The Pauper

Fan Lang had come shopping with a fortune in his pocket, only to be treated with such cold disdain. Anyone would have been upset, let alone someone as hot-tempered as him.

If he still shamelessly stayed to buy something after being treated that way, he would be nothing but a spineless fool.

Fan Lang sneered and shook his head. "I was planning to buy a few things here, but it seems there's no need now. The two of you can keep Young Master Yue company. I'm leaving."

"Buy a few things here? You?" The sales clerk responded with a mocking sneer, looking Fan Lang up and down with contempt as though he were inspecting a pauper.

From head to toe, Fan Lang did not look like a wealthy man. He wore ordinary clothes, with only the card pack at his waist standing out slightly.

The cheapest goods in this area cost ten thousand taels of silver, while the expensive ones exceeded a hundred thousand taels. Neither sales clerk believed Fan Lang could afford several items.

Fan Lang had been openly looked down on!

Being looked down on like this felt terrible.

"True, I'm no tycoon, but I'm certainly not a pauper. I can still afford the things here." Fan Lang spoke slowly and moved slowly as well, drawing a currency card from his card pack and waving it three times before the three of them.

A line of text was clearly displayed on the currency card: 125,580 taels of silver.

With that money, buying several things here would be more than enough.

Fan Lang had earned this money through various means, mainly from two sources. One was the loot dropped after the Gold Devouring Demon died, while the other was the windfall he had made from the corpses of the Silver Moon Merchant Guild hunting party.

No matter where it came from, money was money.

The two sales clerks widened their eyes when they saw the number on the currency card. Neither had expected Fan Lang to take out so much money.

This "pauper" was actually a major customer carrying a fortune!

One hundred twenty thousand taels of silver.

Even if the two sales clerks worked their entire lives, they probably would never earn that much. Had they known Fan Lang possessed so much money, they would never have neglected him like that. At the very least, one of them would have attended to him properly.

Yue Yifei often heard his adoptive father talk about the ways of business, and over time, he had picked up a merchant's habits as well. Seeing his household servants offend an important customer, partly because of himself, he hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and smiled. "Sir, we failed to receive you properly just now and have offended you. Please do not lower yourself to the level of these two servants. I am Yue Yifei, of the Silver Moon Merchant Guild. I apologize on behalf of these two blind fools and hope you will be magnanimous enough not to hold it against us. If you have your eye on anything here, just say the word. To show our apology, I can waive part of the cost and guarantee it will be cheaper than anywhere else."

A stick first, then a sweet date.

That trick did not work on Fan Lang at all.

He lazily put away the currency card and sneered. "Right now, the only things in this room I want to buy are their two lives. Are you willing to sell them?"

"What a humorous gentleman." Yue Yifei's smile stiffened. The two sales clerks looked even worse.

"So you're unwilling to sell them. Since we can't do business, there's nothing more to say."

Fan Lang turned and left. After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back to add one more sentence.

"Oh, right. I'll also be participating in the Wind Cloud Genius Battle two days from now. Let's trade a few moves then."

Having said all he had to say, Fan Lang left triumphantly.

Yue Yifei did not know Fan Lang. Upon hearing that the other man would also participate in the Wind Cloud Genius Battle, the smile vanished completely from his face, and he could no longer smile. This battle was of great importance; every opponent was a formidable enemy.

"Those participating in the Wind Cloud Genius Battle are the finest talents from every faction. I've never seen this man before. Where did he come from?"

Yue Yifei narrowed his eyes slightly, growing curious about Fan Lang's identity. He decided to use the Silver Moon Merchant Guild's network to thoroughly investigate Fan Lang's background.

This was not difficult.

The relevant information quickly made its way back to Yue Yifei.

City Lord's Mansion: Fan Lang, who had fought one against a hundred in the Entry Examination.

Underground Arena: Wanderer, with consecutive victories in gladiatorial combat and no defeats, having defeated several Profound Spirit experts.

These had all happened recently. Too little time had passed, so most people had only heard Fan Lang's name and never seen him in person.

Yue Yifei had never fought Fan Lang, but judging from the information he received, he guessed Fan Lang was no ordinary person. A fierce battle would be unavoidable in the genius battle.

Fan Lang always held grudges, but he never let trivial matters ruin his mood. After leaving the Silver Moon Merchant Guild, he whistled and considered finding equipment elsewhere.

He had come to the Silver Moon Merchant Guild mainly for convenience. Besides this place, he had many other ways to acquire equipment, such as completing certain quests.

Doing quests was actually more economical, and some could even be completed without spending a single coin.

After thinking it over, Fan Lang came up with three quests that could yield five-star equipment. They were worth spending some time on.

"Forget it. I'll save some money, skip buying equipment, and go do quests directly!"

Having made up his mind, Fan Lang changed direction and headed toward the first quest location.

The place was a blacksmith shop that looked rather old. Looking inside, several weapons and pieces of armor hung in the room. There was only one person inside, and he looked every bit the blacksmith—broad and brawny, dark-skinned, with several burn scars on his body.

The blacksmith held a wine jug in his hand. Without any food to go with it, he drank alone with great enjoyment.

"Here to buy something?" The blacksmith let out a wine-scented burp and looked at Fan Lang.

"I heard you've recently been purchasing Azure Crab Shells?" Fan Lang got straight to the point, trying to trigger the quest.

"Yeah, I've been buying those things lately. I plan to collect a hundred, but I've only gotten a dozen or so. I'm still far from enough."

"If I get you a hundred Azure Crab Shells, how much are you planning to pay?"

"You have a hundred Azure Crab Shells?" the blacksmith asked in return, his drunken eyes regaining some clarity.

"I don't have them on me, but I can definitely get them," Fan Lang said.

"To be honest, I don't have enough cash on hand to buy a hundred Azure Crab Shells. I originally intended to collect them slowly, so I never expected someone to bring me so many at once. How about this? If you can bring me a hundred Azure Crab Shells, I'll trade you a five-star Crab Shell Shield for them." The blacksmith made his proposal.

Azure Crab Shells were the shells of a type of crab demon beast and could be used to forge equipment. A hundred Azure Crab Shells were enough to forge two pieces of five-star equipment.

This trade was not a loss for the blacksmith. What he mainly had to contribute was sweat.

The player has triggered the trade quest, "Shells and Shield." Quest reward: 1 five-star Crab Shell Shield, 8,000 Experience Points. Deadline: 5 days.

The system notification appeared immediately upon triggering the quest.

This was exactly what Fan Lang wanted.

"Fine, it's a deal. I'll go gather the Azure Crab Shells right away. Wipe that shield clean and wait for me to collect it!" Fan Lang said with a smile.