Walking along the crisscrossed streets, Yang Kai strolled through the shops one by one, taking in the sights and sounds of the people here.
Half a day later, he entered a tea house, ordered a pot of tea, and quietly waited.
When the waiter served tea, Yang Kai stopped him, “Little Brother, I have something to ask you.”
The waiter politely replied, “Please ask.”
Yang Kai said, “I’m new here, so I’m not too familiar with this place. Is there anyone I know who can introduce me to this Star City?”
The waiter asked, “Sir, are you looking for a guide?”
“Yes!”
“Then you’ve asked the right person. This little one has some recommendations, but I don’t know if they meet your requirements!”
“Bring them here,” Yang Kai said lightly.
“Sure, please wait a moment,” The waiter replied.
Yang Kai leaned against the window and stared into the distance, sipping his tea as he waited. Although the jade slip the Proprietress had given him contained all kinds of information about the nineteen shops, he was helpless about this Star City. Even with the jade slip in hand, he didn’t know where to look for it, which was why he had come to this teahouse to find a guide. Now, it seemed that his choice was correct. No matter where he was, places like teahouses and restaurants were always a gathering place, so finding a guide was the easiest.
With a local guide leading the way, it would be easy to find those shops. As the saying goes, sharpening a blade does not delay cutting firewood.
After waiting for a while, the waiter brought a person over. Yang Kai looked up and saw that this person was a woman in her early thirties. She had a voluptuous figure and a graceful bearing, especially her full chest, which was quite a spectacular sight. However, she wore a cautious smile on her face, her expression somewhat reserved as she followed behind the waiter and stared at Yang Kai nervously.
Her cultivation wasn’t bad, at the peak of the Emperor Realm, but Yang Kai didn’t sense any Dao aura from her. In other words, this woman shouldn’t have condensed her own Dao Seal yet. This wasn’t surprising, at the Emperor Realm, almost ninety percent of people couldn’t condense their own Dao Seal, wasting their entire lives.
The waiter walked over and whispered into his ear, “Honoured guest, this woman is a local and is very familiar with this Star City. Please take a look and see if you’re satisfied. If you’re not, this little one will give you another one.”
Yang Kai looked up and the woman immediately bowed towards Yang Kai and whispered, “Greetings, Sir!”
Her voice was pleasant and soft. If one didn’t look at her face, they would think she was a young girl in her early twenties.
Yang Kai raised his hand and handed over the jade slip the Proprietress had given him, “Do you know how to get to these places?”
The woman took it and quickly scanned it with her Divine Sense before quickly nodding, “I know!”
“With our current location as the starting point, we can plan the shortest route we can take to get to these places, engrave it into the jade slip for me to see.”
“Yes!” The woman quickly lowered her head and quickly handed over the jade slip, “Sir, it’s done.”
Yang Kai took the jade slip back and briefly checked it, discovering that there was more information inside. The nineteen shops had been rearranged in order.
“Are you local?” Yang Kai looked at her and asked.
The woman pursed her lips, “This Mistress was born in Star City and has never left.”
Yang Kai nodded and looked at the waiter, “I’ll take her.” Saying so, he flicked two Open Heaven Pills over.
The waiter caught it with his hand and smiled, “Thank you for your reward, Sir. This little one will take his leave first.” Turning around, he gave the woman a meaningful look, indicating that she should work hard!
After the waiter left, Yang Kai turned to the woman and said, “Sit down and talk.”
The woman hesitated for a moment, probably thinking that standing in front of Yang Kai was too conspicuous, so she thanked him and sat down.
Yang Kai poured her a cup of tea and casually asked, “How should I address you?”
The woman quickly said, “This Mistress is Luo Haiyi.”
Yang Kai nodded and introduced himself, “My name is Yang Kai, and I invited you here to ask you to take me to some places. This matter can’t be settled in a day or two, so you must be prepared to be on standby while I hire you.”
Luo Haiyi quickly replied, “No problem, this mistress is all alone here and has nothing to worry about. I won’t have anything else to do.”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “Weren’t you born here?” Since you were born here, how could you not have any worries?
Luo Haiyi was somewhat embarrassed, “Although this mistress was born here, I don’t know who my parents are. I was raised by someone else and my foster mother passed away seven hundred years ago.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help sighing, “What a pitiful person.”
Luo Haiyi smiled awkwardly.
“What about the compensation?” Yang Kai changed the subject.
Luo Haiyi said, “Two Open Heaven Pills a day!” As she said this, she carefully observed Yang Kai. Seeing him frown slightly, she quickly added, “Three in two days is fine too!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai knew that she had misunderstood his intentions. He frowned not because he thought it was too expensive, but because he felt it was too cheap. He had just given the waiter two Open Heaven Pills.
However, after thinking about it, the workers in the Seven Skillful Land only earned three Open Heaven Pills a year. Although there was an additional income, the number of Open Heaven Pills they could obtain each year was basically twenty or thirty.
In comparison, Luo Haiyi being a guide for two Open Heaven Pills a day was not cheap.
