Jiang Chen, for his part, remained utterly composed and at ease. The prospect of being surrounded had not robbed him of his composure in the slightest. He simply stood there with a languid air, his expression perfectly natural, betraying not the slightest hint of the tension or fear one might expect from someone in his predicament.
This calm demeanor of his caused the others to wonder—perhaps his background really was as formidable as he claimed.
Even the shopkeeper found himself sizing Jiang Chen up and down with careful, appraising eyes.
A shopkeeper spent his entire life observing customers and naturally possessed a keen eye for reading people. But this particular individual? He simply could not read him.
On the surface, his attire was not particularly lavish—hardly the sort of thing one would expect from a scion of one of the great houses of the Divine Kingdoms.
And yet, the bearing the man carried, that unshakable composure, that presence that demanded attention—it was unmistakably reminiscent of a true noble scion.
The shopkeeper was, for the moment, unable to make up his mind.
The Five Heroes of the Northern Crown were independent cultivators with no small amount of standing in the wider world. But there was no way the shop would dare offend a great house's young master on their account—least of all one from the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms.
Everyone knew that the great powers of the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms were the most fiercely protective of their own.
If they truly offended a scion of a great house, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The Five Heroes of the Northern Crown were merely old customers who spent generously at their establishment. Call it a deep bond of friendship, and that would be stretching things considerably.
For a moment, the shopkeeper hesitated.
The hawk-nosed cultivator, however, fixed Jiang Chen with a cold sneer. "Kid, these days plenty of people try to pass themselves off as someone from the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms. You're nowhere near the top of that list. If you've got the guts, state your name. If the Five Heroes of the Northern Crown truly can't afford to cross you, we'll slink off with our tails between our legs, no hard feelings. But if you're a fraud—then I'm afraid you've got a real problem on your hands today."
These men of the jianghu lived and breathed the martial world. They knew exactly what to say to whom—a skill they had honed to perfection through years of navigating every conceivable social situation.
The speech sounded magnanimous on the surface, but there was cunning buried within it. Outwardly bold, it was in reality exceedingly slippery.
The implication was plain: if you truly are someone from the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms, then the Five Heroes of the Northern Crown will bow their heads, and no harm done.
But if you are not? Then sorry, friend—you're in deep trouble today.
Put simply, it came down to four words: bully the weak, fear the strong.
But to be able to couch such brazen intimidation in such high-minded language—that spoke to how often the Five Heroes of the Northern Crown had practiced this particular art.
The shopkeeper's stance had grown ambiguous as well. In a tone that was neither warm nor cold, he said, "Friend, our humble shop does enjoy a modest reputation here in Oriole Valley—a few centuries in the trade, after all. If you truly are a friend of the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms, then having you grace our establishment is an honor. Forget a single piece of Blue Smoke Ancient Jade—ten pieces, a hundred pieces, we would gladly offer as a tribute to a distinguished guest. But might I ask… who exactly are you?"
This was another probe, an attempt to force Jiang Chen into revealing his identity.
Every customer in the shop had set down the wares they had been browsing and turned their full attention to the spectacle. Those standing near Jiang Chen quietly stepped back, putting as much distance between themselves and him as the space would allow.
Clearly, these were not stupid people. No one wanted to get caught in the crossfire should things escalate.
Thus, Jiang Chen and Hua Ming found themselves standing alone in the center of the shop, conspicuously exposed and glaringly conspicuous.
Hua Ming was trembling inside. He was, after all, just a youth. He spent his days drifting through Oriole Valley in a state somewhere between begging and scrabbling by, and in the eyes of most people, he was little more than a filthy stray dog—never worth so much as a second glance.
But now here he was, standing under the scrutiny of so many eyes. Though terror gripped his heart, he managed—through sheer force of will—to hold himself together.
"I'm Hua Ming, a pittance of a beggar. When have I ever stood at a moment like this? When have I ever been the focus of so much attention? Whatever this gentleman's background may be, I'm sticking by him to the very end! My worthless life—if I die here today, at least I'll have had one glorious moment to look back on!"
Hua Ming's resolve had solidified.
He felt that his entire life had been lived under the contemptuous gazes of others—nothing but humiliation from start to finish. Forget respect; he had never even been treated like a normal human being.
And yet, because of this gentleman standing beside him, he—Hua Ming—was now the center of attention, and what he received in return was no longer scorn, but something else entirely.
The sensation of being looked at not as invisible, but as someone who mattered—it made the blood in his veins feel as though it were boiling. Even if he were to die right now, he would finally have lived one vivid, shining moment!
Jiang Chen cast a faint glance at the shopkeeper. As for the Five Heroes of the Northern Crown, he couldn't be bothered to spare them even a single look.
A thin, detached smile played at the corners of his lips.
"Shopkeeper, if I were to say I'm not from the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms—would I be leaving your establishment on my back today?"
How could Jiang Chen fail to see through their act? Their courteous words were nothing but a sheath for hidden steel.
"Is this how you run your business? If it were any other customer standing here instead of me, would you be cutting off his head at this very moment?"
"Kid, you've already talked a mouthful of nonsense. If you can't prove you're from the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms today, then you'd better consider yourself unlucky," the hawk-nosed cultivator sneered.
Jiang Chen let out a short laugh of disbelief and shrugged his shoulders. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"
"You can take it that way," the other growled, glowering at him.
"Very well, then. I consider myself unlucky. By all means—bring out whatever skills you think will make me regret it, and let this young master have a look." Jiang Chen treated the man's threat with all the concern one might afford a passing breeze.