Guard Xu stood at the gate, still brooding over the damned man who had tricked him with a spirit stone, when suddenly, a silent figure in a black cloak appeared before him.

He simply extended his hand, indifferent. Hooded cultivators were almost the norm.

They called him a guard, but in the end, he was nothing more than a human toll booth. As long as they paid, he didn’t care.

It wasn’t as if the city lord cared about the cultivators’ safety. The guards were there only to ensure he profited from every person who passed through the gates.

The hooded man opened his hand, letting spirit stones fall onto Xu’s palm, and then strode into the city without a word.

Xu felt the weight of the ten stones and was about to pocket them when, instinctively, he took a closer look… and froze.

Eight spirit stones.

Two common stones.

His blood boiled.

“SON OF A *****!” the guard roared, the veins in his neck bulging. “I’m sure it was him! He’s the only one who dares to disrespect the city lord’s guards over a few damn spirit stones!”

He then looked toward the direction Bao Hui had gone and screamed in rage.

…

“I’LL GET YOU, YOU DAMNED BASTARD!!!”

The furious shout echoed as Bao Hui, now without his hood, smiled in satisfaction at having saved two spirit stones.

He headed straight for the Treasure Pavilion, the same one he had visited last time.

The place was bustling as always. His eyes swept across the hall until they landed on the young attendant from before. Fortunately, she wasn’t busy.

Striding toward her, he greeted:

“Hello, young lady!”

The attendant’s expression soured as soon as she saw him approaching.

She remembered him.

Last time, she had been on high alert, thinking she would be tricked by his fox-like face, but Bao Hui had only asked questions, spoken arrogantly… and left without buying anything.

Even so, she maintained her professional demeanor and forced a smile.

“Hello, sir! How may I help you?”

“Young lady, I’d like a private room to talk.”

“This—” The attendant hesitated.

Private rooms were reserved for VIPs and high-profile clients. She couldn’t just take anyone there just because they asked.

Bao Hui noticed her hesitation and smiled.

“Don’t worry. Once you see this, you’ll want to take me to a private room.”

He then opened the front of his cloak just enough for her to see his body and leaned his chubby waist forward slightly.

The attendant’s eyes widened as she began blushing fiercely.

Her first instinct was to look away and call the guards.

But before she could react, she realized what he was actually showing her.

Bags.

Hundreds of them.

Tied around his waist.

She didn’t know it yet, but each one was stuffed full of spirit stones, totaling one million.

Spirit stones were small and relatively light, but that quantity still weighed nearly a ton. If Bao Hui weren’t a skilled martial artist and cultivator, he would never have been able to carry them.

Upon seeing so many bags, the attendant understood that he had truly come to buy this time—and to spend a fortune.

Feeling embarrassed by her previous thoughts about what he had wanted to show her, she timidly nodded, her face still flushed, and politely led him to a private room.

“This way, sir…”

…

While everything seemed normal to Bao Hui and the attendant, for those watching from the outside—including customers and staff—the scene was something entirely different. Shock and horror were visible on their faces.

One of the customers, who wore a black cloak similar to Bao Hui’s, observed closely before turning his gaze to the beautiful attendant in front of him.

Then, without hesitation, he quickly pulled down his pants beneath his cloak, opened it, and leaned forward.

“Let’s go to a private room too, my lovely!” he said excitedly.

The attendant froze. Instinctively, her gaze lowered, and that’s when she saw it.

A tiny little worm trembling in the wind.

“Guards! There’s a pervert!” the attendant shouted furiously.

The guards arrived swiftly and dragged the man out.

Fortunately, the unexpected scene discouraged other idiots in the hall who had considered doing the same.

Meanwhile, the attendant who had called the guards was still deep in thought. Without realizing it, she blushed slightly as she pondered something.

“How big must it have been… to convince Sister Jing?”

…

At the same time, Bao Hui and Attendant Jing had entered the private room. As she was closing the door, they heard the other attendant’s screams calling for the guards.

Bao Hui simply shook his head bitterly.

‘Perverts even show up in a sales pavilion… this cultivation world is truly doomed,’ he thought, completely unaware that he was the true culprit.

“Sir, may I ask what you wish to purchase?” Attendant Jing inquired.

“Uhm… show me the Foundation Establishment techniques,” Bao Hui requested.

The attendant was startled to hear that request again. He had asked about the same techniques last time and left empty-handed. Would it happen again?

But since they were already there, she would do her job and hope he at least bought something this time.

“Well, we have a total of five, all basic techniques of one of the five elements. Their prices are practically the same, but since there’s a predominance of cultivators with fire spiritual roots, the Ascending Flame technique costs around 6,000 mid-grade spirit stones. The others are 5,000 each,” the attendant explained seriously.

‘Uhm… I didn’t know there was a predominance of fire cultivators. I’ll ask Rihai about it later,’ Aotian thought, pleased with the new information, which indirectly helped him decide. ‘This technique will be more useful for my plans.’

