“You lot go in and exchange for immortal coins, I won’t be joining you.”
The burly man said to Chen Ping and the others.
Chen Ping had no choice but to lead Hu Mazi and Xiu Rui inside.
With the burly man guarding outside, escaping was out of the question.
As soon as they entered, a shop assistant approached, “Gentlemen, are you here to pawn or sell?”
“How does your Tianbao Pavilion handle immortal coin exchanges?” Chen Ping asked.
The assistant sized them up and smiled faintly, “You three must have just been brought here by the Great Dao, right?”
Chen Ping nodded, not bothering to hide it. There was no point, anyway, his strength at the first rank of the Immortal Transformation Realm made it obvious he was a newcomer.
“We price based on the goods. You’ll need to show us what you’ve got for us to appraise,” the assistant said.
“But if you deliberately undervalue our items, we’ve got no way to compare,” Hu Mazi interjected.
“Then don’t sell,” the assistant retorted. “No one’s forcing you.”
With that, he turned to leave.
“Mate, I haven’t got much of value, but could you take a look and give us a price?” Chen Ping called after him, pulling out some unused items from his storage bag.
He’d used up most of his immortal spirit stones in cultivation, so there wasn’t much left, just some odds and ends.
Turning to Hu Mazi and Xiu Rui, Chen Ping said, “You two, take out everything you’ve got as well.”
“I’ve been in the mortal world this whole time, I haven’t got anything valuable,” Hu Mazi grumbled, pulling out his tattered belongings.
Xiu Rui dumped out his possessions in one go, but there was nothing of worth there either.
The assistant glanced at their items and rolled his eyes.
“All this together? Fifty immortal coins at most,” he said.
“Fifty immortal coins?” Chen Ping and the others were gobsmacked.
The combined belongings of three people were worth only fifty immortal coins, a far cry from the thousand they needed.
“Mate, you must’ve got it wrong. These are treasures!” Hu Mazi protested.
“Treasures in your lower realm, maybe. Up here, they’re rubbish,” the assistant said with disdain.
That comment hit hard.
“Master Hu, what do we do now? You and your big talk, where are we supposed to get immortal coins?” Chen Ping said helplessly.
Hu Mazi looked troubled and said, “Chen Ping, don’t you have some divine weapons? Maybe try selling those, they could be worth something.”
Chen Ping eyed him warily and shook his head, “Don’t even think about my weapons. I’m not selling them, not for anything!”
“I’d sooner sell you than these weapons!”
Chen Ping knew his Dragon-Slaying Sword, God-King Bow, and Dragon-Patterned Bell were his lifelines. And the Demon-Whipping Lash? That was a key weapon against demons, no way he’d sell it.
“Mate, do you take people here? What if we sell him?” Chen Ping pointed at Hu Mazi, asking the assistant.
The assistant glanced at Hu Mazi and said, “Wouldn’t take him even for free. Waste of food.”
“Oi, who’re you calling a waste of food?” Hu Mazi snapped, fuming.
Xiu Rui quickly stepped in to hold him back, “Master Hu, it’s just a joke, don’t get worked up. If we cause a scene in Tianbao Pavilion, none of us are getting out of here.”
Xiu Rui knew that anyone running a place like Tianbao Pavilion in the city had to have immense power.
Seeing Hu Mazi about to lose it, Chen Ping turned to the assistant, “Mate, you said you do pawns here too, with the option to redeem later?”
“Of course,” the assistant nodded. “But there’s a pawn period. If you don’t reclaim your items by then, they’re ours.”
Chen Ping thought for a moment and took out the token Niu Li had given him.
Since it was from Niu Li, it might be worth something. After all, she was a princess.
