"Liu Nan, Liu Nan..." Shang Ya Zi muttered. The name seemed familiar somehow, yet Shang Ya Zi was sure he had never met the person in question. He took a deep breath and tried to wash the anxiety from his face. "All right, let him in."
Liu Nan walked in, and Shang Ya Zi suddenly remembered where he had heard the name. He was a Rank Five Gu Master said to have recently arrived in the city. That alone was noteworthy enough to have reached his ears. However, unlike Fang Yuan, Liu Nan had not participated in the city's economy which is why he had not been picked up on Shang Ya Zi's radar.
One of the main reasons why Rank Five Gu Masters were so welcome in the city was because they carried goods and refinement materials that were otherwise hard to acquire. After all, who else would buy or sell Rank 5 gu worms and refinement materials besides Rank 5 Gu Masters? And these things were far more valuable than the other ranks combined - they could reach prices of up to a million primeval stones at times! No one wanted to turn such Gu Masters away.
Liu Nan, however, had kept his pockets shut. Shang Ya Zi was responsible for many of the shops involving gu worms and gu worm recipes, but Lu Nan had neither bought nor sold anything from them.
"Well then, what can I do for you?" Shang Ya Zi asked.
Liu Nan did not reply to the question directly. Instead, he said, "You're planning to conspire with Fang Yuan in order to buy his gu worm recipes for above an actual market price, aren't you?"
Shang Ya Zi had forced himself to relax earlier, but now he nearly flew right out of his chair. If information about this managed to leak out, his position as a young master would definitely be axed, regardless of whether he got that recipe or not. "You! How do you possibly know that?"
"So, it's true," Liu Nan said, tapping his chin. "A Rank Five Gu Master has many ways to gain information."
Shang Ya Zi immediately scanned around the office. Did Lu Nan have some kind of investigative Gu worm here? If it was Rank Five, it would be difficult for him to find.
"You... you've been spying on me?!"
"I guess you could say that," Lu Nan replied. "Or you could simply say that I put the puzzle pieces together. It's not exactly difficult, after all."
Liu Nan's calm expression fueled Shang Ya Zi's rage. He was already furious at having been played by Fang Yuan, and now to see that there was someone else who was doing the same? "You! You're coming here thinking that you can blackmail me regarding this! Don't forget who I am. I'm one of the Shang Clan Young Masters! If you try to use this information against me, I will ensure that you live to regret-"
"Please, calm down," Liu Nan said, slightly annoyed, though he did not respond to Shang Ya Zi with the same tone of voice. "I'm not here to blackmail you or try to extort you with this piece of information. Instead, what I'm trying to say is that I don't want you to buy the gu recipe from Fang Yuan."
Shang Ya Zi paused before he got even angrier. "Who are you to forbid me from buying something?"
"You want the recipe in order to save your status as young master, don't you?"
That wasn't a hard fact to figure out. Fang Yuan already knew that, and it wasn't like Liu Nan couldn't figure it out, either.
"I want to show you this," Liu Nan said. He picked out a gu worm, which looked like an elongated beetle. "This is called Dark Talon Gu. It is Rank One." He poured his primeval essence into it, and a single, sharp talon, about an inch long, emerged from his index finger. "The talons can cut through even the thickest of hides, though they can only be used at close range. This is Rank Two Deep Dark Talon Gu," he said, pulling out another one, which looked larger than the first. It grew into a talon twice as long and three times as thick as the Rank One gu worm on his index finger. "And this is Rank Three Dark Claw Gu," he said, taking out a Gu worm that almost looked like a glove and placing it on the back of his other hand, which erupted into a set of five thick, deadly-looking claws.
"Why are you showing me all of these?" Shang Ya Zi asked.
"Because I have a business proposition for you," Liu Nan said. "These gu worms form a series, as you might be able to tell. However, these are not the only ones in the set. There's also Dark Armor Gu, which is a defensive type gu worm, Dark Eyes Gu, which comes from Rank One to Rank Three and allows a Gu Master to see even in the darkness, and Dark Shroud Gu, which forms a cape and allows one to hide so long more easily in the shadows. All of these gu worms are related, being part of the Dark Path. I do not have all of their versions and derivations with me - these three are the only ones I brought. However, I can assure you that I do have the complete recipe for the set. A recipe that I am willing to sell to you far cheaper than what Fang Yuan wants for his."
Shang Ya Zi immediately calmed down, the rage washing away from his face. He sat down awkwardly. "Ah, Sir Liu Nan. My apologies for shouting at you earlier. As you can understand, I've been under a bit of stress because of that Fang Yuan's antics. Certainly, we can do business with each other."
Fang Yuan had previously held the advantage because he had a complete gu worm recipe set that could save Shang Ya Zi's young master status. Because Fang Yuan essentially had a monopoly, and because Shang Ya Zi valued his position far more than his personal wealth, Fang Yuan had been able to raise the price up to 800,000 primeval stones for something that should not have cost more than 650,000 ordinarily.
However, now that there was a second seller on the market, the price would naturally fall. Shang Ya Zi had no real interest in the recipe itself; he just wanted something to show the Clan Elders, demonstrating his advancement. If he could buy this other recipe at a reasonable price, he would be fine.
"Is this a complete recipe set?" Shang Ya Zi asked, trying to hide his excitement. Even though he had another seller, he still wanted to buy it at the lowest possible price, and as such, he couldn't appear too desperate towards Liu Nan's offer.
"Indeed. You have my word that it is a complete recipe," Liu Nan said. "As I mentioned, I could only show you those three gu worms, but there are far more of them. I could not bring them with me because they are difficult to feed."
"Are they the product of some kind of inheritance?" Shang Ya Zi asked.
"They were created by a rather talented colleague of mine," Liu Nan said, refusing to elaborate further.
"So, let us discuss the price then," Shang Ya Zi said.
"I'll make you an offer that you cannot refuse," Liu Nan said. "You can have it for free."
"For free?!" Shang Ya Zi nearly jumped out of his chair. His eyes glazed over for a moment. He knew a deal that was too good to be true at a glance and was not an idiot. "Why exactly are you giving away something so valuable?"
"Simple," Liu Nan said. "Because Fang Yuan and I are enemies. I know he's trying to gather funds by selling that recipe to you, and if this is a way that I can undercut him and dig into his benefits, then I will gladly do so."