“I’ll take this Ascending Flame then,” Bao Hui said and tossed 60 storage pouches onto the table without even negotiating. He wanted to prove he was serious and not a joke.

CRACK!

The table collapsed under the weight of the pouches.

“…”

“…”

“Ahem!” Bao Hui coughed into his hand, embarrassed. He had forgotten that those pouches weighed over 600 kilograms and had simply thrown them all onto the table at once.

“I don’t have to pay for that, do I?” Bao Hui rubbed his hands with an innocent look.

“…”

…

After moving to a new room with an intact table, they resumed negotiations. Meanwhile, the other attendants watched the broken table in shock.

“Wow! Is Sister Jing really that fierce?” one of them covered her mouth, startled, her cheeks flushed.

“I don’t think so…” another murmured, rubbing her legs together discreetly, her face hot and her eyes slightly unfocused. “I think he’s the fierce one…”

…

Attendant Jing, after counting the spirit stones in the pouches, was nearly floating with happiness, thinking about the commission she would receive. But her surprise wasn’t over yet—Bao Hui still wanted more.

“Qi disguise techniques… You said you had eight in total last time. How much for all eight?” Bao Hui asked.

“All of them?” The attendant was slightly stunned, but remembering that he had just spent 600,000 spirit stones, it seemed completely normal.

She made a quick calculation.

“Since these are Refinement Tier skills, ranging from low to high level, the price isn’t too steep, but their utility makes them a bit more expensive. Altogether, they would cost around 40,000 spirit stones, but I can calculate the exact amount for you later.”

‘Refinement Tier? I have to ask Rihai!’ Aotian thought, referring to his personal Wikipedia at home.

“I’ll take them,” Bao Hui nodded and followed up with another question:

“And essence refinement techniques? Do you have any?”

The attendant unconsciously looked at him with curiosity. His requests were becoming increasingly unusual.

“Are you referring to the techniques used by mortals? I believe we have some… but they’re rarely sold. If a cultivator wants to strengthen a mortal family, it’s easier to steal techniques from other mortals than to spend spirit stones.” The attendant explained.

Seeing Bao Hui nod, she excused herself and left to check.

These techniques weren’t something attendants memorized, so she needed to search before finalizing the sale.

A few minutes later, she returned.

“Sir, we have a total of 50 manuals. Normally, they cost 10 spirit stones each, but since no one buys them, our pavilion offers them as a courtesy.” She said with a smile, handing him a pouch with the manuals.

Bao Hui simply nodded and accepted the gift without comment.

But deep inside, Aotian couldn’t help but lament the difference between people. Treasures so valuable and fiercely contested by mortals—capable of igniting wars and causing bloodbaths—were treated as mere trifles and given away as courtesy here.

“Qi Refinement cultivation techniques… how many do you have, and what’s the price?” he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“This…” The attendant was even more surprised.

Usually, a customer asked about a specific technique and bought just one. But this man was buying in bulk.

Her surprise was soon replaced by excitement. The commission she would earn would be enormous.

“Cultivation techniques of this level are abundant in our pavilion. We probably have around a thousand. Since they are sold in large quantities, their prices are cheap, ranging from 500 to 1,000 low-grade spirit stones, with a few high-quality ones reaching up to 10,000.”

She waited with bright eyes, hoping he would say how many he wanted.

But this time, Bao Hui’s appearance, which had been ordinary just moments ago, shifted into a fox-like smile.

That look nearly made the attendant’s soul leave her body.

“Look, here’s another 400,000 low-grade spirit stones,” he said, this time placing the pouches carefully on the table, which only groaned slightly under the weight.

“Along with the stones I gave earlier, that totals 1 million. Now, here’s my proposal…” He intertwined his fingers and rested his hands comfortably on his stomach.

“Your pavilion gives me everything I asked for earlier, along with the highest number of techniques that match the sincerity of your pavilion. Your sincerity will determine whether I return here for future business.”

A cunning light flickered in his eyes.

…

Bao Hui left the pavilion with a satisfied smile and his hood pulled over his head.

In his pouch, he carried: one Foundation Establishment technique, eight Qi disguise skills, 50 essence refinement techniques, and finally, 1,000 Qi Refinement techniques.

He had spent 1 million spirit stones and walked away with jade slips worth nearly 1.5 million.

Attendant Jing was also beaming. In the end, both the pavilion and she had profited even more than Bao Hui.

Heritage jade slips were the pavilion’s most profitable products. They were merely copies, and the only real cost was the jade slip used to store the technique—something that only cost 10 spirit stones each.

However, since these techniques were already widely distributed and could be bought from third parties at lower prices, they were rarely sold within the pavilion itself. Of course, Foundation Establishment techniques were an exception, but even those were rarely purchased due to their high cost.

That’s why a super customer like Bao Hui was extremely rare.

1 million spirit stones for a few jade slips…

It was bloody profit.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep