MARTIAL ADVERSITY, VOLUME 8 - Season 12 Episode 7

While travelling with Gui Che, they had killed a lot of Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, so naturally they had obtained a lot of materials. Last time, Yang Kai had only brought out the materials he had no use for, this time he literally dumped out everything that wasn’t extremely valuable.

If Yang Yan’s performance satisfied him again, Yang Kai decided he would allow her to refine an Origin Grade artefact for him.

Looking at this pile of Monster Beast materials, Yang Yan hesitated for a long time before finally compromising.

Wasn’t it just thirty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals? She felt that she would one day make enough money to pay off such a debt!

Sweeping all these materials into her Space Ring, Yang Yan once again wrote up a list and handed it to Yang Kai, “Buy me these ores. I have to rest for a few days before I can start refining again.”

Yang Kai took the list and didn’t even check it before nodding and walking out.

Yang Yan called out nervously to him as he left, “Can I cultivate in your stone room? It has a denser aura than mine.”

“Yeah!”

Leaving Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai flew off towards Heavenly Fate City.

It took half a day for Yang Kai to finish purchasing everything on the list Yang Yan had given him. Yang Yan seemed to know what kind of ores and materials were available in Heavenly Fate City, so Yang Kai didn’t have much trouble finding the things she wanted.

While a clerk at a shop called Trade Company was checking over the quantity and quality of ores before selling them to Yang Kai, a somewhat rotund old man with a short stature walked over with a look of interest on his face and asked, “Young man, are you purchasing all these ores for Artefact Refining?”

Yang Kai raised his head and frowned at this fat man, but the clerk quickly cut in an introduced him, “Honoured customer, this is our Trade Company’s shopkeeper, Qian Tong!”

Yang Kai nodded lightly, not saying anything. This fat old man looked harmless to humans and animals, but his strength was definitely not low, probably an Origin Returning Realm master, but due to him concealing his aura, Yang Kai was unable to determine his exact Order.

Qian Tong didn’t mind this display and continued smiling while saying, “You can rest assured that our Trade Company only conducts honest business and offers fair prices, we will never engage in unscrupulous matters. En, we also purchase artefacts, if you have any artefacts to sell, we can sit down and discuss an appropriate price.”

“Why do you think I have artefacts for sale?” Yang Kai glanced over at him with a slightly puzzled look.

Qian Tong laughed, “You are a guest, and this old man says this to every guest.”

“I do happen to have artefacts for sale,” Yang Kai laughed.

This time Yang Kai had come to Heavenly Fate City for two purposes; one, to purchase the ores on Yang Yan’s list, and two, to sell the artefacts she had refined. In any case, he had no use for them. Whether it was the mace, dagger, or whip, none were suitable for him to use, so keeping them in his Space Ring would just be wasting Heaven’s precious gifts.

On top of that, these ores cost him a lot of Saint Crystals to buy.

Originally Yang Kai had wanted to ask Wu Yi for her help regarding this matter; after all, he wasn’t familiar with the market here or what fair prices would be. But Wu Yi’s position was somewhat delicate and she herself wasn’t that strong, so asking her for help would probably lead to some unnecessary trouble.

Now that this smiling fat old man had come up to ask on his own initiative, Yang Kai had no reason to refuse.

Although his opponent wasn’t weak, Yang Kai didn’t have any fear. At worst, he could just tear space and flee. Since he had confidence in preserving his life, he naturally had confidence in negotiating as well.

“Oh? It seems this old man’s vision hasn’t gone bad yet, hahaha, young man, this way, please!” Qian Tong motioned to Yang Kai.

After a short while, the pair came to a private room that was clearly set up for the exclusive purpose of conducting transactions. Many people didn’t like having unnecessary people seeing what items they were buying or selling, which resulted in many people often wearing masks or disguises when they came to do business.

The existence of this private room avoided all those problems though as once the door was closed, leaving only Yang Kai and Qian Tong behind, all outside Divine Senses would be blocked.

Yang Kai glanced around the room for a moment, his expression remaining calm and composed.

Qian Tong maintained his smile while a light flashed across the depths of his eyes, secretly wondering whether this young man either had solid nerves or simply wasn’t afraid at all.

As a businessman though, even if he felt surprised, Qian Tong didn’t ask any unnecessary questions and got straight to the point, “Young man, what kind of artefact do you want to sell? What grade is it?”

Yang Kai quickly took out three artefacts refined by Yang Yan.

Qian Tong swept his eyes over these artefacts then picked them up one by one, examining them carefully, nodding silently after a while, “This old man isn’t proficient in Artifact Refining, but I can see that these items are top quality amongst their grade and were refined by the same Artifact Refiner, what price are you looking for?”

Qian Tong only spoke about business matters and didn’t inquire into any other information, an act that made Yang Kai very satisfied.

“I don’t understand the local prices, how do you normally purchase such items?” Yang Kai asked back.

Qian Tong was stunned, not having expected Yang Kai to completely surrender the initiative in this negotiation. Which person who came to sell treasures didn’t want to hold the initiative? Fearing they would lose money, most people would try to heap praises onto their goods while raising the price as high as possible.

Even after a transaction was completed, people would secretly worry about whether they had been ripped off or not.

