Chapter 2819, Grandpa Qing
Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“No one would refuse such a great opportunity, so why ask me?”
“Because I don’t know anybody else here,” Yang Kai shrugged nonchalantly as he continued with a smile, “Besides, I know your weakness, so I’m not worried that you will try to run off with my money.”
The corners of Tiea’s mouth twitched.
What he was saying is true. As long as he held onto her weakness, she couldn’t do anything against him… However, all that was irrelevant in the face of that ten percent!
After seeing Tiea on her way, Yang Kai immediately went to the middle of Frost and Snow City and searched for the store he had scouted out previously. Spending a large number of Green Coins, he purchased many Monster Cores.
The money he had accumulated during this period had given him enough financial resources to buy Monster Cores to supplement his cultivation. Therefore, he needed somebody else to sell his medicine on his behalf; after all, running a stall was quite time-consuming.
Upon returning to the Tree Cave, Yang Kai held a longan sized Monster Core between his fingers and took a small breath.
The early stages of the snowballing effect had been completed, so from now on, he only needed to buy some Monster Cores every day and refine them. Once winter was over, he would surely be able to break through to become a Shaman Master.
Yang Kai swallowed the Monster Core and circulated his Secret Arts. A thunderous sound soon came from his abdomen while at the same time, his aura swelled at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.
In the afternoon, Tiea returned from selling the medicine, obediently handing over ninety percent of the profits and receiving more medicine from Yang Kai to be sold the next day. It had only been half a day since they last met, but she was shocked to discover that he had become a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior!
[He was just a Low-Rank Shaman Warrior when I last saw him this morning, so how did he become a Mid-Rank Shaman Warrior in just half a day?!] Despite the countless questions in her heart, Tiea did not inquire into the matter. Everyone had their own secrets and it was not wise to ask too many questions, especially since her secret was still in Yang Kai’s hands.
Thus, the two worked together perfectly.
Yang Kai would take some time every day to refine the medicine before going out to purchase Monster Cores. Meanwhile, Tiea was in charge of selling the medicine and buying raw materials along the way.
Time flew by, and soon one month passed.
During that month, Yang Kai achieved another breakthrough in his cultivation. He refined approximately ten Monster Cores a day, which made his strength grow rapidly. For that reason, he was now a High-Rank Shaman Warrior! He was on the fast track to becoming a Shaman Master as long as he had a sufficient supply of Monster Cores. Then, he would regain his ability to use his Divine Sense. At that time, he could finally escape from his current predicament.
Unfortunately, good times were always followed by challenges. On that day, Tiea did not return from selling the medicines until evening, and when she entered Yang Kai’s Tree Cave, she placed a number of stone pots down in front of him.
Yang Kai was surprised and asked, “Why didn’t you finish selling them?”
In the past, the medicine he refined would sell out without any trouble each day. This was the first time there were surpluses.
Tiea weakly replied, “The ones that want to buy the medicine have probably bought enough. Didn’t you notice that I’ve been returning later and later recently?”
Yang Kai was taken aback by her words, but thinking back on it carefully, he realized that that was indeed the case. He had spent his time cultivating during this period, focusing solely on trying to raise his cultivation. Thus, he had not paid much attention to her situation. Now that she mentioned it, he realized that what she said was true. In the beginning, she only needed half a day to sell all the medicines he refined; however, as time passed, it took her longer and longer to finish selling them. And today, she did not return until late in the evening. Moreover, she did not manage to finish selling the medicine.
“So the market has saturated…” Yang Kai rubbed his chin and muttered under his breath.
Although Frost and Snow City was not small, and the number of Ancient Barbarian Warriors was quite large, more than a month of sales had caused the market to start shrinking. After all, it was not easy for Ancient Barbarian Warriors to earn Green Coins here, so while the healing medicine was priced at a relatively inexpensive ten Green Coins, they would not purchase it without reservations either.
Under normal circumstances, they would keep one portion on them to use during emergencies and only buy a new one as a replacement once they finished using that. Therefore, the more time that passed, the lower the purchasing power of Frost and Snow City.
Mulling over this, Yang Kai nodded and said, “You should take a break and continue selling the medicine tomorrow.”
Tiea naturally had no objections to his suggestion. After spending more than a month working together, she had slowly gotten closer to him and no longer held any wariness or fear for him. Thus, she just turned around and left.
Inside the Tree Cave, Yang Kai frowned. Now that the market had been saturated, it would get harder and harder to sell the healing medicine he refined. If he couldn’t sell his medicine, he wouldn’t have enough Green Coins to purchase Monster Cores and his cultivation plan would be severely delayed.
Even so, Yang Kai had no way to break the current stalemate unless he moved to a different city that was similar to Frost and Snow City to display his skills. But where was he going to find another Frost and Snow City among all the Ancient Barbarian Race clans in the middle of the winter?
The situation progressed just as Yang Kai had expected; the healing medicine became harder and harder to sell as time passed. Some days they didn’t even sell a third of the amount he refined every day despite Tiea’s best efforts.
Consequently, the number of Monster Cores Yang Kai could purchase became less and less each day. Although becoming a Shaman Master was right at his fingertips, he could only sigh in frustration without a sufficient supply of Monster Cores.
In this situation, Yang Kai could only take things one step at a time. He could only finish consuming all the Monster Cores he still had on hand, then decide what to do later.
