Chapter 148: Price of Giving Up (Thanks to 'sfqk' for Alliance Leader)

In the illusion realm.

He saw ten handsome men with different temperaments, sizes, and each with their own extraordinary qualities, appearing before Zhang Yu.

With just a single glance, one could tell that each of them was a top-notch man, every one possessing unique skills.

But feeling the meaningful gazes of these ten men, watching them approach step by step, Zhang Yu only felt it was more terrifying and despairing than having to deal with ten Song Hailong on the arena.

"Get lost!"

"Don't come over!"

At this moment, Zhang Yu's heart was filled with extreme terror and extreme rage.

He never expected that someone from Kunxu would use such a method to humiliate him and force him to give up the Foundation Establishment exam.

"Damn it, I want to give up too!"

"At worst, I'll take the exam next year..."

But as soon as this thought arose in his heart, Zhang Yu felt that chill again, and he knew that the ritual simply wouldn't let him give up.

Inside the office.

Huang Zichou frowned and said, "Doesn't want women, doesn't want men, could it be that he wants..."

Deng Bingding beside him said calmly, "Having no interest in romantic love is normal; some people just prefer money, power, authority..."

"But as long as one is intelligent, there is always a price, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities."

"Generally, poor people are quite easy to find in this regard."

Saying this, Deng Bingding casually pointed and said, "Huang Zichou, you take charge of those two poor people, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. Eliminate them quickly if you can, to avoid wasting the budget."

Huang Zichou was slightly stunned and quickly said, "Uh, no..."

In his view, these two poor wretches obviously couldn't produce results. Taking charge of their Dao Heart tests for this round would be doing the most useless work.

But Deng Bingding gave Huang Zichou no chance to object, waving a hand to stop him: "Everyone is working overtime temporarily this time. Time is tight, tasks are heavy. If you have any complaints, save them for later."

Deng Bingding instructed again: "Remember, keep an eye on the illusion realm. Don't let them blindly increase the price inside."

"The key is to find the other's weakness and spend money where it counts. Otherwise, randomly throwing money around will inflate the valuation."

"Then when this Foundation Establishment exam is reviewed, if any of you get criticized, don't blame me for not warning you."

All the gods present knew that the process of this Foundation Establishment exam would be reviewed. If they gave students random evaluations, they would all be held accountable.

On the other side, Huang Zichou thought to himself, "Sigh, isn't this just giving me the worst job in this project? Is Lord Deng deliberately making things difficult for me?"

Although Deng Bingding seemed to casually assign him this task, he knew that a Sixth-Class God was not likely to point randomly.

"Impossible. I put 5,000 yuan in the goodwill talisman I gave her."

"The four of us agreed before coming that we would all use the 3,000-yuan goodwill talismans. I've already added an extra 2,000..."

He couldn't help but glance at the three colleagues beside him, only to find them all working diligently and attentively, with no intention of speaking.

With a hint of frustration, Huang Zichou could only shift his attention to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, silently cursing his bad luck.

"What are two poor wretches doing taking the exam?"

"Let's quickly end their test."

"So I can go and get some other good students to test..."

Just as Huang Zichou wanted to hurry up and eliminate Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

In the various light screens, students were gradually starting to surrender in the Dao Heart tests.

Deng Bingding's divine power swept over, and she recorded, according to their valuations, what each student had accepted when they surrendered.

Seeing these figures that easily reached hundreds of millions, Deng Bingding sighed inwardly: "After all, it's an illusion. In reality, no one would offer so much just to make them withdraw from the competition."

"The illusion also made them subconsciously overlook many oddities, just to probe the limits within their hearts."

The numbers recorded by Deng Bingding varied from high to low, simply because each person’s background, strength, and wealth were different, and the temptations they faced were also diverse. The time spent in the illusion was long, and it did not necessarily mean that one’s valuation exceeded another's.

Among these factors, personal wealth had a significant influence, which Deng Bingding thought was quite normal, since wealth had always been one of the important sources of potential and determination in the path of immortality.

