CHAPTER 427: CHAPTER 097: INSIDIOUS (SECOND UPDATE)

The merchant’s true colors, fully revealed.

It seems that the goods on this fat man’s stall are either things he casually picked up from the river for free, or they are authentic materials that he carefully selected, leaving behind what he believed were the worthless leftovers.

In any case, exchanging one Qi Blood Pill for ten "ores" was far from his lowest price.

Despite this, Li Weifeng had no intention of backing out.

He wasn’t someone skilled at bargaining; originally, three unusual ores were worth a Qi Blood Pill, but he had to include the remaining seven waste stones. This allowed the three ores, which might truly yield an Energy Stone, to remain hidden among the ten.

Having completed the transaction, Li Weifeng began to select ores from the stall.

At this moment, the extra-enthusiastic fat man spoke up:

"Little brother, you look like you’re new here."

"Yes, a few days ago, a friend of my father’s brought me here, saying the environment here is beneficial for Cultivation, but he left soon after due to other matters."

Unsolicited enthusiasm is either treacherous or deceitful.

Li Weifeng went along with his words.

Hearing this, the fat shopkeeper’s eyes flickered.

"I wonder, little brother, what’s your strength level now?"

"A First Grade Martial Artist, why?"

The fat shopkeeper’s face showed "hesitation" for a moment. He looked around nervously, leaned close to Li Weifeng’s ear, and whispered:

"I’ll be blunt, little brother. I discovered an abandoned mining pit outside the city, once used by humans from the Underground Cave. Nature has covered most of its traces and no one has found it yet. It’s just me and a few friends developing that place. These stones came from that abandoned mining pit. But recently, some Cave Martial Artists suddenly appeared in that area, making my business difficult to carry out, so..."

The fat shopkeeper gave Li Weifeng a knowing look.

"There aren’t many of those cave humans, only four of them, and the strongest is just at the Second Grade Martial Artist level. I’ve got one Second Grade Martial Artist too, but their strength is not much different from those cave humans."

"I see you’re an honest person, so I’m thinking you could add to our strength against those cave humans. Once we wipe them out from that abandoned mine, the mine will be ours, and we can mine as many stones as we want. What do you say?"

"If you’re willing to take me along, I’ll be more than happy to help."

Li Weifeng acted flattered, repeatedly patting his chest in assurance, his face filled with excitement.

"Alright then, leave your contact details, and I’ll find you in three days!"

The two of them whispered something to each other that no one could hear.

A moment later, Li Weifeng left with his ten stones, his figure disappearing into the crowd.

As for the fat shopkeeper, he looked around, saw there were no customers, and then packed the remaining stones into a basket.

At this moment, a gaunt man who had been squatting in an inconspicuous corner stood up to help.

"What’s up, Fat Han?"

The gaunt man asked in a low voice.

"I’ll tell you back home, today is just a disaster!"

Fat Han’s face was dark, and the gaunt man asked no more, quickly packing up before discreetly slipping away into the crowd.

A moment later, in a room in some corner of Pioneer City.

"Damn it, I thought that kid was a rookie, but he turned out to be a sharp one. He took the two stones most likely to contain Energy Stones!"

With a bang, Fat Han slapped the table, angrily gulping down a glass of water.

Fat shopkeeper’s face now turned sinister, a stark contrast to his earlier friendly demeanor.

In their trade, to attract more gullible customers, they occasionally displayed a few stones deemed valuable on their stall and had a partner act as a customer to cut them open publicly. The subsequent exclamations would naturally draw a crowd. Through their persuasive talk, those worthless stones became highly coveted and perceived as treasures.

But today, before they even got to stage the show, their carefully chosen stones, which they believed highly likely to contain Energy Ore, were taken by a young brat. How could this not infuriate Fat Han?

Originally, seeing the boy looking like a newcomer, he thought he could earn a big profit, only to end up suffering a loss.

Selling the two stones likely containing Energy Stones for only one Qi Blood Pill was a major loss.

But he couldn’t reveal his anger then; he had to keep smiling and talking pleasantly with that kid.

"Old Three, did you manage to track down that guy’s address?"

"Yes, followed him, and it matches the contact address he left behind."

A shadowy figure emerged from the doorway, another member of their group.

As Li Weifeng left, Fat Han discreetly signaled him to follow.

"I also checked around, the kid indeed came here with someone recently, part of a group called the Nanshang Adventure Team. Later that Martial Artist left for some reason, leaving him alone."

"Fat Han, what are you thinking?"

The gaunt shadow asked.

"Hmph, I’ve never suffered such a huge loss, since childhood, always having to swallow it down. But I’ll make that boy cough it all back up!"

"Anyway, things are going to get underway over there soon, using him as cannon fodder isn’t a bad idea."

"Moreover, that boy probably has some method to identify ores, otherwise, it would be impossible to pick out those two unremarkable stones I specially hid in the corner, covered with dirt. Once we kill those cave martial artists, we can force him to reveal if he has any Secret Technique. If he does, we’ll be rolling in wealth, without having to fight those damned cave martial artists."

"Even if he doesn’t, carving out those two Energy Stones he swallowed won’t be a loss for us!"

The fat shopkeeper sat in the chair, slapping the table as he spoke viciously.

...

Unaware of the events behind him, Li Weifeng returned to the courtyard with his ten stones.

He took out the three unusual stones and summoned his Qi Blood to crush them down.

Crack, crack...

With the application of great Power, the rocky surface of the ores crumbled away, revealing a jade-like core from which a rich aura of Energy Particles flowed out.

Success!