“‘This, twenty six-level magic crystals?’
Ye Zhongming began to inquire about the price.
There were two evolved responsible for selling goods in this room, a man and a woman, both quite young. It was clear that neither had much combat experience, both at the three-star level, but they were handsome and elegant in demeanor.
Upon hearing Ye Zhongming’s inquiry, the female salesperson closest to him glanced over his group with a smile, agreed, and then began introducing the uses of the Snow Lotus, including dosage and methods of use. It seemed they had extensive experience with this item.
However, before the introduction could finish, the male salesperson, who had just finished his own tasks, suddenly walked over and gently tugged the female salesperson’s sleeve. Following his gaze, she noticed two half-grown children standing behind Ye Zhongming’s group—she hadn’t seen them earlier due to the angle.
The smile on her face faded slightly, and she hurriedly wrapped up her introduction. Without even asking whether Ye Zhongming intended to purchase, her gaze had already shifted to the room entrance, looking for new customers.
This made Ye Zhongming frown.
The male salesperson’s subtle action naturally didn’t escape his notice. He understood the reason for the female salesperson’s sudden change in attitude—it was simply because they had noticed Xiao Xuan and his friend, realizing they couldn’t fleece him, and thus adopted a cold-shoulder approach.
Ye Zhongming didn’t know how they had obtained this item, but since Xiao Xuan’s friend had quoted him a price of seven demon crystals, it meant that this was the usual price for locals in Black Dragon City, and they still made a profit.
At Ye Zhongming’s level, it might seem his temper had improved. He simply couldn’t be bothered to argue with ordinary evolved—it was beneath him.
But that didn’t mean he would laugh it off or endure it silently when someone provoked him.
After all, he was one of the most powerful humans in this region, even on this planet.
‘How much are you selling it for?’
When Ye Zhongming spoke these words, his tone carried a chill.
The female salesperson glanced at him and replied stiffly, ‘Twenty level six magic crystals. No bargaining!’
‘Bullying outsiders?’ Xiao Peng leaned forward slightly, his aura slowly radiating. Now an eight-star evolved, he was the undisputed leader of the Linhai branch. He was second to none in terms of ruthless authority among Cloud Peak’s core members.
Though the female salesperson didn’t understand concepts like ‘aura,’ she felt a sense of fear, her face showing panic before she stammered, ‘Twenty… fifteen level six magic crystals. Can’t go lower.’
Ye Zhongming expressionlessly looked at the Snow Lotus on the display.
He had no desire to bully the weak without reason. He even held sympathy for those with principles and integrity, like Xiao Xuan.
But once he decided to disregard the rules, he had no reservations.
Since he had taken a liking to this item, he would obtain it no matter what. The Snow Lotus was useful to him and to Cloud Peak.
Ye Zhongming’s intentions were obvious, and the two salespeople immediately sensed it. They loudly called for guards. Within seconds, many people rushed into the room—five guards and other customers in the shop, totaling no fewer than twenty.
After briefly hearing the female salesperson’s explanation, the guard captain coldly said to Ye Zhongming, ‘Friend, this is the Essence Pavilion.’
A single sentence, but the meaning was clear: Don’t cause trouble here. This isn’t the place for it.
Hearing this, Ye Zhongming’s eyebrow twitched.
The mighty King of Cloud Peak, mistreated, was now being threatened.
‘I want this. Seven level six demon crystals.’
To be honest, if the female salesperson had continued bargaining after noticing Xiao Xuan’s friend, Ye Zhongming wouldn’t have minded paying a few extra magic crystals. But their attitude—refusing to sell unless they made a hefty profit—was infuriating. Now, with someone warning him not to cause trouble, it felt like outright bullying.
Was Ye Zhongming someone who could be easily bullied?
To make matters worse, someone added fuel to the fire.
‘Outsiders, probably haven’t seen anything good. No money, yet trying to act like big shots.’
‘Earlier, it looked like they were about to snatch it. Where did these country bumpkins come from, daring to make trouble in Black Dragon City?’
‘Don’t they know where this is? The Essence Pavilion! Causing a scene here is asking for death.’
‘Bet they didn’t see the level eight Bear King pelt in the main hall.’
‘Hey, outsider, if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. Xiao Hua, I’ll take this Snow Lotus.’
A man dressed in snow-white beast leather squeezed his way in. His outfit was quite beautiful, with a decent level—green grade. Combined with his hat and boots, he had three pieces of green equipment. The spear on his back was even blue grade. Clearly, this was a powerful evolved, like Black Brother, already at six stars.
However, this man’s face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, giving off an indescribable sickly aura.
Ye Zhongming recognized at a glance that this man had suffered mental trauma and needed the Snow Lotus. His intervention wasn’t just because he was from Black Dragon City—he needed it for himself.
Some always loved stirring the pot, even in the apocalypse. Seeing this man step forward to buy the Snow Lotus, some in the crowd began egging him on.
‘Da Kang, how much are you offering? What if the outsider outbids you?’ someone shouted from the back.
‘Nonsense! Would I offer less than an outsider?’
Da Kang cursed irritably. He had already sized up these outsiders—they wore ordinary beast leather, mostly dull-colored, with only the occasional green piece. They didn’t seem wealthy.
‘Xiao Hua, I’m a regular. Sell it to me for twelve.’
Da Kang naturally knew the true value of the Snow Lotus, but under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he couldn’t bring himself to offer the usual seven or eight demon crystals. Besides wanting to suppress Ye Zhongming’s group, his offer of twelve level-six demon crystals was also due to his urgent need.
Xiao Hua actually regretted her earlier approach. She should have handled it more diplomatically. Now, with everyone watching, she couldn’t back down easily.
When Da Kang offered a price above the standard, she was about to agree immediately.
‘Until I explicitly give up on buying this, no one else can take it.’
Ye Zhongming reached out and took the Snow Lotus, even opening it to inspect it. The item was even more beautiful than the picture, its faint fragrance refreshing to the mind.
‘You—’ The female salesperson, Xiao Hua, was about to scold him when Xia Bai took out twelve six-level magic crystals and tossed them onto the table.
At this point, anyone who could produce a dozen level six magic crystals at once was considered a high-level evolved. The sight of these crystals quieted the crowd somewhat.
‘Thinking you can take it with just the same amount of crystals? You—’
Before she could finish, Xia Bai threw another bag of crystals onto the table and coldly said, ‘How many more do you have? I’ll buy them all.’
This time, the silence was absolute. The bag had spilled open, revealing its contents—a pile of at least two hundred demon crystals.
Being able to produce a dozen six-level demon crystals and being able to produce over two hundred were two entirely different concepts.
Only now did the crowd realize that these people might be seven-star evolved. Under normal circumstances, only evolved of that level could amass so many level six demon crystals.
In Black Dragon City, seven-star evolved were the elite—core members of major factions or leaders of mid-sized organizations.
Da Kang was strong, but was no match for a seven-star evolved.