3: Vendor

It's now deep into the night. Right now, Fendou Yi, who is alone by their family courtyard's east corner, has a pushcart right before him. In between him and the pushcart is a large basin, with the right size that can fit in the pushcart.

His hands then rose in a grasping manner, his palms facing upward. Then, out of nowhere, a dull yellow flower appeared on one of his hands, while a glowing, greenish-white herb appeared in another. It is the Honey Dew Flower and Ardent Glow Grass, respectively.

Following their appearance, an invisible suction force manifested over the herbs, directly taking all of its essences. With their important compositions taken from them, they directly dissipated to dust. The collected essences, now in the form of a misty ball with the size of an egg floating above Fendou Yi's palms, have a brighter shade of color compared to their origins.

This cycle of essence extraction continued until all of the herbs were taken out of his personal dimension space. The mountains' worth of herbs' extracted essence made the misty ball grow up to the same size as a boulder that's one meter in diameter.

In the next moment, the temperature in the area three meters in radius around Fendou Yi dropped as frost energy was condensed. Next, with his palms waving forward, the two essences and the frost energy converged. Slowly, it became solid.

After it finished combining, it landed on the basin. Within the basin is a dimly glowing, creamy-looking solidified matter that looked strangely appetizing.

"Yes . . . Yeees . . . YEEEEEEESSSSS!" Maniacal laughter then resounded throughout the courtyard's east corner. Near it, a medium-sized hut is built. This is where Fendou Huo resides.

Awakened by the noise, Fendou Huo grumbled for a moment and looked out his window. He then saw his brother's back facing him, his body bent backwards, legs stretched while his knees are in an outward obtuse angle, arms spread out and laughing while facing the starry night sky. Any other person would think they're seeing a madman, but he only raised an eyebrow at the sight.

'Big Bro seems to be enjoying himself, but why at this time?' thought Fendou Huo, as a wave of sleepiness washed over him which caused him to yawn. "Well, I won't bother with it . . ." was what he muttered before going back to sleep.

Now, it's morning again; six days before the Fendou clan competition. Fendou Yi, along with a pushcart, is hidden in a dark alley of Black Owl City. He currently has both his hands on the pushcart handles. As for his appearance, he's wearing a purposely worn-out dark brown robe, with the face of a slightly handsome middle-aged man and he is now 6 feet tall; and so you wonder again, how can a 10 year old boy turn into a 6 foot tall, middle-aged man?

During his casual cultivation in the past four years, he has also reached the Land Shaker Stage in body cultivation, so he is more than capable of morphing his physical appearance since one only needs to reach the Earthly Transfiguration Stage of the Physique Mastery Realm to accomplish this feat.

Fendou Yi now moved to expose himself in the wide streets. Black Owl City is a medium-level city, but its bustling atmosphere rivals a high-level city. Thus, the sideroad Fendou Yi with his pushcart emerged in feels slightly cramped, but he didn't mind, for his claustrophobia was long cured back in his 23rd lifetime.

Now, he began hawking like the other vendors as he yelled in a rich, baritone voice, "Get your ice cream! Delicious ice cream! Have a cup of this chilly goodness for only 10 silvers!"

Most people who heard and saw him first took notice of him, then ignored him immediately after. They immediately assumed he was selling a kind of food from the word "delicious", but 10 silver coins was too outrageous even for the extravagant kinds.

After all, the majority of stalls usually sell one serving at a price ranging from 5 to 20 copper coins, depending on what type of food they serve, while restaurants' average price for a dish is 50 copper coins and their bestsellers would cost 1-3 silver coins.

A silver coin is worth a hundred copper coins. One can have plentiful servings of delicacies with 10 silver coins.

A boy looked over the moving pushcart, pointed at it, and tugged at his mother's hand while saying, "Mama, I haven't tried that yet!"

She can't help but look worried upon hearing her son's words. Thus, she can only gently reprimand him, saying, "Dan'er, it's too expensive for us. We can buy many other goodies with 10 silvers. Also, he seems suspicious. It might not even be delicious like he says. Come, come, how about I buy you some fried, battered quail eggs, your favorite, instead?"

Hearing her, little Dan'er can only hang his head in sadness, but he was excited by what he heard next.

"Hehe, boy, you're in luck! I, me, this vendor, shall give you one cup for free!"

The man removed the wooden lid of the basin on his pushcart, revealing the contents within. Everyone who saw it couldn't get their eyes off it, because it was glowing! There was also a faint mist that wafted out, bringing with it a sweet, refreshing smell akin to flowers in nature.

Grabbing a serving spoon and a paper cup beside the basin, Fendou Yi scooped some ice cream to fill the paper cup until it formed a small, spherical mound, making it look quite appetizing.

The mother was pleasantly surprised by the sudden turn of events, but has some suspicions. Before she has even sorted her thoughts, though, the man said, "Hey, I'm not some shady person. It's not harmful, I don't bring danger to my customers for profits, and I have no reason to ruin the future of the nation. I won't trick you into paying, either. I don't run a business, lass. I make a living."

As if there was some magical power in the man's voice, she couldn't help but feel relieved upon hearing his words. It answered all the questions in her head, for some reason. She also blushed when she registered the fact that he called her "lass" with a strange tone. She was also charmed by his steady, amiable, and forthright demeanor, not to mention his attractive appearance. Her thoughts ran wild.

"It's your lucky day, little one. Enjoy!" said Fendou Yi as he went down on one knee and passed the cup to the boy.

