Ch. 71 – Touching Porcelain

He couldn’t fly into the sky. If he did, the whole sky would go dark, and with his wings spread, no sunlight would be able to filter through.

Not only would Feng Ye notice, but the entirety of North Sea City and all of the spirits and cultivators on the island would notice that the Lord of the North Sea had come down to the mortal world in person.

Therefore, although he was so elated that he wanted to fly up and twirl around, Hao Chen could only suppress his nature.

He also didn’t dare smile too obviously, for fear that Feng Ye would get suspicious. But no matter how hard he tried, the lips he had finally managed to lower would rise up the moment he relaxed his vigilance. He was unable to control it.

Feng Ye secretly watched Hao Chen’s expression, noting the pride he was trying hard to suppress. Seeing him like this made him want to laugh.

In order to prevent Hao Chen from figuring out how much he knew, Feng Ye also did his utmost to suppress his own smile. For a while, both of them had a hard time holding it in.

After walking for some time in this mutually torturous manner, Feng Ye felt that this wasn’t working. The muscles at the corners of his mouth were stiff from trying to hold in his smile.

He wanted to smile each time he looked at Hao Chen, so he had to find something else to divert his attention.

With this in mind, Feng Ye’s gaze began to drift toward the vendors they passed by along the way.

The vendors were mostly selling common things, such as magic tools and elixirs. Although they were valuable, they were no different from weeds in Feng Ye’s eyes. Thus, they were not a good distraction from Hao Chen’s expression and his own laughter.

Just as he was in a bind, Feng Ye’s eyes lit up. He had actually spotted something rather special.

Hao Chen likely had the same idea as Feng Ye, searching for something to divert his attention, and his gaze landed on the same thing as Feng Ye.

Without even looking at each other, the two of them simultaneously walked toward the same stall.

Numerous people had already gathered there. The stall owner wore brown robes and was somewhat short, even a head shorter than Fang Yang, a teenager who had yet to fully develop.

The stall owner’s face was also hidden beneath the hood of their robe. Due to his height advantage, nobody there could get a clear look at it.

The crowd’s attention was not on the stall owner’s appearance, but on what he was selling – a bronze token.

“A God-Summoning Token,” Feng Ye murmured as he stared at the description on the token.

The stall owner heard this and immediately responded: “This fellow has good eyesight! This is a God-Summoning Token!”

As he said this, he immediately put his hands on his hips with a proud ‘my token is very impressive’ expression.

The short shopkeeper had short arms, and the way he put his hands on his hips wasn’t very proportional, with an upward tilt.

But nobody noticed. Everyone in the crowd was engaged in discussion.

“God-Summoning Token?” Most people knew nothing about such a thing, and were puzzled when they heard its name.

But since it had the word ‘god’ in it, it must be very powerful.

Gods remained in heaven and rarely appeared in front of mortals, but every god in the myths and legends had the power to turn the rivers and seas upside down.

Yinglong, who had appeared one hundred years ago, had confirmed everyone’s guesses about the power gods held. Their power was indeed unmatched.

Then what was so magical about this God-Summoning Token?

The stall owner kept everyone in suspense before finally revealing the answer: “As the name suggests, the God-Summoning Token can transcend the boundary between heaven and man and directly call upon the gods.”

The entire audience erupted.

“Call upon the gods? Seriously?!” Someone immediately asked in disbelief. How could this token actually summon the legendary gods so high above? 

“Seriously!” The stall owner said with a nod, adding: “As long as you use this token, you can communicate directly with the gods in heaven, and if a god allows it, this token can be used as a medium to temporarily imbue you with their divine power.”

“Simply put, this means a god will descend, and you will become an earthly incarnation of that god. Splitting the rivers and seas and breaking mountains will be no problem for you!”

“Its effect is more powerful than any heaven-grade magic weapon. Think about it, this token summons an actual god from heaven. How strong is a god? You must have heard about the incident above the Eastern Sea one hundred years ago, right?” The stall owner asked the crowd.

Everyone nodded in understanding. Although no one dared to mention Yinglong’s name, the incident was no secret. Only those like Fang Yang, who had just entered the world of cultivation and had no common knowledge, didn’t know about it.

