Mysterious Black Metal Piece 1
After Luo Cheng left the door of the Myriad Dao Pavilion, he took a deep breath of fresh air in the large street. The feeling of a pair of eyes staring at him was present the entire time he was on the fourth floor, which made him feel exceedingly uncomfortable, rendering his senses uneasy.
Regardless of the result, he had accomplished his motive for coming out today. He kept the Alchemy Cauldron in his spatial ring as he smiled in satisfaction and made preparations to head on over to the herbal market and buy some herbs before heading home.
Green Leaf City was quite bustling in the day, there was high human traffic and the shouts of people advertising their products, and it was far from being cold and cheerless. Luo Cheng didn't seem to be in a hurry, as he appreciated the scenery.
Walking through the twisting alleys, Luo Cheng finally arrived at the herbal market, that's slightly south in the city. In Green Leaf City, there were a few medium-sized markets and most of them were controlled by the Leng Mansion. And this particular herbal market is under the Leng Mansions control.
Even though its under the Leng Mansions control, the Leng Mansion actually only maintains the order and safety in the market by stationing Imperial Guards. And for compensation, be it mercenaries or merchants who set up stalls, they have to pay taxes to the Leng Mansion, this has been the rule of the Leng Prefecture for a long time and rarely would anybody try to go against it.
At the front entrance of the market, there were two guards from the Leng Mansion. They undoubtedly knew Luo Cheng, judging from when the guards saw him coming, the guards paused and immediately bowed.
Slightly nodding his head, Luo Cheng walked inside and looked at the neverending stream of people. 'No wonder royal guards are stationed in the market to keep it under strict control, with this many people visiting the market, the profits for the mansion can't be low.'
"Fourth Young Master, are you here to buy something in the market?" Right when Luo Cheng was looking at the sheer number of people in the market, a respectable voice sounded behind him.
Hearing the sound, Luo Cheng turned his head. Behind him were eight to ten men that were wearing the Imperial Guards uniforms.
The speaker appeared to be above a three hundred years of age but still looked to be in his 40s, wearing a badge with a single silver star on the left side of his uniform. He obviously was a squad leader with a cultivation base of the 5th Star Houtian Realm.
Noticing the doubt in Luo Chengs eyes, the man honestly smiled and said, "Fourth Young Master, I'm called Yan Pei. I was appointed by Prince Leng to lead the guards in maintaining the peace and safety of this market. Ah! Last year during Young Masters 14th birthday, i Yan Pei came... I'm also Consort Yan Zilan's step brother."
"Oh, it's Uncle Yan Pei!" Luo Cheng blinked and even though he doesn't have any impression of Yan Pei, his introduction made Luo Cheng smile. Since he was related to Consort Zilan, the only one person that cares for him in the Leng Mansion, then he wasn't an enemy.
If the man standing in front of him was under the control of either one of his brothers, he would have never been so kind and would have just said some customary greetings.
"I was bored in the Mansion so i decided to come out and look around. Uncle Yan Pei, you should go and do your work. If i have any questions, I'll be sure to ask you." Luo Chengs voice didn't have any hints of arrogance that a normal Young Lord might have, instead, his voice was soft and respectful.
Being called Uncle by Luo Cheng, the smile on Yan Pei's face widened and became more sincere. Nodding his head, he said. "Then enjoy looking around Fourth Young Master. Our people are all over the market, so if you need anything then just call out for us."
Respectfully nodding his head, Luo Cheng plunged into the horde of people, disappearing from Yan Pei's sight.
"Xu Peng, bring along two guards and follow Fourth Young Master Cheng. Also warn the thieves and mercenaries in the market that if anyone of them have any ideas on Fourth Young Master Cheng, then they don't need to be in this market anymore." Looking at the disappearing Young Lad, Yan Pei turned around and his honest face was replaced by a cunning and capable face.
"Yes captain!" One of the guards lowly answered and with a wave of his hand, he marched into the multitudes of people along with two other guards.
"Haha, Fourth Young Master Cheng is still so gently, it allows people to be relaxed around him..." Looking at the three guards mixing in with the crowds, Yan Pei smile turned into a frown and he sighed. "Fourth Young Master Cheng is such a nice person, it's regretful, haa..." Regretfully shaking his head, Yan Pei leads his remaining underlings to patrol the streets.
"This Yan Pei is quite nice." Thought Luo Cheng as he scans towards a nearby stall. His soul perception was far greater than normal people so he could detect the guards following him. Looking back forward, he smiled.
Luo Cheng slowly moved into the less populated and expensive inner parts of the market. The people that come here to buy and sell usually have decent cultivation and money.