Meanwhile, the first-year high school students, because they had two opportunities for the Foundation Establishment exam, typically performed worse than the second-year students, which was consistent with the differences between first-years and second-years in Dao-heart, magical power, and physical body.

The next moment, as Deng Bingding's gaze shifted, she saw Yuxinghan's illusion.

…

Inside the illusion.

"This is Cloud Immortal High School in the Immortal Capital. What do you think of the environment?"

"To build this school, the group specially relocated an entire spirit vein, just to give the top-tier high school students the best learning environment."

"Here is the enrollment application."

"As long as you agree, you can come study here from now on."

Yuxinghan took a deep breath of the air at Cloud Immortal High School, feeling it was the best air he had ever smelled in his life.

But upon hearing the other party's words, he gritted his teeth and chose to refuse.

"What about the citizenship of Immortal Capital? Don't you want to come live here?"

"A formal position in the Oasis Group? Isn't that something countless people dream of and strive their whole lives for, yet never obtain?"

Yuxinghan refused request after request. Not because he wasn't tempted or didn't want them.

Rather, his extensive experience in asking for money told him that this was still not the other party's bottom line—he could still demand more.

Until the other party said something that truly shook his mind.

"We can pay to buy you back from Master Xinghuo."

Upon hearing this, Yuxinghan's expression changed noticeably.

"We can pay to transfer your contract with Master Xinghuo to the name of the Oasis Group."

"The new contract will have better terms and be very loose; you will gain true freedom."

"This is the highest offer. If you don't accept even this, then there's nothing left to discuss."

Yuxinghan didn't know if this was truly the other party's highest offer.

But he knew this was already a lifebuoy floating before him.

On this vast, pitch-black sea, it was the first lifebuoy he had ever encountered.

If he let go, perhaps he would never have such an opportunity again in this life.

So he unhesitatingly reached out and grasped the opportunity before him.

Yuxinghan: "I… my penalty for breach of contract is very high."

"Everything in this world has a price. A penalty isn't without a ceiling." The other party smiled. "You are only at the Qi Refining stage right now. In Master Xinghuo's eyes, how much could you really be worth?"

…

Inside the office.

Watching Yuxinghan's rapid collapse next, Deng Bingding thought to herself, "Heh, once a true weakness in the heart is probed, this relentless assault leads to a defeat as swift as a landslide."

"Hmm, according to the data, Master Xinghuo has probably invested around 80 million in Yuxinghan so far."

"Considering Master Xinghuo's situation, it would take at least ten times that price to get him to transfer the contract, plus other additional conditions. So the final valuation is 1.3 billion? Well, given Master Xinghuo's appetite, making that much profit from selling a Qi Refining disciple and then finding another disciple to cultivate does seem about right."

Of course, Deng Bingding knew these were just the estimates based on the data by the deities. If something like this actually happened in reality, the price would certainly be different, but it was sufficient for evaluation in this test.

Deng Bingding thought to herself: "I didn't expect this student from Songyang to be quite resilient."

"But in the end, his weak spot is also very obvious."

"Success depends on the Golden Core, failure also depends on the Golden Core. Master Xinghuo can make him, and can also break him."

Please... you... collect... 6... 9... book... !

"Especially since Starfire True Person will be investing more and more money into him in the future, the chains binding him will inevitably grow."

"This is the greatest flaw in his Dao heart, and it will eventually become a massive obstacle on his path to immortal cultivation."

After casually recording Yuhan Star and the next few students' situations, she looked curiously at the other two students from Songyang City.

"Those two poor kids haven't given in yet?"

Deng Bingding was somewhat surprised, so she looked over.

Within the illusion.

Bai Zhenzhen's temptations were very similar to Zhang Yu's.

But because of the sterilization operation, the illusion didn't arrange any temptations of men and women for her.

Living in the most central house on the first and a half floor, enjoying the most luxurious cultivation conditions, Bai Zhenzhen already felt herself becoming increasingly unable to resist.

