Free Web NovelChapter 329: Chapter 273: Evolution: Ghostly Stealth
"Exactly!"
"Our Huashan Ancient Sect would never do something like that!"
"The Sect Leader is only making you pay for one arena! He’s already showing you mercy!"
The disciples of the Huashan Ancient Sect immediately chimed in.
"Really, twenty million? Not a single coin less?" Gao Neng looked at the Huashan Ancient Sect disciples swarming around him, his demeanor suddenly softening.
"Twenty million is the cost price. No less!" a Huashan Ancient Sect disciple said with certainty.
"But I feel like two million should be more than enough, no?" Gao Neng said, sounding doubtful.
"Nonsense! You think you can repair this level of alloy for just two million? Impossible!" The Huashan Ancient Sect disciples naturally refused to believe him.
"Then why don’t we make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?"
"If I can repair it, you give me two million. If I can’t, I’ll give you twenty million. How about it?" Gao Neng said immediately.
"..."
"Why does that sound so strange?" one of the Huashan Ancient Sect disciples asked, confused.
"Something feels off..." Another Huashan Ancient Sect disciple was also perplexed. The words didn’t seem wrong on the surface, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt there was a catch.
But just as the two disciples were pondering this, a burly, brawny disciple who clearly wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed stepped forward.
"Fine, I’ll take that bet! I refuse to believe you can repair the Alloy Arena for two million. If you can do it, I’ll give you two million!" the brawny disciple said confidently.
"Great! Everyone’s a witness!" Gao Neng immediately smiled.
There were certainly more smart people than dumb ones in the world, but there was never a shortage of those whose IQs were in the red. With the Huashan Ancient Sect having over a thousand disciples, it was perfectly normal for one or two idiots to pop up.
"Ah Qi, you’re an idiot! You can’t take this bet! You’ll lose no matter what!" a smarter Huashan Ancient Sect disciple immediately warned him.
"Me, lose? How could I lose? Is he really going to repair this Alloy Arena with just two million?" Ah Qi didn’t understand.
"Of course he can’t repair the Alloy Arena for two million, but he..."
"If he can’t repair it, he has to give me twenty million. How is that losing? You numbskull, you’re just too scared to bet against him yourself, and you’re calling *me* stupid?" Ah Qi interrupted.
"..." The other disciple was speechless.
Sect Leader Hua and the two Elders exchanged a glance. They had all caught the problem with Gao Neng’s words, but hearing the trick and explaining it were two different things.
And most importantly, being able to *do* it was another matter entirely!
But Gao Neng had already walked to the edge of the arena.
’An arena of five different alloys?’
’How hard could it be to repair?’
For an ordinary person, it would indeed be very difficult.
But Gao Neng was no ordinary person.
Besides, he was about to undergo a full examination. If the exam could actually detect his hidden talent values, then there was no point in hiding them anymore. But if it couldn’t, he could show off as much as he wanted, and no one would be the wiser.
’So, might as well be a little more arrogant.’
BZZZT!
A wave of energy radiated outward.
Then, the entire Alloy Arena completely liquefied.
"!!!" The two Elders.
"..." Sect Leader Hua.
Before everyone’s astonished eyes, the liquefied Alloy Arena instantly solidified back into alloy. The only difference was that the crater was now completely gone.
It was as good as new in an instant.
’Talents for all five alloys, and all of them are at least 95% or higher!’ Sect Leader Hua had been incredulous when he’d seen Gao Neng extract the alloys from the arena earlier. But seeing it again now, he finally understood. Gao Neng’s hidden talents were terrifyingly shocking.
"Buy one, get one free. I won’t bully your Huashan Ancient Sect!" Gao Neng chuckled, then walked to the edge of the other arena and pressed his palm down on it.
Liquefy!
Solidify!
It was also done in an instant.
"Th-this... how is this possible?!" The Huashan Ancient Sect disciples were utterly dumbfounded. They had never seen anyone play with alloys like this before.
Ah Qi’s jaw was on the floor.
’It’s... repaired?! Just like that?!’
"Two arenas. By your own valuation, one costs twenty million, so two would be forty million. I’m only charging two million. That’s not too much, is it?" Gao Neng walked up to Ah Qi, slowly pulled a phone out of his pants, and held it out. "Cash or transfer?"
