Emperor’s Domination

“Indeed.” Li Qiye replied, still digging.

“Digging for Alchemy Wood?!” This garnered the attention of the youths on the boat. These branches were very precious.

“If you can actually find one, then you’ll be so rich, maybe enough to join a good sect.” One of them joked.

Of course, they have never seen Li Qiye before so they didn’t know that he was the main topic of their prior conversation.

“Just one piece, not that valuable.” Qingniu looked at Li Qiye and said with disdain: “A True God once carried a trunk of Alchemy Wood to ask me for help and I still refused.” 

Having said that, he stole a glance at Qin Shaoyao.

Normally, the guy was stingy with his words but he wanted to be cool in front of Shaoyao, letting her know how many treasures he had and his prestigious status.

This was ineffective; even the pit holes seemed to be winning against him.

The only thing he won was the animosity of the youths here because of his arrogance. Alas, the guy was indeed qualified to do so. His medicinal abilities were incredible and he did refuse many great gifts.

Zhang Yan scratched his head helplessly. This guy could kill a conversation at any moment. If he didn’t know Qingniu for a while now, he would have kicked the guy off the boat for ruining his good chance at courting the doctor.

“It’s not easy finding them in this place.” Zhang Yan tried his best again to liven up the mood: “The branches are often submerged deep in the streams. Digging like you right now won’t be as effective because they are as heavy as steel. This is the Alchemy Lake, any wood found here would be at the bottom, it can’t float up here or be stuck on this beach. Our Doctor Mu and Goddess Qin are both masters of this field. If they give you a few pointers, maybe you’ll be to find some. Doctor Mu often uses them as an ingredient for her medicine and will know where they are right away. Go ahead, ask her.”

This guy managed to act helpful and praise his crush at the same time so he was feeling quite pleased with himself. A good atmosphere was crucial to flirting. Otherwise, no one would bother speaking with each other.

Alas, Yalan stood there quietly, still watching the digger.

“I see. Looks like I need to ask her for help then.” Li Qiye smiled and finally looked over at the two girls.

“Not just anyone can ask the two ladies questions. You are a piece of rotten, uncarvable wood, you can’t understand anything even if they were to help you.” Qingniu uttered coldly.

Another cold water splashing to the face. Zhang Yan lamented his fate again.

“Everything is doable with sheer effort. Perhaps you can find them via this method.” Zhang Yan eventually said.

What he actually wanted to say was to tell Qingniu: ‘Boss, if you want to boast, then at least wait for the right moment instead of just jumping in like this and killing the situation.’

“Indeed, all things are possible.” Li Qiye chuckled.

“Hmph, finding Alchemy Wood in this place will be the miracle of the ages.” Qingniu grew increasingly annoyed at Li Qiye.

The reason was very simple. He tried his best to please Shaoyao but she hasn’t even taken a look at him. How could this ordinary man win all of her attention? 

“Really?” Li Qiye absentmindedly replied.

“Yes, it will be a miracle, and I shall reward you with a fortune.” Qingniu uttered coldly.

“Then why don’t we make a bet?” Zhang Yan’s eyes flashed as he came up with an idea.

“Brother Hu is an incredible member of Longevity System, if you can win this bet, you’ll benefit a lot.” He told Li Qiye.

Qingniu snorted in response: “Fine, we can bet. I have a bottle of tiger-tendon resin. If you can find a single piece of Alchemy Wood, it will be yours.”

“Tiger-tendon resin, that’s an amazing medicine.” This ointment caused quite a stir in the crowd.

“I heard this medicine is created from the tendon of a sacred tiger. It is a panacea that can flesh and bones grow again, very magical.” Another youth praised.

Qingniu was complacent and continued on: “This is my secret formula, completely priceless. A sect once tried to buy it with a sky-high price but I still refused.”

He naturally glanced over at Qin Shaoyao again.

“Oh, you must really be somebody then, to be so generous with this bet.” Li Qiye said.

Li Qiye’s silly act amused the two girls but they didn’t expose his intentional mockery.

“Of course.” Zhang Yan said: “If you have heard of Doctor Hu’s name, then your knowledge is too shallow. Brother Hu, let’s keep going then, let people know of your extravagance.”

Zhang Yan saw that the two girls were interested again with the bet. This was another good chance to get closer to them so he egged Qingniu on.

Qingniu was actually already feeling bad about betting a bottle of tiger-tendon resin but he decided to go all out after seeing Shaoyao’s interest.

“I have a root of mountain ginseng, three million years old. Needless to say, it is priceless. If you can find a piece of Alchemy Wood here, it will be yours too.” Qingniu took out a wooden box. People could smell the rich and pleasant medicinal fragrance of ginseng even before he opened it.

The crowd gasped at how extravagant the guy was being. Qingniu was pleased with this. He had plenty of treasures so using the to boast was totally worth it.

“I’ll join in too.” Zhang Yan smiled: “I’m not on the same level as Brother hu, but I have a pouch of True Coins, just a little bit more.”

His heavy pouch of coins should be worth a lot as well, though not as valuable as Qingniu’s treasures.

“Me too, here’s a box of young deer antler.” Another youth added more.

“I’m in as well.” Others began to join the bet. Pleasing the beauties and the two famous guys? Who wouldn’t want to do that?

It didn’t take long before a mountain of treasures and money formed before Qingniu. Everyone was betting that Li Qiye wouldn’t be able to find anything.

“It won’t end well for you if you can’t find any.” Qingniu told Li Qiye.

“What will happen? Don’t tell me you will kill me?” Li Qiye smiled.

Zhang Yan said: “Not that much, it’ll ruin the sceneries. If you can’t find any, then just eat the mud here. One mouthful of mud for each pit.”

He was treating this man as a clown in order to entertain the beauties.

“That’s a tough bet.” Li Qiye replied.

“It’s too late to back off now.” Qingniu uttered coldly.

Li Qiye looked over at the two girls and smiled: “Pretty ladies, what should I do?”

“How impudent!” Qingniu immediately shouted.

”It’s up to you.” Shaoyao smiled and played along with Li Qiye.

‘Well, the treasures are very tempting indeed. I would be lying to say that I’m not interested. If I actually find one branch, I will become very rich.” Li Qiye had a happy expression.

“Hmph, daydream after you find one or start eating.” Qingniu aggressively said.

The guy was jealous because Li Qiye could make the girls smile for some reasons with just a few words. On the other hand, he was going all out and they were still ignoring him.