Luo Cheng walked up to a clean stall filled with different varieties of alchemy herbs. While Luo Cheng was engrossed in buying herbs, he hearda rather arrogant voice behind him.
"Huh, isn't this Young Lord Cheng? Hehe, i wouldn't have thought I'd find you here. I heard you almost died in the Bloodstone Forest."
Luo Cheng brows tightly furrowed, turning around he tried to find the source of the voice but only saw a group of people. The group was led by a luxuriously dressed young man. The young man was about 20 years of age and had an arrogant and disdainful expression as he spoke.
Looking at the youth, Luo Chengs eyebrows wrinkled. Not paying attention to his call, he turned away.
Looking at Luo Cheng from the side, the young man quickly crossed to block him from the front.
Blocked by the youth, Luo Cheng stopped his steps. His pair of eyes were lazily narrowed, staring at the young man. Yet he did not utter a single word.
"Why are you in a hurry Young Lord Cheng? Coming into the inner part of the herbal market, are you looking to buy some herbs to heal your wounds?" The young man spoke with contempt visible on his face.
"Young Master Wang Li, if there isn't anything important you have to say, please get out of the way. I still have things to do." Looking at Wang Li, Luo Cheng finally spoke without any hint of irritation.
Seeing that his words had no effect on Luo Cheng, the edges of Wang Li's mouth twitched but he kept his smile. "Hehe, since Young Master Cheng has something to do, then i, Wang Li won't block your path anymore." Forcefully suppressing his dissatisfaction, Wang Li let out a cold humph and with a wave of his hand, commands his underlings to exist the crowd.
Luo Chengs gaze coldly followed the exit of Wang Li. 'It seems he was sent by Zhou Feng to cause me trouble. I almost couldn't hold myself back from ripping his head off his neck.'
Luo Cheng turned around and continued buying the herbs he needed. He walked towards some stalls deeper in the market...
After walking past quite a few stalls, Luo Cheng's feet finally stopped. He bent down and stared at a red coloured herb on the stall and said. "Red Leaf Root, I've finally found the last herb i need." Moving his hand across the stall, Luo Cheng was about to grab the herb when his hand stiffened. A strange foreboding struck his mind.
Licking his lips, Luo Cheng continued to pick up the Red Leaf Root but his gaze, as if by accident swept across the stall... Moments later, his gaze landed on a piece of black metal that was displayed beside the herb.
The black metal piece seemed extremely old with many specks of rust and even a couple spots of dirt. It looked as if it had just been excavated. He felt a strong feeling or rather his Bloodline felt a strong feeling towards the seemingly worthless metal. It felt as if the black piece of metal was extremely important to him, like a missing part of him, so he decided to get it at all costs.
Instead of immediately grabbing the black metal piece, Luo Cheng gently picked up the Red Leaf Root and looked at the shabby looking mercenary standing behind the stall. He said cheerfully, "I would like to buy 5 pieces of these Red Leaf Root."
"Haha, the eyes of young master are really good! This is a grade 4 herb, and it is of high quality! Our white wolf mercenary group waited 3 days and ambushed a High Class Demonic Beast before finally obtaining this herb from its lair..." Noticing Luo Chengs luxurious outfit, the mercenary rapidly advertised his product.
"If this item is to young masters liking, i think a hundred mid grade Spirit Stones would be a good price. Haha, while obtaining this herb, we had several brothers who got injured quite heavily."
Luo Cheng glanced at the mercenary and said, "Too expensive! Normally a grade four herb's price would only be from 60 to 70 mid grade Spirit Stones. Furthermore, were your partners not True Qi Realm cultivators?"
The corner of his mouth slightly jerking, the mercenary laughed dryly. He did not expect the youth standing in front of him to be so knowledgeable about the price of herbs. He said, "70 mid grade Spirit Stones then, no more no less, we have to live by this..."
"Hahh..." Sighing under the mercenary's anxious eyes, Luo Cheng bent down and randomly grabbed the 5 Red Leaf Roots including the mysterious black metal piece in the stall. Then he said, "350 mid grade Spirit Stones for all of these..."
Looking at the items on Luo Chengs hands, the mercenary let out a relieved sigh since none of the items in Luo Chengs hands were expensive."Alright." He said
Cheerfully producing a bag containing the Spirit Stones from his spatial ring, Luo Cheng did not waste another moment and left immediately.
"These bastards are such swindlers, they'll immediately increase the price if you show interest in their products. I don't want to lose money for something stupid like that..." Luo Cheng thought as he leisurely exited the market and returned to the Leng Mansion.