Chapter 561: The Wager Contract

After Zhang Yu sent the message saying he planned to enter the competition himself, Bei Wufeng on the other end seemed to hesitate for a moment before replying.

Bei Wufeng: Junior, you’re not joking with me, are you?

Bei Wufeng: If you think the price isn’t fair, we can keep negotiating.

Bei Wufeng: I’m very sincere about this.

Zhang Yu: Sorry, Senior.

Zhang Yu: I really want to take part in the Top Ten League.

Bei Wufeng: The Military Tournament of the Top Ten League?

Zhang Yu: The Military Tournament of the Top Ten League.

Sensing the seriousness in Zhang Yu’s tone, Bei Wufeng’s manner shifted slightly.

Bei Wufeng: There are ten members on the school team right now. From the Artifact Refinement Department, there are three of us—Yan Qianji, myself, and Ye Xingli.

Bei Wufeng: If you want to join, that means you’re planning to replace either Ye Xingli or me, right?

Bei Wufeng: According to the rules, that means you’d have to challenge one of us. Win, and you take their place.

Zhang Yu didn’t know how to respond to that.

Bei Wufeng: Haven’t you thought about it? If you want to represent the school in the Top Ten League’s Military Tournament, you at least need to reach our level.

Bei Wufeng: The official matches are in September, but the registration deadline is in July. It’s February now, which means you have about five months to catch up to us.

Bei Wufeng: Do you think you can reach our level in five months?

Zhang Yu knew Bei Wufeng wasn’t wrong. Most students would be discouraged by such a statement.

Even Zhang Yu himself might have given up—if not for the “Immortal Sect Technique Selection” opportunity.

For the sake of increasing his chances of being accepted into an Immortal Sect, Zhang Yu was willing to give it everything he had.

Besides, he knew he wasn’t completely without hope.

After years of accumulation along the Immortal Path—techniques, chain diagrams, Dao seeds, wealth, and connections—his cultivation efficiency had improved dramatically. His strength was growing faster than ever before. He was entering a period of explosive progress.

So, facing Bei Wufeng’s question, Zhang Yu replied: I want to give it a try.

Bei Wufeng couldn’t help but laugh.

“There’s no reason for him to lie—it’d be too easy to see through. So… he’s actually serious?”

Reading Zhang Yu’s words, Bei Wufeng felt a kind of arrogance—ignorant and overconfident.

“So he’s looking down on me and Ye Xingli, huh? Does he really think our achievements can be surpassed that easily?”

Shaking his head, Bei Wufeng’s opinion of Zhang Yu dropped sharply.

Still, since his attempt to dissuade Zhang Yu failed, he decided not to waste any more time arguing.

But he hadn’t given up entirely. After all, the Heaven-Sun Radiance Divine Prototype was a military-grade puppet he’d long planned to rent.

When Jin Jun began forging the prototype last year, Bei Wufeng had already made an agreement with him—to lease it for the Top Ten League to strengthen his own setup.

During the forging process, Bei Wufeng even provided support—funding, connections, and strategies to suppress Zhang Yu. He had also been the one to leak Zhang Yu’s registration info to Jin Jun.

As Jin Jun’s senior, Bei Wufeng naturally wanted his junior to win and strengthen their faction.

But since Jin Jun had failed, Bei Wufeng shifted focus to Zhang Yu, hoping to build a partnership with him instead.

Still, Zhang Yu’s puzzling decision to compete made Bei Wufeng change tactics.

Bei Wufeng: Then how about this—if you fail to make the school team by July, you’ll rent me the Heaven-Sun Radiance Divine Prototype for the Top Ten League.

Bei Wufeng: If you’re not satisfied with the price, we can negotiate later.

Zhang Yu: Alright.

Bei Wufeng: I’d like to sign a contract to make sure you’ll give me priority when the time comes.

Just as Zhang Yu was about to agree, Fu Ji interjected, “Zhang Yu, since he wants a contract, why don’t we add a condition of our own?”

Zhang Yu asked, “What condition?”

Fu Ji said, “If you fail to qualify and have to lend him your military-grade artifact, then if he fails to qualify, shouldn’t he lend you his artifact in return?”

Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up. That was something he hadn’t thought of before.

