Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

"Let’s not be hasty, fellow Daoist first tell us where you’re from and where you’re headed," the leader of the gang said with a stare at Chen Li, smiling.

The other party was calm, facing the four of them surrounding him without any concern as if he were quite confident.

Of course, he wouldn’t have attracted their attention if he were a common man.

"So, one can’t even walk this road anymore? Which gang do you belong to? Who’s your leader?" Chen Li asked with a smile.

Chen Li’s voice was soft, spoken gently, with a smile on his face. But coupled with that characteristically fierce face full of scars, the leading gang member felt a chill run down his spine, his heartbeat nearly skipping a half-beat.

"We are from the Green River Gang. May I ask which esteemed personage the fellow Daoist is?" The gang leader said with forced composure, bowing with his hands clasped together.

"I’m nobody special, just a butcher. Why block the path? Make way, make way!" replied Chen Li with a laugh.

Seeing that the other party had clearly softened, he opened the crowd with a big wave of his hand and continued on his way.

Not until Chen Li had walked some distance,

did a subordinate dare to ask, "Big brother, why didn’t we stop him just now?"

"Stop my ass, are you looking to die? Do you know who that was?" The gang leader, still with lingering fear, his legs a bit shaky, glanced at the figure that was nearly disappearing in the distance, wiped the thin sweat from his forehead, and whispered,

"Ever heard of the two most unapproachable figures in Green River District?"

"No! Tell us, big brother."

"I only heard it from the gang leader talking casually when he was drunk... The first is naturally the old ancestor from the Yu Family, a Foundation Establishment expert, no need to say more about his strength. The second is this guy, who makes a living hunting and selling demon beast meat and whom nobody dares to provoke. People call him the butcher. He once fought eight men alone in the market; in the blink of an eye, all his adversaries were slain, not one escaped, his ferocity renowned.

The ones he killed were no weaklings, every one of them who risked their lives to rob in the market was at least at mid-stage Qi Cultivation."

"Heh!"

"Hiss!"

...

All who heard turned pale, inhaling sharply.

...

"Big brother, here are the spirit stones for this time, a total of 3 mid-grade Spirit Stones plus 78 low-grade Spirit Stones," Zhao Lin handed over a money pouch.

Chen Li took the pouch.

Counted it once.

After splitting Zhao Lin’s share of 39 low-grade Spirit Stones, he put them all back into the pouch.

During this period, Zhao Lin and his people had sold three mid-grade Magic Artifacts again, and together with the earnings from selling talismans, his savings had reached as many as 33 mid-grade Spirit Stones.

"The Yu Family’s artifact and talisman shop opened yesterday, did you hear about it, big brother? It’s going to be tough to sell Magic Artifacts from now on," Zhao Lin said worriedly after securing the Spirit Stones.

"What’s their purchase price for mid-grade Magic Artifacts?"

"I asked around, and it’s usually two mid-grade Spirit Stones!"

"What about their selling price?"

"They’ve got some that are four mid-grade Spirit Stones, and some are five."

Upon hearing this, Chen Li’s brow furrowed.

Zhao Lin had always been selling at prices above three mid-grade Spirit Stones, but now this price clearly lacked appeal.

If he himself were a customer,

he would rather spend a little extra than deal with someone privately.

For one, there’s the issue of trust, and secondly, safety isn’t guaranteed.

Who knows if you’ll take the money and not deliver the goods, or if you’ll use cheap artifacts as a lure, actually planning to rob your customers, and in the end, not only lose possessions but also life.

A private transaction is an adventure and a gamble.

In the past, with no choice, people had to conduct such transactions.

But now, with the opening of the Yu Family’s artifact and talisman shop, offering a better choice, how many people are willing to take the risk for one less mid-grade Spirit Stone?

There will certainly be some, but definitely far fewer.

"We’ll try to sell them first; we can lower the price a bit," Chen Li said, also helpless, as there wasn’t much else he could do now. Then a thought struck him, "Do they buy demon beast material over there?"

"Of course, they buy everything!"

...

Suddenly, Chen Li couldn’t sit still any longer and hurriedly took his leave.

Once he got home, without even drinking a sip of water, he went down to the storage cellar, picked up the large sack used for selling meat, and started stuffing it with massive beast claws, teeth, and scales, until it was full to the brim.

