars.

Besides, there was still more than a day until his duel with Li Dingjie on the Dao Discussion Platform.

The outcome True Monarch Tianyan had divined might be correct right now.

But on the actual day of the duel, were True Monarch Tianyan to read the stars again, he would most likely find that something was becoming increasingly amiss...

"Palace Master, trust me. Don’t worry about all that other stuff. Hurry up and go all... er, hurry up and bet it all!"

"Oh, right! You can also use your Calamity Poison Body as collateral to get more Immortal Fate and raise the stakes!"

"No... Palace Master, calm down! I’m doing this for your own good. It’s a guaranteed win, no way to lose!"

After being goaded by Zou Feng, one would expect Su Qingyu to storm off in a huff. As it turned out, she was just as unhinged; though she appeared displeased on the surface, she was already calculating in her head just how much Immortal Fate she could borrow with her Calamity Poison Body as collateral...

The two chatted like this for a while longer, and Su Qingyu was actually convinced by Zou Feng to once again make a huge gamble.

She had never been very rational to begin with, always acting purely on her mood. It was only after arriving at the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, surrounded by so many powerful figures, that she had started to seem more or less normal.

After seeing Su Qingyu off, Zou Feng immediately had someone help him contact Luo Yingning.

At that moment, Luo Yingning was once again throwing a tantrum at Mu Wanrou.

The reason was simple: though Mu Wanrou had just participated in the auction for Zou Feng’s corpse at the Sword Tomb, she had, of course, returned in failure.

It couldn’t be helped. As a high-ranking member of the Tianxiang Association, her personal fortune was considerable, but it paled in comparison to that of a Central Court Elder or some of the Core Disciples.

Besides, it wasn’t as if she was truly willing to bet her entire fortune on it.

But Luo Yingning was notoriously unreasonable and pestering; she couldn’t have cared less about such things.

In short, Mu Wanrou’s failure to win the auction for Zou Feng’s corpse was a sign of her incompetence and insufficient devotion to her.

"Yingning, please calm down. I’ll think of another way..."

Luo Yingning snorted. "A way? What other way could you possibly have? Do you really think I’m a three-year-old you can placate so easily?"

"Enough. You should hurry up and establish your Dao Foundation. But this time, you’d better have some self-awareness. Don’t even dream of establishing a Low Tier Dao Foundation."

"After all, with your meager abilities, you should be burning incense and thanking the heavens if you can even manage a Profound Tier Dao Foundation!"

Despite this cold mockery, Mu Wanrou didn’t get angry. Instead, she continued to comfort Luo Yingning with a doting expression.

Luo Yingning was getting extremely annoyed. Just as she was about to stomp her foot and leave, her Token suddenly vibrated.

She impatiently picked up the Token, and a look of surprise immediately crossed her face.

"This is Zou Feng. I want to discuss a deal with you!"

Luo Yingning never expected the future "corpse" to take the initiative and send her a message.

The exchange that followed left Luo Yingning even more bewildered.

’Zou Feng contacted me on his own initiative... to sell his own corpse?!’

’What the hell?!’

"Hey, are you buying or not? Hurry up and give me a straight answer!"

"By the way, Li Dingjie is nothing to me. He has no right to handle my corpse."

"Especially since I can set up a contract in advance, name the recipient of the body, and have the Celestial Dao Cauldron notarize it. No one will be able to take it!"

Staring at the lines of text—words she recognized, but a message she suddenly couldn’t comprehend—Luo Yingning remained dazed for a long moment before finally realizing something was wrong.

"Who are you? How dare you mock me like this!?"

Clearly, Luo Yingning thought this was a "token scam."

The reply came back quickly.

"Mock you? My ass. I’m not that bored. You’re at the Tianxiang Association’s Lanxin Pavilion, right? I just happen to be passing by. If you come out, you should be able to see me..."

"Name your price, and we’ll sign the contract in person!"

At this, Luo Yingning’s brain short-circuited again.

"Yingning, what’s wrong?" Mu Wanrou asked, approaching with concern.

She then saw the explosive message on the Token as well.

"..."

The two of them stood there, stunned, for a long moment. Finally, Mu Wanrou was the first to speak. "Since the contract will be notarized by the Celestial Dao Cauldron, then... buy it!"

"But we’ll have to see if this lunatic asks for an outrageous price..."

Before Mu Wanrou could finish, Luo Yingning had already sent her reply: "How much are you selling it for?"