Jing Hongchen was excited as these thoughts ran through his head, and he forced his temper down. He frowned and said, “Huo Yuhao, your invention is indeed impressive, and it will be beneficial for the development of stationary soul tools. However, you have to understand that this is a relatively simple structure, and it still needs continual refinement and improvement, while we are the ones who have to do these things ourselves. Therefore, even though I am willing to offer quite a bit for this, it can’t be too outrageous. Name a price or a condition that everyone can accept – if not, there is nothing left to negotiate.”

Huo Yuhao grew silent. After an entire minute, he seemed a little pained as he said, “Alright. Since you are so sincere, Hallmaster, then I will tell you my bottom line.”

He raised his left hand again as he spoke, and he pressed down the index finger on his right hand. He left a long and straight middle finger… Jing Hongchen stared at the glaring middle finger and went quiet for a few seconds before he recovered. He was indignant as he shouted, “Scram!”

Lin Jiayi’s expression was a little black. If Jing Hongchen hadn’t been here, he would have probably stepped forward to teach Huo Yuhao a lesson himself.

Huo Yuhao seemed as if he didn’t feel the fury at all. He chortled and said, “Business shouldn’t ruin personal relationships. Don’t be angry – I even left this for you as a souvenir. Can you see how generous I am? Farewell, then. You just destroyed my heartfelt gift, and you just scolded me. I have decided to raise my price again to three Class 9 soul tools, and that’s the final and non-negotiable offer. You can sleep on that.”

With that, he turned around and walked out with a casual gait.

Jing Hongchen wanted to stop him, but he was too proud to open his mouth. He stared at the black box in his hands, and the thoughts that came to him before this surfaced once more.

Milk Bottles connected to energy-gathering soul tools, and activated with a unique automatic mechanism. A Class 4 Milk Bottle’s stored soul power would probably be enough to fire dozens of soul rays. On the battlefield… “Call him back.” Jing Hongchen ultimately asked Lin Jiayi, agonized.

Up to now, Lin Jiayi still wasn’t sure what was going on. However, he could see the grief and indignation on Jing Hongchen’s face, and he couldn’t help but say, “Hallmaster, you’re too nice and forgiving to this fellow. Why don’t I go teach him a lesson?”

“I told you to call him back. Can you understand simple words?” Jing Hongchen shouted, and scared Lin Jiayi so much that he scampered away immediately.

After another minute, Huo Yuhao was standing before Jing Hongchen yet again.

“Sit down.” Jing Hongchen pointed at the chair in front of his desk before he turned to Lin Jiayi and said, “Pour a cup of water for him, and then you can leave the room.”

“Yes.” Lin Jiayi didn’t dare to say anything more, and he poured a clear glass of water for Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao didn’t decline this time, and he sat down in front of Jing Hongchen. He picked up the glass of water and glanced at Lin Jiayi as he was exiting the room while asking Jing Hongchen, “This glass of water isn’t poisoned, is it, Hallmaster?”

Jing Hongchen had a hard time suppressing his anger, and he erupted once more. “You…” He almost slapped Huo Yuhao across the face – he really wanted to murder this young man!

“No.” He considered the importance of that automatic mechanism, and ultimately restrained himself and answered with a calm look on his face.

“That’s good, then.” Huo Yuhao didn’t drink the water, and placed the glass back on the table as he spoke. Huo Yuhao looked like he still didn’t trust him, and Jing Hongchen’s face was starting to flush.

“The seller always starts with a high price, but the buyer will always go on the lower side. Name a price that I can accept.” Jing Hongchen tried to be direct as he could. He didn’t want to continue being entangled with this dude.

“I named my price, didn’t I? I want three Class 9 soul tools. I can’t go any lower.” Huo Yuhao stuck out three fingers once more. For some reason, Jing Hongchen felt as if Huo Yuhao’s middle finger was especially glaring.

“You know that’s not possible,” Jing Hongchen muttered coldly, “If that’s the case, then you can go.”

“Oh. Then why did you call me back? We’ve been through this several times already.” Huo Yuhao stood up and started walking out as he spoke, as if he wasn’t afraid of anything at all.

“You…” Jing Hongchen could feel his organs exploding with rage. “Come back!” He shouted once more, stopping Huo Yuhao in his tracks.

Huo Yuhao’s heart wasn’t as evil as it appeared to be. The truth was that he admired Jing Hongchen, and he admired his teacher, the Dragon God Douluo Elder Mu’s judgment of Jing Hongchen. Elder Mu held Jing Hongchen in high regard – Elder Mu said Jing Hongchen was a ruthless, ambitious, and formidable character, and the only problem was the kinks in his personality. Honor was a little too important to him, and he was headstrong and irritable at the same time. How could one judge something calmly and fairly if one got angry, and that meant others would have a chance to take advantage of him. Otherwise, why would Huo Yuhao play dirty like this for no reason?

