Reincarnated as a Divine Tree

A new stall was swiftly set up in the marketplace.

This time, they had only brought a portion of the clan's goods—mainly beast hides, most of which came from Body Tempering Realm creatures. The pelts of Blood Coagulation Realm beasts, and even the hide of the Innate Realm Green Wolf, remained stored in the clan’s treasury. Only if this business venture proved successful would the clan consider selling those more valuable items.

As soon as the stall was ready, the vibrant and beautifully tanned beast pelts quickly caught the attention of passing customers.

"How much for this one?"

A young man crouched down, picking up a deerskin. This was no ordinary deer; it was the hide of a Four-Horned Deer, a fierce beast typically at the early stages of the Body Tempering Realm. Swift and highly perceptive, these creatures were notoriously difficult to capture.

"Fifteen jade coins," Chen Tianjing responded calmly.

The usual market price for early-stage Body Tempering beast pelts hovered around ten jade coins. However, the clan's hides were of superior quality, so they had set their prices higher.

The young man frowned slightly, hesitating. He then picked up another pelt, this one from a mid-stage Body Tempering beast.

"How much for this?"

"Twenty-five jade coins."

"And this one?"

"Forty jade coins."

The young man examined several hides, clearly debating his purchase. While the pelts were undoubtedly of excellent quality, their prices were noticeably steep. After a brief internal struggle, he finally pulled out his jade coins and bought the first deerskin he had inquired about.

Seeing this, Chen Tianjing exhaled subtly in relief. As long as people were buying, it meant their pricing wasn’t unreasonable.

With the first sale made, more customers gathered around. Upon seeing such a large selection of high-quality beast pelts, many were astonished—goods of this caliber were rarely available in the market.

However, when they heard the prices, some hesitated. Even so, as the crowd thickened, the stall was soon surrounded, and many took out their jade coins to make purchases. Before long, several of the clan members were busy handling transactions.

Just as they were caught up in the rush, a commanding voice suddenly rang out:

"Hold on. I’ll take all of these beast pelts—for the Shilin clan."

The moment those words fell, the bustling crowd fell silent, and all eyes turned toward the speaker.

It was a stocky man with thick black eyebrows, dressed in the fine robes of a wealthy merchant. The emblem of the Shilin clan—a distinct, rugged stone—was stitched onto his clothing, making his identity unmistakable. Behind him stood two warriors clad in the same clan robes, both at the Blood Coagulation Realm.

"That’s someone from the Shilin clan."

"It’s Shi Jian, the one in charge of this marketplace."

"Damn, if I’d known, I would’ve bought one earlier. Now there’s no chance."

Soft murmurs spread through the crowd. While some seemed displeased, none dared voice their objections.

Chen Tianjing remained composed as he recalled the intelligence Chen Qingyu had gathered.

Yong’an City was controlled by four major families—the Shilin clan, the Xie clan, the Gan clan, and the Shen clan. Each held dominion over a section of the city, and their power far exceeded that of the Chen clan.

Part of the reason they had set up this stall was to assess the strength of these dominant families. As for who bought their goods, it made no difference to him. If anything, selling to the Shilin clan might provide an opportunity to gather useful information.

While these thoughts ran through his mind, Shi Jian and his men stepped up to the stall.

The burly man cast a glance over the displayed pelts, a gleam flashing in his otherwise clouded eyes. It was fortunate that he was overseeing the market today—otherwise, he might have missed out on these goods.

For common merchants, the prices might be steep, but for the Shilin clan, they were insignificant. In fact, once he resold these pelts through the clan’s Stone Warm Pavilion, he could drive up the price even further, padding his own profits.

Yet, he didn’t rush to finalize the deal. Instead, he crouched down and ran his hands over several pelts, inspecting them carefully. After a brief pause, he frowned and spoke.

"These hides are decent, but they’ve been stored for too long. The quality isn’t as fresh as I’d like. How about this—you lower the price a bit, and I’ll take them all."

He lifted his gaze, scanning the sellers in front of him. When he saw that they were unfamiliar faces dressed in modest attire, his confidence grew.

Chen Tianjing frowned slightly at the blatant price-cutting attempt, and one of his fellow clan members couldn’t hold back.

"We’re already selling at a fair price. Why should we lower it just for you?"

Shi Jian chuckled. "Go ahead and try selling them, then."

He straightened up, his gaze sweeping across the gathered crowd as he spoke nonchalantly.

"The Shilin clan is buying these. I assume no one has any objections?"

The bystanders fell into silence. Those who had considered purchasing a pelt earlier now kept their mouths shut.

It wasn’t worth offending the Shilin clan over a few beast hides.

Chen Tianjing sighed inwardly. The Shilin clan was certainly arrogant and domineering. If they had to interact with them in the future, it might not be in the clan’s best interest.

Still, at this stage, the Chen clan hadn’t fully established itself in Yong’an City. Picking a fight with the Shilin clan now would be unwise. That was precisely why the clan leader had sent him here—to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Raising a hand to stop his irritated clan members, Chen Tianjing smiled.

"The customer makes a good point. In that case, we’re willing to offer a twenty percent discount on these pelts. How does that sound?"

Shi Jian’s smirk widened with satisfaction. He nodded.

"That’ll do. Start tallying up the cost. And in the future, if you have more of these, come straight to me."

Chen Tianjing nodded politely and began calculating the total.

The clan still had plenty of beast hides in storage—after all, they had access to the mass grave mountain. Whether they should continue selling to the Shilin clan, however, was a matter that needed to be discussed with the clan leader.

As they worked through the numbers, Shi Jian’s gaze shifted. He soon noticed a cloth bag resting beside the stall.

"What’s in that bag?"

"Blood rice," one of the clan members answered.

"Blood rice?" Shi Jian’s interest was piqued. "Open it. Let me have a look."

Despite his arrogant demeanor, Shi Jian was at the mid-stage of the Blood Coagulation Realm and immediately sensed the rich blood energy seeping from within the bag.

When the sack was untied, plump, blood-red grains of rice spilled into view.

This was an unfamiliar sight in Yong’an City. Many onlookers craned their necks, eyes widening in curiosity.

Shi Jian, however, reacted differently. The moment he laid eyes on the blood rice, he knew—this was no ordinary grain.

This was something rare. Something valuable.

"How much for this blood rice? Name your price."

Though he tried to sound casual, the eagerness in his voice was unmistakable. This interested him far more than the beast pelts.

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