At this moment, Li Yan was still within the Peiyang Trading City. If he knew that even after being so careful, so many clues had been found so quickly from the items the three of them sold, he would certainly be astonished. Although deducing the origin from stolen goods was not a particularly brilliant method, for so much to be uncovered in such a short time, the capabilities and intentions of this shop named "Gui Qu Lai Xi" would definitely give Li Yan a considerable shock.
When he was selling the items today, he had already considered selling them in batches. He did not want to sell everything at one shop, as it would expose his wealth too much and give the shop leverage to push down the price. Therefore, he had only intended to sell half of what he brought, planning to find another opportunity and other shops to sell the rest. However, upon entering the private room on the second floor and hearing Wen Xinliang's seemingly simple reply to Su Hong—"Separately, of course. Yes, separate is better."—along with that meaningful glance, and Lin Daqiao's inexplicable wink as he left, he understood. They were telling him to consider selling his items separately for a better outcome. Thus, he decided to reduce the quantity he sold at the "Gui Qu Lai Xi" shop even further, only taking out thirty percent of the total.
After leaving the shop and walking some distance, Wen Xinliang mentioned he had some private matters to attend to, and Lin Daqiao also said that while he had seen a few items he needed at "Gui Qu Lai Xi," the prices were not cheap, and he intended to look around some more. Li Yan instantly understood this was a pretext to separate. He had no objection to this; everyone had their own privacy, and that held true even for the closest of martial brothers.
'It seems they have more on them than just what they gained from this expedition. They must have other things,' Li Yan thought. He immediately nodded, expressing that he also wanted to look around on his own. With a tacit understanding, they agreed to meet at the west gate, where they had arrived, in one and a half hours, and then they each went their separate ways.
Li Yan ambled through a few streets at a leisurely pace. Since coming out, he hadn't asked his two senior brothers why they didn't suggest selling separately before entering the shop, instead resorting to charades once inside. Li Yan guessed that his two senior brothers probably didn't think he had many things worth selling. This was a result of conventional thinking; they assumed he was here primarily to buy things, so they hadn't given the matter much thought until reminding him just before they entered the private rooms. However, this turn of events suited Li Yan's intentions perfectly.
After confirming that no one suspicious was following him, Li Yan turned his attention back to the shops along the street. Soon, he entered one of them.
Less than half an incense stick's time later, Li Yan emerged from the shop, his expression neutral. He then turned onto another street and, shortly after, entered another shop.
After more than half an hour, when Li Yan appeared on a street again, his expression was still calm, but a trace of excitement glinted in his eyes. In that time, he had gone in and out of four shops and had finally sold all the dozens of Storage Pouches and their contents. Now, apart from keeping Miao Zhengyi's storage pouch hanging at his waist for decoration, he had only kept ten flying swords for his own use.
Thinking of the more than 220,000 extra Spirit Stones in his Earthen Mark, Li Yan still couldn't suppress his excitement. Adding the two thousand Spirit Stones given by the sect and subtracting the four hundred-plus he had spent on Medicinal Pills for his cultivation, he now had a total of 230,000 Spirit Stones. It felt like a dream, and a sense of unreality lingered in his mind.
Miao Zhengyi's three hundred and sixty flying swords alone—after subtracting the one left in Wang Lang's body and the ten he kept for himself—the remaining three hundred and forty-nine swords had sold for nearly 180,000 Spirit Stones. Although the prices at the subsequent four shops were indeed lower than at "Gui Qu Lai Xi," Li Yan had a clear idea of their value after selling the first batch, so he knew what he was doing when negotiating prices. Still, the final amount was a world apart from the two or three thousand Spirit Stones he had estimated back at the sect. It was his first real understanding of how valuable Magical Artifacts were.
'A low-grade Spirit Artifact costs dozens of Spirit Stones, a mid-grade one needs nearly a hundred, and a high-grade one sells for around one hundred to one hundred and fifty low-grade Spirit Stones. Above Spirit Artifacts are Spirit Treasures, which are also divided into low, mid, and high grades. And only above high-grade Spirit Treasures are low-grade Magical Artifacts. Miao Zhengyi's three hundred and sixty swords were all of the Magical Artifact grade. It's just that because there were so many, and his cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, their refinement didn't reach the level of mid-grade Magical Artifacts. That's why each sword could only fetch a price of around four hundred. But the sheer quantity was overwhelming. One hundred and eighty thousand Spirit Stones... 180,000 Spirit Stones... such a sum, I imagine only the core disciples of the four great sects would possess such wealth.'
Li Yan muttered to himself at the thought. He had never imagined he would possess so many Spirit Stones. Just half a year ago, he was struggling for every one or two Spirit Stones, doing missions day and night. Now, in a flash, everything was completely different.
It took a long while for Li Yan to gradually calm down and shake his head.
'What I didn't expect was that the Storage Pouches of those Qi Condensation cultivators and their contents would fetch more than 40,000 Spirit Stones.' Li Yan had previously only valued the items of Foundation Establishment cultivators like Miao Zhengyi. He never thought that the belongings of dozens of Qi Condensation cultivators would sell for so much, especially the Storage Pouches. Even a low-grade storage pouch was a spatial-type Magical Artifact, the lowest grade of which cost at least seven hundred low-grade Spirit Stones. Li Yan had collected a total of fifty-one low-grade Storage Pouches in the Secret Realm. Adding the contents, most of which he didn't need, earned him another thirty thousand-plus Spirit Stones.
Li Yan stood at a street corner for a good while. Looking at the intersecting streets before him and then at the sun, he thought for a moment and then started walking in one direction.