When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

In front of the herbal medicine shop.

"Your subordinate is not seriously injured, you don't need to worry..." the black-clad shadow guard said in a low voice, his head bowed.

Ji Cheng'an glanced back at the shadow guard with considerable impatience. "You've been talking more and more lately, Wei Yi."

Wei Yi immediately fell silent and gently pursed his lips.

It is only natural for shadow guards to protect their master. He never felt that there was anything wrong with the Fourth Prince's previous whipping, and besides, his cultivation was not good enough and he failed to protect his master, which was a dereliction of duty.

Even if His Highness does not punish him, he should still ask to accept his punishment.

The other shadow guards in the palace were all in the same situation. If he had been by the Crown Prince's side, he would probably have been punished even more severely in this situation, and death would have been the only way to atone for his sins.

only……

Wei Yi quietly raised her eyes from behind the mask, looking worriedly at Ji Cheng'an's pale profile.

Since arriving at the Taiyi Sect and suffering repeated setbacks, His Highness has become somewhat thinner, and his temper seems to have become increasingly unpredictable. Although he was arrogant in the palace in the past, he was never this gloomy and easily angered. He really wanted to say a few words of advice to Ji Cheng'an, but he was unable to speak due to the difference in their status.

This is not something he should be doing.

Seeing Wei Yi fall silent again, Ji Cheng'an felt annoyed and even forgot that he was the one who thought Wei Yi was talking too much.

He glared at Wei Yi, his tone sharp, "What, you hold a grudge against me? Just because I punished you that day!?"

"I'm talking to you!!"

"Your Highness, I dare not!" The shadow guard immediately knelt down, "Your Highness, you are of the highest rank and precious, I, Wei Yi..."

"Shut up, you ungrateful wretch!"

Ji Cheng'an hated his silent and submissive demeanor the most. Who knew what he was thinking! Maybe he was just like those people in the palace, secretly thinking that he was inferior to his elder brother and sister!

This whole mess made him feel like his good intentions had been completely wasted, and he lost all interest in buying medicine for the other person. He flung his sleeve and accidentally bumped into several bottles of pills on the pharmacy.

"Crash—!" Several bottles and jars fell down.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing! Stealing something!"

The owner of the herbal medicine shop was a grumpy dog ​​demon. Hearing the commotion, he thought someone was causing trouble and immediately slammed his fist on the table and challenged the vendor.

This shout drew all eyes to the person in the vicinity.

"Is someone stealing something?"

"Surely it can't be that bad, in broad daylight..."

Ji Cheng'an's face flushed red and then turned pale.

He had never been slandered like this for no reason!

"You rude scoundrel!"

"What are you saying?" the dog demon said, raising an eyebrow with his arms crossed. "You smashed my shop, didn't pay me back, and then turned around and called me rude? You're really going against the natural order! How are you going to repay me for the pills you owe me?!"

After saying that, he looked at the two of them with disdain, "...Did you bring enough spirit stones? Or are you out of money?"

"You!" Ji Cheng'an nearly fainted from anger. "Who said I wouldn't pay with spirit stones? A few bottles of worthless pills, are you obsessed with money?!"

"Why would I sell things if not to make money? Just to make you smile?" the dog demon said disdainfully.

"Great! Excellent!"

Ji Cheng'an, enraged, laughed coldly and threw out his spirit stone bag. "I'll take everything in this shop! I want to see how you manage to make me laugh!"

Upon hearing this, the dog demon was stunned.

The higher the grade of the elixir, the more expensive it is. Cultivators with limited funds mostly choose low-grade, cost-effective elixir like the Yellow Grade, resulting in his shop having many valuable Profound Grade elixir sitting unsold. He originally thought they would be difficult to sell, but who would have thought...

...I met a rich fool!

In an instant, the dog demon merchant's mouth stretched to his ears, his tail swishing wildly, revealing a gloating, ingratiating smile.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"A distinguished guest has arrived! It's my fault for being blind and not recognizing a great person! Look at his bearing and demeanor—he's clearly destined for great things! How could he possibly steal anything! Slap him! Slap him!"

After saying that, he even patted his mouth in a mock manner, as if afraid that the sucker would regret it.

Ji Cheng'an was utterly disgusted. This rapid change of expression truly demonstrated his shamelessness to the fullest extent.

