Chapter 45: If You Keep Following Me, I Won’t Hold Back

"Because I got beaten up." Facing his older sister’s interrogation, Su Mu didn’t dare to stay silent. He answered while stealing glances at Su Yan.

Her face was cold. "Why did you get beaten up?"

"My skills were inferior..." Su Mu lowered his head a bit.

"Why were they inferior?" Su Yan relentlessly got to the root of the matter.

Su Mu answered dejectedly, "I didn’t focus on my Cultivation."

Su Yan gave a slight nod. "At least you have some self-awareness! Do you know what you must do from now on?"

"I know."

"Remember your words today. If you dare to slack off and play around in the future, it won’t be someone else beating you—I will do it myself."

Su Mu’s expression changed. He repeatedly promised to Cultivate diligently and not let down his sister’s expectations.

After scolding Su Mu, Su Yan finally looked up at the crowd behind him. Her beautiful eyes swept over them before settling on Yang Kai. A flash of surprise passed through her gaze as she asked, "Are you the one who beat Cheng Shaofeng?"

Yang Kai thought, "She is quite well-informed. She actually knows what happens outside while staying here to Cultivate." Giving a slight nod, he replied, "Yes."

"You’re more promising than Su Mu." Su Yan didn’t pay it much mind. Yang Kai didn’t look old, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, yet he was only at the Eighth Level of Body Tempering Realm. His aptitude probably wasn’t very good, so naturally, he couldn’t enter her Dharma Eye. Deigning to speak a word to him was only because he had saved Su Mu.

"Let me give you a piece of advice."

"Please speak," Yang Kai said with a calm expression.

"Stay away from Su Mu. If you keep hanging around him, your achievements will stop right here."

Yang Kai smiled faintly but didn’t answer. She could belittle Su Mu, but he couldn’t.

Hearing this, Su Mu’s face instantly turned bitter, but he didn’t dare make a sound.

"Leave. I am going to Cultivate," Su Yan said, closing her eyes once more.

The group backed out quietly and closed the door. Exchanging glances, they couldn’t help but let out heavy sighs of relief. The pressure of staying inside was simply too great; although the beauty was a feast for the eyes, staying too long would likely freeze both body and soul.

"I’m going to check on the Elixirs I commissioned a few days ago," Li Yuntian said before taking his leave.

"I want to go too," a few others hurriedly chimed in and followed him.

In no time, the crowd dispersed to attend to their own business, leaving only Su Mu and Yang Kai.

Seeing that Su Mu also seemed to have matters to attend to, Yang Kai smiled. "Go ahead and do what you need to do. I’ll just take a walk around here."

Su Mu nodded. "Alright. If anything catches your eye, let me know, and I’ll help you appraise it. While most people here are decent enough, some are incredibly deceitful. Don’t let yourself get taken for an easy mark."

After parting ways with Su Mu, Yang Kai casually strolled through Heifeng Trade City.

The Three Sects’ Disciples here sat on the ground, setting up stalls in front of themselves to display the items they wanted to sell or putting up signs for the things they wished to buy.

The stall owners came in all shapes and attitudes. Some shouted loudly like vegetable vendors in a market, enthusiastically peddling their wares. Others looked arrogant, acting as though they didn’t care whether anyone bought their goods, striking poses to bait customers. Some were so bored that they simply Cultivated on the spot, completely unafraid of their merchandise being pilfered. It was a true myriad of sights.

After walking for a while, Yang Kai noticed that the stalls here weren’t solely for buying and selling. Some low-level Alchemists had put up signs offering to perform Alchemy for others, entirely free of charge.

Don’t be mistaken into thinking they were doing a good deed; in reality, they simply needed to use other people’s materials for practice. Because these people lacked Alchemy experience, eight out of ten batches would fail. As a result, the area in front of these stalls was relatively deserted.

However, there weren’t many stalls of this kind. Alchemists were, after all, quite rare.

Yang Kai kept his eyes peeled for Yang Attribute items. In truth, before he even entered Heifeng Trade City, the Yang Source Seal on his chest had already reacted. Its chaotic responses indicated a large number of Yang Attribute treasures in the area.

But walking along this path, Yang Kai found that many of the items were of rather low grade. The Yang Qi contained within those herbs wasn’t even as rich as what spilled out from the Trapped Dragon Ravine. Naturally, he didn’t spare them a second glance.

He did spot a few items he liked, but after inquiring about the prices, he could only shake his head and sigh. The asking prices were too high, far beyond what he could currently afford.

After wandering around for half an hour, Yang Kai was empty-handed, though he had managed to figure out the market price for the Small Rejuvenation Pill.

Because the Small Rejuvenation Pill was only effective for martial artists between the Seventh Level of Body Tempering Realm and the Ninth Level, a single Elixir was only worth about fifty taels.

The bottle Su Mu had given him contained ten Elixirs, making it worth roughly five hundred taels.

Five hundred taels... it really wasn’t enough to accomplish much.

At the stall in front of him sat a fiery red stone. Yang Kai could clearly feel the scorching Yang Qi within it, which was countless times denser than what leaked out from the bottom of the Trapped Dragon Ravine. He estimated that if he absorbed the Yang Qi from this stone, he could Condense at least two or three drops of Yang Liquid. That was equivalent to many days of arduous Cultivation!

Even knowing that this seemingly unfriendly stall owner would definitely ask for a high price, Yang Kai crouched down in front of him, refusing to give up.

The stall owner wore a cold expression, acting as if everyone owed him money. He only glanced at Yang Kai once before ignoring him.

Yang Kai pretended to pick up a few other items and asked about their prices. The stall owner was tight-lipped, casually tossing out answers. Then, as if by accident, Yang Kai picked up the fiery red stone and asked, "How much for this?"

The stall owner sneered. This time, he actually spoke a few more words: "That is the most expensive item on the stall. Three thousand taels."

Yang Kai completely dropped the idea. This was absolute highway robbery! The asking price was too far off from his bottom line; how could they even negotiate?

Just as he put the item down and was about to stand up, someone patted him on the shoulder. Turning his head, he saw a beautiful woman of Thousand Joys and Hundred Charms smiling at him.

"It really is you," Hu Mei’er said, rather surprised.

"Do you need something?" Yang Kai frowned. To be honest, he didn’t have a good impression of this somewhat frivolous woman. Even though she was dressed quite neatly now, her brazen behavior that day had already left a bad mark on his mind.

Sensing Yang Kai’s coldness, Hu Mei’er shot him a reproachful glare and said coquettishly, "Nothing at all. I just came over to say hello."

"Hmm. Goodbye!" Yang Kai replied indifferently, turning his head and walking away.

"Hey..." Hu Mei’er followed closely behind, walking alongside Yang Kai. Intentionally or otherwise, her delicate body pressed against him as they walked, and she observed his reactions all the while.

After walking for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Yang Kai felt rather frustrated. He found that this woman wasn’t just coquettish; she was also thick-skinned. He had made it blatantly obvious that he didn’t want to talk to her, yet she refused to leave.

"Why are you following me?" Yang Kai stopped in his tracks, clearly displeased.

"I’m not following you. This is Heifeng Trade City, and I’m just taking a stroll. What’s wrong? Are you paying that much attention to me?" Hu Mei’er giggled endlessly.

"Stop following me, or I won’t hold back against you," Yang Kai said angrily.

Instead of being afraid, Hu Mei’er looked eager to try. "How will you not hold back? Like last time?"