Chapter 212: Jiang Family and Ying Family, Let’s Have a Bet

Zhou Chen looked up and indeed saw a faint glow emanating from deep within the mountain range, an extraordinary sight.

At the entrance stood several young people dressed in magnificent brocade robes with arrogant expressions. Their eyes scanned the crowd outside with utter disdain, as if looking at a bunch of useless nobodies.

"Prodigies of the Imperial Clans?"

Zhou Chen frowned slightly.

He knew these ancient Imperial Clans had deep foundations and were incredibly haughty, but he hadn't expected them to be so overbearing.

Just then, the glow deep in the mountain range suddenly intensified!

A massive pillar of light shot into the sky!

An ancient, vast Aura that seemed to suppress the heavens spread out!

Buzz!

Accompanied by the faint sound of a bell, a palm-sized, rusty bronze fragment enveloped in a cloud of Chaos Qi slowly emerged from the center of the light pillar.

"A fragment of a Treasure Artifact!"

Someone cried out in shock!

Although these people didn't know exactly what it was a fragment of, they were certain it was no ordinary object.

The members of the Ice Clan and Thunder Clan had been frantically searching for such Treasure Artifact fragments.

Even a single fragment would be of immeasurable value if sold to them.

"Once, a Loose Cultivator handed over a Treasure Artifact fragment the size of a fingernail to the Ying Family. Guess what happened?!"

"What happened?!"

"The Ying Family directly wrote his name into the Imperial Clan's slave registry!"

A Cultivator said excitedly.

"What's there to be excited about? He's just a mere slave."

Another fat Cultivator responded with disdain.

Seeing someone contradict him, the man jumped up and cursed, "You short-sighted fool, what do you know?! Being entered into an Imperial Clan's slave registry means that from then on, you have the backing of a powerful cultivation Family! Do you think this is a glory just any random person can obtain?!"

The fat Cultivator looked sheepish and said, "It was my lack of insight."

Zhou Chen recognized it at a glance; this so-called Treasure Artifact fragment was precisely a fragment of the chaos bell.

He wondered to himself who was collecting these fragments.

The Prodigies of the Jiang Family and Ying Family grew excited upon seeing the fragment, their eyes burning with desire.

The leader of the Jiang Family was named Jiang Yifei; he had an extraordinary bearing and an air of arrogance between his brows.

The leader of the Ying Family was named Ying Xuan; he was tall and burly with a compelling Aura.

The two rushed toward the fragment almost simultaneously but stopped at the same time, eyeing each other warily.

"Jiang Yifei, my Ying Family wants this fragment!"

Ying Xuan's voice was loud and clear.

"Ying Xuan, what a joke! This treasure has a fated connection with my Jiang Family; it rightfully belongs to me!"

Jiang Yifei refused to back down.

The tension between them was palpable, and they looked ready to come to blows.

At that moment, Jiang Yifei seemed to think of something and said, "Ying Xuan, if we fight, it will inevitably end in both of us being injured, allowing others to benefit. Why don't we settle this more elegantly? Seven or eight ancient artifacts have just been unearthed from these ruins. Our sides will each choose three, and we'll see whose chosen treasures have a higher total value. The winner gets this fragment of the chaos bell. How about it?"

Ying Xuan thought for a moment and agreed, "Fine! As you say!"

Both felt their families had deep foundations and that their eyes for appraising treasures far surpassed the other's; they were full of confidence.

Just as they were about to start choosing…

A voice suddenly came from the side, sounding somewhat lazy.

"Gentlemen, I would also like to participate in this bet. Is that alright?"

Everyone was shocked. Who was so bold as to interfere in a dispute between two Imperial Clan Prodigies?

They all turned to look and saw Zhou Chen slowly walking out of the crowd with an indifferent expression.

Jiang Yifei and Ying Xuan's faces instantly darkened.

"Who are you? Do you have any right to speak here?"

Jiang Yifei said coldly.

