"Yes, it's been a year since I last saw you!" Chu Qiweng rushed to Chu Ming, scrutinizing him carefully, then his face suddenly showed a look of astonishment and he laughed, "Good lad, you've got skills. Haven't seen you for a year and you've already broken through to the Realm of Transcendence. Impressive!"
Chu Qiweng gave a thumbs up, looking very admiring.
Chu Ming shook his head and laughed, "You're not bad yourself. I remember last year, you were just at the Ninth Layer of Postnatal, and now you're already at the Fifth Layer of the Realm of Transcendence."
"Hey, it's just that my master is too strict, otherwise how could my cultivation improve so quickly!" Chu Qiweng shook his head and chuckled, "Well, it's rare to see each other once a year, let's not talk about this today. Let's go shopping!"
Saying this, they walked towards the street. Perhaps fearing to bring up Chu Ming's painful memories, Chu Qiweng did not mention anything about the Bai Family, instead talking mostly about the travels and experiences he had with his master throughout the Great Yan Kingdom in the past year, which Chu Ming found very intriguing and novel.
Walking on the street, the goods in the shops on both sides dazzled Chu Ming. Thinking that he still needed Celestial Silkworm Silk to forge armor, he called Chu Qiweng and walked towards a shop selling precious forging materials.
Martial artists came and went in the shop, most of them were in the Realm of Transcendence, but occasionally, True Dao Martial Artists could be seen among them.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, what forging materials are you looking for?"
Just as Chu Ming and Chu Qiweng entered the shop, a clerk greeted them with a smile.
"Do you have Celestial Silkworm Silk?" Chu Ming said indifferently. He had already learned from Li Lin that to forge the scales of the Tiger Wolf Jackal into armor, he needed two taels of Celestial Silkworm Silk.
"Celestial Silkworm Silk?" The clerk was startled, knowing this was a big deal. The preciousness of Celestial Silkworm Silk lies in its extreme flexibility, making it an ideal material for forging armor, and it is in great demand. Luckily, the shop had just received a new batch, including Celestial Silkworm Silk. However, he said hesitantly, "We do have Celestial Silkworm Silk, but it's not something I can decide on. I'll need to call the shopkeeper."
Chu Ming nodded, and soon a shopkeeper-like person hurried over, smiling at Chu Ming, "Is it this young hero who wants to buy Celestial Silkworm Silk?"
"Yes," Chu Ming said indifferently. The shopkeeper glanced around at the crowd and said, "It's too crowded here, please follow me to the second floor."
The shopkeeper led the way, with Chu Ming and Chu Qiweng following behind. In a short while, they arrived at a private room on the second floor. After closing the door, the shopkeeper asked with a smile, "How much Celestial Silkworm Silk does the young hero need?"
"What's the price here for Celestial Silkworm Silk?" Chu Ming asked indifferently, then took a sip of the tea on the table, feeling his spiritual power refreshed. He could not help but marvel at the wealth of the shop, as each batch of tea was infused with Spirit Tea. Even in the Chu Family, Spirit Tea was a rare commodity, only served to important guests.
"Our Celestial Silkworm Silk is priced at thirty thousand silver taels per tael, no bargaining!" The shopkeeper said with a smile. Hearing the price, Chu Ming frowned. He did not expect the cost of Celestial Silkworm Silk to far exceed the price of the Tiger Wolf Jackal scales. However, Celestial Silkworm Silk can be reused.
If the armor becomes useless, the Celestial Silkworm Silk can be refined again. Even if it is not needed in the future, it can be resold.
"I need two taels." Taking a deep breath, Chu Ming said indifferently, taking out sixty thousand gold notes from his storage ring and handing them to the shopkeeper.
Now that he had some self-protection power, as long as he did not encounter the top martial artists in the Realm of Transcendence, escaping would not be a problem even if he could not win.
"Here is your Celestial Silkworm Silk!" The shopkeeper happily placed a bundle of white substance on the table. After this transaction, he could earn a considerable commission.
"Hmm!" Chu Ming put the Celestial Silkworm Silk into his storage ring and walked out of the shop. Glancing at his storage ring, Chu Ming could not help but smile bitterly, as now he had only tens of thousands of silver taels left.
For martial artists, making money was easy. Killing a few Demon Beasts would bring a lot of silver taels, but there were many places to spend money. Buying a few items for martial artists would quickly empty their pockets.
Unknowingly, the two walked to the ancient marketplace, whose history was almost as long as Great Yan City, with buildings being the oldest ones. The shop owners, however, have changed hands numerous times, although most are family businesses passed down for generations.
Chu Qiweng said beside him, "The ancient marketplace often comes with opportunities. Someone once spent twenty silver taels to buy a seemingly unremarkable damaged Earth Level defense armor, and then sold it to a Guiyuan Realm martial artist for over five million silver taels, becoming wealthy for life!"
