Dressed in a red and black striped brocade robe, the portly Young Master Mi walked into the first floor of Jubao Pavilion with his hands behind his back and his belly thrust out. Chunyue flanked him on the left, Qiuhua on the right, and two strapping manservants trailed behind. Striding with an arrogant swagger and licking a candied hawthorn, he basked in the beaming smiles of the Jubao Pavilion attendants.
"Young Master Mi."
"Ah, Young Master Mi is here?"
"Greetings, Young Master Mi."
……
Bathed in the flattery of the crowd, Mi Lan felt as if he were floating on air. He flashed a smile at the people greeting him, waved his chubby hands, and chimed in repeatedly, "Greetings, greetings, greetings to you all."
The greeting crowd did not slow Mi Lan's pace. As he surveyed the stalls on the ground floor, he muttered inwardly:
"Heavenly Heart Stone? That's fine material for forging divine weapons, but no, the grade is a bit too low, and it still needs refining. Too much trouble."
"A three-thousand-year-old blood ginseng? They say a single bite cures all ailments, and swallowing it whole grants a hundred years of internal energy, allowing an ordinary person to leap straight to Peak Qi Control. Nana is cultivating now, would she like this?"
Mi Lan rolled his eyes, a mental image flashing through his mind of Nana opening her cherry lips and stuffing in a blood ginseng that looked like a radish. He shuddered.
"No, no, no. Next. What's this? A treasured Wind and Cloud Fan? They say a practitioner in the Polar Transformation Realm can use it to overturn wind and cloud with a single wave? If a Polar Transformation expert puts their all into a wave, an unprepared opponent in the same realm can be blown miles away? Good stuff..." Mi Lan crouched down and unfurled the fan, only to find a large chrysanthemum painted on it.
"Uh, goodbye."
"Young Master Mi, take a look at this divine weapon, the Draconic Spear. What do you think? It was once wielded by a mighty Tongxuan Realm expert." Seeing Mi Lan approach, a middle-aged man in white rushed to pitch his merchandise.
Mi Lan looked at the pitch-black, imposing spear, shook his head, and asked, "Do you have... well, treasured weapons, divine weapons, or something even better suitable for a young girl?"
"Oh—I don't have any here, but I know where there's a fine item that would suit a young girl perfectly. Come this way." The middle-aged man smiled at Mi Lan and made a gesture inviting him to follow.
Mi Lan followed the middle-aged man past four rows of stalls until they reached a stall in the northeast corner of Jubao Pavilion, where an old man in black sat with his head tilted and eyes narrowed, seemingly dozing off.
"Old Liu, Old Liu, I recall you have a bundle of Primordial Heavenly Silk Gauze. Bring it out for Young Master Mi to see," the middle-aged man in white said to the old man in black sitting before the stall.
The old man in black opened his eyes and glanced at Mi Lan.
With that single glance, Mi Lan jolted, feeling an overwhelmingly irresistible force wash over him.
Mi Lan instinctively took a step back, screaming inwardly, *An expert! What a formidable expert, at least in the Heavenly Vein Realm!*
Fortunately, the old man in black merely glanced at him once before shifting his gaze to the middle-aged man in white who had spoken to him.
Recovering his wits, Mi Lan heard the white-robed man saying, "Old Liu, are you losing your mind? You've scared Young Master Mi. Quickly bring out your Primordial Heavenly Silk Gauze for Young Master Mi to inspect."
The old man in black seemed to snap out of it. He stood up, cupped his fists toward Mi Lan—whose complexion was somewhat poor—and said, "My apologies for startling Young Master Mi. As for the Primordial Heavenly Silk Gauze, I would sell it to no one else, but since it is Young Master Mi, you may take a look. If you like it, I can sell it to you." With that, he produced a red silk gauze and handed it over to Mi Lan.
"Many thanks," Mi Lan said, accepting the Primordial Heavenly Silk Gauze. The silk gauze was about seven feet long and silky to the touch. As Mi Lan's fingers brushed across it, it felt as comfortable as the hair of a peerless beauty.
"The Primordial Heavenly Silk Gauze, as the name implies, is spun from the silk of the Heavenly Silkworm. Heavenly Silkworm silk is impervious to water and fire, and impenetrable to mortal blades. I dismantled a divine weapon, the Primordial Universe Pouch, and engaged the renowned East Domain weapon-refiner Master Ouyang Feng to combine the Primordial Cloth with Heavenly Silkworm silk, infusing it with a small fragment of Saint weapon material—Extraterrestrial Crimson Silver—acquired in my early years. After forty-nine days of refining, this seven-foot Primordial Heavenly Silk Gauze was born. It is a quasi-Saint weapon. When wielded by someone in the Polar Transformation Realm, it can block a blow from the Tongxuan Realm; when wielded by a Heavenly Vein Realm expert, it can block a blow from Saint Entry. Nothing below the Heavenly Vein Realm can harm the wielder," the elderly man in black said in a deep voice.
