Wealth and Connections

"Immortal Master, please enjoy this fragrant tea!"

Inside Master Hu's Four Tigers Magic Item Shop, Chen Dengming was welcomed into the VIP lounge for the first time. A young, innate maid with bright eyes and pearly teeth approached with a tray, shyly and respectfully offering Chen Dengming fragrant tea.

Chen Dengming smiled and accepted the tea. Master Hu chuckled beside him, "Brother Chen, you're quite the capable man now. You just lack a few people to run errands for you. Why don't I send this girl over to your manor to serve you?"

Chen Dengming glanced at the beautiful and elegant young maid and shook his head, smiling. "Just drinking tea is fine. I don't even have a place to live in this Gathering Place right now, how could I possibly have a manor to house these girls?"

Master Hu laughed heartily, waved his hand to dismiss the maid, whose expression had dimmed slightly, and puffed on his pipe. "With your abilities, Brother Chen, a mere manor is something Shopkeeper Xu would arrange for you immediately. I also heard you're a compassionate man, willing to offend Shopkeeper Xu to take someone from Zanhua Tower and bring her to the Lüo Family?"

Chen Dengming's heart stirred. He knew Master Hu was testing him. He took a sip of tea and smiled, "Master Hu, where did you hear that? How would I dare offend Shopkeeper Xu? But it's true I took Xu Wei. I haven't paid the ransom yet, but I will soon. Xu Wei is currently staying with the Lüo Family."

Master Hu was surprised, his smile widening. "Brother Chen, you truly are unfathomable. To be able to place someone in the Lüo Family, that's incredible skill. That Xu girl is fortunate to have followed you; it's her ancestors' blessings. How could Shopkeeper Xu dare to accept the ransom?"

"Master Hu, you're trying to praise me into trouble. I don't have that kind of ability. It's all thanks to Xu Wei's efforts, and Miss Luo's intervention."

Chen Dengming quickly denied it.

However, his perfectly crafted words had indeed allowed Master Hu to glean the information he wanted. Master Hu now believed Chen Dengming was a favored figure in front of Miss Luo, with an immeasurable future.

He immediately burst into laughter, changed the subject, and began discussing the recent hot topic in the Gathering Place—gu poisons—as well as the magic item greatsword and defensive magic item Chen Dengming wanted to customize.

Chen Dengming took the opportunity to inquire about the recent situation in the Gathering Place, such as why the people from the Iron Forest Hall were making a big fuss killing Cultivators outside the Gathering Place.

Half an incense stick later.

Chen Dengming put on a thin, cicada-wing-like gray-black Mage Robe over the clothes Xu Wei had sewn for him, which would at least protect the garment.

He left the magic item shop with a smile, his steps steady.

He was very satisfied with the magic items he had commissioned at Master Hu's shop during this triumphant return.

He had expected Master Hu to give him at most a 10% discount.

Instead, the custom magic item greatsword had its customization fee waived, and both the finished product and materials were discounted by 30%.

Furthermore, the defensive magic robe was essentially gifted to him by Master Hu for free.

Although it was just a low-grade defensive magic robe, the Profound Wood Garment, it was worth at least ten Low-grade Spirit Stones on the market.

Even though Master Hu owned a magic item shop and his costs were lower, this was still a significant gesture.

Chen Dengming repeatedly refused but ultimately accepted, allowing the pretty maid to help him put it on.

He certainly understood Master Hu's intentions. Firstly, it was because of the gu poisons, gu creatures, and gu refining techniques he possessed. Secondly, Master Hu wanted to build a good relationship with him, someone who could speak with Miss Luo.

The former represented money.

The latter represented connections.

In fact, the latter was even more important, being Master Hu's primary objective.

After all, for a businessman, money could always be earned.

But some connections might be unattainable even with a lifetime of effort.

Of course, Chen Dengming would never admit that he could speak with Miss Luo, even denying it outright and claiming he was just an insignificant nobody.

Unfortunately, people didn't believe him.

This was reality; people only believed what they saw and heard, considering it the absolute truth.

In Master Hu's eyes, Chen Dengming had been nothing more than a fishmonger in the old shed district six months ago, even renting his fishing gear from him.

Yet, six months later, Chen Dengming had transformed into a Qi Cultivation Second Level Cultivator, had stayed at the Lüo Family for over three months, completed Miss Luo's bounty, and even managed to place a courtesan in the Lüo Family.

How could such a person be an insignificant nobody? Who would believe that?

When one is weak, their desperate cries go unheard. When one proves their strength, even without uttering a word, others will automatically fill in the blanks with convincing narratives.

Ultimately, Chen Dengming did not agree to anything Master Hu proposed.

He wasn't a reckless fool who would agree to something just because someone gave him gifts and spoke kindly. Master Hu wouldn't be so naive.

If they were to truly cooperate, they would need to interact more.

However, from Master Hu's words, he had gained a vague understanding of the Iron Forest Hall's situation.

The recent frequent actions of the Iron Forest Hall seemed to represent the attitude of the Zhu Family, and the future might not be peaceful.

Once the Zhu Family and the Lüo Family, these two Cultivation families, had friction or even went to war, all the Rogue Cultivators in the Gathering Place would be dragged in.

A sense of urgency arose in Chen Dengming's heart. He needed to quickly seize the current peace to earn some money and accumulate cultivation resources, so that when chaos erupted, he could hide away without worrying about lacking resources to rapidly improve his strength.

