The youth brought his sleeve up to his nose and gave it a sniff. His nose wrinkled at the smell and he let out an exasperated sigh. A middle-aged man stood close to the door wrapping his hands with cloth strips. Tightening his hand wraps with his mouth, the older man spoke up through his teeth.

“Wash de matter, yung mashter?”

“We’re going to have to get a change of clothes…”

Ye Fan seemed strangely reluctant as he softly spoke and lay down on the bed with his arms outstretched. The old servant raised an eyebrow at the youth’s words. The larger man’s face was covered with a doubtful expression. Leisurely, he spun his metal staff before nodding to himself.

“When were you averse to spending money, little Fan?”

Embarrassed, Ye Fan sat up quickly and smiled awkwardly at the staff-wielding figure. He lightly coughed twice into his fist before responding to the old servant.

“I’ve always been a frugal person, Uncle Hu…“

The youth’s eyes lingered on the mattress as he let out another sigh. Seeing his young master’s actions, the older man smiled understandingly. He put on an expression of achieving enlightenment and revealed a bright smile. Holding his staff in the crook of his right arm, Bai Hu formed his left hand into his fist and lightly tapped it against his open right palm facing upwards. With an understanding voice, the boatman nodded as he directly stated his thoughts.

“Oh, so you’re feeling lazy, young master?”

Smiling wryly, the youth rolled his eyes at his old servant.

“It’s called ‘conserving strength’ not laziness!”

Ye Fan corrected the middle-aged figure righteously. Bai Hu held back his laughter and opened the door. Standing to the side, he gestured toward the youth.

“Well, since you're feeling tired we better get this over quickly, no?"

The youth stood up from his bed and began walking to the door. Just as he reached the doorframe, he stopped and looked at the old servant with a wide mischievous smile. The fatigue that had previously plagued his appearance and gait magically disappeared. The middle-aged figure immediately had a bad feeling about his young master's actions.

"No, no. Since I'm a lazy person we need to spend some more time shopping! I'll show you my diligence."

Thumping his chest twice to his promise, he joyfully dashed out the door before Bai Hu could say a word.

"Wait, wait. Young Master! Aishhh!"

Bai Hu's face turned ugly as he was about to dash after the boy but quickly stopped himself. By the time the old servant finished locking the door, Ye Fan was nowhere to be seen. Shaking his head, the man chuckled to himself.

"I'm getting too old for this. Yuerong, you better pay me a hefty severance fee when I retire."

* * *

Ye Fan made his way past the rows of inns following the crowds toward the center of the city. Seeing such a young boy weaving in between foot traffic, some cultivators kept an eye on him believing he was a pickpocket but looked away when he passed by without touching them. A few people cast nasty looks at his actions but no one was willing to lower themselves to rebuke the boy.

Soon, the sounds of hawkers and performers came into earshot. Ye Fan's eyes lit up as he rushed in the direction of the lively noises. It wasn't long before the street he was looking for came into view. There were all kinds of shops lining both sides of the street. Antique shops, street food, and other miscellaneous sellers attracted buyers with their own methods. Some people didn't even have a proper stall and just placed their wares on top of a cloth.

"Fresh soymilk! Sweet or salty! Best in Great Divide, only three copper coins!"

"Curios for sale! Try your luck with treasure maps! Everything found in ancient ruins! Reasonable prices guaranteed!"

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"Martial Arts Manuals! Heirlooms from Martial Arts Families! If you don't attract Qi within 5 Years, your money back!"

The young boy stared curiously at the different stalls, going quickly as he couldn't find anything interesting. When he came to the hawker selling soymilk, he tossed him a silver coin.

"Sweet please, boss!"

"Right away, young master!"

The hawker gleefully deposited the silver coin in his pouch and handed Ye Fan a bowl of soymilk and some fried dough sticks wrapped in paper. The young boy began happily munching away as he continued exploring. A slightly loud disturbance caught his attention and he hastened his steps towards it. It was a relatively less populated part of the street and only had a few onlookers. The person at the center of attention was a young lady wearing extravagant clothing. She seemed furious with the person sitting on the cloth.

"What do you mean it costs forty low-grade spirit stones?! You just said it was only four just a moment ago!"

The seller held a calm expression and affirmed his quoted price.

"I said forty spirit stones. You heard me wrong the first time."

The lady was livid and revealed her cultivation base at the Second Stage of Foundation Establishment. From her fierce glare, it seemed that she wanted this man to burn in the deepest layers of hell. The seller wrinkled his brow and revealed his own cultivation base. The pressure of a Peak Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator overwhelmed the young lady causing her face to grow a few shades paler. Although he grew nervous at the lady's high cultivation and young age, he remained adamant.

"Don't try to pressure me with your cultivation base, young lady. The guards don't take kindly to thieves."

At this moment, the lady looked towards the onlookers. Her eyes were filled with desperation. It seemed that the object that she wanted to buy was important to her. She desperately shouted toward them, looking for some support.

"Did anyone hear him? He definitely said four spirit stones, not forty!"

