Chapter 66 : Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Jueming Grass, Conflict in the Market

Baihe County, county city, East Street Market.

Within the bustling East Street Market of the county city, the crowd surged like a tide. Stalls lined both sides of the street, displaying everything from herbs and weapons to demon beast pelts and all sorts of rare curios and treasures. The dazzling array was enough to leave one’s head spinning.

The hawkers’ cries rose and fell without end. The entire place was lively beyond compare.

Li Xingzong and Li Wu moved through the crowd, their eyes full of curiosity and excitement.

“It’s been over a year, and I finally get to come to the county city for a stroll. If I stayed cooped up in Qingfeng Valley any longer, I’d go mad. This county city really is different. It’s far livelier than Qingfeng Valley.”

Li Wu said to Li Xingzong, waving his arms animatedly.

Li Xingzong shook his head. His face carried a steadiness utterly unlike that of a boy his age.

“The family kept you from coming out for your own good. After all, the family still has many hidden enemies.”

Li Wu scratched his head and grinned.

“Xingzong, what’s so fun about wandering the market? The family doesn’t lack anything for us anyway. Why not go to the snack street on the other side instead? It’s full of good food.”

As he spoke, he could not help licking his lips.

The two had come from the same batch of new blood, so it was only natural that they walked together. In fact, because Li Xingzong was so mature for his age, Li Wu had faintly begun taking him as his lead.

Li Xingzong shot him a glance.

“If you want to go, then go. I’m not.”

With that, he lifted his leg and walked on. Looking at Li Xingzong’s receding back, Li Wu gritted his teeth and hurried after him.

The two wandered around the market for a long time, yet found nothing that truly caught their fancy.

Just when they thought they would be returning disappointed today, Li Xingzong’s eyes were suddenly drawn to an old man’s stall. More precisely, they were drawn to an inconspicuous herb lying upon it.

Its leaves resembled locust leaves, slight and pointed, pale blue-white in color. It bore white-violet blossoms about an inch long, and its roots stretched two to three chi.

“Could it be...”

He walked over to the old man’s stall, crouched down, picked up the herb, and held it to his nose for a sniff.

“It’s a little bitter. It really is the body-tempering great medicine recorded in the Compendium of Hundred Herbs, Jueming Grass.”

Li Xingzong’s eyes lit up at once.

He forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked, “Old sir, how much are you asking for this herb?”

The old man looked up at him, bared his teeth in a grin, and held up three fingers.

“Thirty copper coins.”

Li Xingzong put on a troubled look.

“Old sir, my purse is truly rather light. How about twenty copper coins?”

The old man gave a soft laugh, looked Li Xingzong over, and said with disdain, “Young master, don’t try to fool this old man. That outfit you’re wearing alone could cover several years of food and drink for an ordinary family.”

Li Xingzong’s face stiffened. After being mercilessly exposed by the old man, he looked rather awkward. Scratching his head, he said sheepishly, “Heh, old sir, your eyesight is really sharp.”

“Flattery is useless. Thirty copper coins, no bargaining.”

the old man said flatly.

Li Xingzong fumbled through the pouch inside his robes, only to discover awkwardly that all he had brought were silver ingots and no copper coins at all. As a core disciple of the Li Clan, his monthly allowance was several dozen taels of silver.

Feeling a little pained, he took out a silver ingot and handed it to the old man.

“Old sir, I’ll take everything on your stall. This silver ingot is yours. No need to make change.”

Jueming Grass was far too precious. It was worth over a hundred taels of gold. To walk away with it for a mere thirty copper coins made his conscience deeply uneasy.

The old man nodded. A trace of approval appeared in his cloudy eyes.

“Then take it all.”

At those words, Li Xingzong’s face lit up with delight. He hastily bundled up the whole pile of odds and ends.

He did not notice, however, that in the distance, a richly dressed young man had been watching the two of them. After hearing a few words from the attendant beside him, greed appeared on his face, and he strode over in large steps.

Stopping before the stall, the young man said, “Brat, buying something this precious with a single silver ingot doesn’t seem very proper, does it? Old man, I’ll offer ten taels of gold. I want all of it.”

