Chapter 33: Bullying People

"The price is too low, we won't sell." Meng Yifan reached out, grabbed the Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core, and turned to leave with Meng Dayong.

Meng Dayong was somewhat surprised, but the father and son had a tacit understanding; they exchanged a glance, understood Meng Yifan's intention, and also walked out with their packs on their backs.

The old man with the goat-like beard seemed to have the father and son figured out and said unhurriedly, "If you don't sell it here, you must be planning to sell it at the Heishi, right? You had better think it through. With Demon Beasts running rampant and the country in chaos, the Heishi outside the city is not safe. People often get murdered for their money there. Be careful, lest you end up losing your life instead of earning money."

Meng Yifan paused. He didn't want to risk going to the Heishi if he could avoid it, so he said, "Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core, nine hundred taels of silver. Will you buy it or not?"

The old man with the goat-like beard gave a disdainful laugh, as if he had the father and son in his pocket, and said, "Seven hundred taels, take it or leave it. I'll say this first: the next time you come to sell, the price will drop even further; it will be five hundred taels then. You had better think it through and don't regret it."

Meng Yifan was so angry he was fuming, his eyes wide with rage. Having lived two lifetimes, he had never seen such a shameless, unscrupulous merchant. If this were his previous life, with his explosive temper, he would have long since grabbed an AK47, shoved it into the old man's mouth, and let him have it.

But in this world, he was still very weak. This old man looked frail, but he was actually a Second Grade Middle Stage Martial Artist. If they really fought, Meng Yifan might not necessarily be his match.

"I can't confront him head-on." Meng Yifan knew the score. This Wanxiang Tower was full of experts. If they tore off the mask and a direct conflict broke out, neither he nor his father would be able to walk out of Wanxiang Tower. But Meng Yifan was not one to take things lying down, and he couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride. What should he do?

Meng Yifan looked at the elegantly dressed guests inside Wanxiang Tower, suddenly had an idea, focused his Qi into his dantian, and shouted loudly, "A Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core, and the purchase price is only seven hundred taels of silver? Aren't you just bullying people? If you keep suppressing prices like this, who would dare come to your Wanxiang Tower to sell things?"

Meng Yifan's shout was like a booming bell. Not only did all the customers on the first floor look over, but even the distinguished guests on the other floors heard the noise from below and couldn't help but start whispering.

"Isn't the purchase price for a Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core always one thousand taels of silver? Why has it suddenly been suppressed to seven hundred taels? And why have the Guiyuan Pills you refine using Third-grade Demon Cores gone up in price? This makes no sense; you should be lowering the price instead."

"That's right, that's right. If the purchase price for Demon Cores has dropped, the price of the Pills should also drop."

"Suppressing prices at will—isn't this bullying a Mountain Hunter? This is truly going too far."

"Wanxiang Tower is the premier merchant guild of the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty. How can they act like a roadside peddler, suppressing prices at will? Isn't this ruining the reputation of Wanxiang Tower?"

"For a Mountain Hunter to risk their life to obtain some materials, only to be suppressed like this, is truly excessive."

Upon hearing Meng Yifan's shout, the old man with the goat-like beard, 'Lv Fugui', knew something was wrong. He was only a purchasing manager on the first floor, not the master of Wanxiang Tower; Wanxiang Tower was not a place where he could cover the sky with one hand.

He had seen that the father and son were from the mountains and were timid, so he wanted to suppress the price and take the opportunity to make a profit for himself. This kind of thing was not meant to see the light of day.

He hadn't expected this half-grown boy to have such guts, shouting the matter out loud so that many guests heard it. This was very troublesome.

Most importantly, if this alarmed the master on the top floor, even if he was the uncle of the County Magistrate, he would have to pack his bags and get out.

Being a purchasing manager for Wanxiang Tower was a lucrative position. If handled well, earning ten thousand taels of silver a month was not difficult. There were countless people in Luolong County eyeing this position. He only held it because of his connection to the County Magistrate Lv Dazhi, but if someone caught him in the act, he would be dismissed by Wanxiang Tower.

Wanxiang Tower held a very special status, backed by the Imperial Observatory; no one dared to provoke them. If Lv Fugui were truly dismissed, even Lv Dazhi wouldn't dare say a word.

"Stop shouting, I'll buy this Demon Core for one thousand taels." Lv Fugui was so angry his nose was crooked. He had to appease Meng Yifan first, but he had already decided in his heart that he would find an opportunity to deal with them once they left Wanxiang Tower.

This was the effect Meng Yifan wanted. Hearing the old man finally relent, he stopped shouting and handed the Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core to Lv Fugui. This time, Lv Fugui didn't waste words and directly took out a one-thousand-tael Silver Note and handed it to Meng Yifan.

The Silver Notes in this world were refined using the secret methods of Immortal Cultivators and had special anti-counterfeiting marks on them that ordinary people could not replicate, so there was no issue with fake currency.

With a Silver Note, one could exchange it for silver in any city of the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty. It was very convenient to use, so large transactions were all settled using Silver Notes.

Meng Yifan took the Silver Note and then brought out the Second Grade middle-tier Demon Core and other materials from the Demon Beast.

Lv Fugui was somewhat alarmed. It seemed these two hunters had really killed two Demon Beasts. How did they do it? Could there be other experts behind them? It seemed he would have to investigate their background before deciding how to deal with them.

Fearing that Meng Yifan would start shouting again, Lv Fugui made all the purchases this time at the normal price.

The Second Grade middle-tier Demon Core sold for one hundred taels of silver, and the damaged fur of the Third-grade Flying Tiger Demon, along with other materials, sold for a total of one hundred and fifty taels of silver.

As for the Second Grade Middle Stage Tiger Demon, because its fur was almost undamaged and of high quality, it could be made into a fur coat, so it fetched a high price of two hundred taels of silver.

Just like that, the father and son sold everything in their packs and received a total of one thousand four hundred and fifty taels of silver.

Meng Yifan took one thousand four hundred taels in Silver Notes and fifty taels in silver, which was convenient for them to purchase supplies outside.

With the items sold, the father and son turned and left the purchasing area, preparing to stroll around Wanxiang Tower to buy some cultivation techniques and pills to improve their strength.

Lv Fugui's gaze was as cold as a venomous snake, staring at the backs of the father and son. Two Mountain Hunters had actually been arrogant in front of him. Once he found out if there were other experts behind them, Lv Fugui would let these mountain people know the consequences of offending him.

Meng Yifan keenly sensed Lv Fugui's hatred, but he did not regret doing what he did.

This world was cruel, and he urgently needed to improve his strength quickly. Whether it was cultivation techniques, martial arts, or pills, everything was expensive, and he was short on money. If Meng Yifan had yielded when Lv Fugui suppressed the price so ruthlessly, he would have sold things for much less, and his progress would definitely have been restricted. Rather than being stifled like that, it was better to offend him and gain more silver.

Everything else was secondary; improving strength was the absolute truth. As long as his strength was powerful enough, he wouldn't have to fear Lv Fugui's retaliation.

"Hmph! I'm not someone to be trifled with either. You had better not come and provoke me." Meng Yifan said to himself. He didn't want to bully others, but if someone came to bully him, they were his enemy. Killing them would even earn him Experience Value, so why not?