Chapter 150: 150. Chapter 148: Swindled

150. Chapter 148: Swindled

Ding Huan sighed; from the killer intent in the man's eyes, he knew the fellow was determined to get the Immortal-Beast Pill.

If he hadn't wanted to reveal his true strength, he would have taught this guy a lesson.

He had bought the Immortal-Beast Pill ahead of time, effectively saving this man's life, yet the fool was ungrateful, chasing after him even with murderous intent.

Ding Huan had originally planned to use his body manipulation technique to lose the man and return to the Rest Inn.

But as the merchant continued pursuing him, Ding Huan changed his mind.

Though he had disguised himself, it was only a simple disguise; if this man was dead set on getting the pill and searched everywhere for him, it wouldn't be good.

Moreover, according to his calculations, the merchant had entered a trading hall before stripping the grime off the Immortal-Beast Pill.

If this man had powerful backing, he might never find peace.

He was here to quietly await the arrival of the advanced civilization's spacecraft; he didn't want to be disturbed midway.

Thinking this, Ding Huan slowed his pace and stopped in a dark corner.

He would kill this man; otherwise, he wouldn't be safe.

The reason the black market was called the black market was that one advantage was no surveillance.

At this moment, the Old Wild Black Market had just opened, few people had arrived, and no one came near this corner.

The merchant indeed followed Ding Huan here; he saw Ding Huan's back turned outward, as if doing something.

The merchant's eyes flickered with cruelty; he reached for a dagger at his waist, preparing to strike Ding Huan from behind.

Ding Huan had no choice but to turn around—what the hell? He didn't believe murder was allowed freely in the black market.

But seeing the merchant's background, he hadn't guessed wrong: the merchant wasn't merely obsessed with the Immortal-Beast Pill—he was determined to possess it at all costs.

Seeing Ding Huan turn, the merchant quickly hid the dagger in his hand.

"You—"

The merchant had barely uttered "you" when he saw Ding Huan spraying something toward his face.

The merchant was clearly experienced; as the mist surged toward him, he immediately held his breath.

By the time he realized what had happened, Ding Huan was already far away.

The merchant stepped back several paces and wiped the mist from his face:

"What the hell is this?"

Spraying a little mist and thinking you can escape Yao Tian's pursuit? Dream on.

Just as he was about to chase after him, he suddenly felt a burning sensation in his chest, which instantly spread throughout his entire body.

Yao Tian could even see his internal organs rotting and vanishing.

How could this be? This was too bizarre.

Yao Tian's eyes flashed with terror; he had held his breath—no matter how toxic the mist, it couldn't poison him this quickly.

This isn't right…

Yao Tian's thoughts ended here; black fluid dripped from his eyes, and his body collapsed.

He would never understand what gene-toxin mist was.

…

When someone suddenly died in the black market, no one cared, whether the cause was clear or not.

But Yao Tian was different—he was the manager of the Tong family's trading hall, one of the four great families of the Four Directions Star Continent.

Whenever he had free time, he loved wandering through various black markets, just to find bargains.

Indeed, he often bought good items at low prices in the black market.

Almost the moment Yao Tian's death was discovered, the Old Wild Black Market was sealed off.

At this moment, Ding Huan had already returned to the Rest Inn; all items were stored in his Star House—he wouldn't be as foolish as Yao Tian, mindlessly stripping the grime off the Immortal-Beast Pill.

Although the Tong family of Four Directions City searched everywhere for Yao Tian's killer, Ding Huan had acted cleanly and withdrawn promptly.

The Tong family couldn't monopolize Four Directions City; after investigating for a few days, the matter was quietly dropped.

Ding Huan reduced his outings and focused entirely on studying the Great Calculation Art at the Rest Inn.

All other techniques—stealth arts, talismans, cultivation—he discarded; he had become obsessed with this calculation art.

His first calculation yielded the Immortal-Beast Pill and reduced the chaos in Four Directions City—wasn't that a good thing?

After that, Ding Huan did it endlessly, calculating all kinds of things every day.

Until half a year later, when he calculated that the advanced civilization's spacecraft would arrive on the Four Directions Star Continent in just four days, Ding Huan froze.

Wasn't it supposed to come in two years? How could it arrive in half a year?

Ding Huan immediately realized: the information Li Diting had given him was false.

If even Li Diting knew about this, wouldn't the entire Four Directions Star Continent be packed with people in two years?

According to his calculation, in four days, the advanced civilization's spacecraft would arrive on the Four Directions Star Continent.

Upon reaching the Four Directions Star Continent, three men and two women from the spacecraft entered the city lord's mansion.

On that same day, they announced a test for talented youths sent by the great families and sects, selecting seven prodigies to travel to the advanced civilization.

After selecting the prodigies, the advanced civilization began purchasing various treasures.

