Shen Xiu's afternoon class was as monotonous and predictable as the ones before. With an arrogance that seemed ingrained in her bones, she strutted around the room, swaying her hips, her voice a sharp buzz as she praised the virtues of noble families and the inherent superiority of those born with privilege.
Long Chen, Nie Li, and the rest of the group stood at the back of the room, as always. Shen Xiu ignored them with almost theatrical dedication, her gaze passing over them as if they were mere empty space. To her, they did not exist. To Long Chen, the lecture was just background noise—a forced pause in his much grander plans. The class passed in a blur.
As soon as the permission to leave was given, Lu Piao turned to Long Chen, eyes shining with excitement.
"Hey, Long Chen! Now that you're a Four-Star Bronze Rank Spiritualist, how about helping us hunt some Horned Rams? Last night was a total disaster!"
Du Ze, standing beside him, crossed his arms with a mocking smile. "What he means is he's tired of being the only bait."
The tease earned an embarrassed laugh from Lu Piao and genuine chuckles from the rest of the group.
"Sure, why not?" Long Chen replied with an innocent smile. "Sounds fun! But you'll have to teach me—I've never really hunted before."
The group's excitement was palpable. With someone strong like Long Chen on their side, the hunt would be much easier and more profitable.
At the training ground, the group's synergy was impressive. Nie Li, with his knowledge from a past life, quickly prepared a simple paralyzing poison using local herbs, applying it to the tips of his arrows. He was the brain of the operation, identifying targets and dictating strategy.
Long Chen, on the other hand, was a spectacle of glorious inefficiency. He wielded his newly bought "Staff of Desperation" with the strength of a bull, but with the precision of a blind man. He ran noisily, swung the weapon clumsily, and seemed completely incapable of handling more than one Horned Ram at a time.
"Get down, Long Chen!" Nie Li shouted from atop a tree, firing a poisoned arrow that struck the neck of a Horned Ram dangerously approaching Long Chen's flank. The beast staggered and fell, paralyzed.
"Phew! Thanks, Nie Li! That one came out of nowhere!" Long Chen replied, standing up, panting and smiling gratefully, as if genuinely thankful and a little scared.
Nie Li observed him for a moment. The brute strength of his cultivation level was undeniable. But the lack of technique, the complete absence of battle awareness… he was a total novice. Definitely not some old monster, Nie Li concluded, dismissing his last suspicions. Just a lucky kid with more strength than brains. At least he's strong.
With Nie Li's strategy and Long Chen's raw power to handle isolated targets, the hunt was a resounding success. In just a few hours, they had taken down several dozen Horned Rams, along with a few other higher Rank beasts, selling the carcasses, horns, fangs, pelts, and other parts for an impressive sum nearing 100,000 Demon Spirit Coins.
The sun was still high in the sky when they parted ways, counting profits and planning the next day's hunt. Everyone was happy and exhausted.
The moment Long Chen left the group, the innocent, slightly foolish smile he had worn all day vanished, as if a mask was being removed.
A cunning, satisfied grin took its place. He walked to one of the bustling street stalls and, without hesitation, bought a dark, heavy cloak with a hood large enough to fully cover his face in shadow.
He took the cloak home, waited a bit, and when the street calmed down, went out again, now shrouded in the darkness of the fabric. Underneath the cloak, strapped to his back, was a cloth bag holding his true treasures: more than a hundred Demon Rabbit cores.
He walked calmly through the streets of Glory City, like an anonymous ghost in the crowd. His destination: Hu Yan Treasure House.
First, he would get some money. Then he would buy a spatial ring to store his treasures. After that, he would return to his real training ground. At home, he had already confirmed that he could enter the Spiritual Ancestral World whenever he wanted, as long as it wasn't more than twice a day.
Long Chen walked for about thirty minutes.
When he stopped, he stood before an imposing building that stood out among the others.
[Hu Yan Treasure House] was written firmly and impressively on the facade.
The Hu Yan Treasure House was a magnificent four-story pavilion, built with dark wood and intricate carvings, exuding an aura of wealth and power. Nothing unexpected from one of the most prominent families in Glory City.
Pulling his hood down to ensure his face was completely concealed, Long Chen entered.
"Interesting!"
To his surprise, the interior was the opposite of the grand facade. The environment was simple, almost rustic. Everything was made of polished light wood. Artifacts, weapons, and armor were displayed in unadorned glass cases, and rows of jade jars containing pills he wouldn't be able to distinguish lined the shelves. There were many treasures, but Long Chen's attention did not waver.
"Welcome to the Hu Yan Treasure House."
