Hearing Azure Dragon say this, Ye Fei's heart stirred, and he stopped.
"What is this?"
After stopping, Ye Fei pointed at a battered pill furnace on the stall and asked.
The pill furnace looked very unusual, neither quite a furnace nor quite a cauldron.
Other pill furnaces had round bodies, but this one was square, making it look more like a cauldron.
Other pill furnaces had no handles, yet this one had two.
Other cauldrons had square lids, but the lid of this square furnace was actually round.
"This is a pill furnace."
The white-haired old man explained politely.
"Can it really refine pills, looking like that?"
Ye Fei was somewhat skeptical.
"Well... perhaps it can."
The old man sounded uncertain.
At that answer, the corner of Ye Fei's mouth twitched.
This old fellow is quite something.
He's selling a pill furnace without even knowing whether it can refine pills.
"I've never refined pills, so I don't know whether it can, but it was passed down by my ancestors. It should be a treasure."
"If my cultivation hadn't been stagnant all this time, and my lifespan weren't nearly exhausted, I would never have put it up for sale."
Seeing Ye Fei's expression, the old man flushed and hurried to explain.
"How many Spirit Stones do you want for it, then?"
Ye Fei considered for a moment before asking tentatively.
"Fifty Lower-Grade Spirit Stones."
The old man named his price.
"All right. Given your age, fifty it is. I'll take this pill furnace."
Seeing that the old man was already over ninety yet only at the qi refining third layer, Ye Fei lost the inclination to haggle.
As he spoke, he took out fifty Spirit Stones and tossed them straight to the old man.
The old man excitedly caught the Spirit Stones and handed the pill furnace to Ye Fei.
He had never imagined he would actually manage to sell it.
"Let me see what kind of pill furnace could possibly be worth fifty Lower-Grade Spirit Stones."
Just as Ye Fei took the furnace, a pale-faced young man in a black cloak approached from the side and reached out to snatch it.
The young man's face was bloodlessly pale, and his eyes glowed blue, giving him a rather unsettling appearance.
"What are you doing?"
Fortunately, Ye Fei reacted quickly, twisting sharply aside and narrowly dodging his grasp.
With someone trying to snatch it, he dared not hesitate. With a thought, he stored the pill furnace inside the Azure Dragon Sword.
"Boy, if you know what's good for you, take out that pill furnace. Otherwise, I'll make sure you never leave Qingyuan Town."
Seeing Ye Fei put the furnace away, the pale-faced young man raised an eyebrow and barked coldly.
"This pill furnace has nothing to do with you, does it?"
Ye Fei's brows drew together slightly, and he quietly took a step back.
He realized that he could not discern the young man's cultivation at all. Clearly, it was higher than his own.
Judging by his aura, even if he had not reached foundation establishment, he was at least at the qi refining ninth layer.
A chill crept into Ye Fei's heart.
"Hmph, who says it has nothing to do with me? Old man, here are a hundred Spirit Stones. Get that pill furnace back for me. I'm taking it."
The pale-faced young man snorted and tossed a pouch straight to the old man.
"Young fellow, about this..."
The old man caught the pouch containing a hundred Spirit Stones, his hands trembling slightly, and hurriedly looked at Ye Fei with expectation.
He hoped Ye Fei would return the pill furnace to him.
But he also knew that doing so was rather dishonorable, so he could not bring himself to say it.
"Fellow Daoist, by the rules, our transaction is already complete. This pill furnace now belongs to me."
Ye Fei shook his head gently.
Had it been an ordinary pill furnace, he might have yielded, but judging by Azure Dragon's reaction, this furnace was anything but ordinary.
How could he possibly give way?
"Young fellow, I'm not selling this pill furnace anymore. Please return it to me."
Looking at the Spirit Stones in his hands, the old man gritted his teeth and pleaded.
"Sorry, but our transaction is already complete."
The old man's conduct displeased Ye Fei considerably, and his tone grew a little colder.
Hearing Ye Fei say this, the old man suddenly had no idea what to do.
He was merely an insignificant rogue cultivator with a pitifully low cultivation. He could not afford to offend either Ye Fei or the young man.
For a moment, he was caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Does anyone dare refuse something that I, Huo Qiuyang, want?"
Seeing that Ye Fei would not hand over the pill furnace, the pale-faced young man snorted, a flash of murderous intent crossing his eyes.
"What?"
"You're going to take it by force?"
Ye Fei's pupils contracted, and he quietly extended his Divine Sense, searching for an escape route.
In this situation, fleeing was his only way to keep the pill furnace.
But the moment he extended his Divine Sense, Ye Fei's heart sank, and his expression turned grim.
At some point, more than twenty burly men dressed in black had appeared around him.
They had already surrounded him. Even the weakest among them was roughly his equal, at the qi refining sixth layer.
Most had higher cultivation than he did, and there were even two foundation establishment cultivators.
"Noticed them?"
"That's just as well. Saves me wasting my breath."
"Hand it over, unless you want to throw your life away over this battered furnace."
Huo Qiuyang smiled disdainfully, his words brimming with smug satisfaction.
"It's only an ordinary pill furnace. What do you see in it?"
Ye Fei asked, thoroughly puzzled.
"Hahaha, I'm curious, that's all."
"A battered pill furnace that sells for fifty Spirit Stones-aren't you curious?"
Huo Qiuyang threw back his head and laughed at length.
"If you want it, take it."
Ye Fei shook his head helplessly, took out the pill furnace, and tossed it straight to Huo Qiuyang.
Given the situation before him, he had no other choice.
No matter how extraordinary this furnace was, what use would keeping it be if he lost his life?
"At least you know what's good for you."
"I'll spare your life today."
Huo Qiuyang gave Ye Fei a contemptuous smile, then lowered his head to examine the furnace in his hands.
His greatest pleasure in life was trampling others beneath his feet. That feeling left his mind free and unburdened.
Today, with Ye Fei, he had enjoyed that pleasure once again.
"It really is just a battered pill furnace. It's nowhere near worth fifty Lower-Grade Spirit Stones. You overpaid."
After inspecting it carefully and finding nothing special about it, Huo Qiuyang suddenly lost interest.
"Black Tiger, destroy this pill furnace!"
Huo Qiuyang tossed the furnace to a burly man in black standing nearby.
After catching it, the man set the furnace on the ground, drew the large saber from his back, and hacked down viciously.
Crash!
Struck by the saber, the pill furnace shattered into a heap of fragments.
"Hahaha, that feels so good! So good!"
Seeing the furnace destroyed, Huo Qiuyang burst into laughter again.
Finally, he cast Ye Fei a disdainful glance, then waved a hand and left with the men in black.
"Fellow Daoist, shouldn't you return my Spirit Stones now?"
Once those men were far away, Ye Fei turned to look at the old man beside him.
Since the man had received a hundred Spirit Stones from Huo Qiuyang, Ye Fei was determined to get his own fifty back, no matter what.
To Ye Fei's astonishment, however, the old man who had been there just moments ago had suddenly vanished.
"What's going on?"
Ye Fei hurriedly looked around, carefully searching the area.
But the result left him sorely disappointed. Within a radius of a hundred feet, he found no trace of the old man.
What the hell?
After cursing inwardly, Ye Fei walked over to the heap of fragments.
He was just about to bend down and pick them up to see whether there was anything special about them.
But just then, Azure Dragon's voice came from within the Azure Dragon Sword again.
"Boy, don't bother looking. I already swapped out that pill furnace."
Before you continue