Although he now had strength, he had not forgotten his original intentions.

After leaving the magic item shop, he first wandered to the shantytown to see his former residence.

Seeing that the door to his old dwelling had been replaced, but the door gods he had idly drawn on the doorposts were still there, he sighed. After exchanging greetings with a few old customers who recognized him from his fish-selling days, he turned and left. The few old customers, who were flattered and surprised, quickly bowed to see him off, and then also sighed with admiration.

"Immortal Master Chen is a good person. When he was selling fish, he never shortchanged anyone. He even gave away extra fish bladders and offal for free. Now that he's an Immortal Master, he still has no airs."

"This is a true Immortal Master, not arrogant. In fact, when one person achieves enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend. Look at Miss Xu, she's probably enjoying blessings now too. We're lucky to have had him as a neighbor."

"Hush! Keep quiet. Don't let any other passing Immortal Masters hear you. Are you tired of living?"

Chen Dengming used his movement technique, soaring between the rooftops, and soon arrived at the marketplace.

After observing for a while, he saw many stalls with signs saying "Buying Gu Poisons and Gu Creatures." His mind began to form a plan.

"Looks like the market is really quite good. If I really get into it, it'll be a huge cake, with enough profit."

Chen Dengming furrowed and un-furrowed his brows, his expression shifting as he pondered the pros, cons, and business opportunities.

He wasn't Lüo Bing; he didn't have to worry about cultivation resources. Everything had to be earned by himself.

A hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones wouldn't be enough to power the Spirit Gathering Array for him for too long.

If the market for Gu poisons and Gu creatures could be managed well, it would become his biggest source of income in the future, allowing him to have stable cultivation resources for a long time without worry.

However, the greater the profit, the greater the risk.

Sometimes, if a person possesses wealth that doesn't match their intelligence and strength, they will lose that wealth even faster, distributing it into the hands of those with matching high intelligence and strength.

Earn the money you can earn, eat the food you can eat. This was the principle Chen Dengming had accumulated over many years of navigating the Martial World in Nanxun Kingdom.

He walked around the market, enduring the pain in his heart. After spending 13 Low-grade Spirit Stones to purchase a copy of the Divine Speed Technique and a copy of the Vajra Shield Technique, he turned and left.

Arriving at an unmanned alleyway near the Golden Character Workshop in the city, he touched the smooth Magic Item robe and then formed a hand seal to cast a spell.

A surge of Spiritual Energy flowed into the robe, instantly activating the Wood Light Shield formation etched within it.

Immediately, under the influence of the Spiritual Energy, the fibers inside the robe became extremely tough, and a layer of spiritual light also appeared outside his body.

The Wood Light Shield was a Tier 1, Level 2 spell. Corresponding spells at the same level included the Spiritual Light Shield and Golden Light Shield, which had relatively poor defensive effects.

However, when etched into a Magic Item robe, even if one hadn't learned the corresponding spell, they could instantly cast it simply by channeling Spiritual Energy.

It's just that this was, after all, a low-grade Magic Item robe, and its embedded formation could only be activated twice a day.

Chen Dengming hadn't tried it in Master Hu's shop earlier. He tapped his right ear.

Whoosh--

The Blood Centipede Gu flew out of his ear canal. Following Chen Dengming's instructions, it suddenly opened its pincer-like mouth and bit down fiercely on the Wood Light Shield.

The Wood Light Shield vibrated, rippling slightly. Its Spiritual Energy structure seemed to be disrupted, and it shattered in the next instant.

"Half a breath."

Chen Dengming nodded slightly, looking at the robe, which still maintained its tough protective state, like intertwined steel wires. He had a clear understanding of its defensive capabilities.

This Magic Item robe had two layers of protection.

One layer was the Wood Light Shield, and the other was the robe itself.

The defensive power of the Wood Light Shield was stronger than his state when using the Indestructible Vajra Zen Skill. The defensive power of the robe itself was roughly equivalent to his state when using the Indestructible Vajra Zen Skill.

Such defensive effects were sufficient to deal with cultivators of the same realm, or even those at the third level of Qi Cultivation.

But against cultivators at the fourth level of Qi Cultivation or higher who had learned spells of Tier 1, Level 4 or above, it was like paper.

Considering the potential future conflicts with the Zhu Family and the Lüo Family...

"It seems I need to pay attention to when that underground market opens and buy a mid-tier defensive Magic Item that no one else knows about. Low-tier Magic Items are too weak.

Also, after my strength breaks through, I need to quickly learn the Tier 1, Level 3 Vajra Shield Technique.

Currently, I possess the Golden Silkworm Gu and the Blood Centipede Gu, but I lack defensive means. I am clearly strong in offense but weak in defense, making me suitable as an assassin, but not as a merchant monopolizing the Gu poison market."

Chen Dengming secretly calculated in his heart, his eyes flashing.

It wouldn't be ideal to purchase his Magic Items and defensive trump cards solely from Master Hu's shop, as it could easily lead to betrayal.

However, conducting transactions in the underground market, where his identity would be unknown, was the safest way to acquire a defensive Magic Item for self-protection.

With this plan in mind, he adjusted his collar and walked out of the alley, heading straight for the Golden Character Workshop to meet Xu Ning.