The word "young one" got Chen Xuan by surprise as he lifted his head slightly to look at the stranger.
Middle-aged, with a mustache on the verge of turning white very soon, the stranger seemed to be wearing the same clothing as the others working inside that Material Store. Around his neck was a silver-colored scarf woven from some animal fur, which doubled as an accessory for him.
"Senior shopkeeper, were you speaking to me?" Chen Xuan cupped his fist towards the middle-aged man and politely replied to his words. It seems he still had no idea that his smiling face while coming out from the Town's Forge had attracted a few shop attendants along the road.
As an attentive salesman, having a keen eye on spotting who had money and who didn't was a requirement in their job. And from the look of this middle-aged shopkeeper, there's nothing to doubt about his experience at all.
"Well, I notice no other youngsters beside you. Unless you're a hundred-year-old beast that obtained the secret to turn into a human, I don't know why you think I'm not calling out to you." the middle-aged shopkeeper said.
The smile is still on his face, as he used the same eloquent speech on Chen Xuan.
"Are you interested in getting some better quality Yang Yuan Pearl for cultivation? This shopkeeper had some in his stash, and if you're interested, we could make a deal for eighteen standard Yang Yuan Pearls if you buy them in a set of ten." the shopkeeper said.
But to Chen Xuan, who barely knew the difference between the standard and the better quality pearl, sentences like this are no different from trying to cheat his money. Furthermore, they even cost eighteen regular Yang Yuan Pearls in exchange for ten.
'Won't that means a single better pearl would cost like two standard Yang Yuan Pearls if I'm buying only one?' Chen Xuan had a feeling of being cheated by this shopkeeper if he kept listening to his blabbering.
"Shopkeeper, can I take a look if I'm not planning to buy?" Chen Xuan asked.
"Of course! Come inside to have a look at my wares. If you're interested in anything you see, just let me know." the shopkeeper pointed his hand towards the store and invited Chen Xuan to follow him.
'Aii... Let's have a look then. I can take this as an experience to see how things work in this Lingyu Realm.' Chen Xuan smiled and followed the shopkeeper inside. And except for him, there are a few other people who were brought inside using the same selling pitch.
From the look of it, the competition around here is quite fierce, even between the workers of the Material Store. And from the difference in their age, Chen Xuan had a feeling that this shopkeeper attending him was quite an old fox.
If he's incapable, he wouldn't be still working here while competing against a few other junior shopkeepers ten years younger than his age. Furthermore, it seems that each of them had their own counter they were responsible for. And their profit would depend on their skills.
Chen Xuan's inexperience couldn't escape the old fox shopkeeper's keen perception.
"Heh..." the shopkeeper chuckled. But instead of treating Chen Xuan like a fish on a chopping board, he invited this junior to grab a seat while he went inside the counter.
"It's alright, young friend. All of us had our first time. Don't worry if you're not interested in anything. Taking a look might be a good experience for you."
"As someone who lived half of my life in this Fenghuang Town, I've seen too many people who blindly followed what others said and ended up regretting later," he said.
The shopkeeper then placed his hand on one of the few drawers behind him and applied a gentle hint of Yang Force into the wooden chest. This action of his activated some mechanism hidden inside the cabinet before dispensing a compartment out.
It was an eye-opener to Chen Xuan as this was the first time he saw something like this. Although he was no stranger to safety boxes, security chests, trap-rigged tombs, and laser-protected treasure rooms, something like this was still new to him.
This gave Chen Xuan an inspiration and enlightenment that Yang Force was not solely a condensed power or qi inside a cultivator's Core. The Yang Force each individual has is flexible, and it could also work as biometric identification.
The shopkeeper had just displayed how he used his own unique Yang Force to unlock the drawer made to recognize his Yang Force's characteristics.
Of course, to have a box that could recognize its owner, one had to possess a considerable fund first. Even amongst all the shopkeepers here, only a few had a drawer like this.
"Alright, my treasure chest is brought out. Tell me what you're looking forward to having a look first?" the shopkeeper asked. Although the box seems to be small from the outside, it seems to have a slight spatial distortion ability that allows it to hold more than it could.
"I would like to take a look at the better-quality Yang Yuan Pearl you mentioned. Would that be convenient for the shopkeeper?" Chen Xuan politely asked to see what he was coming here for.
His words made the shopkeeper give him a smile before taking out an exquisite-looking box from the chest. And just like the drawer cabinet, this box is also made from material that could recognize its owner.
When it was opened, Chen Xuan was greeted by a stack of fifteen beautifully refined Yang Yuan Pearl.
As for how beautiful it was, Chen Xuan could compare them against the ten Yang Yuan Pearl given by Yanran Liuli. He was given what was known as Standard-Tier Yang Yuan Pearl, which had a dull appearance and unreflective surface.
In color alone, they vary from pearly white to milky cream. But these Standard-Tier pearls hardly come with an even color. Of course, part of the reason for this deformation in its color was due to the method and grains of Yang Yuan Sand used to refine them. There's no such thing as quality control over here. Hence, as long the pearl is successfully formed, it passes the requirement as a Yang Yuan Pearl.
