House of the Precious

Her bet had earned her another 1100 Spiritual Stones.

By comparison, her salary only brought her five Spiritual Stones every month, or 60 Spiritual Stones a year. It was a meager sum next to the wealth she had just received in a single day.

If she had tried to earn a sum that large by saving her salary, it would have required her to work for the association for nearly 20 years.

She had come to possess so many stones simply because she chose to believe in Jing Yan. Her current wealth would be sufficient for her to become a middle-ranking warrior.

In truth, it was actually quite difficult for a warrior at the Third Heaven to get a job that paid five Spiritual Stones a month.

It was worth noting that in the Jing Clan, a member who was at the Third Heaven would need to go through with monthly assessments just to earn two Spiritual Stones.

If a Third Heaven warrior went hunting in the Blackrock Mountains, that would have been tantamount to asking for an early death. Even if several Third Heaven warriors formed a party, they still wouldn't have the power to kill a First-grade Spiritual Beast, which was the weakest rank of creature to be found in the Blackrock Mountains. Only a party of Fourth Heaven warriors would stand a chance of hunting down a single First-grade creature.

"You're really, really lucky, Yuxiu!"

"Man, you've earned 1100 Spiritual Stones in one shot, Yuxiu..."

Many of Zhong Yuxiu's colleagues cast envious glances at her.

"Hey, Zhong Yuxiu, you've never placed a bet in the past, have you? Why did you wager 50 Spiritual Stones all of a sudden, eh? Weren't those 50 Spiritual Stones all you had?" Some of her coworkers were very jealous, and they stared at her bag of Spiritual Stones with hungry eyes, as if they wanted to snatch the stones away from her.

All of the women around her were Second or Third Heaven warriors, and all of them were pretty. It was precisely due to their good looks that they had been able to secure their jobs in the association.

As the envious voices went on and on around her, Zhong Yuxiu simply smiled without saying anything.

"Before the match started, didn't you all say that I was an idiot?" she thought.

"Didn't you all say that Mr. Jing Yan stood no chance against Li Tianfu? You all bet on Li Tianfu, and I take it you all lost quite a bit, eh?"

Zhong Yuxiu was feeling very pleased with herself at the moment.

Once she reached the Fourth Heaven, the association would probably promote her to the rank of captain.

...

Jing Yan walked out of the Extreme Combat Association alone, and he almost immediately noticed several people who had suspiciously fallen into step behind him.

"What's this? You people are stalking me, eh?"

He grinned as his gaze narrowed.

Swoop!

Jing Yan quickly dived into an alley.

He broke into a sprint and quickly disappeared from the line of sight of his stalkers.

"D*mn it! He got away!"

"That Jing Yan guy probably has over 100,000 Spiritual Stones on him! Sh*t, if we were to get our hands on that many stones..."

"He's too slippery. He knew that he had been followed."

Several black figures poked around the alley after Jing Yan disappeared. All of them were High-ranking warriors, with the weakest of them being at the Seventh Heaven, and the strongest being at the Ninth Heaven.

Jing Yan had been careful to place his bet away from the prying eyes of the other gamblers, but there were still some who had guessed that it was Jing Yan himself who wagered such a huge sum on himself.

The men who were stalking him had apparently figured that out. They had all witnessed Jing Yan's defeat of Li Tianfu, so they knew just how terrifying his powers were, but they also knew that he was injured.

From their perspective, if they attacked Jing Yan as a team, there was no way that he could fight them all off in his injured state. As such, they intended to follow Jing Yan to someplace secluded, kill him, and take all of his Spiritual Stones.

They planned to do so despite knowing that he was a member of the Jing Clan.

But then again, the world was never in short supply of ruffians and desperados. People died for wealth and birds died for food. A huge sum of more than 100,000 Spiritual Stones would have tempted many to take risks, so much so that they would have been willing to put their lives on the line.

After shaking off his pursuers, Jing Yan quickly headed to the First Tower of Dong Lin.

That place was the largest exchange organization to be found in Dong Lin City, and it operated under the City Lord's Office.

Jing Yan intended to purchase huge amounts of Nine Yin Fruits, and the First Tower of Dong Lin would be the best place to get them.

He paused for a bit before entering the building. After he walked inside, he immediately headed for the third floor.

The tower was a five-story building.

The first floor was set up for trading common resources at lower prices. The highest price of any item was only a few Spiritual Stones, while cheaper items cost just a single Spiritual Stone.

The second floor was where goods of finer quality were sold for higher prices. Items there cost anywhere from a few dozen to more than 100 Spiritual Stones.

The third floor was where the truly precious resources were found.

There were a myriad of expensive weapons, and even some Middle-grade martial systems, to be found on the third floor. Second and Third-grade spirit herbs and items of equal value were there in abundance.

However, there were few customers around the third floor. At first glance, he could only see one customer who was about to make a purchase. Compared to the lively scene down on the first floor, the third floor seemed like a different world altogether.

"House of the Precious!"

Jing Yan stood before a shop on the third floor.

The plaque bearing the name of the shop read, "House of the Precious."

The House of the Precious was renowned in all of Dong Lin City.

Every single item found in the House of the Precious was exquisite. It was a renowned line associated with the shop.

There were many shops found in the First Tower of Dong Lin that didn't operate under the City Lord's Office. Those shops were rented to private traders.

The House of the Precious was one such shop, and the owner of the shop was a renowned figure as well.

Jing Yan glanced around and nodded to himself, then stepped toward the shop.

"Halt!"

Jing Yan was stopped by two guards dressed in black just as he was about to walk through the shop's door.

Those guards weren't employees of the First Tower; they had been hired specifically to guard this shop.

"Please show us your VIP Pass," one of the guards said to Jing Yan in a polite tone, giving him a slight bow.

The House of the Precious wasn't open to just anyone. A person needed a VIP Pass to get through the door, and such passes obviously weren't available to common people.

Since Jing Yan had once been the number one genius of Dong Lin City, he had definitely been eligible to get a VIP Pass granting access to the House of the Precious. However, he had never formed a relationship with the shop, which meant that he was never given a pass.

Jing Yan frowned after hearing the guard ask him to show a VIP Pass.

He didn't have a VIP Pass.

The guard then said with a deadpan face, "Sir, if you don't have a VIP Pass, then according to the rules, you will not be allowed into the House of the Precious."

While the guard was being polite about the matter, Jing Yan could tell that the man wouldn't bend an inch from the rules. If Jing Yan didn't have a VIP Pass, he wouldn't be allowed to enter the shop.

If he forced his way in, he would probably anger the shop's owner. He was there to make purchases, not start a fight.

"Look, that guy actually wants to get inside the House of the Precious."

"Hahaha, that's one hell of an idiot. Just what kind of place does he think the House of the Precious is, eh? Items in there easily cost over 1000 Spiritual Stones. Does he just want to window shop for expensive items or something?"

"Hey, wait. I think I recognize that guy. Let me think... Oh, right, isn't that Jing Yan? Jing Yan from the Jing Clan, the former number one genius!"

There were people not far away who saw Jing Yan being stopped at the door by guards, so they stood around to watch, enjoying the show. One of them was actually able to recognize him.

"Man, it's actually Jing Yan. I've seen him before. But then again, the number one genius of Dong Lin City is now a thing of the past. His rank dropped, and he's not even important in the Jing Clan anymore. Heh, now I wonder why he's trying to get into the shop." Another man in their midst shot a glance at Jing Yan and sneered derisively.