38: Thanks to the Neighboring Competitor for Providing a Good Show
“What rubbish are you selling in this shop! In my opinion, you’d better pack up and close down!”
Several burly men barged into Treasure Pavilion, smashing tables and chairs without a word. Customers in the shop scattered in fear.
A crowd of onlookers gathered outside.
“Fighting and disturbances are prohibited in the shop. If you have any complaints, we can resolve them privately. Please don’t harm other customers!”
Tantai Ming blocked them outside the shop, his hand on his sword hilt. The pressure of his Golden Core stage made the men somewhat wary. They dropped their fierce demeanor and turned to complain indignantly, raising their voices to the many onlookers gathered outside, “Judge for yourselves! The magic tool I bought from them last time broke after just two days of use.”
“They dare to charge thirty thousand spirit stones for such garbage. Aren’t they just cheating us honest folks!”
Hearing this, the onlookers all angrily condemned the shop, “This shop is truly unscrupulous!”
Although a few tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones might not mean much to wealthy families, for ordinary cultivators, it might be their life savings used to buy a desired magic tool, only to be cheated by an unscrupulous shop.
Empathizing with this, it aroused public anger.
Ruining a shop’s reputation was as easy as pie.
Tantai Ming became anxious, “Thirty thousand spirit stones for a magic tool is already the lowest price. Can you find any other shop with lower prices than ours?”
“Moreover, our shop offers a warranty service. If the weapon is damaged under normal use within a year, we can replace it with a new one!”
The lead burly man didn’t listen at all and shouted loudly, “You say you’ll replace it just like that? You shops are best at cheating us honest cultivators. What if you give us an inferior one? I don’t believe you. Refund! I want a refund!”
A refund was a small matter, but the disturbance caused by these cultivators implied that there were indeed problems with the magic tools sold in their shop.
Once a shop’s reputation is damaged, it’s hard to recover.
“Are these people here specifically to cause trouble?”
Sikong Qiu put her hands on her hips, her willow-like eyebrows furrowed, “Chengying just told me that in the month since we opened the shop, he’s been managing the accounts and noting down every customer’s appearance. He’s never seen these cultivators before. In my opinion, these people have come here specifically to cause trouble!”
Chu Sang stepped forward and said, “May I ask this customer to show us the damaged magic tool so we can take a look?”
The burly man glanced at Tantai Ming behind her, snorted arrogantly through his nose, and casually took out a damaged large chopper, “It’s this knife!”
Chu Sang took the knife and looked at it. The knife indeed had their shop’s characteristic tool patterns, imitated quite skillfully. Unfortunately, no matter how good the imitation, it was still just an imitation. They had only copied the appearance of the tool patterns, not their essence, with no understanding of how to manipulate energy. It was an extremely poor counterfeit.
Laymen might not notice anything, but she could tell at a glance.
“Do you know how to use this, customer?” Chu Sang flicked the blade with her finger, producing a clear, ringing sound.
“You don’t know how to use it, right?” She grinned, “Let me teach you.”
She aimed at the lead burly man and swung the knife directly at him.
The man’s face changed dramatically as he hurriedly dodged. If his reaction had been even a beat slower, he would have lost an eye!
“You! You dare to openly attack a customer—”
The men were enraged, thinking they had been quite thuggish, but never expected the other side to be even more so, resorting to violence without a word!
“You don’t even know how to use it, yet you claim it’s broken? I just wanted to teach you, my hand slipped.” Chu Sang clicked her tongue, looking meaningfully at the group, “……Your reaction speed is quite fast.”
Before coming, they must have taken pills to conceal their auras, appearing no different from ordinary cultivators. But just now, when they hurriedly dodged, they inadvertently used spiritual energy, nullifying the pills’ effects and exposing their early Golden Core stage cultivation.
The crowd’s attitude suddenly changed.
These men were actually early Golden Core stage cultivators?!
Most cultivators in the cultivation world spend their entire lives at Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment stages, rarely breaking through without great opportunities.
Golden Core stage cultivators were comparatively very rare.
Basically, those who could cultivate to Golden Core stage wouldn’t lack resources or talent, and their status would be far above ordinary cultivators.
But these Golden Core cultivators in front of them had come to cause trouble over thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones. This…… didn’t match the image of wealthy Golden Core cultivators they had imagined.
The onlookers weren’t fools. They more or less sensed something was amiss, and the tide began to turn in Chu Sang’s favor.