“Three Class 9 soul tools is impossible. I admit that your innovation is exceptional, but you have to understand that the problems I’ve just pointed out are also true. How about I name a price for you instead? One Class 8 soul tool, and five million gold soul coins. How about that?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head vigorously. “No, no. That’s the product of my blood and sweat, and I can’t just sell it for such a low price. I want Class 9 soul tools – Class 8 soul tools are meaningless.”

“No – Class 9 soul tools are strategically important to the Sun Moon Empire. How can we just casually give them out?"

Huo Yuhao patted himself on the chest and said, “I don’t think that’s right, Hallmaster. When you were inside the Sea God’s Pavilion all those years ago, my teacher asked you for one, and he didn’t even give anything in return, and you just took one out without much hesitation. You just gave him the Hongchen’s Blessing, and I’m still benefiting from it.”

Veins popped out all over Jing Hongchen’s forehead. This boy just wanted to touch a sore spot – the situation back then was different, and he probably wouldn’t have returned with his life if he hadn’t given that gift. However, he was rendered speechless by Huo Yuhao’s assertion, and the redness of his face began to turn green from all that restraint.

“No means no! Two Class 8 soul tools!” Jing Hongchen growled, and he suddenly stood up and planted his hands on the desk, as if he were going to devour him.

Huo Yuhao decided to stop talking, as if he was afraid of Jing Hongchen, but he still shook his head adamantly and determinedly.

“What do you want? Besides Class 9 soul tools, what else do you want?” Jing Hongchen returned to his seat, and his temper cooled a little.

Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, then said, “Hallmaster, creativity and innovation have no price. The soul tool I have crafted may be simple and rickety, but I believe that my invention is extremely valuable, and that’s the reason why I have named such an outrageous price. Calm down – alright, I don’t want Class 9 soul tools anymore, and I know you hate to part with them. Do you think this will work?”

What do you mean I hate to part with them? I can’t just give them away. Jing Hongchen had just calmed himself down, but his anger was already starting to erupt once again.

“You can also give me materials for Class 9 soul tools that are equal in value. You should know that Shrek Academy still lacks precious and exotic materials.” Huo Yuhao attempted another tactful inquisition.

Jing Hongchen thought to himself that this fella had finally revealed his fox tail. This must be your real motive, eh?

“What do you want?” Jing Hongchen lowered his voice and said, “There are many different kinds of exotic materials, and their values are hard to gauge.”

Huo Yuhao said, “I only want a few things – let me know if it’s alright! Five thousand kilograms of Purplegold Bronze, five thousand kilograms of Skyspirit Silver, one thousand pieces of Underworld Crystals that are each at least ten centimeters long, and one hundred kilograms of Extraterrestrial Meteoric Steel. I want five hundred kilograms of Starmoon Alloy that’s authentically crafted by the Illustrious Virtue Hall. I also want the excellent Sun Essence Gold that I saw the other time, and then I want one hundred and eighty pieces of Silver Dragonscale. Don’t tell me you don’t have these things! I’ve seen the academy’s history, and the academy has hunted and killed a Silver Dragon before. A single Silver Dragon probably has millions of scales, and I only want a hundred and eighty – that’s not even one percent, so don’t be stingy, please?”

Jing Hongchen’s face turned a shade darker after every item Huo Yuhao listed. His face was now black with traces of green, and even the green contained shades of purple. He was absolutely at the brink of erupting with rage and fury.

The things that Huo Yuhao requested were all the best rare and exotic metals. The last few requests were especially so – the Sun Essence Gold and Starmoon Alloy were all considered extremely precious and invaluable materials, and they were all used to construct Class 9 soul tool formation arrays. Even one kilogram was incredibly expensive, let alone several hundred kilograms.

“Are you trying to clean out the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s warehouse?” Jing Hongchen stood up yet again without thinking. He shook the black box Huo Yuhao had given him earlier vigorously and said, “You want to exchange this broken thing that’s made of steel for so many things? You must be daydreaming. Even greedy and avaricious people aren’t as outrageous as you. Take your toy and get out of here – don’t let me see you again.” He tossed the black box at Huo Yuhao as he spoke.

Huo Yuhao didn’t leave this time. He grabbed the black box and chuckled, “Don’t be angry, Hallmaster! We can still discuss the price. Furthermore, I am only asking for things that are equivalent in value to three Class 9 soul tools, and I haven’t even raised the price even though you’ve mocked my design time and time again. These things are probably equivalent in total value to three Class 9 soul tools – I’m not bullshitting you!”

“Who promised to give you precious metals that are equivalent in value to three Class 9 soul tools?” Jing Hongchen glared at him.

Huo Yuhao replied with a grieving and wronged look on his face. “Then we can negotiate further. Which one do you think is too much? Can we lower the requested amounts?”