And the illusion, as well as Huang Zichou controlling it from outside, clearly sensed Bai Zhenzhen's wavering.

So inside the illusion, prices gradually stopped rising, and they even said Bai Zhenzhen's asking price was too high and threatened to break off negotiations.

After some back and forth, Bai Zhenzhen voluntarily stated her final request.

"I want the same conditions you offered me to also be offered to Zhang Yu."

Ever since she started preparing for the Foundation Establishment exam, Bai Zhenzhen had harbored a fear in her heart, a fear she often deliberately ignored and dared not think about.

That was... what if Zhang Yu ultimately couldn't pass the Foundation Establishment exam, failed the first and second times, and finally couldn't get into the Top Ten... what then?

Once, an opportunity to enter the Ten Thousand Laws University's Elite Class was placed before Zhang Yu by Zhang Pianpian.

If he chose to stay with her but ultimately couldn't get into the Top Ten...

If that happened, would Zhang Yu regret it?

"If that's the case, how should I face Yu Zi?"

She could only tell herself that wouldn't happen — given Yu Zi's performance, plus her own true spirit root, they would surely pass the Foundation Establishment exam.

However, after witnessing the performances of Ye Lingxiao, Yun Jing, and others in the Foundation Establishment test, Bai Zhenzhen once again began to doubt whether they could pass the exam.

And now, as long as she sacrificed one of her exam opportunities, she could help herself and Zhang Yu gain a huge amount of immortal cultivation resources, greatly increasing their chances of passing the Foundation Establishment exam... This seemed like the most rational, profit-maximizing decision.

"I can give up the Foundation Establishment exam, but the conditions you agreed to must be given not only to me but also to Zhang Yu... and Zhang Yu doesn't have to withdraw from the exam."

Inside the office.

Huang Zichou, who was observing the illusion, frowned, his expression very strange.

"A friend... this kind of request?"

This kind of request in an illusion wasn't unheard of, but in Huang Zichou's view, it was extremely rare.

After all, in most people's illusions, they only need to keep satisfying their own desires; very few think of others.

If he saw such a person in reality, Huang Zichou would only curse them as an idiot in his heart.

But looking at Bai Zhenzhen in the illusion, Huang Zichou silently thought, an idiot has an idiot's luck.

Deng Bingding, glancing at the final result, recorded: "Bai Zhenzhen, final valuation 600 million times 2."

"1.2 billion. Who would have thought 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 out to this point is indeed rare."

"If next year she can catch up with the Immortal Capital students in other areas, she could be a promising Foundation Establishment seed."

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.

Among them, Ye Lingxiao and Yun Jing were not unexpected to her, but only Zhang Yu's persistence puzzled her.

Just then, Yun Jing also finished his Dao Heart test.

Within the illusionary realm.

Yunjing looked at the contract before him, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.

The Yun family, which appeared immensely glorious on the surface, had actually been on a downward spiral in recent years.

Especially with the reform of body-refining techniques, the Yun family failed to keep up due to investment mistakes, and then lost in internal corporate struggles, making this decline increasingly pronounced.

Although their assets were still enormous, their liquid capital was becoming increasingly tight.

Yet once this contract was signed, the infusion of liquidity would surely revive the Yun family.

The price was that he had to 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 top ten.”

“And as long as the Yun family returns to its peak, there will surely be more Yun family juniors earning foundation-establishment qualification certificates in the future.”

In the office.

“As long as it’s a person, there’s always a price, a weakness, a soft spot.”

Deng Bingding’s mind echoed the words she had always spoken.

“This Yunjing, having been educated by his family since childhood, is extremely loyal and grateful to the family.”

“Hmph, such sentiments are good for the family, but on the path of immortality, they are nothing but an obstacle.”

“Without supreme self-centeredness and utter selfishness, how can one scale the heights of the immortal way?”

Deng Bingding shook her head and recorded the other party’s valuation: “Yunjing, valuation 5 billion.”