“Aren’t these Golden Core cultivators being too overbearing? Barging into someone’s shop and causing a scene, almost cutting me with that knife earlier?” This seemed to be a customer who was in the shop earlier. “It’s not a big deal, it could have been resolved privately. Why make such a disgraceful scene? It seems quite inappropriate……”
“Don’t you find it strange? These people clearly have Golden Core stage strength, so why did they deliberately conceal their cultivation earlier? And why disguise themselves as low-level cultivators……”
“Could they be hired thugs from other shops?” A discordant voice arose from the crowd. “Treasure Pavilion’s business has been booming recently. Perhaps they’ve attracted envy from competitors who hired people to come and cause trouble.”
“Who would do such a despicable thing? Could it be the nearby Wandian House?”
“Can Wandian House afford to hire Golden Core cultivators? In my opinion, it might be……”
“……”
One has to admit, the gossip crowd’s information gathering ability was strong. After a few exchanges, they had already come close to seven or eight tenths of the truth.
The Golden Core cultivators’ faces darkened with anger. They had originally intended to disguise their identities to cause trouble, but unexpectedly, they were exposed.
Since they had been recognized, they might as well go all out. The men unleashed their Golden Core stage pressure without restraint.
The lead burly man directly drew a large broad sword.
Tantai Ming lowered his brows, about to draw his sword, when Chu Sang stepped forward and pressed down on his hand on the sword hilt. She pulled out several talismans, “You want to make a big scene, right? You should have said so earlier. Let me help you.”
“??”
The burly men were all stunned for a moment, unable to guess what this female cultivator was planning.
The lead cultivator gripped his sword hilt tightly, narrowing his eyes dangerously, “Attack together!”
The scene became chaotic, the disturbance growing larger, attracting more and more onlookers.
Five early Golden Core stage burly men against one late Foundation Establishment stage female cultivator—logically, the outcome of this battle should have been a foregone conclusion. But to everyone’s surprise, the men gained no advantage at all. Instead, they were repeatedly forced back by the talismans in the woman’s hand.
“The talismans in her hand are Explosive Talismans. I bought a few a month ago. A few days ago in a secret realm, I almost lost my life to a spirit beast. Fortunately, I had an Explosive Talisman that directly repelled a Golden Core stage spirit beast!” A cultivator in the crowd exclaimed with surprise and joy. “And the talisman she used earlier to avoid a sneak attack was a Speed Talisman, which can increase a cultivator’s speed tenfold! It was thanks to these two talismans that I escaped from the spirit beast’s mouth.”
“Did you see just now? A Golden Core cultivator launched a sneak attack from behind. That huge chopper nearly two meters long struck her back at lightning speed, but she was completely unharmed!”
“I know this one, it’s the Golden Armor Talisman. I snatched one a few days ago. The Golden Armor Talismans they sell are incredibly effective, even able to withstand a full-force attack from a Golden Core stage cultivator!”
“And this one is a Binding Talisman. I heard it works on all realms!”
“A talisman that works on all realms, is that real?” Most talismans have strict cultivation level restrictions when used, either due to the drawer’s low cultivation or the inherent limitations of the rune. If the opponent’s realm exceeds the limit, the talisman becomes useless.
But an all-realm talisman could save one’s life when encountering a strong enemy!
Someone stirred restlessly, “I want to buy, I want to buy a hundred!”
“Don’t fight me for them. These talismans are limited to a hundred per day. If you buy them all, what will I buy!”
“First come, first served. Whoever grabs them gets them.”
Those cultivators finally sensed something was amiss. They had come to cause trouble, so how did they inexplicably turn into human display stands?
Damn.
They’d been doing this job for decades but had never been insulted like this!
The lead cultivator’s face twisted for a moment. He directly bypassed Chu Sang and swung his knife heavily towards the shop.
However, his large knife didn’t even touch a piece of wood. It seemed to hit some invisible barrier, making a crisp “crack” sound. Under everyone’s gaze, the knife directly broke in two.
“Defensive Formation Disk, can completely negate attacks from Golden Core stage and below. Currently priced at two million mid-grade spirit stones. Only one left, first come first served.” Chu Sang dodged a sneak attack, whistling as she advertised on the spot.
“I want it, I want it! I bid three million mid-grade spirit stones!”
“You think you can buy a defensive formation that can block Golden Core stage attacks for just three million mid-grade spirit stones? What are you dreaming about? I bid five million mid-grade spirit stones!”
“I bid six million!”
“Step aside, I bid ten million. None of you try to compete with me!”
“I bid fifteen million. Who doesn’t have a few spirit stones at home? What are you showing off for!”
“You—Twenty million!”
“Thirty million!”
Tantai Ming and the others were dumbfounded. Truly, they had just been worried that their little junior sister might get hurt on her own, and even wanted to secretly help her.
