Money Talks

Cangzhou City lay at the foot of the Guiyuan Sect.

The city was enormous. Its towering bluestone walls stood majestic and imposing, under the jurisdiction of the Guiyuan Sect.

Chu Zeming looked at the ancient, magnificent city gates and felt like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. Though the original owner of this body had been here before and left him vague memories of the place, seeing it with his own eyes was ultimately a different feeling.

--Who said ancient times were backward? Cangzhou City was as large as several first-tier cities put together.

The Joint Grand Tournament had drawn tremendous attention. Chu Zeming and the others had set out early and arrived quickly; there were still five days before the competition officially began. Yet Cangzhou City was already packed with streams of people and gathered cultivators.

From time to time, immortal beasts descended from the clouds and landed before the city gates.

All manner of flying magical artifacts and travel tools dazzled the eye, too numerous to take in at once. One look was enough to tell they were extremely high-end and classy.

Chu Zeming glanced at his sect's flashy, gaudy, eye-catching carriage and finally understood the elders' painstaking intentions.

--At the Joint Grand Tournament, everyone was competing in beauty. Being too shabby really would be undignified.

Chu Zeming found an inn for his junior brothers. After settling the luxurious carriage that they only got to ride once every five years, he took several junior brothers out to stroll through the streets.

Cangzhou City was vast, and ordinary people lived within it as well, but most of its permanent residents were cultivators.

Thus, the goods sold in the city markets were mostly items used by cultivators.

Along the streets, shops stood row upon row. Their wares were all-encompassing, and heavenly treasures and earthly materials filled the eye.

In high spirits, Chu Zeming led his junior brothers into the upscale shops one by one to browse.

A long whip: thirty thousand high-grade spirit stones.

A Fire Spirit Ginseng: seventeen thousand eight hundred and eighty high-grade spirit stones.

A fragment of roof tile exuding an ancient aura: nine hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones...

Xuan Mo's heart trembled at the sight.

He edged close to Chu Zeming, who was browsing with great relish, and murmured, "Senior Brother, how about we look at another shop instead?"

They were all poor as dirt. How could they afford any of these things?

Hearing this, Chu Zeming frowned and said sternly, "Xuan Mo, going shopping does not mean you have to buy something."

"Yes. It is already this shop's honor to receive immortal masters such as yourselves. Even if you only browse and buy nothing, it does not matter." Beside them, the curvaceous woman in a cheongsam smiled gently at Chu Zeming.

Xuan Mo pressed his lips together and said no more.

The shopkeeper did not mind, so he had nothing more to say.

Suppressing that slight embarrassment of looking without buying, Xuan Mo openly joined Chu Zeming's army of window-shoppers.

Suddenly, an unfriendly laugh sounded from the entrance.

"Oh? Isn't this our peerlessly talented Senior Brother? Aren't you terribly busy cultivating? You have time to go shopping too?"

Chu Zeming raised his head and followed the voice. He saw a short man in his early twenties enter the shop. He had a scabby head and an ugly face. Behind him followed three disciples of considerable strength.

Chu Zeming knew this man. His name was Lu Benxiong, a disciple of the Heavenly Remnant Sect, the tenth greatest sect in the cultivation world, and one of the opponents the original owner had faced in the previous Joint Grand Tournament.

As the late-born son of an elder from the Heavenly Remnant Sect, Lu Benxiong's strength was trash, but his arrogance soared to the heavens. In the end, the original owner had given him a savage beating on the arena and defeated him miserably.

Unexpectedly, five years later, the two met beneath the arena.

Looking at Chu Zeming standing before the Fire Spirit Ginseng, the flames of Lu Benxiong's temper rose again.

--If he could not beat him on the arena, he could still surpass him elsewhere.

So Scabby Head stepped forward two paces, arrogantly lifted his chin, and said to the female shopkeeper, "I want that Fire Spirit Ginseng. Wrap it up."