Chu Ming smiled, knowing this story too. Defense armor and weapons, like martial arts grades, are divided into Earth, Heaven, Yellow, and Mystic levels. Even Yellow Level armor and weapons are valuable enough to be traded with Spirit Stones rather than silver. The defense armor of Earth Level is even more so. However, damaged Earth Level defense armor naturally has a reduced value.
"Let's go into the Treasure Pavilion!" Chu Qiweng pointed to an ancient building twenty steps ahead.
Chu Ming nodded. Treasure Pavilion was well-known in the ancient marketplace. It had been a thousand-year-old shop and had extensive connections. Rumor had it that its background was vast, and even the four major families dared not cause trouble here.
Crossing the threshold, nobody greeted them as everyone was busy with their tasks.
Chu Ming and Chu Qiweng didn't mind and walked straight inside.
"Oh, isn't this the waste young master of the Chu Family, Young Master Chu?"
As soon as they entered, a sarcastic voice reached their ears. Chu Ming's face remained calm, but Chu Qiweng's expression changed. They turned their heads and saw two figures standing not far away.
On the left stood a short figure with sallow complexion, wearing a white robe. At the moment, he looked at Chu Ming with mocking eyes. The figure on the right formed a stark contrast, tall and strong with a robust build, a gleam occasionally flickering in his eyes, suggesting he was no ordinary person.
"Yang Yun, shut up!" Chu Ming hadn't spoken yet when Chu Qiweng cursed angrily. However, Yang Yun was unperturbed and continued mockingly, "I heard Bai Hanyan personally came to the Chu Family to annul her engagement to Chu Ming. Is this false?"
Chu Qiweng took a deep breath, wanting to refute but couldn't. After all, Yang Yun was stating the truth. He worriedly glanced at Chu Ming, who remained calm and unruffled, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
"What happened a few days ago?" The burly man curiously asked. He had just returned from the sect and hadn't had a chance to go home, but his brother had dragged him to the Treasure Pavilion.
Yang Yun smiled and detailed the incident of Bai Hanyan annulling her engagement with Chu Ming. The more he spoke, the more excited he became. Chu Qiweng glared at him. If not for the prohibition against fighting in the Treasure Pavilion, he would have definitely fought Yang Yun.
"Oh, something like this? Bai Hanyan was taken as a direct disciple by a Realm of Transcendence expert?" The burly man's face remained calm but showed some emotion upon hearing this.
"Brother Zong, Bai Hanyan just got lucky. In terms of strength, she's nowhere near your level!" Yang Yun flattered him without changing his expression. This burly man was Yang Zong, the strongest talent of the Yang Family.
If Yang Zong hadn't exceeded the age requirement for the family competition, it wouldn't be necessary to hold it.
Yang Zong was the top genius of the Yang Family, ranked 15th on the Cyan Yang List, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Cyan Yang Sect, and his cultivation had reached the Eighth Layer of the Realm of Transcendence. He wouldn't have left Cyan Yang Sect if not for a family matter.
"Let's go!" Chu Ming said indifferently. Like Yang Zong, Yang Yun was a disciple of Cyan Yang Sect, but as a Fifth Layer practitioner of the Realm of Transcendence, he wasn't on the Cyan Yang List. Though moved by Bai Hanyan's status, he wasn't overly jealous. His body's mysterious light fragment was the foundation of reaching the peak of martial arts.
Glaring at Chu Ming with disdain, Yang Yun didn't stop them. Creating trouble in Treasure Pavilion was against the consensus of the four major families. Even if he stopped Chu Ming, it would only lead to verbal jeers, which he already achieved.
"Let's go to the second floor. The first floor only has small trinkets," Chu Ming suggested.
"Hmm, the items on the first floor are no different from other antique shops."
Walking side by side, they headed to the elegant second floor.
Compared to the first floor, the second floor was less crowded, with only about twenty people, including guarding staff, creating a spacious ambiance.
However, those who came to the second floor were usually wealthy, as even the simplest items cost nearly a thousand silver taels. Whether it would be profitable or not depended on one's luck.
"Ah, this vase probably has a history of five to six hundred years!" Chu Qiweng was completely drawn to a tall vase covered in flowers, moving around to admire it.
Chu Ming glanced at it and lost interest, separating from Chu Qiweng to explore another side.
The second floor was filled with a plethora of antiquities, from rusty bronze mirrors and calligraphy from hundreds of years ago to ancient books made from unknown materials, old Demon Beast hides, and mostly broken weapons and armors such as broken sabers, cracked swords, chain armor, and meteor hammers. Most of these weapons were Mortal Artifacts before breaking, with few being low Yellow Level artifacts.
Chu Ming browsed slowly. Though some weapon materials might be useful, the prices were set just right and slightly high, leading him to give up. What he could see, the people of Treasure Pavilion naturally could see early on.