Having quelled a wind calamity into nothingness, Zhang Haobo showed no trace of emotion on his face.
Looking up at the sky, he sped off toward the site of the next wind calamity.
***
"From chasing the wind to severing the wind. What will you do next?"
"You don't have much time left, after all. Heh heh."
Li Fan chuckled softly and drew back his attention.
He returned to studying the introductory jade slip on formations.
Another month passed.
Li Fan's expression stirred, and he put away the jade slip.
The cultivator he had awaited for so long had finally made his entrance.
In Li Fan's perception, a cultivator at the middle Qi Condensation stage made not the slightest effort to conceal his aura.
He sauntered openly toward Tianbao Pavilion with an arrogant swagger.
Formless Killing Intent instantly locked onto him, and the Insect Binding divine ability stood poised to strike.
Yet, just as Li Fan prepared to capture this cultivator, a flicker of surprise crossed his face.
As it turned out, the man had no intention of looking for Yin Yueting at all.
Instead, he marched into Tianbao Pavilion, shouting and clamoring.
"Has this month's new stock arrived yet? Hurry up and let me see!"
When Tianbao Pavilion's young clerk saw him, he greeted him warmly at once. "Oh, Second Master Zhao is here! Quick, quick, right this way!"
"We've taken in quite a few rare curios over the past few months, and we saved them especially for you!"
The cultivator named Zhao Er beamed with delight at these words, impatiently following the clerk into Tianbao Pavilion's treasure storeroom.
The young clerk pointed to several items set aside on a shelf. "Just as you instructed, we gathered every piece bearing that distinctive pattern."
Zhao Er strode forward, picked up a small cauldron from the shelf, and stroked it carefully, inspecting every detail.
"Not bad, not bad at all." After a moment, he nodded in satisfaction.
Then he lifted a slightly cracked celadon vase into the air, examining it closely.
"The pattern is indeed in the style of that place."
Zhao Er looked thrilled.
He inspected each item on the shelf one by one, heaping praise upon them. "Tianbao Pavilion truly works with top efficiency. In just a few months, you've gathered so many treasures for me!"
"Not like those other shops—a bunch of useless fools!"
"Especially that so-called Wanhua Merchant Guild. They talk big, but in a whole year, they couldn't find even a few worthwhile pieces."
Zhao Er cursed viciously.
Then, breaking into a grin, he patted the young clerk on the shoulder. "Pack all these up and deliver them to the usual spot."
The clerk bobbed his head repeatedly, wearing an obsequious smile.
When settling the bill, Zhao Er reached into his robes, pulled out a handful of gold leaf, and tossed it over without even looking.
"Keep the change. Consider the extra a reward for your trouble."
"Remember: as long as an item bears those styles and patterns I described, I'll take as many as you have."
He held his head high, speaking with immense extravagance.
The gray-haired head manager smiled pleasantly as he collected the gold leaf, murmuring endless agreements.
"You folks at Tianbao Pavilion are truly dependable. Why hole up on this tiny Yelan Island? If you ask me, your business is bound to grow bigger and bigger until it spreads across the entire Congyun Sea!"
Zhao Er tossed out the compliment, humming a little tune, and turned to leave.
Swelling with pride, the young clerk could not resist chiming in. "That's for certain! Our shopkeeper..."
Before the words could leave his mouth, a slap from the old manager beside him cracked against his head, cutting him off abruptly.
Realizing his blunder, the young clerk clutched his head and said nothing more.
Zhao Er's eyes darted slyly, but he said nothing. A slight smirk merely touched the corners of his mouth as he continued humming his tune and strolled away.
He walked to a small courtyard on Yelan Island. Once the people from Tianbao Pavilion delivered the goods, he shut the main gate.
A flying boat instantly materialized in the courtyard, and Zhao Er carefully loaded the items onto it.
He then cast a spell to conceal the flying boat's form, departed from Yelan Island, and flew all the way north.
***
Watching the entire affair unfold from start to finish, Li Fan grew intrigued.
Every move this Zhao Er made reeked of strangeness.
He posed as a mortal to collect antiques.
He had a storage ring yet chose not to use it, insisting on using a flying boat and moving the items by hand.
And where was "that place" he mentioned?
What was so special about it that a cultivator at the middle Qi Condensation stage would devote so much care to it?
Still, at least Li Fan now understood why Zhao Er had come looking for Yin Yueting in the previous life.
A clerk in Tianbao Pavilion had undoubtedly let something slip by accident.
The clerk might not have known about Yin Yueting's Spirit-Attuned Treasure Physique, but he certainly knew his shopkeeper possessed an extraordinary gift for discerning rare treasures.
And how could mortals ever withstand the probing of a cultivator?
Exposure had been inevitable.
Zhao Er would surely return to seek out Yin Yueting.
Li Fan decided he might as well wait for him here.
First, he would see where the man was taking the treasures he had gathered.
Through the perspective of heaven and earth, Li Fan tracked the flying boat heading north at full speed for two days, until it arrived at an utterly vast expanse of open sea.
There were no islands in the vicinity—only a massive, upright stone pillar standing solitary amidst the waves.
The interior of the pillar seemed to have been completely hollowed out, carved into a series of small chambers.
Zhao Er landed the flying boat atop the stone pillar and painstakingly carried the items inside one by one, placing them into one of the rooms.
Li Fan saw that it was not just this room; several other chambers were neatly lined with similar objects.
The patterns and designs upon them all shared the same style as the pieces Zhao Er had purchased this time.
Evidently, he had been collecting these things for a very long time.
After admiring and handling them with fond delight, Zhao Er reluctantly boarded his flying boat once more and set off back toward Yelan Island.
The stone pillar slowly sank, retracting into the sea.
Two days later, outside Tianbao Pavilion.
A sneaking Zhao Er stared at Yin Yueting as she sorted through treasures, drool practically running down his chin.
"So it's the legendary Spirit-Attuned Treasure Physique..."
"With this little girl's help, collecting the cultural relics from that place will be far easier."
His eyes burned with greed as he muttered to himself.
"And where is 'that place'?"
A voice abruptly rang out beside his ear.
Zhao Er jumped in terror and moved to react, only to discover in sheer horror that he had been immobilized in an instant, utterly unable to budge!
"Come, let us go to your home and have a good chat."
A figure with an entirely concealed aura suddenly appeared behind him.
Next, Zhao Er felt himself hoisted up like a chick and carried into the sky.
They sped swiftly toward a familiar destination.
Zhao Er's heart turned completely cold.
For the mysterious figure had spoken no lie.
He actually knew the location of his base!
At the thought that all the treasures he had collected over so many years in that base were about to change hands, Zhao Er's heart ached so fiercely he could hardly breathe.
It felt worse than dying.
The mysterious figure flew at incredible speed, taking only a little over a day to reach the base.
"Well? Aren't you going to invite me inside for a seat?"
Feeling control return to his body at once, Zhao Er heard the other party speak in a calm, indifferent tone.
Chapter 128