Return to the Sect

Chapter 12: Return to the Sect

An hour later, Ye Yun appeared not far from Azure Sun Town.

Originally, there had been no town here. But later, more and more people came to the Blackwater Mountains to seek adventure, and gradually, martial artists stayed behind and settled down. After more than two hundred years, Azure Sun Town took shape.

When Azure Sun Town was first built, its founders wanted to make trading convenient for passing martial artists, so they laid it out from north to south.

The southern side of the town was filled with neatly scattered houses, where Azure Sun Town's residents lived. To the north ran a street that cut through the entire town, with exquisite pavilions lining both sides. These had been built by outside merchants to make it easier to purchase demon beast materials produced in the Blackwater Mountains.

At the entrance of Azure Sun Town stood a broad square, where many Rogue Cultivator martial artists set up stalls selling mostly common demon beast materials, spirit herbs, and the like. Yet most of these Rogue Cultivators were desperadoes who lived with their heads on the edge of a blade. You might buy something from one of them this second, only for him to murder you and rob you the next when you left Azure Sun Town. Such things were already as common as dirt in the cultivation world.

After disguising himself, Ye Yun entered Azure Sun Town. He was wrapped in a black robe, with a mask covering his face.

There were more people on Azure Sun Town's streets than Ye Yun had expected. The constant flow of pedestrians made the streets somewhat crowded.

As Ye Yun observed the shops on both sides of the street, he pondered his next move.

After walking the entire street, Ye Yun chose three shops: Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Exotic Treasures Hall, and Divine Arms Pavilion.

However, Ye Yun did not immediately make any transactions. He first went to an inn and rented a room, then took out the bundles he had already sorted from his storage bag.

After waiting for roughly half an hour, Ye Yun carried a bundle out of the inn and headed straight for Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

The moment he stepped into Myriad Treasures Pavilion, a rather pretty maid approached him and asked, "Esteemed guest, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I want to sell demon beast materials," Ye Yun said, deliberately lowering his voice.

"Very well, this way, please." After hearing Ye Yun's request, the maid led him to a room at the very back of the first floor.

Inside the room sat a kindly old man. The maid said to him, "Master Huang, this guest wishes to sell demon beast materials."

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately smiled and said, "Understood. You may leave."

"Esteemed guest, what demon beast materials do you wish to sell?" The old man turned to ask Ye Yun.

Ye Yun placed the bundle in his hand on the table and casually opened it. "These. Give me an estimate."

The old man was somewhat dumbfounded. Looking at the pile of demon beast materials on the table, he swallowed and said, "Very well."

The old man began examining the demon beast materials one by one, muttering under his breath, "Fiery Sun Tiger fur, Bloodthirsty Boar tusks, Shadow Leopard tails..."

It took nearly half an hour before the old man finished counting all the demon beast materials. After calculating for a while, he said to Ye Yun, "Esteemed guest, the total comes to one hundred and twenty-eight thousand seven hundred taels of silver. Since you are selling so much at once, I'll make the decision and round it up to one hundred and thirty thousand taels. How does that sound?"

After hearing the old man's offer, Ye Yun compared it with his own estimate. It was about what he had expected, and the old man's price was fairly reasonable.

"Fine, we'll go with that amount. But I want five Meridian-Punching Pills and one Aperture-Opening Pill. Check how much those will cost," Ye Yun asked.

"Meridian-Punching Pills cost five thousand taels of silver each, while an Aperture-Opening Pill costs thirty thousand taels. That comes to a total of fifty-five thousand taels. I will return seventy-five thousand taels to you. Do you need anything else?" After doing the calculations, the old man informed Ye Yun.

"No."

Ye Yun replied.

A few minutes later, a maid came up carrying a tray. On it were two bottles of pills and a stack of silver notes.

After confirming that there were no problems, Ye Yun tucked the items into his robe and turned to leave.

"Take care, esteemed guest! We welcome you again!" the maid and old man called out in unison behind him.

After leaving Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Ye Yun deliberately took a long detour around the streets. Only after confirming that no one was following him did he return to the inn.

Using the same method at the remaining two shops, Ye Yun sold all the demon beast materials he had left, earning a total of three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.

The next day, after resting for a night in Azure Sun Town, Ye Yun checked out early in the morning and left the town, heading toward the Purple Extreme Sect.

Not long after leaving Azure Sun Town, Ye Yun, who had been hurrying along, noticed that something was wrong.

"Who's there? Come out!" Ye Yun shouted toward the grass ahead.

The next moment, three martial artists sprang out from the grass. Their leader was a fierce-looking One-Eyed Dragon holding a large saber. Behind him followed two martial artists, one tall and one short. Standing together, the three looked rather comical.

"Kid, I've been waiting here for you all night. Hand over the silver notes on you like a good boy. Don't force us brothers to get our hands dirty," One-Eyed Dragon said to Ye Yun.

Hearing One-Eyed Dragon's words, Ye Yun frowned deeply, unable to understand where things had gone wrong. Could it have been one of those three shops? He could not figure it out no matter how hard he racked his brains.

"What if I refuse?"

"Refuse? Then this day next year will be the anniversary of your death!" One-Eyed Dragon snapped furiously upon hearing Ye Yun's words.

"Wait. How did you know my whereabouts? Even if I'm going to die, at least let me die knowing why," Ye Yun continued probing.

"Haha, kid, don't waste your effort. Take that question with you to your grave." With that, One-Eyed Dragon and the two men behind him charged at Ye Yun.

Watching One-Eyed Dragon's saber slash down at him, Ye Yun no longer bothered dwelling on where the problem lay. As long as his fists were harder than the enemy's, whoever came could simply be killed.

Ye Yun did not take One-Eyed Dragon and his two companions' attacks seriously at all. Though all three were high-level Body Tempering martial artists, there was still a gulf between people.

Ye Yun's figure flashed as Treading Snow Without Trace circulated. Within a few breaths, he appeared before the three of them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three punches struck their chests. Ye Yun then retreated, while One-Eyed Dragon and the other two spat out blood, stared at Ye Yun with unwillingness filling their eyes, and fell backward.

Looking at the three corpses whose hearts had been shattered by his Dark Force, Ye Yun had to admit that Dark Force was truly vicious and tyrannical.

After searching their bodies, he obtained over three thousand taels in silver notes. He no longer bothered with their corpses and turned to continue toward the sect.

It was nearly dusk by the time Ye Yun arrived not far from the Purple Extreme Sect. He glanced at the majestic mountain gate perched upon Yang Extremity Mountain. Ye Yun did not immediately head up the mountain, instead walking toward a nearby village.

(End of this chapter)