Chapter 142: The Price of Giving Up
Inside the illusionary landscape.
Ten handsome men, each with a different temperament, build, and their own unique merits, appeared before Zhang Yu.
A single glance was enough to tell that every one of them was the pinnacle of masculinity, each possessing an extraordinary skill.
But feeling the gazes of these ten men, laden with meaning, and watching them approach step by step, Zhang Yu only felt a terror and hopelessness that surpassed facing ten Song Hailongs in the arena.
“Get lost!”
“Don’t you come over here!”
At this moment, Zhang Yu’s heart was filled with incomparable terror and rage.
He never imagined that someone in Kunxu would use such a method to humiliate him, to force him to abandon the Foundation Establishment Test.
Damn it, I want to give up too!
The worst that can happen is I’ll take the test again next year…
But the moment this thought surged in his mind, Zhang Yu felt that chill return, and he knew this ritual would not allow him to give up.
In the office.
Huang Zichou frowned and said, “He doesn’t want women, and he doesn’t want men. Could it be he wants…”
At his side, Deng Bingding said coolly, “It’s perfectly normal to have no interest in romance or carnal pleasures. Some people just prefer money, power, or authority…”
“But as long as they are intelligent beings, they will always have a price, their own weakness, their own soft spot.”
“It’s usually quite easy to find in a poor person.”
With that, Deng Bingding casually pointed and said, “Huang Zichou, you’ll be solely responsible for the two paupers, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. If you can eliminate them, do it quickly, lest we waste the budget.”
Huang Zichou paused for a moment, then hurriedly said, “Uh, that’s not…”
In his view, these two paupers clearly wouldn’t amount to anything. Being solely responsible for their Dao heart test during this whole assessment, wouldn’t that be the most useless task?
But Deng Bingding gave Huang Zichou no opportunity to object, stopping him with a wave of her hand. “We’re all working unexpected overtime. Time is short and the task is heavy. Save your complaints for later.”
Deng Bingding instructed again, “Remember, keep an eye on the illusionary landscapes. Don’t let them blindly raise the price.”
“The key is to find their weakness and spend the money where it counts. Otherwise, you’re just throwing money around, and the valuation will be inflated.”
“If any of you get criticized during the review of this Foundation Establishment Test, don’t blame me for not reminding you.”
All the gods present knew that the procedures of the Foundation Establishment Test would be reviewed. If they were found to have given students arbitrary evaluations, they would be held accountable.
Off to the side, Huang Zichou thought to himself, Sigh, isn’t this just giving me the trashiest job in the project? Is Lady Deng deliberately making things difficult for me?
Although it seemed like Deng Bingding had assigned him this task with a casual point of her finger, he knew that a sixth-rank god like her would never do anything without a purpose.
Impossible. I stuffed five thousand into the Favorability Talisman I gave her.
The four of us agreed before we came to use three-thousand-credit Favorability Talismans. I even added an extra two thousand…
He couldn’t help but glance at his three colleagues, only to find the three minor Duty Gods working with earnest concentration, showing no intention of speaking up at all.
Filled with a trace of melancholy, Huang Zichou could only turn his attention to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, cursing his bad luck internally.
What’s the point of two paupers like them taking the test.
I’ll just help them end their test quickly.
Then I can go and get a share of some better students to test…
Just as Huang Zichou was about to hurry up and eliminate Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.
On the various light screens, students had already gradually begun to surrender in the Dao heart test.
With a sweep of her divine power, Deng Bingding recorded the items each student accepted upon surrender, each according to its valuation.
400 million to withdraw.
600 million to withdraw.
320 million to withdraw.
Seeing these figures in the hundreds of millions, Deng Bingding sighed inwardly.
It is an illusionary landscape, after all. In reality, no one would offer such a price just to have them withdraw from the test.
The illusion also makes them subconsciously ignore many things that don’t add up, all for the sake of measuring the limits of their hearts.
The numbers Deng Bingding recorded varied, simply because everyone’s background, strength, and wealth were different, and the temptations they faced were not the same. The time experienced in the illusionary landscape was long, so a longer duration did not necessarily mean a higher valuation than others.
Personal wealth had a great impact, which was normal in Deng Bingding’s eyes. After all, wealth had always been one of the important sources of one’s potential and determination in the Immortal Dao.
