Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 267: Goosebumps

“They are pretty fast.”

Fang Chen was delighted. It wasn’t evening yet, but the spirit materials had already arrived.

He and Abbess Clearlotus made their way to the Ye Clan’s treasury, where they saw carriages of spirit materials being shipped in. Some of these ores hadn’t been refined yet, so they were too big to fit inside storage rings.

The Ye Clan’s, the Xu Clan’s, and the Zhou Clan’s patriarchs were supervising the shipping of the spirit materials. At the same time, they took out a bunch of refined spirit materials from their storage rings.

They rushed up to Fang Chen as soon as they saw him.

“Elder, the spirit materials are in, but they are a bit bulky,” the Ye Clan’s patriarch reported.

“That’s not a concern,” Fang Chen replied with a smile.

Just then, a middle-aged man cloaked in black walked out of the treasury and up to the three patriarchs and coolly said, “The items are in. When do you intend to settle the bill?”

The Ye Clan’s patriarch turned to Fang Chen.

“You’re the buyer?”

The middle-aged man looked at Fang Chen with a hint of astonishment, especially when he realized that he couldn’t see through the latter’s cultivation. He figured that the latter had an artifact that concealed his aura and didn’t think too much into it.

“How much do I owe you?” Fang Chen asked with a smile.

“You paid a deposit of 4000 low-grade ki stones. These spirit materials are worth 8763, so you owe us 4763,” the middle-aged man said.

“Mister Lin, why don’t we round down the figure?” the Xu Clan’s patriarch asked with a smile.

The middle-aged man glared at him. “What did you say? Our Heaven Treasure Hall’s goods are affordable, yet you want a discount? Are you asking me to pay on your behalf? You’re already a twelfth stage Ki Refinement cultivator. Grow up!”

The expression of the Xu Clan’s patriarch stiffened up.

Fang Chen, the other patriarchs, and some of the Ye Clansmen were here too. Yet, the middle-aged man still lectured him without showing any consideration for his pride.

“Don’t you think goodwill is important for business?” Fang Chen frowned.

The middle-aged coldly looked at Fang Chen. “I’m here to do business, not to make friends. Why should I show goodwill to you people?”

The Ye Clan’s patriarch quickly stepped in to defuse the situation. “Calm down, calm down.”

He turned to Fang Chen and said, “Elder, he is Manager Lin from the Heaven Treasure Hall, a twelfth stage Ki Refinement cultivator. The Heaven Treasure Hall is from a grade-4 state, and their business spans numerous grade-5 and grade-6 states.”

The middle-aged man stared at Fang Chen, curious to know how the latter would react upon learning his background.

To his surprise, Fang Chen nonchalantly nodded before replying, “It doesn’t matter where you’re from, but there should be some basic manners when conducting business. If you’re going to put on a lofty attitude, I think we can just call this deal off.”

“You want to call this deal off? We won’t refund your deposit.” The middle-aged man burst into laughter. He turned to his subordinates and roared, “Take all our spirit materials back!”

“Yes!”

The cultivators who were shipping the spirit materials into the treasury began moving them out instead.

The three patriarchs were stunned.

Abbess Clearlotus stared at the middle-aged man, flabbergasted. Is this any way to do business?

“Calm down, Mister Lin!”

The Ye Clan’s patriarch tried to mediate between both parties, knowing that he couldn’t offend either side. To be honest, he was more afraid of offending the middle-aged man, who was likely to be from a grade-5 or even grade-4 state.

Mister Lin’s clan might already have a Golden Core cultivator, let alone a behemoth like the Heaven Treasure Hall.

It would be hard for him to do business in the future if he offended Mister Lin.

“Mister Lin, this elder is actually a sword cultivator,” the Ye Clan’s patriarch told Mister Lin via telepathy,

He had been reluctant to reveal Fang Chen’s identity as he didn’t want Mister Lin to directly reach out to Fang Chen. If so, they couldn’t even earn some commission as the middleman.

Who could have thought that Mister Lin would be so hot-tempered, resulting in this awkward situation?