One of the bystanders spoke up immediately giving her some hope, but what he said made her expression turn ugly.

"I heard him say forty. I don't know what you're talking about, lady."

The other onlookers started muttering among themselves. Another person hesitated but eventually decided to speak up.

"I heard him say four…"

"Are you sure about that? These numbers can be easily confused."

The man who had initially spoken up countered the person aggressively making the second man hesitate.

"Well, I wasn't too close so-"

"See, he didn't hear it properly so he can't be trusted."

The seller immediately jumped at the opportunity and defended himself. Of the seven remaining onlookers, two didn't want to get involved and said nothing, three sided with the seller, and the last two sided with the woman. Ye Fan hadn't heard the original conversation, but based on his analysis of the current situation it seemed like the woman was the one in the right. Eager to make things fair, he stepped out from the crowd and made a statement.

"Hey! If you say it was four then it's four. You can't change your price."

Everyone was shocked to see the young boy step up. The lady dressed in expensive clothing softened at the sight of the young boy. In contrast, the seller's face turned extremely ugly at the boy's words.

"Watch what you say, smelly brat. Falsely accusing people is a terrible thing to do. Your elders need to teach you properly!"

"My elders are no concern of yours. Besides, who taught you to scam? Your elders are the ones truly at fault!"

Ye Fan retorted, turning the seller’s own words back at him. He was starting to grow angry with the seller's fierce words. His elders in the Ye Clan had always treated him well and he wouldn't tolerate them being badmouthed by some stranger.

"Stop sticking your nose into the business of adults and go home."

The seller made a shooing gesture and turned back toward the well-dressed lady.

"Forty spirit stones! Take it or leave it!"

With an ugly expression, the lady pulled out a sack from her spatial artifact. She threw it over with great reluctance in her gaze. The seller checked the sack and looked at the lady with glowing eyes as he tossed her a plain jade flute that had a red string tied to it.

"Pleasure doing business with you, young lady!"

Ye Fan seemed to be feeling extremely conflicted as he thought about what he should do, but he put it aside when he saw the seller's ecstatic expression.

"Stop right there!"

The young boy fished out a plaque from his spatial ring. It was a plaque that represented the Ye Clan. As a large merchant consortium, they were very well-known and had a lot of influence in the Central Continent.

"If you don't give her a fair price, I'll call the guards and vouch for her!"

The seller's expression immediately fell. He clenched his fist and glared at the young boy with fiery eyes.

"You-! Aren't you bullying others with your identity?"

The boy was unfazed by the man's words and boldly replied.

"Oh? Who's bullying who? Did you not just try to scam this kind sister?"

The man gritted his teeth before spitting out his next words with barely contained fury.

"… Fine! I guess the Ye Consortium takes joy in bullying small innocent cultivators."

The seller stored four of the spirit stones and tossed the sack back to the buyer. Shooting a furious glare at the lady, he packed up his stall in his spatial artifact and left. The whole time he made sure to avoid looking at Ye Fan, as the man was afraid that he would accidentally send him an angry glare and offend the young boy from the Ye Consortium. The lady was ecstatic and stored the sack away immediately.

The onlookers were surprised at the turn of events but quickly dispersed as the commotion came to an end. Some of them even spoke comments in flattery of Ye Fan before they left, trying to leave a good impression. The lady walked up to Ye Fan with a joyful expression.

"Thank you for the help, young hero!"

As the young lady grew closer, the young boy finally took a detailed look at her. The lady seemed to be in her late teens approaching her twenties. She had long red hair with orange eyes, making her vaguely resemble a fiery phoenix. Her looks were only above average; the kind that would turn a few heads but nowhere near country toppling. The robes she wore were red with gold engravings and fully covered her body from head to toe. Although her clothes looked expensive, they didn't seem to be a spiritual treasure and she didn't hold any plaques that indicated her affiliation.

Ye Fan smiled brightly. Thumping his chest, he made a righteous declaration.

"Of course! A hero will always help a beauty in need!"

Seeing the young boy's actions, the lady had a sudden intense urge to pinch his cheeks and ruffle his hair. Hiding the intentions in her eyes, she swallowed audibly and barely held herself back.

"Then, I'll treat the noble hero to a meal. It's the least I could do."

He grew deep in thought. Ye Fan felt bad for leaving Uncle Hu behind and was planning on looking for him after checking out the peddler's street, but the young lady's imploring eyes won him over.

"Sure!"

The lady smiled gently, happy with the boy's response. She extended her hand toward Ye Fan before leading him away from the loud cries of the hawkers and onto a main road. As they made their way along the sidewalk, the young boy suddenly remembered something.

"Pretty lady, I've never asked your name!"

Hearing his words, the lady wore a pleased expression. She felt a little warm inside from the compliments of the boy. Although she would've preferred it if it was from a handsome young man, the cute little boy wasn't too much of a downgrade. The main road was rather crowded so she kept her eyes ahead of her to avoid bumping into anyone as she responded gleefully.

"You can call me Sister Mei!"