Book 1 Chapter 9: Change
During these days, he had bought many things to research the Upgrade Technique, especially those pieces of jewelry, which were not cheap even if they were of the lowest quality. Moreover, with regard to eating, Bai Yunfei was no longer too thrifty. He had been somewhat undernourished before, but he needed to practice now, so it was only natural for him to have a diet that matched this, satisfying all the needs of the body.
As for what he was going to do after using up his money, Bai Yunfei had already made a plan.
He walked out of this remote small street where he lived then passed through various alleyways and roads, heading for the most flourishing main street in the center of the city.
“Please… Please let me go. I still need this money to feed my wife and children back home. Please be merciful and don’t take away everything…”
When he reached the opening of an alleyway, a fearful and imploring voice came out from that that somber alleyway on the left.
“Cut the crap! Is there still anything valuable hidden on your body?! Quickly take it out! Or else I’ll break your leg!” A ruthless voice came out afterwards. It seemed to be accompanied by someone else’s chuckling sounds.
This was yet another act of bullying and robbery aimed at the weak.
This kind of occurrence was not something new in the city at all, especially in poor and remote places like this. Previously Bai Yunfei had often encountered this kind of incident as well. Afterwards he would have no choice but to hand over the hard-earned money of a day. This kind of thing was always done by groups of three to five people, and they even had weapons, so it was simply impossible for you to resist, and no one would come to save you either.
Bai Yunfei subconsciously wanted to leave, but when he just lifted half of his foot, suddenly he was stupefied right there. He then turned around with a somewhat sullen expression and walked towards that alleyway.
“I… still haven’t got rid of my old cowardice completely? Bai Yunfei, hey Bai Yunfei, you unexpectedly even wanted to run away. Previously you could convince yourself that you were powerless, but now, if you run away, how can you have a clear conscience? Forget bullshit like taking care of all the injustices in the world, at least if I come across something wrong, I won’t just sit by and watch!”
After walking into that somewhat dusky alleyway, Bai Yunfei saw the situation in front of him very quickly: three ferocious-looking big men, each with a dagger in his hand, were surrounding a lanky middle-aged man; one of them was also holding a moneybag and was frisking the middle-aged man…
Bai Yunfei did not intend to conceal himself at all. The surrounded middle-aged man was unexpectedly the first to notice him. Hearing the footsteps, he had a happy expression, but when he saw an ordinary youngster, his expression dimmed. Those big men were also frightened when they heard someone approaching, but when they saw Bai Yunfei, they all let out a sigh of relief then gave each other a look and laughed out loud.
“Hah! I never expected that someone would come to us without being forced!”
“Brat! Consider yourself unlucky. Take out all the money on your body! And we’ll let you leave!”
A big man with a ferocious expression walked towards Bai Yunfei. Another one quickly moved to the area behind him to prevent him from running away.
Perhaps because Bai Yunfei’s totally calm expression stupefied the big man, he raised his fist and shook it in front of Bai Yunfei’s face: “Brat, didn’t you hear what I said? Take out all your money! Or else, don’t blame me for being rude!”
Bai Yunfei was very familiar with this kind of man, this kind of tone and this kind of words. He knew that if he hesitated again, this man in front of him would beat him up without scruple then take away all the money on his body.
But, he was already not that weak youngster he used to be. Instead… he was a powerful soul cultivator!
Simply not in the mood to talk nonsense with these people, Bai Yunfei quickly lifted his right hand and grabbed the wrist that was shaking in front of him then exerted his strength a bit…
“Clack!”
“Ah!!”
A crisp sound of broken bones rang out in the quiet alley. Everybody was dumbfounded. That man gave a miserable cry, sounding like a pig being slaughtered. His hand loosened. Bai Yunfei immediately snatched the dagger out of his hand then raised a foot and kicked the man in the stomach. The big man was sent rolling a good several meters. Holding his wrist, he curled his body up and wailed nonstop.
“Third bro!”
The people around could not react to this sudden event temporarily. Only after that big man had been sent flying with a kick did the man behind Bai Yunfei let out a cry of shock then brandish his dagger, stabbing at his back with it.