Then, the advanced civilization's experts began accepting offerings; altogether, it lasted only one day.

They would choose three individuals who offered the best treasures to board the spacecraft and travel to the advanced civilization.

Of course, if a treasure was good but didn't meet the threshold to accompany the spacecraft, one could sell it to these advanced civilization experts.

Ding Huan wiped sweat from his forehead.

If he hadn't known the Great Calculation Art, wouldn't he have completely missed this event without realizing it?

These Wang Ba families of the Four Directions Star Continent, each one tightly concealing the truth and spreading false information.

The only thing he hadn't guessed wrong was that the contribution of the treasure would take place at the Lord's Mansion.

After Ding Huan informed Qi Qi Xinyue of the news, he went to the Black Market and exchanged out the hundreds of thousands of Purple Gold Coins he'd received from Tou Jie.

Leaving the Black Market, Ding Huan immediately headed to the major merchant towers.

He still had a pile of Purple Gold Coins—was he going to leave them to rust?

Inside the merchant towers, Ding Huan bought as many materials as he could.

When he had spent down his over one million Purple Gold Coins to just seventy or eighty thousand, Ding Huan finally stopped shopping, carrying a large sack.

"Senior…"

As Ding Huan walked toward the Rest Inn with the large sack, a familiar voice called out to him—its tone hesitant and uneasy.

"Oh, it's you."

Ding Huan hadn't expected to actually run into someone he knew.

It was the young man who had knocked on his courtyard gate and delivered the news that Tou Jie was coming to find him.

"I never thought Senior would remember me." The young man's face lit up with joy upon seeing Ding Huan recognize him.

"Come with me."

He said this to the young man, leading him to a quieter spot.

"Senior, I never imagined I'd see you here."

The young man's eyes were filled with admiration—he knew full well what it meant for Ding Huan to appear here.

Tou Jie vanished, Kan Ni vanished, and everyone behind them went looking to cause Ding Huan trouble.

Yet Ding Huan appeared in Four Directions City, completely unharmed.

What did this prove? It proved Ding Huan was undoubtedly a high-level expert.

"You seem to have run into some trouble?"

Ding Huan spoke gently, but the young man before him clearly looked like he was on the verge of starvation.

His yellow, gaunt face showed hunger; his clothes were torn and ragged.

Compared to when Ding Huan first met him, this young man had fallen even lower.

The young man lowered his head, deeply ashamed.

They were roughly the same age—look at how well the other was doing, buying up a huge pile of goods in the merchant towers, while he couldn't even get a meal.

"What's your name? Why did you help me back then?" Ding Huan asked.

Back then, this young man's message had truly helped him greatly.

Otherwise, if he'd waited for Tou Jie to find him before killing her, the suspicion would have been too great.

"My name is Ji Feng. The house Kan Ni took was my sister's. They forced her to sell it to them, then killed my sister and brother-in-law."

As Ji Feng spoke, he clenched his fists—he longed for revenge, but his strength compared to Kan Ni and Jin was less than an ant's.

Ding Huan patted Ji Feng's shoulder:

"Don't even think about revenge—perhaps the villains are already dead. Find yourself a decent livelihood and strive to survive."

"Yes, thank you, Senior."

Ji Feng bowed deeply, trembling with emotion.

He understood what Ding Huan meant—he had only guessed before.

Now that Ding Huan had said it aloud, it confirmed his enemies had been killed by Ding Huan.

Ding Huan pulled out a leather pouch and handed it to Ji Feng:

"There's some gold coins inside—take them. And there's a cultivation technique—if you can cultivate, cultivate; if not, destroy it."

The technique was the Thousand Network Gene Scripture—it meant nothing to Ding Huan.

Giving Ji Feng this technique gave him one more way to protect himself.

"Ah…" Hearing there was a cultivation technique, Ji Feng, who had been about to refuse, found himself unable to speak the refusal.

"That's all. Until we meet again." Ding Huan nodded and vanished quickly.

"Senior, what's your name?" Ji Feng suddenly realized and hurriedly asked.

"Ding Huan." The voice came—but Ding Huan was already gone.

Ji Feng looked around—no one was there.

The cloth sack in his hand was heavy, as if filled with many things. He carefully unfastened one corner—and froze in shock.

Inside were fully ten to twenty thousand Purple Gold Coins, and he also seemed to see several Purple Gold Notes worth ten thousand each.

He could never earn this much in a lifetime—even in several lifetimes.

What thrilled him even more was the cultivation technique.

Ji Feng immediately tied the sack shut—he had to leave this place quickly and find a quiet, safe spot to cultivate.

He longed for the day he could live like Brother Ding Huan—no longer humble, no longer hiding like a stray dog.

Whoever dared kill him, he would kill in return.