The reason why he felt it was cheap was mainly because he had spent too much time with the Proprietress recently, he also owed her more than sixteen million. In front of such a massive amount, two or three Open Heaven Pills was already negligible.
“Three Open Heaven PIll a day, available on call!”
Luo Haiyi’s eyes lit up as she stood up and bowed, “Many thanks, Sir!” Seeing that there was no water in Yang Kai’s cup, she walked over and filled the teapot.
Yang Kai nodded slightly, feeling that this woman was quite perceptive, and her attitude was quite good. Although they hadn’t known each other for long, from her reserved expression, he could tell she was an honest person, so he felt at ease using her.
After drinking tea, the two of them left the teahouse.
Under Luo Haiyi’s lead, they crossed a few streets and stood in front of a shop. Yang Kai looked up and saw the signboard of the shop with the words “Jude Yuan” written on it.
If he remembered correctly, this Jude Yuan was a property of Nine Stars Paradise. Nine Stars Paradise was one of the genuine 72 Paradise, and among these three thousand worlds, it was a famous first-class force with a High Rank Open Heaven Stage sitting in town!
Yang Kai bared his teeth. It was a bit difficult to ask for payment from someone on the level of a Paradise…
But since he was already here, he could only give it a try.
As expected of the property of the Paradise, Jude Yuan’s shop was several times larger than the neighboring shops, and there were many customers coming and going inside. It was impossible to tell what kind of business they were doing, but since they had opened their shop here and had such a booming business, they must have made a lot of money.
“Sir, do you want this mistress to accompany you?” Luo Haiyi asked softly, her voice trembling slightly.
Yang Kai turned his head and saw that her face was slightly pale, her hand subconsciously twisting the corner of her clothes, looking quite nervous.
Although they had just met, Yang Kai could tell that this Luo Haiyi was a woman who felt quite inferior and had always been at the bottom of Star City. She had probably never entered such a big shop before, so her expression was somewhat unnatural.
“No need, wait for me outside,” Yang Kai shook his head.
Luo Haiyi let out a sigh of relief, pursing her red lips as she said, “Then I hope everything goes smoothly!” She didn’t know what Yang Kai was trying to do, but whatever it is, it's in there.
Yang Kai nodded slightly, turned around, and walked in with his hands behind his back.
As soon as he entered the shop, a young servant warmly welcomed him. Yang Kai didn’t waste any time and directly took out the gift he had just made, “I want to see your Shopkeeper.”
The manservant was stunned for a moment. Although he was an errand boy in this shop, he was also from the Nine Star Paradise and had his own pride. He had never seen someone like Yang Kai who act so arrogantly, demanding to see the Shopkeeper as soon as he entered.
How could a Shopkeeper be so easy to meet? Unless it was some big customer, the shopkeeper would only personally receive them, but from the looks of it, Yang Kai didn’t seem to be doing any big business.
Suspiciously accepting the jade slip, he swept it with his Divine Sense and the young servant’s expression became serious. Only now did he realize that this young man’s background was not small; he was actually from the famous First Inn. Immediately restraining his expression, he said, “Wait a moment, I’ll go ask for instructions!”
Turning around, he entered the inner room.
While waiting, Yang Kai casually strolled around the shop and found that Jude Yuan did a lot of business. All kinds of goods could be found here, including materials for Alchemy and Artifact Refining, as well as all kinds of finished products. As soon as he picked them up, a nearby servant came over and enthusiastically promoted them.
Not long after, the manservant ran out again and stretched out his hand, “Shopkeeper invite sir inside, please!”
When the title of First Inn was mentioned, no one would refuse.
Yang Kai nodded and followed the servant inside.
Soon, Yang Kai found Jude Yuan’s shopkeeper in a secret room, a thin old man with Open Heaven Stage cultivation level. The feeling he gave Yang Kai was similar to Duan Hai’s from the Seven Skillful Land. He should be a Fourth Order Open Heaven Stage cultivator, similar to the information recorded in the jade slip the Proprietress had given him.
Secretly speechless, this First Class force was truly extraordinary. The Star City’s shopkeeper was actually a Mid Rank Open Heaven Stage. If this kind of cultivation was placed in the Seven Skillful Land, he would be a Protector Venerable!
However, thinking about how the First Inn was even more excessive, and how the Proprietress was a Sixth Order Open Heaven Stage cultivator… it made sense.
When Yang Kai came in, the old man didn’t stand up. After all, the difference in cultivation was obvious. If he really stood up to greet Yang Kai, it would be far too embarrassing.
The manservant retreated and closed the door, isolating them from the outside world. Yang Kai cupped his hands and said, “Junior Yang Kai greets Shopkeeper Gongsun!”
The shopkeeper of Jude Yuan was called Gongsun Hong, and the jade slip the Proprietress had given him had detailed records of his appearance and cultivation. Naturally, Yang Kai wouldn’t mistake him for someone else.
Gongsun Hong smiled, “No need to be so polite, sit down and talk.”
Yang Kai thanked him and calmly sat down. Although the difference in their cultivation wasn’t small, since he was representing the First Inn this time, he naturally wouldn’t show any weakness.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak