A light green dress covered only down to below her knees, leaving her smooth, fair calves bare.
On her feet were a pair of low-cut cloth shoes without socks, her fair instep clearly visible, the white and somewhat translucent skin revealing even some faint capillaries.
Her body had not yet fully developed, but she had already blossomed into a slim and graceful young lady.
Given time, she would undoubtedly turn into an absolute beauty.
Catching Nalan Chaoge's gaze, Little Guo'er's face instantly flushed red, and she nervously crossed her hands in front of herself, not knowing where to put them.
Nalan Chaoge's heart skipped a beat as well.
He hurriedly took a deep breath to banish those distracting thoughts from his mind. The lass was still too young and not yet ripe-it wouldn't be too late to pick her once she grew ripe later on!
Amitabha!
He walked over to Little Guo'er and naturally took her small hands, which had been wandering helplessly.
"Y-Young... Young Master... like this..."
Nalan Chaoge wouldn't let such trivialities deter him.
Even Guo'er only put up a slight struggle.
She was a maid of the Nalan Family, not to mention Nalan Chaoge's Bedwarmer Maid—to put it bluntly, she was Nalan Chaoge's future what-have-you...
Even if Nalan Chaoge got married, she would still be someone staying by his side to serve him.
When the young master of the Nalan Royal Mansion went out, naturally the pomp couldn't be lacking, but Nalan Chaoge had a purpose for coming out this time, so naturally he wouldn't bring too many people.
He merely picked four martial generals at the Da Dou Shi level to follow him.
It wasn't that Nalan Chaoge didn't want to put on airs; he simply knew that if anyone wanted to make a move against him, let alone a few Da Dou Shi, even experts at the Dou Ling level couldn't protect him.
The Jia Ma Empire on this Dou Qi Continent could only be considered a beginner village!
The Jiamar Holy City could be considered the most prosperous city in the Jia Ma Empire.
Leaving the royal mansion and turning past two streets led straight to a free Market District.
This kind of free Market District was under the control of the Jia Ma Imperial Family, and selling things here required no additional fees.
However, all the free Market Districts here were maintained in order by personnel dispatched by the royal family.
"Young Master, what are you going to buy? We have everything inside our royal mansion!" Guo'er looked in puzzlement at Nalan Chaoge, who had been looking around eagerly the moment they entered the trading market.
"I need a first-tier Magic Core. Oh right, Guo'er, do you know where Magic Cores are traded?"
"Young Master, Magic Cores are generally too precious to appear in this kind of trading market, but if it's a first-tier Magic Core you need, you can still try your luck!"
"Oh?" Hearing Guo'er's words, Nalan Chaoge looked at her in confusion.
Knowing the young master's doubt, before Nalan Chaoge could ask, Guo'er immediately continued, "This kind of free Market District doesn't require any fees and transactions are relatively fast. It's usually some mercenary groups selling things here. They urgently need money, or after making a sale they have to go take on missions again, so the items they sell are generally low-tier goods!"
"Higher-tier items will instead be sent to an auction house for sale. The largest auction house in the Jia Ma Empire is controlled by the Mittel Family!"
"Items like Magic Cores, medicinal pills, and Battle Skill cultivation methods are extremely scarce commodities on the Dou Qi Continent. Generally, trading a first-tier Magic Core in the Market District costs around 400 Gold Coins, but if you take it to an auction house and hit a good opportunity, the highest it could possibly fetch is 1,000 Gold Coins! Even after deducting a 10% fee, you can still get 900 Gold Coins!"
"What?" Nalan Chaoge cried out.
This shout startled Guo'er as well.
Meanwhile, the four Da Dou Shi behind Nalan Chaoge quickly rushed over to inquire.
"What's wrong, Young Master? Did something go wrong?"
Nalan Chaoge laughed sheepishly and waved his hand at the few people behind him.
"It's fine, it's fine, I was just a bit startled. Uh, you guys don't need to follow me. If you have anything you need, you can go take a look too.
If anything comes up, I'll call you!"
The few of them acknowledged the order with a yes, but they merely retreated a few paces and did not let Nalan Chaoge leave their line of sight.
This was the young master of the Nalan Family; if he suffered even the slightest mishap, execution of their nine relations would be getting off lightly.
Yet in this Jia Ma Holy City, there was practically no one who dared to make a move against someone from the Nalan Family.
"What is it, Young Master?" Guo'er looked at Nalan Chaoge and asked in a low voice.
"Nothing, well..." Nalan Chaoge looked at Guo'er somewhat sheepishly. "Guo'er, can I ask you something?"
"Mm!"
"Well, do you have any money on you? I, this..."
As the dignified young master of the Nalan Family, having to ask a maid to borrow money was something that made it hard for Nalan Chaoge to save face.
"Pfft!"
Guo'er's body trembled, and she suddenly burst out laughing.
"Young Master, Guo'er is fifteen this year and has been in the Nalan Family for eight years. Old Master gives us 40 Gold Coins a year. Look, last time I had 20 Gold Coins borrowed by Young Master, and there are still 300 here!"
As Guo'er spoke, she directly pulled a green card out of her pocket and handed it to Nalan Chaoge.
Forty a year, eight years made 320. After all that fuss, the lass's Gold Coins had all been borrowed by him.
Nalan Chaoge felt his face burn with heat.
"Guo'er, I'll return the money to you as soon as we get back!"
"No need, Young Master. I'm doing very well in the Nalan Family-I don't need Gold Coins for food or clothing. It's just that my money is too little, so I can't help Young Master with much!"
Nalan Chaoge held Guo'er's hand and said nothing more.
The two walked hand in hand-the man dashing and handsome, the woman fresh and delicate. Many rough men passing by the two successively turned their heads to look sideways.
What a pair of jade youths.
However, Nalan Chaoge's luck today seemed rather poor; after going through several Market Districts in succession, he didn't encounter a single first-tier Magic Core.
Perhaps it was because the tier was too low, or perhaps it was bad timing, but no mercenary groups were willing to hunt low-tier magical beasts to obtain Magic Cores.
He did run into quite a few second- and third-tier ones, but they were useless to him.
Of course, if Nalan Chaoge had the Gold Coins, he would have bought them without hesitation.
Money, ah.
It seemed he still needed to think of a way to make money.
Having failed to buy anything, Guo'er grew somewhat anxious.
"Young Master, why don't we go take a look at the Mittel Family Auction House?"
"Auction House? Doesn't the Mittel Family's nearest auction house only hold events once every week?"
"Yes, Young Master, auctions are held once a week, but the Mittel Family also has its own Market District where they routinely buy large quantities of medicinal herbs, Magic Cores, and the like!"
"Hey, why didn't you say so earlier!" As he spoke, Nalan Chaoge grabbed Guo'er and headed toward the Mittel Family's auction event.
"I... I only just remembered. Besides, I was thinking we could come here and try our luck; buying things at the auction house is quite a bit more expensive than outside!"
This Nalan Chaoge could understand. After all, they had to pay rent, hire labor, and so on. But he couldn't care about that anymore-his Dou Qi Tenth Stage strength truly gave Nalan Chaoge not a shred of a sense of security.
"No problem, we currently have 520 Gold Coins. Even if it's a bit more expensive, we should still be able to manage!"
"We can, Young Master! The Mittel Family has a total of seven auction houses in the Jia Ma Holy City, and the nearest one is right up ahead. The person hosting the auction inside is none other than the far-renowned Mittel Family's Young Lady, Ya Fei!"
"Ya Fei?"
Nalan Chaoge was stunned once again!
Before you continue