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Chapter 36: Unexpected Mastery

Yin Yuzhen's intuition told her that helping Li Fan would bring immeasurable benefits in the future. Although she didn't know what achievements this man would eventually make, Yin Yuzhen chose to trust her gut feeling and do everything in her power to assist Li Fan.

Under Yin Yuzhen's direction, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion began operating at full capacity. While collecting meteorite iron, they also purchased a large amount of other completely unrelated materials to conceal their true intentions.

Other factions on Glazed Island noticed the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's unusual activity and secretly sent people to investigate. However, thanks to Yin Yuzhen's foresight and preparations, they naturally found nothing conclusive. Instead, following Li Fan's suggestion, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion widely spread false rumors about "Star Sea Quicksand." Other factions, suspecting a trick, initially adopted a wait-and-see approach. But one of them, thinking, "Buy first, even if it's fake, we can resell it," began to heavily purchase items related to the rumors. Seeing this, the others couldn't sit still any longer and joined the procurement frenzy. For a time, prices on Glazed Island soared, and chaos ensued.

Li Fan, the mastermind behind all this, simply remained quietly cultivating in the Serene Listening Pavilion.

Three months later, Yin Yuzhen finally contacted a trade representative from the Myriad Splendor Merchant Association. Early that morning, Yin Yuzhen and Li Fan left Glazed Island on the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's own small boat. They sailed tens of miles north to the agreed-upon sea area. The boat was fully laden with goods for the transaction. It wasn't until midday that the Myriad Splendor Merchant Association finally arrived.

A black speck in the sky rapidly grew larger, and as it approached, Li Fan realized it was an airship! A banner, emblazoned with a large character "万" (wan, meaning myriad), fluttered from the airship. This airship appeared to be about half the size of the Taiyan Boat's second form, approximately fifty meters long.

The airship quickly reached their position, then slowly descended and settled on the water.

"Shopkeeper Yin, long time no see!" a hearty laugh boomed from the airship once it had settled.

Yin Yuzhen had been watching Li Fan, hoping to see a look of surprise on his face. To her unexpected disappointment, Li Fan showed no reaction at all upon seeing the Myriad Splendor Merchant Association's airship, as if he had long been accustomed to such sights. This only deepened her curiosity about him. Upon hearing the trade representative's voice, Yin Yuzhen turned her head.

"Representative Wu, I believe our last meeting was three years ago," Yin Yuzhen replied with a smile.

"Time truly flies," Representative Wu remarked, as he stepped onto the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's boat.

"And who might this be?" he asked, looking at Li Fan with a smile.

"An elder we've hired for our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion," Yin Yuzhen replied simply.

Seeing that Yin Yuzhen was disinclined to elaborate, Representative Wu wisely did not press further. "Let's inspect the goods. I'm afraid after this, we might not meet again for a long time."

Yin Yuzhen was startled by this remark. "What do you mean? Has something happened?"

Representative Wu shook his head. "I don't know the exact reasons. I just received a sudden notification from headquarters a few days ago, stating that all trade representatives in the Cloud Sea are to cease all operations and return as soon as possible." He added, "If we hadn't already scheduled this transaction, I would probably be on my way back now. So, this deal cannot be delayed; we must complete it quickly."

Yin Yuzhen became flustered. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's flourishing business on Glazed Island was largely due to its backing by the Myriad Splendor Merchant Association. Now, with the association suddenly withdrawing from the Cloud Sea, what would become of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's future? Could she even keep the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion afloat? And why had her intuition given no warning this time? Yin Yuzhen's mind was in turmoil, and she simply froze.

"Shopkeeper Yin?" Representative Wu prompted, noticing her daze.

Yin Yuzhen forced a smile and collected herself. She then entered the ship's cabin and began to inventory the goods for the transaction.

"Sixteen pairs of jade bi discs, twenty-three pieces of coral, forty-six luminous pearls..." Li Fan led Representative Wu past various items, detailing each one. Representative Wu occasionally picked up an item, carefully examining its quality, before nodding and gently putting it back down.

"Three pieces of Star Sea Quicksand," Li Fan reported matter-of-factly when they reached the middle of the inventory.

Representative Wu's face lit up, and he quickly moved to the meteorite iron pieces. He gently caressed them, then flipped them over, examining them repeatedly. Li Fan, watching this, realized that Representative Wu was no ordinary person. These meteorite pieces weighed at least fifty catties each, yet in his hands, they seemed like toys. After a moment, Representative Wu reluctantly put the meteorite iron down.

"Shopkeeper Yin, you've had good luck this time. To have collected such excellent items as Star Sea Quicksand!"

Li Fan and Yin Yuzhen exchanged a glance, a wave of relief washing over them. It was clear that Xiao Heng's information had been correct. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had seized the initiative this time, acquiring a significant amount of Star Sea Quicksand. The spot in the Pure Body Spirit Pool should now be secured.

There were no more valuable items after that, and Representative Wu was very pleased with the goods provided by the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Since the two parties wouldn't be able to meet again for a long time, he specifically invited Li Fan and Yin Yuzhen to be guests on the Myriad Splendor Merchant Association's airship.

After a satisfying meal, Representative Wu led them to the airship's storage hold.

"These are all things I've collected from various islands in the Cloud Sea," a visibly happy Representative Wu said proudly, gesturing towards the dazzling array of treasures. "Some are priceless, while the use of others isn't even clear to me. I just bought them because they looked unusual. If you two are interested, you may pick a few items."

Yin Yuzhen was quite excited by this offer. With her ability to discern good fortune from bad, wouldn't this be like a mouse falling into a rice bin?

Li Fan initially had no interest in this, but seeing Yin Yuzhen's eagerness, he didn't want to refuse, so he accompanied her, browsing idly.

"You only have enough time for one stick of incense!" Representative Wu, seemingly amused by this game, called out to them.

Yin Yuzhen paid no attention, busily darting through the storage hold in great excitement. There were no less than a thousand different treasures, and even with her ability to discern good fortune from bad, which allowed her to somewhat gauge their value, she was momentarily overwhelmed.

Li Fan, meanwhile, was bored, aimlessly picking up items, glancing at them, and quickly putting them back down. Having gone through nine reincarnations and lived for three hundred years, what mundane treasure hadn't he seen? He cared for nothing unless it was related to cultivation. Although Representative Wu's physique far surpassed that of an ordinary person, he was clearly not a cultivator, and his business dealt only with mortal affairs. How could there be anything here that Li Fan would care about?

As Li Fan thought this, his hand touched one of the items, and his body instantly stiffened. A prompt had indeed suddenly appeared.

"Rechargeable item detected. Do you wish to recharge?"

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