You're Overthinking It

This scene unfolded before a crowd of onlookers.

Those who had come to witness the commotion found their steps halting at this sight.

Their expressions turned intriguing.

Many in the royal city recognized this steward.

When they first saw him, they had wondered if the earlier man had tried to deceive the steward with a fake token, only to be exposed.

But they never expected that upon seeing a young man, the steward would rush over so quickly.

Calling out "Elder"!

And after just a moment, the steward even suddenly knelt before this young man!

This left them as stunned as if they'd been struck by lightning.

They couldn't process what was happening.

Chen Ping'an was bewildered for a moment before hastily trying to help the man up, saying, "Steward, what's the matter with you?!"

But the steward remained firmly on his knees, refusing to rise.

"Elder! I was wrong before! I shouldn't have been so greedy! Please punish me!"

The steward, named Gu Zhongtian, was in his forties or fifties. At this moment, he had completely abandoned his dignity in front of the crowd.

Chen Ping'an, hearing these words, became even more confused.

What did you do wrong?

And what were you greedy about?

Why am I so confused?

Suddenly, Chen Ping'an thought of the storage ring from earlier.

"Are you talking about the storage ring?" Chen Ping'an tentatively asked.

Gu Zhongtian nodded, simultaneously thinking to himself that the hall master was indeed correct.

This great figure knew everything.

Seeing Gu Zhongtian nod, Chen Ping'an considered a possibility.

Could it be that this steward regretted buying that storage ring and now wanted to return it?

But this didn't seem right, especially in front of so many people.

And what was with calling him "Elder"?

If this had happened at the Alchemist Guild, he wouldn't have found such treatment odd.

After all, he had saved the Alchemist Guild's Grand Master.

But here, he could only think that his visual bug was acting up again.

However, logically, this steward shouldn't be affected by his visual bug.

Chen Ping'an wanted him to stand up and explain, as it didn't look good with so many people around.

Oh!

But just as he thought this, Chen Ping'an's eyes suddenly lit up.

Many people!

Wasn't this exactly what he wanted?

His task was to make more people aware of his existence!

With this in mind, Chen Ping'an swallowed, cleared his throat, and said, "I, Long Aotian, am magnanimous and broad-minded. My stomach is big enough to sail a boat on. Would I care about your small mistakes? Stand up, or I'll really get angry!"

Chen Ping'an pretended to be truly powerful.

And he acted the part quite convincingly.

After all, he had recently practiced playing the role of an expert and had gained some experience.

As soon as he spoke, the surrounding onlookers, still confused by the scene, all heard the name Long Aotian.

Long Aotian, isn't that the name of the Heavenly Venerable Tower's Grand Master!

Could this person be...

But just as they thought this, they felt foolish again.

Long Aotian was an old man, and his cultivation level couldn't possibly be just at the first level of Core Formation.

So who exactly was this person?

They didn't know Chen Ping'an's identity, but at this moment, they had already memorized his appearance and his name.

Hearing Chen Ping'an's words, Gu Zhongtian's eyes lit up.

Did this mean the Elder was no longer angry?

"Thank you, Elder! I will absolutely never make such a mistake again!" Gu Zhongtian vowed.

Chen Ping'an nodded, then gestured for him to stand up.

However, at this moment.

A sarcastic voice suddenly rang out.

From the main hall, a middle-aged man walked out.

This man wore fine clothes and had a portly figure, looking quite prosperous.

"Gu Zhongtian! How impressive, I turn my back for a moment, and you're on your knees?"

Hearing the voice, Gu Zhongtian looked over.

When he saw it was the Deputy Hall Master, his face suddenly darkened.

This Deputy Hall Master already had a poor relationship with him, often making things difficult for him. Now he would surely use this incident to cause trouble.

Sure enough, he approached coldly, sneering, "You kneel so well! This posture, you must be used to kneeling to people, right?"

After mocking Gu Zhongtian, the Deputy Hall Master also glanced at Chen Ping'an.

Seeing Chen Ping'an's unremarkable appearance, he became puzzled.

