Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness swept out and everything around him appeared within the range of his spiritual consciousness. However, he did not see any trace of Ning Ruolan, nor did he find any clue relating to Helian Dai according to the description given by Lu Yu.
Ning Cheng then walked into the merchant house that Lu Yu referred to and saw many people inside. From this, he could tell that this merchant house enjoyed a decent business. Besides, from the looks of it, this merchant house seemed to deal primarily in acquiring spiritual gra.s.ses and selling medicinal pills.
“Call the storekeeper.” Ning Cheng forcefully squeezed in, separating the crowd near the counter. Ruolan’s trail ended here, so why would Ning Cheng show any patience to stand around.
Moreover, most of the people here were rogue cultivators, which meant no one would willingly create trouble. Therefore, when they realised that Ning Cheng had squeezed in with questionable intentions, the cultivators crowding the counter automatically stepped away before Ning Cheng used any force. Some of the less courageous cultivators even decided to leave the store.
“Stand in line at the back, or get out. If you want to make trouble here, then you came to the wrong place.” The shop a.s.sistant shouted when he saw people moving away from Ning Cheng, especially the cultivators around the counter. Some of the cultivators even began to leave. This store enjoyed good business; as such, it didn’t matter if there was one more or one less Ning Cheng, but it would matter if many people decided to leave because of this person.
Before Ning Cheng could speak, Chasing Bull stepped forward and put his hoof on the counter, “Did you not hear my master? Call the storekeeper. This old bull will only count to three. If that storekeeper doesn’t come forward by then, this old bull will disa.s.semble your store personally.”
Chasing Bull had been travelling with Ning Cheng for a long time; as such, it knew a little about the temper of its master. At this time, it had to put up an excellent performance; otherwise, there was a good chance that its master might think of it as useless and throw it back into the ring.
As Chasing Bull’s imposing aura spread out, the shop a.s.sistant immediately felt difficulty in breathing. He didn’t wait for Chasing Bull to start the count and quickly took out a communication pearl before sending out a few messages.
“Chasing Bull, take your hoof off the counter. Ask about things clearly before doing anything.” Seeing the shop a.s.sistant sending messages, Ning Cheng patted Chasing Bull’s head.
“Yes, master.” Chasing Bull completely ignored the gazes directed at it and respectfully took away its hoof from the counter; however, it felt proud. Looks like I didn’t make any mistakes this time; otherwise, master would have definitely slapped me instead of just giving a light pat on the head. This also proves that the new pleasing technique works on master. How could those little wasps compare to this old bull from now on, humph?
The storekeeper soon came down. He looked like a kind man with a goatee, but with cultivation at the peak of Heaven’s Mandate Realm.
“This friend, how can our store help you?” The storekeeper had a much better vision than the shop a.s.sistant had and immediately spoke to Ning Cheng with cupped fists as soon as he came out. He couldn’t see Ning Cheng’s cultivation, but he could tell that Chasing Bull’s cultivation and imposing aura did not lose out to him. Such a powerful companion beast would definitely have an even more powerful master. At the very least at the late stages of Heaven’s Mandate Realm. As for being a Heaven Seated cultivator, he dismissed the thought immediately. He could tell that Ning Cheng was not old, and any starry sky cultivator would have to cultivate for a long time to reach that level. They wouldn’t just experience overnight success.
Ning Cheng asked in a flat voice, “How long has your store been here?”
The storekeeper with the goatee suddenly felt his heartbeat accelerate for no reason, and it gave birth to a bad premonition. However, he still answered with a polite voice, “We’ve been here for a little less than three months.”
“The Ancient Shadow Temple has been open for a long time. How come you obtained such a good place so late?” Ning Cheng asked with a sharp voice, staring directly into the storekeeper’s eyes.
The storekeeper with the goatee immediately came back to his senses and thought about why he felt afraid of this person? Even if this person were a Heaven Seated cultivator, no one would dare to treat him this way. He also had a Heaven Seated expert backing him; moreover, that expert was at the middle stages of Heaven Seated Realm.
As soon as he thought of it, the voice of that storekeeper with the goatee grew louder, “This friend, how we got this place has nothing to do with you, right? My store is a branch of Named River Chamber of Commerce. If you have any question, please go to the Named River Chamber of Commerce’s headquarters.”
