Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

"Cut the crap. If you aren't interested in buying them, I'll just be on my way to another store," Zachary grunted, as he stood up with every intention to leave.

"Wait! Who said I didn't want them? We have to negotiate the price toward the lower end, because I don't know where they come from," said the shop owner shrewdly.

"What's your final price, then?" Zachary asked bluntly. He had no time to play any games.

"I'd be willing to offer a hundred gold coins for one piece. Seeing as there are five pieces in total, then my final price would be five hundred gold coins. It's the highest price I can offer at this time." The owner forced a sad expression, trying to pretend to be emotional.

"Are you kidding me?! This has to be a damn joke. You just told me that these are all scarce King Level weapons. Each one of them is worth at least two thousand gold coins, right?" Although Zachary had never sold any weapon before, he had nonetheless attended several auctions at the Phoenix House. Up to a certain extent, he still knew what he was talking about and notably, that the scarce King Level weapons were quite popular among the warriors at the innate realm.

"What?! If I were to pay you two thousand gold coins per weapon, I wouldn't make much profit upon selling them myself. Let's be honest here," the owner blurted out angrily, a frown creasing his brow.

"Ah! So you agree! Each of these weapons really is worth two thousand gold coins, huh?" Zachary persisted, curling his lips into a mischievous grin.

The owner slapped a hand over his mouth. Never had he slipped his tongue so easily before. This guy had caught him red-handed!

"Ha-ha! Well then, in that case, I'll give you a discount. One thousand and five hundred gold coins each. What do you think?" Zachary suggested, knowing full well that he had the upper hand in this situation.

"Sir, listen, your weapons have an unknown background, and I'm afraid they just won't sell well. How about one thousand gold coins each, instead?" the owner negotiated unwillingly, gritting his teeth.

"No way! Too low!" Upon refusing, Zachary stood up again.

"Hmm. How about one hundred more gold coins?" The owner tested his luck, raising the price in small increments.

"Humph! I still refuse." There was no way Zachary was going to make a concession.

The owner's face shifted. Taking into consideration that Zachary obviously didn't want to give in, he hesitated for a brief moment and then said, "Fine. One thousand and five hundred gold coins each. Please follow me to take the gold notes." He immediate

said, "Jimmy, take those gold coins to buy yourself a few snacks." Zachary handed over half of the gold notes he'd received to Jimmy.

"What! So many! I can't believe it!" Jimmy had never seen so many gold notes in his life. It was understandable that he felt completely amazed when Zachary handed him such a large stack of gold notes.

"It's no big deal. I can sell my treasures for better, higher prices at the Phoenix House. Don't worry about it," Zachary said, rolling his eyes in a joking, casual manner.

Following this particular event, Zachary continued taking Jimmy around Alexander City to learn more about the prices of weapons there.

When they were about to head back to the Xiao Clan Castle, a group of aggressive warriors dressed in the Xiao Clan's uniforms rushed towards them. Before they could even realize what was going on, they were surrounded on all sides.

"They robbed me of my scarce King Level weapons and my gold notes!" accused the owner, who was among the warriors.

"You two are bastards! How dare you do such things on the Xiao Clan territory? Don't you know that Alexander City is under the Xiao Clan's protection? You both are in deep shit now!" the head of the group shouted ferociously as he pointed accusingly at Zachary and Jimmy. He was a warrior at the premium stage of Heaven Level. He was bulky, and his face was full of pimples. Even from a distance, he didn't look good.

All the shops in Alexander City would offer the Xiao Clan a large sum of gold coins every year so that the latter would protect them. In other words, if they were to be attacked by any external warriors, then the Xiao Clan would resolve such disputes. This was a practice known to the whole city.