Chapter 48: I Am a Despicable Person

The young prince has not been having a good time recently. The lone wolf he sent to assassinate Ding Hao was killed by Ding Hao, causing him to lose a capable assistant. When he thought he had no rivals in Wuzhou, the Nine Provinces Academy unexpectedly assigned another young master, Chai, to participate in the Wuzhou examination. What made him even more uncomfortable was that he sent Dugu to kill a talented person from a humble background in Wuzhou, but they were ambushed!

"Are you sure it was the Iron Hoof Eighty Riders?" the young prince asked in a deep voice.

"It was definitely them! Otherwise, with my level of Qi Cultivation, how could I have resisted them?" Dugu, who had only one ear, was still trembling with fear. The Iron Hoof Eighty Riders were indeed formidable, and the formation they formed almost killed him.

He continued, "I feel they let me off, otherwise, I would have died there."

"It seems this is Ling Yunxiao's warning to me, but he doesn't want to completely break ties, so he let you return," the young prince sighed in relief, understanding Ling Yunxiao's intentions.

Dugu added, "Young Prince, I heard that the Nine Provinces Academy has assigned Young Master Chai to participate in the Wuzhou examination?"

The young prince's face darkened, "It's all Min Zhengyuan's doing! When he brought me here to participate in the examination, he was reluctant! To let Ding Hao win first place, he didn't take Ding Hao with him. Now he's sending Young Master Chai to stir up trouble!"

Dugu said, "Ding Hao has a growth-type immortal root, so Min Zhengyuan couldn't take him, right?"

The young prince replied, "Ding Hao has the blessing of an immortal maiden, so it wouldn't be hard for Min Zhengyuan to take him to the Nine Provinces Academy. The key is that the academy has a new rule: those who are directly admitted do not receive the Immortal Rank. So Min Zhengyuan's goal is to keep Ding Hao here to win the third Immortal Rank!"

"Ah, I see!" Dugu suddenly understood, "Ling Yunxiao and Min Zhengyuan are both from Wuzhou, so they naturally hope that a Wuzhou talent wins the Immortal Rank! But why did they send Young Master Chai here? This makes it even harder for Ding Hao to win first place!"

"You don't understand," the young prince said coldly, "Young Master Chai is always ambitious but lacks talent! Don't be fooled by his super-grade immortal root; it's the result of various forbidden drugs, so his strength is questionable! Moreover, he acts arrogantly but lacks intelligence, often making low-level mistakes. He's more of a liability than an asset, and I don't take him seriously!"

Dugu nodded, his eyes filled with admiration. Despite his young age, the young prince's insight was far beyond that of ordinary people.

The young prince clenched his teeth, "The most critical issue now is Ding Hao! He's only been out for a few days, and he's already at the Seventh Stage of Innate! Others may not know, but I clearly understand that his cultivation speed makes him my true enemy!"

Dugu's face flashed with resentment, "I must avenge my brother!"

"But now it's inconvenient. Ling Yunxiao has already warned us, so we need to change our approach..." the young prince fell into thought.

Dugu said, "I heard that Ding Hao has returned and started helping people enter a meditative state again. He seems to be short of money."

The young prince's eyes lit up, "That reminds me. Since he needs money, we can use this to our advantage. Tomorrow, go to the bank and withdraw fifty million taels."

"Fifty million taels!" Dugu was shocked, "That's a significant amount even for you, Young Prince!"

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your child. If the little waste of space is willing, I'd give him another fifty million taels."

"Damn, he killed my brother, and we still have to give him a large sum of silver!" Dugu gritted his teeth in hatred.

"Think of the bigger picture," the young prince patted him, "Don't worry, I will avenge Dugu. But our top priority now is to win the Wuzhou examination. Go get the silver draft now!"

In the quiet room of the Ding family on South Garden Rear Street.

Ding Hao was using a small bottle to wash his eyes, and then he washed Da Huang's eyes.

This was a high-grade eye-washing elixir obtained from Dugu's storage bag. After washing, he could clearly see the cultivation levels below Qi Cultivation.

"Can you see others' cultivation levels now? What was the maid's level just now?" Ding Hao asked after washing his eyes.

Da Huang grunted and raised his paw three times, then mumbled, "Woof."

"Who would have thought a dog could wash its eyes? Ha, others look down on you, but you look up on others." Ding Hao laughed.

Da Huang realized this wasn't a compliment and cursed, "Damn, be quiet."

"Ha." Ding Hao laughed again, but his face turned serious.

Now he helps people enter a meditative state every day to earn money, with the goal of buying the Monkey Tail Sword. With the Monkey Tail Sword, his chances of winning the examination would be much higher!

However, the Monkey Tail Sword is very expensive, and earning money this way is still a long way off!

Another issue is that he needs to improve his cultivation.

Where can he find a spirit wood demon tree?

There are only two months left until the examination, and he must reach the Great Perfection stage! At least the Ninth Stage of Innate!