Sword cultivator? Mister Lin was initially startled before bursting into laughter. He pointed his finger at Fang Chen with eyes filled with ridicule. “You said that he’s a sword cultivator?!”

The crowd understood that the Ye Clan’s patriarch must have sent a telepathic message to Mister Lin.

The Xu Clan’s and the Zhou Clan’s patriarchs exchanged looks. They decided to stay out of this, since they had already done what was asked of them. It was not as if they had a say when dealing with the Heaven Treasure Hall anyway.

“Mister Lin…” the Ye Clan’s patriarch said with a bitter smile.

At this rate, he might end up offending both sides. He was afraid that Fang Chen would kill Mister Lin in a moment of anger. That would surely bring a catastrophe upon their Ye Clan!

“Forget it. I don’t like their way of doing business. Let them leave. I’ll take those 4000 low-grade ki stones as alms to them.” Fang Chen shook his head.

The crowd was taken aback.

Mister Lin was stunned before bursting into laughter. “You’re saying this is a sword cultivator? Sword cultivators are known to be hot-tempered lunatics. This is my first time seeing such a timid sword cultivator. You have opened my eyes today!”

The Ye Clan’s patriarch was so terrified that he could feel pins and needles on his scalp. He was relieved that Fang Chen didn’t make a move as if he wasn’t angry at all.

Soon, the spirit materials were all removed from the Ye Clan’s premise.

Mister Lin smiled at the three patriarchs and said, “Feel free to look for me if you ever have such good business in the future. I’d be willing to make a trip here to get 4000 low-grade ki stones for free.”

He took one last look at Fang Chen before leaving the Ye Clan with hearty laughter.

The surroundings fell silent.

Abbess Clearlotus was intrigued. She knew that Fang Chen wasn’t the kind of person to let others take advantage of him, so why did he not make a move?

“E-elder…” the Ye Clan’s patriarch hoarsely called out.

“This matter has nothing to do with the Ye Clan, or the Xu Clan and the Zhou Clan.” Fang Chen smiled. “You need not take it to heart.”

But the more amiable he was, the more terrified the three patriarchs became.

The Xu Clan’s patriarch mustered his courage and asked, “Why don’t we compensate for your loss? We should be able to raise 4000 low-grade ki stones if we sell the Spirit Heaven Sect’s location and do a bit of fundraising…”

“Stop worrying. I already said it’s fine. I’m tired.” Fang Chen impatiently waved his hand before slowly walking off with Abbess Clearlotus.

The three patriarchs looked at one another.

“Something huge is going to happen,” the Zhou Clan’s patriarch said.

…

Mister Lin and his subordinates strutted out of Spirit Heaven City. They were laughing about what had happened earlier.

“That Ye Clan’s patriarch dares claim that young man is a sword cultivator. I have never heard of such a cowardly sword cultivator!”

“Heh, he must be intimidated by our boss.”

“I concur.”

Mister Lin was in a merry mood listening to his subordinates’ chatter. A single trip here added 4000 low-grade ki stones into his private finances. It sure was a worthwhile trip!

“It’s much better to live a high life here than to be a dog in a grade-4 state,” Mister lLin murmured with a laugh.

Just then, they spotted two cultivators chatting while walking in their direction.

“It’s a pity we arrived too late. I heard that the sword cultivator on the Spirit Heaven Mountain obliterated the Sea Dragon Sect’s Flood Dragon Island Master with a single, devastating slash!”

“Ey, that would have been an incredible sight. The Qing Province Sword Sect Master is known as the Qing Province Number One Swordsman, but he was so intimidated that he even stepped down and relinquished his position to the sword cultivator.”

“He killed a late Foundation Establishment with a single slash and intimidated a mid Foundation Establishment into submission; sword cultivators are not to be made light of!”

Mister Lin stared at the departing duo as a chill started to spread in his body. They… can’t be talking about that guy in the Ye Clan, right?

“How far away are we from Spirit Heaven City?” Mister Lin asked.

“We are around 25 kilometers away,” a subordinate replied.

“Quick, let’s hasten our footsteps and leave this place as soon as possible!” Mister Lin roared, and the group began running frenziedly.