Unexpectedly, her series of operations were like a fish in water. She even had time to promote products, turning a big commotion into an on-site auction.
This was too outrageous, wasn’t it?
Who else but Little Junior Sister could pull off something like this?
Tantai Ming could only give a thumbs up, at a loss for words.
Those cultivators were about to go mad with anger. They had come to cause trouble, not to help her liven things up!
“……Seeking death!”
The men changed their formation, jointly using the Thousand Mountain Sword Array. Once this sword array was activated, its power was comparable to a full-force attack from a half-step Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Even if this late Foundation Establishment stage female cultivator used every trick in her book, she couldn’t escape being crushed to a pulp!
“Who do you think you are, daring to hurt my little junior sister!”
The young man flashed in front of Chu Sang. His crimson heavy sword had not yet left its scabbard, but its terrifying pressure almost made the cultivators collapse to their knees on the spot.
Tantai Ming turned his wrist and swung his sword, breaking all techniques with one strike. He shattered the seemingly impenetrable sword array, sending the men flying to the ground, each spitting out a large mouthful of blood with a “Wa!”
Seeing they intended to take out magic tools to escape, Chu Sang stepped out from behind Tantai Ming, formed a hand seal, and her bracelet shot out hundreds of silver threads, piercing through the limbs and torsos of the men, fixing them to the ground, unable to move.
She walked up, crouched down, and patted the lead burly man’s face, “You worked hard today, huh? Lively, I’m very satisfied. Keep up the good work next time!”
The man’s eyes bulged, his dao heart unstable, and he spat out another large mouthful of blood.
Purely out of anger at her words.
Although this commotion wasn’t Chu Sang’s original intention, she was always skilled at turning disadvantages into advantages. She thanked the neighboring competitor for freely providing such a good show, giving her an opportunity to promote their business well again.
This melee attracted cultivators from half the city. Originally, with old established shops like Treasure Forging Tower setting the standard, they didn’t have much interest in this new shop.
But after today’s battle, people were truly convinced.
Chu Sang kicked him, “Go tell your superiors, next time spend more money and send a few more people. I have plenty of talismans. Try to let me demonstrate each type.”
“You—”
Tantai Ming kicked him again, “What ‘you’? When told to deliver a message, just deliver it. If you don’t leave now, don’t blame this young master for changing his mind and finishing you off with one sword!” As he spoke, he drew his sword, a cold light flashing across the blade.
Those cultivators swallowed their grievances and scrambled away. As arrogant as they had been when they arrived, they were equally pathetic when they left.
Unable to accept this, they exaggerated the incident when reporting to Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun directly crushed the cup in his hand in anger, “Arrogant, simply too arrogant! I’ve never seen anyone more arrogant than me!”
“Young Master, you don’t know, that woman even cursed you as stupid as a pig, saying you failed to steal a chicken and lost the bait, and that next time she meets you, she’ll teach you a good lesson!”
“Yes, yes, her words were so insulting, so vulgar!”
“Oh my, I’m too embarrassed to repeat them!”
Zhao Yun was about to die of anger. He wasn’t just the young master of Treasure Forging Tower, but also the head disciple of the Alchemy Sect. Usually, those who offended him never had a good end. This was the first time he had met his match, and he had nowhere to vent his anger.
“The Yunze Secret Realm will open in three days. Do we need to prepare anything in advance?” A servant reported.
The Yunze Secret Realm was a grand secret realm that opened only once every hundred years. It contained countless heavenly and earthly treasures, and even many legacies left by ancient powerful beings.
It was said that a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had been struggling to breakthrough went to the Yunze Secret Realm once and broke through to Nascent Soul stage within a short month…… Now, all major sects and family forces were keeping a close eye on the Yunze Secret Realm, which showed the importance of this expedition.
“It’s just a small shop. If I want to crush them, this young master has plenty of methods. No rush.”
Zhao Yun quickly put this matter out of his mind. The centennial secret realm was no small matter. The group of core disciples from the Eight Great Immortal Sects would definitely move out in force. At that time, there would surely be a fierce and bloody competition. Who knew who would come out on top?
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
“Little Junior Sister, I heard that a centennial secret realm will open in three days. Shall we go and take a look?”
Tantai Ming couldn’t sit still and often went out to wander around, so he was up to date on various rumors.
Su Chen’an frowned, “This secret realm is not comparable to those ordinary small secret realms. Although it contains many treasures and opportunities, it’s also fraught with dangers.”
“The level of danger is not at all comparable to the small secret realms you’ve explored before. If you encounter danger……”
His gaze swept over Chu Sang, he paused, then changed his words, “Never mind, you can go. Take care of yourselves, just don’t cause trouble for others.”
“……”