Chapter 16: Chapter 16 A Broken Stone for Fifty Thousand?
"Big brother! Do you know? Yesterday, the Zhao Family was annihilated by a Grandmaster expert. It's said that the Grandmaster's name is Fan Ye. It's so satisfying... Zhao Tianlong deserved it for humiliating you at the banquet!"
"Big brother! You have to watch out for that father and son duo, Xu Jian and Xu Dong, from your household. Those two are not good people! I suspect that the trouble with the Ye Family can't be unconnected to them!"
...
All along the way, Wang Fugui chattered nonstop like a machine gun.
But it also allowed Ye Fan to get a general understanding of the situation in Cloud City.
The place where Wang Fugui finally parked was in front of a dilapidated pavilion, and upon seeing the familiar area, Ye Fan immediately remembered.
This was the largest black market in Cloud City, also one of the biggest in the entire Southwest.
Inside, there was an abundance of everything: elixir pills that could enhance Martial Arts cultivation, various medicinal herbs, and numerous rare treasures.
As long as you could afford it, there was nothing you couldn't buy except for what you couldn't imagine.
Previously, Ye Fan loved to bring Wang Fugui here to browse and they would often find great items.
"How about it? Does it feel familiar?" Wang Fugui opened the car door and introduced to Ye Fan, "Big brother, you used to bring me here very often!"
"Buying things! Buying things!" Pretending to be very naive, Ye Fan got out of the car, clapped his hands, and walked towards the entrance of the black market on his own.
The underground market of Cloud City was actually hidden underground.
So, it looked desolate from the outside, but the real hustle and bustle was three levels below ground.
Wang Fugui followed behind on purpose, watching Ye Fan head towards the entrance of the black market with familiarity, a gleam of sharp light flashing in his eyes. Does big brother still remember the way from before?
It seems that he's really not completely stupid!
There must be hope for big brother's awakening, and there must also be hope for the Ye Family.
What I'm saying, my big brother, how could he be mediocre.
"Big brother, wait for me!" Wang Fugui called out as he ran after him, but what he didn't know was that what he was seeing was only what Ye Fan wanted him to see.
Having not been here for five years, Ye Fan and Wang Fugui entered the third level underground together, where the scene was still incredibly lively.
There was a feverish fighting scene, and on the side, some men were blatantly pressing women against the tables, carrying out their actions.
None of these caught Ye Fan's interest; what he was interested in was the alley where the black market vendors were set up.
Five years ago, when Ye Fan was still considered a demonic prodigy, he had purchased quite a few good items here, and he had also quietly bought a number of elixir pills and Rune Talismans here.
For his first venture after awakening, Ye Fan also wanted to see if there were any elixir pills suitable for Wang Fugui that could help him break through to above the Grandmaster Realm.
Ye Fan remembered that back when Wang Fugui was following him, he used to consume elixir pills like candy beans; five years ago, he was close to breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm, but now he was still hovering at the peak of the Control Realm.
This loyal brother who had never abandoned him, Ye Fan absolutely had to lend him a hand.
"Big brother, have you taken a liking to anything? Whatever big brother likes, Old Wang will get it for you today!"
Ye Fan scanned through, his mysterious Devil's Pupil awakening, allowing him to see through the surface of some objects and discern their true nature.
Some counterfeit antiques with no fluctuations in aura were fake. There were also some genuine items with an ancient aura fluctuating around them, but their prices were obviously inflated.
Having walked two-thirds of the alley, Ye Fan hadn't found anything that caught his eye.
That is until he passed by a stall selling stones, and Ye Fan was suddenly drawn to a pitch-black stone.
From the outside, the stone seemed unremarkable, but through his Devil's Pupil, Ye Fan could see inside the stone, there was a Vitality Pill wrapped within—a good thing for aiding a breakthrough to the Grandmaster Realm.
On the market, even with a bid of 10 billion, one might not necessarily be able to purchase it.
Ye Fan was somewhat curious, why would someone seal a Vitality Pill inside a piece of broken stone?
But since he had come across it, there was naturally no reason for Ye Fan to pass it up.
Ye Fan stopped in his tracks, pretending to be seriously selecting other nice-looking stones on the ground, "Boss, how much for this one?"
"That one's 50,000!"
"And this one?"
"80,000!"
After Ye Fan had inquired about several good-looking stones and the owner had become impatient with the questions, his gaze finally turned to that piece of pitch-black stone, "This stone looks pretty fun too—taking it home to play with the kitten would definitely be great!"
The owner glanced at it and said, "If you buy any other stone, I'll throw this one in for free!"
A subtle smile emerged at the corner of the boss's mouth, unnoticed; the stone was actually used to prop up the leg of a table at his home—it just looked like it was of decent quality, so he brought it along with the other merchandise.
Hadn't expected some idiot would actually take interest!
"Great! Then I'll take these two," Ye Fan happily picked up the black stone and another priced at 30,000, waving towards Wang Fugui, "Old Wang, pay up! You promised you would help me buy things."
Wang Fugui followed beside with a bitter expression.
"Big Brother, at a glance, these two items are trash! Why waste your money?" Wang Fugui wasn't concerned about the cost; he just felt it was a pity.
Back when Ye Fan was still in his peak condition, his judgment definitely wouldn't have been this poor. And now, after becoming foolish, could he no longer even distinguish between good and bad things?
What a sigh!
"Hmph! Are you not willing to spend money on me? If you won't, I'll pay myself!" As he spoke, Ye Fan was about to search his own pockets.
But in reality, how could Ye Fan have any money on him?
Five years ago, after Ye Fan's incident, everyone thought he was a fool and would never leave money on him.
"I'll pay! Is that not enough? As long as you're content, Big Brother!" Wang Fugui let out a deep sigh, already quite satisfied with Ye Fan's performance.
At least Ye Fan still remembered the way to the black market and knew how to buy things.
After paying, Ye Fan and Wang Fugui left with the stones in hand, looped around the black market, but didn't find any other good items.
Just as they were about to leave, Ye Fan's ears suddenly caught the conversation of several people nearby.
"Do you know? A major event has happened to the Ye Family—ten members of the Ye Family, all heroic figures, perished yesterday, but it seems like the Ye Family's rival is not ready to let them off. They've hired a fighter who's nearly achieved the Martial Venerable Realm to completely eradicate the Ye Family in the next few days!"
"What? A Martial Venerable level fighter? Those are rare even in the Great Xia! Alas, who did the Ye Family offend to be treated like this? After all, Old Master Ye had made significant contributions to Great Xia back in the day!"
"It can't be helped, perhaps his merits were too intimidating for the sovereign. It's a pity... so many valiant young men of the Ye Family... In the end, not even a single descendant can be spared!"
Ye Fan's heart jolted upon hearing this!
So they were planning to take action so soon?
And they'd even managed to hire a Martial Venerable level expert, intending to kill off the last few members of the Ye Family?
Hmph!
Now that I've awakened, how could I let you succeed?