After learning that the mysterious black-robed figure Qian Yue might be a Two-Star Alchemist, the expressions of the two great elders from the two major families became much more respectful, and they enthusiastically invited him to visit their families.
Of course, Ye Chen naturally wouldn't go. He shook his head and politely declined, then purchased ten more sets of medicinal ingredients for the auxiliary cultivation liquid.
Although Li Yun insisted on paying directly, and Physician Xiao absolutely refused to accept payment, Ye Chen simply tossed down twenty gold coins and left with an air of nonchalance, leaving everyone momentarily stunned.
However, they understood well enough. Alchemists were often eccentric in temperament, so everyone was quite accustomed to such behavior.
After leaving Reviving Spring Hall, Ye Chen's powerful perception continuously probed his surroundings to see if anyone was following him. Confirming there was no one, he quickly entered an alleyway, swiftly removed the black robe, and changed his identity.
When he reappeared, he was dressed in the simple, clean clothes of a young man.
Carrying nearly three hundred gold coins, Ye Chen was in no hurry to return to the estate. After wandering through the city for a while, he arrived at a bustling commercial street and entered a shop that dealt in weapons.
Upon seeing Ye Chen's arrival, a middle-aged shopkeeper in his forties immediately came forward from within the shop, greeting him respectfully, "This humble one, Zhang Shan, pays his respects to Young Master Ye Chen."
The Ye family, as the largest power in Luo Feng City, naturally had numerous industries under its banner, including shops, taverns, gambling dens, and many others, which were also important channels for accumulating wealth.
As for the Zhang Shan before him, Ye Chen was familiar with him. He was someone loyal to his father, Ye Ao's faction. Even though Ye Chen had fallen from genius to waste, becoming the subject of countless pointing fingers and whispers in the city, those from his father's faction had never looked down on him. On the contrary, out of respect for his father, they had always treated him with deference, both outwardly and inwardly. Ye Chen trusted them deeply.
Ye Chen smiled and said, "Uncle Zhang Shan, I'd like to leave these medicinal ingredients with you for a while. I hope you can help me keep them safe."
Zhang Shan hurriedly replied, "I wouldn't dare presume, I wouldn't dare. Young Master, just give the order. This humble one will definitely guard them with all my might and ensure nothing goes wrong."
Ye Chen felt a wave of emotion. In this world, there were still people with conscience, who wouldn't kick a man when he was down.
After leaving the shop, Ye Chen walked alone toward the largest commercial street in Luo Feng City. Behind him, Zhang Shan called softly into the shop, "Zhang Yang, take two capable men and follow the young master. Make sure he doesn't get bullied. Even if it's someone from the other two major families, if they harm the young master, just fight back. Understood?"
"Understood!"
After the resolute reply, a burly man with well-developed limbs, along with two other equally strong men, walked out of the shop. In the blink of an eye, they blended into the crowd, following Ye Chen from a distance.
With Ye Chen's perception, he naturally sensed he was being followed. After a brief investigation, he discovered it was his own people tailing him. His heart relaxed, understanding they were following to protect him out of concern for his safety. He didn't expose them; instead, he felt a small touch of warmth.
This commercial street almost gathered all the commerce from hundreds of miles around Luo Feng City. All sorts of goods were sold here, and there were even some strange and unusual items displayed on street stalls. With good luck, one might even come across priceless treasures.
Of course, the chances of that were extremely, extremely low. Under normal circumstances, it was practically impossible to find such treasures. More often than not, it was just a scam.
Ye Chen strolled slowly along the commercial street, his gaze lingering on the various street stalls.
There were stalls everywhere along the street, displaying all kinds of goods. There were antique items, broken weapons, ancient books, and even some medicinal herbs mixed in. Most were strange and unusual items transported through various channels, some even excavated from the burial sites of powerful experts.
Though their appearance might be ordinary, perhaps among them hid incredibly precious divine objects.
"Come take a look quickly! This treasure vase was excavated from a burial site suspected to belong to a legendary Martial God powerhouse. It might contain the supreme secret to becoming a Martial God. Only three hundred gold coins!"
"Attention, everyone! This is the shed skin of an innate Black Scale Giant Python from the Demonic Beast Mountain Range. It's top-grade material that can be refined into top-grade leather armor, capable of resisting all attacks."
"This stall has weapons freshly excavated from the tomb of an innate powerhouse. They are innate-grade weapons..."