It only took one swing of Yinglong’s sword to cut the towering tree in half at the waist. The hardness of Jianmu had been tested by Nascent Soul cultivators. Even when a Nascent Soul cultivator swung a sword with all their strength, it could at most scratch Jianmu’s bark, but it was far from possible for them to cut it in half.

But Yinglong had only needed one strike. The power discrepancy was self-evident.

If the stall owner’s words were true, this token could summon a god from heaven. Even if the one summoned wasn’t on Yinglong’s level, any god’s power must be far above that of human beings.

The value of this God-Summoning Token was somewhat difficult to estimate. Judging from its ability alone, its price must be above that of a heaven-grade magic weapon. Sky-high priced magic weapons had always been in short supply, but once they were on sale, they could go for hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.

All of the cultivators crowded in front of the stall combined might not be able to buy a fraction of a heaven-grade magic weapon, let alone such a God-Summoning Token.

So although this magic tool was good, no one immediately asked for it. They only hesitated and requested the price: “This God-Summoning Token…..I’m afraid it can’t be cheap, right?”

This was North Sea City, and its backer was also a god in heaven. If someone dared to steal here, even if they obtained the God-Summoning Token, it was likely that no god would answer their call.

Therefore, everyone behaved themselves. Although they were very greedy, they had no intention of employing illegal means.

Some people realized that they couldn’t afford it even if they took out all their savings, so with a shake of their heads, they prepared to leave.

The stall owner realized that he had exaggerated too much, and quickly tried to persuade them to stay: “It’s not that expensive.”

Everyone’s greedy expression transformed into suspicion in an instant. It would be normal if the price was high, but abnormal if it wasn’t.

Unless this stall owner was just full of nonsense, and the God-Summoning Token wasn’t magical at all.

When he saw everyone looking at him as if he was selling counterfeit goods, the vendor defended himself: “However, this God-Summoning Token also has its drawbacks. It can only be used one time, and although a god will hear your request, whether or not they will respond to you depends on their mood. If they aren’t in a good mood at the time, your request will be in vain.”

Everyone wore looks of sudden realization. So that was how it worked. Then this God-Summoning Token was not actually that valuable. In the end, it was unreliable and required a great amount of luck.

“Then how much are you selling it for?” someone asked directly.

The stall owner crossed his short arms and thought for a moment before offering a bargain price that everyone thought was a steal: “One thousand spirit stones.”

“I want it!” As soon as the stall owner finished speaking, five or six different voices sounded at the same time.

Only one thousand spirit stones. For a poor wretch like Feng Ye, this was indeed a huge sum of money that he couldn’t even manifest if he emptied out his storage bag. But for most of the cultivators who had returned from the Floating Island Secret Realm, it was nothing special.

Everyone had gained a lot on the outing to the secret realm, and one thousand spirit stones wasn’t even the average among them.

Although the God-Summoning Token was unreliable, if you were lucky, it could be a powerful weapon. Buying such a token for one thousand spirit stones was a guaranteed profit.

As a result, a scramble ensued. To prevent the stall owner from selling the God-Summoning Token to someone else in the crowd, people readily raised the price: “I’ll pay 1,100!”

“1,200!”

“1,500!”

“2,000!”

There was a short pause, but then the price continued to rise. Even if this God-Summoning Token was sold for 10,000 spirit stones, it would not be a loss.

The stall owner beheld this greedy scene and rubbed his short hands rejoicefully.

However, among the bidding crowd, two people remained unmoved.

What a bunch of idiots, Hao Chen thought with contempt as he watched this farce unfold.

Feng Ye also scoffed, laughing as he shook his head.

Hao Chen had only thought this to himself without making any sort of gesture, but Feng Ye’s scoff was too obvious, and aroused the dissatisfaction of those around him: “This…..simply-dressed Fellow Daoist, what do you mean by laughing?”

It was evident that although the person asking this question was discontent, he was very educated. He could even go against his conscience and call Feng Ye’s tattered robes “simply-dressed.”

Feng Ye informed him with good intentions: “I was just laughing at this black-hearted, unscrupulous profiteer trying to scam you out of your money.”

The moment these words were spoken, the crowd vying for bids quieted down.

Before anyone could inquire further, the stall owner jumped up and pointed at Feng Ye’s nose with his short hand: “You’re talking nonsense! I’m not a profiteer! I’m not a scammer!”

