Chapter 66: I Give Up

Fire Lord handed over the techniques and formations he had obtained from Emperor Hao to Queen Zhen Nan, then left on his own. He later went to find Hua Hai, the steward from the Armory Institute.
At that time, Hua Hai was in the headquarters of Tongzhou Hall.
“Hmm, Fire Lord has finally arrived,” Hua Hai said with a light smile as he sensed Fire Lord’s presence in the room.
Hua Hai had been very happy ever since joining Tongzhou Hall. Every month, when he visited the hall’s warehouse, he would find that the number of immortal artifacts stored there had increased by 20 million. Thus, he could easily calculate that Tongzhou Hall would surely be able to complete the upcoming crafting task at the Xingren Soul Immortal level.
20 million per month, which is nearly 250 million in total—just four years would be enough for Tongzhou Hall to complete a task involving 1 billion artifacts.
Without any worries, Hua Hai led a carefree life.
Whoosh!
Hua Hai flew out of the room and into the air to meet Fire Lord.
“Fire Lord, you’re finally here,” Hua Hai said with a smile.
“Hua Hai, seeing you so happy, does it mean Tongzhou Hall is about to finish the crafting task?” Fire Lord replied with a smile as well.
A glance between them was enough for them to understand each other’s answer, and they burst into laughter in mid-air.
Soon, they landed in a magnificent hall at Tongzhou Hall’s headquarters and sat down.
Hua Hai looked at Fire Lord and said with a smile, “Fire Lord, Tongzhou Hall truly has its unique strengths. It can craft immortal artifacts so quickly. In the entire Youhan Sect’s Armory Institute, only Tongzhou Hall has such capabilities.”
Fire Lord smiled briefly, then became serious and asked, “Hua Hai, with such large-scale production of immortal artifacts, we need so many materials—it must have caused quite a stir. Surely Ning Yan, Zhan Yi, and Wei Yue, who made a bet with us, didn’t use their backing forces to interfere with our crafting?”
Hua Hai couldn’t help but laugh at the thought and replied immediately, “Fire Lord, those three did come to Tongzhou Hall once. Their forces also investigated at the Shangluo Institute and found that we were indeed producing immortal artifacts on a large scale. They realized they were likely to lose. Zhan Yi and Wei Yue tried to use their family’s influence, but my third uncle and several elders from the Armory Institute stopped their interference. As for Ning Yan, it seems she didn’t step in to hinder us. Her family’s influence is mainly in the Punishment Institute.”

Ning Yan’s family held several elder positions in the Punishment Institute. In contrast, the families of Zhan Yi and Wei Yue had much weaker influence, holding positions in the Commerce and Alchemy Institutes. With their combined family strength, elders like Hua Cheng’an in the Alchemy Institute could easily hold them back.

After hearing Hua Hai’s words, Huo Zun saw it clearly—those elders from the Alchemy Institute stepped in to stop the interference from the two families only out of respect for his promise of one hundred million Origin Stones each.

Huo Zun thought it through clearly, a smile appearing on his lips. He then asked cheerfully, “Hua Hai, how many immortal artifacts do we have in our warehouse now?”

Hua Hai replied immediately, “It’s almost nine hundred million.”

Originally, Tongzhou Hall’s thirty thousand disciples were enough to complete the task of crafting one billion immortal artifacts. With the addition of another hundred thousand new disciples, the progress accelerated even further. In less than four years, they had reached nearly nine hundred million of these first-star Human Soul Immortal-grade artifacts.

Hearing this, Huo Zun’s smile grew even wider as he laughed heartily, “In that case, let’s wait a few more months. Once we have one billion immortal artifacts, we’ll go to the Alchemy Institute together and submit the task.”

Hua Hai was immediately filled with excitement. He had long awaited this moment and was eager to meet those elders from the Alchemy Institute. What would their expressions be if they saw that Tongzhou Hall had completed the task of crafting one billion immortal artifacts? Of course, Hua Hai also wanted to see Ning Yan, Zhan Yi, and Wei Yue—how painful their faces would be when they had to hand over those one billion Origin Stones after losing the bet.

“Good, let’s wait a bit longer,” Hua Hai replied with a laugh.

※※※

Five months later, Tongzhou Hall’s one hundred thirty thousand disciples finally completed the remaining immortal artifacts.

All one billion first-star Human Soul Immortal-grade artifacts were now ready.

Huo Zun and Hua Hai each took a hundred space rings, each containing one billion immortal artifacts. At that moment, they were walking proudly through the teleportation hall, grinning from ear to ear. The disciples of Tongzhou Hall around them stared at them as if they were monsters, filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Naturally, Huo Zun and Hua Hai, who were eager to submit the task and win the bet, were in high spirits and didn’t want to explain anything to the surrounding disciples. They just laughed as they stepped into the space teleportation array.

Headquarters of the Alchemy Institute.

Huo Zun and Hua Hai emerged from the teleportation hall and rushed straight to the Artifact Receiving Hall.

