"Of course, that's only to be expected. May I ask what items you're looking for, Senior? As long as our pavilion has them, we'll be sure to satisfy your needs to the best of our abilities," Xiao Yan said with a smile.
"Foreign Devilish Metal and Bloodtooth Rice," Han Li replied in an extremely concise manner.
Xiao Yan's expression remained unchanged upon hearing the first item, but her expression changed slightly at the mention of the second item, and she suddenly fell silent.
"Is there an issue?" Han Li asked.
"Truth be told, the Foreign Devilish Metal is quite easy to arrange. It's a rare material, but we have a lot of stock in our warehouse, so I can take you to see them right away. As for Bloodtooth Rice, that's rather difficult to come by," Xiao Yan replied in a slightly awkward manner.
"Prior to coming here, I've heard that Blue Waterfall City has very strict regulations on Bloodtooth Rice, and that one can only purchase two pieces per year, but surely a pavilion of this caliber will have some alternative avenues that it can use," Han Li said as he raised an eyebrow.
"It seems that you're completely unfamiliar with the production of Bloodtooth Rice in this area, Senior," Xiao Yan said with a wry smile.
"I only just came here, so I am indeed quite unfamiliar with everything; would you be able to explain the situation to me?" Han Li asked.
"This isn't a confidential matter, so I can certainly disclose the information to you. It's no exaggeration to say that our Rainbow Pavilion will be able to get our hands on a substantial amount of any other type of treasure or material, but the Bloodtooth Rice is directly regulated by the city lord's manor, and we can only receive a set amount from the city lord's manor per year. Our shop may be one of the largest in the city, but we really don't have much of a supply of Bloodtooth Rice. On top of that, the sales of Bloodtooth Rice must be registered according to the city lord's manor, and rigorous examinations are conducted every year," Xiao Yan explained.
"So that means there's no room for negotiation at all?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
Xiao Yan hesitated momentarily before replying, "My sincerest apologies, but that is indeed beyond my capabilities. However, if you're only looking for two or three more than the stipulated limit, I could think of a way to provide them to you at the risk of being scolded by my superiors, but I'm afraid that's the extent of what I can do."
"Hehe, if I were only looking for so little, why would I have come to your Rainbow Pavilion? So be it, if it can't be done, then let's discuss Foreign Devilish Metal instead. How many pieces of this metal does your pavilion have, and what price can you offer?" Han Li asked.
"We just so happened to receive a new batch of Foreign Devilish Metal several days ago, so we have hundreds of pieces in our warehouse; how many do you require, Senior? If you're looking to purchase a large amount, I can offer you a very good price," Xiao Yan replied in a confident manner.
"Bring them all to me," Han Li replied expressionlessly.
Xiao Yan couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this. "All of them? Did I hear that right?"
"Do you think I'm joking, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.
Xiao Yan repressed the excitement in her heart as she replied, "I wouldn't dare to think that. Please wait a moment, Senior; I'll get someone to bring all of our Foreign Devilish Metal to you for examination."
Han Li merely nodded with a faint smile before falling silent.
......
Shortly thereafter, Han Li was accompanied out of the Rainbow Pavilion in person by Xiao Yan.
He then hailed another beast-drawn carriage before instructing the coach driver to take him to another large shop.
Thus, Han Li visited six large shops in succession and cleared out almost their entire stock of Foreign Devilish Metal, but he had hit a wall when it came to Bloodtooth Rice.
All of these large shops had expressed an inability to sell large amounts of Bloodtooth Rice to him, but he wasn't disheartened in the slightest by this.
That night, he booked a room in an inn, and the next morning, he continued to visit the shops in Blue Waterfall City.
However, on this occasion, he was visiting all of the medium-sized shops.
Thus, he stayed in Blue Waterfall City for seven days and visited almost all of the shops in the city, purchasing a huge amount of Foreign Devilish Metal during the process.
Such a large amount of Foreign Devilish Metal naturally cost an astronomical price, but this only constituted a small proportion of Han Li's enormous wealth.
However, even after purchasing so much Foreign Devilish Metal, he didn't find any that contained one of those mysterious crystalline beads, and was left very disappointed.
However, he didn't give up and continued to purchase Foreign Devilish Metal from other shops in the city.
As for Bloodtooth Rice, he didn't even bother to mention it to the smaller and medium-sized shops.
As a result of this, it became known throughout the city that an outsider was going around purchasing a huge amount of Foreign Devilish Metal, but most people didn't pay any heed to this.
With the popularity of Blue Waterfall City and the number of devilish beings visiting the city, such an occurrence was far from a rare one.
However, there were some people who developed an interest in this news.
On the eighth morning, Han Li had only just emerged from the inn and was about to hail a beast-drawn carriage when a devilish man suddenly appeared before him with a fawning smile. "I've heard that you're purchasing large amounts of Foreign Devilish Metal, Senior; would you be interested in seeing the Foreign Devilish Metal that I have in my collection?"
Han Li glanced at the devilish man to find that he was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, so he replied in a nonchalant manner, "I'm only purchasing in bulk; if you only have a few pieces, then don't bother me again."
