Chapter 247: Chapter 247: Of Unknown Origin

Seeing the check for fifty thousand Profound Coins in the shopkeeper’s hand, the young man directly pulled out a check for one hundred thousand Profound Coins and threw it onto the counter. "I’m offering one hundred thousand Profound Coins. That should be enough, right?"

"Alright, alright." The shopkeeper hastily accepted the check for one hundred thousand Profound Coins and tried to hand the fifty-thousand-coin check back to Ye Xuan. "My apologies, young man. These gentlemen have offered a higher price for these Yinfeng Stones, so I’m returning your fifty thousand Profound Coins."

However, Ye Xuan ignored the check. While they were busy talking, he placed the several Profound Nether Stones into his Storage Ring and turned to walk out the door.

"Kid, you dare take our stones? Stop right there!" Seeing Ye Xuan’s actions, the leading young man immediately snorted.

The young men instantly surrounded Ye Xuan.

The commotion immediately attracted the attention of the other Martial Artists in the shop. They all gathered around to watch.

"Kid, hand over our Yinfeng Stones, now," one of the young men said coldly, his gaze savage.

Ye Xuan’s expression darkened. "Your Yinfeng Stones?" he said coldly. "I’m the one who bought these. Why should I hand them over? Move. Don’t block my path."

"You bought them?" The young men glanced at Ye Xuan with disdain. "Didn’t you see the shopkeeper already tried to return your Profound Tickets? These Yinfeng Stones belong to us now. Hand them over obediently, or else... Hmph!"

With that, one of the young men turned to the shopkeeper and demanded coldly, "Shopkeeper, you sold these Yinfeng Stones to us, didn’t you?"

The shopkeeper mentally cursed himself for making such a fuss over fifty thousand Profound Coins, but at this point, he had no choice but to say, "You gentlemen are correct. I already returned his Profound Tickets to him."

"But did I accept them?" Ye Xuan gave a cold smile. "You and I already agreed on the price, and you accepted the Profound Tickets. The transaction was complete. Now you want to return the tickets and take back the goods? Who does business like that?"

Once Ye Xuan said this, the onlookers finally understood the whole story and began to murmur amongst themselves. It was clear they all felt the shopkeeper was being unscrupulous. How could someone take back something already sold just to sell it again for a higher price?

"So, kid, it looks like you’re not going to hand them over? Believe it or not, we won’t let you walk out of this shop today." A hook-nosed young man snorted, his falcon-like eyes fixed coldly on Ye Xuan, radiating a palpable chill.

Ye Xuan’s expression turned icy. ’They actually dare to threaten me?’ Anger flared within him. He said coldly, "So this is how chaotic public order is in Meili City? This is the first I, Ye Xuan, have heard of it. Scram. If you don’t, I’ll have to ask the higher-ups of Meili City if this is the kind of corrupt order maintained by the so-called number one power of the Thirteen Countries, the Celestial Gold Kingdom. A shopkeeper can openly go back on his word, and customers get threatened for making a purchase. Tsk, tsk. This has truly been an eye-opening experience."

The shopkeeper couldn’t help but shudder at Ye Xuan’s words. Meili City was the gathering place for Soul Refiners from all the kingdoms for the Floating Light Assembly. To make a good impression, public order was extremely strict. Auction houses and shops, in particular, were explicitly ordered not to swindle Soul Refiners from other kingdoms. Of course, that was just what they said. Still, every shopkeeper knew that even if you were going to pull a fast one, you had to at least keep up appearances and not be so blatant about it.

If the Law Enforcement Team were to get involved and learn what happened here, he would be in a world of trouble.

"Well, kid, you’ve got some nerve." The hook-nosed young man sneered and stepped forward as if to strike Ye Xuan, his eyes filled with nothing but arrogance and a sinister chill.

Before he could act, however, he was stopped by the leader of their group, the young man in the white robe. The leader stared at Ye Xuan, who was still smirking, then glanced at the growing crowd and frowned. "Young man, my friend was in the wrong just now. How about this? We will pay you one hundred thousand Profound Coins to buy these Yinfeng Stones from you. What do you say?"

"Not for sale," Ye Xuan answered directly.

The white-robed young man’s brow furrowed. "Then two hundred thousand Profound Coins. They’sre just a few Yinfeng Stones. We’re buying them from you only because we need them urgently. You’d be making a clear profit of one hundred and fifty thousand Profound Coins."

"I’m not selling for any price," Ye Xuan said with a cold smile, refusing without a moment’s hesitation.

’This is strange,’ he thought. ’Yinfeng Stones aren’t anything special. If this shop is out, they could surely find more by checking a few other stores, and the price wouldn’t be much higher. Yet they insist on these specific stones, even offering to pay several times the price. This is unexpected.’

’Could it be they also know these aren’t Yinfeng Stones, but Profound Nether Stones?’

Ye Xuan shook his head. ’Identifying Profound Nether Stones isn’t overly complex, but given the state of Soul Refining in the Thirteen Nations Alliance, it’s not a simple task. Otherwise, the shopkeeper, who is a Soul Refiner himself, would never have sold them so cheaply.’