Lu Yu, who just managed to get to Ning Cheng’s side, quickly spoke up, “Senior, Named River is one of the five largest chambers of commerce within Named Descendant Celestial River; its master, Fu Yinghe, is also a Heaven Seated Powerhouse….”
The shop a.s.sistant on hearing Lu Yu’s worried voice gave out a scornful snort.
Ning Cheng nodded and still stared at the storekeeper with the goatee and said, “So why did I hear that you s.n.a.t.c.hed this merchant house from someone else? The previous store owners should be Helian Mingzhe and Helian Dai.”
The man with the goatee knew that Ning Cheng told the truth. Therefore, he spoke up in a cold voice, “This is the matter concerning my Named Descendant Celestial River. Don’t bother asking about it. Please see yourself out; you are no longer welcome here. What we do here is only the business of our merchant house.”
Hearing those words, Chasing Bull lifted its hoof and let it fall onto the counter. But this time, the table disintegrated under Chasing Bull’s hoof as it spoke up. “Lord Goatee, it’s already a blessing that my master chose to talk to you. My master may have a good temper, but this old bull does not. Do you really want to dare challenge this old bull’s bottom line?”
Having said that, Chasing Bull lifted its rear two hooves and kicked at the sample cabinets near the counter. In just a moment, the area around the table turned into a huge mess.
This time Ning Cheng did not say anything at all. If Helian Dai had sold the store through a formal transaction, the storekeeper would have definitely mentioned it. But hearing the words of this goatee b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he immediately understood that they had taken over the store by force.
“You….” Seeing Chasing Bull behaving in such an unbridled manner, the storekeeper’s countenance finally changed. He could tell that Ning Cheng felt no fear towards Named River Chamber of Commerce. At the same time, he also knew that it was too late to call in reinforcements, and directly brought out a sword.
Ning Cheng didn’t care about the storekeeper bringing out a sword at all. Instead, he turned to the lively cultivators around him and said, “To anyone who can tell me how this merchant house appeared here, I will give you a middle-rank flight-type Dao Artefact.”
After speaking, Ning Cheng raised his hand and brought out an airship-type Dao Artefact. The airship looked extremely delicate. However, the aura of Dao Charm flowing around the airship made it so that one’s spiritual consciousness could not penetrate it all. In just a glance, the surrounding cultivators understood that this was a top-quality middle-rank Dao Artefact airship.
In fact, even the worst middle-rank Dao Artefact airship would have turned the people here crazy. So how could such a Dao Artefact airship brought out by Ning Cheng not move them?
“I know….”
“I also know….”
In just a moment, more than a dozen people came forward and shouted.
No matter how famous the Named River Chamber of Commerce was, it could not stop these cultivators from drooling over Ning Cheng’s Dao Artefact airship. Even Lu Yu and Dong Li, who stood behind Ning Cheng, sported a hot glow in their eyes. A middle-rank Dao Artefact airship? How many years would it take to save enough celestial coins to buy one?
For a starry sky cultivator, a good flight-type weapon meant better chances of staying alive.
“You speak.” Ning Cheng pointed to a fierce-looking cultivator at the peak of Heaven’s Mandate Realm.
The reason he picked this cultivator was that a middle-rank Dao Artefact airship was just too attractive in the hands of an ordinary cultivator. If a cultivator with lower cultivation got it, there was a good chance that the cultivator would not be able to keep it and even die.
The cultivator at the peak of Heaven’s Mandate Realm, on hearing Ning Cheng’s words, quickly came to the front and spoke. “Senior, I know of this matter very well. There used to be a wine store run by three people here. The owner was Helian Mingzhe. I don’t know the names of the other two, but they were two female cultivators with low cultivations. Named River Chamber of Commerce came here a little later. Since they couldn’t occupy this location before, they forced the three people away.”
“At that time, Helian Mingzhe reacted a bit slowly and got injured in the scuffle, and the one who hurt Helian Mingzhe was Storekeeper Quan. After Helian Mingzhe’s injuries worsened, the two female cultivators quickly took him away. As for where they went, I don’t know. In fact, this store, previously run by Helian Mingzhe, is not the only one occupied by this merchant house. They have forcibly taken over the shops of several rogue cultivators around these parts.”
