Chapter 2: Losing as Much as Gaining_1

Before his rebirth, although Yang Chen could not cultivate martial arts and step onto the King's path, his favorite thing to do was to cultivate geniuses. In fact, besides being known as a prodigy in the Way of Alchemy, he had another nickname – 'Bo Le.'

This showed his love for martial arts.

Now that he could cultivate martial arts, it was undoubtedly an opportunity for him to find a ray of light in his dark life.

Yang Chen sorted out some of his thoughts and had already made some plans for his future martial arts path. He knew well that he couldn't be impatient, as his current identity was still a waste of the Yang family, who had been weak enough to hang himself not long ago.

As his thoughts raced, Yang Chen tidied up his clothes, got up from his bed, opened the door, and said, "Mingyue, come with me for a walk to clear my mind!"

"Young Master, you...you want to clear your mind?" Gu Mingyue stood outside the door, wide-eyed as she saw her young master come out, suddenly feeling a sense of loss. Her young master was usually idle; Going to 'clear his mind' now would not be taking care of his business, would it?

"Yes, clear my mind," Yang Chen walked ahead.

After all, his current identity was an ordinary young master of the 100 Clans Yang Family, and he needed to learn more about them.

Gu Mingyue had no choice but to follow Yang Chen hurriedly, with her big, crystal clear eyes secretly watching him from behind, filled with a mixture of sighs and regret. She knew clearly that her fate was to marry Yang Chen as a concubine, for which she had prepared herself early on. She didn't feel aggrieved or humiliated about being a concubine to a weak failure like him.

Her one and only wish was to marry Yang Chen as his concubine and make him turn over a new leaf, no longer being idle and living a dissipated life like he was now.

However, she didn't know if she could actually achieve these things, and she felt a faint sense of loss in her heart.

Yang Chen was good at observing people's expressions, and Gu Mingyue's sadness was written all over her face, which made him smile and wonder what she was thinking. But it was true that the girl, who was merely fifteen years old, had shown the potential to be a beauty, and her well-developed figure made her a jealous target within the Yang family.

As he thought about it, suddenly, a group of people walked towards him.

"Yo, I was wondering who it was. Yang Chen, I just heard that you lost most of your sister's wealth and were too ashamed to see people, so you tried to hang yourself. I found it quite strange and came over to take a look, wanting to know when a useless waste like you would have the courage to commit suicide. Just as I expected, suicide? Haha, you don't have the courage for that."

With this strange voice, Yang Chen looked straight at the speaker and recognized his appearance.

The young man in front of him was about the same age as Yang Chen, both around twelve or thirteen years old.

In martial arts cultivation, fourteen was considered adulthood, and thirteen was close to adulthood, so they were actually not that young.

This young man was neatly dressed, with a fair and handsome appearance, and was clearly a young nobleman of the Yang family. Yang Chen recalled this person's identity in his mind–his name was Yang Heng, the second son of Yang Family Elder Yang Zheng. He dabbled in both alchemy and martial arts and was considered a prodigy among the younger generation of the Yang family.

After recalling the details carefully, Yang Chen understood the situation. Yang Heng had often caused trouble for 'Yang Chen' in the past, but the real reason behind it all was actually the maid Gu Mingyue, who was behind 'Yang Chen.'

Yang Heng had always been obsessed with Gu Mingyue's appearance, repeatedly harassing and declaring his love for her, only to be rejected by her. This made Yang Heng angry and caused him to bother 'Yang Chen' in various ways, trying to embarrass him. In fact, Yang Chen's suicide attempt at the time was prompted and enraged by Yang Heng.

This made Yang Chen narrow his eyes slightly at the moment.

As a fellow clan member, Yang Heng treated his own brother this way just for a maid, and Yang Chen had no good feelings for him at all.

Of course, he didn't want to cause trouble for himself at the moment. Looking at Yang Heng, he said calmly, "Mingyue, let's go."

"Yes, Young Master!" Gu Mingyue obediently replied.

Seeing Gu Mingyue obeying Yang Chen so unconditionally and being extremely well-behaved, Yang Heng couldn't help but feel even more annoyed. Gnashing his teeth, he said, "Mingyue, how can you be so foolish? What kind of future do you have following this Yang Chen? He's such a waste now and has already been abandoned by the Yang family. You'll suffer hardship following him; you might as well follow me, Young Master. With my talent, I'm bound to stand out in the Land of Hundreds of Clans. You better think it over!"

Hearing this, Yang Chen looked at Gu Mingyue and stopped walking.

It had to be said that he was also quite curious about Gu Mingyue's attitude. To be honest, anyone would be tempted by Yang Heng's words. What kind of future could anyone have following such a useless young master like him?

However, to his surprise, Gu Mingyue's attitude was resolute. Biting her shell teeth, she firmly said, "Yang Heng, I only recognize our Young Master Yang Chen. I've rejected you many times already, and I've made it very clear. Even if I have to suffer hardship with Young Master, I'm willing to do so; don't bother me anymore!"

