After a moment of surprise, Xu Yong quickly said, "Junior Brother Yang, I've finally managed to arrange most of it, and they've given us hope. As long as you can produce eighty Spirit Stones to hand over to the Sword Washing Pond, this matter will be settled."
"Eighty Spirit Stones?"
Yang Che feigned surprise.
"What, Junior Brother Yang, you can't be telling me you can't come up with these eighty Spirit Stones, can you?"
Xu Yong had originally intended to ask for a hundred Spirit Stones.
But Yang Che's words just now made him temporarily change the price, which was why he reluctantly reduced it by twenty.
He was afraid that asking too high a price would truly scare Yang Che away.
If Yang Che really backed out and no longer wanted to transfer to Sword Washing, then his and Zhao Ji's 'scheme' would be completely wasted.
Yang Che hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No, no, no, Senior Brother Xu, I just didn't expect that a mere eighty Spirit Stones would be enough to transfer to Sword Washing."
"Ah?"
Xu Yong and Zhao Ji were stunned again.
Especially Xu Yong, his expression was truly spectacular.
He wished he could slap himself twice.
Yang Che naturally took in their expressions, and a third cold sneer appeared in his heart.
After Xu Yong recovered from his daze, he immediately said, "Then, Junior Brother Yang, give me the Spirit Stones, and I'll go help you with the procedures."
"Senior Brother Xu, although eighty Spirit Stones isn't a large sum, I can't just hand them over to you without any proof, can I?"
Xu Yong's face darkened slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "Junior Brother Yang, you don't trust me."
"It's not that I don't trust Senior Brother Xu. I'm new here, after all, and don't understand many rules, so I naturally want peace of mind."
As Yang Che spoke, he took out eighty Spirit Stones and placed them on the stone table, but his hand remained on them as he continued, "I'd also like to ask Senior Brother Xu to write me an IOU. Is that a problem?"
A piercing cold glint suddenly shot through Xu Yong's eyes.
He glanced at Zhao Ji, who subtly swept his gaze towards the burning incense in the corner and secretly gave Xu Yong a look.
Only then did Xu Yong agree, "Alright, then I'll write you an IOU."
Soon, the IOU was written.
Both parties pressed their handprints.
Yang Che held the IOU in his hand and examined it carefully, and after confirming it was correct, he left the Spirit Stones and put the IOU into his Storage Pouch.
"Senior Brother Xu, Senior Brother Zhao, thank you both. So, I can just go directly to the Sword Washing Pond tomorrow, right?"
Yang Che asked with a slight smile.
At this moment, Xu Yong and Zhao Ji suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Then Zhao Ji directly closed the door of the stone house.
"Senior Brothers, what is the meaning of this?" Yang Che asked, 'panicked,' while his body began to 'sway.'
Upon seeing Yang Che's state, Xu Yong and the other immediately revealed triumphant joy in their eyes.
"Nothing, Junior Brother Yang, your Senior Brother is just inviting you to take a nap here."
"You... you... drugged me..."
Yang Che spoke 'mumbling,' and then fell to the ground with a thud, motionless.
Zhao Ji immediately said, "Senior Brother Xu, you are truly brilliant, I am full of admiration. This Yang Che has been affected by 'Forget-Dust Incense,' and when he wakes up, he won't remember anything."
Xu Yong snorted coldly and said, "This kid is truly a hothead, so jumpy, he almost bluffed me."
As he spoke, he walked to Yang Che's side, preparing to take Yang Che's Storage Pouch.
Two black lights suddenly appeared without warning, directly piercing through Xu Yong's palm, and then striking his heart.
Xu Yong let out a miserable groan, and a light shield immediately appeared to protect him.
However, dozens more black lights burst forth simultaneously, forming a bizarre spiral cone, which pierced through the light shield like lightning and nailed Xu Yong's glabella.
Zhao Ji could not believe the scene before his eyes.
Although it was a sneak attack, a Disciple who was not even at the third Qi Refinement Stage actually crushed and killed a Disciple at the ninth Qi Refinement Stage. Who would believe that if it were spoken?