’But judging by how these young men are acting, they obviously know the value of these Profound Nether Stones, too.’ This made Ye Xuan curious about them.

Taking a closer look, Ye Xuan finally noticed something was off.

He hadn’t paid them close attention at first, but now he realized these young men were all quite extraordinary.

There were four of them in total. Their leader was the young man in the white robe. He stood as still as a stone statue, his features sharp and defined, as if carved from jade. He was calm and composed, exuding a sense of profound stability.

Next was the hook-nosed youth. His gaze was sharp and his behavior arrogant. He carried himself with an air of absolute superiority, as if he alone was supreme under heaven and on earth.

The other two young men were also remarkably handsome. Though they hid it well, like the hook-nosed youth, they radiated a deep-seated contempt. This disdain wasn’t aimed at any particular person, but rather at the entire region, like a higher being looking down on lesser mortals.

A thought struck Ye Xuan. ’The auras of these four are completely different from ordinary people.’

Ye Xuan had seen his share of arrogant, condescending geniuses who thought they were above everyone else. He Xuting was a prime example, proclaiming himself the number one genius of the Liuyun Kingdom and literally looking down his nose at people.

But these four were different from He Xuting. While they shared his arrogance, their aura was worlds beyond his. They possessed a transcendent quality that seemed to place them above the entire Thirteen Nations Alliance. ’Where does that sense of transcendence come from?’

Among members of the Thirteen Nations Alliance, even between top-tier geniuses, the difference in power shouldn’t be that great.

Yet these men made Ye Xuan feel that, in their eyes, the geniuses of the Thirteen Nations Alliance were no more than ants. It was a disdain that ran bone-deep.

’Could they be the top geniuses from the number one power, the Celestial Gold Kingdom? I’ve heard the Celestial Gold Kingdom even has Tier Six powerhouses. Were these men trained by one of them?’

"You little bastard," the hook-nosed youth spat out, having heard Ye Xuan’s final refusal. As Ye Xuan sized them up, a murderous glint flashed in the young man’s eyes. It was obvious he now wanted Ye Xuan dead. He was about to make a move when the white-robed youth stopped him and whispered a few words in his ear.

After speaking, the white-robed youth and the other two gave Ye Xuan a long, deep look, then turned and walked away, leaving only the hook-nosed youth behind.

After the others had gone, the hook-nosed youth’s expression suddenly turned savage.

"Kid, I’ll ask you one last time. Are you selling or not?"

"Scram!" Ye Xuan couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on him and just snorted coldly.

"Heh heh... Kid, trust me, you’ll regret this," the hook-nosed youth said with a sinister grin.

Ye Xuan ignored him and turned to leave. Suddenly, an invisible fluctuation of Soul Power materialized behind him. A powerful surge of Soul Power had formed into an invisible cone, stabbing viciously at the back of his head.

Ye Xuan was instantly furious. He had been in a great mood after obtaining the Profound Nether Stones, only to have it ruined by these youths. He hadn’t wanted to press the issue, but he never expected this. After failing to strong-arm him, the hook-nosed youth had resorted to a sneak attack. ’Does he really think I’m a pushover?’

No longer able to contain his rage, Ye Xuan simply absorbed the full force of the Soul Power attack. When the Soul Power entered his body, it vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into the ocean. Immediately after, a new blast of Soul Power—many times stronger than the one he’d just received—shot out from Ye Xuan’s mind and slammed into the hook-nosed youth.

The hook-nosed youth suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood without any warning, his body swaying on the verge of collapse. When he looked back at Ye Xuan, his face was pale with terror.

After a long moment, he pointed a trembling finger at Ye Xuan, his expression a mixture of shock and rage. "You... you actually dared to hurt me."

He was utterly shocked. He couldn’t understand how Ye Xuan could be completely unharmed after his Soul Power attack had clearly hit him.

"They’re fighting! Those two are actually fighting!"

"Fighting is strictly forbidden in Meili City’s shops!"

"Someone must have notified the Law Enforcement Team."

The crowd erupted in discussion. Sure enough, just a moment later, a squad of armored officers from the Law Enforcement Team rushed into the shop.

"Who’s fighting in a Meili City shop?" the captain of the Law Enforcement Team demanded, sweeping a cold gaze over the shopkeeper.

"It was him! He’s the one who just injured me!" the hook-nosed youth shouted before the shopkeeper could even open his mouth.

"Who are you to be fighting here?" Hearing the hook-nosed youth, the captain’s voice turned icy. Several officers immediately surrounded Ye Xuan. "The Floating Light Assembly is underway, and fighting is strictly prohibited in Meili City. Are you just going to ignore our rules?"

Hearing that a fight had broken out, the surrounding crowd grew even larger.

Ye Xuan glanced at the Law Enforcement Team’s captain and said calmly, "I didn’t do a thing. This kid just started spitting up blood for no reason. It has nothing to do with me!"