On the other hand, this young man seemed completely free and easy, as if he didn’t care about suffering a loss.

With the same friendly smile, Qian Tong said, “The price of Saint King Grade artefacts generally starts at five thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals, but that is just our bottom line. Two of these items are Saint King Grade Low-Rank while one is Saint King Grade Mid-Rank, each of which is of superb quality. For the two Low-Ranks, this old man is willing to pay six thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals a piece. As for the Saint King Grade Mid-Rank artefact, how about eight thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals?”

“A total of twenty thousand?” Yang Kai frowned, feeling like the price was a bit lower than he had imagined.

But remembering that Saint Crystals on Shadowed Star were more valuable than other places, he felt relieved. In Yang Kai’s opinion, Qian Tong’s price was fair; after all, he was a businessman, so naturally, he had to purchase these artefacts at a price that would allow him to sell them at a profit.

“If you feel the price is too low, we can discuss it again. Business is not just a matter of just naming a price and paying money,” Qian Tong smiled slightly.

“Throw in the ores I just purchased and this deal is done,” Yang Kai said calmly.

Qian Tong let out a hearty laugh and commented, “Young man, you’re quite astute. The total price of those ores you just bought isn’t low, at least three thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals… But in order to make friends, it’s not a bad deal. Good, if you have other artefacts to sell in the future, please choose our Trade Company first.”

“Deal!” Yang Kai nodded.

Trade Company’s efficiency was very high and it wasn’t long before Yang Kai stuffed twenty thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals and all the ores he requested into his Space Ring and left Heavenly Fate City.

After he left, Qian Tong sat and stared in the direction Yang Kai disappeared for a while before muttering, “Interesting.”

“Elder Qian… we suffer a loss in this transaction. Giving him more than three thousand High-Rank Saint Crystals worth of ore means we won’t be able to make much money on these artefacts,” The clerk who received Yang Kai just now came over and complained.

Qian Tong just grinned and said, “Really? I think we actually gained a great deal.”

The clerk wore a bewildered expression as he ran the calculations again, still feeling they hadn’t come out on top after he finished.

“What do you know? There should be a terrifying Artifact Refiner behind that kid. He also bought some ore the last time he visited Heavenly Fate City, just not from this shop. It was only a coincidence that I was at that shop at the time so I have some impression of him. He is actually quite savvy, understanding he has to change shops each time he buys such large amounts of ore, but he probably doesn’t realize that most of the shops in Heavenly Fate City are owned by our Shadow Moon Hall. It was only one month ago… Yet now he’s come here to buy ore again while bringing along three Saint King Grade artefacts. What do you think this means?” Qian Tong was in a good mood so he decided to speak a few words to enlighten this confused clerk while laughing happily.

“He’ll be back. The next time he shows up, inform me right away. If you can’t reach me, process whatever business he has with the highest level of care. It doesn’t matter if we lose some money in the transaction as long as we can satisfy him,” Qian Tong admonished.

“Disciple understands,” The clerk responded quickly, though he still didn’t understand what Elder Qian Tong meant, he had no right to object to these words.

Qian Tong immediately left Trade Company afterwards and rushed to a large palace situated in Heavenly Fate City. Finding another old man in the palace, Qian Ton handed over the three artefacts.

The old man touched the artefacts gently with his eyes tightly closed, as if he perceived something. After a while, this old man’s expression changed, revealing a surprised expression.

After half an hour, the old man put down the last of the three artefacts and opened his eyes.

“Grandmaster Ge Lin, what were you able to see?” Qian Tong asked immediately.

“These three artefacts were refined by an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner!” The old man named Ge Lin took a deep breath and declared.

“Origin Grade…” Qian Tong’s eyes bulged. Although he had inferred through various signs that a powerful Artifact Refiner was behind Yang Kai, he hadn’t expected it to actually be one at the Origin Grade.

“En, and their skill is not worse than this old master. The materials used for these artefacts were all from Eighth-Order Monster Beasts. Who refined them? Is there anyone with such skill near our Heavenly Fate City?” Ge Lin asked curiously.

“I don’t know who refined them, they were simply brought in to sell by a young man today,” Qian Tong shook his head.

“Did you trace his whereabouts?” Ge Lin asked again.

“I didn’t dare act rashly, so as not to cause any misunderstandings with the master behind him.”

Ge Lin nodded, “Good, prudence here is key! Such a master can only be won over, not offended! The ability to kill Eighth-Order Monster Beasts shows that this person’s strength is also not low. Not only in a fight, but with skills in Artifact Refining on par or better than this old master. You should pay more attention to that young man. As long as our sincerity is sufficient, I don’t believe it will be difficult to understand the identity of the master behind him.”

“I also thought so, what’s more, he should return again soon. Today, he bought a lot of Saint King Grade ores, most likely to refine more artefacts.”

“Good job. I am getting old, and probably won’t live for many more years, if you can recruit that master to take over my position, then you won’t have to worry about having someone to repairs your artefacts when they break,” Ge Lin smiled wryly. Artefact Refiners dedicate themselves to their craft and avoid fighting, so their vitalities are often not exuberant and their life expectancy are generally much shorter than other cultivators of the same level.