The various stall owners shouted and introduced their wares. Even the most ordinary-looking items in their hands could be touted as having heaven-defying origins and value, enough to make one gasp.
Like the stall owner who claimed to have the skin of an innate Black Scale Giant Python. On his stall was a pile of coiled, pitch-black, dull snake skin rolled into a large ball. At first glance, it really did look like the shed skin of an innate-level giant python.
The stall was run by a seemingly fat and honest middle-aged man, but his narrowed small eyes occasionally flashed with shrewdness. He was definitely a cunning merchant with a meticulous mind.
Seeing Ye Chen's gaze linger on the snake skin at his stall, he immediately put on an enthusiastic expression, approached with a smile, and said, "Young brother, I see you have an extraordinary bearing, a dignified appearance, and such a young age. I believe you must be a talented youth. As the saying goes, a fine sword is gifted to a hero, and a treasure is matched with a genius. What I have here is the genuine shed skin of an innate-level snake demon. If you, young brother, want to craft a fitting protective armor, needless to say, this snake skin is absolutely the best material. The leather armor refined from it could not even be pierced by an innate powerhouse."
"Moreover, this snake skin originally costs three thousand gold coins, but seeing that you, young brother, have a great future ahead, boundless prospects, and are sure to become a super powerhouse of our Xia Feng Kingdom, I'll make a good connection. I'll only charge you one thousand gold coins. Consider the rest an investment. What do you think?"
It must be said that this seemingly honest but actually cunning stall owner was truly a man of outstanding eloquence. His words flowed like a blooming lotus, skillfully recommending his goods from the side, and he understood the common human tendency toward pride and complacency.
Who didn't want to become a peerless powerhouse? An ordinary person might really have been fooled by him.
Unfortunately, who was Ye Chen? A supreme figure from his past life. This so-called innate-level snake skin was just nonsense; it was merely the skin of an ordinary large python.
Of course, not everything was fake. There might also be some heaven-defying treasures hidden among these ordinary items, but they were just difficult to detect.
He wasn't in a hurry to expose the stall owner's sinister intentions either. He just smiled slightly and said, "Stall owner, since you say this snake skin is from an innate-level snake demon's shed skin, it must be impervious to swords and spears, right?"
The stall owner nodded proudly. "Naturally."
Ye Chen said, "In that case, could you let me test it? Let me find a sharp sword and try to stab it. If it can't be pierced, then I'll spend three thousand gold coins to buy it. Congratulations, I'll take it. If it gets pierced, you don't have to give me three thousand gold coins, just one thousand five hundred. How about that?"
"This..." Now the fat stall owner hesitated. Because he saw Ye Chen's calm, confident smile. Although he was confident ordinary sharp weapons couldn't pierce it, for some reason, a bad premonition kept stirring in his heart. What if it really got pierced?
Feeling guilty, the stall owner awkwardly moved his lips, then forced a laugh and said, "Young brother, you must be joking. My snake skin is the genuine shed skin of an innate snake demon, tough and impenetrable. Moreover, it's a precious item. How can we test it so casually? Young brother, you'd better go look at other treasures."
Ye Chen gave a light smile and didn't press the stall owner further, simply walking away.
He didn't leave immediately but lingered among the stalls in this area, hoping to find rare treasures among the various items of unknown origin and ordinary appearance on these street stalls.
Ordinary inspection methods were useless because true treasures were basically inconspicuous things, and these stall owners wouldn't just let people inspect them using various methods. More often, one could only rely on intuition to search.
Ye Chen had excellent eyesight and perception that surpassed ordinary people, but dreams were beautiful while reality was often cruel. Even he couldn't detect any real treasures.
Perhaps there weren't any, or perhaps there were, but he couldn't detect them either. After wandering around for a while, he finally found one slightly decent item—a bowl, but it was so worn and old it couldn't be more so.
He couldn't help but feel greatly disappointed. Shaking his head with a long sigh, he was about to leave. But the moment he turned, he suddenly let out a surprised sound, keenly sensing a faint, obscure fluctuation from one of the stalls.
If not for his astonishing perception, an ordinary person definitely wouldn't have noticed it.
Ye Chen walked over, his gaze falling on an item on this stall. It was an ancient black ring, so ordinary it couldn't be more so, covered in dust, placed in a hard-to-notice corner of the stall.
Although he didn't know what it was, his intuition told him this was an extraordinary object.