Yaren believed that with her carrot-on-the-stick approach, Xu Feng would know which one to choose.
After all, the opportunity to receive her personal guidance was something every blacksmith wished to gain. And now that she was offering this kind of chance, only an idiot would refuse her and choose to get beaten up.
Alas, not only did Xu Feng underestimate her ruthlessness, likewise, Yaren also underestimated Xu Feng's demeanor.
"Even if you make such a subtle threat, I still won't accept." Xu Feng remained adamant in his decision. He preferred to do things wherever and whenever he wanted to, and not be forced to.
So what if the audience wanted to plummet him?
Could he possibly die?
Not to mention, did the audience take him for a spineless person who wouldn't fight back when they want to make a move.
Seeing how her threat failed, Yaren pursed her lips, not expecting this kind of response.
"Fine, what do you want then?" Yaren questioned, clearly dissatisfied with Xu Feng's response. "If you want some other reward, list them out, and as long as it's not overboard, I shall mend it."
Honestly, she really didn't plan on putting up such a condition in the third round, but after realizing Xu Feng's baptized state, followed by his usage of the Divine Wrath.
She decided to assign the task to him.
After all, there was one particular location that she wished to obtain the material from, but it was extremely difficult.
Not even with her current skills were she capable of going there, especially when this location was marked down by her ancestor.
Naturally, Xu Feng also seemed to understand that Yaren wanted something that only he was somewhat capable of going there.
Having interacted with her on numerous occasions in the past timeline when he wanted some of her items for the Reaver Guild, he knew her temperament fairly well.
If someone didn't have something she wanted, then she wouldn't even bat an eyelid to them.
Therefore, Xu Feng was treating Yaren as a fat sheep. Of course, that didn't diminish his true motive either way in not wanting to explore the Abyssal Rift— at least not this early.
"The design that you plan on crafting. I want exclusive rights to sell them on your behalf." Xu Feng proposed, and continued, "Don't worry, the profit would be split 60-40, with me being 40."
60-40 might sound like a reasonable split on the surface, but factoring in Yaren's status and reputation, that was akin to robbing Yaren.
Anyone would wish to collaborate and sell her item exclusively even if it was just 10 percent.
The audience even wanted to curse Xu Feng outright for wanting to gain such a profitable business. However, they refrain themselves from speaking out after witnessing Yaren narrow her eyes.
"You really are not afraid of speaking your mind, Lin Feng." Yaren calmly said, referring to his name and not the contestant's number. "Or is it because you're an immortal that you believe I can't do much to you?"
"Of course, not." Xu Feng flatly responded. "Conductor Yaren is fair and just, so I would never dare or attempt to disrespect you. I'm merely discussing the condition that you ask me to speak if I were to continue on with the competition."
"Oh, so because of that, you're not afraid of the consequences?"
"I'm very much afraid— that is if I don't have the confidence to fulfill your condition. Unfortunately, I'm very confident in succeeding, except you might need to provide me with some extra utility gear."
As soon as Xu Feng finished speaking, Yaren suddenly unleashed her murderous aura. The area started to turn grim and desolate, with the audience even having trouble breathing.
The employees were equally taken by surprise and knelt on one knee, gritting their teeth in hopes of resisting the terrifying aura. If previously, the aura that Xu Feng exuded had nearly suffocated and shattered Victor's mental mindset, then Yaren's aura was at least amplified by 5 times.
Nevertheless, Xu Feng clenched his fist, his stand remained unmovable.
Despite this, blood began to seep out from the corner of his mouth as a system prompt appeared, warning him of the deadly situation he was in.
System: You are being affected by Yaren's murderous aura! All attributes decreased by 80% and your health would continuously drop upon being exposed to the aura!
Given that Yaren was mainly prioritizing Xu Feng, the others didn't receive such a status ailment. Similarly, Carmen and Crimson Heart didn't have such a severe system warning prompt either.
"Guild Leader…" Carmen clenched her fist tightly, trying to assist him but realized the pressure was practically hammering her body down.
She wanted to lift her hand and unleash some spells, but couldn't muster any strength. The more she wanted to move under such conditions, the more backlashes she was receiving.
"Stop moving, Lady Lunar Wraith. If you continue, your body will be harmed." Both Razor and Brutus warned from the sideline.
"I don't care." Carmen ignored their warning and still continued to conjure her spell under such harsh conditions.
"The Guild Leader is being attacked, so how could I sit back and watch?" She added, sneering, and managed to succeed in summoning an Elementalist.
Razor and Brutus had a look of admiration for Carmen.
To be able to resist such a murderous aura and proceeded to use her skill to fight Yaren because her guild leader was being attacked.
They were slightly ashamed of themselves, given that if similar circumstances occurred to them, they highly doubted they would react like Carmen.
Amidst their admiration, Carmen already commanded her Elementalist to launch an attack at Yaren.
"Wait, don't attack!" Alarmed, Xu Feng had been focusing on Yaren the entire time, so he failed to notice Carmen's movement until he saw an Elementalist through his peripheral vision.
"Hoh, your companion is quite daring." Yaren snickered and with a simple snap of her finger, the summoned Elementalist disintegrated.
Shortly after, she pinpointed Carmen and teleported her directly to the stage next to Xu Feng.