Chapter 36: A Stroke of Luck

Yin Yuzhen's intuition told her that as long as she continued to help Li Fan, there would inevitably be infinite benefits in the future.

Although she did not know what kind of achievements this middle-aged man would have in the future, Yin Yuzhen still chose to trust her intuition and did everything in her power to help Li Fan.

Consequently, under Yin Yuzhen's instructions, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion began operating at full capacity.

While collecting meteorite iron, in order to cover their tracks, they also purchased a large quantity of other completely unrelated supplies.

Other factions within Liuli Island sensed the anomaly at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and one after another sent people to investigate in secret.

However, with Yin Yuzhen having made preparations in advance, they naturally could not find out anything of substance.

Instead, following Li Fan's idea, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion released a large amount of false information regarding Starsea Quicksand. The other factions, knowing there might be a trap, chose to wait and watch first.

However, one of them, holding the mindset of "buy it first and worry later, even if it is fake, it can be sold again," purchased items related to the rumors on a massive scale. Consequently, they could no longer sit still and joined the procurement army.

For a time, prices on Liuli Island skyrocketed, and chaos ensued.

…

As the instigator of all this, Li Fan simply stayed quietly in the Listening Quiet Pavilion, cultivating.

It was not until three months later that Yin Yuzhen finally made contact with the Wanhua Merchant Guild's traveling envoy.

Early that morning, Yin Yuzhen and Li Fan boarded a small boat belonging to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, left Liuli Island, traveled dozens of miles north, and arrived at the sea area agreed upon by both parties.

The boat was loaded to the brim with the goods for this transaction.

Only after the sun was high in the sky did they finally wait for the Wanhua Merchant Guild to arrive.

A black dot in the sky rapidly enlarged, and only when it drew closer did Li Fan discover that it was actually a flying boat!

A banner fluttered on the flying boat, inscribed with a large character "Wan".

This flying boat looked only half the size of the Taiyan Boat in its second form, about fifty meters long.

The flying boat quickly arrived above them and then slowly came to a stop on the water's surface.

"Shopkeeper Yin, long time no see!" After it stabilized, a boisterous laugh came from within the flying boat.

Yin Yuzhen was looking at Li Fan, wanting to see an expression of surprise on his face.

Unexpectedly, Li Fan showed no sign of abnormality after seeing the Wanhua Merchant Guild's flying boat, as if he had long been accustomed to such things.

Yin Yuzhen was somewhat disappointed, while at the same time feeling even more curious about Li Fan.

Hearing the merchant guild envoy's voice, Yin Yuzhen finally turned her head.

"Envoy Wu, the last time we met was three years ago, wasn't it?" Yin Yuzhen replied with a smile.

"Time truly flies," Envoy Wu sighed, and he had already arrived on the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's boat.

"And who is this?" He looked at Li Fan and asked with a smile.

"An Elder hired by our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion," Yin Yuzhen answered simply.

Seeing that Yin Yuzhen was unwilling to say more, Envoy Wu tactfully did not ask again.

"Let's take a look at the goods. I'm afraid that after this time, it will be difficult for us to meet again."

Yin Yuzhen was stunned upon hearing this: "What do you mean by that? Has some unexpected event occurred?"

Envoy Wu shook his head: "I don't really know the specific reason. I just suddenly received a notice from headquarters a few days ago that all merchant guild envoys in the Congyun Sea are to cease all operations and return as soon as possible."

"If it weren't for the fact that the date for our transaction had already been set, I would probably already be on my way back by now."

"Therefore, this transaction cannot be delayed; we must hurry."

Yin Yuzhen was somewhat panicked for a moment. One must know that the reason the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was able to flourish on Liuli Island was precisely because it was backed by the Wanhua Merchant Guild.

Now that the Wanhua Merchant Guild was suddenly withdrawing from the Congyun Sea, what would happen to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's business in the future?

Could she still protect the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion?

And why did her intuition have absolutely no reaction this time?

Yin Yuzhen's mind was in turmoil, and she was actually stunned into silence.

"Shopkeeper Yin?" Seeing that Yin Yuzhen was stunned, Envoy Wu couldn't help but speak up to remind her.

Yin Yuzhen forced a smile and regained her composure.

She walked into the cabin and began to inventory the goods for the transaction.

"Sixteen pairs of jade discs, twenty-three pieces of coral, forty-six luminous pearls…" Li Fan led Envoy Wu as they walked past the various goods one by one.

From time to time, Envoy Wu picked up one of the items and carefully examined its quality.

Afterward, he nodded and carefully put it down.

"Three pieces of Starsea Quicksand." When they reached the middle, Li Fan reported with a calm expression.

Envoy Wu's expression lit up with joy, and he walked quickly to the side of those few pieces of meteorite iron.

He stroked them gently with his hand, then turned the meteorite iron over and examined it repeatedly.

Li Fan, watching this scene from the side, knew that this Envoy Wu was no ordinary person.

These pieces of meteorite iron weighed at least fifty catties each, yet in the other party's hands, they were like toys.

A moment later, Envoy Wu reluctantly put the meteorite iron down.

"Shopkeeper Yin, you have good luck this time. You actually managed to collect such a fine item as Starsea Quicksand."

Li Fan and Yin Yuzhen exchanged a glance, and their hearts relaxed.

They could be certain that what Xiao Heng said was correct.

This time, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had seized the initiative and grabbed a significant amount of Starsea Quicksand ahead of others.

The quota for the Net Body Spiritual Pool should be successfully secured.

After this, there were no other valuable items, and Envoy Wu was very satisfied with the goods provided by the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion this time.

Furthermore, because both parties would not be able to meet for a long time in the future, he specifically invited Li Fan and his companion to come aboard the Wanhua Merchant Guild's flying boat as guests.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Envoy Wu led the two of them to the flying boat's warehouse.

"These were all collected by me from various islands in the Congyun Sea. Some are priceless, while others I don't even know the purpose of. I just thought they looked rare, so I bought them along the way. If the two of you are interested, you can pick out a few pieces." Envoy Wu, who was drinking happily, said with some pride while gesturing to the dazzling array of treasures.

Upon hearing this, Yin Yuzhen was quite excited. She possessed the ability to seek good fortune and avoid calamity; coming here was surely like a mouse falling into a rice jar, wasn't it?

Li Fan originally had no interest in this, but seeing Yin Yuzhen's eager appearance, it was difficult to refuse, so he accompanied her to wander around inside.

"You only have the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn!" Envoy Wu seemed very interested in this game and said loudly to the two of them.

Yin Yuzhen turned a deaf ear to him; she was extremely excited as she kept weaving through the warehouse.

There were no fewer than a thousand kinds of treasures inside. Even though she could seek good fortune and avoid calamity and could barely distinguish their value, she was dazzled for a moment.

Li Fan, on the other hand, was bored and aimlessly picked up one item after another to look at, only to put them down again very quickly.

He, Li Fan, had experienced nine lifetimes of Reincarnation and floated through three hundred years; what mundane treasure had he not seen before?

As long as it was not something related to Immortal Cultivators, he did not care about it at all.

Although this Envoy Wu's physique far exceeded that of a normal person, he was clearly not an Immortal Cultivator, and the business he conducted was merely business among Mortals.

How could there possibly be anything in here that he, Li Fan, would care about?

Just as Li Fan was thinking this, his body suddenly stiffened when his hand touched one of the items.

Because the prompt from [Huan Zhen] suddenly popped up.

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