Hua Ming's face was burning with embarrassment. Seeing Jiang Chen walk ahead, he felt both awkward and sheepish, but he still jogged to catch up.
"Brother, brother, wait for me!" This kid, Hua Ming, had a stubborn streak when it came to doing business, and he was thick-skinned too. Despite his young age, he already had his own set of survival instincts.
Jiang Chen stopped and smiled faintly. "Enough. Your mission is complete. The information fee you were owed has been paid. Go find someone else to do business with."
Hua Ming said eagerly, "Brother, that was just an accident earlier. My bargaining skills haven't been given a proper showcase yet. When it comes to Spiritual Medicine, I'm not especially knowledgeable. But if you're looking to purchase ancient jade, that's my specialty. Just listen to me and I guarantee you won't go wrong—I'll save you a fortune, no question."
Jiang Chen was speechless at Hua Ming's sheer tenacity. Fortunately, he was just strolling around anyway, so having one more person trailing behind him didn't really make a difference.
He shrugged. "Fine. If you want to follow me, go ahead."
Hua Ming was thrilled, thumping his chest repeatedly. "Great! Distance tests a horse's strength—in time, you'll definitely discover that I, Hua Ming, am no false reputation!"
Despite his young age, Hua Ming had managed to scrape by in Yellow Oriole Valley. He might not have had many other skills, but he had a decent eye for people.
It was rare to meet someone who treated him with such cordiality, and this man clearly cut an imposing figure—he was generous with his money and looked like he had plenty of it.
Hua Ming felt this was a chance to turn his life around. That was why he had clung to Jiang Chen so desperately, refusing to let go no matter what.
After purchasing a few stalks of Heavenly Cloud Lingzhi, Jiang Chen reverted to his usual mode of looking without buying.
As for the Blue Smoke Ancient Jade—the most popular commodity in all of Yellow Oriole Valley—he barely touched it.
Blue Smoke Ancient Jade was like gambling on raw stones. Most of the time, it held only collectible value, with no practical worth whatsoever.
If you happened to buy one that did carry practical value, that was essentially striking it lucky.
But that didn't dampen the fervor surrounding the trade. Every stall had a crowd of passionate warriors gathered around it.
Clearly, on Blue Smoke Island, the ancient jade had changed many people's fortunes. Some warriors had even used what they found inside the jade to ascend to the pinnacle of the martial path.
It could be said that Blue Smoke Ancient Jade had elevated a generation of warriors.
But it had also driven countless others to ruin.
Put bluntly, countless warriors pinned their hopes for the martial path on the miracle of Blue Smoke Ancient Jade. In reality, the odds of a piece containing an ancient inheritance were astronomically small—a one-in-a-million chance, or even lower.
Jiang Chen shook his head inwardly at the frenzied atmosphere.
He didn't like this kind of mania, and he liked even less the idea of warriors pinning their martial hopes on something as illusory as gambling luck.
Blue Smoke Ancient Jade was pure gambling.
For the vast majority, it was a gamble that ended in total loss.
Moreover, Jiang Chen seriously doubted just how many pieces of Blue Smoke Ancient Jade on the market actually contained ancient inheritances. Did this treasure, so-called the Blue Smoke Desolate Jade, really have that high a probability of yielding something?
Most critically, Jiang Chen strongly suspected that even if there were genuine treasures among them, wouldn't experts have identified them first? Wouldn't someone have appraised them in advance?
Perhaps, in the eyes of most warriors, Blue Smoke Ancient Jade could not be identified before it was refined. There was simply no way to know.
But with Jiang Chen's level of expertise, he was convinced that a true master—if not able to identify the jade beforehand—could at least sense something. That much was entirely possible.
Hua Ming, trailing behind Jiang Chen, asked curiously, "Brother, I can see it's your first time on Blue Smoke Island. Don't you want to try your hand at the ancient jade that's all the rage here?"
"I haven't seen anything worth buying," Jiang Chen replied simply.
Hua Ming laughed. "You can't tell anything by just strolling past like this. Besides, ancient jade is all about luck. Just looking won't get you anywhere."
Jiang Chen smiled. "If I can't tell anything by looking, why waste money?"
"Waste money? What if you hit the jackpot? What if you strike gold? We're talking about a treasure worth a thousand times, even ten thousand times what you paid!"
Jiang Chen chuckled. "Getting rich quick? Is that why everyone is so worked up?"
"It's the hottest thing on Blue Smoke Island. Brother, if you stay here a bit longer, no matter where you go, playing the ancient jade game is the thing to do."
Jiang Chen was naturally not someone who could be swayed so easily, but he continued his leisurely stroll, casting a few glances at each stall he passed.
He maintained his principle of not making a move lightly, however.
Hua Ming, though itching with frustration at being unable to show off his talents, knew the money was in Jiang Chen's hands. He couldn't very well demand that someone spend it.
They walked on like this for a good two hours. Just as Hua Ming was about to give up, Jiang Chen suddenly stopped in front of a particular shop.
This shop was clearly larger in scale than the others, and a great many cultivators had gathered inside.
"Let's go in and take a look," Jiang Chen said, walking toward the entrance.
Hua Ming watched Jiang Chen step inside and felt a flash of anxiety. His talent for haggling in Yellow Oriole Valley was suited to the street stalls—this kind of large shop typically had powerful backers. He, Hua Ming, might have a silver tongue, but he didn't dare bargain recklessly inside someone else's established store. If he caught the attention of the local powers, he would have more trouble than he could handle.