CHAPTER 866: CHAPTER 644: COMPENSATION AND THE MARKETPLACE

When the guards opened the door, Li Yi immediately saw Merchant Lord Liehou and Divine Blood Warrior Dong Chong waiting outside. At this moment, they had no hostility at all; instead, they carried a trace of reverence.

Indeed, after a beating, one’s eyes become clearer, and one learns manners, knowing to wait outside the door rather than suddenly attacking like yesterday.

"Da Yi, as per yesterday’s promise, I have prepared the eighty thousand gold." Merchant Lord Liehou, forcibly holding back his heartache, lifted a box in front of Li Yi.

Upon opening it, under the sunlight, a crimson glow flickered.

A pile of red gold nuggets stacked together, a total of eight hundred pieces, though not appearing numerous, these eight hundred pieces of red gold were extremely heavy, resembling some sort of rare divine iron, making them ideal materials for forging divine weapons.

Even if these were not currency, their value was immense.

"Eight hundred pieces of red gold, not much at all, please, Da Yi, verify them." Liehou said seriously, "As a merchant lord, I will definitely fulfill my promises, so I ask you, Da Yi, to also fulfill your promise and spare the lives of Dong Chong and me."

Li Yi picked up a handful of red gold, the warm and heavy clash of red gold pieces produced a crisp and pleasant sound, akin to delightful music.

Having crossed realms so many times, he had always treated money like dirt, but he couldn’t help but love the currency of this world, for it was not just money but also a treasure.

To know, even beauties like E Ji and Su Ji only valued two pieces of red gold, who knows how many rare items eight hundred pieces could exchange for.

"Since you’ve fulfilled your promise, naturally, I will fulfill mine. From today onwards, I forgive the lives of you and Dong Chong, but it is only limited to my personal forgiveness, whether Merchant Lord Xiu Xiang will cause you trouble or seek revenge afterward, I cannot control."

Li Yi then stored the box of red gold directly into the Five Elements Bracelet, and then sternly said, "Also, this kind of promise is only once, if you seek trouble with me again, I won’t spare you."

"Naturally." Liehou slightly exhaled a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Da Yi, for your forgiveness."

"Don’t thank me, it’s merely a transaction between us." Li Yi said, "You can leave now, I hope we don’t meet again in the future."

Liehou slightly nodded, and then, without further words, turned away with Dong Chong and several other servants, not returning to their previous residence because it had been destroyed in the fight, nor leaving the area immediately but going to other merchants’ houses nearby to make compensations.

After all, several places were damaged from the battle, and Liehou didn’t want to offend other merchants over some residences, so he had to spend some gold to pacify others.

Overall, he suffered a great loss today.

After acquiring the gold, Li Yi returned to his courtyard.

At this moment, the two women, E Ji and Su Ji, had already woken up and were grooming each other, showing off their best appearance. As Beauty Ji, they generally didn’t need to do chores; they only needed to dress themselves and practice music and dance.

However, upon seeing Li Yi, they immediately dropped everything and knelt down to bow to him, "Da Yi."

"Stand up, today teach me literacy." Li Yi said.

"Understood." E Ji and Su Ji responded.

"Da Yi, do you have bamboo slips?" E Ji then asked.

Li Yi replied, "I don’t have bamboo slips, you can use arrows to write on the ground, teach me all the words you know."

He then tossed out two golden arrows.

These were high-quality magic artifact level arrows refined by Tu Daoist, incredibly sharp, capable of writing on the ground without any problem.

"Understood."

E Ji and Su Ji responded, each picking up an arrow, and then began writing from the simplest characters to teach Li Yi.

Indeed, the arrows were sharp, writing on the hard stone surface with no difficulty.

The characters of this world were ancient and primitive, somewhat resembling the hieroglyphs from Earth’s past, yet different from hieroglyphs. Li Yi, despite being an uncultured martial artist, had a photographic memory after his cultivation, which was basic, if he applied it to learning, he could probably get into a good university and perhaps become a lawyer or a doctor in the future.

"This is water, this is mountain, this is stone..." With each character E Ji wrote on the ground, she recited aloud.

