29: Conflict between the two parties

"Five thousand Spirit Stones!"

As soon as the maid finished speaking, an exclamation rang out within the Myriad Beast Pavilion.

Zhang Daobai and the maid looked toward the sound, only to see two disciples from the Li Family, who had been in the distance, standing beside them at some point.

"Five thousand Spirit Stones for a single insect egg!? So expensive?" The young girl in the pink and white dress couldn't help but cry out in surprise upon hearing this.

"Qingyue, there's no need to make a fuss. Doesn't the Xu Family love to scam people the most?"

Li Qingshan cast a disdainful glance at the maid and spoke with a mocking tone.

"Uh..."

The maid nearby wanted to retort, but seeing that the speaker was a Cultivator from the Li Family, she opened her mouth but didn't dare say anything.

"Fellow Daoist, don't let her deceive you. While the white mist spat out by this Mist Concealing Worm is indeed peculiar, a single Mist Concealing Worm is fundamentally useless. That bit of white mist disperses as soon as the wind blows, and its cultivation limit only reaches the First Rank."

"So, these five thousand Spirit Stones are a complete scam!" Li Qingshan looked at Zhang Daobai and explained very kindly.

Hearing this, Zhang Daobai understood in his heart that Li Qingshan wasn't some warm-hearted person who had gone out of his way to help him.

Rather, it was because the Li Family had a conflict with the Xu Family, who backed the Myriad Beast Pavilion. He was taking this opportunity to damage the Xu Family's reputation.

"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist."

Regardless of whether it was sincere or not, Zhang Daobai still voiced his thanks to Li Qingshan.

Then, Zhang Daobai turned to look at the maid, his gaze filled with inquiry.

Perhaps hearing that there was some excitement to watch, other customers picking through the shop also gathered around, wanting to see how this maid from the Myriad Beast Pavilion would explain herself.

"This..."

Seeing more and more people surrounding them, the maid couldn't help but start to panic. Her eyes scanned the surroundings quickly, trying to find someone to help her.

"What happened?"

Just then, a middle-aged man in black robes pushed through the crowd. His gaze quickly swept over everyone before settling on the maid as he asked.

Seeing him, the maid hurriedly ran to the middle-aged man's side and quickly recounted the events.

After hearing her account, the middle-aged man glanced at Zhang Daobai once before quickly focusing his attention on Li Qingshan.

"Nephew Li, how do you have the time to visit my Myriad Beast Pavilion today?" Xu Tianhu asked, looking at Li Qingshan with a somber gaze.

"Coming to the Myriad Beast Pavilion is naturally to buy Spirit Beasts. What? Can't you do my business?"

Li Qingshan had a faint smile on his face, asking back while pretending as if nothing had happened.

"My Myriad Beast Pavilion is open for business, so naturally, we turn no one away. However, you can buy Spirit Beasts, but don't go talking nonsense."

Xu Tianhu spoke with a hint of warning in his tone.

"I'm not talking nonsense. A single Mist Concealing Worm egg costs five thousand Spirit Stones. If that's not a scam, what is?"

Li Qingshan seemed not to hear Xu Tianhu's warning at all. Instead, he turned to the crowd and said, "Everyone, am I right?"

The surrounding people, though knowing in their hearts that the Myriad Beast Pavilion was indeed a bit of a scam, didn't dare to respond due to the Xu Family's prestige.

Li Qingshan wasn't surprised by the crowd's reaction; after all, he hadn't expected these people to speak up for him.

"Enough! It is indeed our Myriad Beast Pavilion's fault first. To compensate for this error, I promise that everyone present today will receive a twenty percent discount on their purchases at the Myriad Beast Pavilion!"

After Xu Tianhu gave Li Qingshan a dark glare, he turned to the crowd with a smile and made his promise.

Hearing this, the eyes of the onlookers lit up, and they began to laugh with joy.

Compared to the grievances between the Li and Xu Families, they preferred tangible benefits.

Seeing this scene, Li Qingshan instantly understood that he no longer had the chance to keep pestering them.

Thus, with a cold expression, he led the young girl beside him and turned to leave.

Seeing Li Qingshan leave tactfully, Xu Tianhu smiled disdainfully and then turned to look at Zhang Daobai.

"Fellow Daoist, the previous matter was entirely this maid acting on her own. I hope you can forgive us."

"As compensation, I've decided to give you that Mist Concealing Worm egg you took an interest in for free."

Family conflicts shouldn't be taken out on others, so Xu Tianhu didn't harbor any hostility toward Zhang Daobai.

Hearing this, Zhang Daobai wasn't one to be tactless, so he smiled and said, "Then I thank Senior for your kindness."

Seeing Zhang Daobai being so sensible, Xu Tianhu nodded with satisfaction and then left with the maid.

Soon, another maid came over and packed up the Mist Hidden Insect Mother Egg that Zhang Daobai had his eye on.

After receiving the Mist Hidden Insect Mother Egg, Zhang Daobai went to the counter with the Purple Thunder Eagle Egg.

"How many Spirit Stones for this Yao Beast egg?"

The maid nearby saw this and was about to instinctively start exaggerating its qualities, but thinking back to the farce just now, she hesitated.

"Hmm?"

Seeing the maid remain silent for so long, Zhang Daobai couldn't help but look at her in confusion.

"The lowest price I can give for this thunder eagle egg is twenty-eight thousand Spirit Stones. If you think it's fair, you can take it."

The maid looked left and right before leaning in and whispering.

She was now very afraid that another troublemaker like Li Qingshan would pop up, so even if it meant forgoing her commission, she wanted to finish the transaction with Zhang Daobai quickly.

Zhang Daobai saw that the maid's gaze didn't look like she was lying, so he directly nodded and agreed, "Alright, let's trade."

Thunder Eagle?

It seemed the Myriad Beast Pavilion had mistaken this Purple Thunder Eagle Egg for a thunder eagle egg, allowing him to pick up another bargain.

The Thunder Eagle was a lightning-attribute eagle-type Yao Beast with a racial limit of the Third Rank; it was a relatively common Yao Beast.

To settle the matter as quickly as possible, Zhang Daobai unhesitatingly took out twenty-eight thousand Spirit Stones and handed them to the maid.

As for the twenty percent discount Xu Tianhu had just promised, Zhang Daobai didn't consider it.

After all, they were already selling it at the lowest price; he couldn't make this maid sell it to him at a loss. He'd treat it as compensating for a portion of the price difference from his bargain find.

"Thank you!"

After checking the number of Spirit Stones, the maid immediately understood Zhang Daobai's kindness and hurriedly thanked him with eyes full of gratitude.

If Zhang Daobai hadn't paid the original price, she would have had to make up the difference herself.

After getting the Purple Thunder Eagle Egg, Zhang Daobai didn't linger in the Myriad Beast Pavilion and continued to wander through the market.

Having found suitable Spirit Beasts, Zhang Daobai no longer had a specific goal in mind, so he began to browse aimlessly.

Thinking that he might have to learn Alchemy in the future, Zhang Daobai bought some Spirit Medicine seeds or young plants during his stroll.

Once planted into his spirit taming space, they could save him a chunk of practice fees later on.

"Eh? They even sell antiques here?"

While wandering, Zhang Daobai inadvertently saw a stall displaying many ancient-looking items, appearing just like an antique seller.

With a sense of curiosity, Zhang Daobai then approached the stall.