Chapter 269 - Elder Ximo of the Healer Circle

"Eh?" Beiwei Jinguo was stumped for a moment.

The young lady's change in attitude had come far too quickly for him to react. With the smile remaining on her face all this while, Beiwei Jinguo did not even know if the young lady was serious or if she was just joking around.

Even after the young lady did a polite curtsy and walked away, Beiwei Jinguo still remained standing there like a statue, unable to figure out exactly what was going on. It was only when Lu Tianzi gave him a slight nudge from behind that Beiwei Jinguo finally managed to break out of his daze.

"What the hell was that?" Beiwei Jinguo cursed in annoyance. "What a money-faced woman!"

"Forget it, she's just trying to earn a living," Lu Tianzi patted Beiwei Jinguo on the shoulder in consolation.

"I'm sorry that you have to see this happen," Beiwei Jinguo's face had already turned slightly red.

The night before, he had still been bragging about how amazing his teacher's heritage was. Yet not even a full day had passed and he was already finding himself snubbed for not having enough low ranked beast cores in his possession.

In fact, he could even vaguely see others shooting weird stares towards him after overhearing their conversation.

How utterly embarrassing!

"Don't worry about it," Lu Tianzi waved it off nonchalantly. "These things happen everywhere. I have personally experienced it many times as well. In any case, it seems that the Fireaxe Inn that she spoke of is beyond our budget. Let's just try to find a suitable inn by ourselves."

While Lu Tianzi had plenty of low ranked beast cores in his possession, he was not intending to show off his wealth by paying for Beiwei Jinguo as well.

In any case, Lu Tianzi still did not fully understand the mechanics behind the Healer Circle and the Healers' Meet.

Before figuring things out, it would be best to maintain a low profile and avoid drawing too much attention to himself. That was especially since he was only here as a spectator this time.

"I guess we have no other choice," Beiwei Jinguo agreed.

They group of three walked right down the street, not bothering to look around much as they went on.

Before securing accommodations for themselves, the group of three was not exactly in the mood to shop around.

That was especially the case for Beiwei Jinguo, who had just been shamed for his lack of wealth.

Being shamed once was already bad enough. But if he spent too much at the open market and ended up being unable to even pay for the cheapest of accommodations, that would be the epitome of embarrassment!

After passing through the open market, the group arrived at a completely different area.

While the ground was still carpeted with grass, the buildings in this area were visibly different. Instead of the makeshift stores from before, the buildings here were actual permanent structures that had far better architecture.

"So this is the Fireaxe Inn that the lady mentioned earlier," Lu Tianzi looked towards a building that stood out from the rest.

It was a three-storey building that looked far grander than anything else around it. Its beautiful oak pillars were polished to resemble mirrors, and multiple flowers bloomed in the small courtyard before its doors. A signboard above its front door had the words 'Fireaxe Inn' painted in elegant calligraphy, allowing Lu Tianzi to identify it immediately.

"No wonder she is so picky with her customers," Nanlan Qianxue smirked. "Not many people would be able to afford staying at a place like that."

Hearing that, Beiwei Jinguo's face became red once again as he was reminded of being snubbed earlier.

"This place looks like an inn as well, let's check that out," Beiwei Jinguo hurriedly led the way into another building down the street.

Unlike the Fireaxe Inn, this one looked significantly more ordinary, which was why Beiwei Jinguo chose to enter without hesitation.

"Welcome, dear guests!" a scrawny middle-aged man quickly walked over to greet them at the door. "Are you looking to have a meal or to stay the night?"

"May I know how much is it to rent a room?" Beiwei Jinguo carefully asked. He certainly did not want to risk being scolded for wasting the other party's time again.

"A regular room costs one low ranked beast core for every three nights, while a premium room costs one low ranked beast core per night!" the scrawny man introduced enthusiastically.

"Then we will take… wait, how many rooms do you need?" Beiwei Jinguo turned towards Lu Tianzi.

"We will need one room each," Lu Tianzi smiled.

In the end, the group rented three rooms for the rest of the week, one for each person. Now that they were done securing a place to stay for the night, they finally had the peace of mind to enjoy a proper meal at the inn.

While having their meal, they managed to obtain some essential information from the innkeeper as well.

Just like what the young lady at the entrance had mentioned, the Healers' Meet will be starting in a week's time. It was a gathering of poison masters organised by the Healer Circle, with the intention to exchange ideas and learn from each others' expertise.

In order to relieve people's boredom during the wait, the Healer Circle had converted the area near the entrance into an open market, free for anyone to set up a store to peddle their goods.

There were many poison masters who came early just to set up stores, wanting to cash in on some items that they had in their possession.

There were also many poison masters who came early just to take a look at these stores, hoping that there would be some items that they had been unable to find anywhere else.

Of course, any conflicts that resulted from these transactions would be strictly between the two parties. The Healer Circle had already explicitly announced that they would not bear any responsibilities for whatever happened as a result of these transactions.

Therefore, everyone was advised to trade at their own risks.

Apart from the open market area, there was also what people call the permanent area.

Instead of the makeshift stores of the open market, buildings in the permanent area existed with or without the coming of the Healers' Meet. These include both Fireaxe Inn and the inn that they were currently at.

They got to know as well that Fireaxe Inn was actually a business ran by the Healer Circle, with its third storey reserved just for elders of the Healer Circle.

