Chapter 108
Chapter 108: Innate peak, the number one below the Grandmaster!
Wang Fugui looked at Lin Beifan in shock. He had known that Lin Beifan was greedy, but he never imagined that he was so greedy!
“Is 500,000 taels of silver not enough to satisfy your appetite?” he asked. “How much more do you want?”
Lin Beifan replied, “Indeed, it is true that the amount you have given me is less, and it does not match the identity of a high-ranking individual like myself.”
Wang Fugui gritted his teeth and took out a few more silver notes from his pocket, offering a total of 700,000 taels of silver. “Please accept this, Mr. Lin,” he said. “I only have this much money on me, but I will make sure to give you the remaining 300,000 liang in the near future. How does that sound?”
Lin Beifan’s expression finally changed. “Alright, this is more reasonable,” he said. “I’ll give you face and accept this money for now. However, you must make sure to give me the remaining 300,000 as soon as possible.”
He then quickly took the silver notes and put them in his pocket. The whole process was smooth and seamless.
Wang Fugui’s mouth twitched. “Yes, sir,” he said.
The two then sat down together amicably.
“Mr. Lin, what do you think about the manufacturing method of this flying machinery?” Wang Fugui asked again.
Lin Beifan drank his wine and hesitated before responding. “Honestly, this is not an easy task. Revealing the method is punishable by death. The empress has explicitly forbidden the disclosure of this technique, and whoever does so will lose their head. A few people from the Ministry of Industry have already been beheaded for leaking the secrets.”
“If you ask me to give you the manufacturing method now, I would be committing a crime. I’m not willing to take that risk. It’s too dangerous. Absolutely not,” Lin Beifan shook his head.
Wang Fugui whispered, “I know that you’re in a difficult position, Mr. Lin, but the manufacturing method is crucial to my lord. He said that he would pay a great price to obtain it. My lord is very generous. If you give him the method, he will definitely reward you handsomely. Besides, if anything goes wrong, we will immediately send someone to take you to Southern Jiang. There, you can still enjoy a comfortable life, and no one can harm you, not even the Empress.”
Lin Beifan was somewhat tempted. “Is that true?” he asked.
Wang Fugui was excited. “Of course it’s true! When it comes to wealth, few people in the world can compare to my lord. Additionally, my lord is always looking for talented individuals like yourself. If you come to Southern Jiang, you will definitely be highly valued, and promoted to high rank sooner or later.”
“I’ll think about it,” Lin Beifan said. “But right now, I’m more interested in knowing how much money you’re willing to spend to buy the manufacturing method of the hot air balloon. Remember, it took me 2 million taels of silver to research this flying machinery.”
Wang Fugui was about to shout for two million, but when he heard Lin Beifan say that, two million is definitely not enough. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Mr. Lin, what about 2.5 million?”
Lin Beifan smiled slightly and said, “Someone contacted me before and wanted to buy the method of making balloons with three million yuan, but I didn’t agree! You want to take it away with 2.5 million~?”
Wang Fugui was stunned, “Someone has already contacted you?”
“Of course! If you can contact me, why can’t others?” Lin Beifan smiled.
Wang Fugui asked eagerly, “Who is it?”
Lin Beifan said four words, “Prince of Northern Hebei!”
Wang Fugui immediately became anxious. Prince of Northern Hebei is his master’s archenemy. Both have the ambition to dominate the Central Plains and have been preparing for more than 20 years.
Currently, their strengths are evenly matched, one is rich enough to rival a country, and the other is a master with numerous skills. If the other party gets the method of making balloons, the balance of victory will definitely tilt towards the other side.
“Mr. Lin, have you agreed?”
“Didn’t I just say that I haven’t agreed yet, but it’s hard to say in the future! After all, there are more than just you two lords who want the method of making balloons! And I can resist everything, except for temptation!”
“Mr. Lin, please don’t agree to others! Only our lord will give you a satisfactory reward!” Wang Fugui anxiously said.
“This is uncertain. If others offer a higher price, I can’t just give it to you and not give it to them, right?”
“Mr. Lin, give me some time, and I will give you a satisfactory answer!” Wang Fugui went back with heavy thoughts.
The next day, he went to Lin Beifan again, made up the owed 300,000 meeting gift, made him an offer: “4 million! Our lord is willing to spend 4 million to buy the method of making balloons!”
Lin Beifan’s eyelids twitched. Sure enough, he was the richest lord, and he increased the price by one million with just one offer! This shows that the other party has great potential to dig!
“Can you add more? If you give us another 1000,000, I will immediately hand over the method of making balloons to you!”
“Okay, then it’s 5 million, deal!” Wang Fugui said without hesitation. Lin Beifan immediately regretted it, it seems he asked for too little! But since he has already opened his mouth, there is no possibility of repentance. A day later, the two met secretly again. Wang Fugui took out five million yuan in silver bills, and Lin Beifan took out the method of making balloons.
“Is this the way to make the flying divine artifact air balloon?” Wang Fugui carefully opened it and found several pictures that looked exactly like the balloon he saw before. Below it, there were dense annotations. He couldn’t understand them but felt that they were very professional.
“This is naturally real. How can I deceive a Prince? If you can’t make it, you can come and find me anytime!” Lin Beifan said confidently.
