Ding Huan had inquired around before coming to Shengdao Street.
Standing at the entrance of Bianxing Talisman Device Pavilion, Ding Huan let his Divine Will sweep inside and, noticing they were selling talismans, he thought to himself that this was the place to go.
His Divine Will moved outward, quickly scanning over to where Yan Mei was in the distance, speaking on the street.
Three City Patrol Guards were cleaning up bodies; Ding Huan knew the four corpses must have been killed by Lao Liu.
He was very satisfied with Yan Mei’s words. Yan Mei was clever; he knew exactly what Ding Huan wanted to do, and he had helped relay all of his messages.
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Ding Huan withdrew his Divine Will and entered the Fu Qi Pavilion.
His gaze swept around; here, they only sold various talismans of an unimpressive grade, with first-level talismans considered the better ones.
As for second-level talismans, there were one or two, all locked with low-level Prohibitions. They appeared to be the treasures of the shop.
Ding Huan’s eyes rested on a talisman pen, which must have been a low-level Magic Artifact.
"What would you like, fellow Daoist?" asked a shop assistant after seeing Ding Huan browsing for quite a while.
Ding Huan, pointing to a first-level Vine Talisman, asked, "How much for this first-level entangling Vine Talisman?"
"Three Crystal Stones," the assistant replied.
"Let me take a look at it," Ding Huan stated naturally.
The assistant looked at Ding Huan in surprise and then shook his head, "If you’re not buying, I can’t let you see it."
Ding Huan’s Divine Will landed on the entangling Vine Talisman, sensing its average quality. It probably wasn’t as good as the first-level talisman he made.
Thinking this, Ding Huan took out a talisman and handed it to the assistant: "Take a look at my talisman."
"Is this a first-level Fireball Charm?" Upon seeing the talisman in his hand, the assistant recognized it immediately.
What surprised him was that this Fireball Charm was better than the first-level talismans in his shop.
"How much does your shop pay for this charm?" Ding Huan inquired.
The assistant laid the talisman down and said indifferently, "One Crystal Stone."
Ding Huan chuckled, "You’re asking for three Crystal Stones to sell me one, but when buying my superior product, you only offer one Crystal Stone. Your way of doing business is quite rigid."
"Not selling? As you wish," replied the assistant, clearly indifferent to Ding Huan’s tone.
Ding Huan did not leave but instead threw a bundle onto the counter, "I have two hundred of these talismans; are you sure you won’t take them?"
The assistant was startled, then reached for Ding Huan’s bundle.
Ding Huan pressed his hand down, "State a fair price. If you can’t, call your boss. If your boss can’t give me a price, I’ll be on my way."
Ding Huan’s Divine Will had already detected a pair of eyes watching him from the inside; judging from this person’s aura, he must be a fourth-level gene... No, he can’t be called a gene cultivator here but rather a Qi Cultivation fourth level.
Upon seeing Ding Huan take out a pile of first-level talismans, the individual inside had sent a message out.
"How much do you want to sell?" A middle-aged man emerged as his voice traveled through the air.
It seemed that to suppress Ding Huan, as soon as this individual appeared, Ding Huan could feel a pressuring aura radiating from his body.
Inside, Ding Huan sneered. He truly did not want to resort to force.
Nevertheless, it seemed like the shop owner was not willing to pay the price for his talismans.
In this utterly chaotic West Wind City, the occurrences of forceful theft were just too common.
As someone with an unknown background and in possession of so many talismans, it was only natural for others to test him.
"One talisman for two Crystal Stones. If that works for you, it’s a deal; if not, I’ll leave," Ding Huan declared, grabbing the bundle.
The middle-aged man snorted, and a powerful aura rushed straight towards Ding Huan.
Ding Huan stood his ground without moving an inch, his clothes not even fluttering.
The middle-aged man’s face changed as the probe informed him that Ding Huan was far stronger than he was.
By then, two enforcers had already stationed themselves at the entrance. The man was sure, even with those two enforcers, they wouldn’t be able to contend with Ding Huan.
"Fellow Daoist, I will take all these talismans, at the price you’ve stated."
The middle-aged man was quick to seize an opportunity and changed his mind without hesitation upon meeting a tough challenge.
Ding Huan tossed the bundle into the man’s hands, "Two Crystal Stones per talisman was the previous price; now it’s three Crystal Stones per talisman. Count them quickly; my time is limited."
"Friend, we only sell them for that price in our store. If you ask for three Crystal Stones, we don’t make any profit..." the man’s expression started to sour.
Ding Huan also snorted coldly as a powerful cultivator’s aura bore down, making the middle-aged man feel as though a huge iron hammer had slammed into his chest, forcing him to stagger back involuntarily.
Fortunately, the oppressive aura dissipated quickly; otherwise, he would have undoubtedly coughed up blood.
"Do you have any objections? If you continue to waste time, the price will go up again."
Ding Huan’s tone carried a hint of mockery as he looked at the man.
"No, no objections." Accustomed to the ways of Shengdao Street, how could the man not know that they had encountered a tough character?
If I dared to rebel, then in the next moment, it was a small matter for my shop to be robbed; I was afraid I might lose my very life here.
"Very well, there are a total of two hundred and three first-level talismans in this bag.
