Chapter 186

186. Chapter 183: Round It Up for You

Ding Huan had inquired around before arriving at Shengdao Street.

Bianxing Talisman Shop—Ding Huan stood at the entrance and swept his spiritual sense inside, discovering it sold talismans; he decided this was the place.

His spiritual sense turned outward and quickly detected Yan Mei and the others; Yan Mei was speaking on the street.

Three city patrol guards were clearing corpses; Ding Huan knew these four bodies must have been killed by Lao Liu.

Ding Huan was satisfied with Yan Mei's words; Yan Mei was clever—he knew exactly what Ding Huan wanted to do, and had spoken it all out for him.

Ding Huan retracted his spiritual sense and entered the talisman shop.

His gaze swept the place; everything here was low-grade talismans, with first-rank talismans considered the best.

There were one or two second-rank talismans, locked under low-level seals, clearly treasured store items.

Ding Huan's gaze landed on a talisman brush; it must be a low-grade magical artifact.

"Friend, what are you looking for?" A shop assistant approached after watching Ding Huan for a while.

Ding Huan pointed at a first-rank Vine Talisman and asked:

"How much for this first-rank Entangling Vine Talisman?"

"Three crystal stones," the assistant said.

"Show me," Ding Huan said casually.

The assistant stared at him in surprise, then shook his head:

"We don't let people look unless they're buying."

Ding Huan's spiritual sense touched the Entangling Vine Talisman; its quality was mediocre, worse than the first-rank talismans he could make himself.

Thinking of this, he pulled out one talisman and handed it to the assistant:

"Look at my talisman."

"This is a first-rank Fireball Talisman?" The assistant recognized it immediately upon seeing it.

What surprised him was that this Fireball Talisman was better than the first-rank ones in his shop.

"How much will your shop pay for this talisman?" Ding Huan asked.

The assistant set the talisman down and said coolly, "One crystal stone."

Ding Huan chuckled: "You sell me one for three crystal stones, but when I offer you something better, you pay only one? That's some business sense."

"Don't want to sell? Leave," the assistant said, unmoved by Ding Huan's tone.

Ding Huan didn't leave; instead, he tossed a bundle onto the counter: "I have two hundred of these talismans. Are you sure you won't buy?"

The assistant was startled and immediately reached for the bundle.

Ding Huan pressed his hand down:

"Offer a fair price. If you can't, get your boss. If your boss can't either, I'm leaving."

Ding Huan's spiritual sense had already detected a pair of eyes watching him from within; from the aura, this person was a Level Four Gene…

No—here, they didn't call them Gene Cultivators; they were Qi Condensation Level Four.

After seeing Ding Huan's pile of first-rank talismans, the man sent out a message.

"How many do you want to sell?" A middle-aged man stepped out, voice echoing.

To intimidate Ding Huan, the moment he appeared, Ding Huan felt oppressive pressure radiating from him.

Ding Huan internally chuckled—he really didn't want to go hard.

But this boss didn't seem willing to pay a real price for his talismans.

Of course—in chaotic Xifeng City, armed robbery happened constantly.

A stranger showing up with so many talismans? Naturally, they'd test him.

"Two crystal stones per talisman. That's my price. If not, I'm leaving." Ding Huan grabbed the bundle.

The middle-aged man snorted and unleashed a powerful aura straight at Ding Huan.

Ding Huan stood motionless, not even his robe fluttering.

The middle-aged man's face changed—this test revealed Ding Huan's power far surpassed his own.

Two enforcers now stood at the door; the middle-aged man realized, even with them, he couldn't match Ding Huan.

"Friend, I'll take all these talismans—at your price."

The middle-aged man was quick to adapt, instantly changing his mind upon realizing he'd met a hard opponent.

Ding Huan tossed the bundle into the man's hands:

"Two crystal stones per talisman was the earlier price. Now it's three. Count them—I don't have time."

"Friend, we sell these at that price. Three crystal stones? We make no profit…"

The middle-aged man's face darkened.

Ding Huan let out a cold snort and crushed him with overwhelming cultivator aura—the man felt a massive iron mallet slam into his chest, forcing him backward involuntarily.

Fortunately, the oppressive aura vanished quickly; otherwise, he would have spat blood.

"Any objections? Keep talking, and the price goes up again."

Ding Huan looked at the middle-aged man with mockery.

"No, no objections." The man had roamed Shengdao Street for years—he knew exactly what happened when a hardliner showed up.

If he resisted, his shop being robbed would be the least of his worries—he might lose his life right here.

"Good. This bundle contains two hundred and three first-rank talismans.

I'm being generous—I'll round it up to two hundred and ten. Six hundred and fifty crystal stones total. Deal?"

