Chapter 267: Skull Numbing

"That was pretty fast," said Fang Chen with some joy. He had only instructed them to do this yesterday, and the spiritual materials arrived before evening this day.

Fang Chen stood up, left his chamber and went with Abbess Qing He to the Ye Family's treasury, where they saw cart after cart full of spiritual materials being brought in. Some of the spiritual material were unrefined ores, so they were very large and couldn't be stored inside storage rings. The Ye Family leader, along with the leaders of the Xu and Zhou Families, watched as the spiritual materials were brought in. As he watched the stuff come in, he took out a handful of refined spiritual materials from his ring.

When the three heads saw that Fang Chen had arrived, they crossed over to greet him.

"Senior, all the spiritual materials are here, and there are quite a lot of them..." said the Ye Family Head.

Fang Chen smiled. "Great."

At that moment, a middle-aged man in black robes walked over, out of the treasury, and approached them.

"Everything is inside. When will you be paying off the rest of the spirit stones?" said the man emotionlessly, he didn’t seem very stoked to be here.

The Ye Family Head quickly looked at Fang Chen.

Seeing that the Ye Family Head had turned to look at Fang Chen, surprise flashed in the man’s eyes. He tried to probe into Fang Chen’s cultivation, but he couldn’t see through it at all, which he didn’t find that surprising, as it wasn’t that uncommon for one to carry a treasure that could mask cultivation.

"Are you the one who ordered these spiritual materials?"

"How much do I owe you?" asked Fang Chen.

"You’ve paid a down payment of 4000 spirit stones. The total price of the spiritual materials is 12,763 spirit stones. So that’ll be 8,763 spirit stones," replied the man offhandedly.

"Haven’t we agreed on 8000, Master Lin? What’s with the 12000?” asked the Xu Family Head in astonishment.

The middle-aged man was probably inflating the price because of the demand, seeing that they were pretty desperate for the items.

"What did you say?” The man glared at the Xu Family Head. “Who told you it was just 8000? What about my delivery fees, who’ll pay that? I made a big trip over here. You are at the 12th stage of Qi Refining, how can’t you know better?”

The smile on the Xu Family Leader’s face froze.

He had been utterly embarrassed right in front of Fang Chen and the rest of the family heads, not to mention the many Ye Family cultivators around.

Fang Chen frowned. "I know you’re trying to make a profit here, but can’t you be a little bit friendly while you conduct your business?"

The man turned to Fang Chen indifferently. "Of course I have to make a profit. But why should I act friendly to you people?”

Ye Family Head quickly butted in to smooth things over. "Gentlemen, let’s not get angry here, calm down...."

He looked at Fang Chen. "Senior, this is Master Lin, a steward from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. He’s at the 12th stage, too. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion comes from... a fourth-tier empire and their business extends to various fifth-tier and even sixth-tier empires. So Master Lin may behave a little..."

The man stared at Fang Chen, seemingly wanting to see his reaction.

Unexpectedly, Fang Chen just nodded calmly. "12000 it is."

"12000 was my old price. It’s now 20000," said the man with a smirk. His eyes had grown greedy. He had been testing the waters, and seeing that Fang Chen had agreed so easily, he decided to up the price even more.

He had gone through the trouble of traveling all the way from the fourth-tier empire, going through many barren lands along the way, just to reach here. He had to make a bit of extra money for himself.

"20000...." The family heads’ faces fell. They looked at each other, then turned to Fang Chen. He was the only one who could make the decision.

Fang Chen shook his head lightly. “Absolutely not."

"You’re not going through with the payment? That's fine. I won’t be returning your deposit." The man in black robes laughed heartily and shouted to his subordinates, "Take all the spiritual materials back! We’re leaving!"

"Yes!"

The cultivators who had just placed the spiritual materials into the treasury orderly went back inside to fetch them back. They were very professional.

The three family heads were stunned.

Staring at the man in black, Abbess Qing He was dumbfounded. Was that how they did business?

The leader of the Ye Family quickly tried to placate the situation. "Master Lin, please don't be angry, please don't be angry...."

He really couldn’t afford to offend either side here, especially Master Lin! Considering the behemoth that was the Heavenly Treasure Pavillion, that was someone who probably had Golden Core experts behind him! He was a businessman himself, so if he offended a behemoth like that, they could easily put him out of business.

Gritting his teeth, the Ye Family Head transmitted his voice to the man in black. "Master Lin, this senior is actually a sword cultivator...."