Now that he knew even school team members could borrow military-grade artifacts for the competition, it meant he could do the same.

If he could borrow Bei Wufeng’s artifact, that would be a huge boost for his own match.

But he hesitated. “Still, Bei Wufeng helped me suppress that Sky Demon incident just now. If I propose this, wouldn’t it offend him?”

Fu Ji sneered. “Offend him? So what? The Immortal Path isn’t about playing nice—it’s either you step on others, or they step on you. What, you think being all friendly and united will help you break through?”

“As long as it increases your odds, who cares about offending someone?”

“Besides, he wasn’t wrong about one thing—the only way for you to join the school team is by knocking him or Ye Xingli out.”

“Yan Qianji is the strongest among the Artifact Refinement Department, so the most realistic opponents to challenge are Bei Wufeng or Ye Xingli. Their strength is close, so you’ll probably go after the one you’re less familiar with—Bei Wufeng. You’ll offend him anyway.”

“So why not be upfront now? You might even secure his artifact while he still underestimates you, setting the terms in your favor.”

“Otherwise, once you beat him and ask to borrow his artifact, he definitely won’t agree.”

Finally, Fu Ji said, “Zhang Yu, this isn’t about offending him. Your conflict with him is inevitable—because he stands in your way.”

Zhang Yu had to admit she was right. He had no reason to refuse.

“For the sake of joining a sect, I’ll just have to wrong you a little, Senior.”

But before replying to Bei Wufeng, Zhang Yu decided to ask True Lord Magneto and Ye Xingli about the Top Ten League and the artifact rental rules, just to be safe.

True Lord Magneto: Bei Wufeng wants to borrow your military-grade artifact?

True Lord Magneto: You can also ask your senior sister if she’s interested in borrowing it.

True Lord Magneto: Why should it only be him? Whoever pays more or offers better terms, rent it to them.

Ye Xingli: Junior, I’ve already gathered enough military-grade artifacts for the competition.

Ye Xingli: Even if I had more, they’d exceed my control limit. Besides, your Heaven-Sun Radiance Divine Prototype doesn’t fit my setup.

Ye Xingli (Poor People Simulator): Thanks for the thought, junior. [flower emoji] If you want to rent it out, don’t worry about me.

After talking with his master and senior sister, Zhang Yu understood the situation much better.

“Even with a soul cultivator’s support, there’s still a limit to how many artifacts one person can control.”

“And the higher the grade, the harder they are to handle. Using too many at once just drags you down. Better to focus on mastering a few.”

“The teachers’ military-grade artifacts are all above Level 20—too strong and far too expensive.”

“As for graduates, most who earned their Military License are already studying on the third floor of Kunxu. They’ve probably advanced to Gold Core cultivators by now, and their artifacts have likewise been upgraded past Level 20.”

“And as for the army’s artifacts, those are even more inaccessible.”

“So really, renting from students within the university is the most realistic option for competition use…”

After confirming all this, Zhang Yu finally replied to Bei Wufeng:

Senior, if I make it into the Top Ten League and you lose your qualification, would you be willing to lend me your military-grade artifact for the competition?

Bei Wufeng couldn’t help but chuckle again.

“So he’s decided to challenge me after all?”

He wasn’t angry—in fact, he saw opportunity.

“This Zhang Yu is even more arrogant than I thought. Perfect. Let’s see if I can turn that arrogance to my advantage.”

He decided to provoke him a little.

Bei Wufeng: Fine.

Bei Wufeng: If you can defeat me and take my place on the school team, I’ll lend you my military-grade artifact for free.

Bei Wufeng: But if you lose and fail to qualify, then you’ll lend me your Heaven-Sun Radiance Divine Prototype for free.

Bei Wufeng: Do you dare?

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment, then thought to himself, “If I want to win the Top Ten League and defeat geniuses from other schools, how can I not take risks?”

“I’ll gamble.”

Zhang Yu: Deal. Let’s sign the contract.

After signing, Bei Wufeng smiled in satisfaction.

“Heh, better than I expected. Free rental—saves me a good chunk of my budget and increases my odds of victory.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu looked down at the contract, his fighting spirit blazing.

“I have to win! If I lose, that’s fifty spirit coins a day in rental fees gone!”