"I can't stay at home all the time. I need to go out and look around."

Just as Ding Hao stood up, a commotion came from outside, "The young prince has arrived! The young prince is indeed handsome and approachable! Young Prince, please come in!"

The young prince is very hypocritical, but to those who don't know the truth, he seems handsome and polite, making them think he's a good person.

Soon, the young prince, dressed in a silver-edged white robe, stood outside the quiet room. As if he didn't know about Dugu's assassination attempt on Ding Hao, he smiled and asked, "Is Lord Ding here? I have come to visit."

"What does he want? A weasel paying a visit to a chicken!" Ding Hao's face changed.

The young prince has always been against him, supporting Ding Juncai and sending his subordinates to harm him through the Tang family business.

Why has he come?

Although Ding Hao didn't like this person, he still had to be polite on the surface.

"Ah, Young Prince, what a rare guest," Ding Hao, skilled in hypocrisy, greeted him politely, "Please come in."

The young prince laughed and walked in, looking around, "Young Brother Ding, your place has a nice environment."

"Not really, I can't compare to the Young Prince. You are a phoenix, and I am a mountain chicken," Ding Hao led him to the Bodhi mat and said, "Please sit."

"You are too polite, Young Brother," the young prince thought, "You damn fool, are you saying I'm a fallen phoenix? Don't worry, I won't fall!"

After sitting down, he got straight to the point, "Young Brother Ding, do you know that Young Master Chai has also come to Wuzhou to participate in the examination? It's said his goal is to win first place."

Ding Hao replied, "I've met him. The young master of a noble family is indeed impressive, very domineering, and even more handsome than the Young Prince."

"Ha, unfortunately, the competition isn't about looks," the young prince smiled and continued, "What do you think, Young Brother?"

"I have no thoughts."

"Then why don't you listen to my thoughts?"

The young prince waved his hand, and Dugu, standing beside him, took out a silver draft from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

The young prince pushed the silver draft to Ding Hao and smiled, "Young Brother, a small token of my appreciation."

Ding Hao picked it up and was shocked to see it was a fifty million tael draft. He was amazed at how much the young prince was willing to spend.

"What is this..." Ding Hao asked.

"Delay the examination for a year, and this is yours," the young prince pointed at the draft and added, "Oh, and when I win the Wuzhou examination, you'll get another half."

The young prince was indeed wealthy, offering a hundred million taels just to keep Ding Hao from participating this year.

Seeing Ding Hao's silence, the young prince cursed him in his heart and tried to persuade him, "Young Brother, there are too many talented people this year. If you wait until next year, it might be much easier. I know you are strong, and so am I! The key is that you lack a solid foundation, which isn't your fault, but because the Ding family is not well-off. I genuinely want what's best for you. With this money, you can definitely win first place next year! And it's good for me too. If you withdraw, I can focus on Young Master Chai! You know, Young Master Chai has a super-grade Dragon Snake Sword immortal root and didn't go directly to the academy to win the examination first place!"

Dugu, standing beside him, added, "Ding Hao, don't hesitate. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Our prince is generous. Otherwise, a small innate cultivator like you, with no foundation, would go in vain and end up losing both your life and your money!"

"Alright."

Ding Hao smiled, thinking that the young prince's visit was no good. After being warned by Ling Yunxiao, he changed his tactics, replacing the knife with silver, but the goal was the same.

What was most hateful was that the young prince was so hypocritical, acting as if he was doing something good for Ding Hao when he was just being selfish.

Ding Hao thought about this and pressed the emblem on the silver draft, smiling, "Thank you for your concern, Young Prince. You are indeed generous. I also feel that my cultivation and strength are not enough to compete with Young Master Chai and the Young Prince..."

The young prince was delighted, thinking Ding Hao had been bought off.

However, Ding Hao continued, "But I am a despicable person. If the opponent is too weak and I win easily, I won't be satisfied. I want to compete with the strong! Even if I lose, it's fine; I'll be satisfied!"

The young prince almost blurted out, "You're not just despicable, you're extremely despicable!"

He continued to persuade, "Young Brother, think about it. Winning first place next year and entering the Nine Provinces Academy is different from winning third place this year!"

"How do you know I'll win third place?" Ding Hao shot back, "In my hometown, there's a saying: participation is key. It doesn't matter what place you get; the important thing is to participate! Participation is success, participation is without regret, participation leaves no regrets! Young Prince, think about it!"

The young prince was speechless, cursing in his heart, "The little waste of space is indeed sharp-tongued."

At a loss, the young prince sat there motionless. Dugu couldn't hold back and angrily said, "Ding Hao, don't be ungrateful! Do you think you're something special? Don't think you're great just because Ling Yunxiao protects you! Don't think we don't know you killed my brother! We will avenge this debt sooner or later..."

Before Dugu could finish, Ding Hao's figure flashed, using the "Beast Shadow Technique"!

In the next second, *slap*! Ding Hao slapped Dugu across the face.