The small crowd of onlookers wasn’t standing very far away from Jing Yan, and they were being loud, as well. Jing Yan could hear every word they said quite clearly.
After hearing them, Jing Yan simply frowned.
People like that were everywhere, after all.
When Jing Yan had been the number one genius of Dong Lin City, he was the object of envy and jealousy of countless warriors. Now he was no longer on a pedestal. If no one had mocked him now that he had fallen, the world would have been too pretty to be real.
Those people were probably thinking, “So Jing Yan, weren’t you a big shot in the past, eh? Didn’t you throw our weight around? Weren’t you invincible?
“Well, look at you now.
“You’re no longer important, I take it? You’re not even anywhere near us common warriors, right?
“Hmph, to think that you were once a big shot!”
Many people would have such thoughts, so much so that half of all warriors found in Dong Lin were probably thinking like that.
Jing Yan knew this, and he also knew that he had to just ignore them. If he were to be petty with every single one of them, he wouldn’t have time to train anymore.
Because of that, he didn’t bother entertaining such people. Those voices would be silenced as soon as he returned to the Precelestial rank, after all.
Jing Yan then looked at the guards dressed in black and shook his head a little.
It seemed that he would need to purchase the Nine Yin Fruits elsewhere.
In truth, while Nine Yin Fruits were precious, there was little enough demand for them that they were only found in larger resource trading organizations in Dong Lin City. Jing Yan had chosen to visit this shop because other places might not have had much stock to begin with. He didn’t want to waste his time running between shops and trying to collect what he needed a piece at a time.
As he turned to leave, a voice came from behind Jing Yan.
“Young master Jing Yan?”
Jing Yan turned around to take a look.
“Manager Qin?” Jing Yan stopped frowning and flashed a smile at the middle-aged man wearing a blue robe behind him.
That man was the manager of the First Tower, and Jing Yan had met the manager on a previous trip here with his grandfather. He had a good impression of the manager.
“So you want to buy resources?” Manager Qin asked, nodding at Jing Yan.
“Yeah, I wanted to buy something in the House of the Precious, but I don’t have a VIP Pass to get in.” Jing Yan shook his head in exasperation.
“Oh? So they aren’t allowing you passage then?” Manager Qin frowned for a bit and glanced at the guards standing before the door of the shop.
The two guards lowered their heads immediately when the manager turned his gaze on them.
Manager Qin was an extremely formidable Precelestial warrior, and he was also the manager of the First Tower. He held considerable authority, and he served directly under the City Lord.
The House of the Precious might have been quite a renowned place, but the shop wouldn’t dare to behave disrespectfully to the manager. That was doubly true for men who had merely been hired to guard the shop’s door.
If they dared to disrespect Manager Qin, they wouldn’t need to wait for the next sunrise to be dealt with. They would be thrown out of the building immediately.
“Just get inside, Jing Yan. I’m quite interested to see who dares to get in your way,” the manager said with a stern voice.
“Well, um…” Jing Yan was slightly shocked.
“Manager Qin…” One of the guards dressed in black looked up and mustered all of his courage to explain, despite being very fearful of the might of the manager. “According to the rules…”
“Shut up. Are you telling me to show my VIP Pass now?” the manager berated the guard.
Anyone with a VIP Pass on their person was free to bring guests into the shop.
Considering who he was, the manager would have been allowed entry by the owner of the shop regardless of whether or not he had a VIP Pass. And the manager was definitely someone who had a VIP Pass.
“Thank you, Manager Qin,” Jing Yan said to the manager, cupping his hands.
“Don’t mention it. Your grandfather was a friend of mine, so this is nothing. Oh right, if you need any help in the future, feel free to come to me.” The manager waved with a smile.
The manager was apparently very friendly toward him. Jing Yan’s rank had dropped, and he was no longer as glorious as he had been, but the manager didn’t care about that at all.
“Is that the manager of the First Tower of Dong Lin?”
“That is indeed Qin Yu, the manager of the First Tower! He’s actually being that polite to Jing Yan?”
“Tsk, tsk, sons of big clans are still privileged people after all. Even a piece of trash has a higher station than us common folks.”
The warriors who had been laughing at Jing Yan before were now talking among themselves in a rather frustrated manner.
Qin Yu had put his foot down, so the two guards of the shop naturally didn’t dare to get in Jing Yan’s way anymore.
Jing Yan walked through the front door of the shop. He had no intention of running around places, searching shop after shop, when there was a chance that he could buy all the Nine Yin Fruits he needed right here.
If he could have purchased plenty of Nine Yin Fruits from the Ru Yi Pavilion in the Western Business Zone, he wouldn’t have bothered showing up at the First Tower in the first place.
As soon as he stepped into the shop, several people noticed his entrance.
Several people shifted subtly to watch him, and their gazes were cool.
Jing Yan scanned the place as well. He saw five pretty female warriors dressed in long dresses. They were scattered around the shop, each roughly ten meters from the door.
While he had never been to the House of the Precious before, he had nonetheless heard stories of the shop. He knew that all of those female warriors were receptionists of the shop. Furthermore, every single one of them was a Middle-ranking warrior. None of them were lower than the Fourth Heaven.
All of them turned their pointed gazes at Jing Yan the very instant he came through the door, getting ready to be the first to serve him. However, even the fastest of the female warriors slowed down right away.
They recognized him.
Because of the nature of their work, they needed to be sufficiently familiar with big shots and notable people in Dong Lin City. As such, they were all very disappointed to see that it was Jing Yan who had walked in.
The receptionists tended to be enthusiastic about their work because most of their pay was based on commission. The newer receptionists didn’t even make an hourly wage at all.
If they were able to serve rich, notable clients, then they could make huge commissions. They were very charming and friendly with wealthy customers. Every item they could convince their customers to buy was more money in their pockets.
The female warrior at the forefront turned around and shot a meaningful glance at a female warrior wearing a green dress. Then she said in a subdued voice, “Go on up, Zixuan. Watch your behavior, and don’t upset the client.”
The woman had spoken very quietly, but Jing Yan still caught every word. His senses had been sharpened to frightening levels ever since he started cultivating the Arch of Heaven. He had his sharp senses to thank for his ability to easily track and kill Spiritual Beasts in the Blackrock Mountains when he was still at the Fourth Heaven.
Jing Yan suppressed a chuckle when he heard what that female warrior said. He knew what was going on in the woman’s mind; she was apparently underestimating him. All of the female warriors nearby probably thought he was a pauper, and there was no way he could purchase any of the treasures in the shop, which would easily cost over 1,000 Spiritual Stones each.