Ian Song smiled, then turned to Leon Bian and said, "I'll give you one day to convince the others. If you haven't persuaded them by tomorrow, I'll lower the price!"
With that, Ian tossed out his parting words and left directly.
Leon, who had been slumped in his chair, suddenly stood up, glaring at Ian's disappearing back. His face twisted with rage: "Ian Song, you forced me to this! You, an ascended Immortal, have pushed me this far. Only your death can ease my hatred!"
Half an hour later, at a certain restaurant, Leon Bian and the other seventeen pill shop managers gathered once again.
However, the seventeen managers all looked at Leon with obvious hostility.
"Gentlemen, Ian Song came to see me today!" After a long pause, Leon finally spoke.
"Oh? What did he want with you?"
One of the managers asked.
Leon continued, "He wants us to sell him the top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills we bought!"
At these words, the others all perked up. Their pill shops had already reached the point of having nothing left to sell, and if things continued, their businesses would soon truly collapse.
"What price is he offering?" someone asked impatiently.
"One hundred fifty immortal stones per pill!" Leon replied.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"We bought them at two hundred each! How could we possibly sell to him for one fifty?"
For a moment, everyone cried out in shock, but most were just furious.
Seeing their anger, Leon poured fuel on the fire: "He also said if we don't sell, he'll drop the exchange price to one hundred thirty immortal stones!"
"Bastard!"
"He's pushing us too far!"
"He's practically trying to ruin us!"
The crowd grew even more agitated.
But in the end, everyone's expressions turned bleak. They were nearly at the end of their rope; if they didn't accept Ian's offer, would they just sit on their Immortal Yuan Pills until they rotted?
Seeing the timing was right, Leon spoke again: "Right now, we only have two choices. First, we accept his terms. Although we'll lose quite a few immortal stones, at least our pill shops will survive!"
On hearing this, several people fell into deep thought. Losing some immortal stones was better than losing their shops, so some began calculating just how much they'd lose this time.
But some were still unwilling and asked Leon, "What's the second way?"
Leon replied with a sinister tone, "The second way is to make Ian Song die! Once he's gone, his little pill shop will collapse, and our top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills won't just avoid losses—they'll turn into a huge profit!"
At Leon's second suggestion, most people looked visibly tempted.
But someone still said, "Ian Song is a Golden Immortal. Killing him won't be easy!"
Leon spoke in a persuasive tone: "He may be a Golden Immortal, but he hasn't condensed an immortal body yet, so he's far weaker than the average Golden Immortal. As long as we spend some immortal stones to hire two Golden Immortals, we can absolutely kill him. Besides, he's sold so many top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills these days, he must have tens of billions of immortal stones. Even if we spend five hundred million or a billion, we'll still make a fortune!"
"But where can we find two Golden Immortals on such short notice?"
Someone voiced their concern.
Leon said, "You don't need to worry about that. I happen to know a Golden Immortal couple. From what I know, they're outsiders hiding out in Wildlands City to avoid trouble, so they're short on immortal stones. As long as we offer enough, they'll definitely take the job!"
"How much should we offer?" someone asked.
"At least five hundred million!" Leon replied.
"Five hundred million?! All our immortal stones went into buying those top-grade Immortal Yuan Pills—where are we supposed to get that much?"
"We can pay one hundred million as a deposit. After it's done, once we have Ian Song's Storage Ring, we can pay the rest!"
So everyone chipped in and barely scraped together one hundred million immortal stones to give to Leon.
More than half an hour later, Leon arrived at a rundown courtyard in a remote part of Wildlands City and called out loudly, "Leon Bian here to pay respects to Mr. and Mrs. White!"
"So it's Manager Bian. Please, come in!"
The courtyard door opened, and a middle-aged woman welcomed Leon inside.
"Manager Bian, you never come for nothing. Just say what you want!"
Back when the White couple fled to Wildlands City, they were badly injured, and their Storage Rings were destroyed in the fighting, leaving them almost penniless. Leon gave them a bottle of pills worth five million immortal stones for free.
Although the couple later paid back the five million immortal stones, a bit of friendship had formed between them.
"Mr. and Mrs. White, I'd like to ask you to help me kill someone!" Leon said.
On hearing this, the couple looked troubled. They were fugitives, and if they exposed themselves, they could be hunted again. But Leon had helped them before, so it was hard to refuse.
"Mr. and Mrs. White, as long as you agree, I'll pay you five hundred million immortal stones!"
"What?!"
The couple's eyes lit up at the offer. They'd been living frugally in Wildlands City, afraid to reveal their true strength for fear of being tracked down by enemies. With five hundred million immortal stones, they could kill the target and leave the city for good.
Seeing their interest, Leon added, "The target is just an ascended Immortal and hasn't condensed an immortal body yet. With both of you working together, he's doomed for sure. I'll pay you one hundred million up front, and the remaining four hundred million after it's done!"
"Alright, we accept!"
The night was cool and quiet. Ian Song was drinking and eating with the girls in the courtyard.
Suddenly, Ian frowned slightly. Two dark figures flashed by and appeared in the courtyard, attacking him together.
"Courting death!"
Cici and Joy rushed out together.
The Blood Clan girls had powerful bodies and speed. By now, they'd evolved into sixth-generation Blood Clan, with strength rivaling late-stage Golden Immortals.
But the two attackers were only early-stage Golden Immortals.
So...
Bang! Bang!
With just one clash, Cici and Joy captured the two attackers alive.
"Spill it. Who sent you?"
Ian Song looked at the pair and smiled.
Right now, Mr. and Mrs. White were both terrified and regretful, blaming Leon Bian even more.
They'd been told there was only one Golden Immortal, so how did two powerful women show up? Just one move and they were captured alive. Anyone who could do that had to be late-stage Golden Immortal at least.
"It was Leon Bian!"
"So it was him! Guess he won't learn until he hits rock bottom."
Ian gave a cold smile, then swept his gaze over the White couple and asked, "You want to live or die?"
"Please, spare us!"
The two pleaded miserably.
Ian smiled, "If you want to live, it's easy. I'll put a restriction on you. Go kill Leon Bian, and I'll lift it. Deal?"
"Deal!"
The White couple agreed without hesitation.