"Of course, we'll use the remaining money to collect more treasures that benefit us," Qi Yu said. She then gathered the remaining gold coins, leaving only two pouches visible. Leading everyone to the most crowded island, she shouted loudly:
"Business! Trading for gold coins! Treasures for gold coins, great value, anyone interested!"
Those who were treasure hunting nearby, some having already found treasures but hesitating whether their finds could fetch the desired gold coin price, couldn't help but glance at Qi Yu upon hearing her announcement.
Yet, even so, no one dared to step forward to trade with her.
It seemed they were afraid of being scammed.
Some people, holding their treasures, stood a short distance away, watching Qi Yu and whispering amongst themselves:
"Is that woman telling the truth, that she'll trade treasures for gold coins?"
"Even if she's willing to trade, it depends on the price. If we have a treasure like Meng Die's, which fetched the highest price, and she only offers us 100 gold coins, wouldn't we be at a loss?"
"That's right, that's right. If that's the case, we'd truly lose out."
"I remember there are several auction houses by the dock. Let's go to an auction house. We can auction our items there. Regardless, an auction house will surely drive up the price, right?"
"Yes, I think that makes sense."
"Indeed, auction houses are formal venues. Private vendors like this will definitely suppress the prices. Even if this treasure is worth 10,000 gold coins, the price will surely be pushed down to the lowest."
"Who says not? If I want to leave this secret realm, I need at least 100,000 gold coins. I've found almost all the treasures on the notice board, but I'm not sure if these alone are worth 100,000 gold coins."
"Why do you need such a high amount? Is this really dependent on strength? I thought you were only at the Golden Core stage."
"Who knows..."
As they muttered and shook their heads, they eventually turned and walked away.
Si Qing noticed their hesitation. She immediately raised an eyebrow and spoke very loudly to Chen Xi:
"Brother, are you here to trade for treasures?"
Chen Xi was startled. He let out a sound of surprise and, realizing Si Qing wanted him to play along, stammered in response: "Ah, yes, that's right, I, I want to trade."
As he spoke, he reached into his pocket.
In his fluster, he pulled out a stone.
Seeing the stone in Chen Xi's hand, Si Qing's peripheral vision caught the eyes of those watching them. After a moment of speechlessness, she immediately put on a serious expression, examined it, and said:
"Uh, Brother, this stone you have looks like the Delicate Rock Flower Stone from the treasure notice. It's quite good, genuine. By the way, how much gold do you need to leave the secret realm?"
"I, the gold I need is, is forty thousand gold coins," Chen Xi quickly replied.
"Mm, alright. Here are four pouches of gold coins, totaling forty thousand," Si Qing handed over the coins.
Chen Xi nodded, accepted them, and pretended to walk a few steps forward. As he walked, he deliberately put on an ecstatic expression: "My gold coin amount is sufficient, sufficient! I can leave here now!"
Wang Lanqing observed the entire scene from the side, thinking to herself, "Isn't this just like the decoys that often surround vendors in shopping malls when buying things?"
Tsk.
She hadn't expected Si Qing to have such an idea.
Chen Xi and Wang Yuan had only walked a few steps before someone immediately stopped him, asking urgently:
"Brother, did you count? Are you sure it's 40,000 gold coins? Is it real? That stone of yours can sell for 40,000 gold coins, that's too good a deal."
"Yes, it's really 40,000 gold coins," Chen Xi said earnestly. "I tried to sell this treasure at an auction house before, but they said these items were too common, so they only gave me 5,000. I need 40,000. I was lucky to meet this beautiful lady boss, otherwise, I would have been in trouble."
As he spoke, he shook his head inζζ ¨, and then quickly ran off.
Seeing Chen Xi complete the exchange with Si Qing, the others, thinking Chen Xi was just another passing cultivator like them, were overjoyed. They immediately rushed towards Qi Yu, surrounding her in several layers:
"This one, this one is the second-ranked treasure on the notice, it's the Flame-Breaking Tree."
"Mine is the Flower Basket Bird!"
"And mine, mine too."
A group of people eagerly pushed their treasures in front of Qi Yu.
Qi Yu, with a polite smile, accepted their treasures while asking them to queue:
"Don't worry, don't worry, we have plenty of gold coins, there's enough for everyone. But you must bring genuine treasures."
"This one of yours isn't on the notice board, it's not valuable. Go find something valuable."
"This one of yours is good. How many clearance gold coins do you need?"
"Here, this is yours."
Qi Yu, seizing the opportunity, selected treasures she liked and those needed by others, while also handing over the appropriate amount of gold coins to the cultivators.
Many cultivators who entered the secret realm discovered that they could only leave after accumulating enough gold coins. Their original objective of collecting treasures had shifted to merely accumulating enough gold to leave this cursed place.
Therefore, when they exchanged for the required gold coins from Qi Yu and found that they had met the conditions to leave the secret realm, their faces lit up with joy. They turned and ran towards the exit of the secret realm without looking back.
Yan Hua stood behind and watched for a while. Seeing that most people had left, he approached Qi Yu and asked: "Have you collected everything?"
Scattered around were items of all sizes.
Each of them was also holding some items.
"Everything is here, big, medium, and small, all of them are treasures posted on the notice board," Qi Yu said, her heart filled with joy at her successful haul. "Take whichever one you like. If I'm not mistaken, now that you've met the conditions to leave the secret realm, your spiritual power should have recovered, right? Since your spiritual power has recovered, keep them all. Take whatever you like, and hand the rest over to me. Then we'll leave together."
Upon hearing this, everyone began to act.
Yan Hua helped collect many items that Chen Xi liked.
Qi Yu also saved some for Chen Xi.
Chen Xi, returning in time, happily stuffed the treasures Qi Yu and Yan Hua had saved for him into his storage pouch.
Qi Yu, confirming there were no other omissions, then led everyone to leave the secret realm.
The moment they stepped out of the secret realm, the purple vortex behind them vanished instantly.
Yan Hua turned his head, about to say something to Qi Yu, when he saw divine light suddenly erupt from Qi Yu's body.
Immediately after, a divine power enveloped the surroundings.