Chapter 321

He did not intend to sell these items, but if there were suitable things he needed to exchange for, he would consider it depending on the situation.

Of course, besides these items, he also brought quite a few silver notes and the three Gang Qi martial arts manuals he had obtained at Qingfeng Stronghold, ensuring he was prepared for any eventuality.

"What is Junior Brother Xu bringing? Is it for exchange?" Sun Tao asked curiously.

Xu Yang shook his head: "Some worthless trinkets; I'm taking them to see if I can trade for something useful."

He looked at Zhang Yong and asked: "What did you bring?"

Zhang Yong was holding a box, though it was impossible to tell what was inside; it was likely his harvest from the Yunling Mountain Range.

Just as Zhang Yong opened his mouth to speak, a figure walked over and cupped his hands toward Sun Tao: "Congratulations to Senior Brother Sun on reaching Minor Success in Gang Qi."

The person who arrived was none other than Lu Ren.

Zhang Yong let out a cold snort, forgetting to even answer Xu Yang.

Although Sun Tao did not care for Lu Ren either, he still smiled and cupped his hands: "Junior Brother Lu Ren, long time no see. I heard you also went to the Yunling Mountain Range; when did you return?"

"I only just returned a few days ago."

Lu Ren's gaze swept over Xu Yang and Zhang Yong, finally resting on Zhang Yong: "I heard you were played for fools? If you had listened to me back then and joined forces with me to enter the Yunling Mountain Range, how could such a thing have happened?"

His tone carried a sense of schadenfreude; he already knew about Jiang Ping losing an arm.

Clearly, he still held a grudge over Zhang Yong refusing to join forces with him, and he had run over now to mock them.

Zhang Yong was expressionless: "I failed to judge people correctly, and I encountered someone just like you."

"You..."

Lu Ren was choked for words, his face flushing red: "I already told you, I helped you back then; believe it or not, that's up to you."

Immediately after, he looked at Xu Yang and said: "Do you intend to remain so cautious forever? Look at you, Zhang Yong is almost catching up to you, and I will reach Major Success in Gang Qi in at most two or three months.

If you change your mind, you can come find me at any time; I won't harm you.

And you, Senior Brother Sun, follow me, and we shall be brothers who live and die together."

Zhang Yong's expression changed slightly; Lu Ren was going to reach Major Success in Gang Qi so quickly—it seemed Lu Ren had gained quite a lot from this trip to the Yunling Mountain Range.

Xu Yang did not speak, and Zhang Yong shook his head in refusal.

If he were to join forces with anyone, it would be with Zhang Yong; he likewise could not trust Lu Ren.

Lu Ren strode away, and the few of them followed behind him, soon arriving at the restaurant where the Qingyuan Society was located.

He was clearly also here to attend the exchange meeting.

The three of them went up to the top floor and found that quite a few people had already arrived.

Xu Yang looked around; there were many familiar faces.

Qin Ze, Liu Qian, Liu Xiao, Cao Rong, and Gu Hao were all there.

There were also some whose names he did not know, but he had seen them at the Martial Science Examination.

By now, among the Dragon-Ascending disciples of their batch, there were already over a dozen who had reached Minor Success in Gang Qi.

"The three junior brothers, follow me. Once a few senior brothers from the inner sect arrive, the exchange meeting will begin."

He Jingting led the three of them to a spot to sit down; everyone had an individual table and stool.

Zhang Yong asked curiously: "May I ask, Senior Brother He, which inner sect senior brothers will be coming?"

He Jingting said: "There will be Senior Brother Cao Jin from Beast King Peak, Senior Brother Liu Qing from Medicine King Peak, and Senior Brother Yun Heng from Heavenly Authority Peak."

Xu Yang's heart stirred; if his guess was correct, Liu Qing of Medicine King Peak should be from the Liu family, one of the four great families of Qingyuan County, and Yun Heng should be from the Yun family.

With three inner sect disciples appearing, the scale of this exchange meeting should be quite decent; otherwise, inner sect disciples would not have come over for nothing.

It was just that among the three inner sect disciples, two of them had ties to him.

"Hmph!"

Zhang Yong beside him let out a cold snort, a chill radiating from his body.

Xu Yang followed his gaze and discovered that it was none other than Li Qiang.

This fellow did not have a shred of guilt, sitting there calmly across from them.

"Beast!" Zhang Yong gritted his teeth.

If it weren't for good luck, he and Jiang Ping would have already died in the Yunling Mountain Range.

"Junior Brother Zhang, be careful with your words; it is very dangerous outside the sect," Li Qiang said coldly.

"Backstabbing fellow disciples, killing companions to gain a chance to escape—a beast like you deserves to die."

Zhang Yong was not afraid of Li Qiang's threat; he and Li Qiang had long been at odds, and he directly stated the shameless things he had done.

"Li Qiang has killed a companion again, has he?"

"It's not the first time this dog has done this; he's long been a stinking bug."

"Only new disciples don't know his nature, which is why they get taken in by him."

Several old disciples laughed, not surprised at all, because they had long known Li Qiang's character.

In the circle of Qingyuan County, Li Qiang had long been an existence loathed by everyone, and he was notorious throughout the entire outer sect.

Li Qiang's gaze was icy; he dared not cause trouble for those old disciples, but he looked at Zhang Yong with eyes full of murderous intent.

"Senior Brother Cao Jin, Senior Brother Yun Heng, and Senior Brother Liu Qing have arrived." Suddenly, He Jingting's voice rang out.

Everyone turned to look and saw three figures with profound energy arriving together, taking their seats at the head of the room.

"Everyone, the time is late; let the exchange meeting begin," Cao Rong said with a smile.

Once these words were spoken, those who had brought items began to take them out and place them on the tables in front of them.

Xu Yang's gaze swept over the room and discovered that most people had not brought items; more people had come empty-handed.

The three people sitting at the head, Cao Rong and the others, had brought out quite a lot, including elixirs, secret manuals, and even spirit iron.

The exchange meeting was very free; you placed the items you wanted to trade on the table, and if someone took a fancy to your item, they would naturally come over to talk to you.

"What do you want to exchange for?"

At this moment, Xu Yang discovered that what Zhang Yong had brought out was actually a thirty-year-old ginseng root.

Zhang Yong was stunned: "You want it?"

Xu Yang nodded.

Zhang Yong hesitated: "I want to trade for a Soul-Returning Pill, or a Gang Qi martial arts manual."

A thirty-year-old ginseng root was simply not worth a Soul-Returning Pill.

Such an item was only worth one hundred taels on the market.

A Soul-Returning Pill could easily be bought for two hundred taels on the market, and it was the kind that plenty of people would scramble to buy; Gang Qi martial arts manuals were hard to say, but a good one could not be bought for even several thousand taels.

However, the value of items could not be judged this way; for Xu Yang, a Gang Qi martial arts manual was just a matter of copying one, and it was worth nothing.