Blue Cloud City, the Golden Cauldron Pavilion.
As the largest trading hub and auction house within a radius of a thousand miles, it was a place where cultivators gathered to exchange spirit stones, martial techniques, and rare medicinal herbs.
Ye Chen, dressed in a black cloak that completely concealed his face and figure, stepped into the bustling pavilion. His goal was simple: he needed resources. Although the Primordial Chaos Body was heaven-defying, it was also a bottomless pit that required a massive amount of spiritual energy to level up.
Walking through the free-trade area on the first floor, Ye Chen's sharp eyes scanned the various stalls.
"Come and look! A Three-Century-Old Blood Ginseng! Guaranteed to help you break through the Body Tempering Realm!"
"Severed sword from an ancient ruin! Only five hundred low-grade spirit stones!"
Suddenly, Ye Chen's footsteps halted before a shabby stall in the corner. His gaze fell upon a completely black, heavily rusted iron fragment. It looked like a piece of trash picked up from a garbage dump, completely devoid of any spiritual energy fluctuations.
However, the moment Ye Chen looked at it, the blood in his body slightly boiled. The Primordial Chaos Body was resonating with it!
"Boss, how much for this piece of scrap iron?" Ye Chen deliberately disguised his voice, making it sound hoarse and mature.
The stall owner, a sly-looking old man, rolled his eyes. "Guest, you have a good eye! This was dug out from the perilous Death God's Abyss. It might contain the inheritance of an ancient mighty figure! I'll give it to you cheap, one thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
Ye Chen sneered under his cloak. "Ten spirit stones. If you don't sell, I'm leaving."
"Deal!" The old man instantly agreed, afraid Ye Chen would regret it.
Just as Ye Chen was about to hand over the spirit stones, a harsh, arrogant voice rang out from behind.
"Hold on! I'll pay one hundred spirit stones for that piece of garbage. Wrap it up for me!"
The crowd parted as a young man in luxurious white robes swaggered over, flanked by several burly guards. He had a face that somewhat resembled Nalan Yan, full of uncontrollable arrogance.
It was Nalan Jie, Nalan Yan's younger brother!
"It's Young Master Nalan!"
"Shh, keep your voice down. The Nalan family is flying high now. With Nalan Yan entering the Starfall Pavilion, no one in Blue Cloud City dares to offend them!"
The surrounding cultivators immediately stepped back, whispering in fear.
Nalan Jie walked up to the stall, glaring at the cloaked Ye Chen with extreme disdain. "Whatever this guy wants, this young master wants it too. I might just feed it to my spirit hound later. You got a problem with that, cloak guy?"
Ye Chen's eyes under the hood turned freezing cold. The Nalan family's arrogance truly ran in their blood.
He didn't get angry. Instead, he chuckled hoarsely. "One hundred spirit stones for a piece of rusted iron? The young master of the Nalan family is truly 'wealthy' and 'intelligent'. It's yours."
Saying that, Ye Chen turned around and walked away without the slightest hesitation.
Nalan Jie frowned, suddenly feeling like he had just acted like a massive idiot in public. He paid the hundred spirit stones, grabbed the rusted iron, and tried to channel his Qi into it.
Crack!
The iron piece instantly shattered into completely useless dust, dirtying his expensive white robes.
"Fuck! I was scammed by that cloaked bastard!" Nalan Jie roared in fury, throwing the dust on the ground. "Guards, go capture him and break his legs!"
But when he looked up, the black-cloaked figure had long disappeared into the crowded pavilion like a ghost.