Although Zhao Ji usually flattered others, he was by no means a foolish person. He immediately vaguely realized something, and a strange chill ran down his spine.
The moment this chill arose, he abruptly rushed towards the stone house door.
However, it was too late.
At the door of the stone house, a larger dark cone was already waiting for him.
When Zhao Ji's glabella was pierced by the cone, he showed confusion, fear, and unwillingness, and even recalled various past events...
Yang Che had already leaped up from the ground and put away the Mid-Grade Spirit Stone he was holding.
Then, he only took half of the items from both their Storage Pouches, and then hung them back on their waists as they were.
He then placed their respective Magical Artifacts in their hands, creating the appearance of them attacking each other, until their hands, bodies, and heads were bloody and messy... ultimately resulting in a gruesome scene of mutual destruction.
Yang Che carefully wiped away any traces of his presence that he might have left, then pulled open the door of the stone house and walked into the dark night, where no clouds or moon were visible.
...
Returning to the thatched hut, Yang Che sat cross-legged and quickly entered a state of Cultivation.
The next day.
The entire Pinglu Peak was in an uproar.
A group of Utility Disciples walked out of their thatched huts, gathered in the open space at the foot of Pinglu Peak, discussing animatedly.
"Have you heard?"
"Yes, I just heard."
"What deep hatred did Senior Brother Xu Yong and Senior Brother Zhao Ji have between them?"
"Who knows, they seemed to have a good relationship on the surface, perhaps there was some unknown grudge between them in private."
"That's actually possible. Otherwise, they wouldn't have died so tragically, taking each other down."
"Yes, I heard they were so bloody and mangled that you could barely tell who was who."
...
Yang Che stood in the crowd, his expression calm.
He knew he was very safe.
Because even if someone from the Sect noticed something amiss, they would never suspect a Utility Disciple at the second Qi Refinement Stage like him.
This was a decision he made in his heart to eliminate the two of them immediately after he stepped into that stone house and recognized that one of the burning incenses was actually 'Forget-Dust Incense.'
These two naturally had a good plan; being afflicted by the forgetfulness poison of 'Forget-Dust Incense' would not endanger their lives, but they would forget the memories of this period after being poisoned.
Yang Che played along, launching a surprise attack to eliminate the two and then creating the illusion that they had killed each other.
Even if, in a million-to-one chance, a powerful figure with extraordinary abilities could trace it back to him, he still had that 'IOU' as a protective charm.
A faint smile appeared on Yang Che's lips...
A few days later, Yang Che, by secretly absorbing the essence of the silver iron ore, recovered to the third Qi Refinement Stage.
He looked back at the thatched hut where he had lived for over two months, then a determined look appeared in his eyes, and he strode out of Pinglu Peak.
"Stop. Do you have a peak exit token?"
Two attendant Disciples at the peak exit stopped Yang Che.
Yang Che was not surprised; Utility Disciples were always supervised, otherwise, many Disciples would have probably run away long ago.
"Senior Brothers, I have reached the third Qi Refinement Stage, please take me to the Sword Washing Pond." Yang Che's expression was calm.
At this moment, the two attendant Disciples realized that Yang Che had indeed reached the third Qi Refinement Stage.
According to the Qing Jian Sect's rules, after a ore-tempering Utility Disciple reaches the third Qi Refinement Stage, he can proceed to the Sword Washing Pond.
One of the attendant Disciples, expressionless, took out a Spirit Talisman, muttered a few words, and the Spirit Talisman transformed into a streak of light and disappeared.
A moment later, a clear bird cry came from the sky, and then a snow-white 'Spirit Crane' landed in front of the two of them.
"Follow me."
This attendant Disciple was the first to leap onto the crane's back.
Yang Che silently followed him onto the crane's back, and then the Spirit Crane spread its wings and soared into the sky, flying rapidly towards the 'Sword Forging Pavilion' where the Sword Washing Pond was located.
"What kind of surprises will this Chaos Dao bring me?"
As Yang Che thought of this, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards.