A Crooked Merchant, Flender

Since they were already here, and had been standing in the wind for so long, how could they not go in and take a look?

Any shop daring to brazenly put up a sign like that must have an owner with some clout. Otherwise, Spirit Hall would have shut it down long ago.

Ning Rongrong and the other two entered the shop together.

The moment she stepped inside, Dugu Yan's eye twitched.

"Rongrong, does anyone really do business like this? Wouldn't they go bankrupt?"

The shop was not large. There was not even a counter. Aside from some items hanging on the walls that looked somewhat like antiques, there was basically nothing else.

And they only looked like antiques. At a glance, none of them seemed particularly valuable.

"Maybe the owner is a respectable man." Ning Rongrong shrugged.

In fact, Ning Rongrong had already guessed the meaning behind the shop's name when she saw the sign outside. After entering, she became completely certain.

In the corner opposite them lay a man who looked to be in his fifties, his eyes closed as he reclined comfortably in a rocking chair.

He did not look at all like a shop owner who cared whether he sold anything.

With his pointed chin, a face as flat as a floorboard, and a slightly protruding hooked nose, he gave off the air of a crooked merchant at every moment.

There was no need to think further. This man was Flender, the seventy-eighth-ranked Soul Saint and headmaster of Shrek Academy.

"Rongrong, did you find what you needed?"

Dugu Bo swept his gaze over the shop. With his experience, he could tell that most of the things hanging on the walls were Soul Tools, and outdated ones that had fallen behind the times at that.

Besides those, there were what appeared to be ores piled together with various unidentifiable objects.

However, Ning Rongrong was the expert when it came to appraising treasures.

Why was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect so wealthy? It was because of the unique nature of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

And now that Ning Rongrong's Martial Soul had evolved into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, her treasure-appraising ability had risen to another level.

Ning Rongrong slowly wandered around the room a few times before taking two hanging Soul Tools into her hands.

Then she walked over to the piece of "worthless crystal" that Tang San would buy in the future and picked it up as well.

"Boss, I'll take these three. Help me calculate the price," Ning Rongrong said calmly.

"One thousand Gold Soul Coins for the three." A lazy yet magnetic voice drifted over. Still half-asleep, the man merely raised his head to glance at them.

"Fine." Ning Rongrong took out a bag of Gold Soul Coins from her Soul Tool, ready to settle the bill.

"Not enough." The lazy voice turned slightly hoarse. "I meant one thousand Gold Soul Coins each."

"You're robbing us, you crooked merchant!" Before Ning Rongrong could speak, Dugu Yan could no longer hold back. "One thousand Gold Soul Coins was already bad enough, but one thousand for each item? Did you fall into a money pit?"

"One Gold Soul Coin is enough for an ordinary family of three to live on for an entire year. Even the black market in the Heaven Dou Imperial Capital isn't as ruthless as you!"

"Take it or leave it. If you don't want them, get out. Don't stand there blocking my business." Flender waved his hand as though shooing away flies.

"You crooked merchant, what kind of hammer business are you running?" Dugu Yan was just short of cursing outright. Did he really take the three of them for suckers?

Dugu Bo, standing behind Dugu Yan, also frowned slightly. But seeing that Ning Rongrong gave no indication, he simply watched in silence.

"Fine." As she spoke, Ning Rongrong took out another two bags of Gold Soul Coins.

"Wait, don't let this crooked merchant fool you." Seeing Ning Rongrong squander money so recklessly, Dugu Yan grew anxious.

Had this young lady never been outside before, or had she never seen market prices?

The shop owner was obviously trying to treat the three of them like fat sheep for slaughter.

"Yan Yan Jie, don't worry. I believe the owner is a respectable man." As Ning Rongrong spoke, she turned her gaze toward Flender, who no longer looked sleepy at all. "There are one thousand Gold Soul Coins in each bag, three thousand in total. If you don't believe me, you can count them. I'll take the items."

After placing the Gold Soul Coins on the table, Ning Rongrong gestured for Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan to leave.

Dugu Yan wanted to say something, but then she saw Dugu Bo shake his head.

"Wait!"

Flender rose from his seat. "Please put the items down. I'm not selling them anymore!"

"Unless you pay three thousand Gold Soul Coins for each item."

Ning Rongrong turned around, the corners of her lips lifting. "Money and goods are exchanged at the same time. You want to go back on your word?"

"You haven't left the shop yet, so the transaction isn't complete," Flender said.

Yet inwardly, he thought.

One last time. This is the last time.

After this job, I'll stop.

With the eyesight of a Soul Saint, he could naturally tell that the three of them were either rich or noble.

But he was a seventy-eighth-ranked Soul Saint. What was there to fear?

What Soul Douluo or Titled Douluo would search the world for him over a mere few thousand Gold Soul Coins?

And if they were below Soul Douluo, was he, Flender, supposed to be afraid?

For Shrek, he could only make a decision that went against his ancestors.

Even if raising the price after selling something was dishonorable, it was not extortion!

As long as the three of them refused to buy, he still had some bottom line. He would not chase after them to rob them, so this was a gamble—a huge gamble.

But when he saw the smile curling at the lips of the brown-haired little girl who seemed to occupy the center position, his heart abruptly skipped a beat.

Not good. I might be finished!

"Take a look at this."

A palm-sized, crystal ball-shaped Soul Tool appeared in Ning Rongrong's hand.

"Though it isn't widely used, I'm sure the shop owner knows what it is, right?"

Sure enough, the instant he saw the crystal ball, Flender's expression changed drastically.

Ning Rongrong smiled. "Everything just now has been recorded. As for what happens next, you may want to picture it in your mind."

"Mr. Flender, you wouldn't want to..."

"Little girl, do you know who I am?" Flender slowly rose, his voice low. "Put down that Soul Tool recording the video. I'll let you take the items away. Otherwise..."

As he spoke, Soul Rings began rising one by one beneath Flender's feet.

First came two yellow hundred-year Soul Rings, followed by two purple Soul Rings. Finally, three pitch-black Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings floated into view.

"What? You're actually a Soul Saint?" Ning Rongrong looked astonished. "How is that possible? In my impression, a Soul Saint should be a hero capable of uprooting mountains and dominating the world. How could one be such a deceitful crooked merchant?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Ning Rongrong instinctively retreated two steps.

Ning Rongrong's performance left Dugu Yan, standing nearby, covered in black lines.

Good grief, was Ning Rongrong's acting really this good? If she had not known the truth, she would never have been able to tell it was an act.

There were more than eighty Soul Saints and over a dozen Soul Douluos in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, yet Ning Rongrong had never looked this exaggerated when asking them to do something. She had always spoken with composure.

On Flender's side, he felt that something was off, but he continued anyway. "Little girl, now that you know your mistake, put down the Image Recording Soul Guidance Device. I'm not an unreasonable person."

"Since I've lost this round, I won't raise the price on the things you bought."

"Is that so... Then thank you very much." Ning Rongrong put away her rather exaggerated performance, and her entire demeanor turned serious.

"What?"

Before Flender could react or continue questioning—

A cold snort rang out.

Flender immediately felt the world spin around him, blood slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He finally realized that he had kicked an iron plate. He stared in shock at the green-haired old man standing slightly behind Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan.

"...A Titled Douluo!"