Among them, the first-year high school students, having two chances at the Foundation Establishment Test, tended to perform a little worse than the second-years, which was consistent with the second-years’ advantages in Dao heart, magic power, and physique.
The next moment, Deng Bingding’s gaze shifted, and she was already looking at Yu Xinghan’s illusionary landscape.
Within the illusionary landscape.
“This is Immortal Cloud High in the Immortal Capital. What do you think of the environment?”
“To build this school, the group specifically relocated an entire spirit vein here, just to give the layer 1.5 high school students the best learning environment.”
“Here is the admission application.”
“As long as you agree, you can come here to study in the future.”
Yu Xinghan took a deep breath of the air at Immortal Cloud High, feeling that it was the best air he had ever smelled in his life.
But after hearing the other party’s words, he gritted his teeth and chose to refuse.
“What about citizenship in the Immortal Capital? Don’t you want to live here?”
“What about a formal job at the Oasis Group? This is something countless people dream of, something they could strive for their entire lives and never obtain.”
Yu Xinghan rejected one offer after another, not because he wasn’t moved, not because he didn’t want them.
It was because his extensive experience in asking for money told him that this was not yet the other party’s bottom line; he could still ask for more.
Until the other party said something that truly shook his heart and soul.
“We can pay to buy you out from True Person Starfire.”
Hearing these words, Yu Xinghan’s expression changed dramatically.
“We can pay to help you transfer the contract with True Person Starfire to the Oasis Group.”
“The terms of the new contract will be better and much more relaxed. You will obtain true freedom.”
“This is the highest offer. If you don’t accept this, then there’s nothing more to discuss.”
Yu Xinghan didn’t know if this was truly their highest offer.
But he knew that this was a life preserver floating before him.
On this boundless, pitch-black sea, it was the first life preserver he had ever encountered.
If he chose to let it go, he might never have such an opportunity again in this life.
So he reached out without the slightest hesitation and seized the opportunity before him.
“I… my contract termination fee is very high.”
The other party smiled. “Everything in this world has a price. It’s not like the termination fee is limitless. You’re just in the Qi Refinement stage right now. In the end, in True Person Starfire’s eyes, how much could you possibly be worth?”
In the office.
Watching Yu Xinghan’s subsequent rapid collapse, Deng Bingding thought to herself, Heh, once the true flaw in their spirit is found, this barrage of attacks will bring a rout.
Hmm, according to the data, True Person Starfire has probably invested around 80 million in this Yu Xinghan so far.
Considering True Person Starfire’s situation, it’s estimated it would take more than ten times the price for him to agree to transfer the contract, plus other additional conditions, so the final valuation is 1.3 billion? Hmm, with True Person Starfire’s appetite, making such a profit by transferring a Qi Refinement disciple and then finding another to cultivate would indeed be about right.”
Of course, Deng Bingding knew this was all just an estimate calculated by the righteous gods based on the data. If such a thing really happened in reality, the price would certainly be different, but it was sufficient for evaluation in this test.
I didn’t expect this student from Songyang to be so resilient.
But in the end, his weakness is also obvious.
Made by the Golden Core, broken by the Golden Core. True Person Starfire can make him, and he can also destroy him.
Especially as True Person Starfire invests more and more money in him in the future, the shackles on him will inevitably grow.
This is the greatest flaw in his Dao heart. On his future path of the Immortal Dao, it will one day become a huge obstacle.
After casually recording the situations of Yu Xinghan and the next few students, she looked with curiosity at the other two students from Songyang City.
Those two paupers haven’t given in yet?
Just as Deng Bingding was feeling a little surprised, she glanced over.
Inside the illusionary landscape.
The temptations Bai Zhenzhen faced were very similar to Zhang Yu’s.
But because of her sterilization surgery, the illusionary landscape did not arrange any temptations of men or women for her.
Living in a house in the very center of layer 1.5, enjoying the most luxurious cultivation conditions, Bai Zhenzhen could already feel herself finding it harder and harder to resist.
And the illusionary landscape and Huang Zichou, who was controlling it from the outside, could clearly sense that Bai Zhenzhen was wavering.
