Chapter 2690 - 2682: Hardline Because of Weakness

Chapter 2690: Chapter 2682: Hardline Because of Weakness

Seeing Feng Jun’s lingering resentment, Yi Jue could only speak softly, "On this matter, I have communicated for you, and the Artifact Refining Path has shown great sincerity, even Ban Yu True Sage is furious."

"That Ban Yu True Sage... certainly carries the demeanor of a senior," Feng Jun finally entered a normal state of communication. He indeed had a good impression of Ban Yu True Sage, but last time someone came under Ban Yu’s banner, which left him feeling resentful.

Now hearing that Ban Yu was also annoyed, he felt that this was indeed how senior experts should act. However, he still had some resentment, "Sincerity aside, the key issue is the reputation being tarnished... If there is no fierce retaliation, wouldn’t that mean I’m easy to bully?"

Senior Qian Zhong is truly worthy of his title as a Divine Spirit Duke, his insight is indeed sharp! Yi Jue couldn’t help but silently admire from her heart, yet she spoke out, "I agree with you, a fierce retaliation is indeed necessary, but... how should we retaliate?"

This wasn’t her opposing Feng Jun, but rather it was beyond what she was familiar with—she really wanted to help him retaliate.

"Try to minimize the impact," Feng Jun did not make things difficult for her—how could he bear to? However, if he proposed the means of retaliation, it would seem rather low, "Let’s see their sincerity."

"I did negotiate some terms," Yi Jue, true to her character, always spoke her mind, "That Nascent Soul Artifact Forger will be at your command for two hundred years, what do you think?"

At your command? Feng Jun raised an eyebrow, this was indeed a pleasant surprise. According to Tianqin’s customs, and in this context, within these two hundred years, that Nascent Soul True Immortal must let Feng Jun call the shots, without any resistance, to be considered at one’s command.

Of course, this at your command couldn’t violate public order and good customs, otherwise, it would cross the line—you couldn’t make him commit suicide, nor could he kill his own people—that wouldn’t be at one’s command, but rather a puppet under a slave contract.

So, the condition Yi Jue talked about was really quite good. For a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, two hundred years is a long time, but also short—the entire Nascent Soul Stage lifespan is only about three thousand years, one fifteenth of it being spent serving a punishment.

Considering the time spent struggling at the Out-of-Dust Stage and Golden Core Stage, it can be assumed to be a tenth of the lifespan, used to make amends.

However, how could Feng Jun be so easily satisfied? He didn’t care about how many years of commanding someone else, "Commanding others is not my intention, the key is to make it widely known... to clarify that it was the Artifact Refining Path that bullied me, and the retaliation at White Pebble Beach was unavoidable."

"This request... I’ll have to discuss it further," Yi Jue hesitated for a moment, indicating that she wasn’t very good at negotiating these things. It was only because she had been worrying about Feng Jun for the past few days, that she could understand the differences in certain conditions, "It seems the Artifact Refining Path is quite concerned about face."

Feng Jun keenly sensed her change and asked in surprise, "That’s not wrong, but when did you start caring about these things?"

Yi Jue didn’t answer him, gave him a cool look, and turned to leave.

Feng Jun was somewhat puzzled, blinking his eyes, but he didn’t pursue the question further.

This round of negotiations by Yi Jue took quite a long time, and it was only after three days that she returned.

During this time, Feng Jun met with Ji Niang, Xia Nichang, and others, and even the old acquaintance from Yuangang Gate, Hua Sheng True Immortal, came. He brought a message from the two sects, which was—don’t be anxious, we are coordinating with the Artifact Refining Path, and will certainly give you a satisfactory explanation.

By the way, he also asked if the bounty could be withdrawn first. This thing... is very unfriendly to the Artifact Refining Path.

True, the person had already hidden back at the mountain gate, unlikely to come out in the near term, so the bounty wasn’t very damaging, but it was extremely insulting.

Feng Jun took out the piece of Obsidian with a message, and asked expressionlessly, "On my turf, leaving such words for me, Hua Sheng True Immortal, who do you think insulted whom first?"

Hua Sheng True Immortal reviewed the Obsidian and couldn’t help but sigh, "The guys from the Artifact Refining Path are truly arrogant to the bone."

"It’s not just arrogance," Feng Jun responded earnestly, "If it were just arrogance, I wouldn’t be so furious. The key issue is... they’re also cutting off my sources of income!"

"So that’s it," Hua Sheng True Immortal sighed, Yuangang Gate’s leadership analyzed this matter, and their stance wasn’t quite the same as the Artifact Refining Path. They didn’t simply think that the Artifact Refining Path was unwilling to be constrained on a technical level, but rather... they intended to seize Feng Jun’s market.

Understanding this point made Feng Jun’s anger very understandable. Clearly, it was a lucrative, exclusive business, yet the Artifact Refining Path insisted on interfering, so it was not surprising that he placed a bounty on the person’s head.

As for the idea being borrowed... haha, if it’s an invaluable idea, so what if it’s borrowed?

Ultimately, it was a matter of interests. Feng Jun merely provided a reason offhandedly. And precisely because of this, the two sects decided to support Feng Jun—in whatever guise, openly seizing someone else’s goods remains against public order and good customs.

The suggestion to retract the bounty made by Hua Sheng True Immortal was just a casual one—the Artifact Refining Path did indeed make such a request, but he didn’t plan to insist on fulfilling it.

