"You can call me Handsome Brother Dong!"
"...Or, Cute Brother Dong, which one do you prefer?"
Seeing no reaction from Chen Yu, the clown added another line.
Chen Yu looked once again at the clown’s face. Despite the painted clown makeup, the look always gave off an evil, eerie vibe that didn’t relate to handsomeness or cuteness at all.
So, he rejected that nickname once more.
Seeing Chen Yu not joining in the conversation, the clown picked up the topic himself, "What kind of Spiritual Artifact do you need made? Brother Dong guarantees your satisfaction."
"I need two pairs of wings fused into a single flying treasure."
Chen Yu stated his requirements.
If the other party couldn’t accomplish it, there was no need to even bring out the materials.
The clown said with an air of full confidence.
Though the clown guaranteed results, Chen Yu felt... even more unsure.
However, having been turned down by four other shops, Chen Yu didn’t have much patience left and took out the wings of the Golden Winged Phoenix and Yin Ming Bird.
"Golden Winged Phoenix, Yin Ming Bird’s wings, not bad at all, one rare, one of high quality."
The clown immediately recognized the names of the two pairs of wings and then scrutinized them closely.
Chen Yu asked, somewhat uneasily.
"Anything that reaches Brother Dong’s hands, rest assured. However, both these materials are quite amazing. Have you considered selling them to Brother Dong? We can negotiate a good price!"
The clown said with a smile.
Chen Yu’s forehead beaded with sweat—in one breath, this guy assured the safety of items in his hands, and in the next, he proposed to buy Chen Yu’s materials.
Chen Yu even suspected whether this strange shop was colluding with the You Clan.
"I’m not selling. If you can’t complete it, just return the items to me."
Chen Yu responded impatiently.
"If you aren’t selling, that’s fine. Brother Dong has many treasures here. If you fancy something, Brother Dong, in a good mood, might just trade with you. Too bad you refused Brother Dong."
The clown shook his head lightly and sighed, then returned to the topic: "Come back here in a fortnight to collect your items."
"Hold on, haven’t you even asked about my refining requirements?"
Chen Yu immediately protested; this Artifact Refiner was too unreliable.
"Brother Dong guarantees your satisfaction!"
The clown repeated his earlier statement.
Chen Yu didn’t believe him and still laid out some conditions: "The quality must be at least High Grade. That shouldn’t be difficult. Primarily, its main ability should enhance speed, and it should primarily use the wings of the Golden Winged Phoenix..."
Meanwhile, Brother Dong had already begun sketching out design drafts, completely ignoring Chen Yu’s words.
"Brother Chen, are you really going to let this clown refine for you?"
Yang Yuhuan asked quietly.
It seemed not just Chen Yu, but Yang Yuhuan also found this guy unreliable.
However, at this stage, no skilled Artifact Refiner was willing to help Chen Yu, and this clown seemed very confident.
Hopefully, this clown was just quirky, and his skills were decent.
Then, Chen Yu started looking around, as the clown had just mentioned he had plenty of good items.
Chen Yu’s mystical heart also sensed that this store was not ordinary.
The place was filled with all sorts of bizarre and exotic items.
Soon, Chen Yu found what had triggered his heart—an object shaped like a heart!
It appeared to be a mechanical heart made from rare woods, minerals, and other materials, resembling the internal mechanism of a puppet.
Grasping the mechanical heart, Chen Yu’s mysterious heart pulsed again, sending off a strange, deep suction.
The mechanical heart in his hand trembled imperceptibly, and strands of a bizarre and profound mystical silver light were sucked into the mysterious heart.
In the murky space where the Light Silver Crystal Space was situated, dots of silver crystal light flashed and rapidly merged into the Light Silver Crystal Space.
Under Chen Yu’s observation, the Light Silver Crystal Space expanded slightly.
Chen Yu was pleased and put down the mechanical heart nonchalantly.
However, just then, the nearby clown suddenly said, "Sir, blatantly stealing the spatial power from this puppet heart in front of Brother Dong, isn’t that a bit inappropriate?"
Hearing this, Chen Yu was startled and then felt rather embarrassed.
He had never been discovered before when he used the mystical heart to absorb spatial power and expand its interior space.
Just now, Chen Yu had been sure the clown was busy sketching and hence directly absorbed it.
But after the absorption, he found the clown staring straight at him.
Chen Yu had to admit, he underestimated this quirky clown; he was not a simple character!
"Just now, when I touched this heart, my Spatial Combat Technique suddenly gained insights, and I couldn’t control myself, absorbing the spatial power within this heart. I’ll compensate you with Primordial Stones."
Chen Yu quickly explained and covered up, noticing the clown’s gaze fixed on his chest where his heart was.
The clown spat out a number.
"A million, for that little thing..."
Chen Yu inwardly remarked that this guy was really taking advantage of the situation.