The Tongxuan Realm is the seventh realm, standing above the Six Realms of Humanity. Taking its name from the ascent from Tongxuan to sainthood, weapons used by those in the Tongxuan Realm are called divine weapons. Tongxuan serves as the transitional ladder leading to the Saint path. Crossing Tongxuan leads to the Three Realms of Holy Path, and weapons of the Saint path may be called Saint weapons.
"So powerful?" Mi Lan was somewhat surprised. Then, channeling his Qi into his hands, he exerted silent pressure. After a few seconds—well, his Body Refining Realm cultivation couldn't even leave a mark.
Mi Lan gazed quietly at the red gauze in his hands, his mind conjuring an image of a peerless woman dancing with the red gauze, graceful as a startled swan...
"Young Master Mi? Young Master Mi?" The middle-aged man in white patted the dazed Mi Lan on the shoulder and added, "Young Master Mi, you're... drooling..."
Mi Lan snapped awake, hurriedly wiping his mouth, and said with a serious expression, "May I ask why senior wishes to sell such a fine item? How much does senior want for it?"
"This was a token of affection between myself and Wan'er back then, never imagining that Wan'er would be... If Young Master Mi likes it, a hundred taels of gold will suffice." The elderly man in black wiped the corner of his eye.
"Ah, my condolences, senior. Wielded by a Heavenly Vein expert, it can block Saint Entry, but with senior's cultivation, who could possibly harm you..." Mi Lan said.
"What if it is... above Saint Entry? If Young Master Mi likes it, take it." The elderly man in black gritted his teeth.
"Ah, forgive me, senior. Chunyue, give senior the hundred gold." Mi Lan gripped the red gauze tighter. Though his cultivation realm was not high, Mi Lan could still feel the profound, ocean-deep yet gentle-as-flowing-water power contained within the red gauze.
With the transaction completed, Mi Lan bid farewell to the elderly man in black.
As he reached the exit on the ground floor, Mi Lan felt a sudden urge and looked back, only to see the elderly man in black standing there, head bowed and silent like a statue.....
Stepping out of Jubao Pavilion, watching the scattered sunset casting a pale golden glow over Donghai City, Mi Lan felt his mood ease slightly. He turned to Chunyue and Qiuhua beside him and said, "Lasses, it's rare to visit Donghai. Shall we go to the Seafood Pavilion for big crabs, or head to Xilai Tavern for freshly caught spirit venison?"
"Get over here! Let's see where you can run this time!"
"No, please, Young Master Luo, spare me, ah!"
Before Chunyue and Qiuhua could reply, the sounds of a scuffle and a woman's screams drifted over from the roadside.
"It's that punk Luo Zhongyu again!" Hearing the commotion, Mi Lan looked over and spotted a few familiar faces.
Seeing a dozen or so men surrounding a woman and pulling at her, Mi Lan strode forward, but Qiuhua tugged at his sleeve and said, "Young Master, there are too many of them."
Mi Lan paused his steps and said, "When you see injustice on the road, you draw your sword to help. Besides, so what if there are many of them? Do they dare kill me?"
With that, he shouted toward the scuffling crowd, "Stop right there!"
Qiuhua fell into a chaotic daze. They might not dare kill you, but they certainly dare beat you! The kind of beating that keeps you bedridden for a month.....
The thunderous roar silenced the crowd for a fraction of a second. Luo Zhongyu slanted his gaze over, and recognizing Mi Lan, he froze for a moment before chuckling derisively, "Well, what a small world, it's you, you little ball of fertilizer! What, looking to play the hero saving the damsel?"
"Hero? This little ball of fertilizer is worthy? More like a bear—a big clumsy coward!" The speaker was Wu Kai, young master of the Wu family in Donghai City.
"Ha, ha, ha!"
"Ha..."
Wu Kai's words instantly provoked roaring laughter from the four young masters beside him.
Meanwhile, the young woman, seeing the crowd mocking Mi Lan, quickly pushed aside the manservant next to her and ran to Mi Lan's side. It turned out to be none other than "Xiao Yan," the storytelling girl from the other day.