Three days later, Yi Jue returned, saying that the Artifact Refining Path felt that a public apology was inappropriate since it was that Nascent Soul acting independently. However, they were willing to increase the compensation in Spirit Stones from three to five pieces.

"Do I seem like the kind of person lacking in Spirit Stones?" Feng Jun sneered and shook his head, "Reaching out indiscriminately, without even an apology... if I don’t give them a good face slap, I’m concerned others might still have their eyes on me."

At this critical moment, it was Ji Niang True Immortal who spoke up, "Why not let that True Immortal come personally to apologize, Extreme Spirit Stones would still be three pieces... plus a hundred-year offer for White Pebble Beach?"

If someone else said this, Feng Jun definitely wouldn’t consider it, but it was Ji Niang speaking—she’d rather offer Spirit Stones to help him than gather information because it’s unnecessary to use favors like that.

She’s one of the rare people who make Feng Jun feel a sense of belonging on Earth, even with the support of a True Sage, she’s reliable in her actions.

Feng Jun had to seriously consider her opinion because he also realized that due to his lack of security, his actions tended to be rather extreme. It’s important to heed advice to avoid becoming obstinate.

After careful consideration, he slowly shook his head, "Five Extreme Spirit Stones, that guy must come personally to apologize, as for utilizing him? Forget it... my White Pebble Beach doesn’t care for a mere Artifact Refiner."

Actually... there’s still some allure, especially given the potential genius recognized by Ban Yu True Sage, but with the Bidirectional Gate at White Pebble Beach, Feng Jun really doesn’t want a possibly malicious Nascent Soul near him. So, trading two more Extreme Spirit Stones... isn’t it quite appealing?

Later, the Ji Family’s True Immortal also received the negotiation content, and upon hearing it, he chuckled bitterly and shook his head, "That guy truly can’t bear to see Extreme Spirit Stones."

The representative from the Artifact Refining Path was somewhat unwilling to accept this condition, and negotiations continued for two more days.

Unfortunately, Feng Jun wouldn’t meet with them at all, and ultimately, this representative forcibly cut one Extreme Spirit Stone from Feng Jun’s terms—leaving only four.

Because he believed that a Nascent Soul True Immortal personally apologizing also damages the Artifact Refining Path’s reputation—that face value exceeds one Extreme Spirit Stone.

At this point, Feng Jun was too lazy to argue further with them as the Artifact Refining Path valued one Extreme Spirit Stone, but he was quite indifferent to it—not because of contempt, but because his time shouldn’t be wasted like that.

Moreover, the intervention from the Artifact Refining Path’s True Immortal unexpectedly helped him resolve disputes with the Ji Family, this maneuver... didn’t result in a loss.

In fact, the Ji Family’s rewards were quite generous, knowing Feng Jun resolved the dispute with the Artifact Refining Path, ten days later, the Ji Family accompanied by several others "escorted" that True Immortal here, specifically coming to apologize. It’s said the Ji Family even mobilized a True Sage.

Perhaps considering that Xuanyuan Buwei was at White Pebble Beach, that True Sage did not appear, citing Kunhao’s hostility towards True Sages.

That True Immortal didn’t just apologize on the spot but also explicitly stated: that they will never again imitate Virtual Combat Magical Treasures.

This promise was forced by the Ji Family, and as the mediator, the Ji Family stated their commitment to oversight responsibilities.

Which means, if this True Immortal reneges in the future—don’t blame the Ji Family for taking lethal actions.

As for the Extreme Spirit Stones... they weren’t compensated on the spot, they were given privately, which was strongly requested by the Artifact Refining Path: compensation is fine, but handle it privately, public compensation would be too humiliating.

Feng Jun was quite open-minded about this; he wasn’t trying to deliberately humiliate the Artifact Refining Path, merely to dissolve some people’s unrealistic ideas and also to caution some others.

—If one can quietly enjoy the rewards, why make it known to all under heaven?

However, unfortunately, after the people from the Artifact Refining Path left, within a day, this news spread throughout White Pebble Beach.

The news was released by the Ji Family. They believed since the people from the Artifact Refining Path had left, it didn’t count as face-to-face humiliation, hence it was acceptable; this kind of publicity indeed made Feng Jun seem hard to provoke.

Feng Jun found this somewhat amusing, but regardless, the Ji Family’s intention to reconcile was very strong, especially with them volunteering for oversight responsibilities, this was a strong gesture of goodwill.

Of course, there were reasons behind this goodwill. Feng Jun’s bounty couldn’t progress, but the Ji Family still coveted obtaining Virtual Combat Magical Treasures priority and at a discount.

In fact, the Ji Family’s True Immortal was rather diplomatic; he did not actively mention refining Magical Treasures, just expressed their commitment to oversight responsibilities, actually due to their status—since they posted the bounty, they naturally had to see it through.

To be fair, Feng Jun hadn’t expected the Ji Family’s style, previously aggressive, to change so significantly.

Therefore, he was even more grateful he took part of Ji Niang True Immortal’s advice and had seriously examined his own flaws.

Previously, his actions were indeed very tough, but this toughness was actually based on deep insecurity, once discovering himself in a possibly dangerous position, he’d choose to fight or flee but would seek ruthless revenge afterwards.

His toughness was simply because of his own weakness.