Chapter 459: A Double-Game Deal

At once, Lin Dong noticed something unusual about Ling Chenyue but couldn’t quite figure out his intentions. He was certain that unless Zi Han had a more dexterous hand than the young man in the brocade robes, the Snow Red Grass must still be with her.

What surprised Lin Dong even more was that Ling Chenyue casually walked up to him amidst the many puzzled gazes. As everyone turned away indifferently before pricking up their ears to eavesdrop, Ling Chenyue spoke calmly, in a voice neither too loud nor too soft: “Brother Lin, we’re old acquaintances now—how about we work together?”

“Work together?” Lin Dong’s smile took on a deeper meaning. While others couldn’t understand Ling Chenyue’s words, he and Yun Lan perceived a subtle difference.

“Yes. There are too many outsiders outside, and I only brought one person with me,” Ling Chenyue nodded. “Brother Lin, you also came with just two people—your chances must be slim, right?”

“The strength of the two of us—one at the fifth level of Heart Reversal Phase and the other at the seventh—far exceeds that of someone like you at the first level of Heart Reversal Phase,” Lin Dong said calmly. “It’s not that I can’t team up with you, but the Snow Red Grass must belong to me. In return, I’ll give you 2 million taels of silver, and those three grass seeds will also be yours.”

Ling Chenyue was stunned. Zi Han had only said that Lin Dong’s strength was at least two levels higher than hers. He never expected it to be four levels higher, or even possibly six. For a inn owner to possess strength at the fifth or seventh level of Heart Reversal Phase, along with a friend at the fifth or seventh level of Mental Phase, was simply unbelievable.

Ling Chenyue glanced in Zi Han’s direction. Her response was a slight nod, followed by a slow shake of the head.

Ling Chenyue understood. He knew what she meant—she was confirming that her mental senses couldn’t detect either of their strengths, meaning their strength was indeed two levels above hers, but exactly how much higher was uncertain.

After some thought, Ling Chenyue pretended to be puzzled: “Brother Lin, you know very well that the grass seeds are useless in my hands, and I’m not short of silver. As for you, with such great strength, the help of a single Snow Red Grass shouldn’t be much of a deal. How about this… let the grass seeds be yours, and I’ll give you 5 million taels in silver instead?”

“We came to Tianfeng Street today just to try our luck and see if we could find some high-grade spiritual materials that could aid in cultivation. Now that we’ve found them, there’s no reason to give up,” Lin Dong said, shaking his head. He had no reason to be dissatisfied with Ling Chenyue’s suggestion. Earlier, he had mentioned only needing the Snow Red Grass because he had anticipated Ling Chenyue’s goals and was playing a strategic game of feigning reluctance. Refusing now was also to avoid appearing too eager.

It was uncertain whether he would use the Snow Red Grass to exchange for other cultivation aids from other sects in the future, but at the very least, showing too much urgency could easily let Ling Chenyue guess that he had a way to grow it.

“This…” Ling Chenyue still looked troubled. Five million taels of silver wasn’t a small amount, but he could afford it. Moreover, if he could successfully take the Snow Red Grass out, he wouldn’t hesitate. But only if that silver was given to someone other than Lin Dong. Lin Dong’s Lin’s Inn was the biggest rival of Maple Forest Restaurant. Giving him five million taels of silver was equivalent to helping Lin’s Inn grow faster. If more was demanded, he couldn’t immediately determine whether it was worth it.

After all, as long as it wasn’t through the Spiritual Materials Shop, there would be no safety issues. He could slowly find a way to contact the shop and pay a certain price to ask them to help take it out. As long as the eight million taels of silver notes were fake and wouldn’t be exposed, and if handled properly, there was a good chance the Spiritual Materials Shop wouldn’t keep the Snow Red Grass for themselves. Plus, the shop itself had an elder with strong resistance skills and the backing of a major sect, so the chances of success weren’t any lower than seeking Lin Dong’s help.

The reason Ling Chenyue turned to Lin Dong was to reduce his two main rivals. By cooperating with Lin Dong, Lin Dong would no longer try to seize the Snow Red Grass. As for the Spiritual Materials Shop, it only had one elder, who might not risk going out to compete for it in a place full of strong outsiders. After all, those outsiders would also suspect him of taking the Snow Red Grass away, making him one of the suspects. Going out would instead make him a target for attack.

Furthermore, he wanted to test the situation and find out why Lin Dong believed the Snow Red Grass was still at the Spiritual Materials Shop.

Lin Dong smiled and said, “Brother Ling, don’t forget—it was me who just called out that the Snow Red Grass was still in the shop. To be honest, I know who has it.”

Ling Chenyue’s body trembled slightly as he stared at Lin Dong in shock.

Lin Dong smiled without saying anything.

After hesitating for a moment, Ling Chenyue gritted his teeth and said, “In addition to the seed and five million taels of silver, add a seventh-tier spiritual weapon.”

“I didn’t expect Brother Ling to have a seventh-tier spiritual artifact… Deal!” Lin Dong pretended to hesitate for a while before reaching out with his right hand, taking out a storage spiritual ring from the mobile counter. After feigning to remove the ownership mark, he tossed it to Ling Chenyue and said, “It contains the advanced spiritual techniques I’ve mastered. The ownership mark has been removed—it’s a pledge.”

