Chapter 32: Negotiations(2)
“If I die, Elder Sang’s conspiracy will be divulged.”
Su Chen struck at the heart of the matter.
The black-clothed man snorted but didn’t reply further.
How could he respond? From the letter and his actions, Su Chen had already anticipated this situation, and was in control.
Currently, the black-clothed man could only be thankful that he had been discovered by the cautious Su Chen. Otherwise, his death would bring their plans to light, making things much more difficult.
With that thought, the black-clothed man said, “If you guarantee that yesterday’s matters aren’t leaked, I will spare you.”
Su Chen wore a derisive expression, “You really are a fool.”
“What did you say?” The black-clothed man grew furious.
Su Chen continued, “Do you really believe that I made all these preparations just so that you wouldn’t kill me? If that were the case, I would’ve leaked this information from the start. With this information leaked, killing me would serve no further purpose.”
The black-clothed man grew shocked. However, he replied, “Then there would be absolute enmity between us.”
Su Chen sneered, “You’re speaking as if it that wasn’t the case now.”
The black-clothed man became mute.
That’s right, what difference was there whether Su Chen had offended them or not?
In any case, he had been sent there to kill Su Chen. Why wouldn’t Su Chen want to gain the initiative?
The black-clothed man’s words grew hollow as he finally became aware he was facing no ordinary youth. This youth was a person who had clear plan in mind. He put away his contempt and spoke with a stern tone, “What do you want?”
Su Chen finally put down the copper basin.
He took out a piece of paper and handed it over, “I want everything on this list.”
The black-clothed man glanced at it, “A bottle of Terror Snake venom, a log of ironwood, and four grade nine Origin Tools: one for long-distance combat, one for close quarters, one piece of armor, and one pair of battle boots…. This is extortion!”
The black-clothed man’s entire body trembled in anger.
What was an Origin Tool?
It was a weapon capable of using Origin power!
Since life began on the Primordial Continent, it has always existed in tandem with Origin Energy, exploiting and manipulating it. This has been true throughout all of history, from the first Origin races and Origin Beasts, to the later Arcana Empire, and even now amongst the mixed races. Besides cultivating and knowledge, Origin Tools were the greatest method of manifesting Origin Energy to preserve one’s life.
An outstanding Origin Tool was able to enormously increase a user’s strength, and would command an extremely high price no matter the market. Even the Su Clan only possessed three Origin Tools: two grade nine Origin Tools and one grade eight Origin Tool.
Grade nine Origin Tools were the weakest while grade one Origin Tools were the strongest. Above grade one Origin Tools were the legendary Divine Armaments, which are best explained later.
For Su Chen to say that he wanted four Origin Tools was more than just overstepping his boundaries. Just asking for this much was already being avaricious, not to mention the bottle of Terror Snake venom and log of ironwood.
The venom of the demonic beast Terror Snake was extremely precious because of its ability to induce hallucinations. The standard crystal bottle that Su Chen requested would either take a single Terror Snake half a year to fill or the death of several tens of Terror Snakes, as each snake only held a limited of venom in their sac at a time. As for the tough, durable ironwood, it grew extremely slowly and thus was worthless unless it aged a thousand years. As a result, an entire log of ironwood had to have grown for well over a thousand years. Such type of materials were extremely rare to come by, as one could imagine.
These two scarce, treasured items were even more valuable than Origin Tools in certain aspects. At the very least, Origin Tools could be found. Thousand year ironwood and Terror Snake Venom were extremely difficult to find.
It was no wonder why the black-clothed man was so furious. He spoke with a cold smile, “Such a large appetite, are you not afraid of overreaching yourself?”
“If you allow me to, then I most certainly will.” Su Chen bluntly replied, “Return to the people who sent you here and tell them that these are my conditions. So long as you deliver these items to me, I will forget everything that I previously heard.”
The black-clothed man immediately shook his head, “Youngster, your appetite is truly too great. I don’t need to return and report this, since Elder Sang will not agree.
Su Chen then contemplated for a moment before saying, “Then let’s reduce it by one Origin Tool.”
The black-clothed man spoke with irritation, “It isn’t about the Origin Tools. Terror Snake Venom and Ironwood are truly rare. There is no way we are willing to pay so large a price as a bottle of Terror Snake venom along with a log of Ironwood.”
Su Chen was shocked at what the words of the black-clothed man unintentionally revealed. He immediately realized that using four grade nine Origin Tools as payment didn’t pose much of a problem to them. And it wasn’t that they were unable to acquire a bottle of Terror Snake Venom and a log of Ironwood, just that the price was not worth it.
Under ordinary circumstances, an organization’s strength was directionally proportion to their economic might.
As a result of those words, Su Chen realized that this organization’s might was by no means small.
Now knowing that he was facing such a large organization, Su Chen understood how he should approach the situation.
He then spoke with an amiable tone, “In truth, I must go to the Scarlet Mountain Range in a few days.”
“What?” The black-clothed man was shocked.
Su Chen continued, “The reason why I requested those items is because of this trip to the Scarlet Mountain Range. If I were to die… the information will be divulged and your plans revealed. The person whom I entrusted to do this, will not care about the reason by which I died. Even if I were killed by a savage beast, news of your esteemed organization’s plans will be made known. That truly would be a shame.”
“Must you go?”
“I have no choice.” Su Chen held his hands wide open. “I’ve recently made the mistake of committing a crime and I was punished by my clan.”
He then spoke of the event that occurred during the day.
Of course, Su Chen didn’t mention that he had requested the Scarlet Punishment of his own accord. Neither did he mention that he dared to go into the Scarlet Mountain Range partially because he was confident he could use it as a method of exploiting the organization behind Elder Sang.He only stated that he was being suppressed by his own clan and that he had no choice but to leave.
After hearing this, the black-clothed man was obviously left speechless. He didn’t think that Su Chen was so troubled by even his own clan.
Originally, such matters had nothing to do with him. But as it turned out the matters that affected this fellow also affected his organization.
Damnit, this extortion was out of their control!
The black-clothed man silently cursed to himself.
Blackmail traps had always been something his organization excelled at. He hadn’t expected that a fifteen year old youth would be able to use such tactics to force their hand as well.
However, there was nothing he could do about it now. After thinking for a moment, he could only say, “I must first return and report to my superiors before coming to a decision.”
“There is no problem with that, but you had best be quick.”
“I will come see you tomorrow at this time.” After he said this, he blended into the shadows once more and disappeared without a trace.
Su Chen was blankly staring into the air as if he were unaware. After a long while, he let out a long sigh, “It’s finally over.”
This was his first time scheming against an opponent of far greater strength than himself. If he had made the slightest error, his head may have become separated from his body. As such, Su Chen’s heart was nervously thumping just a moment ago. Thought he hadn’t felt it during the confrontation, he legs felt weak now that the man had left.
However, this fear only lingered for an instance in Su Chen’s heart.
With eyes brimming with unwavering determination, he said, “If you desire to accomplish great things, you must brave great danger. Regardless of the outcome, I will not regret anything!”
If he couldn’t rely on his own clan, he would rely on this mysterious organization to reap his harvest from the Scarlet Mountain range.
The black-clothed man couldn’t have known that from the very start, Su Chen was waiting for them with a scheme in mind.
Now, all he could do was wait for their reply.
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