Xiahou Tian's face turned ugly when he heard this.
In his shock and disbelief at Lin Fan's abilities, he had completely forgotten about the bet that he had made before.
But this was the treasure of his family, they had given it to him in hopes that he would lead them back to the top once again. If he were to lose it now, he would be letting down all the hopes his family had placed on him.
After being taken aback, Xiahou Tian said, "You think you're worthy of taking the Thousand Flame Cauldron, come back in a thousand years!"
Even if this did hurt his prestige a bit, Xiahou Tian couldn't hold up his end of this bet at all. This was the hope of his entire family!
Lin Fan just smiled since he already expected this, so he said, "You have to be willing to accept a loss as a man, just give up and hand over the cauldron."
Xiahou Tian revealed a fierce look and said, "What if I don't hand over the cauldron, what will you do?" Once he said this, he also released his Gold Realm aura.
Xiahou Tian didn't just focus purely on increasing his knowledge of alchemy, he also focused quite a bit of effort on his cultivation. Only by increasing his cultivation could he increase the power and control of his flames, so he didn't slack off there.
He was completely confident that with his peak Gold Realm cultivation, he would be able to overpower Fan Lin.
Alchemists generally were weak when it came to cultivation and Xiahou Tian was an anomaly who spent quite a bit of time on cultivating, but that only worked out since he had a large family behind him supporting him with resources.
This wasn't the case for most alchemists, so their cultivations were weaker. There were even Master Alchemists who were only in the Silver Realm.
Normally Xiahou Tian was right to be confident in using force with his cultivation, but he had kicked a steel wall this time. Lin Fan wasn't that easy to beat down.
Lin Fan just continued looking at him with a smile and said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Xiahou Tian thought that Lin Fan was just acting tough, so he gained a bit of confidence back. He turned to the Alchemy Master and said, "Lord Alchemy Master, the bet we made just now doesn't count, right? That was nothing more than a friendly joke."
He was confident that the Alchemy Master would support him since he had done so earlier when he allowed him to make this bet. He knew that the Alchemy Master had been wanting to win his family over, so the Alchemy Master would definitely side with him and his family, but the words of the Alchemy Master shattered that dream.
The Alchemy Master casually said, "You're the one who made this bet, don't come looking for me. This is a bet that I've personally guaranteed, so I have no idea what you mean by it's a joke." Then his eyes turned cold as he looked at Xiahou Tian and said, "Of course, if you're not willing to abide by the bet, that is your own fault. It would just make you less of a man."
The words of the Alchemy Master were clearly hostile. He had made his stance clear that he wasn't going to support Xiahou Tian and firmly stood on Fan Lin's side.
But this also confused Xiahou Tian.
Just who was this Fan Lin, he was clearly some unknown kid yet the Alchemy Master was willing to throw away their Xiahou Family just for him!
However, Lin Fan's next words pulled Xiahou Tian from his daze, "So what are you going to do now? Are you going to beat me instead of handing over the cauldron?"
Xiahou Tian's temper surged and he had already been pushed into a corner, so he had no other choice.
Xiahou Tian just shouted, "You're the one who forced me to do this!"
Then with those words, Xiahou Tian flew out with his fists, throwing a punch right at Lin Fan's face.
He had been wanting to punch Lin Fan since the moment he laid eyes on him, but it was too bad that he didn't get this chance.
Lin Fan raised his hand and with a single finger, he stopped Xiahou Tian's fist without being pushed a single step back.
Everyone was shocked when they saw this.
Xiahou Tian was a famed body cultivator, which meant that his punch should have been even more powerful than punches from normal cultivators. Not to mention that he was in the peak Gold Realm.
Xiahou Tian looked at Lin Fan in shock and fear, he couldn't believe what had just happened.
Lin Fan didn't even give Xiahou Tian a chance to react as he suddenly opened his hand to grab Xiahou Tian's fist before moving behind him. Lin Fan's other hand came forward to grab Xiahou Tian's free hand and he pulled both of those hands behind Xiahou Tian.
Then with a single kick to the back of his knees, he forced Xiahou Tian to kneel before putting his foot on Xiahou Tian's back. As his foot was placed as Xiahou Tian's back, he continued putting more and more pressure on Xiahou Tian's back.
Xiahou Tian tried to break free, but the more strength he used, the more pain he felt coming from his arms.
Lin Fan just stood over him and said with a cold smile, "What will you do now?"
Everyone in the crowd at first had just thought that Fan Lin was a genius alchemist who was proud and confident, but now it seemed like they were completely wrong about him. When seeing him stand over Xiahou Tian like this, the crowd couldn't help feeling a chill run down their spines.
Xiahou Tian's mentality finally broke down and he shouted, "Alright, alright, you can have the Thousand Flame Cauldron! Just let me go!"
Lin Fan suddenly let go of his hands and kicked him to the ground before moving over to take the Thousand Flame Cauldron that Xiahou Tian had let out of his Storage Ring.
But of course, when he was leaving, he didn't forget to add, "You are nothing more than trash, remember that. Every time you try to stand up, I will crush you."
Those words were the final straw that broke the camel's back for Xiahou Tian. He was now completely afraid of Lin Fan and Lin Fan had become his heart demon. As long as he couldn't break free of the grasp of this heart demon, he would never be able to progress again.
Naturally Lin Fan knew this which was why he said these words.
Who told this idiot to challenge him in the first place?
After this exciting semifinals, the finals were considered quite tame.
This time, Lin Fan's opponent didn't provoke him, rather he was quite respectful towards Lin Fan.
His opponent cupped his hands and gave a bow as he said, "Young master Fan, it truly is an honour to face you in the finals. My name is Jin Dong."
Jin Dong didn't expect much of a reaction from the cold and proud Lin Fan, so when Lin Fan actually cupped his hands back to him, he was shocked.
Lin Fan was someone who treated others based on how he was treated and he could tell that this kid was sincere.
Compared to the other young masters, this kid was clearly someone without any backing with how poor his cauldron was. This kid was someone who had made it up with his own efforts and that was something that Lin Fan could respect.
Lin Fan cupped his hands and said, "It is an honour to be facing you too. I hope that we can learn from each other."
The crowd fell into silence from their shock.
Was this really the same Fan Lin they had just seen?
The same cold blooded Fan Lin who almost killed someone on stage?
But after this moment of shock, the crowd broke out in cheers again!
This was the attitude that a true expert should have. He showed no mercy for those who offended him, but he was a kind and approachable person to those that showed respect. This was someone who was worth respecting!
The finals began after this polite exchange, but instead of a contest, it seemed more like a lesson.
During their refinement, Lin Fan used his flame cauldron to refine his pills while giving advice to Jin Dong during his refinement.
Of course the results were as expected, with Lin Fan winning in the end, but Jin Dong felt that he had gained quite a bit just from this experience.
Jin Dong cupped his hands and bowed to Lin Fan once again as he said, "Master Fan, I've truly learned a lot from this, thank you."
Lin Fan smiled and said, "Come and see me after this tournament, I might have a job for you."
Jin Dong's eyes lit up at this, "Really?"
Lin Fan nodded and said nothing else.
But just this was enough to fill Jin Dong's heart with hope.
He had gained more alchemy knowledge from a single lesson from Lin Fan than he had learned in the past month of studying. He was certain that if he followed Lin Fan, he would have a chance to break into a realm that he had never seen before.
No one would be able to resist this temptation!