Liu Yushang thought that Wooden Sword was more than enough to take care of Li Qiye. This was before mentioning their other ally, Sea Emperor.

Thus, this bet should have been inconsequential and Li Qiye should have been smart enough to never bring it up. No one expected the princess to lose on top of carrying out the bet.

Though he felt great sadness and even jealousy due to her engagement with Peace Ocean Sword King, he knew that he couldn’t compare to the king in any aspect. The two were indeed a perfect match. It was impossible to criticize the engagement.

This wasn’t the case here. Li Qiye was a nobody that got rich overnight. He had no power to speak of, no background and no talent - only dirty money.

The guy was not suitable for the princess, let alone making her his maid. This was truly insulting. Yushang couldn’t accept this reality after seeing the duo together.

“Your Highness, there were thousands of methods to take care of this bet, you didn’t have to do this to yourself.” He took a deep breath and said.

He viewed her as a damsel in distress and wanted nothing more than to be the hero in this story.

“I appreciate your kind intentions, but I am doing perfectly fine.” She nodded and said.

“Your Highness, you are a jewel of nobility who doesn’t deserve to suffer by being with this commoner. If you require help, I will do anything to get you out of this.” He hurriedly responded, seemingly willing to go as far as killing Li Qiye to save her.

“Then who is a good match for the princess?” Li Qiye didn’t become angry and asked.

Yushang despised Li Qiye for putting the princess through this and did everything he could to refrain from unsheathing his weapon.

He glared at Li Qiye and said: “She is a phoenix among men, an immortal from above. You’re definitely not worthy since you have nothing beyond dirty money.”

He spoke directly and harshly, not afraid of offending Li Qiye.

The latter clapped while laughing: “You’re perfectly right. I love to hear that I have nothing outside of dirty money since it’s so true. I’m just so busy with all of this money, how am I going to spend all of it?”

Yushang didn’t expect this and thought that Li Qiye would have become angry. This would give him an opportunity to teach Li Qiye a lesson and potentially take the princess away.

This was his first time seeing such a strange man. Who would enjoy being insulted like this?

Ning Zhu couldn’t help but chuckle after seeing Li Qiye’s playful laughter. Yushang was captivated by her beautiful smile.

He focused up and glared at Li Qiye: “It’s good that you’re aware. Now, you should know what to do. Keep on troubling the princess is unwise, it might be the cause of your death…”

“Don’t preach now.” LI Qiye waved his hand: “My dirty money can take your dog life whenever. I just need to give a three hundred million reward and your head would be in front of my door the next day. It’s that simple.”

“You!” Yushang turned red from rage.

Normally, the newly rich really had nothing but money. The issue here was that Li Qiye’s wealth was on the highest level, resulting in immense influence and authority.

He admitted that given that sum, someone would really kill him for Li Qiye. After all, his sect was weak so the big shots would have no qualms in killing him. He felt humiliated by being inferior to dirty money.

“The path of cultivation was not easy for you. Return from whence you came and keep on doing your best.” Li Qiye said.

However, Yushang viewed the piece of advice as utter contempt.

“You think too highly of yourself. I, Liu Yushang, will not be beaten by your dirty money…” He gripped the hilt of his saber and uttered coldly.

Alas, he was clearly lacking confidence and conviction due to the grim reality of the situation.

“Young Noble Liu, I appreciate your intent.” Ning Zhu bowed towards him then said: “But you don’t need to worry about me, I am content.” Having said that, she left with Li Qiye.

Yushang was left behind; his complexion and expression kept on changing. This feeling resembled a man seeing his lover follow a useless yet wealthy young master.

Words couldn’t describe the intolerable pain inflicted upon him. He stood there for a long time, as white as can be.

***

After they got farther away, Ning Zhu bowed and apologized: “I’m sorry for causing trouble, Young noble.”

“It’s not your fault, it’s not a big deal either.” Li Qiye smiled. He never cared about this matter and it wasn’t her fault anyway.

The two of them entered the auction house responsible for the Tang’s plain. The servant had explained it to them prior.

In fact, everything belonging to the Tang was listed for sale here. They didn’t have much outside of a few buildings and the plain. It was simpler to sell as a complete package.

The descendants of the Tang have left the plain long ago. Even the current master and his family chose to live in Armament City instead.

They weren’t trying to get rich, only to gain a little money for their descendants.

This happened quite often in every sect. When a sect or clan declined, they would no longer be able to protect and grow their inherited businesses and territories. They would then sell it to others instead. In this region, Armament Mountain was the usual buyer.

Unfortunately, Armament Mountain thought that the Tang was asking too much for a desolate and barren plain.

The Tang didn’t feel the same way. It would be disrespectful to sell their ancestral land for a meager sum. Thus, they chose to sell it via consignment.

It has been unsuccessful thus far due to the lackluster nature of the plain.

“Ten million? Is it worth it?” Ning Zhu murmured after seeing the asking price. She had personally seen the state of the plain and thought that it was too expensive.