Each item was heavy.

It felt like the sack weighed a thousand catties.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Hong followed him and asked.

"The Yu Family just opened an artifact and talisman shop; I’m going to see if I can sell these things!" Chen Li said, shouldering the sack as he walked out.

"Don’t sell it cheap, the minimum should be ten mid-grade Spirit Stones, don’t sell it if the offer is lower. It’ll be worth more once the situation improves." Zhou Hong shouted after him.

"Don’t worry!" Chen Li responded.

...

On the way, he transformed back into a butcher and made haste to the market without stopping.

After asking for directions,

he went straight to the Yu Family’s talisman shop.

Yu Fan Zhen just happened to be in the shop and greeted Chen Li as he arrived.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, are you here to purchase a Magic Artifact?"

Chen Li put the cloth bag he was carrying on the ground with a thud and said, "So Fellow Daoist Yu is here too, just in time to help me appraise this."

"What is this?"

"Some materials from First Order Demon Beasts, I’ve heard they’re quite valuable." Chen Li said

"I’ll call my second uncle over, this is beyond me." Yu Fan Zhen said, troubled.

Their conversation, though not loud, had already alerted Yu Wu Feng on the second floor.

He hurried out and greeted Chen Li with a warm smile, contrasting the indifference of their first meeting: "Fellow Daoist Chen, rest assured, leave these items to me. I guarantee a price that will satisfy you."

He took out the materials from the cloth bag one by one to appraise them.

"This is the horn of a certain Demon Beast, harder than gold and iron, and what’s more valuable is that it naturally possesses a sharp rune formation. With a bit of refinement, it can become an excellent Magic Artifact. I’d value it at thirty low-grade Spirit Stones."

"These scales are heart armor scales from a Demon Beast, thick in the middle and thin on the sides, fitting tightly together, making them natural casts for shield-type Magic Artifacts. What’s most precious is their sheer number, forty-eight pieces in total. I estimate them at three mid-grade Spirit Stones."

At this point, Yu Wu Feng demonstrated the quality of a seasoned appraiser—able to articulate every aspect of the materials and thoroughly analyze their strengths and weaknesses and how to appraise them.

...

"All together, that comes to twelve mid-grade Spirit Stones plus 65 low-grade Spirit Stones. Rounding up, let’s call it thirteen mid-grade Spirit Stones. Do you have any objection to this price?" Yu Wu Feng said with a smile.

"Okay, that’s the price!" Chen Li nodded.

...

When he got home,

Zhou Hong asked about the selling price.

Only then did Chen Li realize that he had been given a high offer.

The normal price should have been around eleven mid-grade Spirit Stones, but he was given thirteen.

It might be intentional, or it might not.

But Chen Li didn’t pay much attention to it.

The Yu Family had made much more than this from his business.

Just the two times he purchased medicinal pills, he had spent about fifty mid-grade Spirit Stones.

At the normal price of the pills, they had made at least an extra thirty mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Plus the loss incurred to himself by the opening of their talisman and medicinal stores... Chen Li somewhat regretted not asking for a higher price.

He wondered how much money the Yu Family’s talisman shop and medicinal store made in a year?

Even Chen Li felt envious looking at it.

...

It had been nearly half a year of tranquility around Chen Li’s home, but finally, it was their turn.

One late night,

Chen Li and Zhou Hong were awakened by strange scraping noises, and their drowsiness vanished instantly.

Hearing this familiar sound, Chen Li’s face turned grim, with no doubt it was that snake demon: "It’s a Second Order Demon Beast. I’ve seen it before. Get dressed and take your weapons, we’re going to the tunnel!"

The bedroom was dangerously close to the entrance of the passage.

The tunnel was over fifty meters long with two exits. In an emergency, they could escape through either one.

They quickly got ready.

Chen Li, sword in hand, hurried to the extensive tunnel.

The basement was more than twenty meters deep; the outside noise could hardly reach there. All Chen Li heard was a rustling sound. Beyond that, it was quiet—so quiet it was suffocating.

After running a while, Chen Li stopped: "We’ll stay here."

Next, they could only resign themselves to fate.

Chen Li tightly held Zhou Hong’s hand, his heart pounding, breathing heavy. Soon, both palms were wet, indistinguishable whether it was from Zhou Hong or himself.