Hei Qiong made a weird expression as he looked at the blood tracking fly, "You want to sell this bug? My apologies, but our establishment focuses on the trade of weapons and spiritual tools, we can't offer much for your blood beast."
Ye Mo shook his head, "I don't want to sell it, but it's troublesome to carry the fly with me everywhere. I wonder if you have a solution?"
It could be seen previously in the jungle or inside the tomb, the blood tracking fly couldn't follow him Ye Mo anywhere he went and the second phase of shadow walk was not usable or the fly would just leave.
It was only a short time since he obtained the bug, but there have already been two instances where he had to find a way for it to not fly away. Who knew how many more there would be?
If the blood beast were to escape and fall into the hands of someone else, it would be the worst outcome, losing his loot in favor of a stranger, and since the blood tracking fly swallowed his blood, this person would be able to follow Ye Mo's position as long as he was in the range of the fly.
Ye Mo would rather stomp the bug to death than let it happen, but he was relatively safe for now, so he preferred to take care of the problem immediately if it was possible rather than let it fester until something troublesome occurred.
Hearing this, Hei Qiong's eyes lit up.
Maybe he could make up for their precedent transaction and earn quite a bit here.
"Of course, clans and sects confine them in a room from their headquarters to feed them and release the bugs outside only when they need their tracking abilities to find someone. However, you're not from any clan so you don't have this way to prevent it from escaping."
Although Hei Qiong just met Ye Mo, he knew there wasn't any Ye clan in Azure Water City.
"I have several methods to deal with this problem, for merely five thousand gold coins I could..."
The forgemaster just started boisterously recounting his solutions when he was cut short by Ye Mo.
"Only the cheapest one."
Hei Qiong paused for a second with a wry smile, internally dejected.
However, he quickly recovered and said, "Well, for three thousand gold I could enclose the blood tracking fly in a fossilized crystal and let it hibernate. This way it won't be able to move around or attract attention, it will just lay dormant until you break the crystal and awaken the beast."
"However, this method contains some risks. The fly can't be fed in the crystal so even in hibernation, it can only survive for two to three years in this state at best before you will be forced to break the crystal if you don't want it to die of starvation. It will also be very weakened after the hibernation and won't be able to fly around immediately; it must be nourished first, then you have to wait for a few hours and let the beast recover its senses before you can send it to track someone without danger."
Ye Mo thought for an instant before he nodded, "This is good enough."
He had no use for the blood tracking fly right now and by putting it into the crystal, he could even cut the need of feeding it for some time. If at one point, he wanted to sell it or track someone for him, he could free the blood beast at this moment.
The drawbacks were not too inconvenient, so there was no reason to refuse.
Hei Qiong smiled lightly, his mood turning for the better, but it quickly changed after Ye Mo's next sentence.
"If I pay a visit to other shops and ask them the price for this fossilized crystal method, will they give me the same as yours?"
Hei Qiong quickly reassured with confidence and said in a firm tone, "They might tell you the price is two thousand gold, but it's because these people have no expertise. Here in the Ironheart Weaponsmiths establishment, all our products are of the finest quality, but quality also has a price so the costs are slightly raised as well."
There was no need to lie at this point, this information could easily be discovered by Ye Mo if he asked a bit around so Hei Qiong soothed him instead, talking about the knowledge and skills of their forgemasters being the best and how the fossilized crystal would last much longer if it came from them.
The truth is that he was just trying to scam Ye Mo once again to make up for the low-profit transaction he made with him previously.
"I see, yet three thousand gold coins is a bit much for me, I think I will still go to another shop and use this method for a thousand gold less, even if it's slightly less effective. Thank you for the information mister Hei." Ye Mo cupped his fists to Hei Qiong as he was ready to leave.
"However!" Hearing this, Hei Qiong suddenly raised his voice as if he were interrupted by Ye Mo and continued his sentence, "Because in our establishment, we value relationships with customers as much as profits, and to establish a long and trustful association with a bright young man like you, we will reduce our price to two thousand gold coins."
Hei Qiong's face was dim like still water, forcing the words out of his mouth.
"Master Hei is truly a man among men, being so generous. This little one is indebted." Ye Mo answered courteously.
This transaction wasn't bad for Hei Qiong, two thousand gold was the normal price, and after using his time to enclose the fly in a fossilized crystal, the earnings would still easily overcome the losses.
Yet, after completing a transaction of only eight thousand gold coins to forge a peak-tier spiritual weapon, Hei Qiong was far from satisfied.
"Little fucker, can't you take something lying down?" He swore in his heart.
Hei Qiong tried to extort Ye Mo twice but was unsuccessful each time and had to bootlick him for him to come back after every failure.
For a senior and an experienced business man facing a teen, this was a huge blow.
As a forgemaster and an important figure of the Ironheart Weaponsmiths, he had to hog all the transactions he could for the benefit of the establishment.