Unexpectedly, Feng Ye agreed with a nod: “You really didn’t lie.”

Just as everyone was confused, Feng Ye changed the direction of conversation: “You just didn’t tell the whole story. It can’t really be considered a lie, just concealing part of the truth at most.”

The stall owner’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and he realized that this human probably knew what he was talking about.

“Everyone.” Feng Ye suddenly bent down and picked the token up off the ground. The stall owner moved to stop him, but regrettably, his short hands were not as fast as Feng Ye’s.

Having successfully obtained the token, Feng Ye turned around and held it up to the crowd, saying: “The God-Summoning Token is indeed as he says. It can communicate directly with the gods, and can also serve as a medium, allowing a god to temporarily lend their divine power. However…..”

Feng Ye raised his hand high, showing it to everyone while dodging the stall owner who was jumping up and down trying to grab the token: “There are actually two kinds of God-Summoning Tokens, one with the name of a god written on it, and one without.”

“Although the total number of gods in the heavens is not large, it isn’t small either. A token without a name written on it is like a message in a bottle thrown into the ocean, hoping that a god will pick it up in a stroke of good luck. The chances of this are so slim that they are almost negligible.”

“And the other type of God-Summoning Token with a name written on it is just as he said, a true medium for communicating with a god, but only the one whose name is on the token. Of course, whether or not that god responds to you does depend on the god’s mood.” As Feng Ye spoke, he looked at the stall owner hopping up and down in vain due to his height disadvantage.

Feng Ye continued: “The name of a god, the title bestowed upon them, contains a certain power. Some gods are capable of warding off evil spirits, and even demons dare not approach when their names are recited aloud.”

“But writing this name, especially on this token, is bound to be extremely difficult. Even in the heavens, only a small number of priests are capable of it. The tokens they write on would only contain the characters for the god they worship, and they wouldn’t sell them off casually. They are only used in offerings and rituals, or when the survival of a civilization is at stake. Any other time, they wouldn’t dare disturb their god’s peace.”

“And this one.” Feng Ye shook the token in his hand. “This is the type without a name that I mentioned. The chances of a god hearing your request through this token is about the same as if you were to go to any random temple and pray.”

So that was the case. When everyone suddenly realized what was going on, they could only shout at the stall owner: “Swindler!”

“Fraud!”

“I almost fell for your trick!”

While cursing, everyone angrily flicked their sleeves and left. In the blink of an eye, the originally crowded stall was completely empty.

Feng Ye alone remained standing there, because the token was still in his hand. The stall owner refused to give up, and continued to jump up and down on his short legs to reach it.

Hao Chen stayed as well. Since Feng Ye hadn’t left, he certainly wouldn’t either.

He had watched as Feng Ye exposed the true face of this unscrupulous profiteer. In fact, he already knew everything Feng Ye said. It was all common sense in the heavenly realm.

He also wasn’t surprised that Feng Ye knew the different types of God-Summoning Tokens. After all, he had always suspected that Feng Ye originated in heaven.

This stall owner was simply trying to deceive these humans who had never been to heaven and had limited knowledge.

Even though he knew all of this, Hao Chen had no intention of stepping forward to point it out, and watched the show contentedly while waving his mini fan.

Now that the people had left, taking their enthusiasm with them, the unscrupulous stall owner could no longer perform his act, and naturally couldn’t sell his token.

Tired of hopping around, he stood there and caught his breath. Only then did he realize that all of his customers had left, and he couldn’t help but fly into an embarrassed rage. Although he couldn’t reach the token in Feng Ye’s hand, he could reach Feng Ye’s leg.

So he hugged Feng Ye’s leg and said unreasonably: “You must compensate me with spirit stones!”

Hao Chen covered his lips with the mini fan to hide his smile. He had no intention of stepping forward to help. Feng Ye could handle such a small matter, so he simply watched the show with peace of mind.

Indeed, Feng Ye really didn’t need his help. Seeing that the stall owner was clinging onto him relentlessly, he raised his eyebrows and said: “Touching porcelain?”

The stall owner said rudely: “So what? Don’t force me to take drastic measures! If you’re scared, just pay up!”

“Mediocre performance,” Feng Ye replied with a chuckle. “I was really afraid you wouldn’t make trouble for me.”

Otherwise, he would have no reason to take action, ah.

