Rich and Overbearing

Cangzhou City lay at the foot of Guiyuan Sect's mountain.

The city was enormous. Its colossal bluestone walls stood towering and majestic, under Guiyuan Sect's jurisdiction.

As Chu Zeming gazed at the ancient, magnificent city gates, he felt like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. Though the original owner of this body had been here before, leaving vague impressions in his memories, seeing it with his own eyes was ultimately a different experience.

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

This Joint Grand Tournament was a grand affair. Chu Zeming and the others had set out early and arrived quickly; there were still five days until the competition officially began. Yet Cangzhou City was already teeming with people and packed with cultivators.

Every so often, immortal beasts came striding through the clouds and landed outside the city gates.

The countless flying artifacts and travel tools were dazzling and overwhelming at a glance, each one clearly high-end and impressive.

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

—Everyone was competing in splendor at the Joint Grand Tournament. Looking too shabby really would be embarrassing.

Chu Zeming led his junior brothers to find an inn. After settling their luxurious carriage—which only got to be ridden once every five years—he took several of them out to browse the streets.

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

Thus, most goods sold in the city's markets were items cultivators used.

The streets were lined with shops, one after another. Their wares were all-encompassing, and heavenly materials and earthly treasures filled the displays.

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

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

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

A broken tile giving off an ancient aura: nine hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones...

Xuan Mo's heart trembled as he looked.

He quietly moved closer to Chu Zeming, who was looking around with great interest, and whispered, "Senior Brother, how about we look at another shop instead?"

They were all dirt poor. How could they afford any of this?

Hearing that, Chu Zeming frowned and sternly said, "Xuan Mo, going shopping doesn't mean you have to buy something."

"Yes, indeed. It is already this shop's honor to receive immortal masters such as yourselves. Even if you only look and do not buy, that is perfectly fine." Beside them, a curvaceous woman in a cheongsam smiled gently at Chu Zeming.

Xuan Mo pressed his lips together and said nothing more.

The shopkeeper had no objections, so neither did he.

Putting away that faint embarrassment over looking without buying, Xuan Mo openly joined Chu Zeming's army of window-shoppers.

Suddenly, an unfriendly laugh rang out from the entrance.

"Well, if it isn't our peerlessly talented Senior Brother. Aren't you terribly busy cultivating? You actually have time to shop?"

Chu Zeming looked up toward the voice and saw a short, ugly man in his early twenties known as Scabby Head walk in. Three disciples of considerable strength followed behind him.

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

As the late-born son of one of Heavenly Remnant Sect's elders, Lu Benxiong was weak as trash but arrogant as could be. In the end, the original owner had given him a brutal pounding in the arena, and he had lost miserably.

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

Seeing Chu Zeming standing before the Fire Spirit Ginseng, Lu Benxiong's arrogance flared up once more.

—If he couldn't beat him in the arena, he could still surpass him elsewhere.

Thus, Scabby Head stepped forward two paces, arrogantly lifted his chin, and said to the female shopkeeper, "I'll take this Fire Spirit Ginseng. Wrap it up."

The female shopkeeper in the cheongsam smiled. "Would you not like to look around some more before purchasing it directly? Our shop's goods are special. Once sold, they cannot be returned or exchanged."

Scabby Head Lu Benxiong sneered meaningfully. "I'm not some poor bastard. If I like it, I buy it. No need for more words."

Chu Zeming could not help frowning at that, his eyes fixed steadily on Lu Benxiong.

The other Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples nearby all gathered around.

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

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

Lu Benxiong said, "I'll take it. Shopkeeper, wrap it up for me."

Chu Zeming frowned and switched targets.

Lu Benxiong looked smug. "I'll take that one too. Wrap it up."

"Wrap it up!"

"Wrap it up!!"

"Wrap them all up for me!!"

Chu Zeming's expression was somewhat ugly. At last, he walked to the broken tiles and said in a less-than-pleasant tone, "Please take this out for me to inspect."

The female shopkeeper could no longer hide her smile. Walking over to Chu Zeming, she introduced it, "Immortal Master has a discerning eye. This is our shop's treasured centerpiece. My father found it in an immortal's cave estate. Are you sure you wish to take it out for inspection?"

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

The female shopkeeper's eyes instantly widened.

Today... she had encountered a distinguished guest.

Xuan Mo hurried forward and grabbed Chu Zeming's sleeve, whispering, "Senior Brother, are you insane?!"