The moment he made that sound, Bai Yunfei prepared himself. He slightly leaned his body to one side. That man’s arm immediately brushed his shoulder and stretched out in front of him. He grabbed the man’s wrist. The sound of broken bones was heard again and the falling dagger was also caught by Bai Yunfei.
He thrust his elbow backwards with force then, without waiting for that man to stoop down because of the pain, he reversely grabbed his collar. His arm’s muscles bulged out and that man’s bulky body was unexpectedly thrown out like a burlap sack then fell down beside the previous man.
In just about several blinks of an eye, two scoundrels had been knocked down to the ground, but Bai Yunfei’s body had not moved at all.
Holding a dagger in one hand and a moneybag in the other, the last big man stood beside the middle-aged man, looking at Bai Yunfei in stupefaction.
Bai Yunfei walked up to him and reached out his hand, saying: “Give it to me.”
The man blankly handed the dagger in his hand to Bai Yunfei.
“The money!”
Only now did the big man wake up with a start, his eyes full of fear, just like the eyes of the middle-aged man they had been robbing previously. He hurriedly gave the moneybag in his hand to Bai Yunfei. After thinking for a bit, he took another moneybag out from his bosom in a somewhat shaky manner and handed it over as well.
Bai Yunfei gave both moneybags to that middle-aged man, who was still in a trance, saying: “You can leave now. Be careful when going home later.”
Only now did the man regain his composure. He gave Bai Yunfei a somewhat fearful look then received the moneybags. After getting lost in thought again for a long time, he finally settled down and took a deep bow to Bai Yunfei: “Thank you… Thank you…”
Bai Yunfei watched the middle-aged man quickly walk out of the alleyway then turned around to look at the big man in front of him.
Stared at by Bai Yunfei, that man was frightened inside. He put his hands behind his back and said indistinctly: “I… I already gave you the money. Don’t hurt me…”
“But I didn’t say that I would spare you if you gave me the money. Besides, both of your brothers are injured. If you escaped without damage, how would you face them later…?”
When Bai Yunfei walked out of the alleyway, he still looked the same as before, as if he had not changed at all. But the look in his eyes was somewhat brighter and there was also a faint smile on the corners of his mouth.
Just then, when that middle-aged man had bowed to him, saying ‘Thank you’, there had seemed to be a barrier getting smashed in his heart, causing him to feel very satisfied and enlightened…
“So this is how it feels to help someone…”
… … … …
‘Treasure Weapon Shop’ was the best weapon shop in Luoshi City. All the weapons in the shop were first-class. Many rich people in the city liked to buy weapons here, whether elaborate and showy or durable and sharp.
Bai Yunfei entered the shop and walked straight up to the counter. He said to the shopkeeper, who was sitting behind the counter polishing a short sword: “Boss, I want to sell a weapon.”
That shopkeeper lifted his head, cast a look at Bai Yunfei then lowered his head to continue the polishing and said casually: “Go to another shop. I don’t buy defective goods here.”
“You’d better have a look first.” As Bai Yunfei said so, he put a dagger on the counter. This was a dagger that had been upgraded to +9. He felt that given its current level of sharpness, he should be able to sell it for some money. In fact he still had a +10 dagger with an additional effect, but he was not stupid enough to sell it.
The shopkeeper raised his head again to look at that common, ordinary-looking dagger and said somewhat impatiently: “Just a common dagger. There’s nothing to see here. The smithy next door sells one for twenty copper coins. Brat, you want to come here to make trouble, right?”
Bai Yunfei was in no mood to argue with him so he picked up the dagger, pointed the tip down and lifted it until it was over thirty centimeters above the counter then loosened his hand.
“Pu”, a soft sound was heard. The dagger had penetrated into the counter, which was made of top-grade ironwood, as if it had gone into soft soil, all the way to the hilt!!
“Oh?“This…” The moment the dagger penetrated into the counter, the impatient expression on the shopkeeper’s face turned into one of astonishment and disbelief. He mumbled: “This level of sharpness, how is it possible?!”
After Bai Yunfei pulled the dagger out, he received it and observed it for a long time. Then he took out a test stone covered in hack marks and stab marks and took a forceful swing of the dagger at a mark-free area. The test stone was cut off with a sound.