The woman in the cheongsam smiled. "Will you not look around a little more before buying it outright? Our goods are special; once sold, they cannot be returned or exchanged."

Scabby Head Lu Benxiong sneered meaningfully. "I am not some poor bastard. If I like something, I buy it. No need for further words."

Chu Zeming could not help frowning as he stared steadily at Lu Benxiong.

The other Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples nearby came over one after another.

The two groups faced off, and the atmosphere became taut, swords drawn and bows bent.

Just as the female shopkeeper was about to remind them that fighting was prohibited inside the store, Chu Zeming suddenly withdrew his gaze and walked to the display case beside him. Bending down to examine the pills in the exquisite box, he said, "Shopkeeper, this Spirit-Gathering Pill..."

Lu Benxiong said, "I want it. Shopkeeper, wrap it up for me."

Chu Zeming frowned and chose another target.

Lu Benxiong looked smug. "I want that too. Wrap this one up."

"Wrap it up!"

"Wrap it up!!"

"Wrap them all up for me!!"

Chu Zeming's expression darkened somewhat. At last, he walked over to the fragment of roof tile and said in a less than pleasant tone, "Please take this out so I can have a look."

The female shopkeeper could no longer hide her smile. She walked up to Chu Zeming and introduced it, "Immortal Master, you have an eye for quality. This is the treasure of our shop, obtained by my father from an immortal's cave abode. Are you sure you want it taken out for inspection?"

Chu Zeming nodded and said coldly, "I want to buy it."

The female shopkeeper's eyes immediately widened.

Today... she had encountered a distinguished customer.

Xuan Mo hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Chu Zeming's sleeve, crying in a low voice, "Senior Brother, have you lost your mind?!"

Ling Tian's baby face also showed an angry expression.

How could this damned senior brother act so impulsively? What was he going to use to pay for it, sell himself?

Only Yue Lian remained calm. He even leaned closer to carefully study the fragment in the shopkeeper's hand, then seriously bargained for Chu Zeming. "This thing is not worth nine hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. Could you lower the price, Shopkeeper? We will take it for one hundred thousand high-grade spirit crystals."

The female shopkeeper shook her head. "Although you are very beautiful, I am sorry... that will not do."

Scabby Head sneered. Victory's joy had gone to his head. He wanted to strike another blow at Chu Zeming's mind, climbing still higher, so he swept his hand grandly and said, "If you cannot afford it, then do not look at it. I want this fragment. Wrap it up!"

Chu Zeming sucked in a breath, then looked at Lu Benxiong and gave him a thumbs-up.

Lu Benxiong was immensely pleased with himself.

The shopkeeper beamed from ear to ear. With swift, practiced hands, she packed everything for Scabby Head, placed it in an exquisite storage case, and held it out before Lu Benxiong. "It is all wrapped up. The total comes to nine million five hundred and sixty-seven thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight high-grade spirit stones. I will round it down for you and charge you nine million five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. Please come over here to settle the bill."

Lu Benxiong froze. "How much?"

The shopkeeper smiled and repeated herself. "The total is nine million five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. No returns or exchanges."

Then, behind the female shopkeeper with her flower-like smile, more than twenty terrifyingly powerful thugs appeared out of thin air.

Lu Benxiong, "..."

After leaving the shop with his junior brothers, Chu Zeming stood at the entrance, stroking his chin with an admiring look. "What lavishness."

His junior brothers all looked similarly reflective.

That feeling of tossing out tens of thousands of spirit stones at a time truly was lavish!

They were completely convinced.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Chu Zeming said, "Come on. Let us browse the street stalls. For high-end shops like these, looking is enough. Let the lavish people do the buying."

"Alright, Senior Brother."

"No problem, Senior Brother."

Behind them, Scabby Head, who had nearly been stripped down to his underpants to pay the bill, hugged the exquisite storage case with an ugly expression and flew into a furious rage.

Damn it, he had been too rash.

