Chapter 3799 Issuing A Challenge
"What are you waiting for? It's not poison- oh, it is… poison…"
Davis chuckled.
The Ruinbloom Cataclysmic Pear was a Destruction Law Treasure. Its ruinous aura alone would destroy any fertile land if left there without any protection in place. Anyone who would dare to swallow this heavenly treasure wouldn't have much long to live unless they could successfully digest it.
He guessed Zenova Artoria's unknown unique physique could handle it since she seemed confident, but digesting it would still prove to be troublesome.
At least, she would be suffering for a few months, her body reacting to it like it was poison until she fully digested it and controlled its destructive powers.
Zenova Artoria has her hands folded.
"The truth is— I…" She finally moved, dropping her hands as she shrugged.
"I see incredible potential in you, and it feels like a waste to use this favor on this treasure. After all, I trust you would become beyond Empyrean sooner or later, so how could this treasure even compare?"
"…"
Davis closely looked at her, "Perhaps. I might drop dead before I become such a thing, and you would simply end up with a huge unrealized gain, which means a giant loss."
"I'm pretty confident in my intuition, and it turns out that I also like gambling."
Zenova Artoria giggled, "When the time is ripe, I will have the most beautiful harvest you can't deny."
Her crimson eyes flashed as she looked at him as though she was looking at prey.
"…"
Evelynn and the others blinked. Zenova Artoria was rejecting the reward?
As cultivators, it must be known that most wouldn't be looking long term as they wouldn't know if they would be alive years later, so if a treasure provides them immense benefits quickly, they would quickly gulp its benefits and seek more treasures with their strengthened bodies.
Therefore, what Zenova Artoria did makes little sense unless she lost to Davis in a battle of wits when he acted like he was giving her but made her think otherwise and rejected it.
However, Davis simply didn't bring the jade container back as though he had won a battle of wits. Instead, he said something that made their jaws drop.
"How about this? You beat me in a fair battle, and you can have this with no strings attached."
"…!"
Zenova Artoria's victorious gaze was abruptly severed. She looked at him with an incredulous gaze, not understanding what he meant.
"Are you simply trying to gift this treasure to me? Even if I suppress my cultivation to the Immortal King Stage to have a fair battle, there's no way you are defeating me when you haven't even absorbed a Gilded Realm Ascendant Pill yet."
"Try me."
Davis raised his brows with a provoking gaze as though he was looking down on her, causing Zenova Artoria to stare at him. There were few things that could provoke her, and being looked down upon by people she acknowledged as worth something was one of those things, making her brim with furious emotions, but she smiled.
"Where do you propose we battle? We'll get caught if we stupidly exchange fists here."
"Follow me."
Davis finally put the jade container back into his spatial ring before moving to a point. When they reached that point, Davis and his wives simply disappeared from her gaze.
It didn't make her frown as she knew what was happening. Swiftly, a spatial pull acted on her. It sprung like a vortex, trying to swallow her into its unearthly tunnel. It was very powerful, causing her to be shocked.
However, Zenova Artoria didn't resist.
She found herself in a vast purplish-gray land. Above was a starry sky that made her eyes flicker as she had rarely seen a beautiful sky nowadays filled with insights from spatial laws.
It made her wonder just who the owner of this realm was, as she could tell they were incredibly strong.
'Void Dust Empress...?' She wondered.
"Is it fine to invite her inside?"
A voice echoed out suddenly, making her see that it was Yilla.
"Perhaps not." Davis responded, "But you know she isn't foolish enough not to realize that our hidden area is somewhere below the rendezvous point, considering this area is full of crevices."
"Right…"
Yilla nodded and walked past him, heading towards Zenova Artoria, stopping right in front of her before she moved her head and blatantly scanned her with her gaze.
"It's been a long time, Fairy Thunderblaze."
"Yilla Zyrus, right?"
"Yilla Davis, if you please."
Yilla giggled, causing Zenova Artoria to raise her hand and look at her nails, "I see you have completely become his pet from the time you tried to protect him from me in a vain attempt to acquire his love."
She returned her gaze to Yilla, "A pity— you will never be as important as Evelynn."
"…"
Yilla's brows scrunched, but she still smiled, "That was obvious from the very beginning. Say something new, like how you're going to get destroyed by him in the upcoming battle."
"Ahaha~"
Zenova Artoria laughed as though she had heard the funniest thing in the world.
"You know he asked for a fair battle, which means he shouldn't be using any of his trump cards." Her laughter died and her gaze turned sharp, "And I know he lacks time to fully refine the Gilded Realm Ascendant Pill of Lower Realm even if he had swallowed since it has only been a few days. There's no way I'm losing this battle in a fair format."
Yilla sneered, "Are you implying we're going to cheat?"
"Perhaps," Zenova Artoria shrugged, "But I see no need since I was not the one who posed the challenge. It is your man who is simply trying to cancel out the favor so he doesn't get buried by me in the future, although I might just leave if he said he has nothing to give me, which in case it would mean he is only another man who can't keep his word or doesn't think of his women as anything and is going to abandon you all sooner or later."
"Zenova Artoria, you don't need to rile them up and incur their wrath for no reason."
Suddenly, Davis's voice resounded from the distance. He seemed to have just talked to Evelynn and the others about a few things before he turned to look at Zenova Artoria.
"Come, let's get this started. We'll head a bit further away from here so as not to disturb them…."
Davis gestured and began to fly away.
"…"
Zenova Artoria narrowed her gaze as she looked around when she gestured.
It hadn't been obvious at first, but she could now see many silhouettes seated cross-legged, seemingly in cultivation. The undulations coming from them were dense and intense, all implying one thing as she felt it to be familiar, making her eyes tremble.
'This… they split the Gilded Realm Ascendant Pills…? Otherwise, the numbers don't make sense as there is no way the Hidden Pagodas rewarded a higher number of pills…'
Her gaze shook, unable to understand what she was seeing as she couldn't wrap her head around it.
"What? You split them?"
Suddenly, Davis echoed in a confused voice.
He was about to leave, but he also noticed something strange in the surroundings. There were a few more women who obviously hadn't received the Gilded Realm Ascendant Pill yet were showing signs of similar improvements.
"Yes..."
Tina nodded, lowering her head as though she was wrong, but raised her head quickly.
"I understand the sentiment of making me stronger and, as a result, making everyone else stronger through more pills, but that is not required as I'm already strong enough to concoct Empyrean Grade Pills. The only problem left for me is the complexity of the pills. More than anything, I don't wish to see my sisters remain sad~"
"..."
Tina argued and screamed softly at the end with embarrassment, leaving Davis speechless.