Seeing Lin Beifan’s determined expression, Wang Fugui believed him and carefully put the information into the box. Thinking about it, he asked, “Mr. Lin, did you give this method to Prince of Northern Hebei or other lords?”
Lin Beifan was a bit angry: “How dare you suspect me? I may be greedy, but I also have principles! Since I promised to give it only to the Prince of Southern Jiang, I will not give it to anyone else!”
“Moreover, leaking the method of making the air balloon will result in death! I am already risking my life by giving it to the Prince of Southern Jiang! If it is leaked to others, the chances of exposure will increase. How many heads do I have?”
Wang Fugui felt ashamed and bowed: “Mr. Lin, you are right; I misunderstood you. I apologize to you.”
“You know better now!” Lin Beifan’s face slightly brightened, and he reminded, “Go back and tell the Prince and others to study carefully, not to be discovered by others, otherwise, my life will be in danger!”
“I understand!” Wang Fugui nodded repeatedly.
Then, Wang Fugui took the method of making the flying divine artifact balloon and left. Lin Beifan then received the third person with a smile.
“Mr. Lin, I am a follower of the Duke of Wuxi! We came here to obtain the method of making the flying divine artifact air balloon from you! As long as you hand over the method, our lord will definitely not mistreat you!”
“Easy! As long as the money is in place, everything is not a problem!”
In the next half month, Lin Beifan eagerly received numerous representatives from the lords and secret delegates from other countries. The results were remarkable, with a total of more than 20 million taels of silver obtained. Adding the money acquired from the Prince of Northern Hebei and Prince of Southern Jiang, the total exceeded 30 million, making him instantly rich. Lin Beifan laughed until his eyes couldn’t open: “The air balloon is truly a miraculous flying artifact, taking me to new heights!”
With the money in hand, the most important thing to do was to upgrade and become stronger. After all, was that not the reason he had worked so hard to obtain money?
“System, it can be settled now!” Lin Beifan was excited.
[Ding! Host has embezzled 32 million taels of precious metals. The amount is extremely large, and rewards the merger of the undefeated naughty boy template (later stage)!” A terrifying power entered Lin Beifan’s body.
This power was overwhelming and ten times stronger than his current strength, making it almost unbearable. Following this were horrific martial arts experience and memories that poured into his mind. These memories were just as terrifying, including “Vajra Unbreakable Body”, which possessed copper skin and iron bones, invincibility to all poisons, and “Absorbing Mastery Methods”, which could absorb the power of others. Also included were all eight martial arts from the martial art sects…
It’s like a walking martial arts treasure trove! It took Lin Beifan a whole night to absorb all of this power and martial arts experience. And finally, his strength took a big step forward.
“Peak fourth-grade innate!”
“After three months of hard work, I have finally become a master at the peak of innate!”
Lin Beifan was very happy. Although he had only reached the peak of innate level, there were still three grandmaster-level experts above him.
However, such grandmaster-strength experts were very rare and seldom seen. Most of the strong people in the martial arts world are innate. And now that he has the strength of the peak of innate, as long as the Grandmasters don’t appear, he is invincible!
Moreover, he is not an ordinary peak of innate expert! In terms of skill, he has top-level skills such as “North Sea Divine Art,” “Absorption Skill,” and “Vajra Unbreakable Body Divine Art.” In terms of attack techniques, he has top-level sword techniques such as “Six Pulse Divine Sword” and “Dugu Nine Swords,” top-level palm techniques such as “Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms” and “Cloud-Dispelling Palm,” top-level leg techniques such as “Wind God Leg,” and top-level skills such as Xiao Li Flying Knife. In terms of lightness, he has “Lingbo Micro Step” and “Wind God Leg,” among others.
With the martial arts experience and memory of several people, he is now a martial arts master and his fighting skills are definitely not weak! It can be said that he has almost no weaknesses now!
Moreover, he had also gathered the power of the wind and clouds, enabling him to unleash an immeasurable amount of power, ten times his normal strength, allowing him to withstand attacks from grandmasters head-on!
For example, the old monk who lived in his house, his loyal disciple Jing Tai.
He felt that he could fight against him and definitely wouldn’t lose!
Therefore, his strength had undergone a tremendous change!
While he couldn’t claim to be able to defeat grandmasters, he was undoubtedly the number one below grandmaster level!
With such formidable strength, he had more confidence in facing the mysterious and dangerous future!
Just then, Lin Beifan turned his head to the left, feeling something, and saw a white figure. The other party seemed somewhat surprised, “You can sense me?”
Lin Beifan nodded, “Indeed! However, I only noticed you when you came so close, so you’re not that good!”
He felt that he could fight him and he would definitely not lose! Therefore, his strength has undergone earth-shattering changes! He may not be able to defeat the Grandmasters, but he is definitely the top below the Grandmasters!
Such a powerful strength has given him more confidence to face the strange and dangerous future!
Just then, Lin Beifan felt something and turned his head to the left. As a result, he saw a white figure, and the other side seemed a little surprised: “You can find me?”
Lin Beifan nodded, “Indeed! But I only noticed when you got this close, so it’s not that good!”
“That’s already very good. Jing Tai, the old monk, still hasn’t found me yet! It seems that your strength has broken through again, to the peak of innate level! Jumping one level per month, you monster!” Bai Guanyin said speechlessly.
Undefeated naughty boy is protagonist from The Royal Swordsmen wuxia series