Xu Yi replied, “What could I get? All those lucky enough to sit in there are from the wealthiest families. The little money that I have is hardly worth anything to them. Oh right, have you sold that green blade of mine?”

“Sold, sold. I never thought that that little green blade would actually be made out of Geng metal, and I didn’t think that it’d sell for 150 gold. The old man who was buying it off me actually tried to swindle me by offering 100 gold. I brandished that blade around his hall for a while, and the old fool could not stand it anymore and called me back. It was only after another long round of haggling that he finally agreed to fork over 150 gold for it. I’ve checked privately; this price is the highest possible.”

Yuan Qinghua described his exploits animatedly, and afterwards, took out six gold vouchers; one for a hundred gold and five for ten gold, as well as a proof of transaction and handed them to Xu Yi.

“Not bad at all, it’s been tough for you!”

Without even looking, Xu Yi received the gold vouchers, took one for ten gold, then placed it back into Yuan Qinghua’s hands.

Yuan Qinghua was overjoyed, “You are indeed forthright, sir. I have been in this business for years, but I have never seen a customer such as you, sir.”

Yuan Qinghua was greedy, but he was not a treacherous person. Xu Yi’s impression of him was getting better. He smiled. “This is what you deserve. You don’t need to thank me. It’s alright. You can go do your own thing now. I have things to do, and I must go.”

“Wait, didn’t you want to look for a heavy weapon?” Yuan Qinghua asked, flustered.

“There were too many amazing treasures at the auction — so many that no ordinary item would catch my eye anymore, so let’s save the trouble!”

In truth, this was simply because his wallet was practically empty. After obtaining the Dragon Alligator hide, he was only left with around 200 gold which he was saving for processing the hide into armour.

Furthermore, he had hoped to get a high price for the green blade that he had Yuan Qinghua sell, but little did he expect that it was only worth just over a hundred gold.

Adding them together, he only had a mere 350 gold. After seeing true valuable treasures, Xu Yi knew well that with this amount, it would be practically impossible to buy anything that he truly wanted.

With those words, Xu Yi began to walk away. Yuan Qinghua quickly followed behind.

“What’s this about? Our deal is already complete, or have you grown attached to me?” Xu Yi raised his eyebrows.

Yuan Qinghua waved his hands, “Don’t misunderstand, sir. How could I be thinking of such things? I just wanted to ask if you would like to hire me for the long term. My fees are not high: just a monthly salary of twenty, no, fifteen gold will do.”

As a guide, Yuan Qinghua had a pitiful way of earning a living. His daily income was truly ****, and sometimes, he went for days without even getting any business. Today, running into such a generous customer like Xu Yi was like a gift from the heavens.

In an entire year, he only earned a mere 60 or 70 gold. With the high cost of living in East City, and with the costs related to maintain his training, he was truly amongst the lowest rung of East City’s inhabitants.

“I can’t afford you!”

Not only could Xu Yi not afford him, but there was simply no reason to adopt such an expense. Xu Yi was not some dealer who had to go through the city every day. What could he hire Yuan Qinghua for? To pour his tea?

“Don’t joke with me sir. I could tell right from the start that you were no ordinary man. In future, you will surely be known throughout Guang’an. How could you go around without any followers to handle menial tasks? Just take your trip to East City today as an example. If you would have had a follower such as myself, then there would be no need for you to make a trip down here personally. Now sir, you must be thinking right now, there is no way you could be at ease letting such a follower hold on to so much money for you. You might not know this, sir, but if I were to offer you my services, I would definitely make it so that you can rest at ease; I can sign a blood pact with you. In the future, whether it is buying herbs, running errands, or even sourcing for intel on enemies and collecting information, I can take care of it all. And with the blood pact in place, you would have no need to worry about me having ulterior motives.”

“Blood pact? What is that?”

When Xu Yi heard “sourcing for intel” and “collecting information,” he suddenly felt that he could have some use for this guy.

Yuan Qinghua explained, “A blood pact is a blood talisman that is guided by an oath formed between two parties. It is established by offering a drop of blood. After the blood pact is activated, should one go against the oath, one’s heart would be devoured by the blood pact and die.” With that, he took out two pieces of paper from his pocket. One was the bright red colour of fresh blood, and Xu Yi recognised the other one: a certificate of transaction from Linglong Hall.

Xu Yi could guess that the blood red one must be the blood talisman, whereas the other was a proof of purchase of the blood talisman. Clearly, Yuan Qinghua was worried that Xu Yi would doubt the authenticity of the blood talisman, so he had brought it out as proof.

Xu Yi guessed right. When Yuan Qinghua had sold the green blade, he already had the intention of working solely for Xu Yi and had bought the blood talisman then.

Seeing Yuan Qinghua’s sincerity, Xu Yi found it hard to refuse. In his mind, he began to calculate the pros and cons, but his feet continued walking. Without realising it, he had stepped back onto the stone bridge that they had come by earlier. Looking towards the west, on the duelling platform, two men were once again battling it out, swords and sabres clashing. The only difference was that the flag by the platform was black instead of white, and there were far more audience numbers.

Suddenly, Xu Yi had an idea. He said, “Since we have discussed this far, I shall hire you!”

Xu Yi was lacking in funds. Severely lacking in funds. At the moment, he was only left with 350 gold. In order to forge the Dragon Alligator hide into a leather armour, he definitely needed a lot of funds.

Other than that, he had also hired the services of Linglong Hall to obtain certain herbs, which would cost 200 gold.

Combining the two expenses, Xu Yi’s 350 gold would definitely be completely spent.

Furthermore, after seeing what the metal spirit could do, he also had the intention of forging the metal spirit as well, which would likely cost another huge sum of money.

Having lived across two worlds, Xu Yi’s mind was mature, and he knew well that a horse can never get fat without eating grass at night, and a man can never get rich without additional sources of income. As the saying goes, those who kill and plunder wear belts of gold, and that was exactly how Xu Yi had gotten his “additional income” of 2000 gold.

At the moment, after entering Guang’an City, killing and plundering was no longer an option. However, there were still ways around conventional means of earning money in order to earn a quick buck.

Xu Yi’s intention was to take advantage of the betting around the duelling platforms.

Very soon, he would be taking part in numerous battles on the duelling platforms. If he lost, it meant death, so there would be no point in leaving money behind. But if he won, that meant that he was sure to earn. He would be a fool not to place a bet.

Since he had made up his mind to do so, Xu Yi naturally could not forget about Yuan Qinghua.

For such a task, when it came to experience, how could he match up to one as seasoned as Yuan Qinghua?

Being able to use Yuan Qinghua as a puppet was the main reason why Xu Yi agreed in the end.

The two of them discussed terms, and Yuan Qinghua brought Xu Yi to his tiny home in East City. He opened up the red talisman, bit his index finger, and dripped a drop of blood onto it before reciting his oath.

The contents of the oath were basically how Yuan Qinghua should be loyal in providing his services for his master during the time he is employed, and how he must never reveal any secrets of his master even after his employment is terminated.

With his part of the oath recited, Yuan Qinghua gave a signal, and Xu Yi recited his part too. He promised to pay salaries on time, not to go against their agreement, and so on.

With the oaths sworn, Xu Yi acknowledged it in his mind, and a small opening automatically opened on his fingertip. A drop of blood so thick that it seemed solid floated out, and it landed right on the blood talisman.

The two drops of blood intertwined, and suddenly, the blood talisman burst into flames, turning in to a blood red ray of light and shooting towards their hearts.

With the blood pact complete, Xu Yi told Yuan Qinghua where he was staying, then he left.