Chapter 319: My Ancestor, Fang Tingyuan

Thirty-five?

Fang Chen nodded. This price was pretty good. It had even exceeded his initial expectations.

Just as Fang Chen was about to speak, the shopkeeper, furrowing his brow, said, "Thirty-five low-grade spirit stones? You won’t be making a profit at all."

Fang Ao chuckled. "You’re the one trying to make a profit. I’m just buying them for personal use, so why would I need to profit?"

The shopkeeper nodded. "Very well, then we won't compete with you for these few talismans, Brother Fang. If I make an offer of thirty-five low-grade spirit stones, I won’t be able to make a profit at all.”

Wu Jiuquan was stunned, and his tongue suddenly felt all tied up.

Fang Ao seemed to have caught on to something, as he started laughing heartily before turning to Fang Chen with a smile. "Little brother, how many Purple Lightning Talismans do you have on hand? Tell me so I can calculate how much I’ll need to pay. I’ll have someone bring the spirit stones immediately."

Glancing at his storage ring, Fang Chen said, "I have about a 116."

Fang Ao looked somewhat excited when he heard that. "Are they all peak-grade?"

Fang Chen nodded slightly. "Yes."

The shopkeeper, who had been about to leave, stopped right in his tracks. Did he hear that correctly?

116 peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans?!

By now, Fang Ao had already burned several Communication Talismans, and he was now chatting with Fang Chen to find out about his background.

The shopkeeper's eyes slowly drifted toward Wu Jiuquan, staring unblinkingly at him. The sternness in his eyes was palpable.

Wu Jiuquan kept his head low, not daring to meet his eyes. He had caused quite the mess.

Selling over a hundred Purple Lightning Talismans would net a profit of at least several hundred spirit stones, that’s enough to buy a mid-grade, yellow rank treasure.

But that wasn’t the most important part; when it came to Purple Lightning Talismans, profit was secondary, as one could leverage them as favors, since they were very scarce.

Wu Jiuquan's heart dropped to his stomach.

Shopkeeper Wu tried to salvage the situation, plastering a nice smile and clasping his fist. "I didn't know you had so much to sell, Little brother, that’s why I set the price rather low. Would you be willing to sell all your Purple Lightning Talismans to us if I set the price at thirty-six spirit stones?"

Fang Ao frowned slightly but remained silent. Even though what Shopkeeper Who was doing was quite unethical, this was business at the end of the day—the highest bidder won.

Fang Chen smiled faintly. "Nope. I've already come to an agreement with senior. What's the point of earning an extra hundred or so low-grade spirit stones?"

Fang Ao immediately showed a hint of a smile when he heard that, nodding gently.

The shopkeeper's expression shifted erratically, and his smile turned a little forced. "In that case, may I have the honor of seeing the peak-grade Purple Lightning Talisman?"

Oh...

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on.

Both Fang Ao and Wu Jiuquan also looked at Fang Chen. They had talked so much already but they hadn’t seen the Purple Lightning Talismans yet. What if this person had just been boasting?

A glimmer of hope flashed in Wu Jiuquan's eyes.

If he’s boasting then I wouldn’t be faulted!

Fang Chen smiled and directly took out ten peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans, giving five to Fang Ao and five to the shopkeeper.

"The lightning aura is rich, these are Purple Lightning Talismans without a doubt!" Fang Ao was so overjoyed, he didn’t want to put them down from his hand. If used well, these five Purple Lightning Talismans could easily allow a weak Qi Refining Realm cultivator to kill a 12th stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator!

Shopkeeper Wu instantly knew that these talismans were really peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans as soon as he touched them, and his smile crumbled. Wu Jiuquan had cost the pavilion hundreds of spirit stones because of his mistake.

Thinking of that, Shopkeeper Wu turned to Wu Jiuquan, coldly saying, "Wu Jiuquan, you've lost your salary for the year. Reflect on your mistake. If anything similar happens again, you can go back to your family. I don't need your help out here."

Wu Jiuquan's expression stiffened. A whole year's salary...

His monthly salary was only six low-grade spirit stones, so he only made seventy-two spirit stones in a year. The loss was too heavy.