Ning Cheng’s gaze turned cold, and he looked at the man with the goatee, “You are Storekeeper Quan.”
Fear flashed through the eyes of the man with the goatee. But before he could answer, the cultivator at the peak of Heaven’s Mandate Realm, the one who had just answered Ning Cheng’s question, spoke up, “Yes, he is Storekeeper Quan.”
When Ning Cheng looked at the expression of that man with the goatee, he understood that the cultivator at the peak of Heaven’s Mandate Realm had not lied. With a wave of his hand, the middle-rank Dao Artefact airship fell into the hands of that Heaven’s Mandate cultivator with the words, “That thing belongs to you now. The rest should get out of this place.”
After that, Ning Cheng reached out and slapped. The man with the goatee couldn’t get the chance even to scream before Ning Cheng blasted him out of the store. Ning Cheng’s slap even destroyed the store.
“Plop….” When the man with the goatee fell to the ground, all his meridians had shattered, indicating that Ning Cheng had destroyed his cultivation.
The cultivators outside, who had no idea of what was going on, only saw the man with the goatee blown out of the store by Ning Cheng and destruction of the store.
The cultivators who ran out of the store before this happened, quickly disseminated what had happened inside. In just a short amount of time, almost all the cultivators in this area came to know that Named River Chamber of Commerce had forcibly driven away and taken over the stores of rogue cultivators previously operating here. From the looks of it, it seems someone had finally come to take revenge. As such, there was bound to be a fierce battle with Named River Chamber of Commerce.
Everyone looked at Ning Cheng coming out of the broken merchant house, but no one knew what Ning Cheng wanted to do. What’s more, everyone wondered about the origins of this man. How could anyone dare to challenge the Named River Chamber of Commerce blatantly, especially since it was one of the top five chambers of commerce in Named Descendant Celestial River?
As for the news about Named River Chamber of Commerce taking over other businesses run by rogue cultivators here, people mostly considered it a standard operation for them. If Named River Chamber of Commerce could not find a place for themselves here, did not force the rogue cultivators away from occupying such a prime location, then this would have been quite abnormal.
However, for someone to come here, drive out the storekeeper of Named River Chamber of Commerce’s merchant house, and even take it down, that was even more abnormal.
Ning Cheng spoke up to on looking cultivators, “Friends, please step back and leave this place. I’m going to arrange an array formation here.”
Ning Cheng had wrecked the merchant house of the Named River Chamber of Commerce, so why would anyone dare to go against his words right now?
As the crowd quickly cleared the area, as Ning Cheng waved his hand again. The merchant house, which had not collapsed entirely, finally disintegrated into dust. After smashing every inch of the merchant house, Ning Cheng continued, “Named River Chamber of Commerce seized my friend’s wine store, and today I’m just taking it back….”
Although everyone appreciated Ning Cheng’s actions in his or her hearts, no one came forward to echo this sentiment. Who here didn’t know the notoriety of Named River Chamber of Commerce? No one here would willingly fight Named River Chamber of Commerce for just a few words.
“From today, this place will become the Cheng Ruolan Restaurant again. As for Named River Chamber of Commerce, it will soon disappear from Second Revenant Star; no, it will disappear from Named Descendant Celestial River.”
As Ning Cheng’s voice rang out, the chatter immediately died down. The area turned extremely quiet. Declaring to wipe it out was equivalent to becoming mortal enemies with Named River Chamber of Commerce. If it were just a matter of competing for territory, there would have been a chance of resolution by discussing and compensating the affected party for losses. But declaring to wipe out Named River Chamber of Commerce, just where did this cultivator come from, how could someone speak so recklessly?
“You have guts, but can you back those big words? I, Fu Yinghe, came here especially to see if you really could wipe out my Named River Chamber of Commerce. Not to mention that my Named River Chamber of Commerce will not disappear, you’ll be the one to disappear first.” A frost-filled angry voice emerged, and then a middle-aged man in a brown cultivators’ robe landed in front of the destroyed merchant house.
“Fu Yinghe, the master of Named River Chamber of Commerce, he really came.” Someone in the crowd whispered immediately.