I’ll be generous and round it up to two hundred and ten talismans for you. You owe me six hundred and fifty crystal stones, deal?"
Ding Huan appeared as if taking a slight loss didn’t bother him.
The middle-aged man’s face wore a mournful expression:
"Fellow Daoist, there’s no need to round up, let’s just count it as two hundred and three talismans, which totals..."
Ding Huan’s expression darkened:
"What, as a shopkeeper, you think you can take advantage of my poor arithmetic? Are you trying to swindle me?"
"I dare not." The middle-aged man sensed a strong killing intent.
He had barely uttered those two words when he immediately took out a box, quickly counted out six hundred and fifty crystal stones, and handed them over to Ding Huan.
Ding Huan tossed the crystal stones into his backpack, then looked at the shopkeeper with a smirk:
"Today is your last time cheating a customer. Be honest next time. Remember, you won’t have a second chance."
As soon as Ding Huan finished speaking, he heard a noise from a distance. His Divine Will swept over to find Yan Mei and Lao Liu surrounded by a group of people.
The real show was about to begin, and Ding Huan left the shop with his backpack.
"Master Yuan, are we going to let this go just like that?" As soon as Ding Huan stepped out, the shop assistant asked anxiously.
Master Yuan stared at Ding Huan’s retreating figure, his tone icy:
"Just a mere Qi Cultivation ant dares to profit off our shop. He’ll wait and see. You two, keep an eye on him and see where he goes."
The last sentence was directed at the two burly men standing at the door.
These two were the ones the middle-aged man had called over to subdue Ding Huan. But after realizing they were no match for him, they didn’t dare to make a move.
...
At this moment, Yan Mei and Lao Liu were surrounded by a group of people, leaving three City Patrol Guards trembling in terror.
"To think someone would dare to kill a member of the Iron Power Alliance, that’s a sight you don’t see every day."
A burly man with a sturdy build stepped forward, fixing Yan Mei with a cold gaze.
"Alliance Hierarch Ji, we all support you if you take action. Let’s do this together and kill these patrol dogs."
As soon as the leader of the Iron Power Alliance spoke, people in the crowd immediately echoed his words.
This support was like a fuse; initially, there were only about twenty members of the Iron Power Alliance, but suddenly, hundreds were shouting from the sidelines.
People kept emerging from the shops on both sides, joining the Iron Power Alliance.
It was as if the Iron Power Alliance was the righteous authority, and Yan Mei, along with Lao Liu and the three City Patrol Guards, were the criminals.
From a distance, Ding Huan watched sadly for these people.
They cheered for those robbing and killing them.
"Uncle Seven, many shops are offering their support. Should we...?"
Seeing many people surrounding the City Patrol Guards, the female shopkeeper from the only general store couldn’t help but want to come forward.
She was cut off before she could finish by Uncle Seven, his beard and hair both white, seemingly worried she might actually go out:
"Let’s wait and see. Besides, going out now won’t earn you any favors from others."
"Lao Liu, what should we do?" Yan Mei was starting to panic.
He wasn’t very strong, and if a fight broke out, he feared he couldn’t even defeat a single member of the Iron Power Alliance.
"What to do? Fight." Lao Liu said nonchalantly. With that, he spat out more than a dozen Water Arrows.
Seven or eight members of the Iron Power Alliance who were at the forefront suddenly had blood spraying from their foreheads and fell to the ground.
Aside from the members of the Iron Power Alliance, there were also five others who had come out to help, likewise taken out by Lao Liu’s Water Arrows.
Some who were about to rush forward stopped in their tracks when they saw over a dozen people die in a blink of an eye, promptly retreating.
They had offered their help not because the Iron Power Alliance had such a great appeal but because the alliance was known for its brutality.
By helping out now, they could curry favor for future troubles involving the Iron Power Alliance, by bringing up this incident.
It was a deal worth making: it cost them nothing and earned favors. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of it?
But now, seeing that the situation was not cost-free and might cost them their lives, no one was willing to join.
The Alliance Hierarch of the Iron Power Alliance had never expected a mere monkey would dare to strike first. When he saw more than a dozen of his men killed by his side, he was furious.
He drew his long sword, stirring up a fierce gale.
In that instant, Yan Mei felt the gale was filled with Sword Light; blood marks began to appear on his skin even before the gale reached him...
"Lao Liu..." In his fright, Yan Mei called out to Lao Liu in desperation.
Lao Liu could only spit out a few Water Arrows and then retreated frantically.
He couldn’t block the ferocious Sword Light. It was better to flee first and consider Yan Mei’s fate later—every man for himself.
A burst of bloodlight exploded, followed by a miserable scream.
Everyone looked toward Yan Mei, as the Sword Light of the Iron Power Alliance’s Alliance Hierarch Ji had been directed at him.
To everyone’s confusion, Yan Mei was also shocked but was looking towards the Alliance Hierarch of the Iron Power Alliance.
When blood spurted from the Alliance Hierarch of the Iron Saber Alliance, they finally realized that the dreadful cry had come from the Iron Power Alliance’s leader.
"Thud!" The Alliance Hierarch of the Iron Power Alliance fell to the ground and then everyone noticed that his back had been split open by a blade at some unknown moment.