Street stalls were excellent places to pick up overlooked treasures.

The things on the stalls were all cheap, like lottery tickets spread across the ground. If one had good luck, one could pick up a huge bargain.

"Ancient magical artifact just snatched from a secret realm! Fifty low-grade spirit stones and it is yours~"

"Come, come, have a look! Spatial secret treasure, spatial secret treasure!"

Before the stalls, the cries of Rogue Cultivators rose without end.

They sold everything imaginable.

Chu Zeming swept his gaze over the goods on the ground and slowed his pace. Rarely, he walked side by side with Yue Lian.

"If you fancy anything, tell Senior Brother. Senior Brother will buy it for you. Consider it compensation for making you sleep in the hall all the way here."

Yue Lian looked at Chu Zeming, his eyes flickering on his pure, beautiful face.

He was deeply moved.

Yue Lian was the protagonist shou and came with a built-in treasure-identification buff.

Thus, Chu Zeming followed behind Yue Lian and emptied his household fortune to sweep through all the street stalls.

After returning to the inn, Chu Zeming began distributing the treasures. "Come on, everyone gets something. When you go up on the arena, do not disgrace the sect. This is for Xuan Mo... this is for Xuan Mo too. Mm, Old Wu, come here... Ling Tian, Ling Tian!"

Yue Lian stood to one side and waited for what felt like ten thousand years, yet he never heard Senior Brother call his name.

The expression on his beautiful face went blank again.

--He had bought things, but he had never said he bought them for him.

After receiving the second treasure Chu Zeming had given him, Ling Tian turned and walked aside. Looking at the flamboyant, handsome young man in black robes over there, a few more traces of red rose on his baby face.

This damned senior brother.

He had given him something again...

"Second Senior Brother... what are you thinking about?"

An eerie voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. Ling Tian jumped, turning his head to see his youngest junior brother's incomparably beautiful face.

Ling Tian put away his thoughts and answered with pursed lips, "Nothing."

Yue Lian gave Ling Tian a deep look.

That look made goosebumps rise all over Ling Tian's body.

Frowning as he suppressed that inexplicable feeling, Ling Tian turned away alone and returned to his room.

Watching Ling Tian leave, Yue Lian smoothed his robes and sat down in a chair with delicate poise and elegance. Resting his cheek on one hand, he quietly gazed with clear eyes at the black-robed young man surrounded by the others not far away.

It was not as though he cared that much about these things.

But why had he not given him even one?

What a headache...

***

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the Joint Grand Tournament also opened its curtain. Guiyuan Sect cultivators gathered in great numbers, and the scene was exceptionally lively.

The preliminary round used an arena format, eliminating half the cultivators.

Each disciple drew lots to determine their arena opponent. Those who drew the same number would be assigned to the same arena to fight. If there was no number on the lot, it meant they had a bye and would advance directly to the second round.

The grand prize for this tournament was generous: an Immortal Residence secret treasure that could change size and possessed its own consciousness. This residence treasure had been acquired during the travels of a Supreme Elder of the Guiyuan Sect. The top three victors of the Joint Grand Tournament could obtain the qualification to form a contract with it. If the contract succeeded, the Immortal Residence secret treasure would belong to them. Such an opportunity was rare, so it attracted many sect geniuses to compete.

Chu Zeming led his junior brothers in line for a long time before they finally drew their lots.

Chu Zeming opened his lot and saw the number "1" on it. Putting away the jade lot, he turned to Xuan Mo. "What did you draw?"

Xuan Mo answered, "296."

Chu Zeming asked again, "What about everyone else?"

"247."

"365."

Amid the chorus of numbers, a clear, pleasant voice sounded. "No number. I got a bye."

Author's note:

Yue Lian: Thinking carefully about it, it seemed he had not given me absolutely nothing before. He gave me a sword, and it went quite deep.

Author: But you kissed him...

Yue Lian: Worth it.