He hadn’t wanted to tell the man about Fang Chen’s identity because if the man was interested in personally befriending Fang Chen, they wouldn’t be able to act as the middlemen between them anymore, which would make them lose out on a bit of profit of their own! Who would have thought that Master Lin's temper was so irritable, causing them to be stuck in such an awkward situation?

"He’s a sword cultivator?" Master Lin was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. Pointing at Fang Chen, the man was clearly disdainful. “You’re saying he’s a sword cultivator?"

The leaders of the Xu and Zhou Familys looked at each other and decided not to get involved. After all, they had already done what Fang Chen had asked of them. The one making a scene here was someone from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, they couldn't help much anyway.

The Ye Family Head smiled bitterly. "Master Lin..."

Everything went south today, and he might actually end up offending both sides today.

What he feared most was Fang Chen attacking and killing Master Lin. If that happened, the Ye Family would face disaster.

Finally, Fang Chen shook his head. "Forget it. This is not the type of business I’d like to deal with,” he said. “Those 4000 spiritual stones can be a lesson for everyone here.”

Everyone was stunned.

Master Lin was surprised to see him back off so easily, and he couldn't help but sneer as he directed his subordinates to move the spiritual materials. "You’re telling me he’s a sword cultivator? Aren’t they known for their irritable temper? All of them are supposed to be madmen! Where in the world would you find such a cowardly sword cultivator? Today I've seen it all! Hahaha!"

The Ye Family was terrified, but fortunately, Fang Chen didn’t seem angry.

Soon, all the spiritual materials were moved out.

"If you have another deal like this, don’t forget to contact me,” said the man dressed in black as he looked at the three heads. He was very smug. “Don’t look for anyone else, remember to look for me! There’s no one in the world who would refuse free 4000 spirit stones."

Silence filled the air.

Abbess Qing He was curious. She knew Fang Chen very well. He wasn’t one to take such humiliation and roll with it.

Why isn’t he doing anything?

The Ye Family Head's voice was hoarse. "Senior, p-please....”

"This has nothing to do with your family,” said Fang Chen, then turned to the other two, “neither does it have with the two of you." He smiled. "Don't worry about it."

But the more calm Fang Chen was, the more frightened the three heads were.

Gathering his courage, the Xu Family Head came up with a suggestion. "Why... Why don’t we reimburse you those spirit stones you’ve lost? We can sell the Spirit Void Sect site and pool in together to make it up for you!”

"I said it's fine. Why are you so nervous?” Fang Chen waved his hand. “Look, I'm tired.”

Fang Chen took Abbess Qing He and left, his pace leisurely.

The three heads looked at each other in shock.

"I think... trouble is brewing," said the Zhou Family Head.

***

Master Lin swaggered out of Spirit Void City with his team, laughing and chatting about what had just happened.

"The leader of the Ye Family actually had the nerve to say that that young man was a sword cultivator. I've never heard of such a cowardly sword cultivator!"

"Heh, I think he was scared by the lord."

"I agree."

Listening to his subordinates' discussion, Master Lin couldn't help but chuckle.

Just by making a single trip, he pocketed 4000 spirit stones for himself. The orders made by foreign empires were really the most profitable.

Master Lin chuckled to himself. "Compared to being just a lackey in a fourth-tier empire, there’s nothing for me to worry about here!"

Then he looked at his subordinates. "Oh right, keep a lookout for them. They might chase after us soon. They were so eager to get their hands on this batch of spiritual materials. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion is the only place that could provide them with what they need, after all.”

"You are absolutely right, Master Lin!"

His subordinates started to butter him up. "These young cultivators are nothing in front of you."

The next moment, two cultivators approached, deep in conversation.

"It's a pity we arrived late. I heard that a few days ago on Mount Spirit Void, that sword cultivator’s might shook the Heavens and the earth. Even the esteemed Passing Dragon Island Master from the Sea Dragon Sect was killed with one sword strike of his."

"Alas. How regrettable it is that I haven't managed to witness it myself. I heard that the Qingzhou Sword Sect Head, the First Sword of Qingzhou, was so frightened that he even relinquished his position to that sword cultivator!"

The two cultivators passed by the man in black’s procession.

"A single strike to kill a late-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivator and scare another mid-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivator out of his mind...” said one of them. “That sword cultivator’s abilities are really horrifying.”

Master Lin cranked his head back and stared blankly at the two, his scalp starting to tingle.

Were... were they talking about that supposed sword cultivator he had just run into...?

His subordinates began to grow suspicious, and they turned silent.

"How far are we from Spirit Void City?" asked Master Lin involuntarily.

"We should be about fifty miles away."

Master Lin immediately shouted, "Quick, pick up the pace, let's leave this place!"

He quickly led the escape.