“How is this possible? How is this possible? Judging from the workmanship that went into this dagger, it obviously couldn’t be more ordinary. Plus, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about its material either…”
Seeing that the shopkeeper was researching it over and over again, Bai Yunfei tapped the counter somewhat impatiently, saying: “So will you buy it or not? If you don’t want it, I’ll just go to another shop.”
The shopkeeper was stupefied. Only now did he remember that this man in front of him had come here to sell this dagger. He carefully sized up Bai Yunfei again, his eyes flashing with a hint of shrewdness. He said laughingly to Bai Yunfei: “Ha ha, how much do you want for it, little brother?”
Bai Yunfei frowned. He really did not know how much he should sell it for, so he said casually: “Just tell me your price. If it’s good enough, I’ll sell you this one.”
The smiling expression on the shopkeeper’s face deepened: “Little brother, I think you must be in urgent need of money to meet an emergency, so I won’t keep you at arm’s length either. I’ll help you this time by buying this dagger, but…” He talked as if he wanted to buy the dagger only to help Bai Yunfei. Then he changed the topic of conversation: “You also know, little brother, my Treasure Weapon Shop only buys quality goods. Those who buy weapons in my shop are all important people too. Even though this dagger of yours is pretty sharp, there’s nothing special about its workmanship and design. If I buy it, I probably won’t be able to sell it for a good price. You see, that dagger of mine over there, its workmanship…”
“Enough! You think I’m a three year-old kid?!” Seeing the shopkeeper become more and more enthusiastic as he talked, Bai Yunfei was annoyed. He stared at him and shouted to stop his torrent of nonsense.
The shopkeeper was doing his utmost to belittle the dagger in his hand in an attempt to lower the price as much as possible. Shouted at by Bai Yunfei, he was somewhat tongue-tied immediately. But when he raised his head and made eye contact with Bai Yunfei, his whole body trembled. He thudded back several steps and only when he bumped into the storage rack behind him was he able to stop.
“You… Ah, no… Sir, are you a Lord Soul Cultivator?!” The shopkeeper asked with a slight stammer.
“Oh?How do you know?” Bai Yunfei was stupefied. Could it be it was so easy to recognize a soul cultivator?
“Lord… Lord Soul Cultivator, please forgive me… forgive me for being as blind as a bat. Please do not bother yourself about a lowly person like me…” Hearing Bai Yunfei’s admission, the shopkeeper hurriedly bowed to him with hands folded in front of him again and again while apologizing nonstop.
He was not someone of great ability. He was merely an ordinary person. But because of this, he held soul cultivators in such awe. He ran a this weapon shop in the city so he could usually have contact with quite a few young people from rich families, and there was no lack of soul cultivators among those people either. Even though they were all low-level soul cultivators of the Soul Apprentice or Soul Personage stage, in the eyes of commoners, they were already beings of unmatched power.
Soul cultivators trained their souls. To commoners, a powerful soul exerted an irresistible pressure on them, just like how when Bai Yunfei was stared at angrily by Zhang Yang at that time or when Zhang Zhenshan cast a look at him, he felt that he was under a suffocating pressure.
Just then, when the shopkeeper had made eye contact with Bai Yunfei, under the slightly angry look in his eyes, he had felt a pressure that was similarly exerted by those soul cultivators.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Just tell me the price of this dagger directly.”
“Yes, yes, yes… I won’t dare lie to you, Lord Soul Cultivator. This dagger is worth at least three gold coins…”
“I have four daggers in total here. Ten gold coins and you can take them!”
… … … …
When Bai Yunfei walked out of the shop, he was rather delighted. He had never thought that +9 daggers could be sold for so much money. It looked like later he would not have to worry about his expenses.
Now that he had money again, Bai Yunfei decided to buy some slightly better things to continues his research into the Upgrade Technique.
“Junior sister Liu Meng, I heard that the Jewelry Pavilion up ahead has just brought in a new batch of gems and jewelry. Why don’t we go to have a look? Maybe they have something you like…”
An ingratiate voice came from a crowd not far from him. Bai Yunfei immediately stood still beside a fruit stand as if his body had been put under a halting spell. His entire body then quivered unceasingly and his eyes seemed to be filled with blood.
“Zhang Yang!”