A calm, aged voice pulled him from his observations. An elderly man with a long white beard and fine robes approached with a professional smile. "My name is Huyan Yanming. Are you here to buy or sell treasures?"
The old man showed no curiosity or suspicion about Long Chen's disguise. In that place, identity was a luxury, and anonymity a common commodity.
Long Chen did not answer with words.
Swoosh!
The air shifted. In the blink of an eye, Long Chen vanished from where he stood and materialized directly in front of the old man, so close that Huyan Yanming instinctively took a step back, his heart pounding violently in his chest.
"What was that?"
A chill ran down his spine; he was a Five-Star Silver Rank Spiritualist but felt no fluctuation of Soul Force from the other party. It was as if a ghost had appeared out of nowhere in front of him.
"I'm here to sell treasures, but I don't know if you dare to buy them."
Long Chen's gloved hand extended from beneath the cloak, revealing a single object in his palm. It was one of the Demon Rabbit cores.
The moment Huyan Yanming's eyes landed on the small red crystal, his shock turned into astonishment.
"That is… impossible! It can't be."
His experienced trader's eyes widened. He immediately recognized the ancient, pure aura emanating from the core. This was not something that should still exist in this era. At least, in all his years as the owner of the Hu Yan Treasure House, he had never seen one. Not to mention that even current residents might never have seen such a thing. This was a treasure!
Long Chen, watching the old man's reaction from under the hood's shadow, smiled. He knows. Good, that saves me a lot of time.
"It's good that you recognize it," Long Chen's voice sounded muffled and distorted by the cloak. "Then you understand its value. I don't need to explain the details."
He withdrew his hand. "I have a hundred of these. I'm selling each for one hundred thousand Demon Spirit Coins."
Huyan Yanming nearly choked. "One hundred thousand for a Bronze Rank Demon Essence Stone?! Sir, that's absurd!"
'Demon Essence Stone? So that's what this thing is called!?' Long Chen thought, and even felt it made sense.
"It's not an ordinary Demon Essence Stone," Long Chen retorted, his voice cold as ice. "Think about what one of these could do for a young master or a young lady from a noble family. A rapid breakthrough, a solid foundation with a much purer soul force. It can turn a mediocre talent into a genius in the eyes of Glory City. Now tell me, how much is the title 'genius' worth? If I took this to auction, the price could be much higher."
The old man was sweating coldly. Every word from the stranger was true. The value wasn't in the demon stone's rank, but in its antiquity and the purity of the energy contained within. It was a shortcut to talent, and noble families would pay any price for that. Still, ten million coins was an astronomical sum.
"Sir, the value is high, but so is the risk! I don't even know where you come from... Ten million is… it really is too much! I can offer eighty thousand for each. Eight million total!" he tried to bargain, greed battling caution.
"Hmph."
Long Chen said nothing more. He let out a cold, disdainful snort, turned his back, and started walking toward the exit without the slightest hesitation.
Huyan Yanming's heart raced in panic. He saw the greatest opportunity of his life slipping away. He could resell each of those cores for two hundred, maybe three hundred thousand in a private auction! Or he could hand them to the Huyan family patriarch and gain even higher status. But the price...
"Wait!"
The old man's voice came out tense, almost desperate. Long Chen stopped, but did not turn around.
Huyan Yanming bit his lip, the decision made in a split second. "I accept! I accept your price! Ten million then!"
A victorious smile formed on Long Chen's lips, hidden beneath his cloak. He slowly turned and walked back to the counter.
The old man didn't waste time. With slightly trembling hands, he took from his own spatial ring a simple-looking ring made of silver with delicate blue details. "The money is here. Ten million Demon Spirit coins. And also a medium-grade spatial ring as a courtesy from the house."
Long Chen took the ring, feeling the coldness of the metal. In exchange, he placed the heavy cloth bag on the counter. Huyan Yanming opened it with barely contained excitement and began counting the small red crystals, his eyes shining as if they were coins themselves. There were exactly one hundred, not one less.
"It was good doing business with you!"
Without another word, Long Chen turned and left the shop, disappearing into the busy streets.
As soon as he was gone, the air beside Huyan Yanming shimmered. A shadow solidified into a human figure, also cloaked in dark robes. But this person bore the symbol of the Huyan family guards on the back of the cloak.
"Master, should I follow him and find out his identity?" the shadow asked, voice a cold whisper.
Huyan Yanming looked toward the door where the stranger had exited, his eyes glowing with calculating light.
He nodded. "Be cautious. Don't let him notice you."
The figure nodded and then dissolved into the shadows, disappearing without a trace.