"..." Ah Qi.
’Damn it!’
At that moment, he finally understood.
But it was too late.
"Talent... it really is everything!" Sect Leader Hua and the two Elders watched the scene, wry smiles on their faces.
Gao Neng was clearly the one who had destroyed both arenas, yet after he fixed them, a disciple from their Huashan Ancient Sect still had to fork over two million?
No matter how you looked at it, the Huashan Ancient Sect had lost a lot of face.
But on the other hand...
They had only planned to make Gao Neng pay for one arena. They would have had to spend twenty million of their own money to fix the other one.
But what happened instead?
Gao Neng fixed both arenas in one go, making them good as new.
Thinking about it that way, did they actually come out ahead?
So, in this exchange, did the Huashan Ancient Sect lose or win?
Sect Leader Hua and the two Elders looked at one another, strange expressions on their faces, but no one could find the words to say.
As for Gao Neng...
He wasn’t overthinking it.
’Another two million earned. Awesome!’
After receiving the transfer, Gao Neng left directly with Shen Ning’Er, who was holding Fang Tangtang, leaving the disciples of the Huashan Ancient Sect standing there, utterly bewildered.
As for him repairing the Alloy Arena, that was naturally captured by the reporters. In an instant, major websites all over the Human Alliance were speculating about what Gao Neng’s hidden talents could be.
"I bet he has at least eight talents over 90%!"
"Eight? Has to be more, right? That’s too much of a coincidence. I heard that Sect Leader from Huashan say their Alloy Arena is made of five different metals!"
"Don’t tell me he has ten talents over 90%?"
"I say at least twenty!"
"Are you kidding me? Who in this world has twenty talents over 90%?!"
"..."
「In a dorm at the Eastern Capital Military Academy.」
Gao Neng casually logged into a sock puppet account and typed a line in the comment section.
"Twenty talents over 90%? It’s obviously all maxed-out talents, okay? Do you guys even know what that means? It means Iron 100%, Copper 100%, Tin 100%, Silver 100%, Gold 100%..."
"Everyone, come look at the idiot!"
"Mama, look! There’s a cow flying in the sky, and someone on the ground is bragging!"
"Brother, with insight like yours, you truly are a marvel of this world. May I ask which room you’re in at the psychiatric hospital? Is the number 9527 by any chance?"
"..."
Soon, a horde of trolls launched a fierce flame war against Gao Neng’s comment.
Gao Neng didn’t care.
’I tell the truth and no one believes me?’
Now he was actually looking forward to the talent assessment in three days. If his hidden talents were really detected, he’d like to see if these guys would still be talking about cows flying in the sky.
’All talents maxed out at 100%.’
’That’ll scare you all to death!’
’Speaking of talents... I haven’t tested the two new abilities I upgraded, have I?’
’Might as well test them now.’
’Celestial Book, deduce!’
Gao Neng thought for a moment and decided to start with the Body Technique "Ghost’s Woe." After all, no matter where he was, escaping and self-preservation were the top priorities.
’You have to stay alive to contribute to the Human Alliance, right?’
"Use Celestial Book Deduction. Deduce ’Ghost’s Woe’ using Formula Three!" Gao Neng said aloud.
"DING! Using Formula Three to deduce the high-tier Body Technique ’Ghost’s Woe’ requires a cost of 18,000,000 Alliance Coins. Do you wish to proceed?" a mechanical voice asked.
"I’m rich. Stop wasting my time!" A slight smile touched Gao Neng’s lips. ’I’m a multi-billionaire, do you think I care about a measly eighteen million?’
"DING! Deduction successful!"
"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the new Body Technique manual: ’Ghostly Stealth’."
"Ghostly Stealth?" Gao Neng’s eyes lit up. He was familiar with the naming conventions. The first word, "Ghostly," wasn’t so scary. What was truly terrifying was the second word.
’Stealth!’
’Definitely a super-awesome Body Technique.’
Gao Neng was thrilled.
However, he had no idea that not far from the Eastern Capital Military Academy, Li Tiannan was staring at a text message on his phone, his face dark.
"Alert: Your bank card ending in 0568 has been charged 18,000,000 Alliance Coins. Reason for deduction: Unknown."