"Rest assured, Senior; I wouldn't dare to pester you with such a small amount of Foreign Devilish Metal. My companions and I have a very large amount of Foreign Devilish Metal that I'm sure will be of interest to you, Senior," the devilish man continued.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he was still rather skeptical. "I see. Where are your companions right now? If they're outside of the city, then forget it."
"Rest assured, Senior; my companions and I are staying in the Immortal Abode Pavilion in the city," the devilish man hurriedly replied.
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he instructed, "Alright, then lead the way."
The devilish man was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately waved a hand, upon which a beast-drawn carriage that he had hailed earlier pulled up next to him and Han Li.
Han Li got into the carriage with the devilish man, and the carriage quickly sped away.
Several hours later, Han Li found himself situated in a secluded hall with several unfamiliar devilish beings gathered before him.
Chapter 2123: Wu You
Among the group of devilish beings was a young man with a red devilish pattern on his glabella. He was clearly the leader of the group, and he cupped his fist in a salute as he said with a smile, "My name is Wu You; I had intended to invite you here several days ago, but I was delayed due to some matters that I had to attend to."
Even though the young man seemed to be carrying an aura concealment treasure, Han Li was still instantly able to ascertain that he was at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.
Everyone else in the group aside from him was only at the Deity Transformation Stage, and most of them were at the early-Deity Transformation Stage.
"I heard that you have a large quantity of Foreign Devilish Metal; is that true?" Han Li cut straight to the chase as soon as he and Wu You both took a seat.
"Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't have invited you here, Fellow Daoist," Wu You replied with a smile.
"I see. How much Foreign Devilish Metal do you have and what price are you offering?"
Han Li asked.
"Before we discuss that, there's something else I have to tell you, and we'll only be able to continue our discussion if you have no issues with what I'm about to say next. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll have to leave empty-handed," Wu You replied as a serious look appeared on his face.
"Go right ahead," Han Li replied with a smile.
"I can see that you're also a very straightforward man, Fellow Daoist. Go and wait for me outside; I'll call for you once we conclude our discussion here." Wu You issued an instruction to the other devilish beings in his group, and all of them gave affirmative replies before departing in a respectful manner, including the Nascent Soul Stage devilish man who had led Han Li here.
After that, Wu You swept a sleeve through the air to summon several black badge-shaped devilish treasures, which formed a black light barrier that isolated the two of them from the outside world.
Han Li's expression changed minutely upon seeing this, and he became even more intrigued to hear what Wu You had to say; it was clear that this was quite an important matter.
"Forgive me, Fellow Daoist, but I must take the necessary precautions before we begin our discussion," Wu You said in an apologetic manner.
"That's not an issue. Can we continue now?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Of course. I'm taking these precautionary measures primarily because the batch of Foreign Devilish Metal in my possession was obtained through rather unscrupulous means. I can sell them all to you for an extremely low price, but you have to swear a vow on your inner demons that you won't tell anyone about us no matter what happens after the transaction," Wu You said in a serious voice.
"So what you're saying is, you want me to assume full responsibility for any consequences that arise from our transaction," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.
"Hehe, this is why I enjoy working with intelligent people like you, Fellow Daoist. Having said that, if you leave the city right after we complete our transaction, then no issues will arise; I'm only taking these precautionary measures on the off chance that something does happen," Wu You said with a smile.
"It sounds to me like you're trying to offload the Foreign Devilish Metal as quickly as possible before they get tracked down," Han Li chuckled.
Wu You's smile faded, and he said in a serious manner, "You can think whatever you like; all I'm telling you is that this batch of Foreign Devilish Metal is related to many parties. I won't be able to disclose the specific details to you, and it's up to you whether you'd like to purchase them or not."
"If I refuse to purchase this batch of Foreign Devilish Metal, I assume you have no intention of allowing me to leave," Han Li said after a brief pause.
"That's not the case. I won't do anything detrimental to you; I'll only be using a secret technique to erase your memories of our conversation," Wu You assured.
"That's not a bad idea, but when spiritual sense is concerned, even the most profound of secret techniques could fail, and I certainly have no intention of allowing someone to place a restriction on me," Han Li chuckled coldly.
"Does that mean you're not willing to accept this transaction?" Wu You's expression also instantly cooled significantly.
Han Li's expression eased slightly as he chuckled, "Of course I'm interested! Why wouldn't I be interested in such a fantastic deal? Tell me how much Foreign Devilish Metal you have and how much you're selling them for, and I'll take everything you have."
Wu You was ecstatic to hear this, and he replied, "In that case, I won't have to erase your memories, but you'll still have to swear a vow on your inner demons."
"I have no issues with that. However, let's discuss the terms of the transaction first; I may not be willing to accept it if you don't have enough Foreign Devilish Metal to interest me," Han Li said.
"Would 2,000 pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal be enough to interest you?" Wu You finally disclosed the amount of Foreign Devilish Metal in his possession.
"2,000?" Even though Han Li was already mentally prepared, he was still quite surprised to hear such a large number.
