"Oh no, Teacher" Shang Xin Ci said, getting down from her seat. She was happy that Fang Yuan was alive but had been hoping against hope that he would win. Liu Nan walked over towards Fang Yuan. "That was a good match, Fang Yuan, you fought well."
His words were icy and cold.
But he did mean what he said. Fang Yuan had fought at a level that he had not been expecting, forcing him to use his trump card. "Thank you, you too were quite powerful," Fang Yuan said. He cupped his hands respectfully. "It appears that I am just not Senior Liu Nan's match quite yet, ahahaha..."
Many people were a bit surprised at the cordial nature between the two of them after the fight had concluded. They had been expecting something more bloody, with many of them thinking that at least one of the combatants would've died. Some of them even began wondering whether Fang Yuan and Liu Nan were even enemies in the first place, or whether this had just been some kind of marketing strategy by them.
The truth was that Fang Yuan had no reason to hold onto a grudge, and Liu Nan did not either. He had already won so what was the point of slandering Fang Yuan any further?
"As promised," Fang Yuan said, "You may take a gu worm from my aperture."
Liu Nan's eyes shone; this is what he had been after. However, as he examined Fang Yuan's aperture, he had an ugly expression on his face. "Where was it? Where was the gu worm that he had actually been after?"
Liu Nan was looking either for Charity Gu, but as he examined Fang Yuan's aperture aperture, he realized that Fang Yuan had simply not brought it with him to the fight. Not only that, but Fang Yuan's other prime gu worms were absent from his aperture. He had not brought either of his Rank 5 Purple Crystal Relic Gu either.
Liu Nan's ugly expression intensified. He needed to obtain that gu, and that was the entire reason for all of this in the first place.
'What should I do? Should I put him into a spot by threatening to reveal the Spring Autumn Cicada?' Liu Nan thought. Being only a Rank 5 Gu Master, he could not detect it. But that didn't mean that he didn't know of it.
'Do not even think of such a foolish thing', someone said directly in Liu Nan's mind. It was his master's will, which he had taken along with him during this journey towards Shang Clan City. 'There's nothing further that you can do against Fang Yuan.'
'Then, Master,' Liu Nan thought back, 'Why did you send me on this journey to strike against him in the first place?'
'It was simply to test the waters,' his master answered and added, 'And also to train you for the future. This is not the first time that you will be fighting Fang Yuan. But there's absolutely no way that you can reveal the Spring Autumn Cicada at this juncture. Do you think the eyes and ears of the Shang Clan Supreme Elders are not watching you at this moment?'
In the skies above, Shang Qing Qing relaxed. Given the mortal killer move that was about to be unleashed, she had feared that she might need to intervene. But, Fang Yuan had folded before it could come to that.
Liu Nan did not argue. That meant that there was actually no point in taking any one of Fang Yuan's gu worms. But it would look odd if he didn't take something. So, he ended up picking the Frost Lance Gu. There was definitely some malice behind that intention, as it was Fang Yuan's most expensive gu worm. Liu Nan still did not have any warm feelings towards Fang Yuan.
It would also weaken Fang Yuan's offensive power, he figured, more so than taking the White Form Immortal Snake Gu, which was mainly used for movement. "All right then," Fang Yuan said, walking off stage while Bai Ning Bing descended, glaring at Fang Yuan.
"That was my Frost Lance Gu that you just lost over there!"
Bai Ning Bing's rage was understandable. She had lent Fang Yuan the Rank 5 Frost Lance Gu. She had purchased the Rank 4 Ice Arrow Gu herself and had assisted Fang Yuan in the refinement of the Rank 5 gu worm. Now that Fang Yuan had lost it, he had to repay Bai Ning Bing.
"Don't worry," Fang Yuan said, "I'll definitely go ahead and compensate you," waving his hand.
Bai Ning Bing narrowed her eyes. "Compensate me? You owe me quite a bit, Fang Yuan. Not just limited to the Frost Lance Gu, but also for the use of White Form Immortal Snake Gu."
"Relax, Bai Ning Bing. Do you truly think that I, the Gu Yue clan leader, can't settle such a debt?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Hmm, what Clan Leader? I already know that you're quite a bit of debt to them as well," Bai Ning Bing said. Fang Yuan had taken loans from many of the new Gu Yue clan's elders and 'borrowed' many clan resources for this fight that he had to return. In other words, he was dead broke now.
She wouldn't ordinarily have been so irate, but with how much Fang Yuan had been preparing for the fight, she had assumed that he was going to win. She had also gambled 200,000 primeval stones on Fang Yuan winning but hadn't expected him to give up like that, but she couldn't exactly demand that amount back from him.
"Oh, Lady Bai Ning Bing, please don't be too angry," Shang Xin Ci said, trying to act as a mediator. "Teacher only did all of this for my sake. I'm certain he'll pay you back."
"Hmm," Bai Ning Bing said, her eyes narrowing. "In such a case, why didn't you pay a portion of his debts, then?"
Shang Xin Ci had made a massive profit from this event as expected, without even having sold the Audio-Visual Gu. It was clear that the profits were going to total close to about one million primeval stones. Aside from that, she had earned the favor and elevated her status in the eyes of many of the Shen Clan Elders, as well as her father. That itself could be said to be worth more than the primeval stones. Her status as a young master was guaranteed at this point, but not if she took a portion of it to pay off Fang Yuan's expenses.
"Calm down, Bai Ning Bing," Fang Yuan said, removing Scouting Hive Gu from his aperture. "You may take this as collateral while I attempt to arrange for the proper funds in order to reimburse you." Scouting Hive Gu was near-useless to Bai Ning Bing. But that didn't mean that it couldn't be sold for a high price.
The fact of the matter was that Fang Yuan was not concerned about paying back his debts. Those to his clan could be easily bilked (what were the elders there going to do even if he didn't cough up the dough anyway?), but he had to play along with Bai Ning Bing for now.
"All right, I will take this as collateral," Bai Ning Bing said. Fang Yuan also handed her 150,000 primeval stones, but this was a drop in the bucket compared to what he owed her. That amount could only really cover the cost of renting gu worms and some of the refinement materials he had taken from her. It could not cover the cost of the Rank 5 Frost Lance Gu. Hence why Fang Yuan was forced to hand over the Rank 5 Scouting Hive Gu as well.
Even though it was all that he had at the moment, it was best to hand this over as it was covered by the Poison Vow Gu's agreement, and if he didn't pay it up fully he would end up owing interest on the amount.
His other debts, however, could easily be negotiated downward or ignored.