With visible excitement and curiosity at the unknown, Dan'er picked up the little wooden scoop stuck on top of it, took a mouthful's worth and gave the ice cream a lick. Eyes widening, he stared at the scoop for a moment before swallowing it all. What followed after was him vigorously scooping at it all, leaving smears of ice cream on his face as he took in scoop after scoop.

The man smiled at the result, patted he boy's shoulders, and continued peddling his wares on his way to a mainroad. The mother and the boy thanked him for the freebie before he left their sights. As for the onlookers, they're still intrigued, but still went on their way. 10 silver coins was too big of an expense for what seemed to be a snack. Or so they thought.

The boy, who now continued walking wih his mother on their way home, suddenly stopped in place. The mother was worried that her suspicions may be true upon seeing her son's weird behavior.

A strong gust of wind then blew out, covering tens of meters in distance, with the boy at the center. It ruffled people's clothes, rattled some stalls, and displaced many items the other vendors were tending to.

Dan'er, witnessing such a phenomenon, can only express himself with a word, "WOW!", then ran around his mother in circles, who was still rearranging her messy clothes for being near the gust's epicenter. The boy's speed was also increasing as he ran while shouting out, "Mama, look, I feel so light and strong!"

Martial artists, which consisted half the surrounding people, were bewildered and in disbelief to see a 6 year old boy exhibit the speed of a Blood Empowering Stage, Physique Molding Realm martial artist. As they still vividly remembered what transpired earlier, they immediately connected the dots.

Having come to a conclusion, they all hastily went in the direction of the mainroad where Fendou Yi went. The clinking of coins can be heard.

Having reached his destination, Fendou Yi now proceeded to go about slowly with his plan: stir chaos in the city by selling ice cream which could enhance one's physique and potential! The herbs he used didn't have the properties to actually improve the mentioned attributes, as they were only there for the flavor and glowing effect; it was his qi that he added in the frost energy that was capable of it. They can permeate the cells' deepest recesses and transform its structure inside-out to increase it's energy-to-strength conversion efficiency.

He made a mischievious smile while advertising his product, but to others, it seemed like the smile of a simple peddler.

Many ignored him again after hearing his ludicrous price. At this moment, the martial artists from the sideroad have already left it. They look around for a moment then saw the man they were looking for, on his merry way to the central plaza. They frantically chased after him.

"Brother, I would like to buy a cup!"

"Friend, is three cups alright to order?!"

"Mister, what are you selling? And why can it strengthen physiques?!"

Having caught up to Fendou Yi by the plaza's entrance, the ruckus the martial artists made attracted the eyes of everyone all around the plaza. His presence in the plaza overshadowed all the other ongoing businesses there.

He didn't answer the questions related to cultivation thrown at him. As for those about purchases, Fendou Yi said he'd explain it the moment he finds a spot in the plaza. Nevertheless, they all followed him, causing numerous idlers and different kinds of people to observe the random development.

Their interests piqued, several groups of people, ranging from youths to old people, came towards the commotion, the word "curious" written all over their faces. Not literally, of course. Don't be silly.

"Now, now, I am but a humble vendor. My wares are nothing special. If you all wish to buy my ice cream, just form an orderly queue," said Fendou Yi as he stationed himself in an empty spot and beckoned with his right hand, indicating to form the line by his right side. The martial artists followed the instructions at once. They didn't believe his product was "nothing special", though. Its glowing characteristic would make even a fool know that it's something.

The first customer was a man who looked like he's in his late twenties. He paid the price and received his own paper cup. Immediately, he wolfed it down on the spot; and just like the boy earlier, he exuded out a strong gust of wind. The onlookers, now majorly composed of martial artists, can only keep their mouths open from the spectacle.

"It's just so good! I can feel my bottleneck loosening, too! May I buy some more?" asked the man. Hearing his words, everyone couldn't keep their calm anymore, especially those who were present in the sideroad earlier.

"No! I made this for sale so that everyone can experience its taste and effects! It wouldn't be fair for the others, right? There will be no negotiations or bargains!" stated Fendou Yi. He has made his stand.

The first customer and many others can only breathe out a disappointed sigh. After he left the queue, the next customer was a more composed man in his forties. After buying his share, it took him a half a minute before he finished it off, each bite bringing a bigger smile on his face. "This is indeed good stuff," he said, but his face then turned dignified and the atmosphere around him became solemn.

At this moment, he sat down in a lotus position beside the now long line of people. Like the first man, out gushed the wind, but something unexpected happened again. After the blowing of wind stopped, he then became something like a vacuum as winds swept towards him, forming a tornado with him in the middle.

A few minutes later, the vacuum-generated winds stopped. The man then promptly stood up and brandished his fist. His presence changed, like his state of being has been elevated. He then turned towards Fendou Yi and said, "Brother, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I thought I'd be stuck at the Physique Molding Realm for the rest of my life," before cupping his fist and bowing low.

"WHAT?! He directly broke through to the Qi Manipulation Realm after eating this "ice cream"!"

"How can there be such a good thing?!"

There is now an outrage taking place in the city plaza. So big was the scale that even the patrolling city guards had to look into what's happening over there and control the chaos that is about to take place. One guard was ordered by his patrol captain to report this matter to the city lord directly.

During this time, some disciples of all the city's clans ran back to their respective manors and reported what they saw in the city plaza. After hearing their reports, each of their superiors were flabbergasted at the news. They immediately sent their findings to their respective elders, who then passed it unto the clan heads. Everyone was going in a frenzy. Wanting to see the things they were told with their own eyes, they all set forth to the plaza.

As for the perpetrator who is behind all this, he is giving away paper cups here and there, as a windstorm took over in the plaza.