Back when he'd been traveling with Gui Che and the others, they'd killed quite a few Seventh and Eighth Stage demon beasts, so he naturally ended up with a hefty haul of materials. Last time, he hadn't managed to offload all the useless leftovers, but now he'd finally cleared them out.
If Yang Yan's performance pleased him once again, Yang Kai had decided to have her help him forge Void-grade Artifacts.
Staring at the demon beast materials spread all over the ground, Yang Yan hesitated for a long while before finally relenting.
It was only thirty thousand high-grade Holy Crystals, wasn't it? She was sure she'd earn enough someday!
After sweeping all the materials into her Space Ring, Yang Yan produced another list and handed it to Yang Kai. "Go buy these ores for me. I need to rest for a few days — I can start forging after that."
Yang Kai took the list, didn't bother to check what ores she needed, nodded, and turned to leave.
From behind him, Yang Yan asked carefully, "Could I recover in your stone chamber? The spiritual energy there is a bit more abundant."
"Sure!"
Leaving Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai flew straight toward Tianyun City.
Following Yang Yan's list, he finished purchasing all the listed ores in just half a day. Yang Yan seemed to know exactly what kinds of ores Tianyun City had on hand, so everything on her list could be found here — no supply concerns at all.
While he was verifying the quantity and quality of the ores with a shop assistant at the ore merchant's, a smiling, portly old man walked over and looked Yang Kai over with considerable interest. "Young friend, buying so many ores — could it be you're looking to forge artifacts?"
Yang Kai frowned and glanced at him. The assistant immediately introduced them: "Sir, this is our shopkeeper, Qian Tong!"
Yang Kai offered a mild nod but said nothing. The fat old man looked harmless enough, but his strength was far from negligible — likely a Return to Void Realm powerhouse, his aura restrained to an extreme degree. Yang Kai didn't know what the old man had picked up on, but now was not the time for loose talk.
Qian Tong didn't mind the silence. Still smiling, he said, "Young friend, rest assured — our shop offers fair prices and honest dealings. We'd never pull any shady trades. And we also purchase Artifacts. If you have any to sell, we can sit down and talk. The price will certainly satisfy you."
"How do you know I have Artifacts to sell?" Yang Kai glanced at him again, genuinely puzzled.
Qian Tong let out a hearty laugh. "Every visitor is a guest, and I say the same thing to them all."
"Well, I do actually have some Artifacts to sell," Yang Kai said with a smile.
He'd come to Tianyun City this time for two reasons. First, to purchase the ores on Yang Yan's list. Second, to offload the Artifacts the woman had forged. He had no use for them anyway — whether it was the mace, the dagger, or the soft whip, none of them suited him. Leaving them in his Space Ring was a criminal waste. Better to exchange them for Holy Crystals.
Those ores had cost him a pretty penny in Holy Crystals.
He'd originally planned to ask Wu Yi to help sell those Artifacts, since he wasn't familiar with the local market. But Wu Yi's own circumstances weren't great — her strength and standing were both limited, and asking her for help might invite unnecessary trouble.
Now this smiling, portly old man had come to him of his own accord, which hit the mark perfectly.
The man was no pushover in terms of strength, but Yang Kai wasn't fazed. Worst case, he could tear through space and flee. Having a means of escape meant he had the leverage to negotiate.
"Oh? In that case, my eye for people isn't half bad, haha. This way, please!" Qian Tong gestured and led Yang Kai off to the side.
Before long, they arrived at a private chamber. It was clearly designed for transactions — many sellers didn't want others seeing their faces, and even less did they want prying eyes finding out what they were selling. So it wasn't uncommon for masked individuals to visit shops for trades.
This private chamber neatly solved all those problems. Once the door was shut, only Yang Kai and Qian Tong remained inside, and even divine sense seemed to be blocked off, unable to penetrate.
Yang Kai surveyed his surroundings, his expression unchanged, perfectly at ease.
A shrewd glint flickered through Qian Tong's smiling eyes. He was secretly taken aback — he couldn't tell whether this young man was simply thick-skinned or truly unafraid.
He was a businessman, though. Surprised or not, he didn't dwell on it and instead asked, "I wonder what kind of Artifacts young friend wishes to sell, and at what grade?"
Yang Kai produced the three items Yang Yan had forged.
Qian Tong glanced at them, picked up each Artifact in turn to examine, and after a moment nodded slightly. "Though I'm no expert in artifact forging, I can tell these three are top-quality within their grade, and they were likely crafted by the same artisan. What price did you have in mind?"
The fact that Qian Tong stuck strictly to business without prying into extraneous matters pleased Yang Kai greatly.
"I'm not well-versed in pricing. How do you typically handle purchases?" Yang Kai countered.