If he let Ye Mo go to other shops in detriment of their own profit, freely giving this opulent customer to their rivals at that, it would cause dissatisfaction among other members of the establishment.
Hei Qiong's position was a strength but also a weakness in this situation.
Above all, he was hurt in his pride.
He was one of the best forgemasters of the city and a prestigious cultivator, he met daily the affluent and powerful, but when has he ever been treated like that?
This Ye Mo dared threaten him under his own roof, disparage his capabilities, and paid for his services for only eight thousand gold.
By reason, he knew completing the deal was the right thing to do, but emotionally, he was very upset and frustrated.
"Then I will come back tomorrow with the gold." Ye Mo suddenly said.
Hei Qiong snapped out of his sulking hearing his words, and asked with surprise, "You didn't bring the gold coins with you?"
"Of course not, I told you I would be going to other establishments if I wasn't satisfied by what you proposed. I wouldn't randomly travel around the city while carrying a small mountain of gold with me."
"Alright, but be mindful that if you don't return and pay the price, as stipulated in the contract, we will keep the pure iridescent iron as interests for wasting our time." Hei Qiong warned.
"I will keep this in mind."
Ye Mo departed from the building soon after.
It was the start of a long evening for him as he traveled across the whole city, accumulating his wealth.
To start, he went to many alchemical stores and various medical shops, selling all the blood cores he collected during the recruitment competition of the Tiger Martial Institute.
In total, he obtained a bit over one thousand two hundred gold coins after handing them over.
Although he had twelve low-tier blood cores, more than twice the number of the rest, it was the five mid-tier blood cores that earned him the most, being valued at seven hundred sixty two gold coins by the shopkeepers.
When he was done, he visited several forges and establishments dealing with weapons and such, inquiring about the amount they were ready to give for pure iridescent iron.
In the end, he sold the iron to the highest bidder, the Dragonfire Foundry.
However, he didn't hand over everything but kept one small part of it with him.
The pure iridescent iron was valuable not only because it was an excellent material to use in forging, but also because it was rare and couldn't be obtained easily.
The more pure iridescent iron was seen and the more its price would lower.
It was the same as if someone thought something was extremely rare and precious, then suddenly, he was casually handed a huge amount of it, obviously, its value would drop in his heart.
That's why he gave only a small portion of the already little iron that remained in his possession to the Dragonfire Foundry. The iron was like a little treasure for them and after small bargains where Ye Mo threatened to sell it to other establishments, he reaped the most out of the deal.
He later still went to the Armament Artisans establishment and sold the remainder of his iron for a good sum as well, using the same method.
Of course, this affair was done using his identity as a member of the Tiger Martial Institute otherwise, the pure iridescent iron would immediately be snatched off his hands, while only the leniency of his robbers would determine his own fate.
He also exacted this transaction while hiding his features under his cloak and wearing a cheap, porcelain-white mask on his face so that the sales couldn't be traced back to him.
Particularly the Ironheart Weaponsmiths, if they heard he sold pure iridescent iron right after their agreement where he told them he had only four chunks, they would blame him of being fraudulent and try to extort him for more.
By selling the remainder of his iron, he obtained a total of five thousand five hundred gold coins and that's when he sold only a small amount of it, the biggest part was still given to Hei Qiong so he could forge his spiritual weapon.
With this, he was able to gather six thousand seven hundred gold coins in just a few hours.
Finally, to meet the eight thousand gold fixed during his talk with the forgemaster, he sold both Liu Huan's and Liu Hualing's pouches which he kept with him till now.
Liu Hualing's pouch wasn't that good, the space inside was small and the price fetched from the sale was only four hundred gold coins. However, the one from Liu Huan was much better, giving Ye Mo more than a thousand.
With this, the original price fixed for the weapon was reached.
"Now I still need to gather two thousand gold coins for the fossilized crystal." Ye Mo looked at the sunrise in the east.
It was truly long days every time he left the institute. Between the Liu clan's pursuit, Ma De Quan's underground chamber and his deal with the Ironheart Weaponsmiths, Ye Mo had no time for respite.
Yet, far from dispirited, Ye Mo knew it was a necessary step for his plans. Everything would quickly accelerate after he left the institute, to secure himself a future, he had to prepare himself in advance and increase his strength.
"The most important is to obtain the peak-tier spiritual weapon, with this, I will be able to alleviate my lack of battle skills and raise my strength."
Ye Mo expended all the means he prepared to accumulate wealth for the needs of his cultivation, but he didn't feel any pity over it.
He knew the year-end competition would be very dangerous, people prepared for it months before it started, and many experts from the three institutes would participate.
Only by raising his abilities to the maximum in a short time would he have a chance to attain the top.
Money and fortune come and go, all but material goods, only strength and cultivation are the root to one's dominance.