At this point, Yang Chen grew a little curious.

As for Gu Mingyue's background, his memory of his previous life didn't contain that information.

Gu Mingyue's words made Yang Heng even angrier. Seeing that she remained unaffected by his persuasion, he angrily shouted, "Good, good, good, Gu Mingyue! You just won't do the right thing, will you?"

"What do you want to do?" Yang Chen pulled Gu Mingyue behind him.This action undoubtedly made Gu Mingyue tremble slightly, unable to react.

When did their young master start doing such manly actions? Usually, when faced with trouble, Yang Chen was the quickest to shrink back.

It must be said that Yang Heng and his servants were all extremely surprised by Yang Chen's current behavior, especially Yang Heng, who laughed in anger, "What? Yang Chen, have you finally grown a backbone? In terms of martial arts, I won't bully you. Even if you fought me ten times, you wouldn't stand a chance. All you can do is alchemy. But your alchemy skills, haha, are they even worth showing off? When you competed against the Wang family, you wasted a whole furnace of precious materials and failed to refine a single pill, tarnishing our Yang family's reputation. Tell me, what exactly are you good at?"

Yang Chen had been questioned countless times in his previous life, but this was the first time he had been questioned about his alchemy.

He touched his chin, amused, "Since you said my alchemy skills are lacking, I'm curious about yours."

"Young Master, let's... let's not fight with them. Let's just go," Gu Mingyue pulled at Yang Chen's sleeve from behind. Seeing that things were heading in a bad direction, she was worried that Yang Chen would end up worse off.

Last time, Yang Chen was provoked by the Wang family, and in his fury, he made a grave mistake.

Seeing Gu Mingyue's anxious expression, Yang Heng became even more irritable, "What? You still want to compete with me? Yang Chen, if you truly have integrity, then compete with me. If not, just move aside obediently."

"Hahahaha!"

"He dares to compete with our Young Master Heng? Does he not know that our Young Master Heng is a Tier 1 Middle-Stage Alchemy Master?"

In an instant, the servants behind Yang Heng burst into laughter.

Yang Chen was undeterred and said slowly, "If you're willing, I wouldn't mind having a contest with you!"

The pills are divided into nine grades, from first to ninth, with each grade having low, middle, high, and perfect stages. Yang Heng excelled in both martial arts and alchemy. His alchemy had reached the Tier 1 Middle-Stage level at his young age. This level might be considered impressive to others, but to Yang Chen's past self, it was not even enough to qualify as an alchemist's apprentice.

Upon hearing Yang Chen's challenge, Yang Heng laughed, "Are you sure? You better not cry after losing the match."

"Young Master, let's..." Gu Mingyue was still anxious but didn't know how to handle the situation.

Yang Chen waved his hand, calmly saying, "A competition alone is meaningless, nothing more than a competition of pride. Since we are going to compete, let's add some stakes, otherwise, I find this competition meaningless. If we want to bet, let's make it big. Add some stakes, that will make it interesting."

Yang Heng laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world, "Haha, a bet? Yang Chen, after the last time you competed with the Wang family, haven't you already lost almost everything your older sister had? Is it that you've finally realized it and want to completely lose your sister's remaining assets?"

"All I'm asking is if you dare to bet," Yang Chen's expression darkened as if he was truly enraged. "If you don't dare to bet, then this competition is completely pointless."

Seeing Yang Chen's 'exasperated and furious' appearance, Yang Heng clicked his tongue, "How much do you want to bet?"

"300 Spirit Stones!" Yang Chen said without hesitation.

"300 Spirit Stones..." Gu Mingyue's face turned pale as soon as she heard the number.

It was because last time, Yang Chen bet 300 Spirit Stones in the competition against the Wang family, and he ended up losing more than half of Yang Caidie's assets in an instant. If he loses this time, all the wealth that Yang Caidie had accumulated at her young age would be completely lost because of Yang Chen.

Yang Heng was also genuinely shocked by the number Yang Chen mentioned, as 300 Spirit Stones were not a small amount.

Spirit Stones were a universal currency on the entire continent, suitable for cultivation and other various needs.

But to Yang Heng, 300 Spirit Stones were like asking for his life.

However, when he thought about Yang Chen's alchemy level, a ferocious smile appeared on his face. He sneered, "What's there to be afraid of? 300 Spirit Stones, I just don't want you to lose your sister's entire fortune. Later on, even the sister who dotes on you may leave you."

Indeed, 300 Spirit Stones was a considerable amount. But how could he lose to Yang Chen?

"Hmph, I don't need you to interfere in my affairs. Since we're going to bet, let's hurry up and set up the bet," Yang Chen said with a faint smile.

How could Yang Heng know that Yang Chen was not the same as before?

What he was afraid of was not that Yang Heng would bet, but that he wouldn't bet.

300 Spirit Stones.

It's time for him to win back the amount the previous Yang Chen who hanged himself had lost.