“Okay!” Ling Chenyue took the storage spiritual ring and strode back to his seat, handing it to Zi Han. After Zi Han marked it with her blood to claim ownership, she checked the ring and found it empty. She then whispered the details to Ling Chenyue.

At this point, Ling Chenyue was sure that Lin Dong truly knew the Snow Red Grass was in his possession. After some consideration, he leaned in close to Zi Han and instructed her to find a way to extract the Snow Red Grass seeds through the loose robe and place them in a separate storage spiritual ring.

Once Zi Han completed this and handed the ring containing the seeds to Ling Chenyue, he took out a Lin’s Inn VIP card, which surprised Lin Dong slightly, and placed the storage ring inside it. Returning to Lin Dong, Ling Chenyue handed him the VIP card and said, “Brother Lin, take a look. Inside are a seventh-tier spiritual artifact and five million silver taels.”

Lin Dong took the VIP card and scanned it mentally. Aside from a storage spiritual ring, there was nothing else in the space—it was clearly just an empty card before. He took out the storage ring, easily removed Zi Han’s ownership mark, dropped a drop of blood on it, and after confirming ownership, reached into it mentally. Inside were three seeds filled with abundant spiritual energy.

An involuntary smile appeared on Lin Dong’s face, and he naturally placed the storage ring back into the mobile counter. “It’s been a pleasant cooperation, Brother Ling. How about moving a chair over and sitting together?”

Ling Chenyue nodded at Zi Han, who was not far away. Thus, the deal was officially sealed. To outsiders, it seemed they were cooperating to seize the Snow Red Grass—Lin Dong providing advanced spiritual techniques that couldn’t be revealed as collateral, while Ling Chenyue offering the promised reward in advance. If they obtained the Snow Red Grass, Lin Dong could exchange it for the advanced techniques. If not, he could use Ling Chenyue’s promised reward to get them. Both sides had constraints, making it difficult for either to break the deal.

In reality, actual transactions rely on credit. Ling Chenyue gave Lin Dong the rather unremarkable seed as a deposit, while Lin Dong was responsible for ensuring Ling Chenyue could successfully take out the Snow Red Grass. After that, Ling Chenyue would pay the remaining, more valuable compensation: five million silver taels and a seventh-tier spiritual artifact. If they succeeded in leaving, Ling Chenyue could immediately secretly hand over the Snow Red Grass to someone waiting outside. If he wanted to break the deal, he would have to risk trying to escape from Lin Dong’s grasp. If he didn’t want to break the deal, he would hand over the seventh-tier spiritual artifact and silver notes; if he didn’t have them, he could leave someone as a hostage to retrieve them later, thus settling the account.

The martial artists inside and outside the shop, as well as the stronger ones, were somewhat annoyed by the two’s determined attitude. Yet they had to admit that with three strong opponents, two of whom were even high-level experts, plus knowing in advance who possessed the Snow Red Grass, they indeed had the best chance of obtaining it.

In addition, many people began to reevaluate the martial artists in the shop. Earlier, they had suspected the Snow Red Grass was with Zi Han, but Lin Dong’s attitude clearly indicated it wasn’t with her, greatly reducing that possibility. Moreover, if the Snow Red Grass were indeed with Zi Han, Ling Chenyue wouldn’t have offered such a high price—this price was almost equivalent to its value. It didn’t make sense to spend so much just to hire a bodyguard without guaranteeing a safe exit.

What they didn’t know was that in Ling Chenyue’s eyes, the value of the Snow Red Grass far exceeded that of a seventh-tier spiritual artifact. He happened to have a seventh-tier spiritual artifact that Zi Han didn’t need, otherwise he wouldn’t have made such an offer. Nor did they know that Lin Dong was already certain the Snow Red Grass was with Zi Han. For Ling Chenyue, this was a huge risk that forced him to compromise.

When Ling Chenyue and Zi Han came over with chairs to Lin Dong and Yun Lan’s side, the shop returned to calm, aside from a few faint whispers. Outside, the noise gradually subsided as some herbal merchants, who couldn’t wait for excitement and lacked the ability to seize the Snow Red Grass, left. What remained were martial artists and strong individuals—whose current strength came from years of hard work.

In front of the Snow Red Grass, even if it meant waiting just a few days or even years—as long as it didn’t interfere with their cultivation—many of them had the patience to do so.

Lin Dong and Yun Lan quietly discussed and planned their escape strategy. With the seeds of the Snow Red Grass in hand, it could be said that Lin Dong had successfully obtained what he wanted without a fight. But though they had the item, leaving became extremely dangerous due to a remark Lin Dong had made earlier while the Snow Red Grass was still in the Spirit Materials Shop. Outside the shop, there were many skilled people; even the elders of the Spirit Materials Shop, with their strong backgrounds, would be attacked by the crowd if they stepped outside, let alone Lin Dong and Yun Lan, whose identities were unknown. No matter how powerful their identities might be, they couldn’t compare to the major sects behind the Spirit Materials Shop—at best, they were on par. After nearly half an hour of deliberation, Lin Dong and Yun Lan finally made a decision.