"Where did this wild brat come from, daring to seek death here? Get lost!"

Ying Xuan ignored him even more bluntly.

Zhou Chen didn't get angry. He looked around at the unearthed ancient artifacts and said, "I will only choose one, and it will exceed the total value of the three you each choose. Well, you two Imperial Clan Prodigies, do you dare to bet?"

What?

Everyone was stunned.

Is this kid crazy?

Jiang Yifei and Ying Xuan were momentarily dazed before becoming furious!

"Arrogant!"

Jiang Yifei felt insulted.

"Seeking death!" Ying Xuan also instantly became filled with Killing Intent.

Zhou Chen shook his head. "Don't believe me? Then let's make a wager. If I lose, all the treasures on me belong to you, and I will sever one of my own arms. If I win, that fragment of the chaos bell belongs to me. Do you dare?"

"Furthermore…"

Zhou Chen added, "To be fair, I'll let you choose first. I'll pick last."

Jiang Yifei and Ying Xuan were so angry they laughed.

They were allowed to pick six items first, and this kid would only pick one?

If this wasn't seeking death, what was it?

"Fine! Since you are looking for a way to die, we will fulfill your wish!"

Jiang Yifei agreed immediately. "Everyone present, please bear witness!"

Ying Xuan also nodded with a cruel grin. "Remember what you said: one against our six!"

The bet was set!

Jiang Yifei and Ying Xuan immediately began their selection.

They each took out professional tools and appraised carefully. Soon, they selected the six most precious-looking ancient artifacts—ancient jade shimmering with spiritual light, broken weapons covered in Dao patterns, and pill bottles emitting medicinal fragrance… each was worth a fortune.

"Kid, it's your turn!"

Ying Xuan sneered. "Let's see what scraps are left for you!"

Zhou Chen glanced at the remaining items; they were all unremarkable-looking objects.

Among them was a pitch-black stone that had been placed in a corner as a footstool.

Under everyone's mocking gazes, Zhou Chen walked straight toward that black stone.

"Hahaha! He chose a broken stone!"

"This kid must have lost his mind!"

"Serves him right! Who told him to be so arrogant!"

Zhou Chen ignored the crowd's ridicule. He reached out and picked up the black stone, circulating the Primal Creation Scripture to channel a faint trace of Chaos Spiritual Energy into the stone, beginning to peel away the outer layer.

"Putting on an act! A broken stone can't possibly—"

Before Ying Xuan could finish his sentence, a sudden change occurred!

Crack! Crack!

Large pieces of the stone skin began to fall off, revealing the crystal-clear body inside.

An incredibly dense surge of Chaos Qi shot into the sky!

That was no ordinary stone, but a fist-sized fragment of a Treasure Artifact!

Its value was a hundred times more precious than the thumb-sized fragment they had been fighting over!

Even more shocking was that once this fragment was fully revealed, the smaller fragment nearby actually began to resonate strongly, emitting bursts of sound.

"This… such a large Treasure Artifact fragment!"

"Heavens! If this were given to an Imperial Clan, one could probably join them immediately and establish a powerful East Barren cultivation Family!"

"The value is immeasurable!"

The Cultivators present all recognized it and cried out in succession.

Silence!

A deathly silence!

Jiang Yifei and Ying Xuan's faces turned pale instantly. The six ancient artifacts they had chosen combined were not worth even one percent of this Treasure Artifact fragment!

They had actually treated a true supreme treasure as trash and let someone else have it!

A slap in the face! This was a blatant slap in the face!

Zhou Chen had only known there was a larger fragment here because he had seen the opportunity panel of an unlucky fellow.

That unlucky fellow was the fat Cultivator from earlier. In the original timeline, after he got the fragment, he had eagerly taken it to Jiang Yifei and Ying Xuan, only to trigger a fight between them that left him dead without a grave.

Taking legends as truth is truly pitiful and ignorant.

Only strength is the ultimate truth in this world.