As he watched Old Luo leave, the wealthy merchant Puppet Li Chen controlled suddenly broke into a sly grin. His real body inside the Magic Cube Maze also wore a knowing smile.
From beginning to end, Old Luo had never realized he was dealing with a group of Puppets. He had thought they really were friendly fellows who roamed the rough-and-tumble world beyond the cities.
This was ample proof that his Skin-Painting Art, combined with artificial intelligence and the Mechanism-Performance Method, had reached an entirely new realm.
But after smiling, Li Chen suddenly sank into thought again.
Back when I was at Qi Refining and my horizons were narrow, did I ever have moments like this, with eyes that failed to recognize a true master?
Forget it. There's no point thinking about that now. Even if I once met a Foundation Establishment expert keeping a low profile, our paths won't cross again.
He simply put it out of his mind and followed his plan, finding an inn to stay at and visiting trading houses to buy and sell materials.
Li Chen was now playing the part of a group of Merchants from the south. Whatever Merchants were supposed to do, he did. To an outsider, there was not the slightest flaw to be seen.
After spending nearly half a day, Li Chen successfully found a trading house run by a local Aristocratic Clan. He sold some red copper ingots and the Demon spirit materials he had acquired while guarding the wild forest, then headed to another Merchant Street selling assorted goods, intending to purchase a batch of supplies essential to the skills he would study next.
But some of the things he wanted were rather unusual. He asked at several shops in succession and came away empty-handed.
*This really is