The gaze swept through his body once, twice and thrice…. yet it did not seem to find anything conclusive and retracted away from Di Tanxue but did not leave entirely.
It was the domain lord's way of telling that he would continue to monitor Di Tanxue's every move while he remained within this domain.
This was not the standard way of procedure that a domain lord followed. It was a treatment reserved only for the most dangerous of existences and for him to treat Di Tanxue in such a manner, it can only be said that Flaming-Crescent Domain Lord had a very keen intuition.
It was no wonder he could remain in the position of power over a neutral territory like Flaming-Crescent Domain for the last hundred years.
That's right, Flaming-Crescent Domain was a non-affiliated domain, meaning that it was a domain not under any faction's control.
This was also the reason why the domain lord did not prevent Di Tanxue from continuing to stay within his domain. Since he had no faction to rely upon, he could only give face to a powerful adversary and not interfere as long as they did nothing to harm his domain or people within.
Di Tanxue paid no heed to the Domain Lord's gaze and walked the streets with light steps, looking around in reminiscence at the passing buildings.
Flaming-Crescent Domain, this place was his birthplace and also the place where he spent the majority of his childhood before being sold as a commodity.
His body wrapped in the Cloak of Concealment and his facial features hidden with its hood, his obviously conspicuous figure did not attract much attention from the pedestrians. On the contrary, they ignored his existence entirely and did not even so much as glance his way.
Them being the residents of a non-affiliated domain, one just three days distance away from the Northern-Port, it was completely normal for them to see tens or even hundreds of visitors passing by the domain on any given day.
They had long grown used to the presence of visitors of unclear identity.
Walking around a while longer and buying a few snacks to munch on, Di Tanxue soon reached his destination.
A majestic, three-storey rectangular building in a perfectly preserved state as if newly built, with the sign 'The Gentle Rain Merchant Group' hanging on its entrance.
Gazing at the sign for a second or two, Di Tanxue suppressed the anxiety in his heart and walked inside.
On the other side of the gate, a wide open hall with a detailed map depicting all the five continents of Crimson Echo covering the entirety of its main wall came into view.
Within the map it was possible to notice numerous red dots disturbed all throughout the five continents. They were the branch stores directly under the Gentle Rain Merchant Group.
As the largest merchant group of Crimson Echo and a subsidiary of 14-seat Council, this was their open display of might.
Even in a highly dangerous world like Crimson Echo, they were everywhere!
Looking around at the hall, Di Tanxue found only a couple of customers in the hall accompanied by a number of store attendants of Elven-descent.
"Dear Customer, how may I help you?"
A young woman seemingly in her early twenties, walked down from upstairs and approached Di Tanxue with an amiable attitude.
Red skinned, tall and lean figure with ashy-white hairs, the Red Elves were the uncrowned overlords of the Crimson Echo in both military and financial strength.
The 14-Seats Council of the Red Elves had a strength that not even the other two hegemons—the Church of Exalted Moon and the Vermillion Cult, could compare.
And as a subsidiary power under the Council, the Gentle Rain Merchant Group enjoyed quite a lot of respect.
Di Tanxue got straight to the point, requesting for a trade in a more private setting and was guided upstairs towards an isolated room at the end of the second floor corridor.
The moment he entered the room, the Domain Lord's gaze that had constantly been on him disappeared instantly. The Domain Lord was afraid of offending the merchant group by prying into their business matters.
Taking a seat inside with a smile, Di Tanxue took out nearly all of the spatial storage bags in his possession.
"I wish to sell these;"
He took out a total of eleven bags, with ten of them being about the size of a ten-year old human child's head and an azure dragon inscription drawn on the end of their strings. The last remaining one was slightly larger in size and had a bland appearance.
The store attendant gave the bags a once over and stated the price calmly.
"720 Phantom Crystals in total, anything else you wish to buy or sell?"
Di Tanxue thought for a moment and asked.
"Not really… do you sell disposable carriages by any chance?"
The attendant readily nodded her head and bragged with pride visible on her face.
"Of course as long as you can afford, we are willing to sell nearly anything of value;"
Hearing this, Di Tanxue burst out into laughter.
"Yes, of course you do, how could I not know?!"
Di Tanxue went silent and then spoke out.
"I want access to this store's sales records, how much will I have to pay?"
The attendant appeared stunned by Di Tanxue's words, but not for long. She soon came to her senses and responded in a helpful tone.
"Only our store manager can help with that, shall I call him over?"
Di Tanxue gave no answer and looked at the right corner of the room.
"No need, He's been here from the beginning;"
The attendant followed his gaze and jumped in surprise as an old-looking Red Elf in modest looking blue-robes suddenly appeared in the room.
"Master Huang!"
The attendant greeted respectfully and made way for manager Huang to take a seat as Di Tanxue called out.
"Manager Huang from the Northern Shao family;"
"Eh?.. have we met before, dear customer?"
The old elf asked with a hint of playful smile in his eyes. And although it was not outwardly obvious, Di Tanxue could instinctively feel the old elf attempting to probe his cultivation foundation and any other secrets.
"Not really, I've just heard people say great things about you;"
Di Tanxue shook his head and answered with a smile, putting a particular emphasis on the words 'great things'.
This obviously was a lie. It would be weird if Di Tanxue did not know about Manager Huang. He was the very person who had sold Di Tanxue nine years ago after all!