88.

"So, what brings you here brother Ji? Did you really come here just to check on me? I know, you must be worried about me, after all, I am your great friend. Well, worry not, since you have come here just to meet me, I will spend the day with you. Tell me, my brother, where do you want to go today? I know many great places to have fun. You see some of them are ..."

"I have something to ask from you." Interrupting his speech, Yang Ze suddenly spoke.

"Oh..." Blinking his big round eyes, Xiao Pang looked at Yang Ze with interest.

"Do you have a place to rent? I want to open a small shop."

"Is that so?" Xiao Pang's eyes lit up in excitement. "What are you going to sell?"

"Runes." Taking out a defense rune, Yang Ze placed it in his hand.

"Hmm..." Xiao Pang looked at the rune for a long time. Bringing the rune close to his nose, Xiao Pang took a sniff before nodding his head. The rune seemed to be drawn in recent days because of the scent of the fresh herbs.

"Brother, why not sell these runes to me? I can buy it at the market rate of one spirit stone per rune in bulk. This way you can save your precious time. I can even arrange the resources for the runes at a low cost."

'One spirit stone.' Yang Ze went silent for a long time. The deal that this fatty gave him was profitable. Not only could he dump all the runes he made to him, but could also buy the herbs and rune papers for more rune productions.

However, after thinking for a bit, Yang Ze shook his head. This offer was somewhat lucrative, but nowhere near the plan that he had in his mind.

"Is the condition not suitable?" Xiao Pang scratched his chin in embarrassment. In his heart, he was sure that this was the most favorable condition for Yang Ze. However, contrary to his belief, he was rejected.

"I have some plans in mind. How about you help me out and I will let you have ten percent of the profits." Yang Ze still remembers one of the requirements for doing business in this city was the need for approval from an existing business organization. With this fatty in sight, there was no need for him to go and look for other people. Although both of them were not extremely familiar with each other, Yang Ze was sure that no one would miss on such an offer.

And sure enough, it didn't take long for Xiao Pang to nod his head. "Okay, I can do that, but how about you owe me a favor too. After all, I am taking some risk here."

Yang Ze went silent for a moment before sighing in helplessness. Sure enough, it was impossible for things to go the way he planned. He could just reject this offer and slowly build his connection with others before opening his shop, but unfortunately, the situation right now didn't allow him to. There were already guards behind him, observing his every movement, not to mention a team that went to the Ignis city to look into his background. If he had to do what he planned, then he needed to do it fast.

"Deal."

"Great then. Follow me, brother Ji, I have just the right place in mind."

With a smile, Xiao Pang clapped his hands and signaled Yang Ze to follow him. After roaming the streets for a while, both of them came in front of a dilapidated building.

"How is it?"

"THIS?" Looking at the building that seemed to fall apart at any moment, Yang Ze widened his eyes. He was afraid if he accidentally breathed out some qi, the entire house will fall to the ground.

"Aah, although the house is somewhat damaged, I am sure you can live here after some repairs."

"SOMEWHAT DAMAGED?" Yang Ze looked at the building in front of him and then looked at Xiao Pang.

"Well, if you want a fully furnished shop, then you can pay a hundred spirit stones, and extra for the authority to sell goods."

"Sigh...." Shaking his head, Yang Ze took a deep breath. This building was not only in bad condition, but its location was also far away from the market. If he had to describe how bad the location of this shop was, then in the area of two hundred meters, this was the only shop. The surrounding buildings too seemed to be deserted with a few people in sight. Even those people were sitting outside on the road sunbathing.

"I will take it." Even though it was bad, it was still better than nothing. He just needs to fix this place a bit and voila!

"I knew it." Xiao Pang nodded in relief. Not only was he able to secure a ten percent profit and a favor, but he also got rid of this shop that was basically wasted in his hands.

"So, brother Ji, you want me to bring some customers for you?" Now that everything was settled, Xiao Pang rubbed his hands with a smile. "Or how about I buy something from you? I can be your first customer."

Yang Ze looked at him deeply before his lips curled in a smile.