Has Gu Zhongtian gone mad, kneeling to a kid at the first level of Core Formation?

Could this boy have some powerful background?

But this was just a kingdom after all. How powerful could anyone here really be?

However, to err on the side of caution, he didn't directly confront Chen Ping'an. He just focused on mocking Gu Zhongtian for his behavior.

Gu Zhongtian had completely abandoned his dignity now. He no longer cared about face, only about preserving his life and future.

Because he had learned from the Hall Master that his greed for the storage ring had offended Chen Ping'an, a supreme being.

If this being became angry and decided to deal with him, even ten lives wouldn't be enough!

He ignored the Deputy Hall Master and, at Chen Ping'an's gesture, stood up.

"Elder, thank you for forgiving me! Have you come to buy something this time? If it's within my means, I can pay for you!"

Gu Zhongtian felt that merely kneeling might not be enough to appease such a powerful elder.

After all, such great figures often had peculiar tempers. What he needed to do now was to be even more subservient, to make the other person feel his sincerity!

Hearing this, Chen Ping'an's eyes brightened for a moment, but then he thought that he had plenty of spirit stones and shouldn't take advantage of others.

More importantly, he truly didn't know how this steward had wronged him.

He might as well try using his own token.

Chen Ping'an was no longer afraid of being beaten for presenting the token, given the steward's behavior. He took out the purple-gold token from his storage ring.

"There's no need for you to pay. I don't care about those spirit stones. If you have time, help me verify if this token is genuine."

After taking out the token, Chen Ping'an handed it to Gu Zhongtian.

His request for verification was well-phrased – if it was real, great; if it was fake, he wouldn't lose face.

At this moment, Chen Ping'an also glanced at the portly middle-aged man, but seeing that Gu Zhongtian completely ignored him, he chose to ignore him as well.

After all, he didn't like such sarcastic people either.

Such people were very hypocritical.

Gu Zhongtian took the token Chen Ping'an presented, immediately assuming it must be extraordinary.

But when he saw it, he realized he was mistaken.

This wasn't just extraordinary.

This was the one and only purple-gold token in the entire Treasure Gathering Hall!

And rumor had it, this token was in the possession of the Grand Hall Master!

Could it be that the Grand Hall Master had given it to this great figure?

Thinking of this, he became certain.

The Grand Hall Master must have given it to this powerful being!

"Elder, with this token, you only need to pay 10% of the price for anything you purchase in our hall!" Gu Zhongtian answered with absolute certainty.

As soon as these words were spoken, the bustling main hall suddenly fell into dead silence.

What?!

Only 10% of the price for purchases?!

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Chen Ping'an's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

It seems it's real after all!

Only the Deputy Hall Master frowned upon hearing this.

He had just exposed the earlier imposter.

Now, seeing Chen Ping'an produce this token, and Gu Zhongtian declaring it genuine after just a glance, he immediately had a look of sudden realization.

"Well played! So that fool earlier was sent by Gu Zhongtian? And knowing the Hall Master isn't here, and seeing the previous person ruthlessly exposed by me, he's chosen another plan. He directly kneels to this kid in public, making me think this kid has some extraordinary background, so I won't dare expose this person's token as fake like before!"

"And now when this kid takes out the token, this fellow barely looks at it, skipping the step of having the Hall Master verify it. It's obviously guilty conscience! It seems this guy wants to quit, make a big profit before leaving, and then escape the law!"

Thinking this, his face showed a look of disdain.

As if to say, "You're overthinking it, kid. Do you think such petty tricks work on me?"

With this in mind, he angrily shouted, "10% off? Gu Zhongtian, do you think your schemes will succeed with me here?!"

Saying this, he snatched the token.

Without even looking at it, he smashed it to the ground.

With a bang, the ground was even dented a little.

Chen Ping'an looked at the middle-aged man's actions, then at the token on the ground, blinking his eyes.

He was confused again.

Damn, what's going on now?

Is this token fake?!

The surrounding people, watching this scene unfold, once again wore expressions of fascinated onlookers.