Su Ji did the same, with both writing different characters.

In just a short time, the ground within the courtyard was filled with characters.

It must be said, even as slaves, they knew quite a lot, no wonder they were valued at two hundred gold, in this world, knowledgeable, beautiful women were indeed precious.

And Li Yi’s learning ability didn’t disappoint.

For each character they wrote, Li Yi learned a character. By the time they finished all the characters they knew, he had learned the language of this world and could understand some scrolls.

"Da Yi is indeed a divine lineage, mastering all the characters in such a short time." E Ji was very surprised after putting down the arrow.

"It’s not something very difficult, as long as one has a good memory." Li Yi said, "Since the literacy lesson is done, I want to ask how much you know about divine arts? Someone mentioned divine arts yesterday, and I want to learn about it."

But E Ji shook her head, "Da Yi, we’re incompetent, we know nothing about divine arts, we’re not Divine Blood Warriors, and haven’t encountered them in our previous tribe, so we lack this knowledge."

However, Su Ji gently said, "Perhaps the Slave Master knows, they even sold Divine Blood Warriors as slaves."

Slave Master?

Li Yi’s expression shifted as this reminder came to his mind.

In Beihuai City, if anyone was truly influential, it wasn’t merchants or warriors, but definitely the Slave Masters.

In any place, in any world, those daring enough to trade in slaves are always formidable figures with wide-reaching influence.

He looked up at the sky.

It was still early, just noon.

Considering he had eighty thousand gold, perhaps he should stroll through the market, while consuming, he could also inquire the Slave Master about divine arts, as for Jiang Mingtian and Zhao Fangji’s matters, he planned to decide once Hu Fei arrived in Beihuai City.

Before coming here, Li Yi had already sent a message to Hu Fei, believing that as soon as he had time, he would quickly make his way.

"I want to check out the marketplace; you must be tired teaching me literacy, rest well." Li Yi then said.

E Ji and Su Ji exchanged a glance, then immediately said, "If Da Yi wishes to look into divine arts, please allow us to accompany you, we know the Slave Master and perhaps could introduce you."

It seemed they had thought things over last night, realizing they needed to seize the opportunity to present their value.

Li Yi considered their request and said, "Alright, you can come to the marketplace with me."

Upon agreeing, E Ji and Su Ji instantly felt joyful again.

Soon.

Li Yi notified others in the residence of his plan to visit the marketplace and assured them he’d be back by evening, though the guards insisted on escorting him.

But Li Yi declined.

Previously, when his strength was weak, he needed guards for protection, fearing trouble in Beihuai City, but now, he’d reached the Five Qi Realm and was a Divine Blood Warrior, stronger than the guards here, making it unnecessary to be accompanied by them.

He had been to the market once before, so he knew the way.

In the past, he was impoverished, unable to afford anything, even when tempted by treasures; he could only watch enviously. But this time was different, this time he was considerably well-off, and if something caught his eye, he could buy it without hesitation.

This time.

Li Yi, accompanied by the two beautiful girls, walked through the main streets of Beihuai City to the marketplace.

His presence in the marketplace drew attention.

Accompanied by beautiful women and exuding the rich aura of divine blood from afar, he appeared to be a very wealthy man. No, he should be a very wealthy Divine Blood Warrior.

Even from a distance, one could sense the thick aura of divine skills.

"At least a Divine Blood Lineage." Awe appeared in the eyes of the merchants.

In Beihuai City, someone from a Divine Blood Lineage was highly respected and stood for wealth, status, and power.

In this world, individuals like Li Yi would never become slaves, nor would they ever be destitute, unless someone killed them.

Of course, ordinary Divine Blood Warriors were not as powerful, but even still, they were highly respected.

As Li Yi and the two beautiful girls walked through the market, passersby would intentionally step aside, unwilling to offend them, and showing respect to the Divine Blood Warrior.

Moreover, in the merchants’ minds, their finest goods should only be sold to powerful warriors.

In any large business here, there always had to be a Divine Blood Warrior behind it, otherwise they would never grow big.