This was virtually equivalent to the amount of Foreign Devilish Metal that he had obtained from all of the shops that he had visited in the past few days, and it was quite astonishing that a Spatial Tempering Stage being had such a large supply at his disposal.
"What price are you charging for them? Also, if they're of an inferior quality, I may not accept all of them," Han Li said without any hesitation.
"Rest assured, all of the Foreign Devilish Metal I have are of the highest quality. As for the price, this is what I'm charging; it's a third lower than the prices being charged in other shops," Wu You said in a confident manner as he displayed a certain number of fingers to Han Li.
"I'm taking on such a massive risk for only a price reduction of a third? That's far too high," Han Li said with a shake of his head.
As opposed to being enraged by this, Wu You asked with a smile, "Then what price would you propose?"
"I can accept half the normal price. Otherwise, I'd rather call off the transaction," Han Li immediately replied, having clearly already considered this matter.
To Han Li's surprise, Wu You only considered this briefly before nodding in response. "Fine, half the normal price it is, then. As long as you swear a vow on your inner demons, that price won't be an issue. Also, the transaction has to take place as soon as possible; how about we meet back here at the same time tomorrow? Of course, if you're still concerned, you can bring some allies along with you."
Han Li was rather taken aback by the urgency displayed by Wu You, but he merely nodded, and said, "Alright, then I'll see you back here tomorrow. As for allies, hehe, we'll see about that."
"You really are a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist; I'll see you tomorrow then," Wu You said with an excited look in his eyes as he cupped his fist toward Han Li in a salute.
Han Li rose to his feet and nodded in response. "I still have some matters that I have to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave now."
Wu You naturally had no objections to this, and the light barrier around them was withdrawn, following which he accompanied Han Li to the door. Only after Han Li had disappeared into the distance did Wu You wave a hand toward the other devilish beings, and all of them returned to the hall.
"Did you manage to negotiate a deal, Brother?" a devilish man who bore some physical resemblance to Wu You asked as soon as he entered the hall.
"Rest assured, the deal has been made, and the transaction will take place tomorrow," Wu You replied with a smile.
The devilish man was ecstatic to hear this and he hurriedly asked, "That's great! We'll finally be able to offload that batch of Foreign Devilish Metal. Are we going to leave Blue Waterfall City right after we make the transaction? "
"Of course we're leaving right away. Have you gotten rid of all of the miners? You haven't left any loose ends untied, have you?" Wu You asked as he turned toward a middle-aged devilish man.
"Rest assured, Boss; everyone who knows about what happened has been killed. As a precautionary measure, I even sealed the mine exit shut, so even if someone did manage to survive, there's no way they'll be able to escape from the mine in a short time," the middle-aged devilish man hurriedly replied in a respectful manner.
"Good. We've already gone against the rules stipulated by the major families in the city by opening a private mine, and we've stumbled upon so many pieces of precious Foreign Devilish Metal as well; if news were to spread of this, we're definitely going to be hunted down and killed, so we have to sell everything as quickly as possible and flee the city for any chance at survival," Wu You sighed in a concerned manner.
"But Boss, why don't we take the Foreign Devilish Metal and sell it elsewhere rather than taking a risk by selling it here? We'll be able to sell the metal at a higher price elsewhere as well," a devilish woman said in an indignant manner.
"Hmph, do you really want all of us to die? If we try to leave the city with that much F
oreign Devilish Metal, we'll be killed for sure! Without all the Foreign Devilish Metal, the major powers in the city most likely won't try to hunt us down as long as we escape in time. However, if we continue to carry the Foreign Devilish Metal with us, we'll be pursued to all corners of this realm! On top of that, during my recent research into how so much precious ore appeared in that private mine, I discovered another piece of bad news," Wu You said in a grim voice.
The young devilish man faltered slightly before asking, "What is it, Brother? Will it make our current situation even worse?"
The other devilish beings also became very apprehensive upon hearing this.
Chapter 2124: Vast Origin House
"Through some special avenues, I managed to obtain a map of the underground layout in the area near our mine, and I discovered that there's a mine that belongs to the city lord's manor that's situated not far away from ours. Apparently, it's a mine with exceptional potential, and even the city lord's manor has yet to touch it as they're saving it for the future," Wu You said.
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying the Foreign Devilish Stones we discovered actually belong to the city lord's manor?" the young devilish man asked in a stunned manner.
"That's right. The private mine that we opened in secret can only be categorized as a mid-grade mine at the very most, so there's no way that so much top-grade Foreign Devilish Metal could be found in there. It's most likely the case that we accidentally deviated from the original mine vein during the mining process and dug into the top-grade mine that belongs to the city lord's manor. Similar events have happened in the past; it's just that we've been quite lucky that our private mine has gone unnoticed by the guards of the city lord's manor for so long," Wu You said.
Grim looks appeared on everyone's face upon hearing this.
The city lord's manor had Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu as its backer, so it was undoubtedly the premier power of the entire Blue Waterfall Lake. There were some other powers in the area that also had prominent backers, but none of them dared to openly oppose the city lord's manor.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1221