And then there was the private area, where only actual members of the Healer Circle and their guests were allowed to enter. There was no doubt that the coming main event of the Healers' Meet would be held somewhere inside just like the previous runs, but not even the innkeeper who had been here for years knew what exactly was inside.

After all, only those who had received an invitation to the Healers' Meet and their companions would be allowed to enter.

Realising that they had already gotten most of the useful information out of the innkeeper, the group finally left the inn to walk around the open markets.

Earlier, they had only walked down one of the many streets, and they were not even paying attention to the stores then. Now that they had the time to spare, there was no reason not to take their time visiting the various stores in the open market.

They slowly strolled down the streets, taking a look at the various stores lined up along both sides.

The vast majority of these stores were selling herbs or other plantal ingredients. Across the numerous stores, the variety of plantal items displayed was simply dazzling to the eye. Live plants, dead plants, unprocessed plant parts, processed plant parts, whatever one could think of, it was likely to be on sale in one of the stores.

But aside from those, there were also stores that sold items such as weapons, armour, manuals, and various items of other sorts. Of course, these were still a minority as compared to the plantal items on sale.

While the area was relatively smaller, the variety of items on sale here would not lose out one bit to the markets in Bluenight City. In fact, if only plantal items were considered, even the markets of Bluenight City could not possible compare!

There were many instances where Beiwei Jinguo was tempted to make purchases. But when he thought about how many low ranked beast cores he had left, he could not help but let out a deep sigh.

After paying for a week's worth of accommodation at the inn, Beiwei Jinguo was only left with two low ranked beast cores. Unless he came across something that he absolutely needed, he had to save his low ranked beast cores for times of emergency.

Lu Tianzi did not have such worries, but he was in no hurry to make any purchases either.

After all, they still had a long week ahead of them. Unless it was something exceptional that might be snapped up by others at anytime, he could easily return to make his purchases any time he wanted during this period of time.

Instead, Lu Tianzi spent most of his time explaining to Nanlan Qianxue what the various plantal items were. Even though Nanlan Qianxue was usually fine with being left alone, he was still afraid that Nanlan Qianxue might feel left out after a while.

"The items here truly sound quite interesting," Nanlan Qianxue remarked with a smile.

"Hahaha, aren't they?" Lu Tianzi laughed before gesturing towards a nearby store. "Look, he is still entranced over there."

Looking over, Nanlan Qianxue saw that Beiwei Jinguo was currently standing in front of a store selling various poison ingredients, his brows furrowed in dilemma.

"Sir, stop hesitating and just buy it. I dare put my reputation on the line and assure you that you would never be able to find other stores selling it any cheaper than this!" the store keeper patted his own chest in assurance.

"Let me think about this just a little more…" Beiwei Jinguo bit his lower lips in contemplation.

At this moment, a deep voice sounded out from behind him. "Excuse me, young brother. But could you be Elder Beichang's student?"

"Eh?" Beiwei Jinguo spun around in surprise.

A man looking to be in his mid sixties stood before him. His head of long white hair was tied in a neat braid, and he wore white long robes under a white cape. Even his shoes were white in colour as well, perfectly complementing the rest of his look.

"I am right, aren't I?" the old man's eyes squinted as he examined Beiwei Jinguo carefully. "You should be Elder Beichang's student."

"My teacher is indeed surnamed Beichang," Beiwei Jinguo nodded. "May I know how Senior is acquainted with my teacher?"

"How can you not know him!" the store keeper chided from behind. "That's Elder Ximo, an esteemed elder of the Healer Circle!"

"An elder of the Healer Circle?" Beiwei Jinguo blurted out in shock before hurriedly clasping his fists towards Elder Ximo. "My apologies for not recognising Elder Ximo earlier!"

As an elder of the Healer Circle, it was almost certain that this Elder Ximo was a man of high standing in the world of poison masters. Beiwei Jinguo was worried that his ignorance could have offended the other party in any way.

That was something that he absolutely could not afford to do, especially now when it was right before the Healers' Meet!

"Hahaha! Don't worry about it!" Elder Ximo let out a hearty laughter. "You were just a child the last time we met, so it is no wonder that you do not recognise me. In any case, Elder Beichang was a good friend of mine, and it is fate that brought us together here as well. Why don't you come along with me back to my residence? Let's have a good chat over tea."

"I would gladly oblige!" Beiwei Jinguo beamed with joy. It was a rare opportunity to know more about how his teacher was like in the past, so he naturally would not decline. "However, I am here with two companions. Would it be convenient for them to come along as well?"

"I don't see why not," Elder Ximo answered with an amiable smile. "Where are your companions?"

"Please wait a moment," Beiwei Jinguo turned to wave towards Lu Tianzi. "Brother Tianzi!"

When Elder Ximo saw Lu Tianzi waving back and making his way over, Elder Ximo could not help but reveal a look of surprise.

Elder Ximo could understand Beiwei Jinguo coming all the way to attend the Healers' Meet with his teacher's invitation. He could also understand if Beiwei Jinguo brought along two servants to help with his chores.

However, Elder Ximo had never expected that Beiwei Jinguo would actually be accompanied by an Origin Core realm martial artist!

It seemed like the student of the once-famous Elder Beichang had inherited his teacher's abilities, and was not one to be taken lightly either!