Thus, within the illusionary landscape, the price slowly stopped rising, and it was even suggested that Bai Zhenzhen’s asking price was too high and that negotiations should be broken off.
After some back and forth, Bai Zhenzhen proactively stated one final demand.
“The terms you’ve offered me, I want an identical set for Zhang Yu.”
Ever since she began preparing for the Foundation Establishment Test, a fear had always lingered in Bai Zhenzhen’s heart, a fear she often deliberately ignored, a fear she often dared not think about.
And that was… if Zhang Yu ultimately failed to pass the Foundation Establishment Test, if he failed the first time, and the second, and in the end, couldn’t get into one of the Ten Greats… what then?
An opportunity to enter the Prodigy Class at Myriad Laws University had once been placed before Zhang Yu by Zhang Pianpian.
What if he chose to stay behind with her, but in the end, failed to get into the Ten Greats?
If that happened, would Zhang Yu regret it?
If that happens, how could I face Yu-boy?
She could only tell herself that it wouldn’t happen, that with Yu-boy’s performance, plus her True Spiritual Root, he would definitely pass the Foundation Establishment Test.
However, after witnessing the performance of people like Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing in the test, Bai Zhenzhen once again had her doubts about whether they could pass.
And now, by just sacrificing one of her own test opportunities, she could help both herself and Zhang Yu win a large amount of Immortal Dao resources, greatly increasing their chances of passing the Foundation Establishment Test… this seemed to be the most rational, profit-maximizing decision.
“I can give up the Foundation Establishment Test, but the conditions you’ve promised are not just for me, you have to give a set to Zhang Yu as well… and he doesn’t have to withdraw from the test.”
In the office.
Huang Zichou, who was observing the illusionary landscape, frowned, a strange expression on his face.
It’s for a friend… such a request?
It wasn’t that such requests never appeared in the illusionary landscape, but in Huang Zichou’s experience, it was extremely rare.
After all, in the vast majority of people’s illusionary landscapes, they only needed to continuously satisfy their own desires; very few people would think of others.
If he met such a person in reality, Huang Zichou would just curse them as an idiot in his heart.
But looking at Bai Zhenzhen in the illusionary landscape at this moment, Huang Zichou thought to himself that fools have their own fortune.
At the side, Deng Bingding glanced at the final result and recorded, “Bai Zhenzhen, final valuation 600 million times two.”
“1.2 billion. To think a student from Songyang City could reach this number. It’s already much higher than many first-year students from the Immortal Capital.”
“For someone of her status to hold on to this point is truly rare.”
“If she can catch up to the Immortal Capital students in other aspects next year, she wouldn’t be a bad choice for a promising Foundation Establishment candidate.”
Next, under Deng Bingding’s observation, more and more students finished their Dao heart test, and before she knew it, only the last three remained.
That Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing were among them did not surprise her in the slightest, but Zhang Yu’s persistence was something even she couldn’t understand.
Just then, Yun Jing also finished his Dao heart test.
Within the illusionary landscape.
Yun Jing looked at the contract before him, a trace of regret in his eyes.
The Yun family, which appeared so glorious on the surface, had actually been on a decline in recent years.
Especially with the reforms in body tempering technology, the Yun family had failed to keep up due to investment errors, and this decline became even more apparent after their failure in internal company struggles.
Although their assets were still immensely vast, their liquid capital was becoming increasingly tight.
And after signing this contract, the Yun family would have this liquid capital and would surely be revived.
The price was that he would give up his high school Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate.
But it doesn’t matter. Even without the high school Foundation Establishment Qualification Certificate, I can still get into the Ten Greats.
And as long as the Yun family returns to its peak, there will surely be more descendants of the Yun family who can obtain the qualification certificate in the future.
In the office.
As long as they are human, they will always have a price, a weakness, a soft spot.
The words Deng Bingding had always said surfaced in her mind.
This Yun Jing has received the family’s education since he was young and is incredibly loyal and grateful to his clan.
Hmph, such sentiment is good for the family, but on the path of the Immortal Dao, it is merely an obstacle.
Without being sufficiently egoistic, without being selfish enough, how can one bravely scale the peaks of the Immortal Dao.
Deng Bingding shook her head and recorded the other party’s valuation: “Yun Jing, valuation 5 billion.”