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

How could this damn senior brother act on impulse? What was he going to use to pay for it—sell himself?

Only Yue Lian remained calm. He even leaned closer to carefully examine the fragment in the female shopkeeper's hand before earnestly bargaining for Chu Zeming. "This thing isn't worth nine hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. Can the shopkeeper lower the price? We'll take it for one hundred thousand high-grade spirit crystals."

The female shopkeeper shook her head. "Though you are very beautiful, I'm sorry... that will not be possible."

Mangy-headed Lu Benxiong sneered. Blinded by the joy of victory, he wanted to strike an even heavier blow against Chu Zeming's mind. With a grand wave of his hand, he said, "If you can't afford it, don't look at it. I'll take 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. With swift, practiced movements, she packed everything for Scabby Head, placed it in an exquisite storage box, and handed it to Lu Benxiong. "It's 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'll round it down for you—nine million, five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. Please come over here to settle the bill."

Lu Benxiong froze. "How much?"

Still smiling brightly, the shopkeeper repeated, "Nine million, five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones in total. No returns or exchanges."

Then, behind the smiling female shopkeeper, 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 its entrance, stroking his chin with an admiring expression. "Overbearing."

The junior brothers all wore equally thoughtful expressions.

That feeling of casually throwing around tens of thousands of spirit stones truly was overbearing!

They were completely convinced.

With a flick of his sleeve, Chu Zeming said, "Come on, let's browse the street stalls. It's enough to look at these high-end shops. Let the overbearing people buy from them."

"Alright, Senior Brother."

"No problem, Senior Brother."

Behind them, the mangy-headed man—who had nearly been stripped down to his underwear just to pay the bill—clutched the exquisite sealed box with an ugly expression, jumping in fury.

Damn it, he had been too reckless.

Street stalls were good places to pick up overlooked treasures.

Everything on the stalls was cheap, like lottery tickets spread over the ground. If one was lucky, one could stumble upon an enormous bargain.

"An ancient artifact I just snatched out of a secret realm! Fifty low-grade spirit stones and it's yours~"

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

The cries of Rogue Cultivators came one after another before the stalls.

They sold all kinds of things.

Chu Zeming scanned the objects on the ground, slowing his steps. For once, he walked side by side with Yue Lian.

"If you see anything you like, 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 toward Chu Zeming, his clear, beautiful eyes flickering on his innocent and lovely face.

He was deeply moved.

Yue Lian was the protagonist shou and came with a treasure-identifying buff.

Thus, Chu Zeming followed behind Yue Lian and spent every last cent sweeping through all the street stalls.

After returning to the inn, Chu Zeming began distributing the treasures. "Come, everyone gets something. When you go into the arena, don't disgrace the sect. This goes to Xuan Mo... this one too, Xuan Mo. Mm, Old Wu, come here... Ling Tian, Ling Tian!"

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

The expression on his beautiful face went blank again.

—He had bought things, but he never said they were bought 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 faint blush rose on his babyish face once more.

This damn 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 in fright, turning to see his junior brother's incomparably beautiful face.

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

Yue Lian gave Ling Tian a deep look.

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

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

Watching Ling Tian leave, Yue Lian smoothed his robe hem and sat down in a chair with delicate pride and elegance. Propping his exquisite chin on one hand, he quietly watched the black-robed young man surrounded by everyone in the distance with clear eyes.

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

But why would he not give him even one?

What a headache...

***

Five days flashed by.

The Joint Grand Tournament also opened on this day. Cultivators from Guiyuan Sect gathered in great numbers, and the atmosphere was extraordinarily lively.

The preliminary rounds 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 a lot bore no number, it meant they had a bye and would advance directly to the second round.

The grand prize for this tournament was exceptionally generous: an Immortal Residence secret treasure that could change size and possessed independent consciousness. This estate treasure had been obtained by one of Guiyuan Sect's Supreme Elders during his travels. The top three winners of the Joint Grand Tournament could obtain the qualification to contract it. If the contract succeeded, the Immortal Residence secret treasure would become theirs. Such an opportunity was rare, and thus it attracted many gifted disciples from various sects.

Chu Zeming led his junior brothers through a long queue before they finally drew their lots.

Chu Zeming opened his number 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 stream of numbers, a clear, pleasant voice sounded. "No number. I got a bye."

Author's Note:

Yue Lian: Thinking about it carefully, it wasn't like he had never given me anything. He gave me a sword, and it went in pretty deep.

Author: But you kissed him...

Yue Lian: I came out ahead.