The moment Feng Ye finished speaking, the leg the stall owner was clutching lifted up and gave him a light kick.

The stall owner was kicked backwards. Unable to maintain his balance, his body swayed for a long moment before falling to the ground.

And when he fell to the ground, he broke in half.

“Ouch!”

“Ouch!”

Two overlapping cries of pain were heard.

Feng Ye and Hao Chen then realized that not only was this stall owner short, he had very short limbs unlike the proportions of a normal person.

And it turned out that this stall owner was not a human being at all, but two sea otters stacked half a meter tall to resemble a human.

The moment they fell to the ground, their robes fell off and revealed their true appearances.

The size of these monsters was slightly larger than those of ordinary animals. Feng Ye calculated the sizes of the sea otters rolling around on the ground and concluded that they were probably still juveniles.

Although these two had started it by selling fake goods first, guilt arose in Feng Ye out of nowhere. It felt as if he was picking on children.

So he didn’t take further action.

However, Feng Ye may have been content to let it go, but the sea otters were not. Seeing that their identities had been exposed when they fell, the otter who had been silent joined the battle in support of the other: “Don’t even think about leaving if you don’t pay up today!”

Reasoning with them was useless, and beating them wasn’t a good idea either, so Feng Ye decided to mainly rely on intimidation. He rolled up his sleeves to reveal his muscular forearms, crossing them over his chest as he looked down at the two otters from above.

When humans rolled up their sleeves, it was usually a prelude to a fight. The two sea otters also understood this. They tilted their heads up at Feng Ye’s large body. Compared to their half-meter height, every human was big and strong.

The two of them stacked together barely reached Feng Ye’s waist. After comparing their levels of strength, the two sea otters realized their deficits at once and could only hug each other, trembling. However, despite their trembling, the two sea otters did not succumb to the dark forces of mankind.

This was North Sea City, their territory! So they hugged each other and shouted at the top of their lungs: “Help, ah! Someone is robbing us in broad daylight!”

Feng Ye: “…..”

These two naughty kids. Feng Ye looked at them with a frown. They were obviously scared enough to be shaking and hugging each other, yet they decided to stay and distort the facts.

Feng Ye faced gazes all around him from those whose attention was drawn by the sea otters’ cries for help. He had clearly done nothing wrong, so why did he feel as if he had inexplicably become the villain?

Feng Ye needed a witness to prove his innocence, and his thoughts naturally moved to Hao Chen. But when he turned around, he found Hao Chen holding his fan to hide his laughter, with no intention of stepping forward to help.

Feng Ye: “…..” He knew this fish was unreliable.

He looked down again at the two sea otters before him, who were still howling. Everyone from the North Sea was of the same ilk, with the same inherited dark poison in their bellies! Feng Ye harbored great prejudice against the North Sea in his heart.

He didn’t know if it was because the security in North Sea City was really that good, but the two sea otters only shouted five or six times before a group of crabs identical to Crab Eighteen made their way over.

This time, there were no guide crabs. These ones were holding weapons.

The crowd of onlookers consciously made way for the Crab troops. In North Sea City, anyone but the crab clan could be provoked, so they all acted sensibly.

The crab troops approached Feng Ye and the stall unimpeded. The sea otters complained to the lead crab: “Old Crab Nine, this human is bullying us!”

Old Crab Nine? Feng Ye looked this Old Crab Nine up and down, and was unable to tell the difference between it and Crab Eighteen. How could these two sea otters tell them apart?

While Feng Ye was internally muttering to himself, the eyes on top of Old Crab Nine’s head were observing him. But he didn’t observe him for long. Perhaps a crab’s vision was different from a human’s due to their different eye structures.

The two sea otters were clearly pointing at Feng Ye, but when he heard their complaint, Old Crab Nine waved his claws and said: “Seize him!”

Then, he took Hao Chen away.

Hao Chen: “? ? ?” Wasn’t he just an innocent bystander?

Due to his shock, he even forgot to resist as he was taken away by the crab troops.

Feng Ye and the two sea otters stood there, staring at the backs of the crab troops: “…..”

The otters wore twin expressions of bewilderment. 

Such was their confusion that they even forgot about the dispute between the two parties and just stood there, watching as the wrongly-accused Hao Chen was taken away.

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