At the entrance, the ten elders of the Bearing Hall had already lined up in their respective teams. It turned out that Hua Hai had used his communication card to send a message to his third uncle, Elder Hua Cheng’an. Thus, upon seeing that the gambling bet was about to be fulfilled and they would receive 100 million Origin Stones, the ten elders no longer waited arrogantly on the upper floor but came out personally to greet them.

“Elders, we from the Tongzhou Hall have come to hand over the task,” Hua Hai said cheerfully, standing upright.

Fire Lord simply glanced at the ten of them without saying a word.

“Good, good, good,” the ten elders replied simultaneously.

It was clear that they were in high spirits.

Soon after, Fire Lord and Hua Hai went to the registration room on the first floor of the Bearing Hall, where they found Yue Zien and handed over two hundred space rings.

At that moment, noise arose in the hall on the first floor of the Bearing Hall. Ning Yan, Zhan Yi, and Wei Yue had each brought a group of people to the Bearing Hall.

“Fire Lord, since you’re here at the Bearing Hall, come out and meet me,” Ning Yan said, her face not showing anxiety but rather anticipation and joy.

Zhan Yi and Wei Yue, on the other hand, looked anxious, fidgeting like ants on a hot pan.

Hearing the noise in the hall, Fire Lord asked Hua Hai to continue with the handover while he left the registration room alone.

“What’s the matter, you three? Haven’t seen each other in four years, and you miss me that much?” Fire Lord asked with a smile, glancing at them.

It was meant as a joke, but upon hearing his words, Ning Yan’s face turned red, though the blush disappeared quickly. Still, it didn’t escape Fire Lord’s notice.

Fire Lord’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately recalled their two encounters with Ning Yan and guessed that perhaps she had feelings for him.

Zhan Yi and Wei Yue, however, didn’t notice Ning Yan’s change in expression. They kept staring at Fire Lord, and upon hearing his words, they became furious.

“Fire Lord, since you two have come to the Bearing Hall now, does it mean your Tongzhou Hall has already completed its weapon-forging task?” Zhan Yi asked anxiously.

“Fire Lord, don’t try to win the bet by buying immortal weapons from other sects or the Firecloud Merchant Alliance. The three of us must personally check whether these immortal weapons were indeed forged by your Tongzhou Hall,” Wei Yue shouted, his face showing determination.

It was obvious that these two were afraid of losing.

Fire Lord glanced at the two of them and smiled, “Zhan Yi, Wei Yue, you two can’t bear to lose, can you?”
“Who said that!”
“Damn it, how could we not bear to lose!”
Zhan Yi and Wei Yue surely wouldn’t admit defeat in front of Ning Yan, so they immediately retorted.
At that moment, Hua Hai and the ten elders had come out of the registration room.
“Ning Yan, Zhan Yi, Wei Yue, you three will be disappointed. Our Tongzhou Hall has already completed the task of crafting one billion immortal artifacts,” Hua Hai said with a smile, holding up the steward’s token in his hand.
The token was red and circular, with the character “steward” in the center.
Upon seeing the red token in Hua Hai’s hand, Ning Yan, Zhan Yi, and Wei Yue were instantly stunned.
According to the rules of the Artificer Academy, the initial steward’s tokens for each artificer branch were white. After completing a certain number of tasks, the tokens would be replaced with new ones.
Red meant the number had exceeded one billion.
“That’s impossible! What kind of group is Tongzhou Hall? How could they craft one billion immortal artifacts in just four years?” Zhan Yi shouted angrily, his face red as if burned by flames.
“This must be a lie! Tongzhou Hall only has two Earth Soul Immortals—what strength do they have? How could they craft so many immortal artifacts so quickly? I don’t believe it! I refuse to admit defeat!” Wei Yue stamped his feet frantically, shouting like a madman.
After initial shock, Ning Yan quickly calmed down, seemingly accepting the situation.
At that moment, Hua Cheng’an stepped forward calmly and said, “The ten elders here have verified that Tongzhou Hall has indeed completed the task at the level of First-Class Human Soul Immortals. How dare you still deny the truth?”
Zhan Yi and Wei Yue immediately fell silent. No matter how bold or powerful their families were, they wouldn’t dare question the elders of the Artificer Academy outright. The rules of the Youhan Sect were strict—if they dared challenge the elders, even if Hua Cheng’an killed them, he wouldn’t bear any responsibility.
Seeing the situation calm down, Fire Lord chuckled and said, “Ning Yan, Zhan Yi, Wei Yue, you three signed a bet on behalf of the Ancestral Fire Hall, Jinghua Hall, and Xinfu Hall. Now that Tongzhou Hall has completed its task, shouldn’t you each hand over one billion Origin Stones?”
At these words, Ning Yan, Zhan Yi, and Wei Yue trembled violently before finally calming down.
“I admit defeat,” Ning Yan said softly.

Zhan Yi and Wei Yue, seeing all eyes fixed on them, especially the sharp gazes of those ten fierce-looking men in the Chengci Hall, trembled all over again before reluctantly saying, “I give up.” Huozun then smiled nonstop.