Bab 199: Competition (2)
When they arrived at the venue of the competition, which was a large plaza at the center of the sect, there were already many others who had arrived. But as if cursed by bad luck, when they just wanted to enter the plaza, they met another group having the same composition as theirs.
In the front was a young woman who looked extremely seductive. She had opted to wear a red dress instead of the commonly found robes, and the dress not only hugged her figure but also left many parts of her skin visible, covering mainly the important parts and nothing else. You wouldn't be wrong to call it half seethrough.
She was also wearing red high heels and her small feet provided a great contrast with their whiteness against the red of the heels and the nail polish. Her black hair was also carefully draped and fixated with a red hairpin.
Her outfit may seem slutty on someone else but surprisingly she managed to wear it in a way that screened seduction but still maintained a feeling of distance, of unreachableness.
Wherever she walked, the eyes would follow her, but nobody would dare to step forwards to talk to her. Something Ivan thought was an amazing feat. One had to know that even with his immunity towards beauty, originating from being surrounded by beauties most of the time, he couldn't help but look at her.
Behind her two young men followed along, who even though they could be called handsome were clearly overshadowed by her and functioned more like a backdrop, highlighting her even more.
When Miss. Klein saw her two disciples staring at that woman, she humphed coldly, breaking them out of their reverie.
Surprisingly the woman came to a stop before Miss. Klein and spoke to her.
"I see you are the same as usual Bea. Your helpers are just as unique as usual.", although her words didn't seem that problematic, her tone and facial expression made it clear that she was looking down on Ivan and Serge. Or maybe she just wanted to strike at Miss. Klein and that was why she said that.
Of course, compared with the two guys behind her, Ivan and especially Serge couldn't compare in the looks department. But neither of them felt hurt by her. They both didn't care much about their looks.
"Oh hello, Serene. I see you are the same as always as well. Only looking at the outer appearance while ignoring what's on the inside.", Miss. Klein responded while looking at the two men in disdain.
Unlike Ivan and Serge who had stayed calm and hadn't said anything, the two men behind Serene didn't do the same. Both of them got angry and the one on the left even opened his mouth, "You..."
Before he could even finish, or even really start whatever he wanted to say, a glare from Serene shut him up.
Miss. Klein shook her head as if disappointed, but her voice was gloating, "It seems like you haven't trained your little helpers this well yet."
Since Serene couldn't refute it, she could only choose to ignore it. Thus she acted as if nothing had happened, "We will see about that." She had carefully chosen her helpers for today. Not only were they very handsome but they also were quite skilled in pill refining. She had checked up on the two behind her opponent and she had found out that they had just come from a lower realm, so how good could they be? They didn't even have Qi fluctuations around them.
"Oh, so would you dare to make a bet?", Miss Klien asked. She was clear on how good Ivan was at pill refining. She reckoned that he should be better than either of the guys behind Serene.
"A bet? You would dare to bet with that disciple of you?", although Serene's word where full of mockery, one could see some uncertainty in her behavior. Ivan guessed that she should have made bets with Miss. Klein before and from her behavior they didn't go well.
"Of course. They are my disciples so why shouldn't I bet on them.", Miss. Klein announced proudly, "Don't tell me you don't trust yours?" The last sentence was clearly designed to infuriate her, so she would accept the bet. And even if she didn't, Miss. Klein would have managed to create a rift, however small between Serene and her disciples.
And predictable, Serere laughed out and said, "Of I course I dare. Let's bet on whos disciple gets the higher place." She also proposed a simple condition for them to bet on.
Miss. Klein didn't hesitate to agree to the bet, "Alright. But what are we betting on? How about you bet that pill recipe you got not to long ago? That for the 'Chasing Sun Pill'?"
The 'Chasing Sun Pill' was a rare high-grade pill, whose recipe was extremely expensive. While many pill recipes were readily available on the market, with the low-grade recipes even being public knowledge, the higher grade pills would often be worth so much, that the creators would be unwilling to just share the recipe. And anyone else who got the recipe would be unwilling as well. After all, sharing the recipe could reduce the income one could generate from the pill. Or it could destroy an advantage one had.
So these pill recipes were traded for a high price. Some couldn't even be gotten with just money. These recipes were often protected by a system block, which ensured that only a person who had the recipe could refine the pill and the recipe couldn't be replicated. So it was impossible to just write it down for someone and allow that person to learn it.
Those recipes often had a master recipe that could create new recipes, which were either bound to a person and could then be used by only this person. Or they could be transferred, the recipient would then be able to refine the pill, while the former owner would lose the ability to do so.
This could ensure a strong control over the pill recipe. And it was something that was the case with the 'Chasing Sun Pill'. The recipe couldn't be bought for money but it was sometimes rewarded for complicated tasks issued by the Sun Sect.
Serene had successfully finished such a task and gained a transferable recipe for the 'Chasing Sun Pill'. She had then proudly boasted about it, which was why Miss. Klein knew about it.
Although during the years quite a few recipes had gotten into circulation, it was still a valuable recipe. So for Miss. Klein to make it the object of the bet made it clear how sure she was about Ivan winning the be.
Ivan had seen the recipe mentioned somewhere in the information he had read, so he knew about its value, and his master is willing to do a bet like this, made him feel proud. And he was also extremely motivated to win the bet. From his understanding of his masters personality, if he won, he would receive something great as well.
Sadly Serene rejected the offer. "No way. The recipe is worth too much for me to bet on." Miss Kleins taunt beforehand wasn't able to shake her mind. She retained her rationale. She had fought with Miss. Klein for a long time now and she knew that this woman wouldn't take to much of a risk. And her putting the bar so high for their bet made it clear that she didn't have the feeling that she was risking so much. So the only other option was, that she was sure in her victory.
Serene didn't know about Ivan's level of pill refining and she wasn't able to calculate it either. But she knew that Miss. Klein herself was a monster and she demanded of others to be the same as well. Back then someone had asked Miss. Klein if she could become her disciple. In the end, the harsh words she had received were enough to send her packing and fully focus on something else than pill refining.
Even her students, who had fewer requirements than the disciples were ofter pushed towards the brink of insanity by her requests.
The combination of these facts made Serene unwilling to make the bet. "Let's just have a fun completion and not be so serious about it."
But while she wanted to defuse the situation and pull back from the bet, the man who had spoken before didn't think the same.
"If you don't want to bet, then I'll do it.", he announced proudly, while pulling out a crystal card.
Everyone looked at him in surprise. Since his master had pulled back, shouldn't he do the same?
Serene glared at him in embarrassment. These guys weren't really her disciples. They were just her students but it was still shameful for one of her student to speak like this.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone