Chapter 455: Strange Behavior

Nearly ninety million taels of silver—if the young man in fine robes truly intended to buy it, selling the Snow Red Grass wouldn’t be a loss at all. Moreover, such an exorbitant price would surely bring immeasurable benefits to the shop’s business.
If the young man in fine robes was a madman, or if they decided to sell it at the second-highest price, or even not sell it at all, the decision lay with the Spirit Materials Shop. In that case, the shop would achieve its goal of bidding wars—gaining fame while still keeping the Snow Red Grass in hand.
After thinking this through, the old man’s expression softened considerably. He only needed to stay an outsider; the noisy shop had little to do with him.
“Continue reading!”
At the old man’s command, the clerks picked up the slips of paper from the wooden basin and began reading again. Whether anyone in the chaos heard them was unknown, but the old man’s orders had to be obeyed.
Although those inside and outside were either major medicinal merchants or warriors, the uproar continued for a long time. After all, the price was simply terrifying. In a hundred years, Tianfeng Street had never seen such a huge sum paid in a single transaction.
If gold and silver were as worthless as dirt, then whoever offered nearly ninety million taels to buy the Snow Red Grass truly regarded them as worthless.
Aside from a few people, most of those inside and outside didn’t hear what the clerks said next. Of course, even if a higher price appeared later, few would believe it. After all, they hadn’t believed anyone could exceed fifty-one million taels before, so it made no difference when eight-eighty million taels was finally offered.
In fact, no higher price appeared later. The highest bid was only thirty-one million taels. The few who listened carefully, suppressing their shock, had no doubt that this price came from someone within the Spirit Materials Shop.
“Please ask Number 11 to come forward and pay.” When the clerks finished announcing the prices and didn’t know what to do next, the old man channeled his spiritual energy into his throat, using his loud voice to silence the noisy shop.
Everyone’s gaze swept across the shop. Including Lin Dong and Yun Lan sitting in the back, eight-eighty million taels was a sum that shocked and deeply disappointed them. They simply couldn’t understand why the Snow Red Grass was worth nearly ninety million taels to the bidder. Even for saving a life, it seemed too expensive in Lin Dong’s eyes.
If they wanted the Snow Red Grass again, the only option left was probably to seize it by force.
However, aside from Zi Han, there was no other powerful figure present. If it wasn’t Ling Chenyue who set the price, it meant the bidder wasn’t very strong.

His strength wasn’t very great. Knowing that there might be powerful enemies lurking outside, he still dared to spend an exorbitant amount to buy this Snow Red Grass. Unless he was a madman, he must have some other backup plan.
Although Lin Dong was reluctant, he had to admit that the latter possibility was highly likely.
The young man in fine clothes stood up under everyone’s gaze, triggering waves of astonishment. Those who had reached the Mental State could project their minds outward, and more than half of the people present possessed such ability. Subconsciously, they used their spiritual energy to probe the young man’s mind, causing another round of excitement.
If the young man had the strength of a powerful fighter, even a peak-level one, no one would find it strange—only such strength would justify bidding nearly ninety million taels of silver. But with only the Strength of Heartbeat State… everything about it seemed peculiar.
Tianfeng Street wasn’t short of strange events, but today’s was already too extraordinary.
Coming to the counter, the young man took out stacks of silver bills from his storage spirit ring—then another stack, and yet another…
In the blink of an eye, he pulled out over twenty stacks of silver bills, each about a foot tall, without showing the slightest change in expression. This sight left Lin Dong stunned. If sold as scrap paper, they might still be worth a few hundred coins. If converted entirely into copper coins, these bills could bury the entire Tianfeng Street.
“Most of them are ten thousand taels each, with a small portion being five thousand taels each,” the young man explained calmly.
The old man nodded and waved his arm. The clerks each took out an abacus and began checking the authenticity of the stacks and calculating their value, with each handling four or five stacks.
This task took even longer than checking each bill individually. By the time the clerks finished calculating everything, half an hour had passed. Neither inside nor outside the shop did anyone leave; everyone stared intently at the young man, figuring out what they should do next. Even the herbal merchants felt a surge of excitement. Though they lacked strength, who came to Tianfeng Street to buy large quantities of spiritual materials and beasts without bringing a few guards?
The young man remained calm, standing alone at the counter facing the group of clerks for half an hour, his feet unsteady or his legs tired, his body motionless. He didn’t show any discomfort even under the sharp gazes from behind him.
The herbal merchants couldn’t discern much from this composure, but the warriors present felt a sense of awe and grew even more convinced that he had some hidden strength. Otherwise, he surely wouldn’t have remained so calm.

If warriors at Lin Dong and Yun Lan’s level were present, they would surely focus on the mindset of the young man in the brocade clothes. Even they, under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people, would have their hair stand on end—this is human instinct. Even if those watching were weaker than them, it would be hard for a strong person to resist looking back even once every half hour.

“Let’s assess the situation after we go outside. I keep feeling that this person’s mindset is too strange. Unless it’s someone like Old Master Ding, or someone who’s already resolved to die, it’s impossible to ignore everyone else’s presence,” Yun Lan whispered to Lin Dong. She knew he was eager to obtain the Snow Red Grass, but the young man’s behavior was too peculiar. With her wisdom, she couldn’t figure out what his real strength lay in.

Lin Dong nodded slowly. He wasn’t afraid of taking risks; he had long understood that wealth and success come from danger. But today, he was with Yun Lan. If he fell into trouble, she would surely follow and get involved as well.

His purpose for coming to Tianfeng Street wasn’t so much about finding shops, but rather because he was on the verge of reaching the sixth level of the Heart Reversal Phase, and he no longer had any spiritual materials to aid his cultivation. That’s why he came to Tianfeng Street, hoping to find a shop selling advanced spiritual materials or pills for cultivation.

He did find what he was looking for, and it could even be grown by himself. For this reason, Lin Dong wasn’t afraid of incurring heavy debts or even paying a greater price. But if the cost meant risking his life, it was too high a risk.

After all, without a life, there’s nothing left. He wasn’t short of ways to accelerate his growth. Not to mention that Ren Qingsong was now one of the managers of the Tianwei Pavilion’s Spiritual Materials Department. With Qinglan Fruits, he could exchange for some advanced spiritual materials for cultivation. Even without those, the cultivation benefits from the inn alone would be enough to help him reach the peak of strength within ten years. There was no need to risk his life.

“Elder Six, the silver bills have been counted—eighty-eight million taels,” the clerks gathered at the counter and counted together before looking at the old man.

The old man raised his eyes to the young man in the brocade clothes, holding a blue wooden box in his palm.

Placing the box on the counter, the old man said, “The material of this box is Jianli Wood, which can slow down the withering of the Snow Red Grass and its seeds, but not for more than thirty years. Without Jianli Wood, one must consume and plant it within three days. Now, almost a day has passed. As for the rest, you decide!”

The young man in the brocade robes nodded indifferently, took the wooden box, and placed it inside his spirit storage ring. Immediately afterward, he turned around and, under countless puzzled gazes, removed his spirit storage ring from his finger and suddenly sped off.
“Catch it!”
After just a few steps, the young man continued at full speed but raised his arm. Under many astonished eyes, he threw the spirit storage ring toward the door.
Lin Dong reacted fastest, springing to his feet just as he was about to intercept it, only to be grabbed by Yun Lan.
“Wait, wait! We can’t use force inside the shop—otherwise, we’ll offend the major sects behind the spirit material store. Besides, there must be a reason behind his actions.”
Lin Dong’s breathing became difficult. Over 90% of the people in the shop even forgot how to breathe.
The spirit storage ring traced a graceful arc, emitting a silver-white glow, as it flew rapidly toward the door under the watchful eyes of everyone present.
Outside, those who could squeeze into the doorway were mostly warriors or stronger. One after another, they drew their weapons from the spirit storage ring without hesitation, only to immediately hesitate. They wondered whether to kill those around them.
If they did, there would undoubtedly be no one left to fight over. But if they actually fought, they might end up losing focus, allowing someone else to seize the spirit storage ring.
Everyone forgot that, with their strength, they were utterly helpless against the powerful. Those who carried such a valuable item were not only the young man in brocade robes but also anyone else who obtained the spirit storage ring, aside from the peak warriors.
During this brief hesitation, the spirit storage ring finally rushed out of the door and headed toward a young man in a blue robe.
The young man felt as though happiness had come too quickly; he instinctively reached for the spirit storage ring with his left hand.
Unfortunately, this happiness didn’t last long. The moment the spirit storage ring touched his fingers, excruciating pain shot through his waist and abdomen.
The young man in blue looked down and saw a gush of bright red liquid spraying out from his waist and abdomen.
Boom…
Everyone in the shop suddenly stood up. Outside, chaos had already erupted.
The sound of weapons clashing spread rapidly around the spirit storage ring. Whether they trusted their luck or not, whether they were warriors or merchants, everyone rushed toward it without hesitation. In their minds, there was only one thought: to seize the spirit storage ring, which contained Snow Red Grass worth nearly 90 million taels of silver.

“What should we do?” Lin Dong suppressed his urge to rush over several times and looked at Yun Lan. He was confident he could snatch the storage ring in an instant, but he trusted Yun Lan’s judgment even more.
“Wait. Even if we don’t want this Snow Red Grass, we must first figure out what the buyer really means.”
Yun Lan’s gaze was fixed on the young man in fine clothes who had already rushed to the door.