Treasure City and Treasure Island were exactly as Tao Wu had said. Although everyone was filled with greed and excitement when they saw the magnificent ship and the ability to draw the heaven and earth essence over, they did not act on their desire to own it.
The rules were ironclad, no one could shake them, and if anyone tried they'd end up as the target for all others, alongside no harbor letting them enter.
However, this did not stop them from plotting against the delegation. Although they could not do anything while they were docked in Treasure City's harbor, no one said anything about following them later when they left and then commandeering the ship.
Xue Wei was aware of their thoughts. Their eyes were glistening with malice, and they did not attempt at hiding their intentions. Many onboard the ship started frowning. They too understood that having gone to Treasure Island was not a bad idea initially, but after seeing them all being like this, they realized that when one had a treasure, flaunting it could cause infamy and bad luck.
Xue Wei smiled wryly. There were not many in the city who were stronger than him and the crew, but there did not need to be many, just one Saint who wished to take over the ship and they would be done for.
Pondering over what to do, Xue Wei was feeling somewhat regretful.
Should they sell the ship and buy another one? If they did, then they would end up no longer being the target for the others, but they would also lose out on an excellent cultivation resource.
However, life was more important than speedy cultivation. Although external factors could help them progress faster, they did not doubt their own strength and talent, so instead of holding on to such a hot potato, why not sell it to someone else and let it be their problem?
He was not the only one who thought like this, more and more of the people on board the ship were more than willing to cut their losses.
They had almost lost their lives on the Berserker island. Now that they were alive, they had to treasure their lives much more.
Since this was the case, Xue Wei did not have to say anything. Although they were slightly reluctant, the ambassador did not hesitate and ordered someone to guard the ship while he went to one of the ship vendors in town.
Slowly everyone who had the courage, or the ones who had something they needed started to disembark the ship in small groups so that they could protect one another.
Xue Wei did not waste any more time either and disembarked the ship together with his group of friends. The only one who did not go with them was Jiang Yingyue. Instead, she stayed along with Tao Wu and left the ship with him.
Seeing this, Xue Wei was more than confident that in the future, he would no longer be traveling together with Jiang Yingyue.
She had a dream from before, and now she was able to live out this dream and be together with the man she loved. This was an ending he was quite pleased with.
It was not that he did not want to travel with her, he just wanted his friends to live the life they wanted; he wanted them to be happy and satisfied, so seeing this was the best possible ending.
Xue Wei was feeling quite happy knowing that they could once more put their feet on the hard soil, and not only this, this entire Treasure City was a full treasure trove.
Xue Wei was carrying Luoluo in his arms; Bai Tianyi walked on one side of him with Hei Gou and Lin Xiao on the other.
The streets were bustling with life. Many experts were walking down the roads. Some were casually standing in groups and chatting with one another. The subjects were mainly about the newest treasures that had been unearthed here in Treasure City.
Others were drinking wine at the taverns or eating at the restaurants. Although food and drinks were not necessary for experts of a certain strength, eating the meat of Fierce Beasts, alongside medicinal herbs, could still provide a boost in one's cultivation base.
The same was the case with spiritual wine, and thus Treasure Island's restaurants specialized in this aspect.
The price of everything on Treasure island was immense. They did not take any form of payment in gold coins. Instead, they were paid in rare materials, cultivation resources, and essence stones.
Xue Wei had received a whole bunch of materials when he was in Yan Dalu, but he had not received many essence stones. Here he had to depend on the ones he already owned from before he left Chang'an.
Fortunately, he had no interest in buying any food or drinks, for now. Instead, they headed towards the center of the city where a large pavilion was towering above the other buildings.
On a sign outside the building was written the name of the place, Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
This Thousand Treasures Pavilion was a place where both snakes and dragons would go with their loot and try to sell it off. When a thing was sold to the Thousand Treasure Pavilion, no one was capable of taking it back.
At the same time, Thousand Treasure Pavilion was never blamed for anything they sold; even if the original owner came back, they would not be able to lay claim on the things, also if they had proof of it being stolen, they would have to purchase the item back as any other person would have to buy it.
The walk towards the Thousand Treasure Pavilion was longer than expected. Although they had already seen the nameplate, they still had to walk for as long as it took for an incense stick to burn before they reached the front door.
