Son of Chaos 200 Competition 3

But the other man either didn't understand his intent to defuse the situation or he just blatantly choose to ignore it. So instead of gracefully accepting his refusal, something that if done right could make him appear in a good light, he started to mock him instead.

"Hah, so you don't even have anything of worth. Aren't you just a poor worm.", he said derisively. "How did you even become her disciple if you are unable to afford anything?"

Now that he had gone that far, Ivan had lost any reason to hold back. Serene also had turned away from that guy, a clear indicator that she didn't want anything to do with him anymore. Him going against her like this had clearly enraged her. And although she had chosen to hide it, this didn't mean that she would forgive him. So even the last straw to hold Ivan back had been broken.

"Oh, so you have only become something because of money? I guess it is true that whatever the talent, as long as one just throws enough resources on it, it may become something one day.", he shot back. Clearly indicating that that guy had only become what he was now because of money and not talent.

But what was out of his expectation was that the guy just owned it, "So what? I have money and that's my talent. And I know how to spend it effectively. Now I am something, but you? Even if by some miraculous circumstance you have got some talent you are still poor and unable to advance. Just look at you. Even at your age, you didn't even reach the Foundation Building stage. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? And you call yourself a talent? In my opinion, you are just a boy toy your master has taken in to satisfy her lust.", his words managed to enrage just about anyone around him.

Miss. Klein and Serge were enraged because of him calling Ivan a boy toy and indicating that she had only taken him in to satisfy herself. And Serene was enraged because that guy had just made everything worse. If he didn't know anything, then why would he talk? Just because he wasn't aware of them coming from that lower realm, he mocked them because of their cultivation? Didn't he know that someone that could become an in-name disciple of a sec like the Rose Sect would not be a weak talentless anybody?

A sect of that size would always have a good reason to take in someone like this. How stupid could someone be to think that they would just accept someone who was talentless? Even if he was the boy toy of an elder, it would be impossible. And Miss. Klein wasn't even an elder.

She fought the desire to hit that guy herself. Instead, she distanced herself even further from him, by increasing the space between them. Her action screamed, "Hey, look. I don't have anything to do with this crazy guy anymore."

Ivan too was enraged, "Oh, so you have something great to use as collateral for a bet?"

Since his master was confident in him, then there was no reason to not be confident in himself. Just look at how he would milk that guy.

"Of course.", the man proudly proclaimed and took out something that looked like an old root.

"This is?", Ivan asked confused. He hadn't seen anything like this before. He guessed that it should be an expensive ingredient but he didn't know what exactly.

The man snorted and once again looked at him in disdain, "How could you not recognize the 'Old Retient Galllow Root'?"

Now that he had spoken out the name of this root, Ivan knew what it was. He just hadn't recognized it because it looked different from the image he had seen in the information. Taking a closer look he understood the reason for it. The root in the image had been a fresh one, while the one being held up by that man was a dry one.

Although a dry root would have lower effectiveness than a fresh one, for rare things like this root it was already impressive to own a dry one.

Of course, it was still nothing to experienced pill refiners such as Miss. Klein and Serene. But for people like Ivan and Serge, it was great material for refining lower-ranked pills which could increase cultivation speed. The 'Old Retient Galllow Root' was very useful to create pills, which could increase the absorption rate of energy by the cells. It was thus one of the main ingredients for many body refinement pills.

Going through the information he had on it, Ivan realized that he also had a pill recipe making use of the root. So for him, getting the root could be seen as something fortunate. The question now was if he had something of similar value for the bet.

Seeing his troubled look, the man once again snorted in disdain. But he didn't interrupt his thoughts. Clearly he was waiting for him to admit that he didn't have anything of similar value. Then he could once again mock him and take out something of a lower value. Once again striking his weak point.

But he was destined to be disappointed. Although Ivan truly wasn't rich, something like the 'Old Retient Galllow Root' was still within his means.

He carefully pulled out a fresh grass from his 'Herb Ring'. Although it wasn't possible for herbs to grow in this kind of ring, it would still keep the herbs stored inside fresh. This grass was a 'Blue Veined Snake Grass'. Something he had found by luck during his last adventure into the mountains. Although its value was below that of 'Old Retient Galllow Root', it was still fresh, so its value should be extremely similar to the dried root the other man had presented.

"Then I'll bet this fresh 'Blue Veined Snake Grass'.", he announced. This grass was the most valuable herb he had in his possession and if not for his master's confidence in himself, there was no way he would have taken it out. Before they had come to this realm he hadn't known of its value and he had only assumed that it was a slightly mutated version of a more common grass. Only after reading through the information provided by the Rose Sect had he realized its true value.

While the 'Old Retient Galllow Root' was especially useful for the body refining stage, the 'Blue Veined Snake Grass' was more focused on the 'Qi Gathering' stage and above. It too was a herb that could be used as the main ingredient for a cultivation pill. But this pill would simply speed up the absorption of Qi from the surroundings. It was hard to say which pill was more useful but the one refined from the 'Blue Veined Snake Grass' could theoretically be used at any cultivation above 'Qi Gathering'. Of course, for those with higher cultivation, the increase in the absorption rate would be nothing more than a drop in a bucket or even lake. Completely negligible.

But this long term use made the pill at least as expensive as the on refined from the root, even though the effect was slightly weaker.

"This is a fair bet.", Miss. Klein announced and Serene nodded in agreement. Although she didn't like Bea, she was at least an honest person, so she wouldn't lie about something like this.

Seeing Ivan pull out a herb of similar value and having his teacher and Miss. Klein agreed on that fact, the man had to swallow the scolding words he had already prepared. How had this country bumpkin gotten his hands on something this good?

"Then let's both give our herbs to my teacher and the one who gets the higher placing will get both of them.", he proposed.

Ivan sneaked a glance at his master and seeing her nod he carefully gave the herb in his hands to Serene. Unlike what he had expected, she didn't directly put away the grass but instead carefully studied it first.

She then nodded, "Not bad." Turning towards Ivan she smiled at him. This was the first time she had shown him a friendly smile, surprising him, "How about you become my disciple?"

He stared at her in surprise, as did the others. Everyone except Miss. Klein who seemed to instantly understand her thought process. She didn't say anything, instead, waiting for Ivan's response.

Chapter end