But, having no right to argue, and to avoid exposing the mystical heart, he chose not to quibble with the clown, especially since he was even refining an artifact for him.
"Since you’ve drained the spatial power from that device, it’s now useless. Brother Dong has to remake it, so a million is actually a discount for you."
Chen Yu noticed the clown’s gaze lingering near his chest, and he felt somewhat uneasy, "Focus on your business, stop looking around."
"Brother Dong is... a bit interested in you!"
The clown suddenly revealed an exaggerated smile that made him appear somewhat sinister and creepy.
Yang Yuhuan, standing nearby, noticed the clown’s gaze fixed on Chen Yu’s chest, and then his sinister face spouted these words, sending chills through her entire body.
Yang Yuhuan felt that something was off about the behavior of these two men!
Feeling as if he had been seen through, Chen Yu swiftly left the place with Yang Yuhuan.
A tall man dressed in a black brocade robe strode into the clown’s shop.
It was late at night, and upon suddenly seeing a clown with a sinister face looking at him, his body trembled with fear and he almost drew his sword to slay the demon.
"What can I do for you?"
The clown asked with a smile.
"Listen, Master, you don’t need to wear this outfit and frighten people in the middle of the night!"
The long-faced man sighed in relief.
The clown just smiled and said nothing.
"My lord You Lie wants you to give up this business deal,"
The long-faced man arrogantly declared, evidently feeling proud whenever he mentioned the You surname.
"Oh? How much is your young master offering me?"
The clown asked with interest.
The long-faced man paused, surprised that the owner of this shabby shop dared to openly ask for a reward.
Perhaps he has some background, the long-faced man spoke again, "How much would you desire?"
Generally, You Lie would agree if it wasn’t too much.
"Three million low Grade Essence Stones!" The clown replied.
"You must be joking with me!"
The long-faced man’s expression turned cold.
A common High Grade Spiritual Artifact would cost between two to three million low Grade Essence Stones; the person before him was demanding a whopping three million!
If he brought this request back to You Lie, he felt he would be scolded for being senseless.
"Three million, it’s a bit high, but we can sit down and discuss it slowly, can’t we? That’s what negotiation is about, right? Alright, Brother Dong will give you a discount of three hundred thousand."
Seeing that the other party found the price too high, the clown said again, seriously.
He was indeed serious, but matched with his somewhat evil clown face, the long-faced man couldn’t shake the feeling that the clown was just mocking him.
"Hmph, aren’t you being too arrogant? Refusing Young Master You Lie’s offer can have serious consequences!"
"I would advise you to think carefully in the future; there are some people you can’t afford to offend."
The long-faced man threatened, sure that the other party wouldn’t dare to harm him.
Or perhaps after his threat, the clown would get scared and change his approach.
But contrary to his wishes:
The shop’s main door suddenly closed on its own.
Then, various strange noises echoed inside the room.
The long-faced man saw a shelf in front of him suddenly transform into a square puppet.
The chandelier above turned into a Spider Puppet while a cylindrical, ugly puppet slid out from the piles of random objects at the back.
In an instant, the long-faced man found himself surrounded by nearly ten puppets.
"How dare you oppose the You Clan!" In a panic, the long-faced man yelled out.
He then channeled his True Yuan and launched two palm strikes engulfed in blue flames directly at the square puppet in front of him.
Bang! The palm strikes hit, the blue flames quickly dissipated, and the puppet was left completely unharmed.
"How is this possible..."
The long-faced man was shocked, as the square puppet looked so frail and ugly, yet he, being in the Late Guiyuan Realm, couldn’t even scratch it.
A rising fear crept into his heart and he started to back away.
Suddenly, the floor gave way and pushed aside, revealing a large puppet hand that instantly grabbed the long-faced man and dragged him underground.
"My lord, senior, spare me, spare… Ah!"
The long-faced man kept shouting until his cries ended in a miserable scream.
"Brother Dong’s territory is quite dangerous; it’s best not to mess around."
The clown floated out a phrase lightly and then focused on his work, as if a rat had just popped up and fallen into his trap.
The shop door opened automatically, and everything returned to normal.
Chen Yu had agreed to meet the clown fifteen days later, so during this time, he wandered around the Cultivation Spirit Hall.
He encountered many new things, increasing his understanding of this world.
Furthermore, most people currently at this Cultivation Spirit Hall were here for Black Demon Valley and the Heavenly Jade Sect.
Here, Chen Yu had seen some of the geniuses from major clans, King Families, and even Three-Star power families. It must be said, the Great Yu Realm is a mightily powerful realm with a constant emergence of powerful individuals and a plethora of geniuses.
It was fortunate for Chen Yu to have come to the Great Yu Realm.
Soon, fifteen days passed, and Chen Yu returned to the clown’s shop.
"You’re here; Brother Dong has finished refining your items, guaranteed to satisfy you!"
With that, the clown pulled out a pair of wings.