While in comparison to those inside this box, each Yang Yuan Pearl inside here resembles a treasure bead of even size, color, and quality. The glowing brilliance is comparable to the beauty of a full moon. It also had a more reflective surface, akin to a creamy-colored mirror.
The Yang Force within the bead was also gentler for a cultivator to absorb into his body.
How much security is put to protect these fifteen pearls made Chen Xun unsure he should be smiling or acting surprised. The pearls in the box were exquisite and precious, but this was not his first time seeing them.
His calmness made the middle-aged shopkeeper curious.
'Did he get turned into a mute from looking at the precious pearls?' the storekeeper sneakily peeked at Chen Xuan and studied his expression.
"Young one, what are you smiling there on your own? Have you seen them before?" the shopkeeper gently closed the box and asked. It seems Chen Xuan's expression made him curious.
Chen Xuan simply nodded at the shopkeeper like an innocent child. While at the same time, he's thinking about the three pills inside his System's Inventory.
'What a surprise... To think that the Yang Yuan Pearl I've refined using the system's help was actually the better quality Yang Yuan Pearl the shopkeeper said. If I could make him buy them from me, won't I have more resources to do what I want?' Chen Xuan gave it a thought.
Deep inside him, he was scheming on how to get this shopkeeper to buy the pearls from his hand.
"Young one, you might see them in luck, but an Uncommon-Tier Yang Yuan Pearl is hard to found. This item is a commodity that only the people from the Guangming Sect have the privilege of using them."
"Each time a pill like this appears, they'll be bought by the people from Guangming Sect before you left the Town's Forge. If you really have one of them, why not sell them to this shopkeeper?"
"If you really have them, I'll buy it from you with a price of one Standard-Tier pearl and five grains. Even if you're selling them to the people from the Guangming Sect, they'll be giving you the same offer anyway." the shopkeeper said.
He half believed, and disbelief from Chen Xuan's nod. But his experience also tells him to not underestimate people, especially people that had luck by their side once in a while.
He was soon rendered speechless when Chen Xuan sneakily took three Uncommon-Tier Yang Yuan Pearls out from the pouch given by Yanran Liuli. The shock that Chen Xuan had three and not one made his jaw drop, and the gap could easily stuff his whole fist inside.
'What luck is this? How can a clueless youngster like him randomly take three pearls out? To think I have to painstakingly keep them for weeks to have fifteen in my hand." the shopkeeper stares at the three Uncommon-Tier Yang Yuan Pearls from Chen Xuan.
With his sharp eyesight and experience, the shopkeeper could confirm they're Uncommon-Tier Yang Yuan Pearls without a doubt.
"Young one, what about selling them to this shopkeeper? I'll offer you the price of one Standard-Tier pearl and five grains each." the shopkeeper said. He decided to start with a reasonable price in case Chen Xuan suddenly changed his mind.
Although the price he offered sounded reasonable, it was actually swaying more towards the lower side. It seems that he'll have to give some effort to bargain if he wants to earn more from selling the three Uncommon-Tier pearls in hand.
Unlike the shopkeeper with a solid capital to make an offer, Chen Xuan's position is more fragile over here. If he looked at the shopkeeper in a particular way, their job was no different from the conman like he was.
In their eyes, this was just a business transaction. And all they need is to get both sides to agree with the given price. And even if Chen Xuan knew what they were trying to do, he had nothing to comment on because this is just how a shopkeeper regulates their merchandise.
In response to the shopkeeper's offer, Chen Xuan started to think of a way to counter his price and fight for a better rate for the three Uncommon-Tier pearls he had. Although fifteen Yang Yuan Sand's offered price was about twice the profit he could earn, this wasn't enough.
'I would be a fool if I actually accepted the offer just because I had a system to make me not lose too much!' Chen Xuan tells himself. As a fellow experienced conman, how can he easily accept this losing deal?
"Shopkeeper, I believe that you'll be able to offer me more if I'm taking Yang Yuan Sand as my payment. What about twenty-two grains of Yang Yuan Sand sounds for each pearl?" Chen Xuan attacked ruthlessly.
With the rates of ten grains of Yang Yuan Sand to be refined into one pearl, twenty-two grains is equivalent to a little more than two pearls price. That was far seven grains above the shopkeeper's budget.
But his price was not unacceptable, at least in the eyes of the sly merchants. While the price of one pearl to ten sand is considered universal, there's a difference in the buying and selling rate.
The process of buying something a tier above what you're paying for is always higher than the projected price. In the world of business, a Yang Yuan Pearl could buy ten grains, but it would cost twelve grains to buy one pearl.
"Impossible! Eighteen grains each was my best offer!" the shopkeeper immediately countered Chen Xuan's offer. At the same time, he finds Chen Xuan's demand perplexing. Why would anyone be willing to accept such a losing trade? Was Chen Xuan someone with Master Refiner skills?