Chapter 1645: The Pauper

Ning Tianping's eyes narrowed at the warrior's words, his heart pounding with excitement.

The True God realm—that was the realm he dreamed of!

But even with his exceptional talent, reaching the Heavenly God realm was extremely difficult, let alone the True God realm.

Not to mention him, even Zheng Qi, Gao Yuan, Ling Zikun—weren't they all prodigies in their youth?

Yet after hundreds of thousands of years, they remained stuck at the peak of the Divine Lord realm.

Ning Tianping understood that without the Void Spirit-grade Haori Qiankun Pill, he could never have cultivated so quickly.

Reaching his current realm without a thousand years was unthinkable.

Moreover, the higher one went, even a single minor realm breakthrough was extremely difficult.

Thus, in Ning Tianping's heart, he had always held great respect for Ye Yuan.

After that time, Ye Yuan never refined another Void Spirit-grade Haori Qiankun Pill!

Publicly, Ye Yuan only said it was an extraordinary performance, and others believed it without doubt.

After all, the Void Spirit-grade Haori Qiankun Pill was not some common pill that could be refined at will.

But Ning Tianping, having been his attendant for so long, naturally knew just how terrifying Ye Yuan's alchemy skills were.

"I see. Then where in Chuanji King City is there a place for trading treasures?" Ning Tianping asked.

The warrior said, "Chuanji King City has many trading venues, but the largest is Tianluo Market in the west. It's jointly run by the three major powers, and it has all kinds of treasures. If you, sir, wish to trade, you can take your attendant there to have a look."

Ning Tianping smiled and said, "Thank you, brother. But... you've got it wrong. This one is the real sir; I'm just a small attendant."

The warrior stared blankly as the two walked away. What was going on?

No matter how he looked at it, Ning Tianping seemed like a direct descendant of some major power, impossibly young.

Such a genius disciple serving as an attendant to a Return to Void realm cultivator?

On the road, Ye Yuan smiled and said, "You didn't need to explain to him. Besides, I never treated you as an attendant."

Ning Tianping laughed, "When you return, sir, you'll surely be an elder again. My strength is only enough to be your attendant. If I put on airs in front of you now and get slapped in the face later, that wouldn't be good."

Ye Yuan couldn't help but chuckle.

...

Tianluo Market was a vast trading district divided into three major zones, each under the jurisdiction of one of the three powers.

Every cultivator entering here, whether setting up a stall or trading, had to pay a certain amount of divine essence stones.

After paying for two, Ye Yuan led Ning Tianping into the trading area.

Ning Tianping complained, "What a rip-off! We haven't done anything yet, and we've already paid a hundred thousand divine essence stones! With so many people here, how many divine essence stones do they collect in a day?"

Ye Yuan smiled, "Many cultivators are keen on forming factions because with a powerful faction, you can earn more divine essence stones and have more security in cultivation. It's the same as entering Tianying Imperial City—you have to pay a certain amount. When I entered the city back then, I paid a million divine essence stones."

Ning Tianping had always lived in the inner city with his family's support, unable to understand the plight of low-level cultivators.

Hearing Ye Yuan say this, it really made sense.

No matter how strong an individual's martial power, the divine essence stones they could earn were limited.

But if they formed a powerful faction, it was a completely different story.

One could say they were raking in money while lying at home.

The two walked around, and Ning Tianping exclaimed in amazement.

"Spiral Star Absolute Feather, Dui Ze Black Lotus... these are extremely rare treasures, and they have them here!"

Ning Tianping was like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, stunned by the rare treasures here.

Treasures that were extremely rare outside were available in abundance here.

Ye Yuan wasn't as loud as Ning Tianping, but he was also greatly surprised.

No wonder Wuchen told him to come here—this truly was a paradise for cultivators and alchemists!

There were quite a few things that even he found tempting.

"Boss, how much is this Seven Treasures Mystic Water Fruit?" Ning Tianping couldn't help but approach a small stall and ask.

Though the stall was unremarkable, it had many good items.

Ning Tianping cultivated water-attribute laws, and the Seven Treasures Mystic Water Fruit was a water-attribute spiritual herb; even if swallowed raw, it would greatly benefit him.

The stall owner, also a Divine Lord third heaven, lifted his eyelids slightly at Ning Tianping's question and said, "Twelve billion!"

Ning Tianping's mouth twitched, "Boss, that's too expensive. Can you make it cheaper?"

A fourth-grade divine pill cost only two or three billion, yet this single spiritual herb cost seven billion. If made into a pill with other ingredients, it would cost at least twenty billion.

How much would the resulting pill be worth?

But the Seven Treasures Mystic Water Fruit was indeed a rare item; if refined into a pill, it would start at thirty billion.

So, the price of twelve billion wasn't too outrageous.

However, that meant Ye Yuan's wealth of over ten billion now seemed insignificant.

Moreover, most of the past decade had been spent flying, consuming nearly half of his divine essence stones.

Calculating this way, the remaining few billion were hardly enough.

The stall owner glanced faintly at Ning Tianping and said indifferently, "Buy if you want, or get lost if you don't. Don't disturb my business!"

Ning Tianping, young and hot-tempered, was about to explode. He fumed, "What kind of attitude is that?"

The stall owner sneered, "My goods are worth this price! In Tianluo Market, if you don't have money, don't pretend to be a big shot! Paupers can't make it here!"

Ning Tianping was furious and roared, "Who says I don't have money? I have plenty of money!"

In his anger, he pulled out a storage ring, but when his consciousness probed into it, he was instantly embarrassed.

He had left in such a hurry this time that he really didn't have that many divine essence stones on him.

Ning Tianping's total assets were only seven or eight hundred million.

The stall owner, sharp-eyed, saw Ning Tianping's expression and knew he had no money. He sneered, "Can't take it out? If you're broke, get lost and don't hinder my business!"

Ning Tianping was furious. This stall owner was too arrogant, looking down on him!

He, the top genius of the Ning family, had never worried about money before!

Truly, a mighty dragon is bullied by a snake in shallow waters!

Just then, Ye Yuan slowly placed a storage ring on the stall and said calmly, "Boss, twelve billion. Count it."

The stall owner's eyes narrowed, and he began to scrutinize Ye Yuan seriously.

He had thought Ye Yuan was Ning Tianping's attendant, but now it seemed something was off.

A Return to Void realm cultivator could casually produce twelve billion!

Something fishy!

Ning Tianping's expression changed, and he said, "Brother Ye, how can this be?"

He knew that Ye Yuan's divine essence stones weren't plentiful here and were needed for important purposes.

Suddenly taking out twelve billion was a significant burden for him too, and he felt conflicted inside.