"Come... Since you are already here, let me introduce you to something."

"Huh? What is it, brother? Why so mysterious? Aren't you just selling runes?"

Going inside the shop, Yang Ze looked at the large open hall before nodding his head. The shop only had a single floor that was a wide-open hall with an area of thirty square meters. Not too big, not too small, just perfect for his business.

"Well, insides are surprisingly clean." Looking at the floor that was devoid of any dust, Yang Ze nodded. After looking around, he picked up two chairs from the corner of the shop and placed them down before taking a seat.

"So, what is it that you want to show me, brother Ji?" Xiao Ping was getting more and more curious. In his mind, all he had were some runes to sell, there was no need to be so serious.

"Well, since you are my dear brother and the first customer, I will tell you how this is going to work." Taking out stacks of runes from his robe, Yang Ze put them on the floor and took out five runes before placing them on his legs.

"Okay, what do you think is the total price of them?"

"Huh?" Xiao Pang looked at Yang Ze and then at the runes "Five spirit stones for five runes. Didn't I just tell you an hour ago?"

"Hahahahaha." With a short laugh, Yang Ze narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly. "I will sell these three runes for fifteen spirit stones."

Xiao Pang looked at Yang Ze before lifting his hand and touching his forehead. "Brother are you sick? I know a really good doctor. Let's go before it's too late."

"Shut up. And listen to me first." Yang Ze shrugged his hand off before speaking with a frown.

"What is there to listen to? If you are going to sell these runes at 3 spirit stones each, then I doubt anyone would be willing to come here. Well, some people will come, but not to buy them, but to look at the fool selling them."

"CAN YOU QUIET DOWN AND LISTEN FIRST?" Gritting his teeth Yang Ze spoke slowly. This fatty in front of him was constantly giving him advice without even listening to him first. Yang Ze even thought of punching him in the face, but after thinking about how this fatty could be of great help in the future, he controlled his emotions.

"Okay, okay. I am listening. No need to be angry, geez..."

"Now, I will not sell the runes one by one, but in a pack of five. You either buy the entire pack or none. This pack of ours will cost fifteen spirit stones."

"Sigh." The more Xiao Pang listened, the more absurd he found it to be. Selling runes in a pack of five and that too at the triple price of the current market, only fools will buy it. And even if someone wanted to buy runes at triple the price, they would not be getting the ones they actually wanted. What if a person wants five of the same runes? What if a person wants three of a kind and two of a kind?

This practice by Hua Ji in front of him was practically a suicide. He even began to doubt whether this Hua Ji has some screws loose in his head.

Oblivious to his train of thoughts, Yang Ze continued his speech.

"So, let's say you buy this pack of five." Throwing those five runes to Xiao Pang, Yang Ze waited for a few moments before speaking further. "Now, give me fifteen spirit stones."

"Huh?" Looking at the runes and then at the hand that was now demanding fifteen spirit stones, Xiao Pang was stunned for a long time. 'Good guy... Not only does he take my shop, but also sells the runes to me at triple the cost'.

However, looking at Yang Ze's expression, he didn't reject him, but with a sigh picked out a bag from his robes and after counting fifteen spirit stones, played them in front of Yang Ze. Even if this was a waste of spirit stones, he didn't want to sour their friendship just for the sake of ten extra spirit stones. However, in his mind, the position of Yang Ze slowly changed from a friend to a profit-seeking stranger who was willing to let go of the bigger picture just for the sake of a measly profit.

"Great, here is something else. A membership token." With a smile, Yang Ze pulled out a jade token and placed it in Xiao Pang's hands. Just like the gold, there was a lot of Jade in his personal space which he got from different places. It wasn't difficult for an Innate powerhouse like him to carve a few words on Jade and use it as a token.

"Huh?" Xiao pang, whose head was filled with all kinds of thoughts froze for a second. Looking at the Jade token which has the word 'Vault' carved on it Xiao Pang didn't know how to respond. He could only look at the token first and then at Yang Ze in confusion.