Jiang Chen was secretly grateful that heâd put on a disguise and changed his identity into that of Shao Yuan. The name had once taken the human domain by the storm, but no one knew of it here.
Hua Ming peered at the notice board from afar and muttered to himself. âWow. What crime did these two commit? Three great houses are after their heads! Theyâre in for it now!â
Jiang Chen feigned ignorance and smiled blandly. âWho knows? These nobles must be really wealthy to be able to afford such hefty bounties!â
Hua Ming sighed. âThe Ten Divine Nations are wealthy and reckless beyond measure. Itâs very likely that theyâll increase the bounty even more after itâs unclaimed for some time. Itâs ten million now, but itâll rise to fifty million before you know it. Aristocrats like them have no lack of money. What they really want is face. Once theyâve issued a kill order, theyâll never rest until itâs completed.â
Jiang Chen laughed. âHaha! I guess those two really are as good as dead then!â
âWell, itâs hard to say for sure. Most of the kill orders issued on Myriad Abyss Island have been fulfilled, but there are exceptions. The information given for these bounties arenât very detailed. The crimes these two committed must be incredibly serious.â
A jianghu wanderer suddenly interrupted their conversation with a mocking laugh. âIgnorant fools! You mustâve never set a foot outside of the Bluesmoke Isles before! The rumors have already spread far and wide!â
Hua Ming wasnât the least bit offended. Instead, he smiled and smiled ingratiatingly, âBrother, judging by the aura you exude, I can tell that youâre a seasoned explorer. Perhaps you can enlighten us and talk about the rumors?â
Intelligence seemed to be his trade. He was incredibly shameless and curious when it came to information.
The wanderer couldnât even be bothered to spare Hua Ming another look. However, he seemed to have noticed Jiang Chenâs unusual air and didnât dare to be overly condescending.
He cackled oddly. âThere was an incident at Winterdraw Island, part of the Rejuvenation Isles. Rumors state that a few geniuses from Polylore Divine Nation were killed by these two. The details are extremely complicated, but itâs the topic of the moment everywhere outside.â
Hua Mingâs eyes glinted. âPardon me brother, is it possible for you to share some of the details?â
The crowd around the board engaged in heated discussion, their interest in the bounty very apparent. However, there were some buzzkills as well. âThe bounty is very high, but with great reward comes high risk.â
âIndeed. They wonât be simple characters if the noble houses are issuing a bounty for them.â
âForget it. This kind of money isnât meant to be ours. With some luck, perhaps we can stumble upon some clues and make two million empyrean spirit stones. Thatâd be good too.â
Eventually, the conversation died down and the crowd slowly dissipated. Jianghu wanderers were realists and knew that this kind of bounty wasnât meant to be theirs. Their interest quickly faded away after the initial surge of enthusiasm.
Hua Ming laughed after noticing that Jiang Chen was still looking at the board. âBrother, are you interested in the bounty?â
The latter smiled. âIndeed. Ten million empyrean spirit stones is quite a large sum.â
âThatâs true, but itâs probably not smart to get involved in something like this. You canât afford to offend someone on the run like this,â Hua Ming advised solemnly.
Jiang Chen nodded in agreement. I canât believe that there are bounties on both Su Hong and I. He made it out of the Blackwraith Mountains as well! Heâs a lot sturdier than Iâd thought, and to make it out without being caught! His potential is truly stunning.
Su Hong had been able to have a head start thanks to Jiang Chenâs warning, receiving a second lease in life.
Jiang Chen took another short glance at the board before he turned around and headed to the trading area. Like a personal attendant, Ming Hua followed him around diligently. He wasnât oppose to it as he didnât have a bad impression of the youth.
He walked leisurely past the floor stalls, inspecting the goods throughout the way.
Ming Hua asked curiously when he noticed that Jiang Chen didnât stop for a single thing. âBrother, why donât you take a look? Are you sure that thereâs nothing good here?â
Jiang Chen laughed. âWhat are the chances of there being something good on the floor stalls?â
Taken aback, Ming Hua nodded honestly. âNot very high.â
âIf thatâs the case, why should I bother looking one by one? There are tens of thousands of stalls here. Am I supposed to check them all?â
Ming Hua didnât know what to say to that. He heaved a long sigh after some moments had passed. âBut... how do you know if thereâs something good if you donât look?â
âI have my ways.â Jiang Chen smiled mysteriously. There were many things that he wasnât disclosing. He swept his eye across the contents of a stall when he walked past them. If there was something that caught his eye, heâd stop to take a look. But since there wasnât anything worthy yet, why would he waste his time?
With his wide breadth of knowledge from his past life and current level of consciousness, it was incredibly difficult for any treasure to escape his eye.
Disappointment descended after walking through a row of stalls. The things available for sale werenât exactly trash, but they were incredibly trite and unexciting. They might be useful for an emperor realm cultivator, but they were completely useless to him. What he wanted were the unexpected bargains. Without them, he couldnât be bothered to stop.
Hua Ming had begun to feel a little anxious and resigned when Jiang Chen suddenly halted in front of a stall.
The person running the stall was a well-built, short, and slightly chubby young man. He seemed quite the honest sort and stuttered when Jiang Chen stopped in front of his stall. âD-dear customer... what is it that youâre looking f-for?â
Jiang Chen inclined his head slightly while staring at the Heavencloud Ganodermas on display. âHow much for these spirit herbs?â He asked with a smile.
This was the key ingredient in refining the Emperor Supremacy Pill. It was incredibly rare in the human domain, with only a few available at any given time. The ones on display at the stall were miles better than anything found in the human domain, so it was practically love at first sight.
Since he was now a great emperor, these pills would greatly accelerate his progress. Naturally, he was keen on buying them.
A spirit herb of this caliber could cost up to hundreds of millions of saint spirit stones in the human domain. A hundred million saint spirit stones was roughly equivalent to a million empyrean spirit stones.
âHonored customer, if youâre interested in the Heavencloud Ganodermas, theyâre eight hundred thousand spirit stones each. If you take all of them, Iâll even give you a ten percent discount. How about it?â
The honest youthâs price was very reasonable. It was much lower than it would be in the human domain. A Heavencloud Ganoderma of this level would cost more than a hundred million saint spirit stones, equivalent to over a million empyrean spirit stones. But here, they were only eight hundred thousand empyrean spirit stones each and there was even a ten percent discount!
This was more than reasonable. Jiang Chen counted them up to find six in total.
âIâll take all of them.â His straightforwardness left the shopkeeper flabbergasted. Even Hua Ming sized up Jiang Chen with a weird look.
What a rich guy!
Just look at those deep pockets! Heâd just spent over four million spirit stones without batting a single eye! Many could afford to fork out that much money in the Bluesmoke Isles, but only the higher echelons could spend it so nonchalantly.
Hua Ming was completely stumped by Jiang Chenâs affluence, the expression on his face quite lively.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âHonored customer, Iâve wrapped the herbs up for you. After the discount, itâll be a total of 4.32 million stones. Iâll wipe out the smaller figures to make it a round figure at 4.3 million. Will that be fine?â The honest youth was extremely respectful towards Jiang Chen. His voice was filled with reverence and even a hint of fear.
âWait a minute!â Ming Hua interjected. âYour herbs are good enough, but they arenât exactly perfect. This one has some blemishes on the leaves, and that one seems to have some problems with the roots.â
The stallkeeper stared at Ming Hua with his mouth agape, not knowing what to say. After that, he turned his gaze towards Jiang Chen, clearly wondering if the beggarly youth was acquainted with the opulent customer.
âH-honored customer, my Heavencloud Ganordermas are of the h-highest quality. Y-you...â The stall owner was clearly not adept at bargaining and was rendered speechless by the accusations.
âY-you what? Other merchants at Oriole Valley donât even dare greet their customers without giving them a twenty percent discount. You should give us another twenty percent discount on top of what youâve already given us.â
The stall ownerâs eyes were red with indignation. He was so agitated that he was on the verge of beating Hua Ming up. However, he managed to keep his temper down since he was a businessman. He settled for a death glare at the boy and put down the herbs in his hands. âT-then... I shanât be selling them anymore! They are no longer for sale!â
Hua Ming was flabbergasted as well. Heâd wanted to curry favor with Jiang Chen by asking for a steeper discount, but the stall owner was extremely principled and chose not to sell instead! It felt like heâd lifted a rock and smashed his own foot with it. Awkwardness filled the air.
âYou call yourself a stallkeeper? Haggling is part of the trade! If you find our price unreasonable, quote us another one!â
âNo! The herbs are no longer for sale!â The stall owner was fuming after the humiliation.
Hua Mingâs hands were tied. He had a very glib tongue, but there was nothing he could do if the stall owner decided not to sell. Was he supposed to steal it? He neither had the courage or the ability to do so.
Jiang Chen smiled ambiguously at Hua Ming. Without saying another word, he took out 4.3 million empyrean spirit stones and placed them on the floor. âBrother, please donât mind him. Hereâs your money. Iâll be taking the herbs.â
The stall owner was stunned after seeing that he was paid in full. However, before he could say anything else, Jiang Chen had already walked off into the distance.