Chapter 100 - Chapter 100: Resuming an Old Trade

Trading goods is Li Xiaobai’s favorite part, especially when selling to Sect Disciples, those potential big customers.

Sometimes, for the sake of mere face, they can be thoroughly rinsed for a sum, making them the perfect mark.

Descending the mountain alone.

This mountaintop is designated for the dwelling of menial disciples. Nameless as it is, wherever Li Xiaobai goes, doors and windows are tightly shut, everyone is too afraid to even breathe out loud.

Menial disciples are at the bottom of the Sect hierarchy and are often bullied, so they are extremely timid. They all witnessed the scene of Li Xiaobai pledging loyalty with over two hundred people on the mountaintop; they both envied and feared him, for to them, he is undoubtedly a personage of consequence.

To avoid offense, the best strategy is to stay indoors and avoid any interaction.

Li Xiaobai was speechless. He hadn’t even done anything, and these people were already scared, “Aren’t I considered rather handsome?”

Touching the Human Skin Mask on his face, Li Xiaobai knew that the likelihood of garnering hatred from the menial disciples was almost nil.

At the foot of the mountain, the comings and goings of disciples bustled endlessly, quite lively indeed.

The Holy Demon Sect, a major sect, has several dangerous places nearby. Treasures within these places are up for the disciples to explore and unearth. Daily treasure hunting and trading the discovered materials within the sect has become a normal part of the disciples’ lives.

Following the route described by Yuan Fang, Li Xiaobai found the Sect Disciples’ trading stalls.

Calling it a stall is a bit of an understatement—it’s more like a street vendor scene. Located in the most bustling low-end area of the Sect’s heart, all sorts of people set up their stalls here, their hawking voices overlapping and ceaseless.

“Come on, look at this freshly cooked bear paw, a Golden Core Stage of three hundred years, a tremendous nourishment!”

“Nine Heavens Mysterious Spirit Grass, genuinely guaranteed, ten times compensation for any fake!”

“Sky Wind Sword, a high-quality Spiritual Artifact going for cheap, hurry if you want it!”

“…”

Walking along the street, the dazzling array of goods was a feast for the eyes; the sounds of haggling mixed with swearing were relentless.

Li Xiaobai had a plan. He found the person in charge of the area, paid two Lower Grade Spirit Stones, and prepared to set up his stall.

As a newcomer and late arrival, the prime spots were already taken, and he was left with some leftover corner spaces to choose from.

However, good wine needs no bush. He had quality goods in hand, no fear of no takers.

He approached a corner stall and took out several Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts.

“Brother, I haven’t seen you around. First time here?”

The vendor next to him was idling around; the location was not great, and his stall had virtually no customers.

“Yes, I am Ye Liangchen. May I inquire about your name, brother?” Li Xiaobai greeted with a fist salute and asked.

“Heh, just call me Brother Fist.”

The man was lean and withered, with a pale complexion that suggested malnutrition, and his smile had a hint of a sleazy vibe.

Li Xiaobai was speechless; this guy looked nothing like what one would expect from Brother Fist, with only a thin layer of skin left on his frail hands.

“So you’re Brother Fist.”

“Bro, this won’t do, these Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts you’ve got are of so-so quality. In this part of the area, basically nobody would buy them.”

Brother Fist glanced at the swords and sabers in front of Li Xiaobai, his mouth twitching in disdain; the items on this stall were even worse than his own.

“Liangchen likes to move volume when selling.”

With a flick of his hand, Li Xiaobai instantly filled his stall with nearly a thousand Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, among them were many Middle Grade Spiritual Artifacts, which clattered to the ground.

“Holy…”

“Brother Ye, did you rob a Sect or something?”

Staring at the dazzling array of Spiritual Artifacts, Brother Fist was so astonished that he was almost drooling.

“They’re just a thousand Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, not worth mentioning,” Li Xiaobai waved his hand dismissively and said indifferently.

Brother Fist felt insulted and said no more.

Li Xiaobai exchanged for a huge signboard from the mall and carved on it the words “Divine Sword Auction, highest bidder wins,” placing it to one side. He didn’t even shout to advertise, just quietly waited for customers to gather.

Sure enough, almost in an instant, this mountainous pile of Spiritual Artifacts attracted a large crowd of onlookers. Selling nearly a thousand Spiritual Artifacts in one go was absolutely a big move.

“This brother looks unfamiliar, does anyone know him?”

“It’s right not to recognise him. With so many Spiritual Artifacts, he most likely robbed a Sect. Such high-level cultivators don’t like to show their faces normally.”

“That’s true, but why do these Spiritual Artifacts look so familiar to me?”

“Seems like it’s the Blade Array from Knife Forest of a Sect…”

Hiss!

Many of the disciples present recognised the origins of these Spiritual Artifacts, as they had all braved the Blade Array themselves and the memory of that trial was still fresh.

“Brother, how much for these Spiritual Artifacts?” a beautiful female cultivator asked.

“Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, a hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones each. Middle Grade Spiritual Artifacts, one Middle Grade Spirit Stone each,” Li Xiaobai replied.

As soon as these words were uttered, everyone present lit up. Li Xiaobai’s prices were at cost, a good ten percent lower than what other merchants were offering for the same types.

Moreover, the quality of these Spiritual Artifacts was quite good, with no hint of shoddy items amongst them.

“Such a conscientious brother, this sister would like to buy this pale blue Middle Grade Spirit Sword.”

The female cultivator threw out a Middle Grade Spirit Stone and took the Spirit Sword away.

Seeing this, the other cultivators immediately became excited and began to reach into their wallets to purchase Spiritual Artifacts from Li Xiaobai, with quite a few cultivators quickly returning to their previous booths ready to return their purchases.

Li Xiaobai smiled faintly; his goods were high-quality and reasonably priced, plus he had an incredibly large quantity. Competing merchants selling low-level Spiritual Artifacts simply couldn’t beat him.

In just a few minutes, he had earned tens of thousands of Lower Grade Spirit Stones, among which were also a good number of Middle Grade Spirit Stones.

Brother Fist, looking enviously at the scene, eagerly looked at Li Xiaobai: “Brother Ye, how about we combine our booths? That way, the booth will be bigger and you can display more items. Don’t worry, we’ll still sell our own goods and keep our own money.”

Li Xiaobai thought for a moment. Merging booths didn’t sound like a bad idea, as he indeed had a large number of items he needed to deal with.

“Sure.”

Once the booths were combined, Brother Fist chuckled eerily and moved closer to Li Xiaobai, placing his own bottles and pots in front of the crowd of cultivators.

In comparison to Li Xiaobai’s inventory, his goods barely filled a gap, but soon someone recognized the items he was selling.

“That’s the inner core of a Half-step Nascent Soul Demonic Beast!”

“That’s the hide of a Blood Crocodile, you killed that croc, brother, may I ask your esteemed name!”

“I’ll take this inner core, no one better compete with me!”

“This Elixir is actually specially made for Golden Core Stage cultivators…”

“…”

The cultivators went wild, not expecting to stumble upon such treasures in this remote corner.

Watching Brother Fist’s beaming face as he negotiated prices, Li Xiaobai felt he had been duped. This guy was clearly leveraging his influence to sell his goods, and it seemed like he had really good items for sale.

No wonder he said to sell our own. He was afraid I’d ask him for a share of the profits.

This guy is quite the schemer…