"If you can restore the Celestial Pond then hurry up and do it..." Lord Xie said in a sighing voice, already feeling defeated despite nothing has happened yet.
Su Yang then retrieved the ingredients he’d asked Lord Xie to obtain right before he entered closed cultivation and tossed them all into the empty Celestial Pond.
"What the heck? This is why he wanted those ingredients? For the Celestial Pond?" Lord Xie watched with wide eyes as Su Yang filled the small pond to the brim with enough medicine and herbs to last for many years.
Once everything was inside the pond, Su Yang turned to look at Zhu Mengyi and said, "Go ahead and use your Alchemy Flames to burn everything in here."
"Huh?" Zhu Mengyi looked at him with wide eyes.
"You want me to burn everything? Like until it turns to ashes?"
She asked him just in case.
"Yes." Su Yang immediately nodded.
"If you say so..." Zhe Mengyi then tossed a ball of her Azure Flames into the pond, quickly burning the medicine and herbs until only ashes remained.
"What on earth...?" Lord Xie stared at the pitch-black pond with a dazed expression on his face.
"How the hell is this going to restore the Celestial Pond?!"
He couldn’t help but exclaim a moment later.
"Just shut up for a minute and watch won’t you?" Su Yang shook his head before returning to the Celestial Pond that is now filled with burnt medicine and herbs.
He then retrieved a glass bottle from his storage ring that contained some mysterious liquid, and instead of pouring it into the pond of burnt medicine, he splashed it onto the golden tree.
A few moments later, the golden tree released a drop of golden liquid, falling directly into the burnt medicines in the pond.
The moment the drop of golden liquid from the tree touched the burnt medicine, almost as though it was being dyed, all of the burnt medicine in the pond quickly turned gold in a ripple effect!
"What the...?" Lord Xie and the others watched with wide eyes as the burnt medicine suddenly turned into something entirely different!
Once all of the burnt medicine turned golden, Su Yang retrieved another bottle of liquid and poured it into the golden medicine.
A few seconds later, the golden medicine began melting until the entire Celestial Pond was filled with golden water again, resembling what the Celestial Pond looked like before it had its resources dried up!
"Heavens! The Celestial Pond has been restored!" Xie Wang cried out loud when he sensed the powerful spiritual energy emitting from the golden water. In fact, the water feels even more luxurious than normally!
"This is..." Lord Xie suddenly began approaching the Celestial Pond.
Once he was right before it, he kneeled on the ground and scooped up a handful of the golden water before staring at it intensively in silence.
A few moments later, Lord Xie placed the golden water back into the pond before turning to look at Su Yang with a perplexed expression on his face.
"You win. What do you want from me?" Lord Xie spoke in a defeated voice.
However, despite losing the bet, he did not feel bitterness. In fact, he was overwhelmed with excitement and delight.
And hearing Lord Xie’s question, a smile appeared on Su Yang’s face as he slowly lifted his arm and pointed towards Xie Xingfang’s direction.
"Your daughter— I’ll be taking Xing’er," Su Yang spoke in a calm voice.
"You... what?" Lord Xie could feel his eyes popping out of its sockets when he heard Su Yang’s words.
Even Xie Wang was no different as he stared at Su Yang with his eyes and mouth as wide as saucers.
Meanwhile, Xie Xingfang lowered her head slightly to hide the redness and smile on her face. Even Liu Lanzhi and the other two disciples couldn’t believe their ears and stood there with a dazed expression on their faces.
"Did you not hear me? I said I am going to take Xing’er with me, as she is one of your most valued treasures." Su Yang repeated a smile on his face.
He then turned to look at Xie Xingfang and spoke, "Xing’er, come over here."
Xie Xingfang nodded in a bashful manner before walking to stand beside him.
Su Yang then wrapped his arm around Xie Xingfang’s shoulder before continuing with a smirk on his face, "Xing’er, your father has lost a bet with me, so I’ll be taking you for compensation, and you’ll be my woman from now on."
"Outrageous!" Lord Xie shouted in an angry voice a moment later, creating ripples in the Celestial Pond.
"What are you angry about? You lost a bet, and as agreed, I’ll be taking your most valued treasure, which is your daughter, Xing’er. Or are you going to go back on your words, huh?" Su Yang shook his head.
"You... you...!" Lord Xie pointed at him with his entire body trembling from anger. "You tricked me, you bastard!"
"Su Yang, you can stop teasing my father now," Xie Xingfang said to him when things were starting to get out of control.
"W-What?" Lord Xie turned to look at Xie Xingfang with a dumbfounded gaze. He was being teased?
Xie Xingfang then turned to look at her father and spoke with a serious expression on her beautiful face, "Father, your bet with Su Yang has nothing to do with this, as I would’ve followed Su Yang regardless of the results."
"You... huh?" Lord Xie still held a dumbfounded expression on his face like a dumb chicken, as he was unable to comprehend the situation.
Xie Wang, on the other hand, shook his head with a bittersweet smile on his face as he understood everything.
Seeing that her father was still puzzled about the situation, Xie Xingfang sighed in a low voice before turning to look at Su Yang.
"Su Yang, kiss me," she said to him with a rosy blush on her face.
"With pleasure," Su Yang immediately lifted her chin with his hands before kissing her on the lips directly in front of Lord Xie.
The next moment, Lord Xie’s eyes rolled behind his head and fainted, and he fell into the Celestial Pond a second later, dumbfounding everyone there with his exaggerated reaction.