Ding Huan looked like he didn't mind taking a loss.

The middle-aged man's face fell like he'd lost a loved one:

"Fellow cultivator, no need to round up—we'll just calculate it at two hundred and three talismans, totaling..."

Ding Huan's expression darkened:

"What? You, a shopkeeper, think you can cheat me because I'm bad at arithmetic? Are you trying to swindle me?"

"I dare not." The middle-aged man felt intense killing intent.

Almost immediately after uttering those two words, he pulled out a chest and swiftly counted out six hundred and fifty spirit stones, handing them to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan tossed the spirit stones into his backpack, then grinned at the shopkeeper.

"Today is your last time bullying a customer. Next time, behave yourself. Remember—you won't get a second chance."

No sooner had Ding Huan finished speaking than he heard distant commotion; his spiritual sense swept over and found Yan Mei and Lao Liu surrounded by a crowd.

The show was about to begin. Ding Huan slung his backpack over his shoulder and stepped out of the shop.

"Director Yuan, are we just letting this go?" The clerk asked urgently as Ding Huan stepped out.

Director Yuan watched Ding Huan's retreating back, his voice icy:

"Just a lowly Qi Condensation insect dares to cheat in our shop? Let him wait. You two keep watch on him—see where he goes."

The last sentence was directed at the two burly men standing by the door.

These two burly men had been summoned by the middle-aged man to help subdue Ding Huan; but upon realizing Ding Huan's power was beyond their capacity to oppose, they dared not move.

At this moment, Yan Mei and Lao Liu were surrounded by a crowd; three veteran City Patrol officers trembled in fear.

"Daring to kill someone from the Iron Power Alliance? Never seen the like."

A thick-set, burly man stepped forward, coldly fixing his gaze on Yan Mei.

"Director Ji, if you strike, we all support you—let's kill these City Patrol dogs together."

As the Iron Power Alliance's leader spoke, voices of support erupted from the crowd.

This support acted like a fuse: the Iron Power Alliance had only twenty-odd members, but now hundreds joined in shouting.

People kept pouring out from nearby shops to join the Iron Power Alliance.

It was as if the Iron Power Alliance were the righteous official authority, while Yan Mei, Lao Liu, and the three City Patrol officers were criminals.

From afar, Ding Huan watched, unable to help but feel pity for these people.

They were being robbed, their comrades killed—and still they cheered for the aggressors.

"Uncle Qi, so many shops are joining in—should we…?"

Seeing the crowd surround the City Patrol officers, the woman from the only general store couldn't help but step forward again.

Before she could finish, her white-haired uncle Qi grabbed her arm, as if fearing she'd actually go out:

"Forget it. Let's wait and see. Besides, if you go out now, you won't earn anyone's favor."

"Lao Liu, what do we do?" Yan Mei grew anxious.

His strength was mediocre; if fighting broke out, he doubted he could defeat even a single member of the Iron Power Alliance.

"What to do? Kill them." Lao Liu said carelessly, then spat out a dozen water arrows.

Seven or eight members of the Iron Power Alliance standing at the front suddenly spurted blood from their foreheads and collapsed.

In addition to the Iron Power Alliance members, five others who had stepped forward to help were also killed by Lao Liu's water arrows.

Those who had been rushing forward saw over a dozen dead in an instant and immediately halted, then began retreating.

They had come to help not because the Iron Power Alliance had such great influence, but because the Iron Power Alliance was brutal.

If they helped now, they could later claim a favor—if they ever got into trouble with the Iron Power Alliance, they could cite this act.

It cost nothing, yet earned favor—who wouldn't want to be first?

Now that they realized it wasn't cost-free, but potentially deadly, no one wanted to step forward.

The Iron Power Alliance's leader had never imagined a monkey would dare strike first; seeing over a dozen of his men killed, he flew into a rage.

He drew his long blade, summoning a furious gale.

At that moment, Yan Mei felt blades of wind everywhere in the gale; before the wind even reached him, his skin began to split with bloody scratches…

"Lao Liu—" Yan Mei cried out in terror.

Lao Liu could only spit out a few more water arrows and retreated frantically.

He couldn't block the wind-blade slashes—retreat first. As for Yan Mei, he was on his own.

A burst of blood erupted, followed by a shriek.

Everyone turned to Yan Mei, for the Iron Power Alliance's Director Ji had slashed toward him.

To everyone's confusion, Yan Mei was equally shocked—but he was staring at the Iron Power Alliance's leader.

When blood sprayed from the Iron Power Alliance leader's body, everyone realized the shriek had come from him.

"Thud!" The Iron Power Alliance leader collapsed to the ground; only then did they notice his back had been sliced open by a blade.