Fang Ao chuckled. "Shopkeeper Wu, disciplining your subordinate in private should be enough. Who are you trying to impress with this public scolding? Docking his annual salary is just a slap on the wrist. He won't learn from it."

Wu Jiuquan felt resentful. Did he really have to kick him when he was down?

“Thank you for your concern.” Shopkeeper Wu smiled insincerely. “I believe my subordinate will learn the importance of humility from now on and will compromise when dealing with the other people.”

That remark seemed to carry another meaning, reminding Fang Ao not to push his luck too far.

Fang Ao smiled back, saying nothing more.

About fifteen minutes later, several figures hurried in, all of them were Foundation Building Realm cultivators from the Fang Family.

"Fang Ao, you said there are peak-grade Purple Lightning Talismans for sale. Where are they?" one of them asked immediately, his face seemingly quite anxious.

Although the others pretended to be calm, everyone could tell they were impatient to get their hands on the Purple Lightning Talisman as soon as possible.

Fang Ao looked at Fang Chen and smiled. "Young brother, the spirit stones are ready. Shall we proceed with the transaction?"

Fang Chen nodded slightly.

Fang Ao turned to the shopkeeper again. "Shopkeeper Wu, would you mind us completing the transaction in your pavilion?"

Shopkeeper Wu smiled. "Please, go ahead."

His gaze had been assessing Fang Chen all along. When he saw Fang Chen taking out peak-grade Purple Lightning Talisman one after another, the veins on his face couldn't help but twitch.

Ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred—one hundred and sixteen.

Not one less!

The transaction was quickly completed. Fang Chen earned himself four thousand and sixty low-grade spirit stones, pushing his wealth over ten thousand spirit stones once again.

At the very least, he now had the means to buy a high-grade, yellow rank treasure.

Treasures were the most expensive among cultivation resources.

Peak-grade, yellow rank pills and spiritual herbs only went for about one or two hundred low-grade spirit stones, while some might go for seven or eight hundred low-grade spirit stones.

For example, the Hundred-Year Blood Ginseng left behind by Supreme Immortal Pudu wasn't really worth much.

When I craft the Illusion Talismans, True Fire Talismans, and Binding Talismans and sell them, I’ll be able to make some more money. If luck is on my side, I might even be able to promote Little Sword and get to the third rank of the sword body,

Fang Chen thought to himself.

There was now a bit of admiration in Fang Ao’s eyes as he looked at Fang Chen, and smiling, he asked, "What should I call you, young brother? You don't seem to be from the inner city?”

Fang Chen smiled. "I am actually not from the Grand Qian Empire.”

"He’s not from the Grand Qian Empire?"

Immediately, everyone's imagination ran wild.

Just then, Xia Ji walked over curiously, having noticed the crowd that had gathered.

"Brother Fang, what's going on?" asked Xia Ji.

"Isn't this Master Chanyuan's disciple, Xia Ji?"

"Does he know this person?"

People were getting curious.

"So you’re also surnamed Fang," Fang Ao suddenly brightened. "We might be distant relatives from five hundred years ago!"

Xia Ji was taken aback."Huh? Senior Fang Ao?"

Fang Ao smiled and nodded. "Little Xia, it's been a while. Is this your friend?"

"Senior Fang Ao, this... it's a long story. He might really have been from the same family as yours five hundred years ago," said Xia Ji with a strange expression.

Everyone froze upon hearing this. That didn't seem like a joke. Nobody dared to joke about the Fang Family in the capital.

The shopkeeper Wu's expression shifted slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

Fang Ao furrowed his brows slightly, and with a faint smile, he said, "You must be joking, Little Xia."

"I am Fang Chen, a descendant of Fang Tianyuan," said Fang Chen, bowing respectfully.

"Fang Tingyuan?"

Fang Ao and the others were first stunned, then a look of disbelief appeared on their faces.

That generation?!

There was a Golden Core Realm ancestor in the Fang Family with that name, but that was hundreds of years ago!

"Wait a minute, you said your ancestor's name is Fang Tingyuan?! Isn't he the one who was expelled four hundred years ago...?” said a Foundation Building Realm disciple of the Fang Family, freezing in shock abruptly, his mouth hanging.