After recalling his experience to them, Yuan showed off his newly acquired treasure.
"What? You had that on you the entire time? I didn’t even notice it!" Feng Yuxiang was surprised when Yuan suddenly removed the Invisible Dragon Cloak from his body, allowing the others to see it.
"An Ancient-grade treasure... As expected of the Great One... He’s known for having the biggest collection of treasures in the Nine Heavens." Feng Yuxiang sighed in admiration, as she has heard of countless legends about the Great One in the upper heavens.
Sometime later, Yuan said, "Okay, I am going to speak with the Sect Master now regarding my departure."
After the others returned to his body, Yuan and Meixiu returned to the Dragon Essence Temple.
"Sect Master, are you there?" Yuan knocked on the Sect Master’s headquarters.
"Disciple Yuan? I’m a little busy right now, but you can enter. I’ll be with you after I’m done here." Long Yijun’s voice resounded a moment later.
Yuan proceeded to open the door and enter the building, and to his surprise, there were many people gathered inside at this moment.
Elder Xuan and Elder Shang were also there alongside four unfamiliar faces.
However, it was clear to Yuan at a glance that the atmosphere was an unpleasant one.
"That’s Disciple Yuan? The person who opened the Mystic Pagoda and refused to ascend with Senior Nie?"
One of the people Yuan didn’t recognize mumbled in a surprised voice.
"Disciple Yuan, you can take a seat over there for now. This won’t take long." Long Yijun said to them.
And then he returned to the four individuals and said, "Anyways, back to our topic. I am willing to return the Divine-grade treasures you’d lost to our Dragon Essence Temple during the bet, but it won’t be for free."
"100,000 spirit stones. That is the amount I am willing to sell it for— no more, no less."
"100,000 spirit stones?! Are you out of your damn mind, Long Yijun?! That’s one billion gold! Even Divine-grade treasures aren’t worth that much!" One of the guests there said.
"That’s right! The last time a Divine-grade treasure was sold, it was sold for around 600 million gold!" Another one said.
"While that is true, it is also true that these Divine-grade treasures are of the peak quality and an inheritance treasure for your sects. Surely, they must be worth more than an ordinary Divine-grade treasure sold in an auction house... Am I right?" Long Yijun said to them, refusing to lower the cost.
If he manages to sell these four Divine-grade treasures for 400,000 spirit stones, that would supply their sect for many years to come.
The four Sect Masters was speechless. As much as they wanted to refute Long Yijun’s claims, they weren’t in the position. After all, they must reclaim their sects’ treasure at all cost, or their ancestors might curse them from their graves.
"Look, I am not the one standing between you and your treasure— you are. If you just hand over 100,000 spirit stones, I would be more than happy to return your treasures that I’d rightfully won." Long Yijun continued to speak.
"In fact, there are many people who are eyeing these treasures at this moment, and they’d be more than willing to pay 100,000 spirit stones for them. I am giving you guys the opportunity to reclaim them first since I am a kind man. If you don’t want them, I will have no choice but to sell them to other people."
When the four Sect Masters heard Long Yijun’s shameless words, they nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood from anger. However, they managed to refrain themselves from doing so, and after a long moment of silence, one of them said, "Fine! I will pay 100,000 spirit stones! Give me three days to prepare the money!"
Once one of them surrendered, the others began surrendering as well, as they didn’t want to risk Long Yijun selling their treasures to other sects, something they were certain he was shameless enough to do.
"Thank you all for your business!"
The four Sect Masters left the place shortly after whilst Long Yijun kept a wide smile on his face even after they left.
"Hahaha! A bunch of idiots!" Long Yijun laughed out loud after they left.
He then turned to look at Yuan and said, "You’re out earlier than I’d expected. Did something happen?"
He repeated what Meixiu said not long ago.
"Nothing happened. I just finished faster than anticipated. That’s all," he said.
"If that’s the case, then I hope you have obtained some good treasures whilst inside. Of course, you don’t have to tell me anything." Long Yijun said to him.
"Anyways, do you have anything else for me?"
Yuan nodded and said, "I’m here to announce my departure from the Dragon Essence Temple."
Everyone in the room looked at him with widened eyes, their expressions filled with surprise.
"Y-You’re going to leave the sect? Why? Did we do something wrong? Or did someone offend you again?" Elder Shang was the first to snap out of her daze and asked him.
Yuan shook his head and said, "No, the sect didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that I think I have experienced enough of what it’s like to be a disciple, and that it’s about time I leave."
After a moment of silence, Long Yijun sighed, "I see... So it’s that time, huh? I knew you wouldn’t stay in the sect for long, but to think that day would come so soon."
"Of course, I won’t even try to convince you to stay. As much as I want you to stay here, we are well aware that you don’t belong to this place. It’s simply too small for someone like you. I’m glad you decided to leave after the Mystic Realm. What do you plan on doing after you leave?"
Long Yijun gave up rather quickly and asked him.