With that, the attendant beside him took two gold ingots from his robes and tossed them to the old man.

The old man did not even reach out. He simply let the gold ingots fall to the ground.

Seeing this, the young man’s expression darkened.

“What, too little? Is twenty taels of gold enough?”

The attendant produced two more gold ingots.

At that point, Li Xingzong could no longer hold back. He rose to his feet, anger on his face.

“Young master, this old sir has already sold these things to me. They are mine now. They have nothing whatsoever to do with you.”

The young man ignored Li Xingzong entirely and, chin raised, spoke haughtily to the old man.

“Old man, the highest bidder wins. Twenty taels of gold is enough for you to enjoy wealth and luxury for the rest of your life.”

Yet to the young man’s surprise, the old man only shook his head with a faint smile.

“This old man may be poor, but I still understand first come, first served. This Jueming Grass has already been sold to this young friend. If you want it, go ask him.”

At those words, the young man’s face turned uglier than ever. He turned toward Li Xingzong and said darkly, “Brat, fifty taels of gold. Hand over what’s in your hands.”

“Not for sale.”

Li Xingzong refused at once.

With the Li Clan behind him, was he short of a mere fifty taels of gold?

Jueming Grass, however, was a rare body-tempering great medicine. Once he consumed it, it would not only strengthen his physique but also lay a solid foundation for his breakthrough into the Physical Body Realm. When that time came, he might even be able to contend with that monster.

After being refused again and again, the young man finally grew enraged from embarrassment. Someone of his exalted status had never suffered such humiliation before. He immediately reached out, intending to snatch it by force.

Yet one of Li Xingzong’s hands seized his wrist in an iron grip.

With a cold face, Li Xingzong said, “Young master, don’t go too far.”

“Brat, you refuse a toast only to drink the forfeit!”

With that, he struck a palm at Li Xingzong.

The young man possessed Perfection in the Body Tempering Realm. That one palm carried several hundred jin of force at the very least.

Li Xingzong, however, showed no fear at all. Though he was only at Major Accomplishment in the Body Tempering Realm, he cultivated the family’s Mid Profound-Grade cultivation art, the Greenwood Art. Moreover, there was not much difference between the realms at this early stage, so he did not fear the young man in the slightest.

He answered with a palm strike of his own.

The two exchanged palms, and both of them retreated three steps at the same time.

Feeling the dull ache in his hand, the young man’s expression darkened even further. Burning with shame and anger, he barked at the attendant behind him, “What are you standing there for? Get him!”

The attendant looked hesitant. He could tell that Li Xingzong was no ordinary person. For someone so young to possess this level of cultivation, there was probably a powerful force backing him.

Seeing the attendant still frozen in place, and then noticing the growing crowd of onlookers around them, the young man felt as though he was about to lose all face. He shouted, “What are you afraid of? In Baihe County, whatever my father says goes. If he’s beaten or crippled, my father will bear the consequences for you!”

Since the young man had put it that way, the attendant had no choice but to act.

Gritting his teeth, he released the aura of the Physical Body Realm and lunged straight at Li Xingzong with both hands.

Facing a Physical Body Realm cultivator, Li Xingzong knew he had no power to resist. He immediately shouted to Li Wu beside him, “Run! Go call for help!”

Only then did Li Wu finally react. He turned and bolted. Yet before he had even taken two steps, a heavy voice rang out by their ears.

“Using the strong to bully the young? That’s hardly proper, is it?”

The next instant, a sturdy, powerfully built man flashed out and blocked the attendant’s strike.

Seeing the burly man who had suddenly appeared before him, the attendant’s expression turned grave, and he blurted out, “Minor Accomplishment in the Physical Body Realm!”

He had known it. This child was no ordinary one. There really had been a cultivator at Minor Accomplishment in the Physical Body Realm secretly protecting him.

When Li Xingzong and Li Wu saw who it was, they were instantly overjoyed.

“Uncle Yanwu!”

the two shouted in unison.

The man nodded in reply and said with a smile, “You two little fellows, leave this one to me. As for getting your face back, do it yourselves. No problem, right?”