"You greedy bastard."

"Woof!"

Anyway, I'm a dog demon, what's more appealing than making money!

The twisted spirit stone needs a master it can't get rid of!

Just as the dog demon was happily packing, a hand wearing black and gold patterned armbands came across and gently pressed on the storage bag.

"Wait a minute."

A clear, melodious voice rang out, and the dog demon looked up in confusion, only to hear the person say again:

"I'm willing to pay double the price; I'll buy everything in the store."

Dog Demon: "Woof!?"

Ji Cheng'an could hardly believe his eyes. "It's you again!"

Because of everything that had happened before, the person he least wanted to see in the Taiyi Sect was Chu Xianlan. Ji Cheng'an had never suffered more grievances in his entire life than he had in the past few days, and they were all related to this weapon cultivator in front of him. He had long regarded Chu Xianlan as a thorn in his side.

Unfortunately, this guy always seems to cross paths with him, deliberately jumping out to make things difficult for him. He deserves to die a thousand or ten thousand times over.

Chu Xianlan smiled and said, "Junior Brother Ji, how have you been?"

"I'm not bothering you, yet you've come to me willingly?" Ji Cheng'an's face darkened, his good mood completely gone.

Being called "junior brother" by this guy is absolutely awful!

Despite feeling like she was about to vomit blood, Chu Xianlan maintained a smile on her face.

He knew this guy hadn't given up!

That makes sense. The Fourth Prince wouldn't be so shameless as to openly purchase that kind of unspeakable elixir. He's rich and powerful; if he just bought up all the pills on the stall, he wouldn't have to worry about finding that damn Bone-Corroding Soul-Destroying Powder!

But Chu Xianlan is different. He earned all his spirit stones through hard work. Although he has accumulated some savings over the years, he still can't bear to part with them!

He hated that he was a step too late, yet he was also glad that he had caught the right opportunity.

If Ji Cheng'an really bought all the pills... then the result would be...

I can't think about it, I dare not think about it.

"What are you doing here? Why do you always ruin my plans!" Ji Cheng'an was furious, turning to the dog demon and roaring, "What this prince sets his sights on, he never gives up! Ignore him, I'll offer three times the spirit stones!"

Dog Demon: Ahhhhhhh!

Then Chu Xianlan slowly said, "...four times."

This was another shocking number. The dog-demon merchant looked left and right, his abacus catching fire, his back covered in cold sweat.

Did I hit the jackpot today?

This is another rich fool... no, a madman.

Ji Cheng'an roared angrily, "What underhanded tricks are you trying to pull?!"

Chu Xianlan spread her hands, "This isn't a dirty trick, it's outright robbery."

"Five times!"

"Oh," Chu Xianlan seemed to think about it seriously, then nodded with great regret, "Then I don't want it. I'll reluctantly give it to Your Highness."

Ji Cheng'an was taken aback. "What did you say?"

"Five times the price, I'll let you have it."

Looking at the other person's relaxed and carefree expression, Ji Cheng'an finally realized that something was wrong, but unfortunately he had already completely lost his mind.

"...You, you, you dare to play me?!"

At this moment, the dog-demon merchant finally calculated the amount, licked his hand, wiped it on his clothes, and tremblingly announced a number: "Two, two esteemed guests, at five times the price... a total of twenty thousand five hundred high-grade spirit stones, three thousand mid-grade spirit stones, and six hundred and sixty-six low-grade spirit stones. The change will be waived for you, sir!"

A dead silence.

Even though he was so angry he was about to breathe fire, Ji Cheng'an knew how many eyes were watching him. He was caught in a dilemma, unable to extricate himself, and his gaze turned to Wei Yi.

In fact, he had no detailed concept of the number of spirit stones, after all, he had been living a life of luxury since childhood and had never even seen an account.

Even someone with no common sense could tell that this was a huge sum of money.

Wei Yi's expression was grave as he said with difficulty, "Your Highness...we..."

"Speak quickly," Ji Cheng'an said, listening intently.

"We didn't bring enough spirit stones."

"..."

Ji Cheng'an's expression froze, and the air seemed to solidify.

As a kind-hearted person, Chu Xianlan was adept at breaking the ice. He asked, "Do you need me to lend you something?"