One day, Yang Kai was in the middle of cultivating when he suddenly felt a pair of eyes watching him. This made him extremely uncomfortable, but unfortunately, his cultivation was at a critical juncture and he did not want to take his focus away from it. He initially thought that the feeling was just a figment of his imagination; however, the feeling of being watched only became more and more acute as time passed.
Opening his eyes abruptly, Yang Kai’s pupils instantly shrank as he stared at a figure standing not too far away from him. This person was an old man that did not have the burly body common among the Ancient Barbarian Race. He was so old that he looked like he could drop dead at any moment, his hair and beard were all white. This old man simply stood there quietly with a smile, watching Yang Ka with great interest.
Yang Kai might have looked calm on the surface, but great storms were raging inside his heart. [How is this possible?! I’m staying inside the Tree Cave of the Evergreen Divine Tree! Under the protection of the Evergreen Divine Tree, even a Shaman King or Shaman Saint would not be able to enter this place without my permission! So, how did this old man appear before me without a sound?! How is this possible?!]
Fortunately, the other party did not seem to hold any malicious intentions; thus, Yang Kai did not make a fuss and simply studied the old man quietly.
Their eyes met inside the Tree Cave; however, the old man was in no rush to say anything, seemingly just scrutinizing Yang Kai while nodding to himself once in a while.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was feeling extremely uncomfortable under the old man’s watch. In the end, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Old Man, why did you trespass into my private residence?”
“Trespass into your private residence?” Upon hearing those words, the old man raised his eyebrows, “That’s an interesting way of putting it. However, my presence here does not count as trespassing into a private residence!”
Yang Kai smiled coldly, “This Tree Cave is where I live, so you entered my residence without my permission. That’s trespassing into a private residence. Old Man, you seem to be getting senile. I’m afraid you’re not quite lucid. You should leave while I am still being nice. You can’t claim that I am not being respectful to the elderly if I lose my temper.”
The old man smiled, “What’s wrong? Are you going to hit me?”
Yang Kai answered matter-of-factly, “Sometimes, the use of force is necessary. It is also one way to solve problems.”
The old man fell silent for a moment before nodding in agreement and commenting, “What you say makes sense. I couldn’t tell before, but despite your young age, you seem to have some worldly knowledge.”
“Stop being so long-winded,” Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively. “Please don’t blame me for getting rough if you refuse to leave.”
The old man hurriedly tried to calm Yang Kai down, “Now now, don’t get so agitated, it’s just that I woke up suddenly when I felt a familiar aura, so I came to investigate. I don’t have any malicious intentions.”
Yang Kai spat out disdainfully, “Even jackals are kind to poultry.”
The old man smiled wryly and did not know how to refute those words.
At that moment, a knock came from outside the Tree Cave. Yang Kai turned to look and saw Tiea standing outside. Feeling glad, he quickly invited her inside. Although he had never really fought against her before, their time together recently had taught him that she was a powerful Shaman, at least several realms higher than him in terms of cultivation. The last time he managed to knock her down with a punch was simply because she had underestimated him. If she had cast a Shamanic Spell, he might not be her opponent even at his current realm.
[I wonder how she managed to cultivate to such a realm at such a young age.]
Regardless of the old man’s origin, he had appeared in Yang Kai’s Tree Cave for an unfathomable reason. Therefore, Yang Kai treated the old man as an enemy. He had been worried that he might not be a match for the old man alone, but with Tiea here, things would become much easier. In a two against one, they could at least put up a fight even if they were no match for the old man. At the very least, they could alert the people of the Frost and Snow Clan about their predicament.
Unfortunately, Tiea was clueless about the situation and, sticking her head into the Tree Cave, she sorrowfully said, “I didn’t manage to sell anything today…”
While speaking, she placed down the stone pots in her hand before in the next moment, she widened her eyes in shock and stared at the white-haired old man inside the Tree Cave in astonishment.
Yang Kai shot a glance at her, but contrary to his expectations, she ignored him and stared at the person in front of her blankly. Then, an expression of pleasant surprise appeared on her face as she asked happily, “Grandpa Qing, why are you here? Are you here to look for me?”
As she spoke, she ran over and affectionately hugged the old man’s arm with a sweet smile.
Yang Kai was instantly stupefied by what had just happened. Following that, he shuddered abruptly and felt goosebumps appearing on his skin…
If she had uttered those affectionate lines in her normal appearance, it would have been nothing to be surprised about. A beautiful woman acting coquettish was always a pleasant sight to see. Unfortunately, she was currently a burly and beefy man. Thus, her sudden actions nearly made Yang Kai want to poke his eyes out. He felt as if he had been hit by a traumatic blow more powerful than the full-powered attack of a Shaman Saint…
On the other hand, the old man just smiled and asked, “Why are you here? Do you know each other?”
An unnatural look surfaced on Tiea’s face, making it apparent that she was recalling her first encounter with Yang Kai, but even so, she nodded and honestly replied, “En, we know each other. We have been working together to sell medicine recently. It has earned us quite a lot of Green Coins.”
“Selling medicine?” Upon hearing those words, the old man swept his gaze over the stone pots before immediately looking interested. Stretching out his hand, one of the stone pots flew into his hands even though no energy fluctuation could be felt in particular. Then, he carefully took a closer look at the contents of the stone pot.