Ning Rongrong

Ye Feng turned his head and saw a young girl suddenly standing beside him.

She wore a long emerald-green glazed dress. Her skin was pale enough to glow, her features delicate and petite, and her bright eyes seemed to shimmer with tiny stars.

When the girl saw Ye Feng looking at her, she lifted her chin slightly and declared with complete confidence, "What are you looking at? This young lady spotted it first!"

Ye Feng raised a brow and shook the iron plate in his hand. "Miss, there's such a thing as first come, first served. I've already settled on a price."

"You haven't even paid. How does that count as settling on a price?"

The girl snorted and turned to the old man. "Shopkeeper, I'll offer thirty!"

The old man instantly woke up, his eyes gleaming as he rubbed his hands and looked at Ye Feng.

Ye Feng's mouth twitched. "Fifty."

"One hundred!" the girl called out without hesitation.

"One hundred fifty."

"Two hundred!"

"Two hundred fifty."

"Three hundred!"

Ye Feng fell silent.

He could see it now. This girl had decided to lock horns with him.

As long as he raised the price, she would definitely outbid him.

He had money, but that did not mean he would waste it.

Ye Feng turned slightly and smiled. "Miss, since you like this scrap iron so much, it's yours."

"Hmph, at least you know wha—"

Ning Rongrong proudly raised her chin, but halfway through her words, her gaze met Ye Feng's turned face.

Her voice stopped abruptly.

Her lively eyes widened at once, as though something had frozen her in place, and she stared blankly at Ye Feng.

Her mind buzzed, leaving behind nothing but emptiness—and Ye Feng's breathtakingly handsome face.

His features were sharp and handsome, his skin fair, his red hair noble and dazzling. Most striking of all were those crimson-gold eyes, clear and bright enough to make the tips of her ears grow warm for no reason.

"Miss?"

Seeing that she had not reacted for a while, Ye Feng waved a hand in front of her face.

"Ah? Oh... oh!"

Ning Rongrong abruptly came back to her senses. Her cheeks were slightly hot as she hurriedly looked away, though she still refused to back down.

"Who—who wants this lousy iron plate? This young lady isn't interested in picking up something someone else already chose!"

She craned her neck and pretended to disdainfully glance at the iron plate in Ye Feng's hand, then quickly stole another look at him. Her voice unconsciously softened. "...Since you like it, I'll let you have it."

Ye Feng was taken aback, then a knowing smile flashed through his eyes.

He turned to the stall owner with an earnest expression. "Shopkeeper, look, this young lady doesn't want it anymore. As we agreed before, five Gold Soul Coins for the jar and iron plate together. Deal?"

The old man opened his mouth, looked at Ning Rongrong, then at Ye Feng, his face full of distress. "B-but it was bid up to three hundred just now..."

"That was the price the young lady offered."

Ye Feng shrugged and held out the iron plate and jar. "If you won't sell it, I'm really leaving."

"Wait!"

Before the old man could speak, Ning Rongrong suddenly stepped forward. With her hands on her hips, she put on the airs of a young lady. "Shopkeeper, this jar of yours is battered and broken, and it's even missing a piece from the rim. How could it be worth five Gold Soul Coins? I'd say three at most!"

As she spoke, she secretly winked at Ye Feng.

Ye Feng understood immediately and picked up the thread. "The young lady makes sense. Shopkeeper, three Gold Soul Coins. Take it or leave it, or I'll look elsewhere."

The old man looked at one, then the other, and finally sighed as he listlessly waved a hand. "Fine, fine, three it is... I'm taking a loss today."

After all, he had picked the thing up. Selling it for three Gold Soul Coins was already a huge profit.

Ye Feng swiftly paid, picked up the iron plate and jar, and tilted his chin at Ning Rongrong. "Thanks."

He naturally recognized the girl. She was the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—or, more accurately, its little devil, Ning Rongrong.

Knowing the original story, he had thought Ning Rongrong would be a spoiled young lady with a terrible temperament.

Now, though, she did not seem as bad as he had imagined.

Ning Rongrong gave a light snort, though the corners of her lips could not help curling upward. "Who helped you? This young lady just couldn't stand him making up prices."

After a pause, her eyes quietly followed Ye Feng as he put away the iron plate. She asked casually, "Hey, why did you buy that rusty iron plate? Don't tell me... it really is some kind of treasure?"

Ye Feng put the iron plate into his Soul Tool and flashed her a grin. "Maybe. I'm leaving. We'll meet again if fate allows."

With that, he waved and turned to disappear into the crowd.

Ning Rongrong stood where she was, watching that red-haired figure vanish around the alley corner. She muttered to herself, "So mysterious..."

She touched the tips of her still-warm ears, then suddenly remembered something and stomped her foot.

"Oh no, I forgot to ask his name!"

Sunset Forest.

Early the next morning.

Ye Feng returned to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, and the poisonous miasma automatically parted before him.

At a glance, he saw the snow-white figure floating by the spring.

Her silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, her bare feet suspended in the air. Faint ice crystals and snowflakes swirled around her, and her peerlessly cold beauty bore not the slightest trace of the five years that had passed.

"Snow Empress, I'm back," Ye Feng greeted with a smile.

The Snow Empress's icy eyes shifted toward him, and she answered with a faint "Mm."

Ye Feng's gaze moved to the side, then suddenly stopped.

At some point, a woman dressed in a water-blue gown had appeared beside the spring.

She had a graceful figure and a gentle, tender temperament. She stood quietly beside the Blue Silver Emperor's true body, softly stroking its leaves.

Sensing Ye Feng's gaze, she looked up and revealed a jade-like, exquisite face. Her deep blue eyes were like a tranquil lake.

"This is...?"

Ye Feng had a faint guess in his heart.

"The Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin."

The Snow Empress was concise. "Thanks to the spiritual energy here, she has reshaped her human form. Though her cultivation has not recovered, her intelligence and memories have both returned."

Ah Yin nodded slightly, her voice as gentle as water. "Thank you for saving me that day, Ye Feng."

"It was nothing."

Ye Feng waved his hand and grinned. "But Sister Ah Yin looks much prettier like this than she did as a blade of grass."

Ah Yin pressed her lips together in a faint smile. There was an innate calmness in the ripple of her eyes.

She lowered her gaze to the vibrant Blue Silver Emperor beside her and softly said, "Thanks to this Ice and Fire treasure ground, I was able to take form so quickly. Lord Snow Empress has also often used her origin ice energy to help stabilize my spirit body."

"That's good."

Ye Feng walked to the spring and naturally sat down cross-legged. Looking at Ah Yin, he asked curiously, "Sister Ah Yin, what are your plans from now on? Will you stay here, or return to the Star Dou Great Forest?"

Ah Yin gently shook her head. Her gaze fell into the distance, and a trace of complexity flashed through her eyes. "Lord Snow Empress and Young Master saved Ah Yin's life. Without receiving permission from the two of you, Ah Yin naturally will not leave."

"As for those old ties..."

She paused, and her eyes suddenly sharpened. "Ah Yin will settle them with her own hands."

Ye Feng knew there was resentment in Ah Yin's heart, so he wisely did not ask any more questions.

After all, anyone capable of leaving a Blue Silver Emperor—renowned for its life force and nearly impossible to kill—barely alive was quite a character. Tang Hao was certainly something.

"Forget it. That old bastard Tang Hao will get what's coming to him sooner or later."

Ye Feng shook his head and pulled out the dark-red iron plate from his Soul Tool, weighing it in his palm. "Speaking of which, I found something interesting today."

"Snow Empress, can you tell what's inside it?"