Jiang Chen was secretly grateful that he’d 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. “Wow. What crime did these two commit? Three great houses are after their heads! They’re in for it now!”
Jiang Chen feigned ignorance and smiled blandly. “Who knows? These nobles must be really wealthy to be able to afford such hefty bounties!”
Hua Ming sighed. “The Ten Divine Nations are wealthy and reckless beyond measure. It’s very likely that they’ll increase the bounty even more after it’s unclaimed for some time. It’s ten million now, but it’ll rise to fifty million before you know it. Aristocrats like them have no lack of money. What they really want is face. Once they’ve issued a kill order, they’ll never rest until it’s completed.”
Jiang Chen laughed. “Haha! I guess those two really are as good as dead then!”
“Well, it’s 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 aren’t very detailed. The crimes these two committed must be incredibly serious.”
A jianghu wanderer suddenly interrupted their conversation with a mocking laugh. “Ignorant fools! You must’ve never set a foot outside of the Bluesmoke Isles before! The rumors have already spread far and wide!”
Hua Ming wasn’t the least bit offended. Instead, he smiled and smiled ingratiatingly, “Brother, judging by the aura you exude, I can tell that you’re a seasoned explorer. Perhaps you can enlighten us and talk about the rumors?”
Intelligence seemed to be his trade. He was incredibly shameless and curious when it came to information.
The wanderer couldn’t even be bothered to spare Hua Ming another look. However, he seemed to have noticed Jiang Chen’s unusual air and didn’t dare to be overly condescending.
He cackled oddly. “There 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 it’s the topic of the moment everywhere outside.”
Hua Ming’s eyes glinted. “Pardon me brother, is it possible for you to share some of the details?”
The crowd around the board engaged in heated discussion, their interest in the bounty very apparent. However, there were some buzzkills as well. “The bounty is very high, but with great reward comes high risk.”
“Indeed. They won’t be simple characters if the noble houses are issuing a bounty for them.”
“Forget it. This kind of money isn’t meant to be ours. With some luck, perhaps we can stumble upon some clues and make two million empyrean spirit stones. That’d be good too.”
Eventually, the conversation died down and the crowd slowly dissipated. Jianghu wanderers were realists and knew that this kind of bounty wasn’t 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. “Brother, are you interested in the bounty?”
The latter smiled. “Indeed. Ten million empyrean spirit stones is quite a large sum.”
“That's true, but it's probably not smart to get involved in something like this. You can’t afford to offend someone on the run like this,” Hua Ming advised solemnly.
Jiang Chen nodded in agreement. I can't believe that there are bounties on both Su Hong and I. He made it out of the Blackwraith Mountains as well! He's a lot sturdier than I'd 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 Chen's 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 wasn’t oppose to it as he didn't 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 didn’t stop for a single thing. “Brother, why don't you take a look? Are you sure that there’s nothing good here?”
Jiang Chen laughed. “What are the chances of there being something good on the floor stalls?”
Taken aback, Ming Hua nodded honestly. “Not very high.”
“If that's 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?”
Ming Hua didn’t know what to say to that. He heaved a long sigh after some moments had passed. “But… how do you know if there's something good if you don't look?”
“I have my ways.” Jiang Chen smiled mysteriously. There were many things that he wasn't disclosing. He swept his eye across the contents of a stall when he walked past them. If there was something that caught his eye, he'd stop to take a look. But since there wasn't 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 weren't 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 couldn't 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. “D-dear customer… what is it that you're looking f-for?”
Jiang Chen inclined his head slightly while staring at the Heavencloud Ganodermas on display. “How much for these spirit herbs?” 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.
“Honored customer, if you’re interested in the Heavencloud Ganodermas, they’re eight hundred thousand spirit stones each. If you take all of them, I’ll even give you a ten percent discount. How about it?”
The honest youth’s 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.
“I'll take all of them.” 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! He’d 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 Chen’s affluence, the expression on his face quite lively.
“Honored customer, I’ve wrapped the herbs up for you. After the discount, it’ll be a total of 4.32 million stones. I’ll wipe out the smaller figures to make it a round figure at 4.3 million. Will that be fine?” The honest youth was extremely respectful towards Jiang Chen. His voice was filled with reverence and even a hint of fear.
“Wait a minute!” Ming Hua interjected. “Your herbs are good enough, but they aren't exactly perfect. This one has some blemishes on the leaves, and that one seems to have some problems with the roots.”
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.
“H-honored customer, my Heavencloud Ganordermas are of the h-highest quality. Y-you…” The stall owner was clearly not adept at bargaining and was rendered speechless by the accusations.
“Y-you what? Other merchants at Oriole Valley don’t even dare greet their customers without giving them a twenty percent discount. You should give us another twenty percent discount on top of what you’ve already given us.”
The stall owner’s 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. “T-then… I shan’t be selling them anymore! They are no longer for sale!”
Hua Ming was flabbergasted as well. He’d 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 he’d lifted a rock and smashed his own foot with it. Awkwardness filled the air.
“You call yourself a stallkeeper? Haggling is part of the trade! If you find our price unreasonable, quote us another one!”
“No! The herbs are no longer for sale!” The stall owner was fuming after the humiliation.
Hua Ming’s 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. “Brother, please don’t mind him. Here’s your money. I’ll be taking the herbs.”
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.
