497: Chapter 497 Shopkeeper: A bunch of country bumpkins! How dare they ask me for prices!

Inside the private room, there was a deathly silence.

But this silence was completely different from the one earlier, when they were stunned by the four words "immortal body marrow core."

It was the kind of quiet where every gambler holds their breath a second before the results are announced.

The veins on Jian Buping's hand bulged as he gripped his sword hilt; he didn't ask, he was waiting for a result.

Monk Jiese finally chanted the Buddhist invocation he had been holding back for a long time.

"amitabha."

His voice was very soft, like a feather, carrying a hint of uncertainty that even he couldn't quite believe.

"This Poor Monk thought that external possessions were all illusions."

He paused, but his eyes were fixed intently on the door.

"But... if this illusion is an immortal body..."

"This Poor Monk is willing to break his vows once more for it."

About the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea passed.

A series of frantic "thud thud thud" running sounds came from the stairwell; the impact of fat against the wooden floorboards made the entire floor tremble.

Qian Duoduo was back.

He pushed the door open with a "bang," and everyone's gaze, like swords unsheathed, pinned onto him in unison.

Everyone's hearts instantly leaped into their throats.

Because the expression on Qian Duoduo's Face was too strange.

Shock, confusion, disbelief, and a hint of a "am I living in a dream" daze were twisted together on that fat Face.

Like a staunch atheist who had just been struck on the head by the Buddha with a heavy club.

"Boss..."

He looked at Su Chen, his throat as dry as if he had walked through a desert for three days and nights.

His Adam's apple bobbed violently before he could squeeze out a few words.

"The shopkeeper said..."

He swallowed hard.

"In all of Peng City..."

He paused again, as if those few words weighed ten thousand tons.

"No, in the entire West Qingyou Continent..."

Qian Duoduo closed his eyes and, as if resigned to fate, shouted with all his might.

"There is only one merchant guild... that has the channels to obtain an immortal body marrow core!"

In an instant, everyone in the private room stopped breathing.

Su Chen's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Which one?"

Qian Duoduo took a deep breath and spat out a name.

"Lingbao Trading Firm!"

"Lingbao Trading Firm?"

When Su Chen heard this name, the calm expression on his Face didn't change at all, but his mind was already in an uproar.

[Lingbao Trading Firm...]

[Holy crap, why is this name so incredibly familiar?]

[I remember now! Isn't this that super commercial giant that spans the entire book in the original novel "Dominating the Immortal Path"?! Their business covers Three Thousand Immortal Domains, their background is heavenly, and even Eternal Orthodoxy has to give them Face!]

[Wasn't the first Immortal Artifact the protagonist Qin Feng got after ascending to the immortal domain picked up at a bargain from a Lingbao Trading Firm auction?]

[How could such a behemoth that spans many immortal domains open a branch in this beginner village's slum?]

[Interesting.]

Seeing that Su Chen hadn't spoken for a while, Qian Duoduo thought he was intimidated by the name, so he hurriedly moved his fat body closer and lowered his voice:

"Boss, the restaurant shopkeeper said that the background of this Lingbao Trading Firm is big enough to scare an immortal to death! It's a super chamber of commerce that ranks highly in the entire Tiannan Immortal Domain! Although this Peng City branch is just one of their most inconspicuous small outlets, it's still not something we can mess with..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was written clearly on his fat Face, which looked like it was about to cry.

—Boss, forget it, let's just go to bed.

—They are a multinational corporation, and we're just a makeshift crew; let's not go there and humiliate ourselves.

"Can't afford to offend them?"

Su Chen suddenly chuckled.

In that smile was a playfulness that made Qian Duoduo's hair stand on end.

"Those who open for business are doing it to make money."

"As long as we can afford the price, there's no such thing as being able to offend them or not."

He stood up and habitually dusted his already spotless sleeves.

"Let's go."

"Let's go take a look."

"I want to see for myself exactly what kind of astronomical price this immortal body marrow core commands."

His tone was light, as if he were going to the vegetable market to ask how much a pound of cabbage cost today.

But for everyone else in the private room, their hearts were in their throats.

Blind trust in the boss was one thing, but something like the immortal body marrow core that only existed in legends... they truly had no confidence.

...

The group left Yingxian Restaurant and followed Qian Duoduo as he wound through the ancient streets.

Then, everyone stopped in their tracks.

Before them stood a nine-story pagoda.

The pagoda was crafted entirely from some unknown golden immortal wood; its body was carved with dragons and phoenixes, overflowing with brilliant light and auspicious energy.

Every tile seemed to be using Immortal Stones to publicly execute the aesthetic of the entire city.

At the top of the tower, the four flamboyant gold-leafed characters for "Lingbao Trading Firm" shone with a blinding golden light in the sunlight, as if announcing to the world—

I am rich, incredibly rich.

Compared to the surrounding ancient and even somewhat dilapidated buildings, this tower wasn't just standing out like a crane among chickens.

It was a golden Phoenix landing in a nest of dirt chickens.

Extravagant beyond humanity!

"Oh my god..."

Qian Duoduo craned his neck, his mouth opening wider and wider, drool nearly dripping to the ground.

"This... how many damn Immortal Stones did it take to build this?"

"Compared to this, my Wanbao Pavilion is just a doghouse!"

His tone held shock and envy, but more so the Soul-deep inferiority of a financial manager seeing "another company's headquarters building."

Su Chen didn't bother with the useless fat man and stepped directly onto the stairs.

Just as he crossed the threshold, a plump man dressed in luxurious brocade robes approached with a Face full of smiles.

That smile was overflowing with warmth; the phrase "harmony breeds wealth" was practically engraved on his Face.

"Oh my, you guests look quite unfamiliar; you must have just arrived in our Peng City, right?"

"I am Zhou Fu, the shopkeeper of the Lingbao Trading Firm's Peng City branch. No need for formalities, you can just call me Fatty Zhou!"

This fat man seemed honest, but a sharp glint flashed through his small eyes that were crinkled into slits.

A typical smiling tiger, an old fox who had rolled around the business world for countless years.

Su Chen signaled to Qian Duoduo with a glance.

Qian Duoduo understood instantly, stepped forward, and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Shopkeeper Zhou is too kind. We have just ascended from the Lower Realm and wish to inquire about something at your esteemed guild."

"Oh? Ascended from the Lower Realm?"

Fatty Zhou's eyes suddenly lit up.

The smile on his Face became even warmer, but the light shining from his narrowed eyes became even craftier.

Su Chen was all too familiar with this look.

Wasn't this the standard "fat sheep at the door" expression Qian Duoduo used in the Lower Realm when he saw those wealthy but foolish Sect Elders?

"Of course, of course! Anyone who ascends from the Lower Realm is a dragon among men!"

Fatty Zhou waved his hand grandly, full of heroic spirit.

"I wonder what you would like to inquire about? As long as it exists in this Tiannan Immortal Domain, there's nothing our Lingbao Trading Firm can't get!"

Qian Duoduo swallowed again, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible tremble as he spoke cautiously:

"Shopkeeper Zhou, we would like to ask about... the immortal body marrow core."

"immortal body marrow core?"

The warm smile on Fatty Zhou's Face froze for a moment.

The warmth in the smile seemed to be instantly sucked away by an invisible hand.

Although he quickly piled the smile back on, when his small eyes swept over Su Chen's group again, his gaze had completely changed.

He was no longer looking at a group of fat sheep fresh from the pen.

Instead, it was like he was sizing up a group of ignorant ground rats who had accidentally stumbled into the Dragon King's temple.

His eyes were filled with a condescending scrutiny and a hint of contempt he didn't even bother to hide.