Chapter 290 - 176: Attribute Breaks 3, This Is My Path

Chapter 290: Chapter 176: Attribute Breaks 3, This Is My Path

When he said the word "others," his tone carried a subtle hint.

Given Zhao Henian’s paranoid nature, he definitely understood.

If the Secret Palace didn’t want it, Wan Ze could find someone else.

There were plenty of people in their circle who would be interested in this kind of thing.

If the Secret Palace passed, plenty of others would take it.

Zhao Henian took a deep breath, his chest heaving. He could feel his blood pressure soaring, and the vein on his forehead throbbed even more violently.

He stated firmly, "Then I have one more condition. No publicizing this deal while it’s in progress."

"Done," Wan Ze agreed without hesitation. "But you’ll have to add a little something for a hush fee."

Zhao Henian glared at him, his eyes looking like they wanted to eat Wan Ze alive. He practically roared, "Have you gone completely money-blind?"

Wan Ze shrugged, held out his hands, and said with a casual expression, "Who complains about having too much money these days?"

"But you—"

Zhao Henian was so angry he laughed.

He remembered just a few hours ago, Wan Ze had stood at the entrance to the alley, looking completely nonchalant as he said, "Money, for people like you and me, is just a number."

He had sounded so cool then, so detached, so above it all.

And now?

’Money is just a number?’

’A number my ass!’

Zhao Henian felt like he’d been played.

No, he didn’t just feel like it. He *had* been played.

This young man was running him in circles in the most crude and simple way imaginable.

Bad review!

A huge bad review!

Wan Ze ignored his frustrated anger and continued counting on his fingers. "As for the hush fee, I’ll give you a discount... Let’s say five hundred thousand. For the sake of the Martial Skill, I’ll give you a twelve-percent discount, round it off... so let’s call it four hundred and fifty thousand."

Zhao Henian froze for a second, subconsciously doing the math in his head.

’Twelve percent off five hundred thousand is four hundred and forty thousand.’

’Rounding that down should make it four hundred thousand. How did it become four hundred and fifty thousand?’

’This isn’t fucking rounding down, this is reverse rounding!’

"You... you bastard!" Zhao Henian was trembling with rage, his finger pointing at Wan Ze, his lips quivering too much to form words.

Wan Ze waved a dismissive hand, completely unconcerned by his anger. "I’m making things easy for you, so shouldn’t you do the same for me? How about this... You can prepare some extra Martial Skills for me to choose from. Just bring out twenty High Tier Martial Skills first. I’ll just take a look, have a little feel. It’s not like you’ll lose a limb, right?"

"Impossible," Zhao Henian refused flatly. "Forget twenty scrolls, I couldn’t even bring out ten at once for you to choose from. High Tier Martial Skills aren’t a dime a dozen; every single one is among the Secret Palace’s most treasured techniques. Never mind twenty, not even five can be moved without the Palace Master’s personal written approval."

Wan Ze frowned, annoyed and impatient. "Old Zhao, why are you dragging your feet? Just tell me how many you can bring out at once."

Zhao Henian didn’t reply.

His eyes scanned Wan Ze’s face, trying to find any clue in his expression.

’He didn’t understand. Why did Wan Ze want so many High Tier Martial Skills?’

’Was this Dragon Eagle’s idea?’

’Are they trying to pull the rug out from under us? Get their hands on the Secret Palace’s High Tier Martial Skills, study them thoroughly, and then wipe us out in one fell swoop?’

’If that’s really the case...’

"You don’t actually think I’m trying to set you up and wipe you all out, do you?" Wan Ze suddenly spoke, his tone filled with a kind of ’are you an idiot’ resignation. "Old Zhao, are you a fucking moron?"

Zhao Henian didn’t get angry.

He was even taken aback for a moment.

’It wasn’t because of the insult, but because of Wan Ze’s attitude when he said it... Damn it, it seems I misunderstood this kid.’

Seeing his reaction, Wan Ze knew he had guessed right.

His own anger flared up, his face a mask of disgust that screamed ’I must have been cursed for eight lifetimes to be working with you.’ "Old Zhao, you’re impossible! I told you... if I really wanted to go after you guys, I wouldn’t have needed to put on this act for so long. I could have just followed the trail, had the old masters from the organization step in and crush you. Wouldn’t that have been faster? Right? I thought we could sit down and be friends, but what a shame... Old Zhao, you’ve disappointed me greatly. In that case, our cooperation ends here."

"I’m done dealing with this shit!"

After speaking, Wan Ze turned and walked away.

"Wait."

Zhao Henian’s voice called out urgently from behind him.

"I misunderstood you."

He hurried to catch up, his voice a few notches lower than before, his posture more humble. "I apologize."

Zhao Henian was genuinely apologizing.

In that instant, he’d thought it through. Wan Ze was right.

This was the Holy City, Dragon Eagle’s home turf.

If Situ Bai really wanted to make a move against them, he wouldn’t have waited until now.

With Situ Bai’s status and power, he had no need to play games like using a long line to catch a big fish.

He could have just acted directly, swatting them down with a single slap, and none of them would have escaped.

’Then again,’ he thought, ’a kid as greedy as Wan Ze might not necessarily let Dragon Eagle in on this.’

’If that’s the case, it might be worth a shot to try and win him over.’

Zhao Henian’s mind raced, considering countless possibilities in an instant.

He was a man accustomed to overthinking things. Having spent so long in a place like the Secret Palace, if you didn’t think three steps ahead, you’d have been eaten alive, with not even the bones left.

But this time, he decided to take a gamble.

"I... can do my best to meet your conditions..." Zhao Henian said in a low voice. "But I hope... you can provide the content first."

Wan Ze stopped, turned around, and looked at Zhao Henian with an expression of utter disbelief. "Seriously, Old Zhao... are you kidding me? What’s more important, the content or the money? If you really can’t do it, how about this: I’ll give you half the content, and you lay out the Martial Skills on the ground... let me pick them one by one. Considering your risk, I can even ask for fewer Martial Skills. One or two should be more than fair, right?"