A steady stream of people walked in and out of the gate; it was clear that they were incredibly busy. These people were indeed a mixed bunch of people; some were dressed slovenly while others had their most elegant attire on.
Although some of them looked slovenly, Xue Wei did not dare look down upon them; a place like here was impossible to say who were the powerful experts and who were the cannon fodder.
Xue Wei had seen many magnificent sights throughout his young life, as he had been many places on his journey, but never had he seen anything as grand and overwhelming as this building.
It was towering into the sky, reaching so far up that the spire was hidden in the clouds.
When he entered the gate, Xue Wei looked around with interest, but it was not only him who was curious as to what goods could be for sale here on the Treasure Island, Luoluo and every other companion were observing with big eyes.
Xue Wei had taken all the loot from the Berserkers’ island. He had not had the time to really look through it, as he had been focused on cultivating, but now that he was here, he could not help but feel that it was the perfect time to empty his storage treasures for useless items.
However, before he started considering what to keep and what to sell, Xue Wei wanted to have an idea of what the different things sold for. If the price tag was too low, he might as well keep the materials for later.
Having thought like this, he started roaming the lowest floor of the pavilion. Here he found the most common and everyday materials; however, even though they were common materials, their price tag was in no way simple.
The most common cultivator could buy these materials on the mainland for a few gold pieces, however here the price was counted in essence stones.
It was not long before Xue Wei realized why. Materials, herbs, and ores came from the continents. It was more or less impossible to get their hands on them on the sea unless they managed to get it from robbing others, and thus the price was high.
Thinking like this, the eyes of Xue Wei started glistening. What he had was an abundance of resources that could be used to cultivate his cultivation base, but also to concoct medicine or create inscriptions.
On the first floor were no pills, nor inscriptions. They were on the second level and above, all pills, no matter their efficiency, were priceless treasures here on the sea as alchemists and inscription masters were simply too rare.
There were not enough materials on the sea to nurture more than a few of these professions. On top of this, everyone who had a trade like this was treated like kings and emperors by all.
Xue Wei did not hesitate any longer; he gestured for his friends, who had run around the floor to look at the things, and went to an appraisal desk.
"What can I do for you, young sirs?" The clerk behind the desk was immensely polite, but not to the point where he was humbling himself. He did not show any signs of arrogance or superiority, but he was not acting as a servant either. His behavior made Xue Wei acknowledge him as a figure of importance.
"We have a rather large haul of items we wish to have appraised and sold," Xue Wei said. "I am sure you have some rooms somewhere where we can discuss the matter in detail?"
The clerk took a second glance at them and nodded his head. "We do indeed, please follow me," he said as he politely gestured for them to follow him up the stairs.
The clerk did not stop before they had reached the ninth floor. Here he opened a door into a small chamber and let Xue Wei and his friends enter.
In fact, every single floor had their own appraisal rooms, but this clerk was experienced. Looking at Xue Wei and the others, he could sense that they came from a continent and were likely to have a lot of things they wished to sell.
As such, he took a gamble and led them to the upper floors where the VIPs were treated.
As Xue Wei entered the room, he instantly noticed that there were inscriptions all around. Many of these inscriptions were a rather low level - even he was capable of creating them - but there were so many of them that it was impossible to overlook them.
Narrowing his eyes, he quickly relaxed. He understood that these inscriptions were beneficial to him. Their purpose was to block out all sound heard in the room so that even if someone were standing with their ears pressed on the door, they would hear nothing.
The group did not have to wait for a long time before a withered old man appeared in the room. He had a long white beard and long white hair tied up elegantly on top of his head.
"Young masters," he greeted as he entered, but although he greeted all of them, his eyes landed on Xue Wei.
He was an experienced old man and could instantly tell who was the leader of this bunch of people, so he quickly went to look for him, to see what they had to sell.
Xue Wei nodded his head, "I have seen the senior," he greeted back, and the withered old man felt pleased before he sat down opposite him.
"Which items do you have you wish to have appraised?" the old man asked while looking at Xue Wei, who withdrew one storage treasure after another, emptied it on the table. one item after another stacked up on the table, it was herbs, ores, pills, inscriptions, weapons, everything that one could think about appeared in the hands of this youngster, and it was in such magnificent quantities.
After emptying all the storage treasures he had gotten from the Berserkers’ Island, Xue Wei went on to clean his own storage treasure.